Archives for category: New York
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That Teeny Tiny Number of Irreplaceables

By dianeravitch
November 20, 2012 //
2

Bruce Baker is one of my favorite bloggers. He is smart and irreverent. He is not awed by big names. He actually was a teacher before becoming a researcher. He has the technical skill to crack the statistical analyses that others generate to make spurious claims. Unlike many with the same skill set, he is willing to call a phony a phony. You might say he is our Premier C.D. (Since I have taken a personal pledge not to use vulgarisms on this blog, I will give you a clue to help you figure out what a C.D. is; it is a Cr-p Detector).

In this post, Bruce shows what nonsense The New Teacher Project report “The Irreplaceables” is.

TNTP, you may recall, was founded by either TFA or Michelle Rhee, depending on whom you heard from last. Its purpose was to stock urban districts with shiny new teachers (like TFA) to replace those burned-out veterans with low expectations. Although TNTP is an advocacy group that seeks and wins contracts from urban districts, and although it has a self-interest in certain policies, it nonetheless turns out studies and reports to support its self-interest (fire bad old teachers, hire and retain new teachers). It is not surprising that advocacy groups crank out self-serving “studies,” but it is surprising that the media so often takes them seriously, sort of like taking advice from tobacco companies about the wisdom of smoking.

In his analysis of the latest bit of TNTP puffery, Baker demonstrates how unstable value-added measures are. He reviews the ratings for thousands of NYC teachers and finds that there are very few who remain in the top 20% every single year. In fact, he discovers only 14 in math and 5 in ELA out of thousands of teachers! He writes, “Sure hope they don’t leave.”

Categories New York, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations

What Schools Should Do in Crisis Times

By dianeravitch
November 16, 2012 //
8

After the hurricane, Mayor Bloomberg was eager to reopen the city’s public schools as soon as possible for the 1.1 million children enrolled. He worried that they were “losing time” and had to get back to their studies, back to normal. The facts that many of the schools suffered damage, that many were turned into shelters, and that many children were in shock because of their experiences were irrelevant. It was back to the routine.

In this brilliant post, Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn, has a better idea. He envisions classes across the city studying climate change, learning civics lessons, and engaged in public service to those in need.

This is what teachers call “a teachable moment.” But NYC rejects the moment and opts for normalcy, not fresh thinking. Such thinking and the activities it might inspire can’t be allowed to interfere with the real purpose of school, which these days is higher test scores.

Categories Curriculum, New Jersey, New York, NYC

What Grades Do You Give to a First Grader?

By dianeravitch
November 10, 2012 //
33

This rural teacher says his head is about to explode.

The state says he has to give test after test after test to his first graders.

Then he has to convert those scores into a letter grade.

This doesn’t make any sense to him.

The children are just beginning to make sense of letters and words.

How can he reduce what they have learned to an A or a B or a C or….?

What shall he tell their parents?

Does this make any sense?

Is it developmentally appropriate?

Do they do this at the University of Chicago Lab School or Sidwell Friends?

 

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, New York, Testing

The Very Expensive Mandates of Race to the Top

By dianeravitch
November 3, 2012 //
32

The states unlucky enough to “win” Race to the Top funding are arriving at a startling conclusion: Race to the Top mandates cost more than the money that was awarded to the state and the districts.

Ken Mitchell, a superintendent in Rockland County, New York, did the math.

Mitchell determined that school districts in his county are spending far more than they receive as they try to implement the mandates. When you consider that Governor Cuomo enacted rigid tax caps on every public school district in the state, it means that costs (for Race to the Top) are soaring at the same time that the district cannot raise new sources of revenue. The result: layoffs, program cuts, larger class sizes.

Mitchell writes that in six districts in his county, the cost of RTTT implementation will be $11 million, but the revenues will be only $400,000. This is a deficit of more than $10 million that must be covered by district funds. Where will the money come from?

When you consider that there is no research base to support the initiatives demanded by the Race to the Top, this is, as he puts it, “a grand and costly experiment that has the potential to take public education in the wrong direction…” That is putting it politely.

The word is getting out. Race to the Top has no research base. Race to the Top is a burden on the states that “won” the money.

It will be a burden on the districts that have the misfortune to “win” funding.

The United Teachers of Los Angeles were wise to refuse to sign on to their district’s application.

If they won, the district would soon by laying off teachers to pay for consultants and experimental programs of no value.

Race to the Top makes guinea pigs of the nation’s public schools and their pupils.

I will vote for Obama despite this terrible program.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform, New York, Race to the Top

Dear Dr. King: A Heartfelt Letter to the State Commissioner of Education

By dianeravitch
October 30, 2012 //
11

Tony Sinanis, a father of a third grade student in New York and principal of a school, writes a moving and sincere letter to John King, the state commissioner of education.

With all due deference to the state commissioner, he asks a series of questions about the purpose and quantity of tests now raining down on schools across the state.

Teachers are teaching to the test; children are concluding that are “no good” because they are not good at the testing.

Is this in the best interest of children?

Read the letter. Here is a sample:

First of all, our children are feeling overwhelmed, stressed out and they are starting to doubt their own abilities and it is only October. Why? Maybe it is because they are being subjected to numerous difficult tests and tasks as a result of the expectations of the Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) that have recently been put in place. Don’t get me wrong – I know pre and post assessments are critical and that various data points (when properly analyzed) can be a powerful tool for guiding future instruction and personalizing learning; but, when is enough, enough? Do they really need to take a paper and pencil test in the gym in first grade as part of a Physical Education SLO? Or do they need to take the TerraNova in kindergarten as part of a literacy SLO? Or does a second grader need to take an online assessment as part of reading and mathematics SLOs that can go on for hours? Are these types of assessments really developmentally appropriate (especially when considering some of our kindergarten students are still four years old)? Is the data we are gathering actually useful or even accurate? As I heard you recently mention, each district can negotiate their own SLOs so maybe not every first grader is taking a paper and pencil test in the gym but they are taking some type of assessment even though they have barely had a chance to get acclimated to their new teacher, classroom environment and school year. Is this really in the best interest of children? I am not sure but if it is, please let me know how so I can explain it my third grader who shut down during a mathematics SLO and said he was too stupid to finish and refused to take the test (by the way, his teacher wasn’t sure whether she should intervene because all she wanted to do was swoop in and take care of this little boy’s emotional well being but she worried that it might compromise the integrity of the test). Please understand that I am not questioning the importance of assessment nor the analysis of data to help us better instruct our students but in light of the new APPR and SLO requirements, my question is, are we actually doing what is in the best interest of our children?

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, New York, Testing

Cuomo Appoints TFA-er as Deputy Secretary of Education

By dianeravitch
October 19, 2012 //
61

The ascent to power of anyone connected to Teach for America continues.

Governor Cuomo just appointed De’Shawn Wright as Deputy Secretary of Education for the state of New York.

Wright spent two or four years (it’s not clear) teaching in New York City as a member of TFA. Then he quickly ascended to big jobs in the Mayor’s office and the New York City Department of Education. From there he became a senior advisor to Mayor Corey Booker in Newark, then on to an even bigger job in Washington, D.C.

Now–without any experience as a principal or a superintendent, without any direct knowledge of curriculum or school administration–he will advise the government on some of the most important issues facing the state. He joins Commissioner John King, another charter booster in Albany. Perhaps he will tell the governor how to evaluate teachers, though he has never done it himself.

Only in America could rank amateurs rise to the top of a crucial profession.

Categories New York, Teach for America TFA

What “Reform” Is Doing to Teachers

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2012 //
11

A teacher reflects on how teachers are perceived, how little support they get, and how teaching has changed:

Being in the teaching profession, most of the public generally hates you because they ‘see’ you with the summer off and a pension, which most of us hope will be intact by the time we get there. If summers off were only true. During the summer is when most of your planning and professional growth goes on…’behind the scenes.’

I went into this profession because of kids and making an impact in their lives. Believe me it wasn’t for the money and it wasn’t for the summers off. If money was my primary motivator, I certainly wouldn’t have went into education. I would have went into the private sector with a car and expense account.

I have been in education now for thirteen years. When I look back over my career, I am saddened by how much it has changed. It has gone from keeping kids after school for projects, helping kids during lunch, talking with kids through problems and challenges they are facing. Basically, genuinely caring about the child as ‘whole’ person. It has gone from parents standing behind the teacher and enforcing what the teacher taught at home. To teachers having to answer and explain their every move – grading, discipline, etc.

How things have changed. Society has changed, and I am afraid to say, not for the better. I had the pleasure of working with a man for a few years before the end of his career. I looked up to him and had great respect for him for who he was, who he is, how he taught, and what he stood for. My last year working with him I remember discussing a tough school issue. Our discussion ended in him telling me that I will be saying ‘these were the good old days.’ I never thought that that statement would ring true, but it does.

Our greatest resource is our children. It doesn’t take being in education to know that. New York State is no longer holding children as our primary focus. New York State is holding greed as the number one goal. It is insulting and degrading what they are attempting to do to the public school systems. It is tragic. This state can not blame everything on education, but that is exactly what the media is doing. If we had to play the blame game, I would blame state testing. Kids hate the tests, and so do the teachers. It has taken the ‘real’ learning out of school and made learning into a ‘teach to the test nightmare.’

I am good at what I do. I love what I teach. I have motivated and inspired many students and parents. I have battled my share too, for the child. My job’s dynamics have changed drastically over the years. To say I work hard would be a gross understatement. I work hard every single day. I take work home nightly and work extensively on weekends to catch up and work ahead. My ‘growth score’ from the 2012 NYS ELA is ‘developing.’ It is insulting to say the least for many different reasons. One thing is for sure, I will not apologize for how my students perform on a three day exam. My students work hard and do their best.

In China, the people respect doctors, lawyers and teachers. The parents stand behind the school and enforce education at home. Take a close look at how their society runs. In America, the people respect rock stars and professional athletes. The parents fight the teachers tooth and nail. The system fights the teacher tooth and nail.
Take a close look at how our society is currently functioning?

Public education is not to blame for the budget issues this country faces. It never was and never will be. However, public education is the scapegoat.

I suggest all of the ‘professionals’ designing this APPR for our country come on into the classrooms and teach for a year to see what it is like.

Also, I would like some facts from NYS: how much did testing cost NYS last year – isn’t it to the tune of $385 million dollars? If we follow the money of Pearson, policy makers, and charter schools, what would we find at the end of the road? I would like to see the policy makers salary too. I know it is greater than mine at $57,000. I know it is greater than my brother in law’s who has been education for close to 26 years making $90,000. People in the private sector after 26 years are making well above $90,000 a year. Believe me.

Public education and school taxes are an easy target to get people fired up about because school taxes are one of the only things they have the control to vote on. So what a great way to get people enraged.

I wonder what validity is this APPR? What is the purpose? I wonder, if I ran my classroom the way the state is running the schools what that would look like?

“Thank you for coming to your child’s conference Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Your child’s average is a 73% in ELA. Why? Well, I can’t really tell you that. I do not grade papers for parents to see. I have my own formula that is a secret. You will just have to trust me. Your child is below average. What can you do to help? Oh, I can’t really tell you that because it is a moving target.”

As Troy Aikman said at last week’s tragic football game due to poor referee calling, “This is a joke.” I agree, this APPR scam is a complete joke. Even though APPR is out to destroy the unions and the public school system, the true tragedy at the end of the day is the children and our society loses at the end.

The state’s agenda is to conquer and divide the unions and public education for nothing more than their own greed. Bring it. Get the attorneys in place. When it is uncovered and exposed to the true agenda, and it will be, these policy makers may need to leave this country.

Widen your lense to see the big picture. We will not let our children and this country suffer. Game on.

Categories New York, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching

Parent Groups Seek to Block Release of Student Data: URGENT UPDATE!

By dianeravitch
October 14, 2012 //
23

Parent groups in New York are trying to block the release of student data to an entity that includes Wireless Generation, a technology company owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation.

“On Sunday, October 14, at a press conference held at the midtown law offices of Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans LLP, attorney Norman Siegel and New York parents released a letter sent Friday to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the New York State Board of Regents, demanding that the agreement between the NY State Education Department and the “Shared Learning Collaborative” be released, setting out the conditions and restrictions on the use of confidential student and teacher data to be provided to this limited corporation. The letter asked that parents be informed exactly what information concerning their children will be shared with this corporation, why the transfer of this data does not violate federal privacy protections, and demanding that the parents have the right to withhold their children’s information from being shared. The letter is posted at http://bit.ly/W6H2qV”

Read the background information here about Wireless Generation, Gates, etc. very important!

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, New York, Parent Groups, Parents, Students

This Principal Is a Hero of Public Education

By dianeravitch
October 12, 2012 //
13

No one has been more active in opposing untested evaluation methods than high school principal Carol Burris.

Burris was a key figure in organizing New York principals to oppose the state’s test-based evaluation system, which has never been validated or worked anywhere.

Burris has written articles frequently. She is tireless.

I visited her school, South Side High School in Rockville Center, Long Island. It is an excellent and beloved community school that serves all the children of the community. it has no tracking. It has a strong IB program.

Carol went to the first public hearing of the Cuomo commission, but was not allowed to speak. When the commission held hearings on Long Island, she got her chance. She got a standing ovation.

Please read her testimony.

Categories Cuomo, Andrew, Education Reform, Honor Roll, New York, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations

How to Become a Successful Charter

By dianeravitch
October 12, 2012 //
10

Here is an interesting and curious coincidence.

Edushyster reported the list of schools in Massachusetts with the highest suspension rate.

Most of them were charter schools.

The school with the highest suspension rate in the state of Massachusetts is Roxbury Prep. This charter school suspended 56.1% of its students for one or more days last year. The Boston public schools suspended less than 5% of its students last year.

Guess who was one of the founders of Roxbury Prep?
John King, the young State Commissioner of Education in New York, who was appointed based on his charter school experience in Massachusetts and New York.

The New York Times described Roxbury Prep as one of the top charter schools in Massachusetts.

Now we know why.

Is that one of the lessons that public schools can learn from charter schools? Suspend your students early and often? The more you suspend them, the better your school?

Is that 21st century thinking?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, New York
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