Archives for the month of: April, 2015
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FairTest: The Astonishing Revolution Against High-Stakes Testing, from Coast to Coast

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
14

FairTest has been fighting the misuse of standardized testing since 1985. Here is their weekly update on the exploding movement to curb high-stakes testing and to opt students out of testing to send a message to policymakers:

The assessment reform movement gains momentum across the U.S. and even beyond national borders, as parents, students, teachers, administrators, and school board members say “Enough is enough” to standardized exam misuse and overuse. Now is the time to ratchet up pressure on members of Congress and state legislatures to roll back test-and-punish mandates!

Less Testing: More Teaching — Contact U.S. Senators April 8 National Day of Action for “No Child Left Behind” Overhaul
http://fairtest.org/national-day-action-april-8

Fact vs Threat: Schools Unlikely to Lose Federal Funds Due to High Opt Out Numbers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/02/will-schools-lose-federal-funds-if-kids-dont-take-mandated-tests-fact-vs-threat/

Atlanta School Test Cheating: Lessons Policy Makers Ignore

Bob Schaeffer of FairTest on Atlanta Cheating Scandal

Are Exit Exams Necessary?: More States Say “No”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/04/03/are-high-school-exit-exams-necessary-more-states-are-saying-no/

Join the Obamas to Opt Out of High-Stakes Testing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/join-the-obamas-and-optou_b_7009588.html

California Testing Companies Fight for Assessment Contract
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article17481269.html

Colorado Districts Report High Opt-Out Levels
http://www.reporterherald.com/ci_27829826/16-percent-opt-out-parcc

Colorado Students Use Test Opt-Out Time for Education
http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/04/03/readers-how-our-students-spent-their-opt-out-time/#.VR7WI5NLUZw

Delaware Parents Protest Standardized Exams; Support Opt-Out Bill
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/education/2015/04/01/parent-group-protests-standardized-testing/70805516/

District of Columbia Test Cheating: How Did it Differ from Atlanta

What Exactly Were the Differences Between Cheating in Atlanta Under Beverly Hall and the Cheating in DC Under Michelle Rhee?

Florida Senate Passes Bill Curbing State Testing Amid GOP Anger
http://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-senate-passes-testing-bill-amid-gop-anger

High Time for a Testing Timeout
http://staugustine.com/opinions/2015-04-04/editorial-high-time-testing-timeout#.VSBc5kZLUZw

Georgia: Atlanta Cheating Verdict Reveals Education “Reform” Failure
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/01/atlanta-cheating-scandal-education-reform
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2015/0402/Atlanta-teacher-convictions-Do-standardized-testing-pressures-foster-cheating-video

Indiana Students Organize Screening of Anti-Testing Film
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/students-organize-screening-of-anti-testing-film/article_dda5a78d-6a78-572f-88d8-0d306f833f74.html

Louisiana: Debunking the Post-Katrina “Miracle”
http://www.alternet.org/education/debunking-new-orleans-miracle

Maryland Parent Explains Why So Many Families Are Opting Out of Testing
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-parcc-letter-20150403-story.html

Massachusetts: Tell the Schools, “No PARCC For My Kids”
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/letters/ci_27826889/tell-schools-no-parcc-my-kids#ixzz3W4L0Gv7G

Massachusetts Students Explain Test Flaws
http://wgbhnews.org/post/and-you-thought-mcas-was-controvertial-get-ready-parcc

Minnesota Governor Continues Effort to Reduce Testing After Rejection by Feds
http://www.inforum.com/news/education/3714072-dayton-seeks-options-reducing-testing

Mississippi Common Core Testing A Battleground Issue
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/04/04/6159459/qa-common-core-student-testing.html

New Hampshire Districts Develop Performance Assessment Systems
http://nhpr.org/post/districts-experimenting-new-tests-writing-questions-only-half-task

New Jersey PARCC Test Refusals Top 50,000
http://www.app.com/story/news/education/in-our-schools/2015/03/31/parcc-refusals-top/70720628/
Nearly 40% of Montclair Students Opted Out from PARCC Test

39% of Students in Montclair, New Jersey, Opt Out of PARCC Tests

New York Districts Forced to Drop “Sit and Stare” for Students Who Opt Outhttp://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/amherst/amherst-drops-sit-and-stare-policy-for-students-who-opt-out-of-testing-20150331

Thousands of New York City Families Will Boycott Math, Reading Exams
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nyc-familes-boycott-state-math-reading-exams-activists-article-1.2174033

North Carolina School Grading System Should Be Erased
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article17248595.html

North Carolina Teachers Tell Board There’s Too Much Testing
http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x626360898/DPS-teachers-believe-there-s-too-much-testing

Ohio Auditor Continues Probe Into Test Score Manipulation
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/04/03/painstaking-probes-into-datascandal-still-rolling.html

Ohio First Year of PARCC Implementation No Picnic
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/04/06/experts-first-year-of-testing-no-picnic.html

Oregon Sees More Than a Thousand Opt Outs So Far
http://www.opb.org/news/article/hundreds-of-portland-area-students-opt-out-of-new-state-exams/

Oregon Letter Blasts Damage to Education From “No Child Left Behind” Testing Law
http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/letters/20150401/letter-no-child-left-behind-had-negative-effects-on-us-students

Pennsylvania High-Stakes Testing Has Many Problems
http://www.dailyitem.com/opinion/my-turn-problems-with-high-stakes-standardized-testing/article_d8ea31a2-d7e6-11e4-8412-fbe7a22385bd.html

Less Testing, More Teaching: A Great Move for Pennsylvania Schools
http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/more-teaching-less-testing-a-good-move-for-pa-schools/article_cd3550be-d4bf-11e4-9ab5-7745642245a9.html

Rhode Island Students and Teachers Find Faults With PARCC Test
http://www.warwickonline.com/stories/Students-teachers-find-fault-with-PARCC-test,101207

Texas Anti-Testing Push Continues at State, Local Levels
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Anti-testing-push-continues-at-state-and-local-6182214.php

Texas Families Start STAAR Opt-Out Movement
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Opting-out-Houston-parents-say-no-to-6171277.php

Washington State Tests Useless for Measuring Teacher Effectiveness
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/test-are-useless-for-measuring-teacher-effectiveness/

Washington Parents Protest Use of Non-Validated Smarter Balanced Exams

Pearson and others are exploiting our children by using them to establish the validity, or lack thereof, of the SBAC

Canada Testing the Idea of Scrapping High-Stress Exams
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Testing+idea+scrapping+high+stress+exams/10945661/story.html

United Kingdom Teachers Endorse Boycott of New Test of Four-Year Olds
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3025151/NUT-debate-tests-4-year-olds.html

“Hocus Pocus” and the History of High-Stakes Testing in the U.S.
http://www.livingindialogue.com/hocus-pocus-and-the-history-of-high-stakes-tests/

The Lost Purpose of School Reform
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/apr/02/lost-purpose-no-child-left-behind/

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
office- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779
mobile- (239) 699-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org

Categories Opt Out, Resistance, Testing

Teacher Turnover at Success Academy: Who Is Right?

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
45

The Néw York Times said that teacher turnover at the Success Academy charter schools is more than 50%. Eva Moskowitz says it is 17%.

Matt de Carlo of the Albert Shanker Institute has the raw data, and he says they are both wrong.

Categories Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy, Teachers

Eva Says Times’ Article about Success Academy Was “Slanted” and “Unfair”

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
114

Eva Moskowitz, founder of the Success Academy charter chain, complained that the first-page story in the New York Times by Kate Taylor was slanted against her “no-excuses” charter schools.

 

Chalkbeat reports:

 

Times education reporter Kate Taylor wrote a lengthy front-page story on Success earlier this week, which highlighted the network’s impressive standardized test-score performance and demanding school culture. The article included interviews with Moskowitz along with satisfied teachers.

 

Taylor also included anecdotes about children wetting themselves during practice tests, and interviews from former teachers who criticized Success’ tough discipline. The article also detailed Success’ excellent test performance.

 

Moskowitz acknowledged the article’s benefits in her email, saying the story was “the first time the Times has given Success even moderate praise or acknowledgement of what we are doing—and certainly never front-page status.”

 

But Moskowitz also criticized Taylor’s reporting methods.

 

“The reporter constructed a story around unverified but titillating anecdotes from anonymous sources,” Moskowitz wrote.

 

Apparently, Eva forgot that the New York Times published a lengthy and admiring article about her in the Magazine section last year.

 

I actually thought the article was fair and balanced. Kate Taylor reported the high test scores of SA and she reported what former teachers told her. The fact that they requested anonymity does not discredit their views. It shows that they are still afraid of the Wrath of Eva.

Blogger Perdido Street School writes about this article here. he says that Eva is “playing the victim,” but that the real victims are the children.

“But the victims in this tale are the children soiling themselves at their desks because they’re too scared to go to the bathroom during the all-mighty Sucess test prep.

“The victims in this tale are the children sent to “effort academy” (i.e., detention and extra test prep) because their eyes didn’t snap to attention quick enough when one of the teachers snapped her fingers.

“The victims in this tale are the children who are meant to feel “misery” when their teachers feels they’re not trying hard enough.

“The NY Times article did read like something out of Dickens, as I wrote when I first posted about this story.

But that’s not because the author, Kate Taylor, was making things up or “slanting” the piece, as Eva charges.

“That’s because Success Academy is a Dickensian nightmare where the children are subject to stress, misery and physical and emotional abuse.”

And there is an amazing link at the end of the post, announcing that Campbell Brown and Governor Andrew Cuomo are hosting a fund-raiser for Eva’s charters. Tickets start at $1,500, tables at $15,000. Cuomo will be the keynote speaker. “The event will be held April 20 at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, and will be co-chaired by Success board members Campbell Brown, Daniel Loeb, Joel Greenblatt, and Regina and John Scully.”

Success Academy charters don’t have to worry about Cuomo’s punitive teacher evaluation plan, because their teachers turn over so frequently.

Categories Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy

Poll: Tennessee Does Not Want More School Choice

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
6

As the state legislature considers vouchers for religious schools, a new poll of voters in Tennessee shows that they don’t want more school choice. They want charters to be reformed, meaning more transparency and accountability and stronger protections against financial fraud.

Voters ranked school choice dead last among their concerns.

“Metropolitan Nashville Education Association (MNEA) Leaders say a recent survey of local voters shows that Tennesseans overwhelmingly favor reforms for local charter schools to protect students and taxpayers.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected charter expansion as a priority, the survey found. Instead, voters favored charter reforms to strengthen:

• Transparency and accountability

• Teacher training and qualifications

• Anti-fraud measures

• Equity policies for high-need students

“It’s clear our communities support quality public schools, not an expansion of charter schools,” said MNEA President Stephen Henry. “We need to make sure ALL Nashville schools are held to the same accountability and transparency standards that taxpayers expect.”
The survey also found voters rated the need for more parental involvement and the reduction of excessive student testing as bigger priorities than expanding charters.

“Specifically, voters favored by greater than 80% approval reforms that would:

*provide rigorous, independent audits of charter school finances

*require charter schools to publish how they spend taxpayer dollars, including all budgets and contracts

*ensure that teachers in any publicly-funded school meet the same training and qualification requirements”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Privatization, Supporting public schools, Tennessee, Virtual Charter Schools, Vouchers

Three Families Sue to Keep Tennessee Virtual Academy Open

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
9

Three families of children with disabilities sued to prevent the state from closing down the Tennessee Virtual Academy.

TVA is one of the lowest performing schools in the state. The virtual charter school is operated by K12, Inc., the for-profit corporation founded by Michael and Lloyd Milken and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Under state law, Tennessee’s education commissioner has the authority to close the school if it ranks among the worst performers for three consecutive years. The school has consistently been ranked 1 on a 5-point scale, with 1 being the worst and 5 the best, since it opened in 2011. Critics have called it a failure and said the for-profit corporation that provides the curriculum is more interested in making money than educating children.

It would be interesting to learn who is paying the legal fees for these families.

Categories Accountability, For-Profit

Mercedes Schneider: Louisiana Court Orders Release of Data to Qualified Researchers

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
3

Mercedes Schneider reports on an important court case in Louisiana.

In 2010, a research group called “Research on Reforms,” which is skeptical of privatization, was denied access to state data by the Louisiana Department of Education. The same decided student data was released by the state agency to CREDO, which studies charter school performance.

ROR sued for access to the data available exclusively to CREDO. A lower court rejected their request, but last month a state appeals court ruled that ROR should have access to the data.

Let the data wars begin!

Categories Charter Schools, Data and Data Mining, Louisiana, Testing

Crazy Crawfish: How Louisiana Abandoned Student Privacy Law

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
8

Crazy Crawfish, a blogger also known as Jason France, used to work as a data analyst in the Louisiana Department of Education. He was recently shocked to discover that the department has released confidential student data to the research group CREDO. It even released the data of nonpublic school students.

France realized that the state released personal student data that CREDO didn’t need or use.

He writes:

“It’s only a combination of chance and persistence that I stumbled across the details of this agreement and am able to share my findings with you. How many more agreements like this are out there that are unknown to us? How poorly have they been reviewed? I can’t actually say. Someone outside of LDOE needs to review these types of disclosures (All of them) – before they happen. It is important for the public to have an accounting of both what was promised, but also what was actually delivered. Frankly, if LDOE doesn’t understand their own data, they shouldn’t be providing it to others. I also question whether they should be collecting it all or storing it for decades in the first place.”

Categories Louisiana, Privacy and Privacy Rights, Students

Vicki Cobb: How to Teach Children to Hate School

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2015 //
45

Vicki Cobb is a prolific writer of science books for children. She has written more than 85 nonfiction books. As a child, she attended the celebrated Little Red Schoolhouse in Greenwich Village, where experiential learning was valued. Today, she dedicates herself to educating children about science and the joy of learning. Imagine her surprise when she conducted a workshop and discovered that the children did not share her enthusiasm for school.

 

Here is her assessment of the legacy of today’s school reforms.

 

The other day I was doing a program for a group of 4th-6th graders at a local public library. I introduced myself to them by telling them how I had LOVED school so much when I was a kid that I basically recreate it for myself everyday as I write my books. The kids’ reaction to my confession was a unanimous, vociferous, vocal expression of how much they disliked school. I was startled. After all, I’ve told this to children many times before at school visits. Was this because the venue was not in school and they felt freer to express themselves? Or has something changed to make school more onerous? These were privileged kids from an affluent public school district. Could it be because they had just finished a month of standardized testing? What’s going on here?

 

This is just the latest piece of evidence that something is rotten in American education. It seems that many people in a position of power believe that education is too important to allow professional educators do their jobs because they have failed to produce a consistently excellent product of people who are college and career ready after twelve years of schooling. They believe the way to excellence is to first write a law decreeing “No Child Left Behind” or “All Children College and Career Ready” to set a policy, without consulting anyone who actually teaches children. And then to test, test, test, to see if these impossible standards have been met. Meanwhile, they are creating a population of quietly submissive students and teachers who narrow the curriculum to what they hope will be on the test while administrators are cutting art, music, physical education programs and librarians to pour more of their limited financial resources into test prep and test grading….

 

Let me take this opportunity to remind us that human beings, from the moment they appear on this earth, are born to learn. A baby is as smart as s/he will ever be. Through infancy every day is filled with wonder and discovery. And although there are hard lessons along the way, as learning progresses, so does mastery. We know from research that there are many different learning styles but eventually we all learn to walk and talk and think . As we get older, if we’re lucky, we discover a passion that drives us to master more skills and contribute to society. But the skill of high performance on a test, is not an essential skill. There are many other metrics for success — the number of patents held by Americans, for example. The current “reformers” for education are simply imposing ill-conceived laws of the state and federal governments on schools as if we were a dictatorship not a democracy.

 

Deep in my bones I know that I would not be creating science books for children if I had grown up in one of today’s repressive schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Education Reform, Joy, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Race to the Top, Real Education, Standardized Testing, Students

A Reader Comments on Senate Plan to Revise NCLB

By dianeravitch
April 8, 2015 //
40

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.”

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind)

The Senate ESEA Bill and Students with Disabilities

By dianeravitch
April 8, 2015 //
40

A reader wrote to ask whether the Senate revision of No Child Left Behind would permit states to develop alternate curricula and assessments for students with disabilities, and whether the bill will eliminate Secretary Duncan’s mandate that only 1% of children with disabilities could be allowed alternate assessments.

My inside source on the Senate committee staff told me that the authors of the bill wanted to permit states to have more flexibility but the “disability community” insisted on the status quo. They want all children, except the 1% who are most severely disabled, to take exactly the same tests. He suggested that if there were disability groups and parents who thought differently and who wanted greater state and local flexibility, they should make their voices heard.

In New York, when the first Common Core tests were given, only 5% of children with disabilities reached proficient, as compared to 30% of children without disabilities.

Contact the staff of Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and/or Senator Patti Murray of Washington State if you disagree with the lobbyists who want the stays quo.

In 2010, I visited with Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who was the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at that time. Along with Richard Rothstein, we explained the damage that No Child Left Behind was doing to children and education. He responded that “the disability community” loves NCLB. We were baffled.

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Special Education, Testing
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