Archives for the month of: July, 2016
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Nashville: Vote for the Defenders of Public Education for School Board

By dianeravitch
July 12, 2016 //
3

Nashville has a school board election coming up in August. It will determine whether the charter industry is permitted to invade the city with a free hand (the existing charters are already skimming the kids they want).

T.C. Weber, a Nashville parent, sums up here the current landscape of candidates.

Three current school board members are fighters for public education: Amy Frogge, Will Pinkston, and Jill Pinkston.

They are standing for re-election. Help them stave off privatization of the public schools.

Several candidates are endorsed by the nefarious and devious “Stand for Children.” Stand is popularly known as “Stand on Children.” Don’t vote for anyone they endorse, because they will fight for privatization and for anti-teacher policies. Stand for Children is supported by the billionaires. They do not stand for your children.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Nashville, Privatization, Stand for Children

Privatizers Target Cincinatti

By dianeravitch
July 12, 2016 //
7

Michelle Dillingham describes the privatizers’ assault on the public schools of Cincinnati, the best urban district in Ohio. Cinncinatti has spent years developing its community schools model, only to face the reformers’ thirst for power.
She writes:
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Michelle Dillingham is a resident in Kennedy Heights and a member of the Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition.

It’s no easy task providing public education in a large urban school district these days. The landscape is a literal minefield of tough issues: shrinking funding, misleading state report cards, and competition from vouchers and charters. Yet Cincinnati supports our schools. Taxpayers have made huge capital investments in our public schools; support for renewal levies has increased; and enrollment is up. Young families are moving back into the urban core and want their children to attend neighborhood public schools. Yet despite proving the value of our schools and the Community Learning Center model, and even outperforming every other urban district in the state, it seems we are not immune from the charter industry looking to profit.

The well-funded national anti-public education agenda beats a loud and constant drum – “public schools are failures” – and Cincinnati is no exception. Last March the corporate-backed Accelerator Fund made the case, with the help of a “study,” that CPS schools were not offering enough “quality seats” and parents needed more “choice.” The Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition immediately called them out for their pro-charter agenda, which they denied.

Recently Accelerator Fund CEO Patrick Herrel introduced Earl Martin Phalen to a Board of Education committee meeting, where he gave a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation asking the board to sponsor a new charter school. Phalen is a fellow at the Mind Trust organization in Indiana, the same organization that Herrel was hired from. The founder of Mind Trust, David Harris, is a national leader in the school privatization movement. They actively work for charterization of public schools. Phalen’s company, Phalen Leadership Academies, has been working to expand its blended-learning (computer-based instruction) schools in Indianapolis and other cities, and now it has come to our district to do the same.

Ohio is known as the “Wild Wild West” of charter schools, yet despite every study, every scandal and every fraud exposed they simply repackage the same “school choice, failing public schools” narrative and resell it to local school boards time and again.

At the June 13 Board of Education meeting speakers from all walks of life testified for over an hour – parents, social workers, advocates for students with disabilities, community members, teachers and more – asking them to postpone their vote to enter into an agreement with Phalen to build a new charter school on the West Side. Speakers reminded them of the pervasive fraud, waste and abuse among charter school operators, and that they should ask Phalen, at the very least, to share the basic information necessary to ensure our children would receive a quality education.

After some discussion, the board amended the motion to soften the language of the resolution, changing it to “explore the possibilities” of working with Phalen. The last to speak was Board Member Melanie Bates, who explained that the resolution before them was against board policy. Phalen only has one year of data, which is not enough to evaluate the charter school, a requirement of CPS board policy to sponsor a charter school. Despite this noncompliance with board policy, the board proceeded to vote and pass the resolution anyway, the lone “no” vote from board member Bates.

Many were perplexed how was it even possible for the board to move forward with any agreement to partner with Phalen, since they do not meet minimum standards according to the board policy on sponsoring charters? We urge the board of education to follow their own rules, and seek other solutions for a new school on the West Side, not a charter school. Our kids deserve better.

To sign up to receive updates from the Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition, send your email address here: cincinnatieducationjustice@gmail.com.

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform

Another Fake University to Award Master’s Degrees in Test Score Raising

By dianeravitch
July 12, 2016 //
21

You have read about Relay “Graduate School of Education” and Match “Graduate School of Education.” These are programs where charter teachers teach future charter teachers how to raise test scores. It is an insult to all graduate schools of education to call Relay and Match “graduate schools of education.” There is not a single doctorate on their “faculties,” just charter teachers. They teach how to raise test scores and how to control classes. These institutions award master’s degrees. They have no research capacity, no studies of psychology, child development, economics, history, politics, testing, or sociology. They are a sham.

Here comes another one: “Aspire University.” At least it wants its research director to have a doctorate, so he or she can publish studies to promote the virtues of the charter movement. As the job description clearly states, the research director will be expected to “support the mission, vision, and core values of Aspire University.” Might as well be the director of marketing.

What is ASPIRE UNIVERSITY?

Aspire University is a new, not-for-profit organization that has grown out of a six year pilot program in Aspire Public Schools. Aspire Public Schools operates 38 high-performing, college-preparatory public charter schools serving 15,000 students in underserved communities across California and Memphis, Tennessee. Currently in its 17th academic year, Aspire is one of the nation’s largest open-enrollment K-12 public charter school systems serving predominantly low-income students and delivering a rigorous College for Certain education. An unrelenting focus on college preparedness led to 100 percent of graduating Aspire seniors being accepted to four-year colleges or universities over the last six years.

Through a partnership with the University of Pacific, we’ve trained and developed over 150 new teachers through a one-year apprenticeship model (the Aspire Teacher Residency). This teacher preparation model results in graduates with masters and teaching credentials and deep, classroom-based training who are tremendously effective as first year teachers and beyond, are staying in the classroom at higher rates than teachers prepared via traditional pathways, and are more demographically representative of the communities we serve. Aspire University now operates the Aspire Teacher Residency program, as well as an early stage principal residency program.

As we migrate from Aspire Public Schools to a stand-alone institution, Aspire University’s objectives are to:

1. Scale up our teacher residency program from 51 to 120 residents per year by Year 5.
2. Gain accreditation for Aspire University so we can offer the Master of Education degree by Year 5.
3. Help other charter and public school systems develop their own apprentice-model teacher training programs, and act as the degree-granting institution for those programs.
4. Build an evidence base and research agenda that strengthens AspireU’s programs, impact, and sustainability.

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

GENERAL SUMMARY:

At Aspire University, we believe that students get to and through college because of great educators, and there just aren’t enough of them, especially for students who are the first in their families to go to college. Teaching and school leadership are noble professions that, when done well, are demanding of head and heart. At Aspire University we invest in and develop great teachers and school leaders using an apprenticeship model. The Director of Research will establish and lead an exceptional research function at Aspire University, developing and executing a research strategy that builds the evidence base for AspireU’s model, quantifies impact, deepens learning, improves performance, and helps ensure that the vision of developing significantly more, great teachers and leaders becomes a reality. The Director of Research will report directly to Aspire University’s President and CEO.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting to the President/CEO and working closely with her as a thought partner to support the mission, vision and core values of Aspire University, the essential responsibilities of the Director of Research include:

1. Conducting publication-worthy original qualitative and quantitative research, especially in teacher preparation, apprenticeship models, personalized learning for both educators and students, principal preparation, and leadership development.
2. Coordinating third party evaluations with outside research firms, including at least one study that qualifies for the What Works Clearinghouse standards of evidence.
3. Identifying and supporting publication opportunities with and for colleagues.
4. Codifying lessons learned at Aspire U.
5. Providing ongoing input and strategic guidance into the tools and systems needed to collect and analyze data to inform research.
6. Synthesizing and enabling actionable use of emerging research in relevant fields.
7. Acting as a “translator,” effectively communicating across Aspire U about sophisticated research and statistical methods and their implications.
8. Creating data visualizations for reports.
9. Presenting at conferences that build brand, strengthen credibility, and enhance learning and learning networks
10. Identifying research funding opportunities and writing evaluation and research sections of grants to raise funds to support research.
11. Acting as a thought partner on the strategic use and implications of research for AspireU.
12. Performing other related duties as required and assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1) Required knowledge, skills & abilities:

· Exceptional written and verbal communicator, including ability to translate sophisticated statistical and research methods into plain English and explain their real-world implications
· Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills
· Organized and thorough project manager with track record of developing plans, managing self and others effectively, and meeting deadlines for complex projects
· Entrepreneurial with a track record of succeeding in challenging, fast-paced, start-up environments; can operate amidst ambiguity; adjusts quickly to changing priorities and conditions; copes effectively with complexity and change
· Believes that education transforms lives and that every student deserves the opportunity to go to college
· Enthusiasm for Aspire University’s model and potential

2) Minimum educational level:
· Ph.D. or EdD required

3) Experience required:
· Research experience in K-12 education
· Some experience designing and managing experimental, quantitative studies
· Published education studies in peer-reviewed journals ideal

This position description intends to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. It is not intended to include all duties and responsibilities. The order in which duties and responsibilities are listed is not significant.

If you are interested please apply on line at http://aspirepublicschools.org/join/

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

GENERAL SUMMARY:

At Aspire University, we believe that students get to and through college because of great educators, and there just aren’t enough of them, especially for students who are the first in their families to go to college. Teaching and school leadership are noble professions that, when done well, are demanding of head and heart. At Aspire University we invest in and develop great teachers and school leaders using an apprenticeship model. The Executive Assistant will provide crucial, multi-faceted administrative and organizational support to the CEO, COO and the team as needed to keep AspireU operating smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. To thrive in this job, you should be accustomed to working in a high-volume, fast paced, startup environment. This position requires you to be flexible, self-motivated, detail oriented, tech-savvy, have very strong verbal and written communication skills, and be able to gracefully handle shifts in priorities and unexpected events. An entrepreneurial “self-starter” with a service orientation will be ideal.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Provide administrative support to the CEO, COO and team, including correspondence, filing, online research, managing office supplies and systems, purchasing, and handling communications internally and externally.
2. Manage schedules and calendars, requiring interaction with both internal and external constituents across multiple levels.
3. Coordinate a variety of team, executive and board meetings, including binders, scheduling, logistics, catering, and all items needed to ensure successful meetings.
4. Handle calls from both internal and external sources.
5. Arrange travel (flights, transportation, hotels) for CEO, COO and team.
6. Draft, format, proof, duplicate, and/or organize written materials, including letters, memos, forms, policies and procedures, presentations, reports, and grants.
7. Support the work of Board of Directors by organizing meeting materials, taking minutes, scheduling meetings and conference calls; and handling logistics for Board of Directors as needed.
8. Coordinate and support timely and effective email, web and social media updates and communications.
9. Pay meticulous attention to detail and presentation so that all communications and materials are accurate, error-free and meet stated requirements.
10. Invent templates, tools, systems and procedures as needed.
11. Support special projects as needed.
12. Manage confidential information appropriately.
13. Demonstrate knowledge and support of Aspire University’s mission, vision, value statements, standards, policies and procedures, operating instructions, confidentiality standards, and the code of ethical behavior.
14. Perform other related duties as needed to support the smooth and effective functioning of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1) Required knowledge, skills & abilities
· Highly proficient in administrative functions: meticulous, attentive to detail, efficient.
· Excellent organization, time management and follow-up skills
· High sense of urgency; strong results focus
· Successfully handle multiple projects concurrently
· Write clearly and persuasively
· Anticipate and resolve problems, work independently, and initiate new systems, tools and templates as needed in a new organization
· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a strong customer service mentality
· Deal effectively with a diverse group of important external partners and stakeholders as well as internal contacts at all levels of the organization, including Board members
· Maintain the highest level of confidentiality and good judgment
· Calm and nimble team-player under challenging conditions and schedules, maintaining a pleasant disposition at all times
· Strong command of word processing; exemplary spelling and grammar skills, fast and accurate typist
· Fluent in a range of office software tools, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, database tools, and other standard business technologies. Ability to quickly learn new software. Familiar with both Mac and PC platforms
· Independent judgment and initiative is required to plan, prioritize and organize diversified workload, and set up templates, practices or procedures where none exist
· Truly motivated by administrative support roles

2) Minimum educational level:
· Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience.

3) Experience required:
· Minimum of 3 years of work experience, including some experience supporting C level executives, ideally in an entrepreneurial, start-up and/or nimble, non-bureaucratic organization
· Experience in K-12 or higher education, teaching, school leadership, and/or serving high needs students
· Commitment to public education and passion for Aspire University’s mission

4) Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be reasonably met by an executive assistant to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Occasionally lift and/or move a minimum of 30 pounds. While performing the duties of this job, frequently required to sit, stand, move, feel, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear.

5) Work environment:

The work environment characteristics are representative of those in a typical office which one might encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise, exposure to dust, oils, and cleaning chemicals are moderate. Work may be performed in indoor and/or outdoor environments. There may be some moderate exposure to childhood and/or other diseases in a school environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform

Larry Lee: StudentsFirst and BAEO Pack Up and Leave Alabama

By dianeravitch
July 12, 2016 //
1

Larry Lee reports here about the departure of StudentsFirst and the Black Alliance for Educational Options from Alabama.

They set up camp in Alabama to advocate for charters and vouchers. Not to advocate for children, but to advocate for alternatives to public schools.

They met with some success. The appeal of charters and vouchers in the Deep South is a restoration of segregation, while claiming it is “all about the children.”

They left. They packed their bags and went away. They had no roots in Alabama. They didn’t stay to advocate for the children.

Categories Alabama, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Education Reform, StudentsFirst, Vouchers

A Panel on Collaboration Between Charters and Public Schools, Missing Public School Representation

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
42

Politico reports on a panel discussion that takes place today. As you will see from the line-up, there are no high-level representatives of public schools. Only charter schools count, and public schools are supposed to learn from them.

NO CANDIDATE LEFT BEHIND: Last week, Hillary Clinton earned boos from some NEA delegates when she suggested that traditional schools and charter schools should share ideas to figure out what works. [http://politico.pro/29w3C8C ] Today, on Capitol Hill, a panel will be addressing this very issue during a discussion on “efforts to foster collaboration,” which was announced by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Panelists include Naomi Rubin DeVeaux, the deputy director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, Chris Pencikowski, head of Lee Montessori, Cassandra Pinkney, founder of Eagle Academy, and Kaila Ramsey, a teacher at H.D. Cooke Elementary. The moderator is Nancy Waymack of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event starts at 2 p.m. in Cannon House Office Building, room 121.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Mercedes Schneider: Charters and Credit Card Fraud, Like a Horse and Carriage

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
3

Remember that old Frank Sinatra, “Love and Marriage…go together like a horse and carriage.”

Mercedes Schneider discovered a web site whose purpose is to help charter schools manage their credit cards, which have been the cause of so many charter school scandals.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Fraud, Privatization

Privatization and the Demonization of the Public Good

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
36

The New York Times published an article about how critics of public schools now call them “government schools.” This is supposed to conjure up an image of a faceless, unaccountable bureaucracy, like the IRS, not your neighborhood public school whose teachers you know well.

I first heard this term used at the Hoover Institution. At first I didn’t know what they were talking about, then I realized that the public schools were, in their minds, “government schools,” a heinous institution that should be replaced by private schools, vouchers, religious schools, charters, home schooling, anything but those hated “government schools.” I began to wonder if they referred to highways as “government highways” and found a way to avoid them; if they referred to public parks as “government parks,” to be avoided or privatized; if they referred to public beaches as “government beaches.”

Privatization always has a bottom line: profit. And as Peter Greene recently pointed out, the difference between for-profit charter schools and non-profit charter schools is an illusion. The nonprofits like to grow, increasing their revenues and salaries for top administrators. They too exclude the hardest-to-educate children (they cost too much, which affects the bottom line).

One area where privatization has been a major failure is privatized prisons, publicly funded but privately managed. They produce profit. They do not reduce recidivism because they want more prisoners, not fewer.

Our faithful reader John Ogozalek, who teaches high school in upstate New York, sent a letter this morning on the same subject. I decided to let him tell the story:

Diane,

You probably saw this New York Times article about the efforts to redefine public schools in Kansas. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/us/schools-kansas-conservatives.html

It’s another fascinating example of how linguistics is being used to twist the argument over school reform.

Once again, the public good is demonized and complicated challenges are reduced to a simplistic need to “rebrand”.

I’m also in the middle of reading a very lengthy piece in Mother Jones (August 2016) about the for-profit prison industry. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer

The parallels to the for-profit school industry are scary: lack of adequate training for staff, the obsession with profits over people and outright cheating to get around government safeguards…gag rules to keep employees from speaking out. And, of course, ALEC rears its ugly head once again.

I taught many years ago in the New York State prison system. It was for about as long as the reporter for Mother Jones worked at the for-profit prison in Louisiana. Of course, there are very significant differences between the New York State Department of Corrections and the Corrections Corporation of America -not the least of which is the low pay, non-union labor force that the CCA relies on to make money for its shareholders.

And, interestingly enough, the shareholders of for-profit prisons includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Are their tentacles missing from any corner of the U.S.A.?) https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/jul/6/demonstrators-protest-gates-foundations-22-million-investment-geo-group/

My time teaching at the prison was invaluable -not only for helping me understand the huge role that this industry plays in our democracy but also for giving me a way to connect to former students who end up incarcerated. (I recently went to see one young man I taught years ago. The prison he’s in looks like a child’s drawing of a medieval fortress. Visitors walk up to the massive, rusticated castle and enter a thick, steel door that opens right out of the prison wall. If it wasn’t so frightening you might feel like you’re part of a cartoon. To see someone you knew as a child emerge from deep within that stone labyrinth is heartbreaking.

All Americans should visit a prison, I think -especially if you know someone who works as a corrections officer. It is a tough job and I respect the people I worked alongside. Shane Bauer makes it clear in his Mother Jones investigation that the COs at the for-profit prison are sort of prisoners in a manner, too. They’re treated as cogs in a brutal human assembly line.

I remember quitting my job at the correctional facility 30 years ago. It was a very happy moment as I walked up to the razor wire fence on my way out. The Superintendent (i.e. warden) had tried to convince me to stay. “It’s a growth industry,” he said, citing the career I was giving up. Hell no!

I could afford to leave. I didn’t have a mortgage, no kids going to college. I’m not the quitting sort but it was clear I had to go.

It’s very unsettling to now see public schools nationwide being turned upside down by some of the same forces that have made some prisons so incredibly inhumane now. Frightening is a better word. I sit at my desk some days and imagine how it will feel when I walk out of school for the very last time.

-John O.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

The Koch Brothers Extend Their Reach into Universities in North Carolina

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
19

Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch writes here about the Koch Brothers’ latest move to extend their influence in academia.

Here in North Carolina, where the Kochs’ home-grown junior partner Art Pope has played the role of right-wing financier and kingmaker for years, direct Koch tentacles have been somewhat less visible. Recently, however, this has started to change. Last fall, we reported on the establishment of a new Koch-funded propaganda shop at Western Carolina University to be dubbed the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise.

Meanwhile, as is noted in the Mayer piece, another Koch network shop has sprouted and is taking shape 200 miles to the east at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. The Wake Forest operation is called the “Eudaimonia Project” and it is headed by James Otteson – the head of the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism at Wake (where the project is based) and the same fellow who outlined the Koch plan at the California retreat in the above excerpt….

As with all of the academic centers in the growing (some would say “metastasizing”) Koch Empire, the Eudaimonia Project and its parent organization do little to disguise what they are all about. The goal is clearly to advance hard right market fundamentalist ideology by cloaking it in warm and fuzzy language and to thereby grace it with the veneer of academic legitimacy.

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You may not be surprised to learn that "Eudaemonia" means "human flourishing." It happens that humans can't flourish unless they live in a free enterprise, capitalistic society.

Those of us familiar with the verbal tricks of the reform movement will recognize the deceptive use of language to disguise its true meaning.

Categories Accountability, Corporate Reformers, Higher Education

California Settles with Online K12 Inc. for $168.5 Million

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
23

California Attorney General Kamala Harris reached a settlement of $168.6 million with mega-virtual charter K12 Inc. This settlement reflects the good investigative reporting of Jessica Calefati of the San Jose Mercury News, whose investigative reporting led to Harris’ review of K12’s finances and practices.

There are two more investigations underway: one by the California State Department of Education and the other by the State Controller. Now that virtual charters have been discredited by studies and thrown under the bus by the rest of the charter industry, this aspect of the industry may finally be on the skids.

“California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Friday the state Department of Justice has reached a $168.5 million settlement with for-profit online charter school operator K12 Inc. over an array of alleged violations of false claims, false advertising and unfair competition laws.

“The settlement comes almost three months after the Bay Area News Group published a two-part investigative series on the publicly-traded Virginia company, which runs a network of profitable but low-performing online charter schools serving about 15,000 students across the state.

“Harris’ office found that K12 and the “virtual” academies it operates across the state used deceptive advertising to mislead parents about students’ academic progress, parent satisfaction and their graduates’ eligibility for University of California and California State University admission.

“The Attorney General’s office also found that K12 and its affiliated schools collected more state funding from the California Department of Education than they were entitled to by submitting inflated student attendance data and that the company improperly coerced the non-profit schools it operates to sign unfavorable contracts that put them in a deep financial hole.”

Politico reports that K12 Inc. disagrees with the characterization of the settlement:

– Speaking of charter schools, California Attorney General Kamala Harris said Friday that virtual charter school operator K12 Inc. will pay $168.5 million to settle [http://politico.pro/29NP6eM] alleged violations of the state’s false claims, false advertising and unfair competition laws: http://politico.pro/29nJ0Nj . But K12 pushed back on the settlement amount – preferring not to include $160 million in financial relief that Harris’ office says will be provided to certain schools that K12 manages. Instead, K12 CEO Stuart Udell said the company will only pay $2.5 million to settle the case, and another $6 million for Harris’ investigative costs. Udell said his company admitted no wrongdoing. “The Attorney General’s claim of $168.5 million in today’s announcement is flat wrong,” Udell said. “Despite our full cooperation throughout the process, the Office of the Attorney General grossly mischaracterized the value of the settlement, just as it did with regard to the issues it investigated.”

– The settlement is another black eye for the virtual charter industry, which just last month had three reform-minded groups calling for it to be improved, or else problems such as low graduation rates will “overshadow the positive impacts this model currently has on some students.” [http://politi.co/1tyKbnt] More from Kimberly Hefling: http://politico.pro/29ImzF8

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, On-Line Education, Virtual Charter Schools

Pearson Cares. Really.

By dianeravitch
July 11, 2016 //
8

This interview with John Fallon, the CEO of Pearson, was conducted at the Aspen Ideas Festival, an event that is held annually and completely dominated by reformers and entrepreneurs.

Pearson has a responsibility to end educational inequities, he says.

Perhaps someone might explain to him that standardized tests are normed on a bell curve and the bell curve never closes. The bottom half is always populated by disproportionate numbers of children who are disadvantaged by poverty, by language, by disability.

Inequity is baked in to standardized tests. By design.

And, the states and districts that spend hundreds of millions to test children are diverting that money from teaching them.

Even worse, the tests are so secret that teachers and parents never learn about the strengths and weaknesses of individual children.

And that doesn’t even touch on the problems with the EdTPA and the GED.

Perhaps Mr. Fallon can tackle these problems.

Categories Accountability, Pearson, Testing
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