Louisiana has gone crazy for testing.
Mercedes Schneider reports that the state plans to spend at least $75 million for five years of in PARCC-like tests. Testing will begin in kindergarten.
Louisiana to Spend at Least $75M on Five Years of PARCC-ish LEAP 2025 Testing
The state’s scores were abysmal on the latest NAEP, and apparently State Superintendent John White and the state board believe that if they weigh the pig more often it will get fatter.
This is insane.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I remember a song from piano lessons when I was five, Fun, fun, oh what fun, standards testing has begun.
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MORE than INSANE. This is IMMORAL.
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More insanity – did you see this, Diane: https://theintercept.com/2018/05/18/charter-school-recruitment-financial-incentives/
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Another friend just sent the same article. How about those non-existent waiting lists?
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Yes, the wait lists are so long that they have to pay people to be on them. I’m getting whiplash trying to keep up with this….
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The reason the state’s leaders are doing this is that they “need” those high stakes rank-and-punish test scores to close traditional public schools with teachers’ unions and do away with public education as we have known it for the last century.
This is what the Koch brothers and their alt-right billionaire allies want … to destroy the public sector and strip the federal government of its power to enforce the U.S. Constitution and the laws as they apply to people like the Koch brothers, Betsy DeVos and Trump.
The oligarchs want to be above the law legally so they don’t have to spend money on the most expensive lawyers to defend them when they are caught breaking those laws.
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Indiana plays the same game. Keep changing the test until the right one is found.
Give teachers who do good jobs bonuses! Spend more on vouchers and charters! Great game.
Trump won by 19% in Indiana. I think the goal is to produce non-thinkers while punishing teachers.
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“Keep changing the test until the right one is found.”
How can something be found that doesn’t exist?
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Belief: if they weigh the pig more often it will get fatter….a golden oldie.
Direct payment for recruiting to charter schools is really worth more publicity. It is a sign of corruption that should not be ignored.
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What do we call people that do the same thing over and over and keep expecting different results? “Reformers” or crazy or both! Just think how many books $75 million would buy.
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Where is a public analysis of the tests that can’t-be-passed?
When will the public get to see these tests? THEN we will have real public outrage (I would hope!).
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So, can we call this the latter day “Louisiana Purchase”?
Definitely nowhere near as good a deal as the original one. 😦
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Hmmm, I wonder how many teachers, aides, librarians, counselors, nurses, etc. . . that the $75M could provide? $15M a year? Someone help us out.
Not to mention the then freed up instructional time that would be far better spent on the teaching and learning process and not on testucation.
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At your service, Duane: 400 new teachers since average starting teachers’ salary is $38K in Louisiana. Of course, they will then complain about teacher shortage, though won’t have the money for it, so they will hire TFAers for $30K which is under $15/hr. With increased class sizes and lack of teachers, the hope is that disappointed citizens will then consider vouchers and
DIGITAL SCHOOLS
Louisiana is modernizing education with a comprehensive plan to embrace the use of technology for both instruction and assessment.
Learn more about how Louisiana is supporting the transition to a 21st century education.
DIGITAL SCHOOLS
https://www.louisianabelieves.com/schools/public-schools
I think it’s best to think in terms of teachers’ raises, since usually this kind of spending decisions are followed by a raise reductions or even freeze. LA has about 40K public school teachers, so each could have gotten a $400 raise out of this $15 million. Public school teachers usually spend about this much each year from their own salary on missing supplies for their classes.
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Haven’t I been reading an increasing number of mainstream articles on excessive standardized testing? Haven’t a couple of states started by reducing length &/or number of tests? Doesn’t ESSA require just one Eng & one math test each for 3-8 plus one hisch year? Louisiana seems to be going in the opposite direction.
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In my state, TN, officials always say that testing is mandated by the federal government, and if they stopped the tests, TN would lose federal funding.
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I wish some state would refuse to give the test and see what happens. The feds threaten to cut funding but have never done it.
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Me, too. Utah’s legislature started down that path in about 2002, but the Department of Education came and “visited” and that stopped immediately.
Utah is now fighting the ESSA battle, because it’s against the law in Utah to rate teachers by standardized test scores, and opt out is a law. The DOE is threatening withdrawing of funding. I really hope that Utah calls its bluff.
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NJ is still using parcc; perhaps the Gov. Murphy will put an end to the madness. Hey, meanwhile, I just heard Cory Booker’s speech at Kean U’s graduation yesterday (my niece, of course, becoming a special ed teacher even though I warned her against it). I was impressed, but I remember how he cooked up the charter school fiasco with Christie and I felt deflated and defeated, even though he praised educators. I don’t “get” him. I wish he’d change his tune. Ms. Ravitch, can you reach him and knock some sense into him? Do you know anything I don’t know? He professes to live in Newark, but we think he “lives” in Newark. Not sure how reachable he is by “we the people.”
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Cory Booker has long been a supporter of charters and vouchers. I don’t know why he voted against DeVos as Secretary. Their views are compatible.
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The Beatings Will Continue Until Children’s Test Scores Improve
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Oops, quote ends right before the link I gave.
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From the article: “”Let us consider another bit of info in the above DRC contract quote: That of comparison of Louisiana assessments being “mandated by state law.””
They say the same thing in TN. I wonder if it’s a lie too.
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Insanity, at its best.
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