I will be part of a parent-organized discussion of testing at PS 3 in Manhattan at 490 Hudson Street, from 6-9 pm.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT AGAINST
TEST-OBSESSED SYSTEM:
How Do We Put the Focus Back on Learning in our Schools?
A WORKING STRATEGY SESSION
Presentation by Diane Ravitch Followed by Breakout Action Groups
Welcome by Lisa Siegman, Principal PS3; City Councilmember Corey Johnson; and PS3 PAC co-Chair Nick Gottlieb
Presentation by Diane Ravitch followed by Question & Answer session
Breakout Action Groups
Reconvene for presentation by Action Groups and summation
Wednesday Jan. 21, 2015, 6:00 – 9:00pm
PS 3 Auditorium, 490 Hudson Street
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, this is a winning strategy. Hammer this talking point until the cows come home and the tests go away! Many parents are with us on this. Unfortunately too many minority parents have been duped into thinking that institutionalized, chronic failure is good for their children. Advocate groups infatuated with sub-group data that they have been duped into thinking will help level the playing field. Test score data that has yet to build a state of the art science lab, fill the band room with new instruments, lower class sizes to teachable levels, or air condition the hell holes that pass for inner city classrooms. All stakeholders must be convinced as to just how damaging and harmful the federal test-and-punish reform movement has already proven to be. And it is about to get worse unless we STOP the MADNESS!
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Thank you, Diane. Wish I could be there. Please hear the applause from the many, many out here who are thanking you tonight.
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There needs to be a better way of doing education than handing it over to private interests to become their problem and so the public can manage just how little money they’re willing to send them to make it their problem and otherwise blame them for failure.
Similarly, holding teachers and schools feet to the fire and demanding they close the constantly measured gaps or else has also proven ineffective – teachers can’t make magic happen, they can make a difference but that’s not the same as being to elevate students to academic heights beyond their grasp in a specific time frame – seriously whoever conceived of below average students advancing more than 1 grade level in a year (and sometimes expecting as many as 2 or 3) from a student who has trouble passing even one grade level…what were they thinking would happen with requiring teachers to make that happen and with no support to boot.
The measuring tells us there’s a problem, we’ve known about the problem for 40 years. When did the measuring become the solution rather than an identifier of the problem we already knew existed? Why have we spent 30 years trying to force people to do things that we know can’t be done on a consistent basis because we work with autonomous human beings with the major lever being teacher-assigned “grade points” – which if the student decides those don’t matter…there goes your extrinsic negative motivator.
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