My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is a superb article!
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Diane,
Yesterday on MSNBC’s Up With Chris Hayes, there was a segment on the Vergara case. Chris had on Dana Goldstein author of an upcoming book called The Teacher Wars.
Chris is one of the few people in the media that understands what “education reform” is really all about.
Blame it on the teachers: http://on.msnbc.com/1lrMWyD
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It is a lonely battle regarding education in the st.louis area. There is a school, Normandy, which has been abused by the state board of education, as they prepare to declare the system no longer exists, cancel all contracts, and take over with new rules they design for themselves. The GOP legislature is content to let the mess get worse, and simply do nothing other than advance privatization agendas. This mess works for them…..failures due to teachers….
It might seem unrelated, but to me it is not….I have studied a murder from 2006, intricate details regarding why…..there was no media followup to get to the bottom of what happened…the board voted to spend 20,000 dollars to protect the president of their board, who was home, protecting her children when they took that action….I posted much of what I have collected after a columnist wrote an article about the difficulty of getting closure after a murder…..Part of what I wrote in the introductory post: ….”.thanks to the person now serving as commissioner of education, and the behavior of your newspaper, I kind of recognize an echo of the behavior of people 8 years ago…..I maintain that the murder of Tim fits with a pattern or theme of things still going on……related to education issues.” I get very little, if any reaction to these things, but I did get a communication while I was in the YMCA lobby which caused people to look at me as I gasped and said “my God”. If anyone sees anything that makes you wonder….just ask. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/pat-gauen/gauen-legal-finality-elusive-in-s-kidnap-murders/article_4fe41aae-fef8-555f-99a5-8e368c8b1f13.html?mode=comments
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Ludlow School Supernintendent Todd Garza made this blog post:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again…
http://superintendentlps.blogspot.com/2014/06/insanity-doing-thesame-thing-over-and.html
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The Crucible
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible survives to this day as a metaphor for accusations without merit that damage reputations and lives. The advertisement that appeared this week in USA Today after the Vergara decision contained such an accusation, which might as well have been of witchcraft and evil spells cast upon students by malevolent kindergarten teachers. The same organization that created that ad had another rejected by the Chicago Tribune, because it conflated teacher unionism with racist segregationist attitudes a la George Wallace. Teachers can likely expect a continued barrage of similar ads in the media, funded by privatization interests.
Maintaining a sense of dignity depends on the deference and support shown to you by society in light of your contributions. When major media publications accept ads portraying student feet protruding from a garbage can, and accuse teachers of placing students in that demeaning position, they accept hate speech as a legitimate source of income. Teacher sensitivity to outright lies is less a product of being targeted for criticism—that’s part of life in the public sector— than it is due to the duplicity of the bad actors that create those lies. They demonize teachers on the one hand and extend the other for profits to be earned by displacing unionized teachers with ill-trained, easily controlled dupes working in charter schools, among their many crimes. The “Center for Union Lies” does not criticize teachers; it intentionally distorts and mischaracterizes their achievements to enable corporate gain.
When you deprive teachers of dignity and meaning in their work, you strike a blow against public education. Of course, that is exactly the point for some. For others, it is “collateral damage” that must be accepted to improve instruction and raise test scores. If test scores rise, then education must be improved. If living and breathing teachers who will demand immediate compensation can be replaced with technology that raises test scores on tests written by testing companies whose shareholders seek short-term profits…well, all the better.
What is lost if public education is lost? Just as terrorism is a front in the war for the soul of Islam, attacks on public education—one of the sources of our common good— constitute one front in the war for the soul of democracy. Democracy can withstand challenges from without which are obvious and overt; whether democracy can withstand challenges from within is unknown. Dismantling public institutions encourages individualism and loss of community. That loss of community opens a democracy to manipulation and exploitation by powerful corporations.
Still, we teachers as a group fail to see the forest for the trees. We imagine that what we experience in the form of attacks by individuals and organizations on teachers and education is somehow unique and unrelated to other events. We feel our institution being assailed, and we forget that there are others in the public service enduring similar mistreatment.
How have we ended up in this situation? Corporatists have built a myth of excellence and efficiency in the private sector, and a specter of malfeasance and incompetence in public institutions. Their tactics include attacks on public institutions, accompanied by demands for firings and accountability measures. They then demand new “standards” for performance that are clearly impossible to reach, and place blame on those same institutions when they fail to attain them and attempt to cover it up. Finally, they seek to withdraw financial support from those institutions, citing the failures they themselves engineered. This has happened in education with NCLB and RttT, and will occur with CCSS, if it is not more widely abandoned. It has happened as well with the Veterans Administration. The VA (underfunded and overwhelmed by demands resulting from the Iraq/Afghanistan debacle) was accused of not providing timely care for those who deserved better. The solution? A standard was set that could not be met, a 14-day window for care, and accountability measures for not achieving success. When that couldn’t be accomplished, managers found ways of lying to make it appear that things were fine. Uncovered, the VA was again blamed for incompetence. Calls were made to privatize an institution that attempts to fulfill a public obligation to those who have stood in the line of fire for us all.
We teachers can easily comprehend what VA employees face. Our experiences are not unique; they are part and parcel of a wider attack on democracy. The sooner we accept that and coordinate our actions with other institutions that are also suffering, the sooner we will begin to turn the corner. We become powerful when we recognize our community, and weak when we abandon it. Badass Teachers know what it means to acquire community; we need to remind our colleagues of the role their unions need to play in preserving, protecting, and extending that community of public service employees. NEA and AFT have accomplished much in the past, but are only lately stepping up to the plate on this issue. They can do much more, and will need grass roots support to do so.
We are not just educators. We are warriors for democracy, and we fight a dangerous opponent. We fight for free, fair, and appropriate public education, just as our brothers and sisters fight battles for better public health care, better public transportation, and improved public security. Part of our fight is to act with dignity and demand dignified treatment from society. We need to build a new myth of the public employee, one that recognizes our commitment to service and champions our achievements in creating community.
Arthur Miller is calling to us now.
© David Sudmeier, 2014
http://davidsudmeier.com/2014/06/16/the-crucible/
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Can anyone from Louisiana tell me if this is a good thing or a bad thing for my state?
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140616-r.i.-board-of-ed-selects-louisianas-former-commissioner-for-new-post-secondary-position.ece
I don’t know much about Jim Purcell, but I know that what’s coming out of New Orleans WRT education is problematic.
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Jim Purcell is a good guy:
http://blogs.wpri.com/2014/06/17/8-things-to-know-about-ris-new-commissioner-of-post-secondary-education/
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http://acesconnection.com/profiles/blogs/failing-schools-or-failing-paradigm
1st post on June 18, 2014
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Can you please do a post about why public schools are a cornerstone of democracy? I cannot articulate why and I wish I could. I want to know what other people have to say on that.
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I’ve tried to deal with that relationship on a number of occasions…Here’s one attempt: http://davidsudmeier.com/2014/03/17/the-common-good-for-sale/
I think clarifying what democracy is, and what needs that system must fill in order to thrive, is an ongoing debate which should never end.
Best wishes.
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Did you see this article today by David Sirota in Pando?
“The big money and profits behind the push for charter schools”?
http://pando.com/2014/06/19/the-big-money-and-profits-behind-the-push-for-charter-schools/
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First Blog under June 18 response by Daun Kauffman.
https://www.facebook.com/ACEsTooHigh
We all must start with a MAJOR paradigm shift in Education.
The customer , child must be first, even for those who insist on a ‘business model’. If the Child, customer is first, then the MAJOR shift in the paradigm is to deal with the whole child, starting with chronic or complex trauma and it’s neurobiological effects.
Presently, it’s just so clearly a Failing Paradigm. We must TOTALLY restart.
We have just been “incrementalizing” around the edges. (Charter Schools, Common Core, “Technology”, Standardized Testing, Curriculum tweaks, More funding, less funding, Longer School days… whaaa ?)
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Here is another interesting Sirota article from today regarding a study showing that political corruption correlates to less spending on social programs like education:
“How corruption can distort your state’s budget and economy”
http://pando.com/2014/06/19/reporting-from-tennessee-how-corruption-can-distort-your-states-budget-and-economy/
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Diane, I can’t thank you enough for your courageous advocacy for teachers and for children. I particularly celebrate your recent article taking Bill Gates and Arne Duncan to task. It’s hard to imagine their hubris, thinking they have the answers when they clearly don’t understand the questions. I was fortunate to grow up at a time when education in California was progressive and free. My parents were teachers, then administrators, and it is not surprising that I followed their passion, receiving my life teaching credential in 1964 from the Graduate Internship Program at UC Berkeley.In the past fifty years I’ve taught all the grades, most of them multiple times, mentored, supervised and taught teachers, offered university level courses and finally, worked as a Curriculum and Education Director. I loved teaching, finding it the most challenging and creative work I could imagine because I loved learning and could find no higher calling than trying to understand and to provide what children need to realize their full human potential.
When I retired last year, I started to write a blog to put into words what I had learned about how children actually learn and how far off the mark our current educational policies and trends are taking us. (educare4achange.blogspot.com) I would be honored if you or any of your readers could take a little time to give me feedback. I want to build a case for what we should be doing with children to prepare them for the difficult challenges that lie ahead. It’s probably best to start with the oldest post.
Blessings on your work. I can see a strong movement rising as teachers find their voices and the will to push back against those who would commodify our public education.
Anna Jacopetti
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/06/17/sending-school-kids-school-public-transit-bad-choice/iDZy8kwfOZ7UczKeKxlqVK/story.html
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Into the Unknown
A collective sigh rings out at this time of year from educators at all levels. That relief is a sure sign that our teaching and learning environments are toxic. The negative reinforcement that accompanies our escape from the classroom prompts a wide variety of utterances that are symptomatic of that toxicity, but which are also red herrings. We wail and gnash our teeth when parents challenge carefully considered student evaluations; we despair when administrators fail to support us and change grades unilaterally. We moan and groan over our own annual evaluations and the amount of energy spent collecting supportive data for them. We fume at the excessive standardized testing required of students and the time we spend proctoring. We throw up our hands in dismay when union leadership appears too willing to accept corporatist ideals.
What we seldom do is consider the root causes of our dismay and discouragement. We hope that temporary escape from these various symptoms will cure the underlying disease. Unless we confront our demons, we simply return in the fall and repeat the cycle. Each passing year breeds further alienation from the institution we once cherished.
We are walking in circles. All of the hubbub concerning CCSS (including the hubbub emanating from this site) and the anger against Bill Gates, the Kochs, etc.–is hot air unless it results in an ongoing reconsideration of all public educational policies by professional educators at all levels.
The inclination teachers have to carp about the complaints students and parents make about grades is more a symptom of loss of power and dignity than it is a comment about student performance or behavior. Likewise, the complaints we make about “harvesting student growth data” or administering standardized testing has less to do with either task than it does the corruption of a supportive student/teacher relationship. When we focus on these symptomatic issues, we allow these tangential problems to distract us from what is most important, and we continue on our circular route.
Attacks on union leadership in education also distract us from more important issues. We look to WEA and AFT leadership to challenge the rush to corporatism in education, and when their efforts seem timid, we assume they must be cozy with corporate deformers. To be blunt: do some union leaders receive compensation that is excessive? Do they not represent teachers but instead front a corporatized entity that pretends to represent us? Perhaps, but the stated purpose those leaders serve is to improve workplace conditions, pay rates and benefits to rank and file members so that those workers can focus on student needs. Vote ‘em out if they aren’t effective in these areas. Compare that purpose to the goal of CEOs in private corporations − maximizing returns to stockholders. Consider the amazing inequalities of income and benefits that exist between executives in private companies and their workers, and ponder the fact that those companies thrive on that exploitation. We have little to complain about. Focus on the bigger issue, and deal with the little fish at election time.
The root issue—the underlying disease– for educators today is an excessive and often abusive reliance on evaluation measures that strip both teacher and student of dignity and power. Corporatists honestly believe that defining goals and measuring progress toward them−a practice that serves well when manufacturing consumer goods− ought to provide a solid foundation in the educational world as well. We can restore dignity and render the issue of power moot by demanding reconsideration of the role evaluation ought to play in the educational environment.
I’ve given my share of grades to students, and I’ve never felt productive or positive when doing so. Students who are just beginning to comprehend the basics of a discipline do not need categorization− they need support and encouragement. Students who are at advanced levels in study do not benefit from microanalysis of their performance− they benefit from reflection on their practice with the input and advice of established experts. Take it closer to home– we do not provide a significant other with an evaluation of their performance according to a set of proficiency standards. Why not? We inherently sense the inappropriateness of judging the performance of a loved one according to a set of external standards. Why do we view the appropriateness of evaluation for learners any differently? We should stop now.
How do you feel as a professional when you sit down with an administrator to find out whether they have labeled you as “Distinguished,” “Proficient,” “Developing,” or “Below Expectations?” Do you feel emboldened to push into new areas of pedagogy and curricular development? Or do you feel relieved that your paycheck is safe for another year? We put students through this experience regularly, and we have no evidence that they − or us−are better people or learners for it.
Evaluation is not a necessary part of learning. It is, at best, a number or letter external to the learner’s personal experience. It is a means of quantifiable coercion at worst. It is unproductive and unnecessary.
John Lennon’s song, Imagine, represents the challenge in front of us. We take the first step toward freedom of mind and spirit when we begin to imagine alternatives to our own history. Imagine there’s no report card; I know it’s hard to do− Imagine all the students learning; learning for themselves… That is the relationship I envision between my students and myself, and I’ve long wondered why it doesn’t exist.
And now I know. The corporatist vision demands absolutes. Evaluation is a natural and necessary part of their absolutist domain, and they demand we participate in that world. They prescribe standardized tests and Danielson rubrics to ensure that we do participate.
I prescribe abstinence. I prescribe the unknown and unfamiliar.
It’s wise to venture into the unknown if you do so with a sense of purpose and a sense of direction. But please, reconsider both that purpose and your direction from time to time; don’t just walk in circles.
That’s the difference between adhering to standards and using standards as a framework for professional judgment.
© David Sudmeier, 2014
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Diane, Have you looked in depth at the possibility that the reason why hedge fund managers are so interested in charter schools is because they can do there, using public funds, what they have done in other markets, by leveraging derivatives? I don’t understand much about derivatives or what hedge fund managers do, but I’ve seen this mentioned in a few places.
For example, Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report mentioned it a couple years ago here, in “Barack Obama & The Crisis of Capitalism.” Starting at about 48 minutes in, he explains the role of finance capitalism (Wall Street) and that they wanted higher and higher ROIs, so derivatives or “phony money” were developed to increase profits. At around 56 minutes, he describes why the hedge fund industry got into privatizing public services and promoting charter schools. Derivatives are unregulated and he said that’s going to implode –and I’ve seen others mention this, too. Do you know much about it? What will happen then? Scary stuff!
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David…I appreciate your thoughts on this. I wrote this article that seems to be asking similar questions. I hope you enjoy it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stuart-gunter/the-knowledge-is-the-rewa_b_5511466.html
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Enjoy it I did!
I’m struck by the impact that the current politics surrounding public education has had on the willingness of teachers to think through the purpose of education—both for their students and for themselves. It’s obvious you have done quite a bit of thinking on that subject.
When you handed that student a book, you gave them control of their education. I think that’s the most wonderful thing about the teacher/student relationship—we have opportunities to guide, to “instruct,” but also to put a student in a position to make choices about what knowledge to pursue, and what paths to take on their journey.
I hope you’ll keep your sense of humor about education, both your own and what occurs in your classroom…and they may not be separate things. There are lots of laughable things in education and in life, and we should share that playful attitude toward learning with students.
I’ll look forward to reading more from you.
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I have to share this incredible interaction I had last week with the Assistant to the Commissioner of Education in NJ. Her name is Bari Erlichson and she is the grand dame of testing for NJ.
Anyway, I called to try to catch her directly and luckily I did get her. She answered her line. The gist of my questioning was connected to Mandated Testing and to tests which are sprouting up year to year in addition to what is already out there.
My wife and I decided to say “enough” and we chose to have my 9th grade son Opt Out of the New Jersey Biology Test. This “new” test is 4 hours long, has no connection to his biology course and has no bearing upon his placement for next year. So, for all of us it was a “no brainer”. The end of the year is a burn out overly saturated time where students want nothing less than to sit through yet another hours long test.
Needless to say our district in Highland Park was not happy with us. The current Superintendent, Tim Capone issued an edict that all students who Opted Out of a Mandated test were “belligerent” and had to “sit and stare” for the hours of testing and for the Make Up days. That meant no instructional time..but an enforced punishment of “sitting and staring”.
Capone is originally from the NJ DOE. And he is essentially a hack and a Compliance Officer. He claimed that his “policy” for Sitting and Staring was backed up by the NJ DOE. That is what lead me to Madam Bari.
I wish I could say that I had a conversation with a real human being on the line.
Her attitude was confident, and absolute.
In essence parents have “no right” to object to any mandated test.
Now here’s a tip for any bureaucrat out there reading this. It’s not a great idea to tell a parent they have “no right” with regards to their children’s education and well being.
Mandated Testing has grown to viral proportions and there is no end to them.
Data Driven Drones like Ms Erlichson sit far away from the people she serves.
Her salary is paid for by parents, and her employment exists only to serve. In other words, if we had no education system, Ms Bari have to seek another job.
What struck me aside from the authoritarian strident posture of this person was the opinion that parents have no right to protest.
What reality do these people exist in?
I promptly called my local Assemblyman and spoke with his chief of staff.
At least I got a sympathetic ear and a desire to work with me and the growing number of parents who are pushing back throughout this State.
Ms Erlichson told me that there are “very few” people resisting the State.
Given her approach and hubris I could not imagine that she would recognize a Tidal Wave if it came crashing through her front door.
In conclusion, the moral of this story is that people who work for the DOE and many Superintendents are in a state of denial. They want to run the show. They do not want to take a step back. And they are “feel” that there will be no repercussions.
I am now a militant anti Mandated testing Hawk thanks to Ms Bari and my local hack Superintendent.
I was on the fence. But given the nature of this “beast” which is in the disguise of education, I feel that the only reasonable way forward is to fight ..and to fight hard.
My intention with this post is to encourage parents to do what is right for your children.
The DOE does not “own” my children. And I have no desire to sit back and be scolded by a bureaucrat who deems I have “no right” to object to these High Stakes nonsensical tests.
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With Teacher Tenure Threatened Trouble in Every Direction For Public Education:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/24579-with-teacher-tenure-threatened-trouble-in-every-direction-for-public-education
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I feel like I’m watching one giant Milgram experiment. I worked in a charter school (before being educated about “school reform”). During that time, I knew many people who had been fired for one reason or another. Not one had due process. I saw a principal hired. Decent person, experienced teacher… but bought into the idea that unions protected bad teachers and that no union would make it easy to fire “ineffective teachers.” Also bought into the idea that “merit pay” is a good thing and that “no excuses” is a great ideology to follow. While “in” the Milgram experiment, I lived the dehumanizing experience of being ranked. I was 4th from the top (woohoo.). I knew the teacher who was ranked last. She was fired. (shock!) I’d seen this lady teach. She was a dynamo. Why the poor rating? Her students did poorly on “the tests” and she’d been out sick (chronic condition). Another, a special ed. teacher, was fired. (shock!) She’d been there for years, had a great report with kids, but no way could she keep up with the caseload. She had well over 50 kids on her caseload. Why so many? The right to work state this school is in has no cap on the number of kids a sp.ed. teacher can have on their caseload. Another was a young teacher whose first teaching experience was in the school… she knew nothing else. She could have been a decent teacher. She had some challenges (as any new teacher does), but she was also vulnerable. She became the “weak link” to be “voted off the island. Although she had been “coached,” she was AFRAID. This atmosphere bred fear, and for a newbie, that’s no way to grow in the profession. Yup, she was fired. (shock!) Another was an art teacher… who had originally been a teacher’s aide who was pushed into teaching art (she didn’t want to teach art). She was fired (shock!) because she used the same grades for report cards as she did for progress reports for a primary class. Where was her PD on how to assess children in art? Non-existent. A 4th grade teacher (shock!) , a middle school math teacher (shock!), a drama teacher (shock!), a gym teacher (shock!). Firing day at the charter school… always the last day of school. There are just as many… no more… who quit. The churn was unbelievable. Out of all the people I witnessed come and go, there were 2 who truly were bad for kids (inappropriate comments / discussions). The rest? Gone for one inane reason or another while the search for staffing a whole school of great teachers continued.
Part of our PD was watching the movie “Waiting for Superman.” It had the desired effect. We drank the kool-ade (or kook-aid as I often type in Freudian fashion). No one wanted to be a bad teacher. We were primed to become work horses lest we be labeled “ineffective” or ranked last. Younger teachers had energy and the desire to please. More experienced teachers learned to “play the game” and figured out how to fly under the radar. Some quickly tired of pretending, burned out (because one cannot do EVERYTHING in a highly effective manner) and became passive. They often showed signs of disorganization and depression. Either they sensed impending doom early and got out, or were fired. Others became work-a-holics. Their families suffered. They became the robots who judged others using kool-ade colored glasses. The fact that I was there long enough to see these patterns speaks to how well I could fly under the radar… but my gut told me, the situation was becoming more and more toxic. The language changed. If you disagreed with anything in the culture, you were labeled as “being negative” (another sin against the kool-ade is labeling truth when you see it, so you are then called “negative” for not playing along with the ideology).
So… which part did I play? The stress built over time. I flew under the radar… but I was aware of my decreased ability to stay organized… my decreased ability to find happiness in my work… the crying fits I’d have just driving to work. There were many, many, many reasons I quit… but what woke me up to the destruction was my own behavior toward a child. The pressure to make sure enough kids “passed the test” got the best of me. Enough of the children struggle… but this child was very capable. He did the equivalent to “christmas tree”ing the assessment. Completely invalid, but it was still to be counted in my “numbers” (after all, “no excuses”). I was very angry and hollered at him. Yup… he was in tears by the time I was done. Took a step back, and asked myself, “WHAT are you DOING?” … and immediately, the Milgram experiment came to mind. The “authority” of “school reform” (test and punish) became my teaching paradigm at that moment. At that point, I detached from the whole testing process. I had to “check” myself. Swore I’d never have that kind of interaction with a child again. That’s when I really started to see the truth of this process… the wrongness of the “top down” approach… the dysfunction inherent in how this new system (what we’d now call “reformy”) was “working.”
I found out about Diane Ravitch about 6 months after that. Saw the video “Diane Ravitch Defends Teachers.” FINALLY, someone who was putting into words what was wrong with all of this! The more I read, the more I learned about charter/versus public school, the more I knew I had to get out. That was over a year ago.
That decent person who was the principal in the school… who, in my opinion, became another part of this “Milgram experiment” was fired… due to low test scores (high poverty urban school). It would be so easy to demonize this person and say that they got what was coming to them (what goes around comes around)… but, I honestly believe that this basically good person was drinking the kool-ade… believed that they were firing “bad teachers.” Believed that what they were doing was right for kids. What I don’t think this person understands is that what is good for kids does NOT have to be in opposition to what is good for adults.
I’m in a much less stressful teaching situation now. I feel now that I’m watching the Milgram experiment rather than participating in it. I feel compassion for people who are stuck in the trenches and are being vocal about their misery. They are actually better off than the people who are in the midst of all this and are UNAWARE. Those who unaware are disconnected from the suffering. They continue to perpetuate the paradigm. And because there are so many who are disconnected from the suffering, I am afraid for the future. This scenario is being played out all across the country. What will become of the children if this drama is being enacted over and over in front of them by the adults?
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Hannah, I’ve thought a lot about your Milgram experiment” comment, and I think you are right on, especially as it applies to high-stakes testing.
I ask myself, as Milgram probably did, at what point do rule-following people cross the line from mere compliance to abuse? What excuses will we tell ourselves to justify giving these tests?
Thanks for your thought-provoking post.
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Dear Diane,
I live in Chicago, and the city has closed my neighborhood open enrollment middle school and is replacing it with a selective enrollment middle school.
I suspect the move is an example of how public leaders and capital capitulate to anti-Black racism. I wrote a quick letter about it to the local paper.
http://hpherald.com/2014/06/25/canters-closure-and-the-question-of-race/
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Like a message in a bottle, the following email arrived in my inbox just the other day. It is the Snohomish School District (Snohomish, WA) collection of teacher responses to their survey concerning the recent SBAC Field Tests.
(see posting for email: http://davidsudmeier.com/2014/06/30/message-in-a-bottle/ )
As I read the full report, which is attached (http://davidsudmeier.com/?attachment_id=440 ), I began to consider ways that this limited anecdotal document might inform future decisions on testing and instruction.
I decided to use these survey results to test the statements made by leaders in the standardized testing industry. Jeff Nellhaus, director of policy, research and design at the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC was quoted as saying: “We think the field tests were a huge success,” in the Washington Post. Joe Wilhoft, Executive Director for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, (SBAC) called his alternative test “…a bitter pill for some to swallow, but…a key step toward providing all students with the education they deserve and need to thrive in our competitive global economy.”
First, the willingness of this district to share this information with teachers is laudable. It should be common practice, of course, and my comment is meant to recognize that openness is a necessary practice to assure that the terms “public” and “education” continue to have a meaningful relationship. Far too much secrecy has surrounded the creation of the Common Core State Standards, the PARCC and the SBAC tests for the public to be confident in either instrument or the people behind it.
SBAC Administration
While the bar graph provided in the district document indicates a relative balance between frustration and satisfaction, the anecdotal evidence weighs heavily to the former. Lengthy, complex directions were cited numerous times; difficulty with technology and various online test tools was also a major theme.
These kinds of issues are “glitches,” to be expected and worked out, according to Wilhoft. What would be necessary to “work out” these problems? Developmental appropriateness of directions would require attention to factors well known already to K-3 educators, including Dr. Wilhoft, who points to his time as a third grade teacher as a source of pride. Of course, for the directions−or the test itself−to be considered “age appropriate,” the standards themselves would have to be suitable to the learners. They are not.
Technology issues require not only adjustments by the test creators, but also large and ongoing capital investments by school districts across the nation if the SBAC test is to become the gauge of academic attainment for American students. You simply can’t ignore the regular outlay of money the creators of these tests propose, driven not by a desire to enrich student learning, but to establish a culture of testing that perpetuates profits to testing companies and technology magnates. These expenses are unsustainable for many districts.
SBAC Field Testing Impact
The disruption of the educational environment due to the SBAC field test was extreme by any standard. 54% of teachers found the test to be “very disruptive,” with another 26% calling it “disruptive.” What brought on such damning statements? Lack of access to a limited number of computers for anything but testing was the main factor. Between SBAC and “EasyCBM” testing, it appears that some schools were unable to accommodate students from “…the middle of March” to sometime in May. In addition, educational assistants (EAs) were diverted from their normal duties in the classroom to test proctoring and technology trouble-shooting.
When tests pre-empt instruction, the tail is wagging so hard that the dog is hardly recognizable. If standardized testing has a place in public education (a notion that I reject), then its validity is challenged when it compromises instruction. When EAs are not working to assist learning they are no longer EAs, they are wardens.
SBAC Math/ELA Student Attitudes
To say that students generally disliked the tests is to sugarcoat the results. 40% of students considered the math test “negative” or “very negative.” Only 14% considered it “positive” or “very positive.” Results for the ELA test were nearly identical.
Frustrations with technology, with long instructions, and with the formatting of questions highlighted the concerns in math. The ELA test contained long prompts and reading articles that challenged the readiness of many students. Keyboarding skills seemed a particular obstacle for many children.
Teachers know that student attitudes toward difficult tasks can be extremely varied, and attempt to structure classroom experiences to limit frustrations that distract from active learning. Here, however, the reactions indicate a significant disconnect between the test takers and the test makers. If a test has little meaning to a student, and if the activities of the test have only a limited relationship to what occurs in the classroom, it’s likely that students will find the testing experience awkward and unfriendly.
Final Observations
While there are additional teacher comments on technology issues and various other concerns, I want to return to the statements that began this piece. Anyone spinning standardized tests as a “huge successes” ought to carefully consider the data the Snohomish School District has provided. Jeff Nellhaus had a huge success in the sense that he was able to coerce school districts in the PARCC group into providing unpaid guinea pigs for norming a test according to standards that have never been validated. Beyond that accomplishment, any claim to success is smoke and mirrors, meant to preclude reasonable challenges. Joe Wilhoft ‘s statements about SBAC testing are likewise coded to conflate economic security and educational standardization. Any school, district, state official or U.S. Dept. of Education representative that claims they have the secrets students need “to thrive in our competitive global economy” is blowing some serious smoke, indeed. Decoded, this translates to, “Your student will emerge from this system a compliant individual, consumer and worker bee, ready to do what corporate structures deem vital to their survival.” The ideas of being educated and being employable are, and should remain, separate notions.
The SBAC Field Test is a great failure due to the commitment to corporatized standardization it represents and sanctions. The creators of SBAC, PARCC and other instruments that are planned for the future ought to be drummed out of public education.
I’m stuffing this message back in the bottle I got my original email in and I’m tossing it back in the Internet Ocean. I trust it will land on your shoreline and provoke conversations about better possibilities for educating students than either SBAC or PARCC represent.
© David Sudmeier, 2014
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Education delusional or substantive
http://www.startribune.com/business/264043911.html#eggwGop8PiXXgHHh.97
Fred Zimmerman is absolutely correct!
Why are we attempting to “redo” elementary & secondary education so that students can attend useless (delusional) institutes of higher education.
If we want top down change to education, start with the University level, the ivory towers of delusion!
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Are you interested in how a public school in Illinois violates a child with brain cancer IEP and then says things about her that are discriminatory and mocks her for needing special ed?
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Hello Diane,
I wonder if this one caught your eye- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-camins/education-reform-unsubsta_b_5548395.html
In yesterday’s Huffington Post Arthur Camins, the
Director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology, wrote a nice little piece that compares reform efforts to FDA applications.
( Huff Post, 7-01-14, Education Reform: Unsubstantiated Benefit Claims; Unreported Side Effects)I think it’s a good analogy and a good piece that described both sides of the various coins in pursuit of better understanding among the public bystanders.
I would submit one point more to Mr. Camins: Regarding competition and financial incentives for teacher compensation: A basic flaw here is exposed in the social science study of motivation- teaching is not the kind of work which can be managed in the same way as ditch digging.
Pay the digger by the ditch and he may hustle, improve efficiency, short-cut or otherwise turn out more ditches.
But, complex undertakings that require creativity and conscientiousness respond to the incentive of autonomy.
See Daniel Pink’s ‘Drive’ for a recent packaging of this well-established understanding of motivation.
Thanks for your wonderful advocacy and blogging!
V. Rose
Delaware Teacher
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VER, I will be posting Arthur Camins’ wonderful article in a few days.
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Incredible data here on Special ED. 80% get free or reduced lunch showing link to income.
Click to access 2014edindicatorsreport.pdf
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Diane, I’ve seen this idea of labeling people “evil” come up a number of times. The latest that I’ve seen is where you mentioned in the comments that you don’t “impute evil motives to others.” I wonder if you would blog on this topic. I mentioned in a post above how I feel like I’m in one giant “Milgram” experiment. It IS important that people have a moral value system to guide their decisions and behaviors in the world if we are going to be social beings; but it gets sticky when people do what they believe is right based on what they know, but then end up harming people in the process. There are moral dilemmas all over the place. What if one only sees two choices and must choose the “lesser of two evils?” What if one sees options, and chooses an option that has unintended harmful consequences? What if, under pressure, we make poor choices and have regrets for making that choice? Do we learn, grow, and do better? Or do we keep making the same poor choices? How do we make up for poor choices if we have harmed people? Labeling people who oppose us as “evil” is VERY muddy water. Are there sociopaths out there taking advantage of the mass confusion, disruption, and constant chaos that is currently the state of education in this country? ABSOLUTELY! Are MOST people who are fighting (for or against) education reform “evil?” I don’t believe so, and I don’t believe you think so either. At the same time, how do we recognize when someone is truly behaving in an evil fashion, disregarding the harm they do for their own personal motives? There are many thoughts, questions about this. Ideology seems to become evil when regardless of the evidence, people continue to follow it in spite of the harm it does. “Whistle-blowing” is imperative when good people see others being harmed (regardless of the intent of the people doing the harm). I just feel so confused with so much of this. I’m interested in your wisdom in this area.
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Evil is not just making mistakes, “poor choices,” or uninformed decisions which harm others with unintended consequences. In a confusing world, we don’t just stumble into evil, or justly accuse others of evil when they’ve stumbled into fault before we could get there.
Evil is real (and secular!), and it is no more or less than the inability to love. It is the action of the person who KNOWS the negative consequence and deems it worth a personal benefit. It’s the mistake made, the damage noted, and then the same “mistake” made for the second, fifth, or twentieth time out of lack of emotional connection to those who suffer the consequences.
Evil is a mental illness suffered by those who cannot connect and those who try to enter into relation with them. It is quickly becoming a societal bane simply because we fail to understand or dare to care. It is real, but using ‘evil’ as an epithet brings us no closer to confronting it, but just demeans the concept and buries it in slime.
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Interesting article – Texas had a similar omnibus bill in 1984 (HB72) as we had in 2013 (HB5) which approved a prek program plus a host of other things such as district performance reports, no pass – no play, exit testing for diploma…
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20140706-texas-school-reform-law-of-1984-still-touches-millions-of-students.ece
Plus while researching HB72 I found this site which I thought might appeal to your historian side. I have not verified its accuracy. It’s a lists major Texas ed reforms 1975 to 2004. http://www.idra.org/Education_Policy.htm/A_Historical_Summary/
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Fireworks & Revolutions
As the 2014 NEA Rep Assembly winds down, and we simultaneously set off fireworks to celebrate the collection of 56 signatures on our nation’s Declaration, I keep thinking about the ways revolutionaries are created. Some seem born, and leap to any cause that opposes power; others seem slow to accept insurrection until swept up by events.
The Boston-born Sons (and Daughters) of Liberty filled a role that many Badass Teachers feel suited to—public displays of disaffection toward governmental and corporate structures that are insensitive to vital public institutions. For the Sons of Liberty, the collusion of the British Crown and the East India Company presented a corporatocracy worth challenging because it acted beyond the reach of representative assemblies. BATs look to the alliance of the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education with similar hostility.
Hostility, however, can be self-defeating. Poet Charles Bukowski’s description of the alienation from American society he experienced as a student and young person exemplifies this:
“The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little bit more off you, until there was nothing left. At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole g—damned nation of a—holes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidates who reminded them most of themselves.”
Bukowski damned corporatism and the idiocy it promoted, but was famous for his own forays into idiocy and self-destructive behavior. Still, his words evoke feelings persons close to current educational politics can relate to.
The distress BATs feel about the election of Lily Garcia to the NEA presidency (and Randi Weingarten’s reign in the AFT) is linked to their rejection of corporatism and its corrosive effect on democracy within the teaching profession. Corporatists have slowly emerged as leaders in each organization because they are not leaders at all. This is the irony of corporatism. The way out is not self-destructive calls for separation from those organizations or revolution against their leadership. It is a commitment to self-discovery and re-creation. We must change ourselves in order to change our national professional organizations and to protect public education.
BATs have had a remarkable year. We have become self-aware, all 49,000 and more of us. We have begun to present a recognizable and consistent voice on matters of public education. It’s probably a bit early to expect name cards at the tables of decision to include many BAT members, though. As an organization, providing a compelling vision for public education that is supported by a mechanism for achieving it will be necessary to turn self-awareness into visible action. And that is a concern.
As long as we find it necessary to identify ourselves as BATs– as members of an interest group— we risk becoming one of the corporate structures that inhibit the function of democracy itself. When we are able to convince people that their obligation is to society as a whole, we will have convinced them to be part of a true democracy, where interest is subjugated to disinterest. We may also find it possible to shed our interest label.
There is no reason to expect the tension between democracy and corporatism to be anything but prolonged and difficult. It has been a central conflict in our national history since its inception.
We should be pleased that the past year has given rise to the BATs and the idea that public education is worth supporting. I think it’s time to set some signposts that might indicate the effect our movement has had as we look forward to our second anniversary:
Has CCSS become a pejorative in its own right? That might mean that people are experiencing frustrations due to the impacts it has on instruction and on the finances of school districts across the nation.
What is the level of awareness of Gates Foundation involvement in public affairs, including education? Debate on the impact of its semi-private initiatives will bring it into the sunshine of democratic process.
What is the status of recognizable BAT participation in national, state, and local education policy decisions?
To what extent have BATs extended their activities to other initiatives for social justice and general public policies?
If we become more self-aware, and if we seek to have a positive impact on local, state and national affairs, we will look back on the 2014-15 academic year as one of democracy-building success. We will watch the fireworks with new understanding of the challenges the Founding Fathers passed on to posterity.
We will also feel less like Charles Bukowski, and be better able to contribute to society as a whole. Then, the primary obligation we have—to convince the coming generations that their obligation to society actually exists—will be next.
© David Sudmeier, 2014
http://davidsudmeier.com/2014/07/07/fireworks-and-revolutions/
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Very quick: have you ever appeared at the Bill Maher show on HBO? If not, is there a chance? I’d love you being there!
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Francesc, not me.
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At the beginning of ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’, his show on HBO on Friday nights, he spends about 10 minutes talking to someone about his/her work in any field that relates to current topics and issues of our society. You would be a great addition to the show, because Bill Maher, for reasons totally unknown to me, hardly ever speaks about education. As an educator, I am interested in your points of view getting some mainstream exposure. What do you think? Thank you!
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Francesc, I am ready.
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I just wrote a twitter about it …
Francesc Borrull @FrancescBorrull
Hoping to see @DianeRavitch at the @billmaher show to discuss http://bit.ly/TQliRi & current issues of US education There is some urgency!
Fingers crossed! Thanks!!!
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Still hoping you’ll do a post on democracy and what public education means to it. . .I am so eager to read dialogue and thoughts on that subject. I hear it stated all the time, and yet I rarely hear anyone expound on it.
In fact, it may be the only talking point we have left at this point. The information field on public education is muddied and chaotic nationwide. We have to streamline the focus.
Can you ask your readers: why is public schooling crucial to democracy?
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Joanna, the last chapter of “Reign of Error” explains the tie between democracy and public education.
The bottom lime is having institutions that build community and a sense of the common good, where everyone has a voice. Versus treating education as a consumer good, me first, I’ll do what’s best for me and mine. One gives us a democracy with solidarity, the other gives us a land of selfish, greedy individuals, not caring what happens to their fellow citizens.
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makes sense.
I will reread the chapter.
Somehow that message has to become resounding and powerful. . .such that folks realize they are standing with the bag and the music has stopped and the joke was on them for not standing up for democracy, but falling into the trap of “me first.” Maybe that is truly an instance where Duane’s GAGAers rings true. . .a mother in our district said the following (upon pulling her daughter out of our very good school to put her in the shiny new charter up the street, in a strip mall, mind you): “my inner voice is telling me I should leave her at the public school—we’ve really loved it; but my friends are all going to the charter.” The “no child left behind” mantra seems to have worked its way into an inner paranoia of people that if they don’t “shop” for school, they are leaving their child behind. It has created a mistrust in self, ironically by putting self first.
Anyway—I will read it and hope to hear more of its points in the dialogue about public education. It’s getting even more critical to find new ways to bolster what is being wasted in the name of choice.
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Town Hall in NC
http://www.wncn.com/story/25927452/public-welcome-at-wncns-education-town-hall-july-16
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While Philadelphia faces a huge education crisis, a teachers’ village opens up for TFA recruits at 25% reduced rental, and the retail that is in the complex includes, of course, Teach For America. Amazing. http://www.phillymag.com/the-scene/2014/07/03/oxford-mills-urban-oasis-philadelphia-education-phled-grand-opening/#gallery-1-7
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This is our National Action….Please help Huntsville, Alabama!! We CAN get rid of this Broad Super with YOUR HELP!!! Please join the email campaign TODAY. Here’s the email addresses you can cut and paste into your email and even a sample email. Please participate!! Check out the petition to see why the Broad superintendent needs removed IMMEDIATELY! The numbers are growing on the petition and people are starting to notice! I have been contacted by a few media folks already! Thanks for your help in advance!
lamccaulley@gmail.com; david.blair.hcsboard@gmail.com; personalbest@knology.net; topperb@knology.net; mwculbreath@gmail.com; Debby.jennings@hsv-k12.org; contact@huntsvilleal.gov; tbice@alsde.edu; david.kumbroch@whnt.com; kessex@waff.com; nlough@waff.com; cstephens@al.com; Dmcclenton@waaytv.com; JPavlica@waaytv.com
I am writing you today to ask for the removal of Superintendent Wardynski on the grounds that have been stated in the Change.org petition you can find at: http://www.change.org/petitions/huntsville-city-schools-board-of-education-request-the-resignation-of-superintendent-dr-casey-wardynski-immediately
Sincerely,
(your name)
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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/07/08/5031421/senate-drops-plan-to-kill-teacher.html#.U72jhtq9KSM
Let’s have talk about teacher assistants. That’s the bugaboo now for NC. They are saying the assistants don’t impact performance, but if you increase class size and take away assistants it will impact performance because the teacher will have more classroom management to deal with, thus distracting from instruction and learning time.
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Missouri’s state superintendent wants more testing in the district she just took over in order to improve the learning of the students there. http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/education/2014/07/09/missouri-education-chris-nicastro-interview/12411155/
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Diane…what is going on in Seattle? I understand there is a Gates Convening on Accelerating the Common Core. Any info you can report on would be great. Thank you!
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Renee, I don’t know.
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It’s been pretty quiet here in the Evergreen state. I’ve looked every few days to see if I’ve missed anything. Nothing yet. I plan to opt-out my 8th grade son this coming year from all instances of MAP (3 of them I think!) and Smarter Balance and all testing not required by state law for a diploma. As I understand it the MAP test does not always correspond to what is taught in the classroom so it does not adequately reflect the material the teacher has presented. WA State Law requires passing one or more End Of Course exams in order to graduate. State Law says nothing about passing the Common Core/Smarter Balance test. From what I read that can be done through 8th grade. 9th grade is a whole different regime. I’m hoping for regime change by then. Lots of great info here: http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/about/
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Here’s some news I just found: http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/doe-rejects-washington-states-last-claim-on-nclb-waiver/
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Bill Gates, aka Wissey Jones! The Child Buyer!! Motive still unknown, but most certainly not for the children!
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Dr. Ravitch,
Is there anything, looking back with 20/20 hindsight, that any state could have done to not have to comply with NCLB back in 2001 and moving forward? That is, could a state have challenged that law? Did any state try? Did any state willfully say, “no, we ain’t.”
??
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School districts in Texas are debating whether extra pay for teachers with advanced degrees is worth the money. Here is the link:
http://www.theday.com/article/20140713/NWS13/307139922/1044#.U8KOfmK9KSM
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Just five days after we celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year, Ulrich Boser, former writer for U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post Express, and Education Week dropped another document on the unsuspecting American public titled “Return on Educational Investment: 2014–A District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity.” Published by the Center for American Progress, that bastion of privatization and “alternative certification” for teachers – as well as shill for the Common Core State Standards – the document promises to reveal those districts that spend money properly and those that don’t.
Below you’ll find a “translation” of the document’s claims, caveats, and a brief conclusion. This document cries out for translation, since it is written in corporatese–language designed explicitly to impress and befuddle the public despite a complete lack of substance. But first, a taste of passive-aggressive corporatist self-justification:
◾”For people not deeply familiar with the accounting procedures, this makes it hard to compare spending across districts types.”
We have you covered; we are the Druids of Data, and we will wave entrails over the numbers to be sure their real meaning is revealed to us and us only.
◾”Fiscal accountability is central to our public education system, and educators need to spend school dollars well, if they want more school dollars. Looking forward, then, we must ask ourselves: How can we do more with what we have? How can we ensure that each school dollar is well spent? How can we make sure all education funds work for students?”
We care about money above all else. If you do what you are told, you might get a few more bucks. Just make sure you are focusing on standardized tests, because we don’t have anything else that makes numbers that can be propped up next to a cost statement. That’s how we make sure that public education serves a corporatist agenda instead of equipping citizens to act effectively as members of a democratic society…
Claims
◾”…effective organizational change can only be achieved by using data, setting goals, and thoughtfully implementing incentive and consequence programs and processes to boost outcomes.”
We want carrots and sticks to force you lazy educators to increase test scores.
◾”Policymakers should develop funding policies that direct money to students based on their needs.”
We will fund only those things that increase test scores, because numbers always trump professional judgment in our book.
◾”The Common Core State Standards Initiative provides an example of how states can work together to create a stronger, more innovative education system.”
We drank the entire keg of Kool-Aid Bill Gates and his cronies brewed. We have no evidence to show that the CCSS “strengthens” education or makes it more innovative. You are supposed to simply accept this untested, unproven statement and the system it misrepresents. Okay?
◾”…education leaders and stakeholders could create a common chart of accounts—a type of budget dictionary—as well as set out best practices when it comes to linking fiscal data to other databases.”
Let’s match up money with your test scores because everything needs to have a number attached to it, right?
◾”One crucial approach to improving data is providing districts with productivity evaluations. ”
Our numbers are crap, but we publish them publicly in order to embarrass you and bludgeon you into submission anyway.
◾”For this reason, we took significant steps in our report to control for funding disparities among populations of students, yet low-productivity districts are also more likely to enroll students from low-income households.”
Poverty plays a central role in “educational outcomes,” but we prefer to fudge the numbers a bit and then pretend it doesn’t.
◾”…without focused programs and policies, education spending does not always boost test scores.”
You guys might spend money on things that don’t improve test scores, like drama, art, physical fitness, foreign language or other unimportant stuff.
◾”…the issue here is not that any districts are necessarily wasting money on their education efforts. Rather, the issue is that too many districts are spending taxpayer money in ways that do not appear to dramatically boost reading and math scores, and some districts are able to gain similar levels of reading and math achievement with the same population of students but at lower levels of per- student spending.”
We do think you are wasting money if it doesn’t pay off in higher math and reading test scores. Oh, and we also believe that students are interchangeable parts in this numbers game.
Caveats…
◾”Currently, many districts lack the capacity to do more with less.”
Just want to get you to lower your guard before we deliver a series of sucker-punches…
◾”We also recognize that there are myriad of other issues plaguing our school finance system—from issues of equity to a simple lack of good data.”
Nothing written in our document should be interpreted as factual or scientific, and we had an attorney add this clause just to make sure you can’t say we thought it could be…
◾”…while we believe that our district-level evaluations rely on the best available methods—and show important results—we caution against making firm conclusions about the ratings of an individual district.”
Our evaluation standards aren’t really useful, but that’s all we got, so use ’em anyway.
◾”The literature on productivity is limited, and there is a lot we do not know about the relationship between spending and achievement.”
We have no research basis for believing that what we are talking about is valid.
◾”…the link between outcomes and money is not always linear. In other words, even in an efficient school system, the first few dollars spent on a program or school might not have the same effect as subsequent expenditures, with additional dollars not boosting outcomes as much as initial investments.”
We really don’t have any reason to make these comparisons, since they’re useless. We just do it to make public schools look bad.
◾”Our measures also cannot account for all of the variables outside the control of a district…”
We really don’t know what a district that “measures poorly” needs to do any more than they would. We just want to point fingers.
◾”The available data are also problematic. State and district data often suffer from weak definitions and questionable reliability.”
We know they say “Garbage in, garbage out,” but we figure we’ve been feeding you garbage for so long that you’d be offended if we didn’t at least try.
◾”Moreover, our study looks only at reading and math test scores, an admittedly very narrow slice of what students need to know to succeed in college and the workplace.”
We put all of our eggs in one basket, (okay, two) which is pretty ridiculous, but that can’t really hurt anyone’s chance to get a rich curriculum experience, can it?
◾”Despite these caveats, we believe our evaluations are the best available, given existing traditions and knowledge. We designed our color-rating system to empower the public…”
Despite the fact that our data sucks, and we have no reason to believe the data tells us anything that can be verified, we still intend to abuse public schools with our findings. Aren’t the colors on our chart pretty?
Conclusion
A wonderful master chef, Ulrich Korn, frequently reminded me to focus on the positive during my youthful stint in his kitchen. He interrogated me every time I dined at a three-star restaurant, coffee shop or hot dog stand, asking what was “really good,” maintaining that there was frequently a valuable idea in the humblest eatery. I have applied that lesson in many areas of my life, and I’m pleased to say that after intense study I was able to find just such a nugget in Ulrich Boser’s manifesto:
“We also encourage readers to closely examine the data and our approach to evaluating productivity.”
I heartily agree with those words, and have attempted to do just that.
© David Sudmeier, 2014
http://davidsudmeier.com/2014/07/14/the-druids-of-data/
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There’s just one day left to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission.
Stand up for Net Neutrality today. Submit a comment to the FCC telling them to reclassify the Internet as a public utility. (Cable TV should be classified as such, too!)
http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_NoSlowLane_FCC_comments
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Front page in Jeff Bezo’s WaPo Style section.
Campbell Brown goes after teacher tenure in transition from journalist to advocate
Here are two reasons why she should be dismissed from class and the discussion.
“In a situation where it’s the child or the adult, I’m going with the child. . . . Tenure is permanent lifetime employment. There’s no reason why anyone’s job should become untouchable for the rest of their life.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/campbell-brown-goes-after-teacher-tenure-in-transition-from-journalist-to-advocate/2014/07/14/58fdb33e-0919-11e4-a0dd-f2b22a257353_story.html
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On the subject of the Gulen Charter Schools, these articles are about them with a focus on their schools in Syracuse: http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/charter-flight-3/, http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/exerting-influence/, http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/who-is-fethullah-gulen/
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The Money Behind the Partnership for Educational Justice, is behind the copycat anti-tenure lawsuit in New York State, can be traced through the board of directors:
Board of Directors / Advisory Board
Daniel Allen
Daniel is the founding partner at Corona Investment Partners, a private equity firm based in New York City. Daniel worked at Bain Capital for nearly ten years, where he was involved in investing and helping to build growth oriented technology companies. Previously, Daniel has worked at McKinsey, ABC News and was involved in launching Fandango and other Internet startups. Daniel attended public elementary and high schools, and graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School.
Tenicka Boyd (advisory board)
Tenicka is the Director of Organizing for StudentsFirstNY. She joined StudentsFirstNY from the Obama Administration, where she served at the U.S. Department of Education in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Tenicka joined the Administration as Assistant to the Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Previously, she spent years as an organizer: in Flint, Michigan, as Lead Community Organizer for Flint Area Congregations Together and as an organizer for the Obama campaign in 2008; and in Alexandria, Virginia as Regional Healthcare Reform Organizer for Tenants and Workers United, where she helped build a statewide coalition in support of progressive healthcare reform.
Tenicka earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Tennessee State University and a Masters of Science in U.S. History and Public Policy from the University of Michigan. She resides in Brooklyn with her family.
Derrell Bradford
His Company received a part of the 48 Million Dollars from the Broad Foundation to write the NJ Teacher’s Contract which made it easier to lay off teachers and close Newark Public Schools.
Chris Christie’s appointment of Bradford to the now-infamous Educator Effectiveness Task Force made the entire enterprise a joke. Bradford has never been an educator, holds no degrees in any relevant field, and came into education lobbying having been a nightlife magazine editor. – See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/derrell-bradford-takes-manhattan.html#sthash.OiFZX2Pz.dpuf
Bradford’s service on the task force produced a disaster of a report, which led to a disaster of a teacher evaluation scheme (AchieveNJ, aka Operation Hindenburg). But it also opened up new possibilities in reformy advocacy — for Bradford, that is. When the Christie administration needed someone to serve on the secret charter school review panels of 2010, they called Bradford. When they needed someone to take a cheap swipe at then-NJEA President Barbara Keshishian, they called Bradford: – See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/derrell-bradford-takes-manhattan.html#sthash.OiFZX2Pz.dpuf
Derrell is the Executive Director for NYCAN: The New York Campaign for Achievement Now. Previously, Derrell served as the Executive Director of Better Education for Kids (B4K), a 501c4 organization supporting common-sense bipartisan education reforms in New Jersey. He is a trustee of We Can Do Better NJ, which supports school choice and a wide range of systemic reforms to improve education for all students, and Success Academy Public Charter Schools. Derrell also served on Gov. Chris Christie’s Educator Effectiveness Task Force, which gave recommendations for a new statewide evaluation system for teachers and leaders.
In 2011, Derrell was named to NBC’s “The Grio 100: History Makers in the Making,” and also received the Tri-County Scholarship Fund’s “Making a Difference Award.” In 2012, he was named an “Ed Reform Champion Under 40” by the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Derrell attended the St. Paul’s School For Boys and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.A. in English and Creative Writing.
Dr. Howard Fuller (advisory board)
THE MONEY TRAIL:
Taken from a People for the American Way Article: http://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/community-voice/baeo-staff-and-board-members/dr-howard-l-fuller-president-
Community Voice or Captive of the Right? A Closer Look at the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
With the help of generous funders such as the Bradley and Walton Foundations, former Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Howard Fuller founded BAEO to increase African-American support for the school voucher movement. BAEO grew out of conferences on school vouchers and African Americans that Fuller hosted at Marquette University, where he runs the Institute for the Transformation of Learning (ITL).
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Fuller served as Dean of General Education at the
Dr. Fuller is the chair and co-founder of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). He is regarded as the nation’s most influential African-American spokesman for school choice. During his tenure as the superintendent of the Milwaukee Public School District (1991-1995), the city started the first publicly- funded school voucher program in the nation. This program grew from 350 voucher students in seven private schools in 1990 to 15,000 in 110 private schools by 2006.
In 1995, Dr. Fuller founded the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University. The institute organized an important 1999 meeting of 150 Black educators and parents, which led to the creation of the BAEO the following year.
Dr. Fuller passionately argues that educational choice reforms are essential for the African-American community to take advantage of the opportunities made possible by the civil rights movement. “We can sit down at the lunch counter, but our kids can’t read the menu,” he told Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Advocate newspaper in 2007.
A community organizer in Durham, North Carolina, Dr. Fuller founded the short-lived Malcolm X Liberation University.
Joe Williams
The MONEY TRAIL:
Joe is the Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER).
Candidate pages paid for by Democrats for Education Reform Federal PAC; 928 Broadway, Suite 505, New York, New York 10010; or Friends of Jared Polis; authorized by the candidates. Political committee pages paid for by Democrats for Education Reform Federal PAC; 928 Broadway, Suite 505, New York, New York 10010; Education Reform Now Advocacy, 928 Broadway, Suite 505, New York, New York 10010; Democrats of Education Reform WA PAC, 603 Steward St., Ste 819, Seattle, WA 98101; Democrats for Education Reform – Illinois, 9 W Washington, 4th floor, Chicago, IL 60602; Democrats for Education Reform PAC, P.O. Box 22405, Newark, NJ 07101; Democrats for Education Reform-New York State, 24 West 46th Street, #4, New York, NY 10036. Contributions or gifts to recipients on this site are not tax deductible.
Check out the “Reformers of the Month,” on their website: http://www.dfer.org/list/about/staff/
Shavar Jeffries was the April 2014 reformer of the month.
This is what was listed on their website: “April 2014: Shavar Jeffries Newark mayoral candidate Shavar Jeffries has dedicated his career to helping kids as head of Newark’s School Advisory Board and founding board president of TEAM Academy Charter. His opponent, Ras Baraka, promises to undo progress made during Cory Booker’s tenure.” https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/rotm
Joe has built a reputation as one of the most effective strategists and coalition builders in the education reform community. He is a nationally recognized analyst and public speaker on education policy and politics, reaching thousands of listeners in audiences from coast to coast each year. Joe is also one of the most prolific writers and commentators in the education reform world, often tapping into his experience as a newspaper reporter and author to make the case for reform.
He previously worked as an award-winning education journalist for the New York Daily News and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He has written extensively on education politics nationally and has served as a non-resident senior fellow for the Washington-based think tank Education Sector. He is author of the book Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
Click to access From%20Contracts%20to%20Classrooms%20Primer%204-2007.pdf
Joe lives in New York City where his children attend the city’s public schools.
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Diane,
Just yesterday. on public radio (PRI) I heard a disturbing interview of Melinda Gates on the subject of Common Core. Of interest is that she was in Nashville where the state governors are currently convening.
There are so many false claims I lost count. would you care to listen and comment?
Perhaps I should ask, “Could you “bear” to listen and comment?”
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/07/15/melinda-gates-common-core
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Diane and Others, Did you catch Frontline this week on school segregation, “Separate and Unequal”?
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365289334/
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Yes! This resegregation of schools is occurring in less blatant forms across the country with charter schools. Charter schools almost always have a largely predominant racial enrollment. In the suburban area where I teach, as charters gain prominence, our regular public schools are increasingly browner and poorer. Our percentage of special needs students increases as our enrollment declines. Our district turns over 5 million dollars of local funding to these charters and we are required to do more with less.
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I was not sure if you heard about the victory for Boston (and Massachusetts) public school parents. Yesterday the Senate voted 26-13 not to lift the charter cap in Massachusetts. It was an unexpected win and it seems that the Senate chose to listen to public school parents and the facts and data. While we know that the charter schools and foundations that support them will be back, at this moment we are savoring our victory.
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Hope you all read the story in the most recent issue of The New Yorker by Rachel Aviv called “Wrong Answer.” It’s a terrific story about the cheating scandal in Atlanta Public Schools, but more than that it captures the toxic atmosphere at a “low performing” school. I apologize if someone already posted about this piece but wanted to make sure you all had read it.
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I read the article, and wish fir more investigative reporting on the state of education in the U.S. I wrote to Ms Aviv thanking her for such a thorough and human treatment of the subject. I do believe, however, that while No Child Left Behind opened the door to such desparate actions, Race To The Top has steam rolled the masses regarding testing and accountbility. It will only get worse.
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Diane,
May I suggest a new “blog topic” for your arsenal ? Childhood Trama ? a good converastion starter may be my blog (already posted at ACES Too High) : http://acestoohigh.com/2014/07/16/failing-schools-or-failing-paradigm/
Daun Kauffman
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I’m a teacher in an inner-ring suburban Buffalo, NY school and I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for what you’ve been doing.
“Don’t Comply, Defy!”
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Diane, please read this outstanding article! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-flores-shaw/montessori-education-debate_b_1237451.html
I wish you would speak more about Montessori. It can be done in public schools very well. I should know because my daughters attend a public Montessori school and it is an amazing place where kids love going to school ever day and they love to learn for the sake of learning. We don’t need Common Core, we need Montessori!
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David Di Gregorio
July 23, 2014 at 11:06 pm
Absolutely – please speak more about this method. The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method, taught in NYC, should be respectfully seen as one looks at Montessori – as it can, in my opinion, explain why Montessori method can be successful. My son attended the Montessori House in Tenafly, NJ and as an educator I was elated at his experience there. None of the regular tech gimmicks like Smart Boards – just a classroom that felt calm yet dynamic, free yet highly organized – centered around these young people coming to know the world. Dimensional and tactile objects enabled the whole self to discover the world. I have spoken to many students graduating Tenafly High School that have had a Montessori background – mostly pre- school – I found through my inquiry of these students – they have benefitted greatly in their years that followed with their Montessori start.
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Diane, it looks like the Ed Reform movement may have received a blow on the GOP side of the Georgia State Superintendent race. Mike Buck was both a huge favorite and a Secretary Duncan clone with regards to education policy, but the initial count shows him losing to Richard Woods who has a Tea Party detestation for the Common Core and the DOE. Woods won by 727, which is within the 1% margin that allows a recount (Buck won the initial primary by 13,000 votes…but in the large GOP field, this wasn’t enough to avoid a run-off).
http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/23/georgia-superintendent-race-likely-headed-for-recount/
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Absolutely – please speak more about this method. The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method, taught in NYC, should be respectfully seen as one looks at Montessori – as it can, in my opinion, explain why Montessori method can be successful. My son attended the Montessori House in Tenafly, NJ and as an educator I was elated at his experience there. None of the regular gimmicks like Smart Boards – just a classroom that felt calm yet dynamic, free yet highly organized – centered around these young people coming to know the world. Dimensional and tactile objects enabled the whole self to discover the world. I have spoken to many students graduating Tenafly High School that have had a Montessori background – mostly pre- school – I found through my inquiry of these students – they have benefitted greatly in their years that followed with their Montessori start.
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Hi everyone,
I’d like to share a talk I gave to the School Board of Palm Beach County, FL, titled: “Testing Has Become Toxic.” July 23, 2014. This was inspired by the business item against “Toxic Testing” that we adopted at the recent Representative Assembly of the National Education Association.
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Dear Diane,
Like most of your followers, I have noticed the lack of informed journalism on what’s happening in education. Having just read Matt Taibbi’s “The Divide” & “Griftopia” I am impressed with the depth of his research & his ability to uncover ugly truths. He is a fearless journalist who has no problem proclaiming that the Emperor has no clothes! Have you had the chance to talk with him? He might be the journalist who could take this on.
Thanks again for all you are doing!
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Dear Alice,
I don’t know Matt Taibbi. I wish I did. He would be a great person to write about these issues.
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Dear Diane,
Wow….what a fast reply! I left a message at First Look, where he now works, suggesting they look further into this issue as most of the mainstream media seems to have jumped on the “reform” bandwagon. He would be an excellent person to investigate the truth, especially as his latest book is so much about the egregious treatment of people who live at or below the poverty line. He has a great understanding of the effects of poverty in our country while the reformers choose to discount it all together, not only in education but as an issue deserving of any attention.
Thanks again!
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First of all, thank you Diane for all you do to educate us on and advance sound educational practices.
My question is this: What do Finnish educators think of the Common Core Standards and our “Race to the Top”?
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Chris,
Google Pasi Sahlberg, leading Finnish expert.
He has written on both topics negatively.
Too much stress on testing and ranking.
Not good education.
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Pennsylvania’s Department of Ed. instituted a goal-setting program that had promise to actually improve teaching; then they screwed it up by tying it to teacher evaluation. My take on it here:
http://slackerguide.blogspot.com/2014/07/slo-descent-into-madness.html
Please tell me what you think.
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http://pando.com/2014/07/28/et-tu-matt-taibbi-no-one-seems-to-have-noticed-the-most-worrying-line-in-pierre-omidyars-latest-blog-post/
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Diane,
Do you know anything about Heather Tow-Yick who is running for office in Rhode Island? Her connections concern me.
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Apparently New York wasn’t enough for the good folks at Families for Excellent Schools. Boston is now ripe for the picking. This article appeared in The Boston Globe today:
“Out-of-State Group Touting Charter Schools Expands to Boston”
“A nonprofit in New York City that has been mobilizing parents there to push for
more charter schools is expanding to Boston, a potential boost for local charter
school supporters who are seeking to rebound after a crushing defeat last month.”
Here is the link to the complete article:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/03/out-state-group-touting-charter-schools-expands-boston/BAe7FcsAsiSpUFzXQE9Y2H/story.html?s_campaign=8315
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Hot off the press. Rahm’s $1.7B slush fund. Yikes! http://www.ibtimes.com/chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-cuts-schools-pensions-while-preserving-fund-corporate-subsidies-1648754
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Diane asks for media resources that put a positive light on public schools. I am working with my fellow Occidental College Alumni in Education on a September 17th presentation of the outstanding documentary, “Go Public: A Day in the Life of an American Public School System.” It is the product of Pasadena USD parents (Dawn and James O’Keeffe) who were shocked by the negativity toward public schools in a bond election. They organized 50 film-makers to each take some aspect of the Pasadena School District on a single day in the spring of 2012. They took these products a wove them into a 90-minute film that takes the viewer from kids getting up in the morning and closes with them going to bed at night. In between, we view the beautiful power of a real, operating K-12 public school district. I recommend it! Larry Lawrence
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Another hot off the presses: Tax-dodging, public school demolisher and Illlinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner pulled strings to get his daughter into a PUBLIC high school after she was rejected. Rauner called his pal Arne Duncan, and the rest is history. A .01 percenter elbowed out someone else more deserving. Yet Rauner wants to destroy the public school system:
“Rauner has ties to many charters, and he sits on the board of the Noble Network of Public Schools, which operates charter schools in Chicago communities, including one named for him. Rauner College Prep enrolls 86 percent Hispanic students and 9 percent African-American students, according to the school’s website. Rauner’s campaign reports that the venture capitalist has donated millions of dollars to charter schools and toward funding merit pay programs.”
http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/08/187805/tax-dodger-running-governor-illinois
http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/24679675-452/bruce-rauner-ad-promotes-charters-but-cps-clout-call-dogs-him.html#.U-IR0_ldUuc
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Another hot off the presses: Tax-dodging, public school demolisher and Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner pulled strings to get his daughter into a PUBLIC high school after she was rejected. Rauner called his pal Arne Duncan, and the rest is history. A .01 percenter elbowed out someone else more deserving. Yet Rauner wants to destroy the public school system:
“Rauner has ties to many charters, and he sits on the board of the Noble Network of Public Schools, which operates charter schools in Chicago communities, including one named for him. Rauner College Prep enrolls 86 percent Hispanic students and 9 percent African-American students, according to the school’s website. Rauner’s campaign reports that the venture capitalist has donated millions of dollars to charter schools and toward funding merit pay programs.”
Go to Progressive.org to see the tax-dodging story and Google “Bruce Rauner ad promotes charters, but CPS clout call dogs him” on Chicago Sun-Times for the above quote.
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I knew higher ed was being destroyed by neoliberlism, but not all the ways that’s being done. Here’s an alarming piece regarding the influences on research:
“Bad Science: Free-market academic research policies have unleashed medical quackery and scientific fraud, forcing consumers to pay premiums for discoveries we’ve already funded as taxpayers.”
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/06/bad-science/
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http://preaprez.wordpress.com/category/hinsdale/
this has you written all over it. Would love to read your take… But you HAVE to keep my name out of it, please….
Hinsdale, a small district in the Chicago burbs is in contract negotiations. And the board is getting wackier and wackier. This deserves a much wider audience than it is getting.
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A teachers’ credit union in Nevada – a state way at the bottom of the education pile – offers low-interest loans for teachers to buy supplies.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2014/01/08/nevada-offers-teachers-personal-loans-to-buy-school-supplies/
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Dear Diane,
I have just begun teacher training at a highly prestigious university and while you can’t take all the credit for it, you certainly deserve an honorable mention; I read your book “The Death and Life of the Great American Education System” specifically so that I’d be able to impress the university at my interview with my knowledge of the state of American education today, and it worked. I’m a close follower of your ideas and positions and I hope to join you and people like you on the front lines in the coming decades.
An aspiring teacher
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Thank you, Redacted. Good luck.
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Diane –
Have you seen the latest story about the governor’s race in Hawaii?
“Hawaii’s governor ousted in stunning primary loss
Associated Press
HONOLULU — A 40-year political career came to a close after Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie lost his bid for a second term in a stunning primary-election defeat by a fellow Democrat and state senator who defied party leadership to challenge the incumbent. A second intraparty fight for U.S. Senate was too close to call.
State Sen. David Ige, once seen as an underdog, cruised to a decisive 35 percentage point win in Saturday’s primary after being dramatically outspent by Abercrombie, who also had high-profile endorsements including President Barack Obama. Ige said his win ‘proves that people power can be money power, especially in Hawaii.'”
The article cites the fact that the teacher’s union was instrumental in Ige’s win! (I tried to copy more from the article but my computer isn’t doing it!)
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140810/news/140819950/
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I’m so glad I found your blog. I read your book “The Death and Life of the Great American Education System” and learned a tremendous amount from it, so I went looking for your website. The huge amount of informative articles is a bit overwhelming at first and I will be back again and again to read them. Thanks
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“Half a year after Newark Public Schools launched an “agenda to ensure all students are in excellent schools,” the plan has come under a federal civil rights investigation
to determine whether it “discriminates against black students.”
Here is the article:
Flipping Schools: The Hidden Forces Behind New Jersey Education Reform:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/25425-flipping-schools-the-hidden-forces-behind-new-jersey-education-reform
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Diane,
Yesterday, Melissa Harris-Perry did a multi-segment report on teacher tenure.
She had on the panel, Randi Weingarten, Amy Goodman, Dana Goldstein, and charter advocate, Darrell Bradford. Here is the link:
Fight over teacher tenure rages on: http://on.msnbc.com/1kuw6kK
I think it’s very positive that Campbell Brown’s lies are being challenged on at least one mainstream media outlet.
I look forward to your reaction to the video.
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EdVotes.org just posted this great article: http://educationvotes.nea.org/2014/08/11/michigan-ohio-and-florida-gop-governors-fail-to-act-on-rampant-charter-school-abuses/
The facts are going to be hard to ignore!
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Even at the University level, many Professors seem to be rather silent in the Schools of Education (unless of course they are supporting common core). If you speak against common core, then you are in effect speaking against the Department of Public Instruction and university professors in the schools of education are suppose to be aligned to the DPI and therefore these Professors are intimidated to criticize common core.
Monies being donated or allotted to Schools of Education to teach teachers how to teach the Common Core also create a conflict of interest, if a Professor expresses valid concerns about the CCSS, then there is a risk of being labeled as not following the demands that come with the strings attached money.
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Diane I do no see a blog entry abot the very recent civil rights case in Chicago concerning two schools not getting resources they need. I think it was in Huffington Post.
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do not
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about
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Any thoughts on MJ article: The Tragedy of the Common Core – Tim Murphy? Not posted online yet. Just read. Sloppy and phoned in. Not much original research. Waiting to have posted so I can unleash my thoughts.
http://www.motherjones.com/toc/2014/09
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Hi Diane— I wonder if you’ve seen the NY Times article about the failed “star powered” charter school in Texas. It’s star is Deion Sanders and there are plenty of issues with it. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/sports/prime-prep-academy-founded-by-deion-sanders-comes-under-scrutiny.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
With its academics and its finances under fire, the Texas sports academy created by Deion Sanders, the Hall of Fame cornerback and N.F.L. commentator, is facing the loss of its state charter.
Sent from my iPad
A faithful reader
Will Dix
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Should have been “its star…”
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Diane – That article is at Huffington Post, titled – Feds Investigatig Claim of Civil Rights Violations in Schools on Chicago’s South Side. It speaks to the issue of schools that are starved of funds, purposely, to doom them. I feel it is an important article. Please look into it if possible – Thank you !
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Professor Ravitch,
I have yet another charter outrage for you. Small potatoes perhaps in view of other scandals, but one I find outrageous.
The Anne Frank Inspire Academy, under the John H. Wood Charter District of Texas opens this fall. In the application process, under student information, their is a question.
Does the student have a document history of a criminal offense or juvenile court adjudication?
I’m not aware of any public school that asks for this information up front. I know that my school does not.
Again, outrageous.
Thanks for all you do for us.
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Diane,
Have you seen David L. Kirp’s article in today’s (8/17) New York Times?
‘Teaching Is Not a Business’
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Cheryl,
Just posted.
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Hi Diane,
I have never written or replied to anything that has been on your blog but I have read it everyday for years. It is my homepage! I am a concerned teacher and your collection of posts keeps the fire going to fight the Rheeformers. I teach at Calhoun HS in Merrick, NY. It is a fantastic place to work with wonderful children to educate. The other day after a Facebook discussion, a fellow Calhoun teacher started a Facebook page called Educators for Teachout. This developed because we were disgusted that NYSUT yet again refused to go against Cuomo but other public sector unions came out for her. The Democrats need to know that we will support those that support us. I was wondering if you would post the link below so that others can like the page and help spread the word of her candidacy. We want a debate. We want politicians that support strong public schools and less testing which in turn benefits kids. If you would please post this link to this national blog, it would make all the difference. This is what grassroots looks like.
Thank you,
Brian Moeller
https://www.facebook.com/educatorsforteachout
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Sorry, but in was unable to figure out how to send a query to Ms. Ravitch, re: Alan Sorkin’s article last year asking who is Charlotte Danielson? I still don’t know when, where and at what schools she taught? Does anyone know.?
I’m still searching.
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Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society…
Great teacher expunged from the school for reasons beyond his control.
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Did you see this teacher petition? Say “No to Wal-Mart Style Education”
http://action.changewalmart.org/page/s/no-to-walmart-style-classrooms
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I just read through professor Hopkins comment about the NYS cut scores and I just wanted to get some clarification about the scoring process. I am a teacher in NYS so I expect that we will review the questions that state end has released in our future PLC meetings. So my question is this, are the questions themselves leveled? Is each question leveled as a 1,2,3 or 4 prior to giving the test? I always thought the entire test was written on grade level and that a set percentage was how the levels were given. For example if a child correctly answered 70% of the questions they were a level 3. I am interested because if each question is different how will I know the level of each question the state releases. I hope this makes sense. Thanks.
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Tricia, it doesn’t work that way anymore. The state converts the raw scores to scale scores and sets cut scores and they are the only ones who know what they are doing. If you read this year’s report, and last year’s, you will see that the state aligned the cut scores (passing mark) with NAEP proficient. As I have explained again and again, this is so high, that most kids will fail, as they did this year and last year. If the state doesn’t change the cut score, a majority of kids will always fail the tests.
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Thank you. I fear that we will spend so much time disectng these questions that the state has released, but not know if they were the level 3 or 4 questions that my students need to know how to answer. I truly hate wasting so much time.
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Diane, I was talking to an lausd k-5 teacher about the new MISIS data system and was stunned to hear that teachers must enter grades for every student for every subject weekly! That’s if they every get it working. I’m praying it stays broken forever so my colleagues can keep their sanity.
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Everything I’ve read in your thoughtful analysis of the current state of educational policies and practices in Reign of Error runs counter to this commentary on the New York State 3-8 Assessment results by Commissioner John King found here: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=a4b385da-23ad-4139-bc39-5d6c37facc77&c=020da700-f2ad-11e3-9ae9-d4ae5292bb50&ch=0285bd30-f2ad-11e3-9b1e-d4ae5292bb50 I am so disheartened.
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In all the discussion about Common Core it seems no one is suggesting the obvious. The strength of a country as large as ours comes from diversity. As soon as we allowed Dr. Bloom to suggest we could create a list of educational objectives, we were on a slippery slope to what we have now in the Crommon Core or whatever other top-down reform poisons the waters of thinking in out society.
Those of us who really believe I the efficacy of the marketplace of ideas do not trust lists of ideas now heralded as “standards” by people selling ideas. The financial marketplace of ideas corrupts the more idealistic exchange of ideas about what we should be teaching. No one should get rich reforming education. No motivational speakers, well meaning professors, or political leaders should earn money or votes helping students. This is an insult to the thousands of thinking professionals who have spent their decades of teaching balancing the careful consideration of what should be presented with what the students can process.
Roy Turrentine
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We didn’t “allow” Bloom to create anything. He was a skilled educational psychologist whose research provided a lot of insights into teaching and learning, including the 2 sigma effect, mastery learning and the progression from lower to higher order thinking skills. As a classroom teacher, I have always been very grateful for those insights. No one ever told me that I had to adopt anything from Bloom, but I did so of my own choosing in order to meet diverse student needs. Educational research informing practice is a far cry from non-educators mandating the Common Core.
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To Cosmic Tinker:
I taught 27 years and am familiar with many different types of “best practices.” Teachers can generally find something that works for them in Bloom’s as well as other philosophies. I agree with you about teachers being allowed to implement ideas that help teachers to better instruct their students.
The PROBLEM is when Clueless administrators MANDATE that the “Best Practices” Steps of some new program, such as CSCOPE in Texas. Lead Your School with its Fundamental Five steps allows teachers to stand in certain “power zones” within the classroom. Monitors visit classrooms to make sure teachers are doing, saying and standing in the right place.
The unrealistic constructivist (aka progressive) teaching philosophy mandating that all teachers teach the same thing on the same day in the same way was introduced in Texas by the CSCOPE Instructional Material.
The PLC program adds a more gestapo-type atmosphere to the classroom. No so much for the students, but for the teachers. The PLC coaches visit with teachers to direct them in creating their “cloned” lesson plans.
All lessons must be the same so that all students receive exactly the same information in the same way and on the same day. The “gestap-coaches” closely monitors teachers so that they do not add any enrichment. Teachers are not to present facts, instead students are to do activities in groups and discover the facts on their own. This is erroneously called discovery learning. No matter that students do not always make the correct conclusions, thus have “taught themselves” incorrect information, discovery learning is touted as being the “Best Learning Practice” for students.
The PLC program is promoting the idea that there will be no outstanding teachers because this indicates that some students receive better instruction. Any teacher caught enriching their lessons is reported to the administration as NOT BEING A TEAM PLAYER, which mean an uncooperative teacher. Principals with uncooperative teachers are reported to the “Thought Police” somewhere.
Do not believe the lies about Texas teachers being at fault for the low student scores on state tests. Texas Teachers have their hands tied as to what they teach and now the very restrictive PLC “thought police” coaches lurk around to make sure teachers do not think outside the box.
If teachers are not allowed to think outside the box, the progressive philosophy that all students will be educated to the same level will be achieved. Sadly the level declines every day with students being robbed of quality educations–Not just in Texas but across the US.
Education is fast evolving to not requiring trained teachers. This is called “21st Century Technology Education.” Bill Gates is financing anything that supports using computer technology in schools.
What does Bill Gates really think about public school? Gates was a computer Geek before there were computers. Geeks are often bullied. Was Gates Bullied when he attended school? Is Gates destroying traditional education because it didn’t work for him?
Janice VanCleave
CscopeReview@gmail.com
TxCscopeReview.com
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That is the most bastardized version of progressive education I’ve ever heard of and I don’t think it should even be called that. Constructivism is not scripted, nor are students expected to be on the same page the same day of their lives. Whoever invented what you are required to do glommed onto some notions that come from constructivism, such as discovery learning, but constructivism includes Vygotskian concepts and intentional teaching is very much a component, so of course teachers should be intervening to help students learn.
It sounds like the inventors of your curriculum turned some aspects of progressive education into top down Behaviorist strategies –which will probably doom many teachers to failure. I think it’s just horrible that teachers are so disrespected that they have been robbed of autonomy in their classrooms. I do not envy you!
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“…well meaning professors, … should earn money or votes helping students. This is an insult to the thousands of thinking professionals…”
Why, pray tell, did you include professors?! They do the research, reading, and writing.
Without them we would have apprenticeships with no research to advance education. For heaven sake support everyone in the educational field – researchers, higher ed. as well as teachers in the grades and high school. Most professors in education have to have teaching experience in the grades or high school before being hired. Teachers need to stop criticizing professors; something I hear all too often.
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Allow a clarification. I meant that phrase literally. I welcome all the voices that are interested in a better education for our kids. There are, however, players in education who get local money to motivate teachers with platitudes, to trumpet ways to structure schools and learning, or advance their political careers being the education guy. They drain money from this grant or that one and give teachers impossible work to do without ever talking to the teachers themselves. I welcome all dialogue. As a teacher I search for innovation. But talk to me before you suggest unworkable reforms.
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Diane, Did you see this article in yesterday’s NY Times, “States Given a Reprieve on Ratings of Teachers”? I can’t read it because it’s behind a paywall but I understand that it’s Arne Duncan who gave the reprieve:
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Yes, remember that Bill Gates recently urged states to hold off on using high-stakes tests to rate teachers and serve as barriers to graduation. It was only a couple of weeks after that that my own state passed two bills, one to lay off on teacher evaluations and the other to postpone using high stakes tests as barriers to graduation.
More puppeteering than a Punch and Judy show, I tell you.
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I followed the link to Duncan’s blog post and left this response (lets see if it passes moderation):
* * * * *
Mr. Duncan, your statements come too close on the heels of public urging from Bill Gates for states to slow down the use of high stakes tests for purposes of teacher evaluation and barriers to graduation. Mr. Gates, and others like the Pearson corporation, have a lot of money riding on the implementation of Common Core. The recent parental outrage over Common Core testing has them worried that they might lose the whole kit and kaboodle if things continue on the trajectory they are headed.
I think you were given marching orders to urge states to slow down implementation of aspects of the Common Core that were most rankling stakeholders (REAL stakeholders, as opposed to the hopeful moneymakers of the investor class).
And like the good little puppet you are, you fell in line and did as you were told.
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You have to love those Chilean students. They know how to assemble,
http://rt.com/news/182008-student-protest-chile-santiago/
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Has anyone seen this Katie Couric interview with Melinda Gates yet? Smells a little like a commercial for Common Core.
http://news.yahoo.com/katie-couric-interviews-melinda-gates-072408129.html
Melinda tells Couric that what she’s been hearing from teachers is that they support Common Core, but just want a little more time to get used to it.
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Apparently there is an upcoming vote to overturn Citizens United. Would that be good for us? It seems that the CU decision is the root of a poison tree that led to super PACs and unlimited funding to “non-profits” like DFER that can hide the identities of their funders. We see a lot of that last one in the corporate education reform movement, eh?
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They have been actively working on standardizing higher education for longer than many people have known, even a lot of us who teach in higher ed.
See “Higher Ed isn’t as far behind on Common Core as you think”
http://hechingerreport.org/content/higher-ed-isnt-far-behind-common-core-think_16982/
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Diane,
I don’t even know where to begin with this Gist folly in Rhode Island. It looks like the message finally trickled down to her (from Gates and through Duncan) that the investor class wants to hold off on high stakes tests lest parents and other real stakeholders get rankled enough to do something drastic.
She looks kind of foolish now, and I’m not the only one to have noticed that she threw one of her lackeys (Mancuso) under a bus with her recent advocacy of pushing back high stakes testing three years beyond what the recent legislation in RI demanded:
http://www.providencejournal.com/news/education/20140825-r.i.-education-commissioner-gist-recommends-delay-in-test-based-graduation-requirement-poll.ece
Mancuso, by the way, was the person who I shouted at when she asked you a question after your speech at URI last year. She had “misworded” some data about the number of RI college students who needed remedial coursework (“accidentally” using statistics from our Community College as if they represented the entire state).
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Werebat73,
Gist’s about-face on graduation requirements is a victory for the Providence Student Union, among others.
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Hi Diane,
Can you recommend a good survey of the history of educational pedagogy in the West? Perhaps something that would run from ancient Greece to the present? Or does such a thing even exist?
Thanks!
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David, I have not seen a good comprehensive history of education in the west in many years. That’s the kind of project that historians were willing to undertake in the 20s and 30s. Historians now take on shorter or smaller time spans.
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Hi Diane–thanks for the response…Maybe this is why the ed reformers and the ed techies keep making the same promises and the same mistakes…
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Diane, I I Just read your article about the Strongsville, Ohio teacher strike. I live, teach and have children in the Reynoldsburg (Ohio) school system. We are on the brink of strike. Our school board is employing the same lawyer that Strongsville had. Coincidence? I think not. You may be interested in our story.
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Cathy O’Neil posted this in her blog, mathbabe, yesterday. It’s a great description of my book and thoughtful reading of why the standardized teaching epidemic is totally toxic for urban students:
The Stubborn Hope of an Urban Teacher
August 26, 2014 Cathy O’Neil, mathbabe
Yesterday I read a book written by Carole Marshall which she called Stubborn Hope: Memoir of an Urban Teacher (thanks to Ernest Davis for sending it to me). Just to give you an idea of how quick this read is, I read it before class. I think it took about 1 hour and 10 minutes in all.
In a nutshell, it was the story of a really hard-working and dedicated urban school teacher who learned how to teach reading skills, and prose and poetry writing skills to her poverty-stricken students in the urban Providence, RI area. She develops curriculum, making it relevant to the kids, and gets them to read every night and to aspire to college. The school that she mostly taught at is profiled in this article from the Brown Daily Herald.
She’s a really good writer herself, and she profiles a bunch of her students with enough details to make you feel enormous empathy for their struggles. In other words, she makes this shit very very real. After reading this you stop wondering why we see a strong negative correlation between standardized tests scores and poverty levels, because it is so obvious.
You might want to check out this video to get a satirical idea of what this woman was like and what she was dealing with (hat tip Jenn Rubinovitz):
Here’s the thing. We need nice white ladies in our schools! And of course nice other people too.
But we are presently losing such dedicated people. Carole Marshall, the author of these memoirs, quit teaching after the school system she worked in was taken over by the mindless testing zombies. She describes her experience like this:
“After spending years refining strategies for getting my students to become enthusiastic readers and writers on thoughtful, relevant curriculum, I was being forced to teach canned curriculum purchased for millions of dollars from textbook publishers who knew nothing about urban teaching.
“School and district administrators roamed the halls and classrooms, taking notes on shiny new iPads, to make sure teachers were on the same page every day as every other teacher in our grade and subject in the district. All the activities we had used in the past to open our students to a world beyond the narrow constraints of their neighborhoods were no longer permitted; they were seen as time wasted. Every path to good teaching was effectively blocked off.
“It had become impossible to do the things with students that I believe teachers need to be able to do. What was going on in the classrooms could no longer be called teaching. When I realized that, it was a sad day. At the end of that year, I left teaching.”
That was in 2012, I believe. Since then she’s become more aware of the national disaster that is defined by the testing insanity. She even worked for a time with a test prep company based in Florida that was clearly scamming for the $5 million consultant fee and removing cherry-picked students from important classes so the school would look like it had improved based on the arbitrary measure of the month.
We are so used to pointing at examples of bad and defeated teachers and saying that they are the problem, and that a strict and regimented system of curriculum will improve the classrooms for the students of such teachers. And maybe in some cases that is true.
But when we do that we also push out really talented and inspirational teachers like Carole Marshall. It is painful to imagine how many great teachers have left the educational system because of No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top. Come to think of it, that would be a great data journalism project.
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This touching tribute to teachers was in the Boston Globe’s Opinion section today. The comments posted by readers are worth looking at as well.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/08/28/good-teachers-memorable-lessons/A3zypnzUez6LUbhrGMfuUP/comments.html?p1=ArticleTab_Comments_Top
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Watch out! “Consortium out to save California and the world”
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Update from the California Department of Education
Issue 80—August 27, 2014
The California Department of Education (CDE) Smarter Balanced Update is a bimonthly e-mail that reports on current and upcoming Smarter Balanced development activities. To join the CDE Smarter Balanced e-mail list, send a blank e-mail to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. If you would like to unsubscribe from the CDE Smarter Balanced listserv, send a blank message to unsubscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
In this issue:
• The Conclusion of the Smarter Balanced Field Test
• Smarter Balanced Online Achievement Level Setting
• Test Operations Management System (TOMS)
• 2014–15 Testing Windows
• Interim Assessments
• Digital Library Update
• Technology Update
The Conclusion of the Smarter Balanced Field Test
The Smarter Balanced Field Test concluded in June 2014, capping 12 weeks of test-driving new computer-based assessments that will be fully operational beginning with the 2014–15 school year. More than 3.1 million California students—among four million across the consortium—took part in the Smarter Balanced Field Test.
Field test questions will undergo a rigorous evaluation process to gauge the accuracy and fairness of the nearly 20,000 field test questions before the Smarter Balanced assessment becomes operational in the spring of 2015. This is to ensure that the Common Core-aligned assessments are valid, reliable, and fair measurements of college- and career-readiness for all students.
In order to gauge field test experiences and perceptions and to prepare for the 2015 operational assessment, the CDE and its contractors have conducted mid and post-test surveys and focus groups. Various stakeholders were included in the surveys and focus groups, including district and county testing and technology coordinators, administrators, teachers, parents, and students. A summary of the surveys and focus groups will be presented to the State Board of Education (SBE) along with recommendations for proceeding with the operational Smarter Balanced assessments in 2015.
Smarter Balanced Online Achievement Level Setting
This fall, K–12 educators, postsecondary educators, parents, and business/community leaders from Smarter Balanced governing states will collaborate to develop common achievement levels that are rigorous, fair, and accurate for each of the Smarter Balanced assessments. Smarter Balanced is recruiting participants who will contribute to this process of determining achievement levels for each grade via an online panel scheduled to take place in October 2014.
The online panel will be available to the public and allow for broad participation by the stakeholders mentioned above. Frequently asked questions and other information are available online for those who register to participate. Registration is available on the Smarter Balanced Online Panel for Achievement Level Setting Web page . The registration deadline is September 19, 2014 and California stakeholders indicated above are needed to ensure that the state is proportionately represented during the online panel.
Test Operations Management System (TOMS)
TOMS will replace the Standardized Testing and Reporting Test Management System and the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE), which was used for the Smarter Balanced Field Test. All of the functions local educational agency (LEA) California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) coordinators were accustomed to handling in both systems, such as setting up testing windows and managing student test settings, will be functionalities available in TOMS.
A Webcast was presented on August 20, 2014, describing the use of TOMS for 2015 test administration setup. The TOMS Test Administration Setup Webcast will be archived and available on the Educational Testing Service (ETS) caaspp.org Web site under the “Training” link. Look for upcoming Webcasts on the ETS caaspp.org Web site that will provide instructions on additional TOMS features.
2014–15 Testing Windows
Regulations have been established and go into effect August 28, 2014, for the CAASPP testing windows. The testing windows are listed as follows:
• Smarter Balanced English–language arts/ literacy and mathematics for grades three through eight, testing shall not begin until at least 66 percent of a school’s annual instructional days have been completed, and testing may continue up to and include the last day of instruction for the regular school calendar.
• Smarter Balanced English–language arts/ literacy and mathematics for grade eleven, the testing shall not begin until at least 80 percent of a school’s annual instructional days have been completed, and testing may continue up to and include the last day of instruction for the regular school calendar.
• For science CST, CMA, and CAPA in grades five, eight, and ten the testing shall be administered during a window of 25 days that includes 12 days before and after 85 percent of the school’s instructional days.
Please view the 2014–15 Testing Windows on the CDE CAASPP Web pages for more details.
Interim Assessments
The Smarter Balanced assessment system will have two types of interim assessments available to all California K–12 teachers in late 2014 or early 2015: interim assessment blocks (IABs) and interim comprehensive assessments (ICAs). Interim assessment blocks are designed to be given at regular intervals throughout the school year to evaluate a student’s knowledge and skills relative to a specific set of Common Core State Standards (CCSS). ICAs are designed to provide students with assessments that are similar in nature and academic content to the summative (end-of-course) assessments.
• IABs are groups (or blocks) of test items aligned with specific sets of CCSS. Teachers may select one or more IABs to assess students. The initial IABs will be fixed-length assessments, but eventually will also include computer-adaptive tests.
• ICAs will be similar to the Smarter Balanced summative assessment and will begin with a fixed-length test form. Computer-adaptive testing will be used for the ICAs after analyses of the field test items are complete.
As more information becomes available on the interim assessments it will be reported in future issues of this update.
Digital Library Update
According to Education Code (EC), Section 60642.6, the CDE shall acquire, and offer at no cost to LEA’s, interim and formative assessment tools for kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, as provided through the consortium membership pursuant to EC Section 60605.7. The Digital Library provides formative assessment tools to LEAs for their local use and is currently able to be previewed by LEA staff.
The Digital Library preview will continue until September 30, 2014. During the preview, educators can become acquainted with the functions of the Digital Library and view a set of initial resources that will help explain the future utility of the Digital Library.
Complete instructions for LEAs and a template for user registration for the preview were sent to all LEAs in May 2014. Any questions about the Digital Library preview should be directed to caaspp@cde.ca.gov.
Technology Update
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, announced the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG) Program August 25, 2014. Eligible districts and charter schools are encouraged to apply for new funding to help students, educators, and staff connect to the internet so they can implement the new computer-based CAASPP test in the 2015 spring testing window.
The BIIG funding opportunity is being administered by the K-12 High Speed Network, in consultation with the CDE and SBE. For more details, visit the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG) Program Web page at http://www.k12hsn.org/biig.
Additional Information
Additional information about Smarter Balanced is available on the CDE Smarter Balanced Web page. General questions about the Smarter Balanced assessments should be directed to the CDE CAASPP Office by phone at 916-445-8765 or by e-mail at caaspp@cde.ca.gov.
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“New London Board Votes Against Giving Contract To Carter”
http://articles.courant.com/2014-08-28/politics/hc-terrence-carter-0829-20140828_1_shipman-goodwin-new-superintendent-the-courant
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Chapter 9 of “Reign of Error” by Diane Ravitch: “The Facts About College Graduation Rates” – Our ongoing review!
In Chapter 9 of her book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, Diane Ravitch challenges the assertion of many that “Our economy will suffer unless we have the highest graduation rate in the…
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Good piece:
USC scholar questions Zuckerberg’s Ed motives
http://www.educationdive.com/news/usc-scholar-questions-zuckerbergs-ed-motives/304569/
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I am writing to make a request of progressive education leaders.
Conservative and corporate leaders have many resources and think tanks.
I think progressives need to initiate real life resources for action and real engagement.
Maybe Diane Ravitch with others could start a new think tank or school program .
something like john Dewey’s Chicago lab schools or training programs for teachers.
I feel we need to have real alternatives and real places to network and build .
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I am writing to make a request of progressive education leaders.
Conservative and corporate leaders have many resources and think tanks.
I think progressives need to initiate real life resources for action and real engagement.
Maybe Diane Ravitch with others could start a new think tank or school program .
something like john Dewey’s Chicago lab schools or training programs for teachers.
I feel we need to have real alternatives and real places to network and build .
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Sunra,
A Constructivist approach to teaching reading for the primary children level 10 and above:
http://maryidefalco.com/reading%20site%20reconnected/reading__language_arts_primary_teachers_2/16.Guided_Rdg__At-Risk.html
For the emergent reader:
http://maryidefalco.com/reading%20site%20reconnected/reading__language_arts_primary_teachers_2/11._Emergent__Strategies.html
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I would like to make a request of progressive education leaders.
conservatives and corporate leaders have many resources and think tanks available.
I feel progressive educators could use some real resources and tools.
If Diane Ravitch and other education leaders could create real life models
maybe like john deweys chicago labratory schools or training centers .
we need real alternatives
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September 4, 2014
Dr. Jesse Register
Director of Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools
2601 Bransford Ave.
Nashville, TN 37204
Dr. Register,
My daughter, Julia, is a first grade student at Inglewood Elementary School. I am writing to ask for your support of all neighborhood schools, especially Inglewood Elementary and the other Priority schools. I know you are under pressure to improve the test scores of Metro Nashville Public Schools and I ask you to put support and resources behind those principals, teachers and other faculty who have the support of families, coworkers and community members.
In her 3rd year at Inglewood Elementary School, the principal, Ms. Carrie Mickle has changed the culture into a vibrant and caring environment conducive to the education of Julia and her classmates. Ms. Mickle continues to build a team of quality and passionate educators who will improve Inglewood while Julia moves through and my second child, Jacqueline, when she comes to study at Inglewood in 2017. Ms. Mickle is working in a Title 1 school, in which the wide ranging effects of poverty (hunger, poor sleep, trauma, lack of access and exposure to books) make it difficult for children to concentrate in a group setting. It is difficult to balance the extremes, maintain order, and “teach to the test,” plus educate children. Ms.Mickle and her team work towards creating a positive learning environment for ALL.
One consequence of being a “Priority” school is to be passed on to Achievement School District or iZone. Although I don’t agree, I understand these decisions are based on scores from a 1 week test. I am writing to request you give Ms. Mickle and her team more time to improve scores and continue to educate our children. Ms. Mickle is supported by the parents, faculty and community. She deserves the next five years to improve scores as Achievement School District is allowed.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
James C Sanders III
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I recently participated in professional development on the Smarter Balance test (SBAC), the newest of the assessments to measure student proficiency in competencies aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). One of my responsibilities as a language arts teacher of high school juniors is to prepare students for this high-stakes assessment. I also provide my students with SAT and ACT test-taking strategies.
I left the workshop convinced that the classroom teacher has not had a meaningful voice in the assessment process. Let me explain: For SBAC’s multiple choice section, students must identify all possible correct answers or receive no credit. For the SATs, ACTS, and some AP multiple-choice sections, students choose the best answer. Furthermore, SBAC results seem to be tied to federal funding, high school rankings, and teacher performance. How does SBAC and related test preparation benefit my students?
I asked the facilitator how much the state had to pay to administer this test. (Students also require computer access because the test is administered online; for schools where technology resources are limited, scheduling can be a nightmare). The facilitator did not know how much the test cost; she did advise that for schools which adopted the Common Core, federal funding was an incentive. It is my understanding that a school which opts out of adoption of the CCSS and test administration risks losing those coveted federal funds. In the corporate sector, such incentives would be considered extortion. Since when is extortion a permitted practice?
Let me offer a portrait of the classroom from a practitioner’s standpoint. Most secondary Language Arts instructors focus on teaching critical read of texts—fiction and nonfiction—encouraging students to corroborate every statement with textual evidence. Often at the high school level, we have to push them beyond the reader-response model common in middle school where students often discuss about what the text means to them. The more advanced critical reader asks what is the author’s purpose and how does the author convey that message. We also emphasize analytic and argumentative writing. However, I have students, who at the high school level cannot write a complete sentence. When I explain to them every sentence needs a subject and a verb, too many stare blankly at me.
I reference young people’s lack of grammatical and syntactical awareness because this deficiency is addressed in the CCSS. The foundations of our language—the parts of speech—are taught from the early grades. Nine years from now, my students should be well acquainted with the building blocks of our language. But today, especially at the secondary level, CCSS represents more of a catch-up paradigm. Education is a process that involves human beings. Even manufacturers don’t begin production in the middle of a process; why are people asking teachers to do so and then evaluating us on our success based on student performance data? Why not launch the CCSS systematically—allow the foundation to be built K-2; 3-5, and so on?
I chose Teaching because I love language and literature; I am committed to nurturing a similar excitement in my students. I view Education as big business; many of the acronyms one encounters in the field today come straight from the corporate sector. A manufacturing model is antithetical to the process that is education. For example, when a manufacturer receives defective materials from a supplier, it returns those materials. Its final product must meet specifications. I have no control over who enters my classroom; i.e., my “materials.” Teaching cultivates; education produces. I believe the two processes conflict; and yet, it seems to me that a manufacturing/business model predominates in my profession.
Here is the reality, at least in my classroom: sometimes, my students lack parental support or engagement; have emotional and cognitive disabilities; or are simply uninterested in academics at this juncture in their young lives. Some come from homes where providing the necessities such as food and shelter are a challenge. Finally, some young people do not connect to academics in high school; some prefer a vocational track; others blossom in college. There is no template or prototype for the student. There is no fixed path for a young person—teachers do their best to model, guide, support, and nurture intellectual and personal growth amidst a wide range of cognitive abilities, emotional maturity, and outside-school circumstances.
When will those who have never taught acknowledge the human component in education and its inherent complexity and variability? The majority of teachers with whom I have associated are dedicated professionals who view their position in the classroom as a vocation versus a job. Of course there are some bad teachers! Our profession is not unique in that reality. There are ineffective practitioners in all professions. Welcome to humanity and the real world.
In conclusion, can student performance on SBAC measure my success in the classroom? Will the latest curriculum design improve my instruction and relationship with my students? Can a high-school student amass eight years of prior instruction that was not in place until recently, so that he or she can master the CCSS objectives specified for grades 9-12? Are the massive amounts of money—garnered from taxpayer dollars—lining the pockets of those affiliated with the business of education, or are they merely an expensive camouflage that will, in a few years, disintegrate, leaving both teachers and students amidst the rubble of yet another pedagogy?
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A sad day for education in Indiana:
http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/readers/2014/09/05/easing-path-second-career-teachers-hurts-students/15149677/
And of course the teacher-haters are alive and well in the commentary.
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Diane, As a historian, have you looked at the many ways that neoliberalism, free market schools and education “reform” promoted by “New Democrats” here parallel the policies of “New Labour” in England, including the dramatic growth of charter and voucher schools in the US and academies and free schools in England? It’s uncanny and seems a lot more like collusion than happenstance, starting with Clinton and Blair. Their privatized school growth has been even more rapid than ours –for a country the size of Louisiana, England already has over 4K privatized schools.
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Call for feedback on standardized testing:
In Colorado’s 2014 legislative session, bill (HB14-1202) passed to establish a statewide task force comprised of educators, parents, and experts to study assessment protocol in Colorado. This includes looking into test administration, application of testing data, impact on instructional resources, and the interaction of testing with educator and district performance evaluations.
Based on its findings, the task force is to determine the feasibility of allowing districts to opt out of state and federal testing mandates.
The task force is currently asking for the public to respond with their answers to this question: what would an effective statewide assessment system include?
Send your answers to 1202taskforcefeedback@gmail.com.
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The Times magazine profile of Moscowitz was written by someone who has been a charter school cheerleader (he’s listed as a supporter of the Charter School of Harlem), and so was clearly biased to begin with. Then his article says the teachers’ union has a “stranglehood” on education (not in quotes and not from Moscowitz). Clearly he is not a writer who should have been given this assignment.
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Hope we don’t become like China in thought and practice. But we may already be there.
China’s Education Gap.
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Janice, on Sept. 5th your statement describing Constructivism is incorrect:
“The unrealistic constructivist (aka progressive) teaching philosophy mandating that all teachers teach the same thing on the same day in the same way was introduced in Texas by the CSCOPE Instructional Material.”
The Constructivist approach is opposite of the Behaviorist approach. A Constructivist relates all knew knowledge to the learners’ background/ experiences and then “constructs” knowledge. Comprehension occurs when readers integrate the text and prior knowledge. Linking is a crucial tool. It helps students understand, remember as well as retrieve by making connections with pictures, poems, comments, questions and/or predictions. Developing background knowledge can take just a few minutes or an entire lesson depending upon the story and the children’s background. For non fiction stories, films, videos, field trips, experiments or role playing may be needed.
Paramount to the Contsructivist philosophy is the interaction with the text, teacher, and reader; students must be active learners. An active learner necessitates the interaction with the perceptual and the conceptual which includes background knowledge along with knowledge of the language structure: semantic, syntactic, and graphophonics system.
It is a selective process bringing together experience, knowledge, skill and abilities. One must bring meaning to print before once can acquire meaning from it according to Frank Smith.
It is a strategic process- strategies used before, during, and after reading to achieve goals.
Progressive is an umbrella term including a wide gamut of thinkers including Constructivists. Piaget, Vygotsky and Dewey were all perceived as progressive thinkers as well as Constructivists by their way of looking at knowledge, learning , and how people perceive information, facts, data… I place Marie Clay in the Constructivist category.
Emmanuel Kant, a philosopher in the 18th century purported that new information, new concepts, and new ideas can have meaning only when they can be related to something the individual already knows… Reason without experience is hallow. Experience without reason is aimless.You can’t expect people to reason their way through life- it won’t work
John Dewey was emphatic about interaction for learning; learning can’t be on an abstract, passive mode. Learning is social. We don’ see with your eyes, or hear with your ears. We perceive with your whole being which is based upon our experiences.
He was a philosopher but in his day philosophy and psychology merged into one study. Piaget maintained concrete experiences are needed for learning to occur. He was a contemporary of John Dewey and also psychologist and philosopher.
As I stated before, Frank Smith, a psycholinguist, maintained that readers must bring meaning to print rather than expecting to receive meaning from it. As we become fluent readers we learn to rely more on what we already know, on what is behind the eyeballs and less on the print on the page in front of us.
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James Sanders made the statement in his letter to the Director of School, “I know you are under pressure to improve the test scores of Metro Nashville Public Schools and I ask you to put support and resources behind those principals, teachers and other faculty who have the support of families, coworkers and community members…”
Sanders’ concern as many parents prompts me to relay to you an answer to a question presented to me:
“What do you propose as the best method to evaluate whether the curricula has been properly taught and transferred to the student? ”
(Many of the references are from Dr. Ravitch’s blog but this placed some of the most pertinent in one area to mull over.)
I responded with the following:
#1 There are two issues here that appear problematic. It appears that you see that there is just one way of teaching, and therefore, there is one model of the learner. If you believe that there is only one model that is problematic. Educational psychologists say that there isn’t one way of learning and therefore there can’t be one way of teaching nor one way of assessing and testing. The second issue is the goal of education. If just “transferring information” is the goal of education it is a very myopic view. The assumption is that we only have to teach them to pass a test. If that is our only goal we are corrupting our educational system and cheating our children. Education is far more than just “transferring knowledge.”
Children have many different styles of learning, different interests, and needs. How we teach is based on the fact the children learn in different ways. There is not just one model of the learner. In the Educational Researcher Vol.14, No.6 Jerome Bruner in “Models of the Learner” states that there isn’t one model of the learner but many models. “Transferring ” is too narrow – it is not what an educated person is about. We need to be clear what the goals of education are before we can evaluate it. In fact, John Goodlad, in his book called A Place Called School stipulates the four goals of education: academic, vocational, social and personal. Personal includes good character and values all of which Common Core ignores.
The Watergate scandal is a red flag. All but two of the 29 or so were convicted; all were attorneys; and all went to ivy league schools. So what kind of people are we producing. They had the academic background to pass the bar but were they really educated? They passed their tests but not the test of moral character.
#2 You want to know the best method to evaluate. Evaluation can take many forms: good teacher observation, documentation of student work, performance based assessment – application- are some of the many ways to evaluate students’ progress.
Among the many problems with Standardized Tests, they do not give information about the readability level of a student. It gives the quartile a student falls into. The information from a Standardized Test is not sufficient to inform teachers of the instructional level of their students. Test makers can give all kinds of conversion tables but only with an individual assessment can a teacher pin point the exact instructional level. It is not feasible to assess each student individually so teachers need to take the students in the lower quartile, the “At Risk” student, and assess with some diagnostic tool be it an IRI, Benchmark books, or better yet Marie Clays Diagnostic Survey. Numerous instructional levels are usually found in that lower quartile. It calls for creative thinking on the part of the teachers to meet the needs of each level. Common Core wants everyone instructed on the same level in a given grade.
Only if the student is instructed on his/her instructional level will progress be made. If the material is too easy the student won’t progress. If the material is too difficult and the teacher forces the child to read on a frustration level, the child will regress and his frustration will only reinforce a poor self image. The teacher’s task is then compounded. The teacher will have to convince the student that he can read. This is one of the problems with Common Core – forcing students at times to work on a frustration level.
Furthermore, if fear grips the test taker, the test is invalid; fear clouds his/her thinking.
#3 The following links are centered on the woes of Standardized testing.
The first link is a graphic illustration depicting other concerns about Standardized Testing
A. What’s Wrong with Standardized Tests
http://fairtest.org/sites/default/files/whatswrongstandardizedtestsinfographic.pdf
B.The following link addresses the errors made in scoring Standardized Test and resulting in denying high school some students their diploma.
“Scoring Errors Jeopardize Tests”
http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/AtlantaJournalConstitution/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspxhref=QUpDLzIwMTMvMDkvMjI.&pageno=MQ..&entity=QXIwMDEwMQ..&view=ZW50aXR5
C.The following link addresses the harm inflicted upon students
“Why Standardized Testing Harm Students and How to Stop This Harm”
D.The next link was also posted on Dr. Ravitch’s blog revealing the concerns of psychologists and the psychological harm Standardized Tests cause.
The report is long so I paraphrased a section:
“…A group of mental health professionals stated what many schools are doing to our children borders on criminality and must be stopped…”
Signs of psychological abuse have been observed stemming from chronic stress beginning with 6 year-olds. Psychologist call it the Common Core Stress Syndrome. Psychologists state that most common symptoms begin with signs of desensitization, anxiety, loss of imagination, loss of spontaneity, loss of humor, regression, irritability, self injury, inability to concentrate, and dissociation. However, the most destructive effects of this psychological abuse will not manifest until the children reach their teenage years, or early adulthood. At that time, their conditioned emotional repression from victimization of institutional bullying and positive/negative ambivalent role modeling can lead to mental illness and criminality.
Here is the report of what psychologist from across the country are decrying:
“A Terrifying Report about Child Abuse in Texas Schools–and in Your State Too”
E. The following link gives a detail report about other problems of High-Stakes testing as was published a Harvard Education Letter. Some of the problems were:
Narrowing the curriculum – teaching to the test. Some schools stopped teaching science and social studies; stopped assemblies and field trips; stopped recess except a short time at lunch time.
Encourages cheating. (In Atlanta it went all the way to the top – to the superintendent. Cheating takes on many forms.)
Undermines teaching practices
“High-Stakes Testing and the Corruption of America’s Schools- Harvard”
http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/23_2/helarticle/high-stakes-testing-and-the-corruption-of-america
F. Another example of the destructiveness found in this account of taking the SAT:
“Save Us from the SAT” by Finney Boylan 4/16/14
A professor recalling the stress she endured:
“The SAT is a mind-numbing, stress-inducing ritual of torture. The College Board can change the test all it likes, but no single exam, given on a single day, should determine anyone’s fate. The fact that we have been using this test to perform exactly this function for generations now is a national scandal. …The problems with the test are well known. It measures memorization, not intelligence.”
(We have Google for facts. My four year old grandson knows we just have to “Google it” for answers; he uses the term with great understanding.)
Jason Murphy stated, “Presently in America, good teaching is determined at state and federal levels by the standardized test scores of students. Does strong performance on trivia-based assessments reflect non”rudimentary cognitive skills”? A single performance on one day’s test may not accurately reflect the lessons and new abilities students take away from talking with a teacher. Shouldn’t “good teaching” describe the way(s) teachers facilitate students in challenging their beliefs about the world? ”
The corporate world better leave teaching and assessing to the educators/teachers.
#4 Other concerns and scandals:
Not only do Standardized Tests not test numerous cognitive skills; they do not recognize them. Cognitive skills include understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating. and creating. They include predicting, activating prior knowledge, making connections, inferencing, recognizing relationships, imaging, summarizing, and the biggest one to show a student comprehends – application.
Reading is not marking the right bubble; barking at words and regurgitating answers to questions; nor is reading blending sounds fluently. (I once had a student who read orally very fluently but comprehended zilch.) Reading is about applying and making connections.
And a bigger scandal yet: some states mandate retention of third graders who do not pass the reading tests. A reading program is forced on them that hinders them from learning to read. Some children with an auditory discrimination problem can not learn via the phonetic based program. So we punish them and retain them instead of giving them a program that can support them in learning to read. Psychologists through the years have stated that retention is the most harmful tool in the arsenal of educators. Retention destroys a child’s self-image and once that is destroyed it is almost impossible to regain it.
Virtually all specialists condemn the practice of giving standardized tests to children younger than 8 or 9 years old. Finland gives one standardized test during their academic career. We are the most over-tested country in the world. That is ridiculous. It does not benefit the students. It just benefits the testing industry. Yet, standardized testing costs states $1.7 Billion a year in 2012. With the increase of tests given that number has to have increased. We excess teachers to pay for the testing program.
In conclusion:
I will conclude with Phyllis Bush’s insights:
“…The corporate, for-profit reformers view children as data points and test scores; their view is unacceptable. The research shows that this “brave new world” of testing, accountability, charters and vouchers that Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, the Koch brothers, the Walton Foundation and ALEC have promoted is not working…
Parents and teachers know that the joy of learning comes from imagining, creating, playing, thinking, experimenting, problem solving and being ready to learn. The joy of learning comes when a child has an “aha moment” when he or she finally gets it. Parents know that play contributes to learning; that children need the physical activity at recess and in gym class just as much as they need “rigor” sitting at a desk; that art and music help children learn much more than learning to practice for a test and bubble in an answers sheet…” Here is her article in full:
“Momentum building to reclaim our public schools from faux reformer”
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20140331/EDITORIAL/140339967/1015/
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Common cure for Common Core: Engage in no action that will tend to adversely affect a student’s love of learning. H.W. Hough (from my upcoming Bergamo Conference presentation “Utopia and the Common Cure for Static Standards”)
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