In September, I wrote about Dawn Neely-Randall, a teacher in her 25th year of teaching in Ohio who decided she had to speak out against the testing madness that had swept the nation. I said if there were 1,000 teachers with her gumption in Ohio (and every other state), we could drive the “reformers” out of our schools and back to the smoke-filled rooms and financial institutions where they came from (of I didn’t exactly say that, I meant it).
Dawn has continued to speak out, and she sent me her Facebook page, which has pictures of her in conversation with Governor John Kasich. Governor Kasich looks on approvingly while charter pirates raid the state treasury of about $1 billion a year. He doesn’t worry about their poor performance or about their high profits because they also are generous contributors to his party! He doesn’t worry about wasting the lives of Ohio’s children by putting them in schools run by mercenaries. He doesn’t care about squandering the public’s money intended for education.
Dawn sent this new letter:
“Diane, I just thought I’d share my FB post from today. I’ve now talked with 1 Governor (and 1 Governor Candidate); 3 Senators; 6 State Reps; 1 Congress Woman (and 1 Congress Woman candidate); the Ohio Board of Education (twice); and the Ohio School Board. Here’s a photo of me trying to hold Governor Kasich to task over all this testing (who agreed that 18 hours for my fifth-graders “seems excessive” and who PROMISED I would be heard, but, of course, I have still not received the guaranteed phone call from our State of Ohio School Superintendent. (I’m the one who wrote the Washington Post piece of throwing students to the testing wolves…) In the meantime, parents in Ohio are starting to activate. It is all so overwhelming.
“Here is my FB post. Please see photos with Koch-funded and future Presidential candidate John Ka$ich from last Saturday at LCCC in Elyria, Ohio:
Dawn Neely-Randall
“Stress is really setting in.
“This morning, I awoke feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I don’t know how one little rant on Facebook last March got me from just being a concerned teacher to being so out there politically and publicly. I have NO political aspirations and I have received NO compensation for anything I’ve done, however, as I’m sure you can imagine, once you enter the public arena, you become a target since there is no way to please everyone. I go to bed writing letters to legislators and stakeholders in my head and awake wondering what I can do next to stop all this testing madness for my students. It has become a heart and moral issue for me. It is all so out of control and if you were already on my FB page prior to March, you heard me forewarning that all this was coming. I have said before that I felt I was building an ark and telling everyone that a flood was coming and trying to get them to save their children and that is really how I feel. (And it is only going to get worse and is already happening in other parts of our country.) If things don’t change soon, my health really can’t continue to tolerate all this stress and I don’t know what I will do differently with my career next year, but I have a feeling that the testing students will have to sit through from February through May will be a deal breaker and will send me out of the classroom for good.
“The other problem is that the more I speak out, the more people want to refuse the tests which does, indeed, hurt a teacher’s evaluation rating (brilliant move by the State of Ohio to give students a zero for refusing a testing and penalizing teachers to keep teachers silent), so, you can imagine, this will not make me popular with my colleagues. However, what about the children? I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. Legislators from both sides are telling me they can’t help and that it will take a massive act of civil disobedience from parents to change things. Teachers have duct tape over their mouths. Many School Board members are starting to catch on (thank God) and I’m putting my hopes in the fact that they will take their roles very seriously as the first line of defense against the state harming the students on their watch. And in the midst of it all, slowly but surely, I have to teach my students to navigate the computer for all the online PARCC (Partnership for Assessment for Readiness for College and Careers) testing coming their way and just the first introduction I gave them to the online practice test seemed to really freak (and stress) them out; I fear it is literally breaking my heart.
“Here’s a list of Ohio Department of Education testing hours JUST for 3rd through 8th grade (NOT INCLUDING) all the other state mandated testing, which adds ample hours to each school year and not including students’ course work testing as well. Remember, please that this will be the SAME child (your child or your neighbor’s child or your grandchild) testing from grade to grade to grade; add up the hours. Which grade level will suffer the most? The grade level AFTER the grade level that students were testing. In other words, each year that goes by, the more fried students will, of course, become. (Imagine how “happy” students will be about going to school by their middle school years and how dejected they will feel about testing by then.)
“How many drives to Florida could I make from Ohio in the same amount of time that students are testing 3rd through 8th grade? And remember, kindergarteners this year started testing first off this school year. Also, remember, this is just a partial list of hours students are tested. Is it just me, or is this so insanely insane?
“The Ohio Department of Education assessment staff is pleased to report session times for this year’s administration of Ohio’s New State Tests”:
“PARCC TESTNG 3rd Grade: 9.75 hours
4th Grade: 12.5 hours
5th Grade: 12.5 hours
6th Grade: 12.3 hours
7th Grade: 10.8 hours
8th Grade: 13.3 hours”
Thank you, Dawn. Thank you for your courage. This testing is not helping children, and you know it. It is a hoax intended to make public education look bad so the profiteers can move in and “save” more children from public education. They will open fly-by-night schools staffed by uncertified “teachers.” They will profit. Our kids will not. Keep fighting. As the scandals accumulate, and as voices like yours continue to be heard, the public will support you, not the people who seek to profit by destroying what belongs to the public.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The onslaught against our children and our profession in Ohio has reached feverish pitch here in Ohio this year, and we all join Dawn in fighting in the war to end standardized testing, educational malpractice, technological abuse of children, data mining and the complete dismantling of education by a plutocratic opportunist named John Kasich and his many shadowy cronies. Yes, we fear retribution by our home districts and state officials for rocking the proverbial boat, but this goes way beyond us. This effects the futures of millions of children who DESERVE FAR BETTER than what is being set up for them. They cannot stand and fight for their own rights, and so we will do so in their place. That is why we fight and that is why we stand.
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You speak for me, Dawn, and thousands of other classroom teachers across our country. I am proud to stand with you, beside you, and behind you as you speak out for our children and education.
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I also teach in Ohio, and Dawn is 100% correct. We do have our mouths taped shut. Every teacher I know, K-6 in all subjects, is being run ragged and afraid to complain. We feel bullied. We need more teachers with Dawn’s unwavering commitment to protect her students. And we need some politicians with the same committment. Protect the kids!!!
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Parents and students are free to protest. No one can fire them.
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That’s right. I speak out for some of my children’s teachers because many of them feel they cannot. If every teacher found one parent who would speak up, imagine the change we would make! I get the chills just thinking about it!
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We refuse the tests, but parents and students are not always free to protest. I was ready to refuse when my daughter was younger, but she wasn’t ready. She became very anxious because there was so much focus on the tests at school and she was terrified that her teachers would be angry with her. I allowed her to test until she was ready to refuse. Even though parents can refuse, it is our children who face the consequences. Some children are bullied by teachers and/or administration to take the tests. It is a lot to ask of children and it is unfair to expect them to fight this fight.
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I have had the pleasure of getting to know Dawn Neely-Randall in the last year and I could not be more proud to know that someone like her is in the district where my son goes to school and my husband is a high school History teacher. She is a true advocate for our children and I commend her for having the courage to speak out against the extreme amount of testing our children are forced to endure in the name of profit. Keep up the fight, Dawn! You have so many of us standing with you!
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Dawn, On 8/24/14 ConversationED had a #Boycott Webinar,
with Cindy Hamilton (Opt Out Orlando) and Kathleen Jasper (Founder, ConversationED). Here are some of my notes from the webinar:
“Every state must have a code for students who refuse the test. In some states (FL) it is NR2. This code means “non-attemptedness.” This is the score for breaking the seal on the test but answering no questions. It does not = a zero. You should be able to ask your state DoE how to do this. This should pave the way for other authentic ways to assess your child.” I contacted the RI Dept of Ed and was told “Students who opt out of participation on state assessments [PARCC] will be counted as a non-participant when we calculate participation rates, but the nonparticipating students will not receive a score of “0” when we calculate the percent of students who attained proficiency.” and “Opting out of participation in state assessments, under current state laws and regulations, will not affect a student’s placement, grade retention, or receipt of special services, nor will opting out affect a teacher’s evaluation.” I’m skeptical of taking this at face value, but I have it in writing. I also made sure that my emails were cc’d to the RI ACLU. Is it different in Ohio because of a specific law? I am retired and do not have to face the ethical dilemma that active teachers do. Still, I feel that the situation has become so damaging to children and their futures that acts of civil disobedience are warranted. Follow your heart, and continue keeping the children uppermost in your mind. Thank you for your courage and inspiration.
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Your blog was beautifully written. I am an Ohio teacher, and it sickens me what John Kasich has done to Ohio education, Preschool through 12. We have middle class college students in Ohio with tight finances having a hard time making tuition payments to high cost Ohio universities, and he gives millions of dollars to dishonest people making huge profits in charter schools. The poor decisions he makes affect Ohio children, but not his own two daughters.
You are totally right..the results of the PARCC testing will be used to break the public schools and encourage parents to enroll their children in charter schools. I have so much less time to teach this year and so many more hours will be spent on PARCC testing with inappropriate developmental goals of the Common Core. Word gets around, and fewer people will enter the teaching profession. It is all a part of the big plan.
Connecting teacher evaluations with low scores on PARCC testing will enable the state to clear out good, effective teachers from schools. Who in their right mind would invest $100,000 in a Bachelor’s degree to lose their jobs their 3rd year of teaching? Once a teacher loses a job, it is almost impossible to get another one. It is all so sad, and honestly, I can’t believe I’m observing all of this at the end of my career. I thank God every morning as I drive to school that I was able to teach my students (so many years) the way that I knew was best for them. It is not the case now. I would have never made it to retirement. Thank you, Diane, for your wonderful blog. It helps me cope so much.
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OMG sad teacher…..you perfectly summed up my feelings. Can I take it another 4 years? I think the management by intimidation is reaching a fever pitch. I think teachers are so backed into the corner that they are going to see them start to fight back. When you get enough of us fed up and willing to do whatever it takes, things will change. The only way that is going to happen is at the grassroots level. My challenge to all the fellow viewers on this site is to make sure EVERYONE you know has heard and viewed Diane’s “national treasure”…..a teacher’s voice. We might be weak in the pocket, but we are strong in the heart. WE CAN STOP IT. Let’s stop being scared. This is an election year in many states. MAKE SURE you vote.
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Ditto. Especially your last paragraph.
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I have had the pleasure of getting to know Dawn Neely-Randall this past year and I cannot be more proud of the fact that she teaches in the district my son attends school and my husband teaches high school. She is a true advocate for our kids and I thank her for all that she has done to make others aware of the extreme amount of testing they have to endure. It is abusive, innapropriate, and it has to stop. Our jobs as parents is to do what we can to help put an end to it as well.
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This fellow BAT teacher is spot on. She should be commended for her courage to speak out about this issue! I wish her, and all fellow teachers facing this ridiculous testing regimen the best of luck. Education is facing so many hurdles, yet teachers are brave enough to speak out for their students when no one else will.
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“to hold Governor Kasich to task over all this testing (who agreed that 18 hours for my fifth-graders “seems excessive”
That was generous of him.
It might be helpful if one of the lawmakers in this state actually wandered into a public school now and again. It’s clear they’re not huge fans of our public schools, but we are paying them. I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere in the job description.
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You gotta remember it was Kasich who dismissed protesting college professors as “eggheads”, called a policeman an “idiot” for writing the governor a ticket, and vowed to “break the backs” of teachers. Plus he gloated after his 49% victory that teachers should take out a full page ad with an apology for opposing him. He also mentioned something about Californians being “whackadoodles” and politicians’ wives staying home to do the laundry. His standard for evaluating CCSS was if it ended up being “goofy”, we’ll try something else. You really can not make this stuff up. And the state school board races are even more bizarre.
Most people I talk to supporting the GOP in Ohio have no idea what is going on. They vote based on the Republican brand, not reality, even when against their own interests. Fear and “us v. them” are the troubling undercurrents with dog whistles blowing in every ad. Most major papers are silent or terrified of Kasich.
Ohio has had 23 consecutive months of job growth below the national average. The new jobs are low wage, part time, few benefits. Yet voters look like they will elect Kasich for another term. Of course, Nixon was reelected, too. And, yes, Kasich wants to be YOUR president.
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Thanks to lending your voice to this fight, Dawn Neely-Randall. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher and the students of Ohio are lucky to have you as their advocate. I am adding Kasich to my list of potential candidates who WILL NOT receive my vote in their quest to become our next President.
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Diane, How do I contact you? I have just finished writing a book. The title is: Why the Common Core is Cognitively and Psychologically Unsound. Why is this title important? In addition to having a Master’s Degree in Psychology, I have, for most of my career, I have been a AP Psychologyand/or IB Psychology instructor. Even now, psychology occupies 100% of my teaching load. That is,three classes of AP Psych and two sectionsof Introductory Psych. More to the point, my book is not an emotional rant. It is based entirely in science, i.e., the academic literature as well as in neuroscience. Been working on it for 18 months. Teachers in my building have been raving about it. Terry from Connecticut.
From: Diane Ravitch’s blog To: terrymarselle@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 3:01 PM Subject: [New post] When Dawn Randall Met Governor Kasich #yiv0980305185 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv0980305185 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv0980305185 a.yiv0980305185primaryactionlink:link, #yiv0980305185 a.yiv0980305185primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv0980305185 a.yiv0980305185primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv0980305185 a.yiv0980305185primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv0980305185 WordPress.com | dianeravitch posted: “In September, I wrote about Dawn Neely-Randall, a teacher in her 25th year of teaching in Ohio who decided she had to speak out against the testing madness that had swept the nation. I said if there were 1,000 teachers with her gumption in Ohio (and every” | |
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Thank you Dawn for speaking for teachers and children and for not giving up the good fight. ^o^
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Diane – I know that you will NOT be surprised to learn that the amazing Dawn Neely Randall is a BAT ^0^
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I am so glad you posted this! Dawn Neely-Randall is a HUGE inspiration to me. She reports her Ohio encounters on BATs facebook page and I am inspired to keep up. She’s made a list of any elected official or community organization who should be expected to help public education and she has worked her way through it. I love it. Keep on keepin’ on Dawn!
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Dawn is a wonder. The obstacles in getting rid of the out-of-control testing in Ohio and elsewhere are formidable.
The tests of students in Ohio and many other states are no longer used to gain insight into student learning (not that they were every great for that).
The tests are used to produce ratings of teachers and schools and districts in accordance with the rules established by federal grants since 2001 (from NCLB to Race to the Top), plus specific rules from state legislatures with many of these pre-written by the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC wants tax-subsidized for-profit education, so does our governor in Ohio and a majority of legislators.
The Ohio School Board and the Ohio State Department of Education have limited freedom of action. Both use their authority to impose even more rules on the work of teachers, including the whole testing regime for evaluating teachers.
Ohio still requires EVASS (VAM) for teachers of subjects for which there are state wide tests, such as science and social studies. These are in addition to forthcoming PARCC tests of mathematics and English language arts. Scores on these tests count for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation in Ohio (and at least 14 other states).
The majority of Ohio teachers who do not receive a VAM rating are required to prepare SLOs (also a requirement in at least 21 other states). An SLO is a convoluted writing assignment for teachers based on MBO, a (failed) scheme of management-by-objectives from mid-century last. SLOs have no research to support any claim to their validity or reliability for teacher evaluation. Does this matter/ No.
In Ohio, every teacher who does not receive a EVASS (VAM) must write two SLOs that include data from a district-approved pretest and a posttest for the grade or course.
Outcomes from SLOs, like EVASS (VAM), will count for 50% of your evaluation as a teacher.
In Ohio, every teacher of record who provides instruction must be able to generate a record of each student’s gain in scores, pretest to end-of-course.
This is how you get a minimum of two tests (and possibly four), in kindergarten, in grades one and two, and in subjects such as art, music, dance, theater, physical education, and in elective subjects in middle school and high school for which there are not state-wide tests. These additional tests must meet formal specifications,
The State of Ohio specifications for SLO tests explicitly prohibit tests that teachers create for their own classroom and insight. Here are a few of the test criteria:
(a) items on the test should cover all key subject/grade-level content standards.
(b) no items on the test should cover standards that the course does not address.
(c) where possible, the number of test items should mirror the distribution of teaching time devoted to concepts or the curriculum focus, and
(d) the same test cannot be used for a pretest and post test
(e) tests must be reliable, valid, district approved and comparable across classrooms.
In Ohio and elsewhere there is much talk of “assessments” as if the nuanced thinking and qualitative judgments in an assessment is interchangeable with scores on tests. Wrong.
In Ohio and many other states the whole system of testing and teacher evaluation is designed to produce data-for the Gates-funded Teacher Student Data Link project and Instructional Improvement System and the USDE funded longitudinal data system. The algorithms in these data systems produce counts and ratings, think computer code and you see how reductive all reports from these “big data” systems will be, how distant from any informed understandings of teaching and learning.
For 2015-2016 districts in Ohio may have a “choice” in how they evaluate teachers. One is the existing system. The other system will still require evidence of using “measures” of student learning but includes more options, including a combination of portfolios of students’ written work, peer reviews, and self-assessments—all with many of the features of SLOs and scores derived from rubrics, along with student surveys. Not a major change in chasing minutia and metrics.
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It was negotiated to 42.5% of a teachers evaluation is standardized tests – a nice round number. This was between Peggy “teachers are over paid” Lehner and Gerald “revoke their license” Stebleton of the education committees. SLOs would make John Nash proud with all the gaming underway. OTES just sets up teachers to fail and penalizes good teachers working in challenging situations. And add to that the public blacklisting when SLO scores are posted. Now that would make Joe McCarthy proud.
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I am honored to know Dawn, & continue to be guided, empowered, & drawn to action myself because of the upstanding, surprising, tireless, & new ways she accomplishes the pursuit of transparency & truth in this arena of todays corrupt public education. Through Dawn, I have learned I can make a difference in my town, even if the local folks in powerful positions are bullying me & doing abusive things in the elementary school w/my painfully young children–ages 5, & 8. I told Dawn, months back, when I met her near Cleveland, “here, sitting on my lap–is my Bat’s motivator—my 3 year old baby.” Whenever the oppourtunity is upon me I lift Dawn up, because she has lifted me up in my fight. I see in her that indescribable thing that can never be taught— implicit crystal clear drive. Her support is priceless in my pursuit of successful test refusal for my children, which event tho’, I’ve formally test refused for my 2 older kids, months ago, my damn superintendent tested them anyhow… in my confusing moments, I sometimes think, well, what would Dawn do..?
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Thank you, Dawn Neely-Randall, for speaking up about this atrocity. The love of learning is being destroyed for an entire generation. This needs to stop NOW. If it isn’t stopped, the long term effects will be devastating.
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If you vote in Ohio, vote for one of the following for Ohio State Board of Education.
District 2- Redfern, 3- Wagner, 4- Bruns, 5- Painter-Goffi, 7- Charney, 8- Hagan, 10-Kinnamon or Rudduck. Friends of public education recommend them.
When voting for state representative or state senator, don’t vote Republican.
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Yes. I used to vote for moderate Republicans in Ohio that actually supported schools. But Kasich et al purged the central committee, state board of education, ODE, and other appointments of moderates, or those that remain cower in fear. I know of a few who secretly would support teachers and schools, but in this environment, must toe the line or be primaried with out of state attacks.
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Linda,
Thanks, I am on this. I know Pat Bruns. I have been feeding her some of the posts on this blog, especially about the corruption of charter schools.
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I am a better person because I know Dawn, & get to advocate w/her monthly at Bat’s meetings. I have a sad over testing story—-here is my recent letter to the editor that was published in the local newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio —-Violated
October 9, 2014
Morning Journal News
Save |
Editor:
My mom guilt has made me sick. I’m disturbed with the knowledge that I’ve gained since August of 2013 about education reform in Ohio. The increased standardized testing and how they are coupled to the new Common Core national standards.
Changes in curriculum, the frequency of standardized testing, data mining of student information, Teach For America replacing real teachers in a classroom … it goes on and on.
On Aug. 25, 2014, I stood up to formally refuse standardized testing for my two older children, who aren’t old enough to do so for themselves. They are 5 and 8 years old, in kindergarten and second grade, respectively.
With that decision, I found myself traveling down the rabbit hole. I knew that it would be hard, but was not ready for the push-back, bullying and obstruction I received from our local district.
I can handle the bullying, which has continued through the district’s superintendent, who has called my home, long string of emails telling me what I can and can’t do with the education of my children. That I am not allowed to ask my children’s teachers anything about testing, curriculum, materials, etc.
On Sept. 26, the superintendent confirmed my children were standardized tested.
I believe in respectfully speaking truth to power and authority. I want you and I to be able to exercise our constitutional rights when we think something is important. I believe my parental constitutional rights have been violated in the East Palestine City School District.
Allison M. Shipe
East Palestine
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I will be 100% honest at least during those 12.5 hour giving the PARCC test I can’t be accused of:
Not teaching correctly
Sitting at my desk
Not reaching 100% of the students 100% of the time
Can’t be observed on about 50 different Charlotte Danielson requiremnts
I am actually given enough material (usually I have to create, copy, distribute, and buy materials)
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Thank you Dawn. I’ll stand with you! A Reynoldsburg Intervention Specialist.
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As a parent and resident of Ohio, I read this post and comments with great interest. One of the major problems in communicating the well orchestrated theft of our public dollars is the convoluted and confusing terminology and abbreviations used to discuss it. I am very interested in writing letters to my elected officials, school board members and newspapers. However, one thing that has been stopping me is the terminology and requirements which seem to change every year.
Could one of you good folks send me a link to or put together a “cheat sheet” listing the terms and testing requirements for the 2014-5 school year. Please explain the abbreviations like PARCC, SLO, etc.. This would be a tremendous help to a non professional who is more than willing to take action.
The thefts of public funds is not limited to K-12 public education. The universities are under attack. See this article about the sell off of Ohio University profit making properties.http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-43395-east-state-sell-off.html
Then, there is the Ohio Supreme Ruling allowing the strip mining for coal in a state wildlife area http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/19/3569309/ohio-supreme-court-ok-to-strip-mine-state-parks/
The Ohio State Forest Lands are being logged at increasing rates.http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/23/trend-cuts-both-ways.html
Limited funds from the timber sales are given to some of the rural schools where the timber sales occur. Unfortunately, these funds in no way make up the slashes in school funding by the Kasich administration to the already impoverished rural schools.
What a nightmare.
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Bowling Green State University, according to website, right wing watch, is the only Ohio public university that takes money from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation often supports the same organizations that are funded by the Koch Foundation.
When public universities take plutocratic foundation grants, with strings attached, they should forfeit all public funding.
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greatlaurel
Never be afraid to ask questions and keep up the good work on waving the red flag.
Here is link to frequently asked questioned about PARCC. http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCFAQ_9-18-2013.pdf
SLOs are a version of MBO–management-by-objectives. Teachers are rated on how well they can predict the gains in the scores of their students between a test given early in the year or course and the end of the year or course. Teachers submit their SLO predictions to the principal or a district “evaluator” for approval. After the SLO is approved, a teacher cannot change the SLO. Teachers have to write two SLOs. After they enter the scores of their students on the end-of-year or end-of-course tests, a computer determines if their students have “met expectations,” exceeded expectations, or not met the expectations. The results count for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation. The district may set a threshold for student performance such as 85% of the students in grade five art classes will score at least 75% on a 100 item art vocabulary test. This about the same as a manager telling a salesperson, by the end of the second quarter report on our sales of cars you will personally sell at least 75% of the 100-car inventory. It is much more complicated. Here are two links that may show how this process works and how sadly ridiculous it has become in OHIO
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Educator-Evaluation-System/Ohio-s-Teacher-Evaluation-System/Student-Growth-Measures/Student-Learning-Objective-Examples/Student-Learning-Objectives-FAQs-1
http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Teaching/Educator-Evaluation-System/Ohio-s-Teacher-Evaluation-System/Student-Growth-Measures/110513_Business-rules-for-SGM.pdf.aspx
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I spent 2.5 hours this morning trying to teach 14 freshmen how to use the computer software for the Ohio AIR test that they will take at the end of this year for my physical science class. I have been teaching for 34 years (middle school, high school and college) and love working with freshmen and science. I know that my students have very little chance of being successful with the college level questions and the impossible software. Kasich should just fire me now. Try it yourself:: http://oh.portal.airast.org/ocba/ Click on Practice Tests
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I totally agree with you! Seems our state wants to push for privatization in many sectors of service including those that serve the developmentally disabled. The private sect doesn’t seem to have to meet the same standards as ones provided by the state. That leaves open many failures to happen at the expense of those served! Our children are afforded a free education provided by our states as we have all received when you turn it into a business for people to profit from then it truly has lost what a free education was meant to be.Yes we hear schools not meeting standards but the logical solution is to intervene and help correct those situations not restrict funding or bring in a private entity. Our children are more then dollars to be made as with our developmentally disabled. It’s about improving the system not finding ways to justify closing it with testing that is wasting time and money!!!!
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