The discussion at the Washington Post occurs from 4-6 pm today!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/post-live-november-2018-education/

Categories Education Reform

31 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

Laura H. Chapman says:

November 29, 2018 at 3:57 pm

I do not have an account. Go get em.

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- Charles says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 4:56 pm
  
  No account needed. Just hit this URL
  
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/post-live-november-2018-education/?utm_term=.ea27639eed2c
  
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Duane E Swacker says:

November 29, 2018 at 5:14 pm

“We need testing” says the moderator. RW says it’s just one of many data points.

Ay ay ay ay ay !

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Ed Johnson says:

November 29, 2018 at 5:28 pm

Hear, hear, Diane! Bravo! Bravo!

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Duane E Swacker says:

November 29, 2018 at 5:36 pm

Excellent opening statement, Diane! Except, and you know this coming from me, the NAEP part-LOL.

Pondisco stated “If you lose data, you lose moral authority”. Are you kidding me? Using COMPLETELY INVALID data, as all standardized testing results are, for anything means losing one’s “moral authority”. Someone please tell me where in scientific rationo-logical discourse it is okay to used invalid data for anything other than to show the data gathering practice is wrong and should not be used! To do so is certainly against all positive ethical considerations.

And the Harvard Grad school dean, B. T. Long on testing after Diane and Pondisco made there statements “The truth is somewhere in the middle”. No, Dr. Long the truth is not in the middle. Horse manure. Corrupt invalid data gathered from the standardized testing malpractice regime cannot in any way be considered to be okay. I’d like to read her dissertation to see if she used “invalid data”.

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- retired teacher says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 5:42 pm
  
  The “moral authority” comment made me cringe.
  
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- LeftCoastTeacher says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 7:16 pm
  
  Using invalid data to make decisions is immoral. Wasting instruction time to provide invalid data is immoral. Putting all the PII data online for any service provider, router, or hacker to see and sell is beyond immoral.
  
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  - dianeravitch says:
    
    November 29, 2018 at 7:19 pm
    
    Thanks to whoever was watching. As usual, I thought of great lines after we left the stage.
    
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  - LeftCoastTeacher says:
    
    November 30, 2018 at 7:53 pm
    
    I hope my comment wasn’t out of place. I couldn’t watch the livestream while I was teaching my 5th and 6th period classes. I was just responding to comments. Even when I can’t watch, please consider me with you in spirit, Diane. I always am, and thankful for all you do.
    
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- RageAgainstTheTestocracy says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 8:39 pm
  
  STANDARDIZATION
  
  Our 100,000 public schools
  have NEVER
  and
  will NEVER
  have students with . . .
  standardized intellects
  standardized psyches
  standardized talents
  standardized abilities
  standardized anatomies
  standardized health histories
  standardized experiences
  standardized parents
  standardized families
  standardized home lives
  standardized neighborhoods
  standardized friends
  standardized influences
  standardized opportunities
  standardized teachers
  standardized curricula
  standardized pedagogies
  standardized motivations
  standardized support systems
  standardized goals and aspirations
  
  Yet somehow,
  the HOLY GRAIL of
  the 21st century
  education reform movement
  was
  standardization.
  
  Any doubt as to why it has
  FAILED?
  
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  - GregB says:
    
    November 30, 2018 at 4:06 am
    
    This fabulous rant had me catching my breath. Thanks, another important rhetorical point to steal.
    
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- SomeDam Poet says:
  
  November 30, 2018 at 9:20 am
  
  If you lose data, you lose dollar$.
  
  The truth is somewhere in the trashcan.
  
  Fixed.
  
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retired teacher says:

November 29, 2018 at 5:40 pm

Great job, Diane! You told the truth and provided useful evidence to support your points. I wish you had more time to expand on your comments.

I also enjoyed the discussion about social and emotional learning with Tim Shriver. Students want to be heard and recognized. They need to engage with other humans. We cannot ignore this need, and depersonalized learning will do nothing to address this social-emotional need for connection with others.

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- Duane E Swacker says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 5:55 pm
  
  But the S-E Learning that is being promoted is surveillance through computerized learning. This has far reaching implications for society-see China’s social policy. It is one thing for humans, teachers working with the students to address their SE needs, it’s a completely different thing with the current push in SEL.
  
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  - LeftCoastTeacher says:
    
    November 29, 2018 at 7:30 pm
    
    Social ratings will fall. China’s Tencent is doomed. Facebook and Google are doomed. It’s just a matter of time. Surveillance states don’t last. The disturbing thing is how long it takes for people to wake up to the problem of being surveilled and profiled.
    
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  - SomeDam Poet says:
    
    November 30, 2018 at 9:45 am
    
    Surveillance may not last
    But Google will recall
    And he who owns the past
    Is bound to own it all
    
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  - retired teacher says:
    
    November 30, 2018 at 10:38 am
    
    Consider how long it has taken communities to wake up to the negative impact of privatization.
    
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Duane E Swacker says:

November 29, 2018 at 5:59 pm

Engler “I trust people to make choices”

Spoken like a true politician.

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- retired teacher says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 6:08 pm
  
  That’s why we have so many drug addicts because people often make poor choices.
  
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- SomeDam Poet says:
  
  November 30, 2018 at 9:39 am
  
  I trust most people to make decisions. Just not politicians.
  
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Duane E Swacker says:

November 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm

WTF, Arne?

“We don’t vote for public education.”

I want some of what he’s smoking.

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- SomeDam Poet says:
  
  November 30, 2018 at 9:30 am
  
  We don’t vote for people like Arne.
  
  If we did, we wouldn’t.
  
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Charles says:

November 29, 2018 at 9:19 pm

One of the participants indicated that Arizona has some excellent charter schools. I looked it up, and according to US News and World report rankings, five of the top ten high schools in the USA (in 2017)are Arizona charter schools. see

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2017/04/26/top-high-school-country-arizona/306463001/

I would not have known this , without the information presented at that conference. I find this information to be very interesting. Perhaps public schools, and other non-public schools can pick up on the efforts and philosophy of these excellent charter schools.

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- dianeravitch says:
  
  November 29, 2018 at 9:41 pm
  
  Wrong. These are highly selective charter schools that are almost completely white and Asian and have very few graduates. The dominant demographic in the state is Latino and Native American.
  
  Arizona is one of the most corrupt states in the nation because of its lack of oversight of charters. The highest rated school pays its founder a management fee of $10 million a year.
  
  If you read the posts here, you would know that.
  
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/03/30/what-the-public-doesnt-know-about-high-performing-charter-schools-in-arizona/?utm_term=.1faecdddc031
  
  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/05/07/basis-charter-schools-seek-big-donations-parents-subsidize-low-teacher-pay/473963002/
  
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  - Charles says:
    
    November 29, 2018 at 10:00 pm
    
    I suggest you read the article. I found this comment to be amazing.
    
    Q
    
    Basis operates 18 schools in Arizona, varying in offerings from kindergarten through 12th grade. A vast majority of Basis high-school students started with Basis in middle school or earlier, Bezanson said.
    
    “We do a great job preparing kids in elementary and middle school,” he said. “Almost no one transfers into Basis in high school.”
    
    There are no entry requirements or exams to get into a Basis school — just a game of luck. An annual lottery determines which new students are accepted.
    
    Already, Basis schools have received 15,000 applications for 1,000 open spots for next school year, Bezanson said.
    
    END Q
    
    The article states clearly that admission is by lottery, and that there are 15 applications for every open slot. Admission to a Basis school is not by exam nor by demographic group. Blind luck gets a student into one of these excellent schools.
    
    BTW- I saw the conference on video today, You did an excellent job, and clearly articulated your positions. I just wish that the conference could have continued for a longer period of time. It hardly seemed worth your coming down from NYC. Good show!!
    
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  - dianeravitch says:
    
    November 30, 2018 at 12:57 am
    
    BASIS lets every one in, then pushes out the kids who can’t pass multiple AP tests, leaving them with a student body that is overwhelmingly white and Asian in a state where most students are Hispanic and Native American.
    
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  - Charles says:
    
    November 29, 2018 at 10:15 pm
    
    I read most, if not all, of the posts and URLs posted here. Most of them are fascinating and instructive. I do not necessarily agree with all of them, especially articles and commentary from the Washington Post. I live in the Metro WashDC area, and that paper is leftist/socialist in its editorial philosophy.
    
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Joe says:

November 29, 2018 at 10:25 pm

Yikes, Arne, Rahm, Geoffrey Canada, Pondiscio, Engler. So where was the head of the Chicago’s teacher union? Diane was/is great but her voice was an island in a sea of charter lovers.

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- retired teacher says:
  
  November 30, 2018 at 10:42 am
  
  Nobody really had enough time to develop a topic to any extent, but it was a civil meeting of the minds. I love that Diane stated that Emanuel will go down as being remembered for closing fifty public schools. I hope he heard her comment.
  
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SomeDam Poet says:

November 30, 2018 at 10:25 am

I particularly liked the video clip where Rahm explained why he did not run again for Mayor: he wanted to spend more time with his family.

He must have been talking about during the necessary campaign because after the votes were counted and he lost, he would have had just as much time for his family as if he now does having not run.

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Laura H. Chapman says:

November 30, 2018 at 1:34 pm

Thanks to Charles for the link. No one was better prepared than Diane, who had clear talking points and excellent examples of deep flaws in federal policies, testing, charter churn, and the rest. The other panelists were jargon slingers who think our nation’s teachers are dumb as rocks, uncaring, and unwilling to learn from “data” especially data that will inevitably show an achievement gap because education is NOT about standardized results. Schools do not exist to produce widgets.

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