Colorado State Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond sent a letter to all districts warning them not to opt out of state or federal testing. The gist of his letter was: it may be harmful; it may be child abuse; it may violate your professional ethics; Italy be a waste of time and money; but it is the law and in our state, we follow orders.
Superintendent Nicholas Gledich said District 11 did not intend to break the law. “”We’ve never had a desire to not be in compliance with the laws; we’ve had a desire to create change and coordination by which the conversation could be held,” he said.
“But D-11 isn’t conceding defeat.
“We’re not ready to just drop everything,” said Elaine Naleski, vice president of the district’s board. “We’re still having the conversations. At this point, I don’t want to say OK, they said we can’t do it so let’s go back to doing what we have been doing. We believe in local control and will do what we can locally because we believe it’s good for the kids.”
“Gledich said Hammond didn’t shut the door on D-11’s request. In his letter to Gledich, Hammond said he will have CDE staff reach out to D-11 to “explore ways in which the department can continue to collaborate and incubate innovative approaches to these issues.”
“What I see in his response is he’d like to work with us to explore innovative approaches,” Gledich said.
“However, he and I both understand that we have to work within the federal requirements.”
“The mounting resistance to standardized testing is coming at a time when Colorado education officials are reviewing a frustrating picture of a lack of academic improvement over the past 10 years of testing.
According to an annual report the CDE submitted to the State Board on Wednesday, while the percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced on math tests has increased by 12 percent since 2004, it’s only advanced by 3 percent in reading and writing.
“School readiness of 4-year-olds has declined in literacy and math in the past three years and the percentage of third-graders reading at or above grade level has stagnated at about 72 percent.”
Remember how Arne Duncan says he wants less testing? Don’t believe him. In Colorado, such requests are routinely rejected by Duncan’s DOE. Do you think he doesn’t know?
“The U.S. Department of Education “has made it clear to us” that if a state or district fails to comply with the assessment requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or a state-approved flexibility waiver, its federal funding for low-income students could be in jeopardy, Hammond’s letter to superintendents states.”
Thanks, Arne, for reminding us to watch what you do and ignore what you say or write.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
With regards to those who HOLD TEACHERS CAPTIVE and make teachers deny what they know about good theory and pedagogy by the repressive FED policies: MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO! No one in D.C. can and will think OUT OF THE CC$$ money bondoogle. I am sick of their propaganda and the mantrra: “There, there, now! All will be good, if you just follow our dictums. Besides, you are ONLY teachers.”
Look at the nurses re: Ebola. Good for them.
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For a “movement” that billed itself to be “data-driven”, it has become “data-blind.” Apparently when the data does not support a belief or directive, it is OK to ignore it, however excessive the data gathering is.
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The states should have the right to sue the federal government for exceeding its constitutional boundaries if in doing so, it conflicts with a state law. The states can sue because the federal government is interfering with the state’s constitutionally reserved sovereignty. The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Since education is not mentioned in the Constitution, it is one of those powers reserved to the states.
Why hasn’t a state sued the DOE and Arne Duncan? It’s time. Maybe we should start writing letters to our state governors and attorney generals.
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Louisiana has.
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I recall that so far, the results of those law suits have been a mixed bag.
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I’m thinking of the law suit Bobby Jindal filed in August, which is still in its infancy. The parties are briefing Louisiana’s motion for a preliminary injunction. It’s set for argument in November. I’m not aware of any other state that has sued the Department of Education on the grounds that RTTT is unconstitutional and/or violates federal law.
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As I recall, there was more than one law suit in the education wars between Jindal and White. Both filed cases against each other. Didn’t white’s state department of education sue the state?
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That may be, I’m not sure. I was just talking about states suing the federal government.
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I think I read about it here on this Blog. We may have to wait for some time for the end results.
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“…but it is the law and in our state….”
When the laws are unjust, jail is the only place for a just man.
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Where is a Ghandi when we need one to lead the people?
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School readiness of 4-year-olds has declined in literacy and math in the past three years and the percentage of third-graders reading at or above grade level has stagnated at about 72 percent.”
4 year olds aren’t school ready? So we’re blaming this on the schools because…..?
No amount of school reform is going to fix a problem that originates before children even enter school.
It is as absurd as blaming the PE teacher for childhood obesity.
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Yertle, good catch. I don’t want to know how they’re ” measuring” school readiness in 4year olds.
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Yertle, I want to add another important aspect of why children aren’t meeting adults’ expectations. Besides being developmentally ready children need to have a good self-image. Once a child’s ego has been attacked, once they have developed a poor self image it is next to impossible to heal that wound. But people in authority continue the cycle of expecting children to learn via the wrong approach and then punish them if they don’t learn or meet the standards established. CC’s reading program is anchored in the wrong approach. Some people can not learn via phonics. Plus, over tax the memory and the child will blow a fuse. Now is not the time to elaborate on all the problems of the CC’s language arts/ reading standards.
David Elkind’s The Hurried Child is a landmark. Add to that countless other early childhood experts such as Marie Clay. When scientists discover something new in the field of medicine we listen otherwise most of us would be dead by now but we don’t listen to early childhood experts. David Elkind, PhD writes about preschoolers at risk in “Much Too Early.”
http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/david_elkind.html
“It is during the early years, ages four to seven, when children’s basic attitudes toward themselves as students and toward learning and school are established. Children who come through this period feeling good about themselves, who enjoy learning and who like school, will have a lasting appetite for the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Children whose academic self-esteem is all but destroyed during these formative years, who develop an antipathy toward learning, and a dislike of school, will never fully realize their latent abilities and talents.”
“Those calling for academic instruction of the young don’t seem to appreciate that math and reading are complex skills acquired in stages related to age. Children will acquire these skills more easily and more soundly if their lessons accord with the developmental sequence that parallels their cognitive development.”
“Only 3 to 5% read early. Most of those children have IQs of 120 or higher. Most of them had a parent or relative who took special interest in them. They read to their children, took them to the library, and talked about books with them.”
Jerome Bruner’s discovered the importance of being developmentally ready. He discovered that in French-speaking parts of Switzerland, where reading instruction is begun at the preschool level, a large percentage of children have reading problems. In German-speaking parts of Switzerland, where reading is not taught until age six or seven, there are few reading problems. In Denmark, where reading is taught late, there is almost no illiteracy. Likewise in Russia, where the literacy rate is quite high, reading is not taught until the age of six or seven.
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I agree. A 4 year old is school ready if they come from a home where their physical and emotional needs are met.
Find a 4 year old who isn’t school ready and you’ve found a child who is probably impoverished, neglected, or abused.
Common Core isn’t the answer. Common decency is. I hope the political class hears that message loud and clear.
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And Arne will say Gates has no involvement in education and he has no control or say in local decisions. He is a liar, a buffoon or a lying buffoon.
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I would love to see Arne’s signature on the letter that “makes it clear” that funding will be cut to any non-compliant district.
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True: a nation must have and exist under laws.
However: Rational people must understand that when laws are counterproductive to productive societal existence, resistance becomes imperative . The Germans, under Hitler, found this out to their deep sorrow. Not all laws benefit society.
It IS a difficult conundrum at times but educators, as people who believe in the prevalence of true scholarly research to discover the “glimmers of truth” should lead the way in society, not be bound by political intrigue, ignorance and stupidity.
The Supreme Court identified the public school sector as “promoting government agenda”. Their exact words. The very foundation for public school philosophical existence. True; there IS a certain amount of government agenda which is followed in public school teachings. BUT as the foundation of WHY and HOW our public schools exist, nothing in my opinion could be more fascist. AND, this is what is being foisted upon the public schools now. Politicians set the agenda, not scholarly research to such a degree that one would have to agree that the belief in fascism, top down decrees, supersedes the belief in the efficacy of democratic principles, bottom up, from the people who should best know what is what. Democracy itself is under fire if one believes in the efficacy of democratic principles rather than fascism.
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>>>”The Supreme Court identified the public school sector as “promoting government agenda.”<<<
Please clarify. When did this happen? What case, what date?
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“conform or be cast out” -Rush
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As someone who has taught in CO for 30+ years I am heartened by the opt-out movement because that is the only way to get the testing mania to at least slow down. Hammond seems to be a good commissioner but the literacy folks at the CO State Dept. are stuck in the NCLB/Assessment mode and are especially in love with DIBELs (the new CDE Director of Literacy is a DIBELs trainer!!). The decks have been stacked against young children getting better literacy instruction in CO for over a decade. NCLB/Reading First assessments and corresponding “programs” are promoted by CDE folks with primarily a Special Education background and have NOT helped the majority of our children – especially our second language learners (hence the problem with the scores). Many CO literacy professionals (teachers, University professors, district literacy leaders) do their best to ignore the stuff coming out of the CDE Literacy Department and instead attend professional conferences such as the CCIRA (CO Council of International Reading Assoc) conference held every Feb. to try to keep up with current developments in the field.
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Ooooo….scary! Who needs Halloween ghosts & goblins in Colorado?
You’ve got Hammond! “…it may be harmful; it may be child abuse…but it is the law & in our state, we follow orders.”
Isn’t that what happened in WW II?
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