A few days ago, I posted a statement by a teacher-candidate of Hispanic origin who was trying to get certification as a teacher of special education. She had a high grade point average, she took and passed several state-required tests, at great expense, but she could not pass the edTPA. And she could not afford to pay Pearson again. As a result of the post here, she was contacted by someone in the Néw York State Education Department (I supplied her contact information). Several readers offered to pay the cost of taking an alternate assessment. Someone helped her.
The woman who wrote the post sent me this email:
“I cannot thank you enough for providing me with a platform to express myself freely and share it with the public! After that post, I shortly received a voucher to take the safety net test. None of this would have been possible without your help. I was just trying to raise awareness of the exploitative practices and fees from Pearson. I think the amount of tests and the prices were exaggerated. If teacher candidates are expected to pass more challenging exams at expensive rates while obtaining a Master’s Degree then they should be paid accordingly. Again, thank you for your time and efforts! It will never be forgotten.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great news!
What a powerful platform you have created here Diane!
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This is great news!
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What you said.
😎
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“Round robin: Stanford and back”
I only designed the test
Development’s down the hall
I only developed the test
But here’s a place to call
I only administer the test
I never score at all
I only score the test
You might call city hall
I only license teachers
I think it’s Stanford’s ball…
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One of your best SomeDAM Poet.
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Agree! Yes, one of the best.
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Exactly …if no one speaks up…first they came for the…..
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YAY!!
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This awesome news makes my day! This wonderful teacher wants to teach, and she deserves to get in there and begin making a difference! I pray for these toxic policies of the deformers to go away for the sake of all wonderful educators like this young woman and for the sake of all the children they will teach. The toxic policies that I’ve had to teach with the past three years will begin to drive away talent like this young woman’s. Like one blogger so nicely phrased it, “Why are they doing so many awful things to drive the young people away from teaching?” The few self righteous people who are in favor of these harsh benchmarks are forgetting the extreme work of student teaching and they themselves never had to jump through these hoops in this busy time. I find it cruel. These harsh benchmarks will result in fewer teachers which makes the deformers very happy. In reality, these harsh benchmarks are just more opportunities to make money for the already rich educational companies. I sometimes wonder what in the world will be next. It has all gotten so crazy. Thank you, Diane, for helping this fine young lady. You have such a kind heart.
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Definitely awesome news for this person, but how many others are in the same boat? The whole situation is completely unacceptable. No one should have to depend on the charity of strangers to be able to get into a field they’ve paid thousands to study for and in which they’ve done well. No test ever should determine someone’s ability to make a living in their chosen field.
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So happy to see this and so happy for her and the future students she will teach. Again, Diane you are a national treasure….a living legend. Thanks so much for all the good you accomplish and all that you strive to accomplish that is still undone. I so think you will prevail.
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Like with children, teachers may not be judged by a standardized test. A good assessor will look at the plans, watch the lesson and conference with the teacher afterward. From that information, it is easy to determine knowledge of subject area over a period of time. Never with a test.
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Exactly!
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Phew! Teacher saved! Good job, all, and best of luck to this promising young woman!
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They make it so difficult to become a teacher, and after an individual successfully jumps through all the hoops, they make it hard to remain a teacher. If an occupation has professional requirements, then it should have professional compensations, including an inviting work environment.
Lately, the teachers who remain on the job must feel like they are in a war zone, instead of in a school building.
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I just had to respond to your awesome blog. I couldn’t have said it better. The deformers are putting these young people through all of this misery, and it is going to be mighty difficult to stay a teacher because they have made the daily “grind” so miserable. I cope because I only have two years left. The deformers have made this once very enjoyable profession miserable. Teachers with 20 and 25 years of teaching openly share that they do not know how they are going to make it to retirement.
I get so agitated when a few self righteous people write in and arrogantly state that all of these painful hoops need to be there. These painful hoops were not there for them to jump through. These self righteous people were given the time and space to GROW into the educator they are today. Then, these arrogant people need to face the truth: Many teacher education programs are down 60 percent. My husband, a retired principal, and I would never allow our children to go into teaching. So, eventually there will be fewer portfolios and tapes to even score. No young person can invest all of this money into a broken profession with so many cruel hoops to jump through. I bet a lot of these young people would have never gone into teaching with all of the changing toxic rules. There are new ridiculous rules popping up every day for these young people. It just isn’t fair.
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Sad Teacher: to riff off of your comments—
One of the most astounding things about the self-styled “education reform” movement is the constant harping on the theme of “best business practices”—when, in practice, rheephorm is antithetical to such a basic “best business practice” as sustainability.
But, as always, keep in mind that (as a general rule) the schools to which rheephormsters send THEIR OWN CHILDREN are assured of whatever is necessary to keep them functioning well long long into the future. *Hint hint hint, shills & trolls: know how to spell Lakeside School?*
The schools for OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN? You hit the proverbial nail on the head.
Thank you for your heartfelt comments.
😎
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“These self righteous people were given the time and space to GROW into the educator they are today.”
No, ST, most of those “self righteous” pushing these idiocies never went through anything because many were never K-12 teachers to begin with!
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Oh my gosh, Duane, you are so right. Most of them spent little or no time in education at all. As I leave my classroom in two years, I see education in a shambles. I will miss my students and the art of teaching, but I will miss nothing else. I do not even recognize my profession anymore. To try to block young people from a battered profession in which we should be GRATEFUL that they even want to pursue this stressful endeavor, is unbelievable and ridiculous. I am so appreciative of these young people, because with the present state of education I would never enter this job (no longer a profession) again. I really enjoy your responses, Duane! Thank you! ☺️
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To Krazy TA above, Thank you so much for all of the great comments you make too! I think all of us are shocked in the horrible direction that teaching has gone. I know the toxic policies have lowered my self esteem as a teacher, and I am so thankful that all of us can share on Diane’s wonderful blog. For the sake of our kids and our young teachers, I pray that things begin to get better. With the “vise grips” toxic policies, I would have never made it 30 years in my classroom. Never. Thanks to you too! Please keep writing! 😎😎😎
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Great news. But the one-off solutions after media exposure are the norm. The flawed system remains. The Reformers know they can lose small battles but achieve victory. Eventually, the public grows tired of these isolated cases. Change the system.
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This post by this young teacher has had such a huge number of responses on this blog because I feel it hits us viscerally as teachers…these ridiculous hoops to jump through are set up by politicians and are a distraction to our important and valuable task of providing a free, public, local education for all regardless of race, religion, income or ability.
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I think you captured it perfectly.
“The Lyin’ Tamers”
They made ’em jump through hoops
Aflame — with whip and chair —
The public teacher troops
Performing at the fair
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Brilliant!
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Excellent News!! Love this Blog!!
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A victory!
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So true. I was in one of the first groups of teacher candidates who were forced to undergo the torture that is EdTPA. It was sprung on us seemingly out of the blue. None of us had heard of it, then boom, in order to be licensed we had to pass this new test. Along with our Praxis, our college classwork, and our student teaching. Simultaneously. I pulled several literal all-nighters. My entire student teaching experience was marred, and in the end I was less prepared to begin teaching because of the EdTPA. Pearson is a corporation without a soul.
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The new teacher evaluation system has done the very same thing to teachers. I do not want to waste my valuable time on all of the needless paperwork and endless questions on the new teacher evaluation system. I find it worthless, very boring paperwork designed to burn out teachers. I dread working on the Marzano rubric and all of its questions. I just do not want to do it. I want to plan my lessons, grade papers, put stickers on my papers, put up new bulletin boards, and do teacher tasks which will immediately benefit the well being of my students. I’m sitting here at my desk at my school as I write this. I want my profession to be like it once was. I used to love my job when I could teach and be a teacher.
I am so thankful that I retire next year. I cannot continue to put all the unpaid hours into a job which no one appreciates. I love my students and my subject matter, but as I’ve said many times on Diane’s blog, it is just not enough anymore. Teaching has become an abusive profession. It will make my day on March 15 when Mr. John Kasich does not win his state of Ohio. He has ruined Ohio public education. Mr. Kasich needed the teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and nurses after all. What goes around comes around…..March 15 will be a happy day for this Ohio teacher.
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It’s time to pick at these ideas and bring accountability home where it can be beneficial in support of teachers and students. http://savingstudents-caplee.blogspot.com/2013/12/accountability-with-honor-and-yes-we.html It’s time to quit playing gotcha games and assure we return to the agenda of children
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I could not have said it better. This evaluation system has been designed to burn out and discourage teachers. We teachers only have so many hours in our day, and we wish to grade our papers, plan our lessons, and interact with our students …..not spend countless hours on these boring Marzano questions while all of our students’ papers are put on the back burner. It is crazy, out of control, and honestly, I think done on purpose to create a teacher shortage. In my school system we have to do all of this extensive paperwork for evaluation twice a year, along with SLO’s, and state testing. It is all way too much….Teaching is now an abusive profession. No one could ever change my mind. So much suffering….so much suffering…..
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