Archives for the month of: August, 2017
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Teacher in the Bronx: Why Were My Students Forced to Read a Pro-Charter Article?

By dianeravitch
August 25, 2017 //
38

Eric Mears, a teacher in a public high school in the South Bronx, complains that his high school seniors were required to read a pro-charter essay in a Houghton Mifflin textbook.

My Public School Students Read Pro-Charter Propaganda

The essay, by Malcolm Gladwell, celebrated the work ethic in East Asian schools and at KIPP, while putting down the students’ neighborhood and school.

Mears wonders why Gladwell chooses East Asian schools as models for success instead of the schools of Finland.

He objects to the blatant pro-charter propaganda in the textbook.

He writes:

“I am a South Bronx public school teacher who is expected to teach my students that they must enroll in charter schools and leave “desultory” public schools, such as ours, if they wish to succeed.

“I, along with scores of other New York high school teachers, teach from a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Collections textbook whose introductory text is a pro-charter chapter from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. In it, Gladwell advances the stereotype that low-income U.S. students will only succeed if they study as hyper-industrious Japanese and South Korean students do. The text is unsuitable to teach because of its omissions and its failure to answer key counterarguments; even ones that it explicitly raises.”

The story is called “Marita’s Bargain.”
Her bargain is that she gives up her life in exchange for study.

“Gladwell…lauds a typical KIPP student, Marita, for completing so much schoolwork, including six extended days at KIPP and homework requirements, that she has little time to eat, sleep, or talk to her mother – let alone her friends. Thus is “Marita’s bargain.” She made the exceptional and costly choice of sacrificing her social life in favor of working like a “medical resident.””

The ideal of American childhood and schooling used to be “a well-rounded education.” That ideal made is the most successful nation in the world. Why sacrifice the health and well-being of a generation of children in pursuit of higher test scores? The tests themselves predict nothing about the future of a nation and they have so many inherent flaws that they should be used with care, not as a life goal.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Leonie Haimson: Test Scores in New York State Are Meaningless, Again

By dianeravitch
August 25, 2017 //
28

Leonie Haimson assesses the latest test scores from New York. New York is still using the Common Core, but with a new name, so of course the majority of students in the state “failed,” which was the purpose of the Common Core standards, to make public schools look bad so that privatization would be easier to sell to the public.

Leonie has something that no one in the New York State Education Department has: a historical memory, clear knowledge of the frequent changes in cut scores, constant manipulation of the data.

Leonie writes:

“The NY state and city test scores were released this week. Proficiency rates statewide increased again though by a smaller amount than last year. In English Language Arts, the percentage of students in grades 3-8 who scored at proficient levels increased by an average of 1.9 percentage points; from 37.9% in 2016 to 39.8%. In math, the students who scored at proficiency rose to 40.2%, up 1.1 points from 29.1% last year.

“In NYC the increases were a little larger: a gain of more than two points in ELA proficiency to 40.6% and 1.4 points to 37.8% proficiency in math.

“Commissioner Elia, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina claimed that the increase in proficiency since 2013 was strong evidence that our students and schools are making progress.

“Yet the reality is that the trends over the last 15 years have not matched any of the trends on the more reliable national test called the NAEPs, for either NYC or the state as a whole.

“In fact, the NY State Education Department has appeared unable since 2002 to produce a reliable test and score it consistently enough to allow one to assess if there’s been any sort of improvement in our schools. Instead, Commissioners and their staff have repeatedly changed cut scores and set proficiency rates to make political points.

“There are many ways to show increases in proficiency — a metric notoriously easy to manipulate — including making the tests easier, shorter, giving them untimed, and/or changing the scoring by lowering the raw scores to scale scores or the cut scores need for proficiency. The state has used all these tricks over time.”

Read it all. She nails the fraud perpetrated by the state and ignored by journalists.

Categories Accountability, Common Core, Education Reform, Fraud, New York, Standardized Testing

Who Funds The 74?

By dianeravitch
August 25, 2017 //
42

You may be familiar with an education news site called The 74. It was founded by Campbell Brown, the strident critic of unions and public schools and teachers. It now owns a website in Los Angeles called LA School Report and another called Top Sheet.

Ever wonder where the money comes from? Billionaires, of course, including billionaires who are hostile to unions and public schools. One regular contributor to The 74 is Peter Cunningham, who was Assistant Secretary for Communications (public relations) for Arne Duncan. Cunningham is editor of a website called Education Post, which is funded by some of the same billionaires, including Eli Broad, the Walton Family, Bill & Melinda Gates, the Emerson Collective (Laurene Powell Jobs), the Joyce Foundation, and Michael Bloomberg. In a recent post at The 74, he aligned his own views with those of Betsy DeVos, one of the funders of The 74. On the issue of privatization, school choice, charters, and vouchers, there is no longer any distance between the education policies of the Obama administration and those of the Trump administration. What a strange world. Sad.

Despite the many millions poured into these websites, I venture to guess that they have fewer readers than the blogs written by teachers like Anthony Cody, Julian Vasquez Heilig, Jose Vilson, Steve Singer, Mercedes Schneider, Gary Rubinstein, Arthur Goldstein, Paul Thomas, Leonie Haimson, Peter Greene, the BadAss Teachers, and yours truly. None of our blogs are underwritten by billionaires or millionaires. We write because we believe that the destruction of public schools is wrong.

In case you ever wondered who supports The 74 and its related entities, here is a screen shot:

Categories Education Reform

New York: Latest State Tests Show That Opt Out Continues to be a Powerful Force

By dianeravitch
August 25, 2017 //
3

The latest test results show the continuing strength of the Opt Out Movement in New York state. Every year, the numbers must be renewed, as eighth graders move on to a non-tested grade and new students arrive in third grade. Despite efforts by state officials to placate the movement, it still hovers at about 20% of all students in the state.


http://www.nysape.org/nysape-pr-2017-opt-out-results.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 24, 2017
More information contact:
Lisa Rudley (917) 414-9190; nys.allies@gmail.com
Jeanette Deutermann (516) 902-9228; nys.allies@gmail.com
NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE)

2017 Test Boycott Numbers Remain High; Parents from all Demographics Continue to Reject Test & Punish System

Over 225,000 parents across the state, including tens of thousands of first-time refusers, rejected the state’s test-and-punish system, as evidenced by a third consecutive year of opt out numbers hovering near 20%. This is remarkable given that NYSED and local districts continue their attempts to squelch opt out by distributing misleading information and threatening dire consequences that create an environment of confusion and fear for families.

While Commissioner Elia would like to portray students who boycott the state ELA and math tests as ‘white students in rich or average wealth districts’, the data says differently. Only 8% of public school districts even met the required 95% testing participation rate, demonstrating how parents from all districts and demographics are boycotting the testing regime.*

The Board of Regents approved a reduction in state testing from 6 to 4 days (combined ELA and math) at their May meeting. While this is a step in the right direction, significant problems remain. Due to Commissioner Elia’s untimed testing mandate, many students continue to sit for up to 6 hours of testing per day; the Common Core standards, now rebranded the Next Generation Learning Standards, are still far from developmentally appropriate; and student data privacy is still at significant risk. Rather than focusing on the work that needs to be done, including truly overhauling the standards and creating meaningful and developmentally appropriate assessments, Commissioner Elia continues to be divisive, undermining the direction the Board of Regents and the trust of New Yorkers.

Jeanette Deutermann, Long Island public school parent, Long Island Opt Out founder and founding member of NYSAPE said, “While State education officials and corporate-reform lobbyist interests debate and interpret the assessment results and opt out numbers using the usual rhetoric, we see parents from all school districts including first-time refusers, overwhelmingly rejecting this test and punish system. Not only have they chosen to protect their children, but they have also joined our community of parents committed to advocating for whole-child policies in our classrooms. This network of hundreds of thousands of advocates will continue to grow and develop strategies to fight against those who wish to profit from our children.”

“NYSED continues to ignore best practices for children and New York State Schools. The test score results only shine a light on the fact that NYSED continues to try and mislead parents and teachers. NYSED has a long way to go to regain the trust of parents and educators in New York State. Opt Out is remaining steady and is adding thousands of new parents each year,” said Marla Kilfoyle, Long Island public school parent, educator and Executive Director of BATs.

Eileen Graham, Rochester public school parent and founder of the Black Student Leadership organization, expressed, “I would like to see more realistic efforts towards meeting the needs of children and not making our children testing ‘lab rats.’ I’m extremely angry that we keep obsessing over testing; instead of partnering with teachers and parents to ensure our children discover their greatness and learn the brilliance they bring to their schools and the world.”

Bianca Tanis, Ulster County public school parent, educator and founding member of NYSAPE, said, “We are five years into the State’s implementation of these clearly flawed standards and assessments and we are still labeling 60% of our students as failures. The Next Generation Learning Standards are nothing more than a rebranded version of the Common Core, adhering to the same invalid back-mapping methodology and lacking any basis in research or evidence. It is time to scrap these shoddy standards and assessments and start over.”

“These tests aren’t serving any purpose other than to keep the testing treadmill turning, preventing meaningful assessment alternatives from emerging and perpetuating unworkable teacher evaluation models. This testing system stifles children’s thirst for learning and is being used to usher in pervasive computer-based testing activity,” said Fred Smith, testing specialist and former administrative analyst for New York City public schools.

Kemala Karmen, Brooklyn public school parent and founding member of NYC Opt Out said, “The Commissioner, and others, including NYC’s mayor and chancellor, disingenuously use the test scores to boast that students are making “progress.” Progress on standardized tests can only be measured if the testing instrument, conditions, and manner of scoring remain consistent from year to year. This is not the case. Changes this year include some students taking the tests on computers rather than paper and some students having questions read aloud (meaning that they are no longer being tested on decoding, as in previous years). As ever, the determination of what raw score equals “proficient” changes every year and the untimed policy (and failure to track how long students are actually spending) makes direct comparison even less tenable.”

Johanna Garcia, NYC public school parent and President of the District 6 Community Education Council said, “There were many reports of intentional misinformation that bordered on students’ and parents’ civil rights being violated. If NYSED and NYCDOE had confidence in the testing regime, they wouldn’t have to heavily invest in policies that condoned internal threats and scare tactics. Because of their fear mongering, we see classrooms with students learning in fear. We need to finally have a public education system that’s accountable to the students’ learning instead of false numbers that further political agendas.”

New York parents remain steadfast in their advocacy for stronger child-centered policies and will continue to boycott state tests that are a waste of precious resources that would be better served addressing the opportunity gap.

* Participation rate calculated by counting NYC as one district (as NYSED itself often does). Public schools only (not charter schools).

NYSAPE is a grassroots coalition with over 50 parent and educator groups across the state.

###

Categories Accountability, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Parents, Testing

Michael Gerson: Trump Is Delusional

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
16

Michael Gerson was a speechwriter for George W. Bush,

In this post, he compares Trump in Phoenix to Trump reading a prepared script.

The unscripted Trump is the real Trump. He is seriously delusional.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-rhetorical-schizophrenia-is-easy-to-see-through/2017/08/24/2163ab42-88f3-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html

Categories Education Reform

Trump Tweets about “the Best Eclipse Ever” and Attacks Republican Leaders

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
27

Ah, Trump and his tweets.

This morning he attacked Republican leaders (again), and he tweeted a series of images showing him “eclipsing” Obama. He is obsessed with Obama and has a deep personal need to assert that he is way, way better than his predecessor. He must sense that millions of people far prefer Obama to him, which pushes Trump to double down on his ridiculing of Obama.

The military also announced that it is beginning to develop plans to oust transgender service members and to bar them completely in the future, because Trump tweeted an order.

Categories Education Reform

Richard Escow Schools Louise Linton, Wife of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
20

I read about the events discussed in this open letter to Louise Linton and decided that I would not comment on the blog about her condescending remarks, made on a public site. But a reader said I should post the letter, because of what it says about oligarchy and the condition of our society today.

The background: The glamorous Ms. Linton Mnuchin posted a photograph of herself and her (homely) husband getting off a U.S. government jet after a trip to Kentucky. Along with the photo, she posted a comment listing the super-expensive designer items on her body. Someone saw her comment and chastised her for bragging about her clothes and her wealth. Linton responded with a nasty put-down of her critic, who clearly was not as rich as Mrs. Mnuchin.

Richard Escow wrote an open letter to Louise Linton.

The letter includes all the details and begins like this:

“Dear Ms. Linton,

“This has undoubtedly been a difficult couple of days for you, both as a person and as the wife of the United States Treasury Secretary.

“Nobody enjoys the sudden onrush of hostile attention that comes when something they’ve said goes viral, and not in a good way. Your public record, and even your recent infamous post, suggests you want to be a good person – or, at the very least, that you’d like to be seen as one.

“That’s not how people are seeing you at the moment, and that has to be rough.

“Perhaps it would help if someone explained why you’ve received so much negative attention in the last 48 hours.

“Bubble Life

“Simply put: You live in a bubble. That’s not your fault. It’s just the way it is. According to the Internet – the same Internet that has turned on you with such ferocity – you were born into a wealthy Scottish family and educated at the prestigious St George’s School for Girls and Fettes College.

“Your family owns a real-life, honest to God castle, for God’s sake.

“A little self-awareness is therefore in order: Your experience is not like that of most people. Some people are born into privilege and make a dedicated effort to see life from other people’s point of view. That does not seem to have been the case with you.”

Categories Bias, Billionaires

What to Do with Those Controversial Statues

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
138

On the recommendation of a trusted friend, I recently subscribed to the Andrew Tobias blog. I have not been disappointed. It does not appear every day, but when it does, it is always interesting. Tobias recently posted this:

He writes:

A lot of good folks think we should leave the statues where they are. (The numbers may surprise you.)

Our very own Jim Burt may have come up with the perfect solution:

“My wife and I are both originally from Memphis,” hew writes. “Close to the downtown area, the city has a park now called ‘Health Sciences Park’ – because of the proximity of the University of Tennessee medical school – which used to be called ‘Forrest Park.’ It features a large equestrian bronze statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest. The City of Memphis has been trying to remove it, but its efforts have been frustrated by a state historical commission empowered by the Republican state government to prevent such removals. This is what I wrote to the city’s most prominent newspaper (for which my father worked for many years):

“I am a white former resident of Memphis and have fond memories of playing as a toddler in Forrest Park. I did not at that age appreciate that the park was named after a monster.

“Since the Tennessee Historical Commission is performing its assigned racist task of frustrating the removal of racist monuments, I suggest that the next best action — which should be entirely within the authority of the City of Memphis — is to correct the historical record on the Forrest statue. The name on the pedestal should have the word “Traitor” added in large letters, and the account on the pedestal of his deeds should be supplemented prominently with the information that he was a slave merchant, war criminal, and founder of the terrorist organization, the Ku Klux Klan. It should also note that the statue was erected in 1904 as an expression of the power of Jim Crow and the subjugation of African Americans.

“After all, the supporters of keeping these statues claim that they’re about “history, not hate.” Just get all the history out there where it can be seen.”

☞ What say you?”

Categories Education Reform

Bookshelf: Steve Nelson’s “First Do No Harm: Progressive Education in a Time of Existential Risk”

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
38

You know how you can pick up a book, start reading, start annotating with underlining and exclamation points, then realize you are marking up almost every word?

That is Steve Nelson’s “First Do No Harm.” It is chicken soup for the educator’s soul.

Nelson recently retired as head of the progressive Calhoun School in New York City. He also just joined the board of the Network for Public Education because he wants to devote his time to the fight for better public schools for all children.

He describes progressive education as ways to engage children in thinking critically, asking questions, and engaging creatively in play and work. He knows it is endangered, even though children thrive when given the opportunity to love learning.

He recognizes the soul-deadening approach of no-excuses charters and suggests that they exhibit unconscious racism. Maybe not always unconscious.

He points out that affluent communities think they have great public schools, without recognizing that their schools are gifted by the privilege of parents and the community. The same is true of elite private schools, whose students are drawn mostly from wealthy families with every financial advantage.

Every effort to standardize education–whether it is NCLB or Common Core– robs children of the chance to think for themselves. Such top-down programs demand conformity, not critical thinking or creativity. Indeed they punish students who think differently.

Nelson goes into great detail about the harm inflicted on children by no-excuses charter schools like KIPP and Democracy Prep.

He stands strongly against vouchers, which typically are used in religious schools, where children are subject to indoctrination.

Nelson understands the link between education and democracy, education for freedom.

I recommend this book to you.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Childhood, Common Core, Creativity, Discipline, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Testing

Ohio: ECOT Finds Another Profitable Gig

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2017 //
7

Peter Greene reports that ECOT (the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow) has found a way to escape its current woes and keep on collecting state money.

Having attracted the ire of the state for inflating enrollment, having lost its court battle to hang on to its profits for producing low-quality education, having been labeled the school with the lowest graduation rate in the nation, what’s an entrepreneur to do?

Go into the business of dropout recovery!

What a clever idea: First you create the dropouts, then you remediate them. Or claim to.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Ohio, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools
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