Arne Duncan’s response to the many thousands of parents who are now opting out of state testing is typical of his past remarks about “white suburban moms” who are disappointed to learn that their children are not so brilliant after all, or teachers and parents who have been “lying” to their children by praising their mediocre school performance. He basically says they should get over it and do what the state and federal government tells them to do and stop coddling their children. He doesn’t coddle his children, why should they?
In an interview, he said that the federal government might have to step in if states have too many opt outs. Duncan has been touting the virtues of the Common Core and of the two tests that he funded—PARCC and SBAC–and he can’t understand why parents don’t want their children to take them.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that the federal government is obligated to intervene if states fail to address the rising number of students who are boycotting mandated annual exams.
Duncan’s comments come as an “opt out” advocacy group in New York reports that more than 184,000 students statewide out of about 1.1 million eligible test takers refused to take last week’s English exams. In New York City, nearly 3,100 students out of about 420,000 test takers opted out, according to the group.
The number of opt outs in New York more than tripled over last year.
Those estimates suggesting that more than 15 percent of students refused to take the tests have raised questions about the consequences for districts. Federal law requires all students in grades three to eight to take annual tests, and officials have said districts could face sanctions if fewer than 95 percent of students participate. On Tuesday, when asked whether states with many test boycotters would face consequences, Duncan said he expected states to make sure districts get enough students take the tests.
“We think most states will do that,” Duncan said during a discussion at the Education Writers Association conference in Chicago. “If states don’t do that, then we have an obligation to step in.”
Duncan also said that students in some states are tested too much, and acknowledged that the exams are challenging for many students. But he argued that annual standardized exams are essential for tracking student progress and monitoring the score gap between different student groups.
He also said the tests are “just not a traumatic event” for his children, who attend public school in Virginia.
“It’s just part of most kids’ education growing up,” he said. “Sometimes the adults make a big deal and that creates some trauma for the kids.”
Arne is just a bully and a bafoon. He’s just speaking the $$$$$ line of fear and punishment. Stupid.
I’m proud to see a fellow literacy person make this statement! I completely agree with you, Yvonne.
I’d love to see him “step in”. The opt-outs would triple and the outcry from states – and maybe from Congress – would spell his doom. Threats are not effective; we’ve been threatened for the last decade +.
Bring it on, Arne.
This is almost as dumb a response as his remark about “suburban soccer moms.” Lame duck–frustrated that parents are coming to understand his real agenda– needs to go work for a think tank!
The only thing Arne is stepping in is doo doo…
Mr. Duncan appears to be blissfully unaware of changing tides:
A test of education reform — Andy Smarick, via Fordham Institute
“The testing “opt-out” movement is testing education reform’s humility.”
http://edexcellence.net/articles/a-test-of-education-reform?utm_content=buffer97c98&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Are the Common Core tests turning out to be a big success or a resounding failure?
http://hechingerreport.org/are-the-common-core-tests-turning-out-to-be-a-big-success-or-a-resounding-failure/
Yes, nothing would calm parents down like the federal government “stepping in.”
I really wish “the adults” who are pushing these tests would admit they did not have this experience when they were in 3rd grade.
That seems to be the minimum level of respect they could show for these kids involved in this experiment: no adult who went to a US public school took tests like this. This breezy dismissal based on “everyone does this” is just flat-out not true. Pretending there is some commonality of experience here is false.
Aren’t experiments supposed to have some factor of inquiry? They’re busy shutting down any possibility that the experience may be different before we’ve heard anything from the people taking the tests.
He clearly does not understand the parental concerns or political dynamics.
Stiles, ARNE DOES NOT CARE! He does not care about our children, parents or teachers. How much more DATA do we need of Arne’s bullying to conclude the above with 100% accuracy?
I DARE HIM to step in and punish children, teachers & parents even more.
Triple Dare you, Arne!
When will Arne be career ready? NEVER WAS & NEVER WILL!
Working for Billionaires – they loved him until #SuburbanMoms showed him out & he doesn’t know how to get his macho back!
National Guards knocking on doors?
Paddy wagons picking up crying children?
DFACS removing children?
Forcing children to bubble?
Ankle bracelets for 3rd graders?
Where & when will this stop?
Follow the bounding 🏀👀🏀👀
Arne is on the verge of suffering a terrible narcisissitic wound to his fragile ego. In order to cover the great shame he really feels, but that lies below his consciousness, he will strike back and punish parents and states who he perceives to have, disobeyed him, wounded him. With this in mind, parents should be ready for the inevitable federal reaction against parents and states where opt out is strongest. What Arne does not realize, because he lacks self reflection and insight, is that parents will increase their opt out resistance. States will be caaught in the middle beween the federal government and parents and will have to choose a side. Should the states not push back against Arne’s perverse federalism, parent will hold their state accountable for any federally imposed consequence. Arne is in deep trouble, but he doesn’t yet know it. He will ride out the remainder of the Obama administration and move on to greener pastures. In 2016 the Democratic party will be left holding the bag and being called to take for its misguided notion of education federalism.
The strangest part of Arne’s declared intention to “step in” and punish states where parents opt out is that the bipartisan Senate committee bill reauthorizing NCLB strips him of his power to impose his will on anyone.
“Triple Dare you, Arne!”
That’s not bold enough. It needs to be a Triple DOG Dare!!
From Save Our Schools NJ
“Not only is this factually incorrect, it is politically a non-starter.
Aside from the legal challenges to any such actions, the USDOE would be subject to massive political pushback from parents and legislators, defending parental rights.
Last week, the 22 members of the US Senate HELP committee unanimously approved an amendment to the ESEA reauthorization that affirmed parents right to refuse the tests and the primacy of state opt out laws over federal legislation.
If the Obama Department of Education tried to punish schools because parents said NO to high stakes standardized tests, they would have their heads handed to them on a platter.
Even NY Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, who supports testing, responded to the ridiculous threat with this:
“I would say to everyone who wants to punish the school districts: hold them to standards, set high expectations, hold them accountable, but punishing them?” she told the Buffalo News last week. “Really, are you kidding me?”
It is my understanding that although Arne Duncan’s children go to public school in Virginia, they attend school in a very elite suburb.
In addition, through my past reading on this subject, it was also my understanding that Virginia opted out of Race to the Top so they don’t have the Common Core. If I am correct, then Arne’s kids don’t take THESE tests and are not held to the same standards.
Anyone wish to recheck these facts??
VA does not administer Common Core tests. Arne’s children attend Arlington public schools.
“Do as I say, not as I do” is the motto of a true educational leader.
That is correct. Virginia chose not to adopt the Common Core and instead had their current state standards validated by their institutions of higher education for their ESEA flexibility waiver. This is an option all states have.
In Virginia, students take the SOL assessments in grades 3-8 and high school instead of PARCC or Smarter Balanced. Again, using assessments other than PARCC or Smarter Balanced is an option all states have.
Virginia has their own version of tests, the Standards of Learning. They are similar in that students must take them in certain grades but the tests are only used to grade the teachers and the school. High school is different though, because the students must pass SOLs in order to receive an SOL diploma. Virginia adopted the state curriculum guide, the standards of learning, about 15 or 16 years ago.
Arne should worry about all the kids in Catholic and elite private schools that are opting out of his invalid tests.
Well.. ” First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you , then you win…” So when he called everyone “white suburban mom’s”….that was his little joke…now we are in stage 3…with stage 4 right around the corner…. c’mon Arne… bring it on… we “double-dare” you!
Does he plan on calling out the National Guard to stop us? This could be the dawning of a new civil rights movement.
Yes I was right, Virginia does not do Common Core! Pulled out of Race to the Top.
So his comment “the tests are just not a traumatic event, for his children” is correct. His children don’t take these tests
Funny. The French Royals didn’t hear the guillotine coming for them, either.
If you are interested in a really balanced, informed, and accessible view of the French Revolution, read Simon Schama’s Citizens. The king and queen were much less a cause of the revolution than was a viciously incompetent and bankrupt aristocracy. “Let them eat cake…” is anachronistic. Start a revolution, and we’ll end up with some psycho-ideologue like Ted Cruz reprising Robespierre…
I am a pacifist…but I am about there! When I heard Merryl Tisch (NY’s Chancellor of the Board of Regents) addressed on a statewide interview as Madame Tisch I could not help feel that she deserved the same treatment as Marie Antoinette! I sent an e-mail to the interviewer that, despite her wealth, she did not have to refer to Tischr as Madame unless she was arranging prostitutes for our former governor!
If he steps in, there will be a paradoxical response: more parents willl opt out, as he attempts to further trample on parents rights. At some point, I expect that parents and advocates will litigate the federal testing mandate.Will state start to litigate? Will states support there citizens or the federal government? Finally, should Clinton be elected, will will she appoint her own Secretary of Education that follows the Obama-Duncan education policies? This is yet one more reason to confront Clinton at every opportunity and question her positions and where she stands viz-a-viz the current adminisration’s approach.
I was disappointed that I couldn’t opt my kid out this year — he passed the Ohio Graduation Tests last year, before our state made the transition over to the PARCC tests. He is scheduled to take a PARCC test in American government next year, and I have been looking forward to opting him out of that.
You are right, Duncan’s statement makes me even more determined and excited about opting out next. Am I paradoxical, I don’t know, but I am increasingly POed.
Sign me, a suburban non-soccer mom
I think PARCC tests cover only Lang Arts and math. The Am Govt test you refer to may be a state mandated test
American government (in Ohio) takes the AIR test. Same standardized test based on common core, but produced by a different company.
Why hasn’t the President requested his resignation over this debacle by now?
What? Ask your basketball buddy to resign??????
Arne Duncan like his boss is a lame duck. He can say what he wants, but I think the feds could be tied up in court for years with the states’ rights and parents’ rights to do what they believe is best for students. Arne is a couple years away from being a lobbyist for Pearson or an adviser to some conservative think tank. He is good person to ignore.
Yes! I love this. I’m disappointed in Obama for keeping him around, but Arne is a non-issue, except to open his mouth like this and further energize the opt-out movement.
At this point in his tenure, Arne Duncan has served longer than any US Secretary of Education except for Richard Riley. I can only assume that he is carrying out the administration’s agenda and has President Obama’s full support.
Since most of the recent federal education initiatives have come through executive action instead of legislation, it would be a mistake to see Duncan as a lame duck unless or until there is an ESEA reauthorization similar to that proposed by Senators Alexander and Murray.
I am disappointed in Obama for keeping himself around.
Hey, Arne…I opted my kids out this year. Come and get me.
Ditto here…Arne, my kids have been opted out of the exams this year also. You bring the handcuffs and I’ll bring the cameras, the teachers, the parents, the students, and a copy of the Constitution with me.
He talks the talk, but that’s all it is. Go away Arne, the American people both laugh at you, and cry also, over such a poor example of a human being, a disgrace to the citizens of this country.
I would ask that the rest of the people of the world who have always looked to the United States as a shining star, please forgive the mockery Arne Duncan and the wealthy have tried to make of our public education system…we will overthrow them, they will come to pass, and we will restore normalcy here at home, and convey this to the rest of the world.
It looks like Arne is getting frustrated by successes of the opt out movement. That means it is working.
Our ‘leaders’ truly have no idea of what is happening inside the classroom. Enough of their destruction on children.
Arrogant rich white man telling public school parents/teachers/kids that he knows what is best for them does not play well. Reeks of paternalism, privilege.
“What if everybody understood child development?” should start with the Secretary of Education. #AskingWhatIf
If only they had shown this regulatory fervor on for-profit colleges. Everyone gets the laissez faire, market-based deference from DuncanLand except for the national punching bag- public schools.
Dear Arne –
You want the parents on your side! Perhaps you would have realized this if you had any real experience in education! Is this the type of coercion they teach you at the Eli Broad school of micro-management?
What are you going to do – put the parents in prison – as you have done with the teachers? I guess our private prisons need “clients” as much as our private – public education system needs test takers.
I pledge never to support any political candidate (or either party) who supports the use of these scientifically invalid standardized tests. It is time to fight back!
“. . . these scientifically invalid standardized tests.”
It’s not question of “scientifically invalid”. One doesn’t need science to determine that they are epistemological and ontological abominations.
Looks like Arne’s days are numbered
Not yet:
He’s goin’ to step-in;
Turnaround;
and,
Plinth.
(I mean Punt)
The gift that keeps on giving (unfortunately)
“The Era of Arne Err”
This decade, let’s be clear,
Is “Era of Arne Err”
No education here
Just testing, VAMs and fear
Also, he’s deeply disappointed with the quality of the US public school parent:
“What we don’t have is enough parents beating down our door saying ‘go faster…You never have critique saying ‘do more.’ The critique is always ‘slow down, slow down…’
Step it up, slackers! The CEO of Schools says you’re not meeting quarterly “high expectations and enthusiasm for his agenda” projections.
Well, if he steps in, I guess current Opt Out movement will eventually expand into Oust Duncan movement.
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that the federal government is obligated to intervene if states fail to address the rising number of students who are boycotting mandated annual exams,” and that “he expect[s] states to make sure districts get enough students take the tests.”
So… just how are states and NCLB-abiding school districts (i.e., those that took the requisite steps to ensure that every child could meaningfully participate in the tests if the parents so desired) supposed to ensure that districts get enough kids to take the tests? Bribes? (Already doing that, by the way.) Threaten 1,000 lashes with a wet noodle? Punish all the law-abiding, constitutional-and-common-law-rights-exercising, taxpaying, solid-citizen, gainfully-employed, conscientious mommies and daddies by throwing them into jail (like South Carolina has been threatening to do), or….what????
And are States now supposed to punish NCLB-abiding districts for the constitutionally-protected actions of the parents?
Has Duncan lost sight of the fact that NCLB is a statutory scheme between the federal government and the states… not between the federal government and the parents and children, and not between the states and the parents and children… and the Supreme Court has spoken on this. Has Duncan forgotten that NCLB’s accountability measure is designed to hold the federal and state governments accountable to each other and to the parents… not the other way around?
Also, SANCTIONS? IMPOSING PENALTIES? Someone correct me if I am wrong… but I do not remember any provision in NCLB that says the federal government can ipso facto step in and impose sanctions on a school district for failing to meet AYP FOR ONLY ONE YEAR. Here is a handy chart of the possible “sanctions.” I believe Year1 requires TWO consecutive years of failing to make AYP. http://216.114.200.148/Public/MSBA_Docs/Sanctions%20Chart.pdf?CFID=4986456&CFTOKEN=90026554.
I think Arne Duncan needs to take a remedial course or two in Constitutional Law. And, while he’s at it, he might want to reread NCLB.
Good points, but in the meantime there were new regulations attached by USDE to states that competed for Race tot the Top Funds, including the use of student assessments in teacher compensation plans.
Arne is fueled by the paranoia, and unfounded-illogical fears, that the US will lose its empire, its dominance in the world market, lose its “leadership of the free world” status, UNLESS students demonstrate higher mastery in science, math and STEM related issues. Sorry Arne, wrong premise, wrong conclusion, wrong diagnosis and absurdly wrong remediation.
Yes, being good at math and science can help some find careers, but others need other knowledge-sets and skills. What good is a bunch of programmers and IT engineers at Google, at Yahoo, at Microsoft, ad nauseum…. IF the farming and manufacturing sectors cannot find competent workers and those that are willing to do the manual labor? Our economy will certainly fall, crash, recede (and even die) if we don’t produce food and manufacture necessary goods that meet real human needs.
Paying somebody 40 K/ yr to update webpages at Yahoo (ex. those that show the most popular viral videos of the day) is economic suicide, if fewer and fewer people get into the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. We can live without Yahoo pages, but not without food and basic human needs and necessities being met (which is where we ARE heading people). I could care less if a student can write Java code and do calculus, if jobs in agriculture, botany, plant and animal sciences are not being filled, or even created.
Here in Miami FL we develop and pave over farm land every day, as I think “just where and how are we going to feed all the new people, who don’t grow their own food, but as parasites expect somebody else to do it”
So, Arne, wake up and read the “handwriting on the wall”. The US will suffer serious problems if these issues are not addressed, regardless if more students do better on math and science tests. Our vitality is not just based on knowledge but on production and hard work! I teach science and math, but don’t believe just having more students do better on standardized tests is a “magic bullet” that will cure, solve or inhibit the problems facing our society, ex. decreasing farm land, increasing divorce rates, increasing greed and debt, increasing lusts for useless and non-productive forms of entertainment. etc.
Humanities problems are usually moral (failure to act correctly based on current knowledge, the choosing of that which one already knows is wrong, immoral, evil, unproductive/destructive, etc.). Arne and other “technophiles” believe our problems are fundamentally technical, along with the solution (the belief that more knowledge and a new “app” will fix society). That delusion: “science will fix everything”.
If Obama fast tracks his TPP bill, it won’t matter if we graduate IT workers. All the jobs will go imported workers from Asia that will work for pennies on the dollar. NAFTA killed off most of our remaining manufacturing jobs, and the TPP will do the same for STEM jobs.
https://www.eff.org/issues/tpp
Absolutely correct the TPP is NAFTA on steroids.
Interesting remarks! The sad part is that even if Arne gets his way, Common Core is not going to make smarter Americans. What these self-styled science-luvin’ reformers don’t grasp, is that their whole plan is based on a *pseudo*-scientific notion of how to develop intelligence. Their premise is that the brain is a muscle that will get stronger through exercise on hard problems. Ergo education should consist of onerous tasks like those on the SBAC tests. Content doesn’t really matter, since we’re just developing the brain’s “muscle tone” not stocking its library with knowledge. This sounds reasonable, but it’s simply wrong. Three year olds are endowed with very sharp brains –little BMW brains. So why can’t they solve physics problem or analyze a cell phone manual? It’s that they lack knowledge –knowledge of physics, of cell phones, of the myriad words used to describe those domains of knowledge. Kids are born very skilled brains, but absolutely zero knowledge. For milennia it has been the task of schools to add knowledge –not “thinking skills”: –to young brains so as to expand their congenital thinking skills’ ability to operate on an ever-growing range of topics. Arne (and,sadly, many teachers) have the whole education project precisely backwards: we act as if kids have a skills deficit, when in fact they have a knowledge deficit. So we pretend to ourselves that we can and are endowing kids with missing thinking skills, when in fact no one can endow a brain with these skills –a brain is built for thinking, that’s what it does. Instead of this confused, impossible and ill-conceived task, we need to be feeding young brains a rich diet of essential knowledge about the world we live in. Only then will they be able to think, read and write intelligently about topics beyond school uniforms, and how to make ice cream sundaes. Unfortunately, Common Core is steering us 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
Strangely, Rick, the reformers have been predicting the nation’s economic decline because of public schools since 1983, and they are still waiting for it to happen. Joel Klein and Condoleeza Rice said in 2012 that the public schools were a “national security risk,” and the answer was Common Core, plus charters and vouchers. Forget that Common Core had nowhere proved its worth, not has school choice. But evidence is considered not necessary.
They have a teachers “competition” to write Common Core questions. Is Pearson paying for this content or is this more volunteer labor on behalf of the contractor?
Make them pay you if you draft the questions they sell. Don’t donate your work to this industry.
Arne has NO power to do anything as schools are a reserved power of the state. He’ll be gone in a year and is lame duck.
The Republicans in DC aren’t funding Obummer’s education programs any more.
It’s ballgame over Arne! Back to Chitown with you.
Maybe Billy Gates will give him a job next year?
BTW: Virginia has (had?) a contract with Pearson to deliver its state tests. Pearson made a mess in Virginia, too. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/pearson-miscalculates-scorecards-for-more-than-4000-va-students/2013/08/13/5620cc42-042d-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html
The “white soccer moms” comment has drawn a lot of outrage, but everyone should remember that Arne Duncan didn’t come up with that argument. It was the stock reform response to the argument that US public education wasn’t failing, and that testing data that suggested otherwise were based on aggregate scores that were dragged down by poor inner-city students.
He says parents are telling them to slow down, and he interprets that not as a valid criticism of ed reform but instead a failing of parents?
I don’t even know what to do with that. Whatever that is- arrogance, blindness, stubbornness, an inability to accept criticism- I think it’s incurable.
He’s identified the problem and it’s parents? How can this person do this job? The parents aren’t going anywhere.
FLERP, Arne made the statement about “white suburban moms,” nobody else did. Even white suburban moms are allowed to differ with Arne. Who loves the children most? Their parents or Arne?
I”m saying that the statement is essentially part of the same playbook that reformers have used for years to defend the reform project. You know this.
Here is a great example of the boilerplate. From “A Nation Still At Risk,” a 1998 document authored by Bill Bennett, Chester Finn, E.D. Hirsch, and you. The keywords are “complacency,” “suburbs,” “other people’s children.”
“Regrettably, some educators and commentators have responded to the persistence of mediocre performance by engaging in denial, self-delusion, and blame shifting. Instead of acknowledging that there are real and urgent problems, they deny that there are any problems at all. Some have urged complacency, assuring parents in leafy suburbs that their own children are doing fine and urging them to ignore the poor performance of our elite students on international tests. Broad hints are dropped that, if there’s a problem, it’s confined to other people’s children in other communities. Yet when attention is focused on the acute achievement problems of disadvantaged youngsters, many educators seem to think that some boys and girls—especially those from the “other side of the tracks”—just can’t be expected to learn much.
Then, of course, there is the fantasy that America’s education crisis is a fraud, something invented by enemies of public schools. And there is the worrisome conviction of millions of parents that, whatever may be ailing U.S. education in general, “my kid’s school is OK.””
Arne’s comment was a bit more inflammatory and derisional. I do not think remessaging the comment makes it more acceptable. You defense is a stretch, but nice try.
It’s not a defense or an argument that Duncan’s comment is “more acceptable” because it’s just a more poorly drafted of the sentiment that was spouted by reformers for at least two decades before him. It’s a futile cry for some humility and self-awareness.
more poorly drafted “version” of the sentiment, that is.
His generalizations about why parents are having their children opt out is uncalled for. Also isn’t it not parents right to allow their children to be tested or not? What can the federal government actually do about this?
Here’s four great videos to watch regarding the New York opt out movement:
and… some humor…
The first video made it dawn on me that something is missing from the opt-out message, and may have been missing all along.
Where they say that the standardized tests measure only a fraction of learning, and doesn’t measure creativity, critical thinking and teamwork, they are missing another major thing that isn’t being measured: Partial understanding.
Example: On a regular test, let’s say for math, a student will not only have to come up with an answer, they oftentimes will need to show their work, that is, the process that got them to the answer. And I ask: What if they got the process 90% correct, but the final answer is wrong? Standardized tests don’t capture any of this partial understanding. The student may have actually learned a lot behind some of the “wrong” answers.
On the old multiple choice tests, there were usually answer choices that drew on the knowledge of common mistakes and partial understanding. You didn’t credit for them, but the test could then be studied/reviewed in class where those choices could be discussed. I can’t remember a math teacher that didn’t give partial credit for answers, which is why we always had to show our work. Short answer and essay questions by their nature almost always gave credit for partially correct answers.
Since Arne’s boss, Pres. Obama has essentially opted out by sending his daughters to Sidwell Friends, it is hypocritical of him to criticize parents who send their children tp public schools and just opt out on test days.
Step in and do what? These bureaucrats are hillarious! They hide behind their quietly gated communities and fancy job titles which many of them haven’t even earned and give orders for the serfs to follow and when the peasants have had enough and begin to show dissent they threaten them with repercussions. Tell me Arne what more can you do to teachers and students that you haven’t already done? There is nothing more you can do to destroy public education.You have taken a career that was the best of them all and turned into a miserable and unbearable job. You took the art of teaching and learning and reduced it to a robotic one size fits all repetitive mechanical model. Arne I think its best that you stick to playing basketball as it is the only thing you have displayed an affinity for being good at and if you do decide to step in make sure it’s in front of bus and not inside of a school.
Thats what I’m thinking. What is he going to do to the students who opt out? Send in the military to make them take the test? This is crazy. This is taking it way to far, we have rights as parents and our children do not have to sit for a test if we do not want them to. I think that the last time I checked this was the United States of America! The audacity of those in power to tell parents that they are making their children upset over testing. I think that Mr. Duncan and all the rest of them in power need to take a very long test every year to see if they keep their jobs.
Right off, there is an inverse relationship between Arne’s height and the health of his ego. Next, notwithstanding his love of basketball, Arne was at best a mediocre basketball player. Continuing, of course Arne and Obama are hypocrites; this is not news. They display good sense by having their children attend schools that do impose standardized tests that are mandated for public schools. What can Arne do to punish parents who opt out? Nothing. He can attempt to turn off the funding spiggot to states where opt outs have flourished. Under pressure from Arne, states can apply pressure directly to school systems in the form of a reduction in state funding. School systems may, in turn, attempt to prevent or otherwise obstruct parents from. exercising their opt put rights. When push comes to shove, will school systems punish educators and parents? If they do, I would expect that they will confront enraged parents and educators, which will lead to litigation. Could the state be joined in a complaint? Is there a cause of action to rope in the federal government. We shall see. Arne, the fig fool, is boldly marching towards the big muddy.
You lost me. Arne said the “white soccer moms” kids were not as smart as their moms thought. All the previous data suggested that those kids were doing quite well. Testing data that suggested otherwise was based on aggregate data. Furthermore dissagregate data indicated that all the subgroups had made gains as well (especially before NCLB). Common Core testing was designed to make even those kids appear to be “failing.”
Read the quote from “A Nation Still at Risk.” It says the same thing, that “leafy” suburban schools are not doing as well as people think.
Here’s what Diane wrote in the early 1990s. Same playbook:
“We also knew from numerous surveys on education that most Americans, and especially parents, were misinformed and self-satisfied. They thought that there was a problem in the nation’s schools, but they believed that their own schools were fine. Perhaps their own schools were fine, but they had no objective measures by which to reach that judgment. As Harold Stevenson has found in his studies of American and Asian parents, the complacency of American parents acts as an obstacle to education reform.”
So you are just refreshing our memory of what the reform mantra has been for the past couple of decades.
It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Douglas Adams
Step in and do what? That sounds ominous, but I’m baffled as to what cudgel Duncan thinks he holds over us.
Regardless of the threats made against Parents and Teachers by New Mexico Secretary of Education Skandera, parents are still opting out in big numbers. Threats mean little to parents who truly care about their children. Skandera and Duncan are nothing more than bullies and vindictive people who are trying to justify their jobs, their support of the of the big corporations who are backing Common Core and PARCC, and don’t have a clue how to really improve education in America
Bring it on, Arne! The more you talk, the better it gets.
Here’s a great video:
Duncan is out of line. Parents have the right to opt out.
Just like Arne opted out his own kids from CC tests since they are enrolled in school in VA, where there is no Common Core. I’m guessing it was insider info that led the powers that be in the handful of states that did not adopt CC to make that decision, including his adopted home of Virginia and Bush’s Texas.
Chi Town, with all due respect, check your facts. CC is in VA. There are many logical fallacies in his argument, but that’s not one of them.
Virginia has not adopted the common core standards because they came up with their own standards (Standards of Learning) about 17 years ago. They have annual benchmark tests as well, called the SOLs. Most parents do not realize they can opt their children out of the tests in the elementary grades.
Chi-Town Res is correct. Virginia did not adopt the CC standards because they have the SOLs. Moreover, most parents do not realize that parents can opt their children out of the elementary tests. The high school tests, which take an inordinate amount of time, cannot be avoided, as the students need to pass in order to get a “verified credit.”
“. . . to get a “verified credit.””
Is that a neat little certificate with some gold embossing?
For Mr. Duncan and the like its always a case of do as I say not as I do. They feel that they can tell us what to do, but they can do as they please.
We’ve been gamed by the deformers too long…just tell the kids to fill out the blanks and write non-sense. When everybody scores level one what will Arne do then? He will have to admit he has wasted billions on schemes that parents will not accept. Maybe then he will get the message…there are many ways to end this dark era in our nations history. We have many tactics we can employ. We are in control–not Arne!
Love it!!!
Some of my special ed students who had a special affinity for tests used to make patterns with their answers on the bubbles sheets when they ran out of steam. Extended time was a farce for many of them since they had used up their energy well before extra time started. When the new personalized computer tests debuted, it used to drive them crazy. Either the test was done before they really got warmed up because they bombed early questions, or, for those who were at a higher level, the test would never end! Eventually they would catch on and start missing questions on purpose just to get it over with.
Arne seems to have an exaggerated opinion of his intellectual abilities. Worse, he is abysmally ignorant, worse still, he is in a position of power. Again: when the know nots, know not they know not but are absolutely certain they know and are empowered people can expect the worse to happen – and it usually does.
There is a scientific name for this phenomenon
“The Duncan-Kruger Effect”
The Duncan-Kruger Effect
Is rampant with reform
Where thinking has been checked
And chutzpah is the norm
For those who don’t know, it’s actually the Dunning-Kruger Effect but Duncan fits too well.
I was thinking Freddie Krueger. Thanks for clarification. I am sure I am losing it. Must be 4th nine weeks.
“The Peter Principle” – managers rise to the level of their incompetence.
“The Arne Corallary” — opt out rises to the level of Arne’s incompetence…which means it still has a long way to go.
So true and more prevalent in education than people know.
I’m waiting for Arne to “opt in”. His brain opted out a long time ago.
I’ve got two words for Arne…Hint: they aren’t Merry Christmas!
The initials wouldn’t be F. O. would they?
Some folks just draw a crowd. Over sixty comments in an hour and half.
Haven’t read them yet but is there a single on praising and/or agreeing with the Dunkster??
I agree with Arne on the pronunciation of his name: Arnee not Arn .
But, of course, it’s possible (even likely) that both of us are wrong.
Any other questions?
A lively thread.
I thank everyone for their comments.
I have mentioned this before, but I urge viewers of this posting to read Arne Duncan’s speech from almost exactly two years ago at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association [AERA], “Choosing the Right Battles.”
Link: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/choosing-right-battles-remarks-and-conversation
Does the Secretary of Education understand what is happening around him, is he capable of self-correction, does he have a clue what standardized tests can and can’t do?
Make up your own minds, but for just a peak into his mindset, note that he hectors an audience that contains some of his staunchest critics on standardized testing for—
Not getting standardized testing right!
Yes, that’s right. HE is hectoring THEM for not turning a pig’s ear into a silk purse and not turning base metals into gold. And he does it with a heartfelt seriousness that is, by turns, a little frightening and even more laughable.
He actually believes the rheephorm spin, hype and sales pitches.
Specificity? Proof? Effectiveness?
He is one with the NJ Commissioner of Education [this blog, 3-4-2015, “Lyndsey Layton: Governor Christie Falters in Newark”]:
[start excerpt]
What’s astonishing is to read defenders of “reform” finding silver linings or straws to grasp at. Some claim that Cami has plenty of supporters, others say that success is around the corner. Just be patient. Christie’s state commissioner says, “Christie, through a spokesman, declined to comment. According to Christie’s education commissioner:
“It will take time to see the type of progress we all want,” he said. “Whatever we’re doing, we need to double down.”
[end excerpt]
Double down on whatevers.
It works for Arne.
Rheeally! And in a most Johnsonally sort of way…
But on Planet Reality, not really.
Opt out of Arne’s delusions. Opt in to genuine teaching and learning.
😎
“An obligation to step in?” Are “suburban moms” and “lying teachers” to expect an armed militia on their doorsteps ready to escort them and their coddled little ones to testing centers?
I was wondering the same thing.
Sanctions, though, seem more likely. Then we can maybe get some good lawsuits going and then maybe we can finally put testing for the wrong reasons to rest. (maybe)
Well said Involved Mom!!! And lawsuits there WILL BE!!!
We’ll all have to sit in the corner with dunce caps on our head.
Or he’ll get the paddle out.
He needs to do less threatening and more listening. His comments and actions show he has as much disdain for parents as he does teachers.
Actually, he needs to resign. His policies have been disastrous and it is clear he is not competent.
rebecca broksher,
Duncan is not an independent actor. He does the bidding of his boss.
State Laws on Family Engagement in Education
Section 1118 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act describes the main federal provisions for parental involvement…
“The purpose of this reference guide is two-fold. First, it provides families and advocates with information on family engagement provisions within state education laws so that they can better advocate for their children’s education on the school and district levels. Second, it guides policymakers’ and advocates’ development of their legislative reform initiatives as well as their efforts to monitor the implementation of laws already in place. The reference guide provides key facts, background, analysis, noteworthy statutes, and policy recommendations for crafting successful family engagement legislation at the state level. Finally, the reference guide contains a survey of laws including legal citations pertaining to family engagement in education in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.”
Show me the law that states that the parents can’t opt out their child- there isn’t any.
I think Arne does not realize that online testing rules are made by the FTC, not by his department. His threat is probably vaporware.
Parents who are lawyers or who have access to legal help may want to look at whether districts are in full compliance with FERPA, the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, and especially with COPPA—the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, regulated by the Federal Trade Commission…..not the US Department of Education.
The primary goal of COPPA is to allow parents to have control over what information is collected online “from their children” under age 13.And, this seems to extend to testing.
The FTC “consumer protection office”is getting a batch of questions about the PARCC/Pearson relationship and specifically the on-line testing environment where Pearson—a commercial contractor—is empowered to get personal information from tests as well as social media websites where information about tests is appearing.
You will find a lively discussion of this and related matters at the FTC website, along with a clear indication that the issues are just now beginning to show up on the radar screen of a lot of people–especially those who say that parents have no legal right to opt-out. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2015/01/testing-testing-review-session-coppa-schools
Arne would do well to check with the FTC before shooting off his mouth about who has authority over on-line testing.
The above comment should have been preceded by:
Parents are the child’s first teacher/educator – protected by state law.
Do you know why his kids in Virginia don’t find the tests traumatic? It is because Virginia never adopted Common Core. They developed their own standards and believe them to be superior to Common Core. If you go to Virginia’s DOE website you can find the process for the development of the mathematics standards. They are as follows:
MATHEMATICS STANDARDS OF LEARNING & CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK REVIEW
The Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) and Curriculum Framework are scheduled for review as required by the Virginia Standards of Quality.
SOL Review Schedule for all subject areas (PDF)
2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework
March 2015 – Board Initiates the Review Process
At the March 2015, Virginia Board of Education meeting, VDOE was authorized to proceed with the Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) and Curriculum Framework review process. It is anticipated that the standards and curriculum framework revision will be completed before October 2016. Projected Timeline for the Review of the Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) and Curriculum Framework (PDF)
March – April 2015 – Public Comment Period
An important part of the SOL review process is the solicitation of comments from teachers, administrators, curriculum supervisors, mathematics educators, mathematics education organizations, and other members of the public.
Public comments regarding revisions to the Mathematics Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework can be made from March 27 – April 27, 2015 for review committee consideration. Comments may be sent electronically to mathematics@doe.virginia.gov.
March – April 2015 – Application for Mathematics Review Committee
Applications are now being accepted from qualified individuals who are interested in serving on a committee to review both the Mathematics Standards of Learning and Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework during June 2015. Applicants must be teachers, principals, administrators, content specialists, or others who have expertise with the content areas and the standards. Application deadline is April 27, 2015. For more information, see Superintendent’s Memo 071-15 – Review of the Mathematics Standards of Learning and Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework.
June 2015 – Mathematics Review Committee
The review committee meets to analyze statewide public comment, review national and international documents and reports as necessary, and make recommendations for potential revisions to the Mathematics Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework.
November 2015 – Mathematics External Review
VDOE shares a draft of the proposed 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework with mathematicians and mathematics educators in institutions of higher education across Virginia, professional organizations that focus on mathematics education and representatives of the business community for review and comment.
March 2016 – Proposed Revised Draft
VDOE presents a draft of the proposed 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework to the Board of Education for first review.
March – April 2016 – Public Comment Period
Prior to finalizing revisions to the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standard of Learning Curriculum Framework, it is important to solicit comments from teachers, administrators, curriculum supervisors, mathematics educators, mathematics education organizations, and other members of the public. A Superintendent’s Memorandum announces the schedule for public hearings and process for submitting public comment on the proposed 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework. The public comment period will be active for 30 days.
September 2016 – Final Review and Adoption
The Superintendent of Public Instruction presents the proposed 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework to the Board of Education for final review and adoption.
Final documents are posted on the VDOE website.
2016-2017 School Year – Crosswalk between 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning
VDOE staff provides a crosswalk between the 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning and the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning. School divisions incorporate the new standards into local written curricula for inclusion in the taught curricula during the 2017-2018 school year.
2017-2018 School Year – Crosswalk Year
2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning and 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning are included in the written and taught curricula.
Spring 2018 Standards of Learning assessments measure the 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning and include field test items measuring the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning.
2018-2019 School Year – Full-Implementation Year
Written and taught curricula reflect the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning.
Standards of Learning assessments measure the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning.
All this just for the math standards. And they have standards for other areas besides Math and ELA. This means other subjects don’t get ignored either.
And that is why Arne’s kids aren’t “traumatized”.
They were developed by education professionals, reviewed by professionals, allowed a public comment period, and implemented over time. Does that sound anything like what NY and other states experienced?
Bravo Monica!!!
How come NYS couldn’t keep their standards? We had actually developed some good ones and tweaked them over the years.
No fair, Virginia. You got to opt out of CCSS.
I’m telling!
Because NYS raced to the $700 million at the bottom… and sold its soul in the process. Virginia had just revised and implemented its SOLs (spending a lot of money in the process)… and wasn’t willing to sell out after doing so.
A slight “but” to your very thorough post – the standards are NOT the tests. Two years ago a new reading test was administered and pass rates across the state fell. I think there hasn’t been quite as big a reaction in Virginia as there has been in NY because pass rates fell by 14 percentage points, from 89 percent in 2012 to 75 percent in 2013.
I believe the drop in scores on the NY reading test was much more precipitous.
And if Arne thinks the SOL test isn’t traumatic, he should come and be the one to tell the 8th graders I teach that they haven’t passed. It breaks my heart to see the look on one of my student’s face when I have to tell them they didn’t hit the passing score.
I am sick of this immoral system. Between the poverty and the tests, we are scarring most of an entire generation.
In New Jersey, the reformers are trying to spread the belief that students DON NOT EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISCUSS THE PARCC TEST with their own parents!!!
I say to all students, post as much of the PARCC as you can recall. Free Speech rights may not be on the PARCC but it is a lesson the reformers (and our students) need to learn.
If you OPT IN, POST ALL YOU REMEMBER, otherwise and better yet, opt out.
Time to ponder, what would Dean Wormer do? Double secret non waiver something.
“What? Over? Didja say over? Nuthin’s over till we decide it is”
Duncan, being the competitive type, will want to out-do Dean Wormer. We’re all gonna be put on TRIPLE Secret Probation!
I think Duncan is a lame duck and he knows it. The election isn’t that far away and the wheels of government move slowly.
When Duncan says the feds will have to step in, does he mean sending in the troops like the feds did during the Civil Rights era?
What will those troops do when they show up armed to the teeth—set up concentration camp for parents, children and teachers who Opt Out like the U.S. did for loyal Japanese-American citizens during World War II who lost their homes and jobs and had to start over from scratch after the war?
If this is what Duncan mean by stepping in, I think we better start cleaning our fire arms and get ready for the civil war to come.
So let me get this straight: Members of Congress can undermine PRESIDENT OBAMA by writing a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran BUT, American citizens CANNOT opt their children out of standardized testing? You’ve got to be kidding me?
Secretary Duncan: It is indeed sad that your Harvard education failed you when it came to educating you on the right that EVERY American citizen has to challenge government. I guess that you slept through that lecture? Stay away from New York State … Jon King will gladly advise you on the status of our state – he still harbors a grudge, I’m sure. P.S. We have taken a page right out of the history of the Great State of Virginia (where you live and your children attend school).
In NYS, we believe in our right as citizens to challenge both the federal and state government especially when it comes to dealing with the education of our children. The next time you and the President have a game of 1 on 1, perhaps you might have a chat that your failed education policies have turned back America’s public schools an entire generation. Stick to basketball … education IS NOT, your game.
Well said!!!!
King John got laughed out of NY as he left education in our state in shambles. After infuriating parents state wide by referring to them as a “special interest group” he and Chancellor Tisch went on a “non-listening tour.” King responded to every question–in every one of the sixteen sites with the same pat answers and rehearsed spiels. No one bought his answers. From that point on he was dead meat. Arne you got a real winner as your right hand man!
Parents and teachers didn’t have issues with their students taking the federally mandated tests from 2005-2012…when the tests were more fair, based on different standards, were age and developmentally appropriate and were released to the public. The refusal movement has ballooned because the current tests in NYS are NONE of these things AND they are being used to determine whether their students’ teachers remain employed. No one is against APPROPRIATE testing. Mr. Duncan is completely side stepping the real issue.
Sooooooooo true S Rubenzahl!!!
Those tests seem fair when compared to the current bunch, but there were quite a few issues even back then about inappropriate reading passages and ridiculous math problems.
I think all the students should “take the tests” and “comply” with Duncan’s undemocratic dictatorial idiocy… All students simply answer “a” to all multiple questions. Anything that requires writing they should write over and over “Because I am an American and believe in democracy, I am writing this… Because I am an American and believe in Democracy, I am writing this..” All data roads would lead to a giant student “opt in” as a means of “opting out”!
It’s particularly troubling that Duncan would quite so easily dismiss student stress and anxiety over testing. I also regret that he implies that students should just get used to all this testing.
Duncan is right on.
1) The federal government should stop funding districts where too many parents opt out. You want to opt out of testing, fine. Just have the courage of your convictions. Too many people want to have their cake and eat it too.
2) Virtually all of the testing anxiety is being stirred up by the same teachers and principals who are against testing. It’s their fault. And then they have the chutzpah to point to the childhood anxieties that they created as if it’s a naturally occurring phenomenon that now justifies their political opposition to tests.
How steep is the angle your forehead slopes?
a) The federal government is not funding districts, we are. We includes parents. Or maybe I should say China is if it is deficit spending. It is not Arne’s money. Teachers hear this all the time. Usually at levy time.
b) Parents have rights and brains, both. To blame the legitimate opposition to flawed tests on teachers is to insult the intelligence of parents and concern parents have towards their child’s well being. Way to go. You just insulted all parents.
Is that you, Arne?
Parents mostly have enough sense not to frighten their kids. Fear is coming from the schools themselves — they’re the only ones who are actually nervous about how kids do on the tests (which isn’t surprising, considering that they’re the ones being held accountable). Unfortunately, school personnel are letting their own nerves affect the kids in their care.
For someone who does not work in a school, you have remarkable insight. Remarkably confused and mistaken. You have no understanding of the dynamics at play and really shouldn’t be commenting on topics so far out of your league.
https://dmaxmj.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/i-do-not-support-opt-out-my-daughters-refuse/
WT, I think you are letting your personal dislike of teachers cloud your judgment. The problem is not teachers, the problem is the tests. Remove the tests as the cause, you eliminate the problems. Pretty obvious, I would think. The issue is the Reformers have created this terrible, harmful situation and, rather than take responsibility, they return to the old blame the teacher dodge. Parents are opting out and kids are resisting? Must be those evil, all powerful educators. They walk among us.
What coach, before a big game, would tell players to ignore practice, and go out there and lose if you like, to feel better? “Ok, team. Don’t really take practice serious. And, while I’m your coach, you can ignore me and do whatever you like for the championship game.”
If anything, you statements reinforce the idea these tests are inappropriate for younger students, and not as useful for even high school.
I think you are probably right about WT—it is either a troll or a biased, prejudiced individual who hates teachers.
Anyone who knew what it takes to have competent teachers only has to look at most of the highest ranked countries on the PISA. These countries mostly have strong teacher unions (under attack in the U.S. for decades), teaching is a highly respected profession where the majority of parents put their trust in the teachers (this is missing in the U.S.) and the teachers deliver (and many teachers who stay do this anyway—deliver), the teacher training programs are mostly year long residencies in a master teacher’s classroom (and it isn’t the fault of the teachers in the U.S. that many of the teacher training programs do not offer year long residencies with a master teacher), and when new teachers have their own classroom, they have support that might follow them for years or even for their entire teaching career (something that is often missing in the U.S.).
It also helps when those countries also offer a high quality public school, national early childhood education program even accepting children as young as age two simliar to the program that has been used in France for more than thirty years. But in the U.S. more than half the states have no early childhood education program and in the states that have them there is no standard method to work with at risk children who mostly live in poverty and the high quality found in other countries that have national early childhood education is often missing because in the U.S. most early childhood education programs are managed by the private sector with a primary goal of making a profit.
No wonder you are nothing more than a sandbag or a weasel in the ICE AGE.
WT –
Have you ever proctored a test?
I have.
Have you ever seen an eighth grade boy cry because he can’t do the problems on the math test which are on material his teacher hasn’t covered yet or isn’t in the curriculum until the next year?
How about a third grade girl melt down in the middle of an ELA test?
This is a common occurrence. If you had seen these children your attitude would be different.
And if you were their parent, you would be incensed.
We aren’t here because we have nothing better to do with our time, we post on this blog because we care about these children and their future. Because we can’t in good conscience stand idly by and watch the education system implode because some bureaucrat thinks he knows what’s best for other people’s children.
You are entitled to your opinion, but I suggest you start listening. One of us is living in denial and it isn’t me.
Ellen T Klock
Retired School Librarian
Buffalo Public Schools
Or he/she is an AstroTurf blogger.
I sincerely hope Duncan declares war on these moms. Then Obama will have to get Kerry to drum up a treaty that will be favorable to moms.
I would advise Arne Duncan to shove a big inflated basketball up where the sun does not shine, but I’m afraid there’s no room there, as it is already stretched out by the brain that resides there . . . . .
Goodness . . . . The thoughts and imagery one has about Arne Duncan.
Arne’s not completely wrong about upper middle class white suburban moms who are turning out not-so-bright kids.
I’ll have to give Arne’s mother a call and let her know her son was right in his case . . . . . I’ll put it in a Hallmark to break it gently to her . . . . .
But folks, let not be too angry at cerebrally necrified Arne Duncan; his lusty patron Barack Obama is his biggest customer in the locked back room . . . . . Obama is behind this as well and pretends not to be, the disgusting depraved street urchin that he is and always will be . . . .
Yet Obama is no different from the long line of anti-middle and working class plutocrats that came before him in the oval office.
State testing has been getting attention lately, mostly because of an “opt out” movement-parents having their children not take the state tests administered in their school. What should be getting the attention, though, is why our leaders continue to defy research and evidence regarding the true needs of our students. Instead of putting effort into providing more standardized funding and opportunity on the front end, they “opt out” of their responsibilities and hinge school reform on expecting a more standardized outcome on the back end-using state tests to enforce and evaluate the efforts of others. The tests and the corporations contracted to create them, meanwhile, are being afforded more privacy, respect and protection than students and their teachers being subjected to this.
https://dmaxmj.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/i-do-not-support-opt-out-my-daughters-refuse/
People sharing information about Virginia’s SOL’s have their facts wrong. The Virginia SOL’s are comparable to PARCC. Originally, they were written by the VDOE (without much input from actual teachers). However, a number of years ago the Department of Education gave that responsibility over to–can you guess?—-Pearson. Pearson writes all the Virginia SOL’s. Just like in NY and elsewhere, teachers and students are told they cannot share any of the questions or discuss the test with anyone. If a school has a sub-group that doesn’t meet the required pass rate, the school can lose accreditation and is at risk of being taken over by the state, having its principal and teachers fired, etc. The biggest difference is that we’ve been taking these online, developmentally inappropriate tests longer than most states. I was telling my friends who teach in NY about these nightmare tests years ago and they couldn’t believe it. Now, they’re in the same sinking boat. Teachers in Virginia haven’t been very publicly vocal about the SOL’s. We have no teacher unions and many feel powerless and afraid of retribution if they speak out.
Lamar Alexander will be neutering Arne in short order.
I’d like Arne to proctor at my school, where we’ve had kids cry both on test day and on test results day. And then there was the kid who was so worked up she vomited. Maybe if some crying kid vomited on his shoes he’d reconsider. But, probably not.
Custodians in our schools (Las Cruces, NM) can tell when the standardized tests are being given without even going into the classrooms. The amount of children getting sick and going to the restroom to vomit and cry increases tremendously.
Rather than proctor I’d like to see Arne teach. After a few weeks, who knows?Maybe he’ll change his tune? Probably not, but one can still hope and wish!
Let Arne call out the National Guard. But answer me this: how can Arne – or anyone – make the kids take the tests? Teachers know “making” them take the tests if they don’t want to is a fool’s errand.
Oh, wait…
So true – I love it.
If you lead your horse to water, little Arne will make it drink.
O I hope Arne or someone else follows through with that threat. If he withholds money from the schools, from the children, he will fan the flames and those flames will never be put out.
Is there a statistic on how many teachers are opting their own children out of taking the test?
Teachers can’t opt kids out, they’re not allowed to interfere. But in Seattle, every junior opted out at one high school and my school roughly two thirds opted out. Counting grades 3-8, though, I think the percentage is much lower. But the test is supposed to have over 95% participation, so if at least 5% of students opt out in each district that will be enough to cause major problems.
Arne Duncan needs to be removed from office! How DARE he be that blatantly disrespectful of his constituents rights!! He is a Public SERVANT!! He needs to be reminded that all politicians, himself included, are in office to represent The People!!! Not to be controlled or forced to do whatever they demand!!!
I think Arne believes that the kids are being coddled. If they cry, ignore their tears. If they have anxiety attacks, tell them to suck it up. Cold and cruel, for sure, but I imagine he would say that the world is cold and cruel. Get used to it.
And while the world might be a child and cruel place it us our job to protect and shelter our children. School should be a haven not a prison. There is time enough as adults to face the ugly truths we are all fighting against.
Gee, that sounds so enlightened. Why don’t we go ahead and just throw everything we’ve learned about early childhood education and development for the last 20 years and go back to learning by rigid and forced ideologies created by money mongering tycoons…..
I would like to see statistics on how many children want to visit the school nurse on testing day (even & including before and after the test!)
No one is speaking about how educational unsound these exams are. ELA is written 2 grade levels above students??? Or the fact that ELL’s and special education students take the same inappropriate test. Let’s have this year’s test released and have parents, teachers, and administrators review and comment on their appropriateness.
That’s the reason they won’t release the test – It can’t withstand the criticism (remember the pineapple controversy?) they are doing all they can to keep everyone in the dark. That way they can’t be held accountable and will continue to collect the cash.
What I don’t understand is why they can’t get it right. What is so hard about writing an age appropriate test? Surely someone must have thought “Jack London – no, he’s not an author good for a sixth grade reader?”. Can nobody check lexile and interest levels of the selections? Is there no math specialist who has worked with children on the team? How much more effort needs to be expended to get it right? Plus the simple common sense component is lacking!
Ellen #Wonders
I agree 100% Flo56!! It has nothing to do with “security of the test”! The 3rd grade CCSS’S have an average grade level of 5.2. That’s an AVERAGE! So how high does it actually go?!
I opted my daughter out. She has a mild case of ADD. She is extremely intelegent, but learns differently than other kids. Her teacher has so little time to help her because of the new “standards”. The daily cirriculum is under such extreme time constraints, not even including the additional time it takes to have the weekly teacher assessments and biweekly assessment tests AND monthly benchmark tests, he has 0 time to help ANY students that might be struggling with a lesson…..
There wasn’t a SINGLE early childhood development expert included in the creation of the Common Core “standards” or cirriculum! In fact the ONLY two education EXPERTS the reviewed the entirety of Common Core REFUSED to sign their names to endorse or approve of what had been put together!
Tastemywrath – unfortunately for you and your child, the current state of education which ties the hands of the teachers will lead to mass retirements as the veterans approach retirement age. Even teachers who normally would stay a few more years are literally counting the days until they can leave the profession. Within five years, the schools will be gutted of their most seasoned professionals who will have been replaced by temporary teachers either fighting for tenure or finding new jobs. If the madness continues, there won’t be enough certified people left to fill the classrooms. I predict massive teacher shortages across the country.
You can thank your local politicians and the billionaires who back them for the mess.
Ellen #I-Hope-I’m-Wrong
And that was the plan from day one; transported to LA…
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
I applaud this recommendation. However, given that there could be legal consequences for any student or teacher who discloses or discusses any test question, I would recommend a nationwide teacher’s discussion. They can’t prosecute us all.
I read ‘annual tests’. Not testing every other day while spending more money on testing materials than spending the money to educate the students for a global society.
Annual meaning we miss (for the high school SBAC) TWO WEEKS of language arts class for this test. It’s not a one-day thing.
This is also not the only test, there’s another set of standardized tests middle and elementary schools are also taking, and in high school we have EOCs as well in math and science. (Plus SATs and ACTs)
A single day of test once a year would be easy and not a big hassle, if it measured students’ progress accurately. But these tests never provide good data, there are lots of them and they take lots of time, and teachers inevitably end up wasting a lot of class time teaching to the tests.
Test the kids on grade level material not (from what I hear) levels above them! That type of testing is acceptable. Use those scores for teachers APPR, that is acceptable. Take any test and see if you can pass? Are you smarter than a third grader? Do you have any idea what is even in the tests they take that you say are so appropriate? America is spiraling downward and you should be ashamed at the abuse you are throwing at our children! Civil disobedience is here to make change. And, we will!
I’m a first grade teacher, but my colleagues in fourth grade told me this week that one of the passages on their students’ test was on an EIGHTH GRADE READING LEVEL!!! How is this fair? They’re setting these poor kids up to fail and it’s disgusting. If you’re going to mandate testing like this, at least give them a chance.
Perhaps this is what we need to spark MASSIVE outrage over Arne’s corporate education reform movement! Send in the troops! It will be the 1960’s all over again. Bring it on, Duncan, Bring it on!
Reblogged this on stopcommoncorenys and commented:
Duncan is a bully.
True bullies are emotionally stunted with a limited range of reactions. Instead of looking into the why and attempting a peacemaking conversation, he gets angry and he will get even.
Duncan is a bully.
True bullies are emotionally stunted with a limited range of reactions. Instead of looking into the why and attempting a peacemaking conversation, he gets angry and he will get even.
Oh, help. I’m scared. Really, I am. Terrified.
“Dunc an Cover”
Dunc an Cover
Not a drill
It’s all over
Fetch your will
Arne’s coming
Through the err
Test’s are bombing
Everywhere
VAM is flying
Teachers scream
No denying
Duncan’s scheme
“America ruins on Duncan”
“America ruins on Duncan”
The motto of reform
Where every school is dunkin’
And dough nut$ are the norm
“Worst ideas all the way down”
Duncan’s worst idea
Is resting on another
And what is very clear
Is that one had a mother
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
He’s gonna make ’em take the test!
This school year I hear the drumming,
Opt Out is on the move!
Gotta get down to it
Arne is putting us down
Parents and teachers are no good!
What if you knew her,
found her crying instead
We know these tests abuse her so!
Gotta get down to it
Arne is putting us down
Parents and teachers are no good!
What if you knew her,
found her crying instead
We know these tests abuse her so!
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
He’s gonna make ’em take the test!
This school year I hear the drumming,
Opt Out is on the move!
Love it!
Duncan is an endless well of inspiration (unfortunately)
“Arne D the testing man” (parody of HERMAN’S HERMITS-“I’m Henery the Eighth, I AM”)
I’m Arne D the testing man,
Arne D the testing man, I am,
I got married to the common test lore,
It’s been varied 90 times before,
If everyone was an Arne D (Arne D)
You’d always have a Pearson and a VAM (a VAM)
I’m your testing man, I’m Arne D
Arne D the testing man
100th test same as the first
(a helluvalot longer and a helluvalot worse)
I’m Arne D the testing man,
Arne D the testing man, I am,
I got married to the common test lore,
It’s been varied 90 times before,
If every one was an Arne D (Arne D)
You’d always have a Pearson and a VAM (a VAM)
I’m your testing man, I’m Arne D
Arne D the testing man
(Raj Chetty slide VAMbone solo here)
A-R-N-E-D
Arne D (Arne D) Arne D (Arne D)
Arne D the testing man, I am,
Arne D the testing man
..and, of course, we can’t leave out Britney
“Oops! …he Did It Again”
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I think he did it again
He made you believe the testing will end
Oh Arne
It might seem like a hush
But it doesn’t mean that he’s serious
‘Cause to lose common senses
That is just so typically him
Oh Arne , Arne
chorus:
Oops!…He did it again
He played with your mind, got lost in the game
Oh Arne , Arne
Oops!…You think he’s a dove
That he’s sent from above
He’s not that innocent
You see his problem is this
He’s testing away
Wishing that fairies, they truly exist
So try, clearing the haze
Can’t you see he’s a tool in so many ways?
But to lose common senses
That is just so typically him
Arne , oh
You are on a roll!
The Arne Duncan Theatre – music, poetry, commentary, witty repartee – all at our “leader’s” expense. Come and join the fun.
..and this
“Duncan Bridge is falling down”
Duncan Bridge is falling down,
falling down, falling down.
Duncan Bridge is falling down,
Full tilt lately.
Common Core is on the floor,
on the floor, on the floor,
Common Core is on the floor,
Full tilt lately.
Built it up with tests and VAMs,
tests and VAMs, tests and VAMs,
Built it up with tests and VAMs,
Full tilt lately.
Tests and VAMs and other shams
Other shams, other shams,
Tests and VAMs and other shams,
Full tilt lately.
Built it up with charter schools,
charter schools, charter schools,
Built it up with charter schools,
Full tilt lately.
Charter schools are breaking rules,
Breaking rules, breaking rules
Charter schools are breaking rules,
Full tilt lately.
Built it up with carrots and sticks,
carrots and sticks, carrots and sticks,
Built it up with carrots and sticks,
Full tilt lately.
Race to the Top and other tricks,
other tricks, other tricks,
Race to the Top and other tricks,
Full tilt lately.
Got Bill Gates to fund the ruse,
fund the ruse, fund the ruse
Got Bill Gates to fund the ruse,
Full tilt lately.
But the parents did refuse,
Did refuse, did refuse
But the parents did refuse,
Full tilt lately.
Duncan Bridge is falling down,
falling down, falling down.
Duncan Bridge is falling down,
Full tilt lately.
I LOVE IT!
Ooops. I did it again
I forgot one
“Arne Duncan” parody of Casey Jones by The Grateful Dead
Driving that train, high on your brain,
Arne Duncan, better, watch your speed.
Parents ahead, teachers behind,
And you know that testing just crossed their mind.
This Common Core makes it on time,
Leaves Gates Foundation ’bout a quarter to nine,
Hits White-House Junction at seventeen to,
At a quarter to ten you know it’s travelin’ again.
Driving that train, high on your brain,
Arne D you better, watch your speed.
Parents ahead, teachers behind,
And you know that testing just crossed their mind.
Trouble ahead, states are in red,
Take my advice, work for Opt-out instead.
Coleman is sleeping, the Common Core’s poo, it’s
Gone off the rails and done-for, it’s true.
Driving that train, high on your brain,
Arne D you better, watch your speed.
Parents ahead, teachers behind,
And you know that testing just crossed their mind.
Trouble with you is the trouble with Rhee,
Got two good eyes but you still don’t see.
Come round the bend, you know it’s the end,
Pearson schemes and manure just steams
Co’ he gets up in the morning,
And he disses us at nine,
And he threatens us at five thirty,
It’s the same rant every time.
Cause his world is built round corp’rate profits,
He’s such a whore.
And he’s oh, so bad,
And he’s oh, so sad.
And he’s oh, so, wealthy
Cos’ he sold kids to Pearson
He’s a well-respected man about town,
Doin’ the worst things to our public schools.
And he ignores all of the teachers,
While he’s made the children cry.
And he tests and tests and tests again,
Then he tests and tests some more,
And he passes gold and silver, too,
At Pearson Publishers.
And he’s oh, so bad,
And he’s oh, so sad.
And he’s oh, so, wealthy
Cos’ he sold kids to Pearson
He’s a well-respected man about town,
Doin’ the worst things to our public schools.
He pays Bill Gates in his backyard,
And he pays publishers inside,
Cos’ they pay him back in graft,
His palms are green with money’s ink,
He gets more when our children cry,
It never fails!
And he’s oh, so bad,
And he’s oh, so sad.
And he’s oh, so, wealthy
Cos’ he sold kids to Pearson
He’s a well-respected man about town,
Doin’ the worst things to our public schools.
And he plays at stocks and shares,
Based on children’s tears and fears,
And he adores his standard tests
No matter that they fail to show
anything a child has learned
Or what our children know.
And he’s oh, so bad,
And he’s oh, so sad.
And he’s oh, so, wealthy
Cos’ he sold kids to Pearson
He’s a well-respected man about town,
Doin’ the worst things to our public schools.
One more verse . . .
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
Our children will be his prey,
Cut scores are set so high,
Ninety percent will fail today!
He also said the tests are “just not a traumatic event” for his children, who attend public school in Virginia.
“It’s just part of most kids’ education growing up,” he said. “Sometimes the adults make a big deal and that creates some trauma for the kids.”
Wow. Echoes of pedophiliac apologists. Seriously, some of them use almost the exact same language.
Hubris with a very large helping of willful ignorance-that’s Arne. Seriously….the federal government is going to “step in” and FORCE students to take a test? I would love nothing more than to let him try to play that hand.
You know if so many ppl are agreeing about the problems and uses of these tests then maybe the government should listen up. Civil disobedience is a constitutional right of protesting. It’s a federally supported right and it means when there are such high numbers involved that the government needs to make a change that appeases the people and make things right. This guy really needs a history and U.S. Government lesson for real. I’m not coddling my daughter I’m seeing an injustice and a need for change. IEP student with severe learning and behavioral disabilities can NOT be evaluated properly by these tests that they are not even at grade level to take in the first place.
Uh,oh! I am shaking in my boots. Hopefully, he will get the boot by the next president. I hope that the next Sect of education is V+someone like Carol Burris!
Incompetent, arrogant, insensitive and unwilling to grow and learn about education. That’s Arne for you. When he was appointed Secy of Education I looked up his credentials. Although I love Obama, this is one area of his administration that has disappointed me enormously.
The tragic truth is that standardized testing’s only real purpose is the collection of data for federal and state administrators. This data is of little real use to families, students, and most importantly teachers. By insisting that all students be tested annually with standardized tests, data collection has become the curriculum and chasing test data has become our student’s educational experience.
Data for policy decisions and monitoring of educational progress is already well served by the non-intrusive National Assessment of Educational Progress testing. Because it is designed to sample trends, it is all that is needed for policy making. Federal and State administrators/lawmakers currently are hungry for data not to create better policy, but as a tool to force and leverage schools to comply to their agendas. Allowing these data collection policies to stay in place for this long while witnessing their impact on the lives of our children is a national tragedy.
.
It is time to put the needs of students, families and schools first as they do their rightful work of striving to create a rich, useful education for all students in a consistent and predictable manner. Assessment of student progress toward rigorous, thoughtful learning can best be made visible to families and communities at the local level by schools in ways that actually are useful and inform instruction.
Arne Duncan’s current comments serve policy makers and testing corporations, not schools, students, or families. No thanks, Mr. Duncan. You don’t have a “right” to my child’s data. You do not have a right to turn our schools into for-profit data collection centers. Rather, you have a responsibility to do everything in your power to better understand what teachers and schools actually need in order to do their work. Anything less than this is an abuse of your office and reveals an agenda that only serves powerful business and political interests rather than the realities and needs of our schools.
Well said, olysteve.
Just saw this report… “No juniors show up to take SBAC at Seattle high school”
http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/04/23/sbac-standardized-testing-nathan-hale-high-school/26267407/
Kudos to the principal and faculty at Nathan Hale for spearheading this, my teacher told us their jobs were threatened but they stood up to the system anyways. A lot of the students in Seattle are opting out right now- the test doesn’t actually impact our graduation but the Department of Education is trying to make us take it anyways.
I have revised the lyrics to my earlier posting. I hope that everyone enjoys it. It goes to the tune of “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
Arne’s Coming
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
Our children will be his prey!
Cut scores are set far too high.
Ninety percent will fail today!
Gotta get down to it . . .
Arne is putting us down.
Parents and teachers are no good!
What if you knew her, found her crying in school?
We know his tests abuse her so!
Kids crying at their computers . . .
While Mr. Duncan laughs in glee!
The test is making them throw up!
Publishers’ graft is paying his fee!
Gotta get down to it . . .
Arne is putting us down.
Parents and teachers are no good!
What if you knew her, found her crying in school?
We know his tests abuse her so!
Arne Duncan says that third grade students . . .
Should excel on eighth grade tests!
These tests are not age-specific.
These tests abuse kids at best!
Gotta get down to it . . .
Arne is putting us down.
Parents and teachers are no good!
What if you knew her, found her crying in school?
We know his tests abuse her so!
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
Big Brother is on his way!
He’s threatening to take Federal action
To silence those who will not sway!
Test dodgers and Arne’s coming . . .
Our children will be his prey!
Cut scores are set far too high.
Ninety percent will fail today!
Wait a minute! I thought these were “State” standards and curriculum. So, what are the Feds doing interfering? Are they admitting that these are Federally mandated standards and curriculum? If so, then they have just violated the Constitution and opened themselves, and the states, up to lawsuits, class action suits, etc.
Normally the tests are run by the state, but Common Core was developed at the national level, so the SBAC is coming from the Feds- I hope they do get in trouble for it, if people don’t opt out we’re missing a lot of valuable class time for these tests. It’s not really education.
We used to have one standardized test each year, taken at one time during the year. Depending on your district, its 3 tests each year, taken on 3 separate occasions. Im white, dont live in the burbs, and am not a hover mom. Theres a much bigger issue that has little to do with just my child. Both myself and my husband have about 25 years between the 2 of us, working in schools. Its so sad to watch schools “fail” on purpose. Then they get closed so they can become charters. The charters are terrible where I live.
I meant its 3 tests each year taken 9 times, not 3.
[…] Not a single state or school has been penalized for failing to test 95% of their students. The US DOE is threatening to intervene, yet this just underscores the over-reach of the […]