Reader JCGrim wonders when the testing mania will end. It will end when enough parents band together and demand it. When they say they will not allow their children of every age to be subjected to hours of testing. When they opt out en masse. When enough parents say loudly, “Stop! Enough!”
Grim writes:
“If you think Arne couldn’t be any more incompetent, think again. His newest absurdity is special education’s birth to 3yrs early intervention programs.
“According to IDEA, every state must have an early intervention system that serves children with disabilities from birth to age 3 yrs. (public school takes over services for kiddos with disabilities at age 3yrs.) The feds are requiring state systematic improvement plans with “measurable & rigorous targets.”
“TN’s early intervention system (TEIS) must provide “measurable and rigorous results” for infants & toddlers with disabilities & their families. The data must show that early intervention is “closing the achievement gap” and provide the percent of infants & toddlers who are “preschool ready.”
“You read that right “preschool ready.” What does that even mean? Preschool is where kids get their first ever experiences away from their caregivers. Preschool is the first time kids find out they can smear paint on their hands & paper, play with other kids by sifting through a big bin of rice, dance in big circle with a partner, chase butterflies in a butterfly tent, or turn pudding in plastic ziplocs into a snack.
“When will this insanity end? Enough is enough.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Arne is ridiculous. He’s a moron.
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This is nothing more than an extension of the Data Quality campaign that Bill Gates has funded since 2005 along with USDE– initially limited to Pre-K through college, but now clearly starting at birth, and likely in a race to get as much data into “the cloud” on each cohort of kids ASAP along with some hard-wired policies such as do this or we will gut the health and human services funding and IDEA funding for your state.
Comply or else.
Of course, closing the achievement gap will be easy enough if you just demand more of the parents and hand over all of the “evidence-based interventions” to instant experts. They will have conjured all of the necessary and sufficient measures for ratings of “infant and toddler and parent effectiveness.”
Don’t forget checklists for observation, with rubrics for properly identifying all-purpose and specialized remedies for every condition, Instant experts on “disabilities” are sure to be ready (for a fee) to share their power points and modules for corrective action.
Let’s see, let’s have some infant and toddler SLOs with targets to reach every three months, so quarterly reports can be filed at the state level. Or some VAM calculations with grand inferential leaps from scores on cognitive function, locomotion, eye-hand coordination, new scores for versions of the old Piaget experiments. Add some body sensors to pick up rigorous data on pee and poop and tantrum control, a measure of infant and toddler grit in retaining gas or vomit.
Perhaps the real aim is to privatize the US Census, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, etc., etc., etc.
I think that Arne Duncan and Bill Gates have never been in the presence of infants and toddlers and adults who are struggling to make sense out of the booming buzzing confusion that marks you as alive and human and doing your best even if you are not blessed from birth with “the right stuff,” plenty of money and connections with people who give you a bunch of tax dollars and discretionary authority to spend these at will..
I hope the over-reach on this idiotic plan makes big news.
My fear is that it will not.
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The absurdity of this latest proof of Arne’s incompetence brought me back to my Columbus Day in service at my suburban Pa. middle school. I remember when inservices actually provided quality time for us teachers to share lessons and techniques, explore new books and websites, and otherwise improve in our craft. Yesterday, like so many other recent inservices, was simply another trip into meaningless data land. This time we were confronted by administration with the shocking news that our school performance profile went down 6 points apparently because our gifted students did not show one year’s worth of growth in reading and math. Our task was to brainstorm ways to get these 13 and 14 year-olds, who are advanced in all their testing and could care less about whether their tests showed growth from 7th to 8th grade (different tests of course), to care about this data and their lack of “growth”. My PLC never did come up with any ideas, but once time was up on that part of the inservice we were treated by administration to a video talk by Prof. Duckworth about GRIT, a program which purports not to be about testing and scores, but about developing character and perseverance in our kids. I left confused, glad I can see the light at the end of my teaching tunnel, and once again saddened for my young colleagues who are getting burnt out way to early.
Last, a request on behalf of our Philadelphia colleagues, students, and their families.
Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission (SRC) cancelled its teachers’ contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, with no warning, in a unanimous vote cast last week. The SRC took this action to unilaterally take away the teachers’ health benefits package and replace it with one of its own choosing.
Philadelphia’s teachers, including my wife work in abysmal conditions, without adequate and proper resources and supports, while earning substantially less than their suburban counterparts. They have not had any raises for several years and, according to the SRC and Gov. Corbett, have no right to strike while the SRC simply imposes contract terms and work rules. If they strike, a right protected for all other Pa. Public school teachers, they are threatened with the loss of their licenses.
The School Reform Commission, run by Tom Corbett, has taken away funds from counsellors, nurses, libraries, and other activities that the children of Philadelphia need and deserve. The teachers shouldn’t have to pay for his bad deeds. If the state is going to frack, it should be taxing frackers instead of “fracking”with teachers.
To support my wife and the teachers of Philadelphia I signed the attached petition addressed to Governor Tom Corbett, which says:
“I stand in solidarity with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and condemn Gov. Corbett’s School Reform Commission. Cancelling the teachers’ contract shows how much Philadelphians need to control their own schools.”
Will you sign the petition too? Please cLick here to add your name:
http://petitions.moveon.org/workingfamilies/sign/stand-with-philly-teachers?source=s.fwd&r_by=11427962
Thanks so much.
GST
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At which stage of his life will Duncan be pre-school ready?
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Thanks for your support.
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I spent 19 years in infant special education- even before we even called it early intervention, I was teaching children in the 0-3 age range. Yes- I visited mothers the week their babies came home from the hospital because because they sought and wanted that support. I was in that first group of teachers in the nation earning a MS Ed in Early Childhood Special Education right after the passage of PL 94-142. My program was home-based and holistic- the goal was to help the parent(s) understand how their child’s medical condition/syndrome/extreme prematurity/ brain damage/sensory disorder impacts development, and to help that parent care for the baby’s physical, sensory, cognitive and social needs.
I went to homes twice a week where there was no heat, no food security, overcrowding, broken windows, little furniture or toys, vermin infestation, poor lighting and broken cribs. And sometimes also there was abuse and domestic violence. I also went to homes with maids and luxury cars- any everything in between. My expertise and support made a difference for those families- but how much more of a long term difference would there be if all the children had prenatal care, safe and secure shelter, food security and access to needed medical and dental care?
As a teacher, my job was to help the child and parent move from one step to the next developmental step, and celebrate each milestone, whenever it came, with joy. It was about attunement, attachment, engagement and play- not testing, pressure and grit. That is how babies learn- though touch and interaction and play. My job was to help the parent see a child as lovable and capable which might sound unnecessary, but learning that your child has a significant problem is a crushing blow to many parents- it is traumatic, it is a shock, and a nightmare. But yes. I recorded new milestones on a checklist of developmental skills to help the parent understand and delight in the sequence of skills as they developed- not to quantify and get a “score.”
Rigor? Does Duncan realize we are talking about babies with poor oral-motor tone learning how to suck on a nipple? Or a baby having hundreds of seizures a day learning how to make eye contact with her mother? Or a baby with cerebral palsy lifting his head to see himself in a mirror? What Duncan is proposing is clueless, but also despicable and sinister. Is there anything in this world he cannot reduce to a data point? Grief? Laughter? Love? Acceptance? Health? Comfort? Pride? What is YOUR score Mr. Duncan?
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A very moving post.
You have describe a world that Arne Duncan does not even know exists. he is callous, crass, and clueless. But worst of all, he is a danger to children and their parents.
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sorry a few typos up there- hard to be careful when one is so angry…
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Let’s just cut to the chase here: if there’s a chance you or your partner might get pregnant, get Arne’s ok before having sex.
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Tim, thanks for the belly laugh.
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Tim, Before scrolling to your comment, I wondered if Mr Duncan would finish his term advocating conception w/ rigor.
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Tennessee has been using this measure for 4 years. (I am in no way condoning this)
Target Data and Actual Data for FFY 2012-13:
FFY 2012-13 was the third full year in which Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) data (entrance and exit) were collected from all nine TEIS Point of Entry offices (TEIS-POEs). Since FFY 2010, ECO data have been collected in the Tennessee Early Intervention Data System (TEIDS) based upon the seven-point scale of the ECO Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF). The Lead Agency calculates and reports only on children that have been in TEIS a minimum of 6 months (defined as 183 calendar days between entry [ECO entrance date] and exit [ECO exit date]).
Outcome entrance ratings are made by the IFSP team using assessment/evaluation, eligibility, and parent information at the initial IFSP meeting. Statewide, assessment/evaluation information is obtained from the Battelle Developmental Inventory-2 (BDI-2). Outcome exit ratings are made by the IFSP team at a review change or transition meeting for children who have been in early intervention services for a minimum of 6 months prior to exit or at three years of age. Exit data from Part C are utilized by several Local Education Agencies (LEAs) as entry data for children who are determined eligible for Part B, preschool special education services.
Click to access TN_PartC_APR_FFY_2012-13.pdf
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Arne Duncan and his war against children, parents and public school teachers reminds me—in some ways—of the vigilante witch hunts of the Joseph McCarthy era.
Arne Duncan is drunk with his own power, and he isn’t even an elected representative like former senator McCarthy was, but he is abusing his power and getting away with it, because the President, Congress and even the Supreme Court are not doing their jobs to stop him.
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Lloyd, agreed. He frightens me.
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This resonates with me. I entered teaching in that ere.
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Has he no sense of Deasynsy?
oh, wait…
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I had one of those special infants twenty years ago. I can’t thank my home/school teacher enough. She helped alleviate my fears and taught me how to reach my extremely pre-term baby (25 weeks gestation). Today he is a high school senior, participating in an alternative program. He should finish this year with a high school diploma and a trade. She is one of the reasons I became an early childhood educator.
I worked in one of these federally funded pre-school programs. It was a disaster.
I and an aide had twenty children between the ages of two and five. We were housed in a regular elementary classroom. No accommodations were made for these children’s needs. They ate in the cafeteria where the benches and tables were too large for children eat comfortably. Children often fell to the floor between the bench and table. The bathroom was located several feet down the hall. This made it difficult to adequately supervise students when one teacher is out of the room changing a diaper. This also meant that students were strongly encouraged to use the bathroom on a schedule. That would place twenty children in a bathroom meant for three. How about we sit on the floor and sing while we wait for a turn? Playground equipment was to large. Children took naps on the floor while resting on towels. This was against state policy which requires that children be elevated off the floor by at least 18 inches. Infants must have a separate napping area with cribs. This could be extended to children less than 30 months in age.
I had a great teacher’s edition with an inappropriate curriculum, but it did give nice ideas for themes. I was given one day to set up my classroom. I was assured that I would have all the materials needed to teach a pre-school class. I had two top heavy shelve, three tables a set of cubbies and a wooden kitchenette sans dolls, dishes or dress ups. I had two dozen mis-matched blocks and nothing else! I had to go shopping, there wasn’t even a pencil sharpener in the room. No crayons, paper, scissors or even pencils. No puzzles or toys. Nothing!
I still believe in early childhood education. But I do not trust that Washington has a clue as to what that means. It does not include standardized testing. It does not include drills for rhyming words, beginning sounds to letter names. And the curriculum does not come from a computer program. And it absolutely does not include locations which have not addressed the basic safety/health needs of very young children.
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All of these poignant stories need to be sent to USDOE immediately as well as be published in the media and SPREAD!
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