Archives for category: NCLB (No Child Left Behind)
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Jeb Bush: Testing and Privatization Are the Right Path

By dianeravitch
November 28, 2012 //
8

Jeb Bush recognized at his summit meeting that the policies he champions were soundly rebuffed by voters in Indiana (and did he mention Idaho?).

But he assures his rightwing allies that testing, evaluating teachers by student scores, vouchers and charters are the right course, even if educators, parents, and other citizens don’t agree. He apparently compared himself to Lyndon Baines Johnson, fighting to push civil rights legislation when it was unpopular.

Someone should inform him that he is fighting to preserve a failed status quo, not a struggling dissident movement. Someone should tell him that NCLB is federal law and that its ugly step-child Race to the Top bribed the states to double down on the punitive strategies of NCLB.

His lament of “stay the course” is very good news indeed. It is a public admission that the privatizers know they have no popular base.

Their strategies have failed for more than a decade.

When do they admit to themselves that it’s over?

At some point, they will stop pouring money into a losing and unpopular cause.

That’s the day when we can begin to build a genuine movement to improve our schools.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), On-Line Education, Privatization, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Technology, Computers, Testing, US Education, Vouchers

Sad News from Louisiana

By dianeravitch
November 26, 2012 //
12

On Thanksgiving Day, I posted a tribute to the teachers of the year in Acadia Parish in Louisiana.

With Governor Bobby Jindal in charge and with a compliant state board and a compliant TFA state commissioner, Louisiana is ground zero for the privatization of public education in America.

Jindal has control of the state board mainly because of huge campaign contributions from out of state supporters of his rightwing agenda.

As part of its destruction of public education, the state has enacted punitive laws directed at teachers.

Their evaluations will be tied to test scores, and it will be easy to fire them. They have no job rights.

In response to my tribute to the teachers in Louisiana, I received the following comment. Please recall that prior to the enactment of No Child Left Behind and the implementation of Race to the Top, public schools were not closed because of test scores. They were considered a public service or a public good. Closing them down made no more sense than closing down and selling off a community’s public park. But now we just take for granted that schools are closed, against the will of the community, and no one can stop it from happening. This is outrageous and we must not forget that it is outrageous. It does nothing to help students or to improve education. It is only good as a battering ram to hurt public education and to help the privatizers.

The teacher writes:

As a 30-year educator in Louisiana public schools, I can tell you that your support means so much – now more than ever. I will forward this to all the teachers who work with me at Delmont Elementary. A week ago today we were informed that our school would be closed because of our failure to make AYP within a year. But we are still thankful on this day, because we know that even though our state and district don’t recognize our efforts, we have truly touched the lives of 450 dhildren and families; and they have touched ours.

Categories Education Industry, Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

A Wonderful Article About Destructive Reforms

By dianeravitch
November 23, 2012 //
15

The New York Times has a terrific article today by Michael Brick about the destructive policies that are called “reforms.” This is the first time in my memory that an article in the newspaper of record–albeit an opinion piece–has acknowledged that both political parties share the same demented and punitive approach and that their ideas are hurting, not helping.

Please read it. It gives me hope that our message is breaking through the elaborate publicity machine of corporate education reform.

Here is a sample:

“For the past three decades, one administration after another has sought to fix America’s troubled schools by making them compete with one another. Mr. Obama has put up billions of dollars for his Race to the Top program, a federal sweepstakes where state educational systems are judged head-to-head largely on the basis of test scores. Even here in Texas, nobody’s model for educational excellence, the state has long used complex algorithms to assign grades of Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable or Unacceptable to its schools.

“So far, such competition has achieved little more than re-segregation, long charter school waiting lists and the same anemic international rankings in science, math and literacy we’ve had for years.

“And yet now, policy makers in both parties propose ratcheting it up further — this time, by “grading” teachers as well.

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Education Reform, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Testing, Texas

US DOE: Pennsylvania Can’t Inflate Charter Scores

By dianeravitch
November 23, 2012 //
7

The U.S. Department of Education ruled invalid Pennsylvania’s effort to inflate the scores of charter schools by treating them as local school districts.

Here is a description of what state education secretary Ron Tomalis tried to do.

The state’s charter-friendly education department had decided to treat charters as districts for purposes of NCLB scores, which made their performance look better. But US DOE said that was a no-go and all the charter scores must be recomputed.

Interesting that the announcement was made on the day before the long holiday weekend, which meant that someone decided to bury it.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Pennsylvania

When Basketball Adopted the NCLB Rules

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2012 //
15

A reader sent this wonderful analogy, which was published today in Undernews:

No high school basketball player left behind

All teams must make the state playoffs and all must win the championship.

If a team does not win the championship, it will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their basketballs and equipment will be taken away until they do win the championship.

All players will be expected to have the same basketball skills at the same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. No exceptions will be made for lack of interest in basketball, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents.

All students will play basketball at a proficient level

Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in basketball, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like basketball.

Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad basketball players.

– Author unknown

 

http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2012/11/no-high-school-basketball-player-left.html?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+prorevfeed+%28UNDERNEWS%29

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind)

Pedro Noguera’s Good Agenda Going Forward

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2012 //
11

Pedro Noguera, my colleague at New York University, took my place as blogging partner with Deborah Meier at “Bridging Differences.”

In his latest column, Pedro says that it is not enough to recognize that No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have failed. It is necessary to shape a new agenda.

Pedro offers these three elements to a new agenda.

1. “The federal government should call for the creation of a comprehensive support systems around schools in low-income communities to address issues such as safety, health, nutrition, and counseling. This should include the expansion of preschool and after-school programs and extended learning opportunities during the summer.” Since the federal government is unlikely to fund what is needed, states and localities should develop public-private partnerships to make it happen.

2) “The federal government must support a new approach to assessment that focuses on concrete evidence of academic performance—writing, reading, mathematical problem-solving—and moves away from using standardized tests to measure and rank students, teachers, and schools.”.

3) “The federal government needs to call upon the states and school districts to undertake careful evaluations of struggling schools to determine why they are failing to meet the needs of the students they serve before prescribing what should be changed. Instead of simply closing troubled schools such a strategy would require a greater focus on enrollment patterns (i.e. have we concentrated too many “high-needs” students in a school?) and ensuring that schools have the capacity to meet the needs of the students they serve rather than merely judging them under the current accountability systems.”

I heartily agree with Pedro’s diagnosis. If children are not healthy, if they are hungry, their ability to learn is negatively affected. The value of preschool and after-school programs is well-established. In state after state, these programs are being cut, while testing is expanded. I would go even further, as I do in my book, and say that class-size reduction must be part of the new vision, especially where the children with the greatest needs are enrolled.

The problem here is that we can’t get federal or state policymakers to change course unless they recognize that the present course–the strategy of high-stakes testing, accountability, choice, and school closings–has failed. I note that Pedro does not mention the Common Core standards, which has now become the linchpin of federal school reform.

Going forward, I think, requires that we persuade President Obama that Race to the Top is not working and must be replaced by a new vision. Pedro has well described the outlines of that vision.

But we can’t assume that the President will change course until he recognizes that four more years of the Bush NCLB strategy won’t help our children or improve their education. Twelve years is enough. It’s time to think anew.

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Testing, US Education

Charters Expand Despite Lack of Evidence for Their Success

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2012 //
24

Joy Resmovits has a good article at Huffington Post describing the growth of charter school enrollments and the absence of adequate oversight.

Currently, about 5 percent of all American students are enrolled in these privately managed schools. In some urban districts, the proportion is much larger. The districts with the greatest number of students in charters are New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, and Flint, Michigan. In 25 districts, at least 20 percent of students attend charters.

With the support of a bipartisan combination of President Obama, Congress, conservative governors, and rightwing groups like ALEC, these numbers are sure to grow. And the privatization of one of the nation’s most essential public services will continue.

The article mentions that local school boards “argue” that charters reduce their funding. That’s not an argument, that’s a fact. When students leave to attend charters, the public schools must lay off teachers, increase class sizes, cut programs. The more charters open, the more the public schools decline, especially when they lose their most motivated families and students. This is not simply a matter of transferring money from Peter to Paul, but crippling Peter to enrich Paul.

If charters had a stellar reputation, the logic might be on their side. But there are few studies that show charters outperforming public schools even on the crude measure of test scores. With only a few outliers, most studies show that charters do not get different results when they have the same kinds of students.

Chester-Upland, Pensylvania, schools may be an example of what happens when well-funded charters (funded by the district’s own revenues) grow as the host dies. The CU schools have been under state control for nearly 20 years. The local charter is not only thriving but providing handsome profits for its founder. Meanwhile the public schools, having lost half their enrollment to the charter, are dying. A state emergency manager just issued a lengthy report with high benchmarks for future success.

The plan calls for school closings and sets goals for academic gains. The bottom line in this plan for recovery is that the public schools will be extinguished if they can’t meet ambitious targets:

““If the district fails to meet certain scholastic performance goals, such as federal annual progress targets, by the end for the 2014-15 school year, the plan calls for the schools to be run by external management operations such as charter schools, cyber charters, and education management companies.”

Is this the future of urban education in the United States? Will this be the legacy of the Bush-Obama education program?

Categories Charter Schools, For-Profit, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), On-Line Education, Pennsylvania, Privatization, Race to the Top

Duncan’s Weighty Responsibilties

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
16

It’s not easy being U.S. Secretary of Education these days.

Back in the old days, before No Child Left Behind, the Secretary was basically a cheerleader with a bully pulpit. He or she ran a Department that oversaw many programs but had relatively little money and no authority to change what Congress authorized.

All that changed with NCLB. Suddenly, Congress declared that it was the judge of “adequate yearly progress.” It legislated the expectations for all schools. Now the federal government was in charge of crucial decisions about issues that used to belong to states and localities.

But as 2014 grew nearer and no state in the nation was on target to get to 100% proficiency–how could the schools have failed to meet their mandated deadline–Secretary Duncan issued waivers to states that agreed to do what he said.

Secretary Duncan, of course, knows how to reform schools. He did it in Chicago, remember, which is now a national exemplar of reform. It has been saved repeatedly, not only by Arne Duncan, but by Paul Vallas. Now it is going to be saved again by Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Rahm Emanuel.

Once Secretary Duncan issued waivers from NCLB, he was in a scary role. He is now dictating the terms of school reform for the entire nation! Don’t think this is easy. Not only is it a tough full-time job, but he is the first Secretary ever to struggle with this mighty burden.

Undaunted, he is now supervising a Race to the Top for districts, so he can run them too. They too will take the bait (re, the money) and fall into line.

Arne Duncan has the job of redesigning America’s education system. It’s one he has willingly assumed. Now he has four more years to make sure that every child in America is frequently tested, preferably beginning at age 3; that a vast federal data warehouse is built with relevant information about the test scores of every child and teacher; that privately managed charters take control of most urban school districts (using New Orleans as their model); and that every teacher knows how to raise test scores every year.

What a vision. What a burden. Arne Duncan can do it.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Federal Waiver, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, U.S. Department of Education, US Education

What If “No Child Shows Up”?

By dianeravitch
October 31, 2012 //
15

Recently, school officials in El Paso were investigated and found guilty of pushing certain students out of school to prevent them from taking the state tests. The purpose was to boost the district’s scores and make it appear to be doing better than it was. Some children were literally excluded from school and never finished. The superintendent was convicted and sentenced to jail. This was disgraceful, and it was an indictment of the officials’ personal ethics, but also an indictment of the absurd high-stakes testing regime foisted on the nation by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. School officials in some district will do literally anything to get their scores up, even though it hurts children. This is wrong. And the system which it incentivizes this behavior is also wrong.

This blogger has a different take on the El Paso incident. He tends to view it as an example of “opting out” of testing. He longs for the day that “No Child Shows Up.”

Of course, if the superintendent in El Paso had told all children to stay home on testing day, he would now be a national hero to angry parents and educators. Instead, he is a convicted criminal because he did not have the best interests of children in mind. He told only the low-performing students to stay home or to drop out of school. He was not acting in their interest. He was acting from self-interest, trying to inflate the scores of his district.

Someday, all educators will have the courage to stop doing things that they know are educational malpractice.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Testing

Vouchers in Chile: Greater Inequality

By dianeravitch
October 29, 2012 //
0

Valerie Strauss has a good post by Michael Pons about vouchers in Chile. The main effect seems to have widened the divide between rich and poor.

One correction I would offer to Pons. The testing and accountability framework for federal policy (No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top)  is no better than the voucher approach (Romney). In fact, the testing and accountability framework sets the stage for vouchers by the following scenario:

1) set an impossible goal of 100% proficiency or every child must raise his/her scores every year to the extent that the computer predicts

2) grade every school A-F based on test scores

3) convince the public that American education is failing because it can’t meet unreasonable targets

4) privatize the schools that are graded C, D or F

This is actually a process, not a choice of one policy or the other.

Choosing between NCLB/RTTT or vouchers is like choosing whether you prefer to be hung or shot.

The testing regime is part of the privatization plan.

Categories Accountability, International, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Testing, Vouchers
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