A reader comments on the just-released “Every Child Achieves Act of 2015″:
“KNIFE PULLED OUT HALFWAY:
“The bill needed to eliminate mandatory annual tests and the last 12 years shows why. The claim that we needed these tests to figure out which kids are behind is preposterous. Same for demographic data – struggling classrooms need smaller class sizes, wraparound services and restoration of arts, not measuring and reporting to the Feds. It’s far enough in the rear view mirror to admit: NCLB was a total failure that made a generation hate school, narrowed curriculum and targeted teacher unions. It set the stage perfectly for rich vendor paydays, privatization and charter schools.
“Mission accomplished.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Since No Child Left Behind was enacted in 2002, the rate of growth in NAEP scores has declined, SAT scores have declined, ACT scores have remained flat, and PISA scores have declined. In D.C., after linking 50% of teacher evaluations to standardized test scores, teacher turnover increased to 82%, school in communities with high poverty rates showed large or moderate DECLINES in student outcomes, and the combined poverty gap for D.C. expanded by 44 scale-score points causing poor students to fall even further behind their affluent peers. It is time to begin to acknowledge that the the accountability movement has failed.
Too bad legislators don’t make informed decisions; they make only political decisions.
I was one of very few fighting NCLB when it landed on our doorstep. I can honestly say, while I’m sorry that it took this long, at least people are looking at me like I have 3 heads anymore. This is all the stuff that I was screaming about in 2002. I homeschooled for 2 years, sent them back ahead of the game, but it was a bigger mess than when we left I had to fight tooth and nail over everything. They were trying to tell students they had to have x score to take Spanish. I laughed, told my kid (who tested fine) if he got a 0 and wanted to take Spanish, that we would make it happen.
Schools really hate when you throw in the 14th Amendment, and now, I’ve added US Code to back us up. They really don’t have a leg to stand on using these tests in a punitive nature.
I have watched for years as our teachers have become less teaching and more just facilitating test details.
It’s sad. I fight, because frankly, I don’t want to homeschool again.
aren’t looking at me … oh, where’s the edit feature?
Give a reading teacher 20 minutes with a child and you’ll get all the info you need.
I agree. Also, a writing sample speaks volumes about a student’s level.
The diagnostic information you get is not what the test-supporters are after.
The mistake that many people make is assuming that those who are pushing for yearly standardized testing do it for diagnostic reasons.
They don’t — even though they often claim they do.
What they are after is a test score which they can assign to each student, which can collectively be used to assign a ranking to each teacher (eg, via VAM).
This is all about ranking and yanking teachers (not about diagnosing student problems). Pearson and other testing companies do not even provide the information needed for student diagnosis.
Agreed — I’ll go a step further and say assigning grades to students is the same thing: Ranking and yanking, unnecessary for diagnostics. The madness is deeply entrenched.
” I’ll go a step further and say assigning grades to students is the same thing: Ranking and yanking, unnecessary for diagnostics. The madness is deeply entrenched.”
YEP! Been saying that for years. TAGO!
This writer is correct…my theory is that is just what NCLB was meant to do…set the stage to attack teachers unions and lead to,privatization.
Don’t celebrate yet. After the Bill goes through revisions, the knife might be shoved back in and twisted. The lost battles in Chicago and NY were devastating but there will be some losses in this war. We can’t win all the battles. Someone this morning mentioned that corporate education reform is a hostile take over of public education.
I think that fits perfect—a hostile take over of public education.
“We can’t win all the battles.”
I’d settle for a few at this point.
We win battles too. This was in The Washington Post on March 19.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/19/revolt-against-high-stakes-standardized-testing-growing-and-so-does-its-impact/
“California is changing its accountability system to greatly de-emphasize testing. And many states have established commissions to review the amount of public school testing. The Ohio governor just signed a bill protecting students from the most punitive consequences of the Common Core exams.
“States also are increasingly rejecting the federally funded PARCC and Smarter Balanced Common Core exams. The number of states participating in PARCC dropped by half over the past year, while several states dropped Smarter Balanced. More are likely to join them in the coming year.
“Another important development has been the rapid increase in state and local teacher unions openly battling the overuse and misuse of tests and backing the right of parents to opt out. Nationally, the National Education Association is pushing Congress to require only grade-span testing, and it voted to support parental opt-out rights. As unions have stepped up, community-parent-union alliances have grown.”
This was in the Los Angeles Times:
Governor Jerry Brown filed an appeal Friday of a ruling that struck down traditional job protections for teachers.
The state’s two largest teacher unions are expected to follow suit in the case of Vergara vs. California. A tentative ruling, announced in June, became final this week, starting a 60-day window for an appeal.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-governor-appeals-vergara-20140829-story.html
Appeals in Vergara case due before judged at end of March.
Once the papers from the state and the two teachers unions, California Federation of Teachers and California Teachers Association, have been filed, lawyers for the plaintiffs have 40 days to respond.
The case will go before three judges chosen from a pool of four: Presiding Justice Roger W. Boren, Judith Ashmann-Gerst, Victoria Chavez and Brian Hofstadt. Boren was appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian, Ashmann-Gerst by Gray Davis, Chavez by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hofstadt by Jerry Brown.
At issue is whether trial judge Rolf Treu ruled properly last year in deciding that California laws governing teacher dismissal, seniority and tenure were unconstitutional in denying some students a quality public education.
The laws remain in place, pending the completion of appeals.
http://laschoolreport.com/category/news/vergara-trial/
I don’t know- does it matter that much? They left most of it up to the states and most states have GOP governors who are 100% on board with Bush-Obama approach. No one will know how states will use tests, particularly now, with the Common Core testing.
I would imagine state lawmakers in the “ed reform movement” will use the CC test scores for everything under the sun, particularly because those tests have been sold as determinative on “college and career ready”.
I don’t think much changes for public school kids. All the decisions will be made at the state level.
I think it will depend on the state. I think the states rights conservatives are trying to send a message to Washington. In NY we have governor trying to destabilize the public schools, and attack the “monopoly” of public education while he’s holding hands with hedge fund managers.
I hate that “monopoly”. Seriously? Education is not a freaking for profit business. I know; I know, I’m preaching to the choir.
I think all states are trying to destabilize public education. Ruin, denigrate, torture, and generally disrespect our teachers.
Tracey,
Concur!!
To think that 13,000+ individual school districts somehow manages to be a “monopoly” is quite the bastardization of the word. When someone like Cuomo says such an inanity we should immediately shout out “BULLSHIT”, LYING DOG.
Duane
Do you have any idea how many houses and hotels there are in that 13,000 district monopoly?
Obviously not.
Why, only one time around the board can bankrupt you. You’re better off not using that “get out of jail free” card that Andrew gave you and going to jail.
The Billionaire Boys Club have not finished their mission. They are meeting in Arizona at the ASUSJV Conference this week and according to Bloomberg news, they believe the only solution now to school reform is to completely destroy our failing system and create a completely new system based on technology. Arizona State University and the San Jose Valley group want to benefit from all this new reform, so of course they need to be in charge of calling the shots because they know more than the rest of the people. Even this mornings interview on Bloomberg with the Head of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, was about the terrible public schools in this country. Dr. Kim said technology could help third world countries just over the experience of having to deal with improving all of these current terrible schools we have here by using the latest advances in technology to give these students a much better education. He said he has talked with Bill Gates about how to accomplish this task. Of course, Bill Gates is the person to explain how to improve education for the masses of the third world and he is doing this why? Are we including all of our students living in poverty in this plan from our own country? Oh what a wonderful profession we have as teachers.
This plan has been in the works for years and its all about the Money. Eliminate teachers, buildings, support staff, busing and admin. while you fit every kid with a devise and deliver instruction online. The tech companies are the ones that make out in this deal.
If online learningis so great, let’s test it in wealthy public schools first.
I don’t know why poor and middle class kids are always the experimental subjects.
Let me know how replacing teachers with screens goes in wealthy areas. Then I’ll consider it.
Once again we’re letting the richest people in the country run the show. I’m sick of it. I want a real advocate in government.
They are always the experiments for the same reasons poor people are always the experiments for newly developed medications.
Test it in the wealthy private schools first. If it is so great, than wouldn’t the rich and powerful insist that their children be among the first to receive the benefits of same?
can we just stop the whinging and start refusing?
people like me have been telling you this was the intent for years; you didn’t believe us – told us we were hysterical, paranoid conspiracy theorists… now you believe us and STILL all we do is lots of hand wringing and groaning “oh woe is me/us”….
seriously — how much does it take for you to get mad and DO stuff —- serious push backs… like refusing to implement Common Core? like refusing to administer the tests? like rallies, strikes, media campaigns… like taking back your unions and kicking out your complicit union leaders… like pairing up with parents to create a critical mass of resistance….
And the students have a say, too!
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/students-opting-out-of-common-core-exams/
This thing is turning. Pressure from the critical mass of angry students, parents, educators and the truth will not abate.
I wish I didn’t read the comments in that article. It’s depressing the disdain some parents will express for public schools in other districts. As a parent of a child in a public school in a district looked down upon , it saddens me that people make assumptions about my parenting and my child.
yes…. the students and parents are the ones pushing back….
i am waiting to see the teachers #RefuseToTest…. refuse to implement Common Core….
Diane, I am a high school teacher from Roselle NJ, who has a great deal of respect for you and what you represent. I very much appreciate and agree with your response to, “The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.” As you might agree, while the fight now is in the hands of the individual states’ Commissioners’ of Education, we still have a long way to go, especially in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and other states.
I would appreciate any suggestions you might have in engaging the concerns in these states and others.
Sincerely,
Lance Hilfman
Lance,
It will be an uphill fight, but the resistance is growing. The wheel will turn. It always does. Educate, organize, unify, fight back.
There is one section of the draft that is absolutely fascinating to me. It’s the part that says “The Secretary shall be prohibited from requiring or coercing a State to enter into a voluntary partnership”.
I wonder if Congress has ever passed a law before that enumerates a specific prohibition against a cabinet secretary coercing a State government.
I know there’s disagreement here on this, but in my opinion the “coercion” charge is nonsense. It’s pure politics. Republicans needed an excuse for why they adopted all this stuff so they blame Duncan.
They adopted it because they support it.
So, they test every kid six times in grade 3 thru 8. Question is, do they dole out extra federal resources to every specific kid who tests low? Otherwise, what’s the point?
What you said, sahila, what you said. And not just opting out, but getting the facts out, pointing the finger of blame (find out just how much money yout state is wasting on junk testing, & tell EVERYONE–you’ll be surprised at the reaction–taxpayers really do not like their money wasted, whatever the political party. People who are told in ILL-Annoy, for example, that “state officials said that $34 million was set aside for testing for the 2014-15 school year,” I’ve seen eyeballs popping, “WHAT?!” Time to point the finger at those who take, take, take education funding away from our kids, programs away from our schools–here, it’s Pear$on. Organize the protest, tell the story to all. As Diane said, “The wheel will turn.” Yes…180 degrees.
Yes, WE can and yes WE WILL!
Not to mention using 10 hours of the year, which runs about $10 per hour per student, for 2 million students, a mere $200 million in operational costs to the taxpayers for 10 hours of testing. Time is money.
What we parents (who pay the salaries of legislators) think about ESEA Reauthorization http://thewire.k12newsnetwork.com/2015/04/08/k12nn-podcast-esea-reauthorization-with-parents-across-america/ …
The bottom line seems to be Democrats got testing and nothing else.
Which should not really surprise anyone since Democrats announced at the start of negotiations that testing was all they would fight for.
They’re the standardized test party. That’s the sum total of their K-12 public school contribution. On all other matters they adopt their potted plant “agnostic” posture.
The Obama Administration was promoting “virtual science labs” yesterday.
Our kids get second rate screen science while their kids get an actual lab with an actual teacher.
Education on the cheap! That and tests are what our kids get. Another DC rip-off for the lower classes. Screens and tests. That’s their “vision” for our schools.
Anyone see Cuomo’s latest propaganda commercial last night? Maybe he cares that he is hated? Pure lies…speaking of his victory in balancing the budget ” a win for NY’s School Children”…”Transforms our education system by reducing overtesting” Really??
“Rewarding high performing teachers” “The most Pro-teacher budget in history” Yeah – Cuomo just loves and supports teachers. So if you just say it on TV, it must be true…
I love the political tactic of “my mother was a teacher”
Duncan uses it too. I don’t know what it means. If your mother was a bank teller or CEO or worked in a dry cleaners does that mean you’re somehow an advocate for that work? It’s insisting people ignore actions and rely on their personal narrative,
We have plenty of actions to judge ed reform politicians on. We don’t need their personal history used as a shield.
Testing starts next week – maybe he is trying to get ahead of the opt-out rage coming.