Archives for the year of: 2013
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A Teacher in Hawaii Reviews “Reign of Error”

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2013 //
11

Diane Aoki felt that something was wrong, terribly wrong, as No Child Left Behind changed the schools. It felt even worse when Race to the Top came in.

Everyone told her, “don’t worry, this too will pass,” but it only got worse every year.

When she read “Reign of Error,” it all made sense to her. She understood that “reform” was not about reform at all.

Things are bad, she knew, but “Reign of Error” offered her hope, hope that her own inner convictions were validated, and hope that it shouldn’t be this way.

She wrote:

This is what I love best about the book. Throughout the book, there is a thread of hope as she contrasts the corporate agenda to what it’s supposed to be, what it should be, what it can be. I highlighted those silver threads whenever I saw them, here are a few, with positive solutions underlined:

“Once upon a time, education reformers thought deeply about the relationship between school and society. They thought about child development as the starting point. “(P.19)

“The reformers define the purpose of education as preparation for global competitiveness, higher education, or the workforce. They view students as “human capital” or “assets ” one seldom sees … the importance of developing full persons to assume the responsibilities of citizenship.” (P. 34-35)

“Children who are poor receive less medical attention and less nutrition, and experience more stress, disruption, and crises in their lives…. That is why por children need even more stability, more support, smaller class sizes, and more attention from their teachers and others in their schools, but often receive far less, due to underfunding.” (P. 36)

“Of course we can do better. Students should be writing more and reading more and doing more science projects and more historical research papers and should have more opportunities to engage in the arts.” (P.54)

“If we were serious about narrowing the gap … schools … would have a stable, experienced teacher, a rich curriculum, social services, after-school programs, and abundant resources to meet the needs of their students.” (P.59)

Regarding teacher evaluation based on student test scores: “If by great, we mean teachers who awaken students’ desire to learn, who kindle in their students a sense of excitement about learning, scores on standardized tests do not identify those teachers.” (P.113)

“…there remains the essential question of why scores on standardized tests should displace every goal and expectation for schools: character, knowledge, citizenship, love of learning, creativity, initiative, and social skills.” (P.114)

“Also forgotten is that public schools were created by communities and states for a “civic purpose.” In the nineteenth century, they were also called “common schools.” They were a project of the public commons, the community. They were created to build and sustain democracy, to teach young people how to live and work together with others, and to teach the skills and knowledge needed to participate fully in society.” (P.207 )

 

Categories Reign of Error

A Mother Writes to the New York Board of Regents

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2013 //
134

This comment was posted and signed by a mother of a ten-year-old child who doesn’t want to go to school. Ever.

 

This is the message I recently sent to the Board of Regents and my state representatives:
I have been very vocal about my concerns regarding the implementation of the Common Core Standards, testing, and curriculum in NYS. I have written letters and emails to my NYS representatives and made phone calls. I organized a rally which drew over 2000 people to Comsewogue High School to remind everyone that our students are not defined by their state test scores. I’ve been involved and aware. I joined with other concerned community members to create the group Students, Not Scores.

Tonight this fight became very, very personal.

My ten year old daughter asked me what it would take for me to let her stay home from school forever.

Forever. Not tomorrow… not this week. Forever.

Isabella is very well spoken; very bright. She describes herself as a feminist, and loves to debate adults about the inequity of womens’ pay for equal work. She is committed to calling out bullies in school and helping those people she sees that need a little boost. She can carry on conversations about interesting points and people in American history most kids have never heard of. She can tell you all about the Women’s Suffrage Movement. However, Bella doesn’t learn some things as quickly as other kids do. She struggles with reading at grade level, and has difficulty memorizing math facts. Math word problems are confusing to her, and take her longer than her peers. She has to work really hard to be successful academically. And she does work very hard.

But tonight Isabella decided she has had enough. “School is too hard now.” She said. “I’m too stupid to do this math.” I can assure you we do not use the word ‘stupid’ in our home to describe anything, especially not people. But in the one hour conversation we had in which she was begging me to let her quit school, Isabella used that word- stupid- to describe how she felt about herself more than 10 times.

So, now I have had enough.

No matter the intent, good or bad, in creating and implementing these Common Core standards… if they are hurting children, causing them to give up on themselves at ten years old, there is a problem no one can deny. This problem is bigger than the left wing – right wing debate over states rights and Federal overreach. This problem is bigger than corporations spending billions to influence education policy. This problem is bigger than data mining and privacy. This problem is bigger than Bill Gates, Arne Duncan and Commissioner John King.

Because when a child is broken in spirit, when they have lost their self worth and confidence, that damage is not erased easily. When children hate school to the point that they attempt to avoid it at all costs, there will be no desire to be college or career ready.

Now, before you say I just want my child to succeed no matter what, and I must be one of those ‘everyone gets a trophy for participating’ parents, let me say this: I want my children to be challenged. I want them to have to work to be successful. I want them to sweat it out occasionally, and have to ask questions to clarify. I want their curiosity to lead them down paths I’ve never imagined. I want them to want to know more… about everything.

But when they have no confidence, they will not try. They will not raise their hand to ask a question. They will fear homework, quizzes and exams… and the voice they hear in their heads telling them they can’t, will create a self fulfilling prophecy… so they won’t succeed.

If these insane policies pushing developmentally inappropriate curriculum on our children are allowed to stay in place, what will the future hold for those students who do not fit in this one size fits all approach? What will happen when the precious data doesn’t show the growth these education reformers want to see because so many kids just give up? How many kids have to be hurt before we stop? How many kids have to use that word to describe themselves before we realize the damage that is being done?

Tomorrow morning I will bring Isabella to school. I will tell her that I know this is hard, but she has to just try her best. I will tell her I know how smart she is, and so does her teacher. I will kiss her head and whisper “I love you” with a smile.

And after she walks down the long school hallway, I will use very ounce of passion and compassion I have to call on my elected representatives to stop the abuse. I will contact every media outlet and offer my story- Isabella’s story. I will call, write, tweet, and email the Board of Regents and NYSED Commissioner. I will request meetings with policy makers. I will rally friends and family to do the same. I cannot, no I will not sit back and wait for someone else to get this done.

No one has the right to implement policies that are downright abusive, no matter how lofty their goals. These policies have hurt my child- and that is unacceptable. You’ve heard the phrase ‘Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned’…. that is nothing compared to that of a mother protecting her child.

~Ali Gordon

Categories Common Core, New York, Parents, Students

Sirota and Taibbi: Is the Pension Crisis Real?

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2013 //
13

Two of the nation’s toughest investigative journalists–David Sirota and Matt Taibbi–join forces to examine the widespread effort to pin the nation’s economic word on public workers’ pensions. If the critics have their way, who wins? One guess.

Categories Pensions

EduShyster: John King’s Gift to the Opt-Out Movement

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
17

EduShyster has a guest blogger who graduated from the fine public schools of New Jersey, then went on to excel in the nation’s finest universities.

In this post, Sue Altman thinks that John King is the best thing that ever happened to the opt-out movement. The more he talks, the more he angers parents. She thinks he canceled his planned visit to Long Island because the parents and the students are furious about the state’s mandates.

Why would he want to show his face in Garden Cit?

Altman writes:

The testing opt-out movement, a boycott of standardized tests, is 10,000 strong on Long Island. Ten thousand!!! You think that has something to do with King’s avoidance of the place? Maybe he knows he might have trouble explaining himself to a crowd of well-informed, well-organized, angry Long Islanders.

Garden City might well have become an epicenter of controversy for thousands of angry, frustrated parents demanding answers from King. And, if that town hall had taken place, we would have heard stories from the students themselves (very eloquent and well-educated, despite what the make-believe scores say) about the countless hours of new testing, the anxiety starting in third grade, the stressed-out teachers and the crying in the bathroom. Maybe we would have heard about double sessions in reading and math. About lost time for arts and music. About how private school kids get those things in abundance, but students attending New York public schools don’t. The meeting, and King’s appearance, would have given thousands more confused moms and dads who have heard about the testing boycott, a chance to hear both sides before deciding what to do this fall.

Altman adds:

These New Yorkers refuse to believe that test scores, created by the Department of Education, scored by the Department of Education and calibrated by the Department of Education mean anything at all. They refuse to believe that these numbers measure the value of their child, the value of their child’s teacher, or the value of their school. The mantra “Our children are more than test scores” nails it. These parents are boycotting because they love their children, but also because they believe that something terrible, something big-picture, is happening in education. And, as history shows, boycotts are a means to empowerment when democracy has been suspended.

John King and the New York Board of Regents are so totally out of touch that they think that they are champions of education reform. If they actually believe that, they should start a new listening tour and hear what parents and students across the state think about the plans and mandates handed down by the Regents and the State Education Department.

John King’s gift to the people of New York: He has crystallized opposition to his agenda. And now he must deal with it by meeting the people affected by his policies. Why? Because we live in a democracy, not a kingdom or an empire.

Categories Education Reform, Testing

Reader: A Motto for Mr. Pitbull’s Charter School?

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
20

Yesterday, I posted a story about a charter school in Miami founded by a rapper known as Pitbull. This fellow was lauded by NPR for his philanthropy in founding a charter school. The fact that he has no qualifications to run or create a school is of no matter. He is known for his vulgar language and his contempt for women. The school will be managed by a for-profit corporation that has become very rich in this new entrepreneurial venture called “charter schools.” Read the post, but more important, read the investigative reporting by Jersey Jazzman and Mother Crusader. Mr. Pitbull’s school is a real money-maker. So, hey, this is America! Anyone can open a school! Come and get the taxpayers’ dollar! No one is watching the store! This is called “reform.” Will the students study the works of the founding father, Mr. Pitbull?

This reader looked up some of Mr. Pitbull’s oratory and though that this printable selection should be posted as a plaque on the building:

I hadn’t heard of Mr Pitbull before this, and so naturally I rushed to look up the lyrics of his songs. You are correct in saying that most of the lyrics are not worth repeating, but I thought this little excerpt from his 2004 song ‘We don’t care ’bout ya’ was relevant in this context:

We don’t care about yo clique
We don’t care about yo crew
We don’t care about yo bitch
We don’t care what you do
We don’t care about your car
We don’t care about your chips
We don’t care about shit
except getting rich

Maybe this could be engraved on the new school’s signboard as a kind of motto.
Categories Charter Schools, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization

Why Does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Love Common Core?

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
34

I got a letter in my email today (cited below) from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, telling me how the future prosperity of our nation depends on adoption of the Common Core standards. I wonder how many members of the Chamber have ever seen a copy of the Common Core standards? Why do they think they will produce miraculous changes in test scores? What evidence do they have about the validity of these standards?

Personally, I don’t know if the standards will have a great effect because they have never been subject to trial. Maybe they are the greatest education innovation of our entire history. Maybe not. What we know to date is that the states that take Common Core-aligned tests see a dramatic drop in test scores. Very few children with disabilities can pass the tests; very few English learners can pass the tests. Most kids from all backgrounds fail them. Only 31% passed the Common Core tests in New York state.

Maybe if you are CEO of some huge corporation, you react by saying, “Wow, that is great news! Now we have a baseline, and our stupid kids will start to get smarter as we test them more and more.”

I have a suggestion. How about if every member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agree to take the PARCC tests or the Pearson Common Core tests that were given to students in New York last spring?

Let’s find out if those who pontificate about these standards can pass the tests. If they can’t, what does that tell us?

But, please, advocate for the things that you want for your own children. If your children are enrolled in an elite private school that doesn’t give the Common Core tests, don’t urge it on Other People’s Children. If the members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believe what they say, will they insist that the Common Core standards be adopted in the schools their own children attend, in schools like Exeter, Andover, Lakeside Academy, Harpeth Hall, Sidwell Friends, Maumee Valley Country Day School, and the nation’s other top private schools? Surely, if they are so great, shouldn’t all children (including your own) have the same standards? You don’t want them left behind, do you?

Be consistent!

And bear in mind two maxims:

Albert Einstein: “Standardize automobiles, not people.”

Pasi Sahlberg: “Standardization is the enemy of creativity.”

This was the letter I received:

Good afternoon,

Knowing this is a busy news day, I still wanted to share the testimony of the Chamber’s Vice President of Education Policy Cheryl Oldham this afternoon at a New York State Senate hearing titled, “The Regents Reform Agenda: Assessing Our Progress.”

As Cheryl states in her testimony:

  • Although there are exceptions, American public schools are generally producing fewer students with the skills they need for long-term success. To the Chamber and our members, this looming national crisis requires urgent action, and that action must begin with the K–12 education system. 
  • We believe that one major answer to this challenge is the Common Core State Standards. For the U.S. Chamber and the business community more broadly, there are three things that are important to know about Common Core and why we support it.
    • First, Common Core is an elevated set of standards. It focuses on the building blocks of learning, such as reading and math, and is designed to be applicable in the real world—namely, college or career. It is not a curriculum. Common Core  Standards are the “what.” Curriculum is the “how.” That distinction is important to an organization like the U.S. Chamber that values local control and a limited role for the federal government—in most issues—but especially in education.
    • Not only is the rigor of the standards important for ALL students, but the second key attribute of Common Core is nationwide clarity and consistency. For a country that is as mobile as we are today, for employers that in many cases have interests in multiple states, it’s critical that students—wherever they live— are ready to enter college or career training upon graduation.
    • The third important piece for our members and for the nation is the Common Core is on par with international standards. Currently, our young people are being outperformed by students in countries like South Korea, Finland, Canada, Poland, and Australia. Common Core raises our education standards, which will enable Americans to compete with global peers.

Please let me know if you would like any additional information.

Thank you,
Jamie

 

Categories Common Core

Professor: Do Not Write Recommendation Letters for TFA

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
30

This professor urges her colleagues not to write letters of recommendation for TFA. In this post, she explains why.

Ironically, she is a TFA alum, yet she thinks that TFA has become part of the neoliberal attack on the public sector.

She writes to her colleagues in higher education:

“I encourage each of you to stand with me in refusing to write letters of recommendation for students who are applying to TFA. With this collective action, we can begin to undo some of the damage on the millions of children whose lives are harmed not only by the never-ending cycle of first- and second-year teachers that now populates disadvantaged schools, but also by the militarized, corporate, and data-obsessed approach to education that this army of under-trained, inexperienced teachers enables. Equally importantly, we can communicate to our college students how they will be negatively impacted and possibly even psychologically damaged by this system. Our collective action might eventually cause TFA to have to rethink its insistence that an army of naive and un-trained recent college graduates can form the solution to education inequities in this country.”

There is much, much more about how these idealistic young people are used and misled. Read it.

Categories Education Reform, Teach for America TFA, Teachers and Teaching

Letitia James Rocks the PEP: “Save Your Emails”

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
15

I can’t begin to summarize the emotional impact of this 4 minute speech by Letitia James, who will soon be the Public Advocate of New York City. She recently won a run-off election to be the #2 ranked official in the city. Her election in November is a foregone conclusion.

As you will see in the video, she is a fierce advocate for public schools and for children with special needs. She is a powerful critic of charter co-locations. If you thought that Karen Lewis of the CTU was a firebrand, wait until you meet Letitia James.

In this 4-minute clip, she roasts Mayor Bloomberg’s compliant “Panel on Education Policy” for having police in the hearing room; for permitting separate-but-equal schools; for co-locating privileged charter schools into buildings with under-resourced public schools. She says, in a fiery tone, get ready for the lawsuits! Save your emails! 77 days to go and it will be a new day in New York City,

As of today, 76 days to go.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, New York City, Privatization

America’s Student Revolutionaries

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
7

This article was posted today on Huffington Post. They gave it a wonderful title, better than mine: “Our Kids Today: The Greatest Generation?”  

 

The members of the Providence Student Union are the most creative and best informed critics of high-stakes testing in the nation. They can run rings around the public officials in Rhode Island when they explain the damage done by high-stakes testing. They know that a large percentage of students will be denied a high school diploma because they could not pass a standardized test called NECAP.

I had the good fortune to meet some of the leaders of the PSU when I recently spoke at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. The students drove from Providence, some 45 minutes away. When I spoke, I was introduced by Claudierre McKay, who had distinguished himself as a participant in the student Town Hall on Education Nation. When young McKay introduced me, he presaged everything I was about to say. The students are the consumers of the mandates, why not listen to them?

What I love about the PSU, aside from its determination and style, is that it has mastered the art of political theater. PSU held a zombie march in front of the Rhode Island Department of Education last year to express its contempt for the NECAP as a requirement for graduation.

When officials didn’t listen, the PSU found 60 accomplished professionals to take the test, composed of released items from the actual NECAP exam. 60% of the professionals, distinguished in law, government, architecture, and journalism, failed the high school graduation test.

Most if not all of the members of PSU will easily pass the NECAP; they are very smart young people. They are demonstrating on behalf of their peers–those who are bound to fail because of circumstances beyond their control–because they are new immigrants, because they have a disability that interferes with test-taking, those whose desperate poverty is disabling. PSU understands that a large percentage of students will not earn a high school diploma and their lives will be blighted. With a high school diploma, they have a chance to learn a trade, to be successful in a line of work that doesn’t require algebra. Without one, their lives are ruined.

Does this bother the bureaucrats? Not at all.

But it bothers the students of the PSU.

Recently, they staged a talent show in front of the Rhode Island Department of Education. The point: Students have many talents, and test-taking is only one of them, probably not the most important. These young people will save American education from the dead, cold hands of the robots who now are in charge of the nation’s schools. They have heart, they have creativity, they have wit, they are innovative, they are alive with spirit. They have the qualities that made America great.

They know this great secret: We are not Singapore; we are not Korea; we are not China. We are America. We should cultivate the wit and wisdom of Ben Franklin, the ingenuity of Thomas Alva Edison, the spirit of the Wright brothers. Were they good test-takers? Who knows? Who cares? I bet the guys at Enron and Madoff had great test scores.

Thanks, Providence Student Union, for reminding us of the greatness of your generation. We will do whatever we can to keep the machine from crushing your heart and spirit.

Categories Education Industry, Students, Testing

A NY Parent Objects to Commissioner King’s Cancellation of Parent Meetings

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2013 //
10

John King, Commissioner of New York’s education system, was booed repeatedly when he held his first parent meeting in upstate New York. The parents expressed their low opinion of his policies, his mandates, the Common Core, the Pearson testing, and the contempt King shows for teachers, principals, and public schools.

He opted out. He canceled all future public meetings with parents.

This Long Island parent recommends that parents write a letter to Governor Cuomo. Good idea. But even better to send a letter or email to the New York Board of Regents; that board approves state policy and appoints the State Commissioner. He works for them.

First I will post the parent’s letter, then a list of the members of the Board of Regents:

“Dear Governor Cuomo, I’m writing to express my incredible displeasure at Commissioner John B. King, Jr.’s decision to cancel the state sponsored PTA town hall meetings. As parents, we have legitimate concerns regarding his educational reform policies that are affecting our children. He must have the decency to listen to our concerns and defend his decisions publicly. This is inexcusable, and he must be held accountable.

On Tuesday night, I was looking forward to asking him what evidence he had that it was educationally beneficial or a valid measure of learning to include reading passages on the 3rd grade ELA exam that the average 3rd grader would only understand 50% of the reading material according to our understanding of lexile levels.

If the State’s education reform agenda is sincere in its efforts to improve teaching and learning for our children and not a thinly veiled effort to privatize public education for profit, it is imperative that corrective measures be taken now as a gesture of good faith. I implore you to immediately decrease the duration and frequency of testing, to ensure that the tests be returned to the schools and families so they can be used to make sound educational decisions that impact learning, and eliminate student test scores from teacher evaluations since VAM has been judged to be too unstable by the same people who developed it.

Many Long Island parents, like myself, moved to this region or chose to remain here because of the quality schools that have existed for decades. The Commissioner’s policies are threatening our children’s learning experiences. The canceling of these important meetings is further evidence of the Commissioner’s arrogance. Though the Commissioner is not an elected official, he is appointed by people that are and as one of my elected officials I am requesting that you listen and respond to our concerns.

Sincerely,
Keith Gamache
(Parent of Everett age 7 Centre Ave. School, East Rockaway and Atticus age 4 future kindergartner)
231 Ocean Ave.
Lynbrook, NY 11563
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear ___________________, I’m writing to express my incredible displeasure at Commissioner John B. King, Jr.’s decision to cancel the state sponsored PTA town hall meetings. As parents, we have legitimate concerns regarding his educational reform policies that are affecting our children. He must have the decency to listen to our concerns and defend his decisions publicly. This is inexcusable, and he must be held accountable.

On Tuesday night, I was looking forward to asking him…insert your question here.

Many Long Island parents, like myself, moved to this region or chose to remain here because of the quality schools that have existed for decades. The Commissioner’s policies are threatening our children’s learning experiences. The canceling of these important meetings is further evidence of the Commissioner’s arrogance. Though the Commissioner is not an elected official, he is appointed by people that are and as one of my elected officials I am requesting that you listen and respond to our concerns.

Sincerely,
Name
Children’s School
Address”

PLEASE WRITE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK BOARD OF REGENTS. THEY MAKE POLICY. THEY HIRE THE STATE COMMISSIONER:

Here are their personal emails.

abottar@bottarleone.com, mhtisch@mhtisch.com; assistant@mhtisch.com, bennrbrt@aol.com, bettyarosa@aol.com, cbendit@tacon.com, christine.cea@opwdd.ny.gov, REGENTCHAPEY@MAIL.NYSED.GOV, harryphil236@gmail.com, james.cottrell@downstate.edu, REGENTDAWSON@MAIL.NYSED.GOV, jinternetjack@earthlink.net, jtallon@uhfnyc.org, lyoung11@nyc.rr.com, maggiemadonna5@aol.com, roger@tillesco.com, abrown@brownhutchinson.com; wadenorwood@flhsa.org

They also have official ones listed here:

http://www.regents.nysed.gov/members/Membersterms0412.html

Categories Common Core, New York, Parents, Testing
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