Archives for category: New York
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Daniel Katz: A Field Guide to Understanding the Education Mess in New York State

By dianeravitch
September 4, 2015 //
2

Daniel S. Katz, who is a professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, has created a helpful overview of the education mess in New York. You can’t tell the players without a scorecard, and Katz has written a useful scorecard of events and players.

How did  Governor Cuomo take charge of education when he has no constitutional authority to do so?

Why did new State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia make threats to parents who opted out, then back down?

Will the state figure out how to quell the parent opt out rebellion?

What is the Governor’s latest gambit?

Why is the Governor creating a new Common Core commission when he had a Common Core commission just a year or so ago and packed it with Common Core supporters?

Why do politicians keep meddling in education when they don’t know what they are doing?

The players keep changing and changing their minds. Stay tuned.

Categories Cuomo, Andrew, New York, Opt Out

Rahm Caves, Sort of; Cuomo Backtracks on Common Core

By dianeravitch
September 3, 2015 //
7

Rahm and Andrew backed off today. Or maybe they didn’t.

Rahm decided that Dyett High School re-open as an open-enrollment school. Cuomo said the Common Core and the testing were badly bungled by the State Education Department (John King), and he needs a commission to review the mess that he (Cuomo) made.

Bear in mind that Cuomo has no constitutional authority for education. He does not appoint the state Board of Regents (the legislature does) or the state commissioner (the Regents do).

Did Rahm really back down? Did Cuomo?

Ask the experts.

Here is Mike Klonsky in Chicago.

Here is Peter Greene, calling hoax.

Categories Chicago, Closing schools, Common Core, Cuomo, Andrew, Emanuel, Rahm, New York

Long Island Regent Roger Tilles Comes Out in Opposition to Teacher Evaluation by Test Scores

By dianeravitch
September 3, 2015 //
21

In a remarkable reversal, the member of the New York State Board of Regents from Long Island switched his position on the state’s teacher evaluation plan. Roger Tilles told teachers in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York, that he will no longer support the test-based evaluation system rammed through the legislature during budget deliberations last spring.

Tilles said to the crowd:

Roger Tilles of Great Neck, now in his 11th year on the state Board of Regents, told a teachers conference in Port Jefferson that Albany faces the risk of growing opposition to the job evaluation system unless it reverses course.
“I oppose the use of standardized tests to evaluate teachers and principals,” Tilles said, drawing applause from about 400 teachers and school administrators at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson. “Not admitting a mistake is making a bigger mistake.”

Last June, Tilles voted to endorse the hastily passed educator evaluation plan cobbled together by the Cuomo administration and passed into law by the legislature.

His change of vote means that seven of the 17 Regents oppose the plan. If two more Regents change their votes, a majority will vote down the plan, sending it back to the legislature for a different approach, one that has research and evidence to support it.

The current wave of parental opt outs, most recently 20% of all eligible test-takers in the state, was spurred by the coupling of test scores and educator evaluations. Parents understood that making the tests so consequential would mean more test prep and less time for the studies and activities that children enjoy in school. Parent leaders from groups like Long Island Opt Out and New York State Allies for Public Education have said clearly that they want test scores separated from teacher evaluations.

Categories New York, Teacher Evaluations

Eggert: No, It’s NOT the Law!

By dianeravitch
September 2, 2015 //
23

Last spring, the Néw York legislature passed a budget that included a harsh and punitive teacher evaluation plan. This was done at Governor Cuomo’s insistence because he was angry that the state teachers’ union did not support his re-election in 2014. There were no hearings, discussions, or debates on the governor’s plan. It was passed because he wanted it.

The following comment was sent by Lisa Eggert, a specialist in education law who lives in Néw York. She wrote in response to this post.

“Thank you Diane for posting this! And here’s more to say about whether “this is the law”–

“1. The law (Education Transformation Act) required that the Regents pass rules on the evaluation plan by June 30, 2015, which they did, so they will not be in violation by voting no. The legislature surely realized that the tight time constraint meant that only temporary 90-day emergency rules could be passed, and it did not require a subsequent rule to be passed when the emergency one expires.

“2. It’s the job of the Regents and Ed Dept to set the plan’s cut scores that determine who is effective and who’s not. The plan of now sets an effective rating at a whopping 75% of students meeting targets. The School Administrators Assn. suggests 55%. What science or research supports 75%?

“3. The law actually requires that the public be told all the specifics regarding research and studies on which the plan is based, when the Ed Dept publishes a Notice of Rulemaking (the Notice is also required by law). But when the Ed Dept published the Notice, it gave a non responsive answer, identifying no study or research and just acknowledging that it had to work with experts. This is a legal violation of NY’s State Administrative Procedure Act, which protects the public’s right to have input into rules that have the force of law.

“4. The law is also being violated because the Admin Pro Act requires that any member of the public who asks be allowed access to any underlying studies. The Notice says to contact Kirti Goswami at the Ed Dept. I’ve emailed and spoken with her several times to find out how to access any underlying studies supporting the plan or, alternatively, to confirm that in fact no studies or research were relied on in creating the plan. She has been unable to provide anything or confirm anything, all in violation of the Admin Pro Act. (It feels like an awful run-around.)

“5. So, in talking to the Regents, feel free to point out that yes, the law is being broken –the law that protects the public’s right to understand and assess proposed rules and give input. I don’t mean to sound hoaky but this is the law that protects the democratic process, giving the public a voice when unelected officials, like the Commissioner Elia and the Regents, make rules. The Regents need to stand up for these laws that protect our basic rights.

“6. And also, from the state’s inability to point to any underlying science, it strongly appears that these rules, including the harsh cut scores, are entirely unfounded. They should be voted down so that a researched-based plancan be created by experts.”

Categories Cuomo, Andrew, New York, Opt Out, Parents, Resistance, Students, Teacher Evaluations

New York Regents Will Vote on Teacher-Principal Evaluation Plan on September 16-17: Call Your Regent!

By dianeravitch
September 2, 2015 //
28

The Board of Regents will vote at their Sept. 16-17 meeting on making the new teacher-principal evaluation rules permanent. The current rules were adopted on a temporary “emergency” basis.

The current rules maintain a heavy emphasis on testing. Teachers, principals, and schools will be evaluated by the rise or fall of test scores, a practice that promotes teaching to the test, narrowing of the curriculum to only what is tested (math and reading), cheating, gaming the system.

Email or call your Regent and urge him or her to vote NO.

If they say that the bad system, which has no research behind it, is “law,” tell them that good people have a civic duty to resist unjust laws.

The tests have an absurdly high passing mark; they are no valid or reliable. Their purpose is to make your school look bad, so that the state can swoop in and turn it over to a private charter entrepreneur.

Protect your children and public education.

Call or email your Regent. Here is a guide to their emails and the regions they represent.

Here are the Regents who voted to continue the misuse of high-stakes testing a few months ago. Please urge them to vote NO this time:

Charles Bendit
Anthony Bottar
Andrew Brown
Christine Cea
James Cottrell
Josephine Finn
Wade Norwood
James Tallon
Merryl Tisch
Roger Tilles
Lester Young

Here are the Regents who voted NO last time. Please thank them for standing up for common sense, good education, the rights of children, and the dignity of the teaching profession:

Kathleen Cashin
Judith Chin
Catherine Collins
Judith Johnson
Beverly Ouderkirk
Betty Rosa

If the votes of three Regents were to change, the whole absurd system would come tumbling down, and our Board of Regents could get to work on research-based, evidence-based school reforms, instead of punishments based on invalid standardized tests.

Categories New York, Resistance, Teacher Evaluations

New York: State Superintendent Says Parents Have Right to Opt Out

By dianeravitch
September 1, 2015 //
10

Hello, parents of New York, you have the right to opt your child out of state testing. So says the State Superintendent MaryEllen Elia.

Forget what you heard last week about threats and sanctions. That was then. This is now.

” State Education Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia says she won’t prevent parents who want their children to skip the state’s standardized tests from doing so. The commissioner detailed her views on the controversial Opt Out movement in an interview with public radio and television….

“Commissioner Elia says parents “absolutely” have the right to opt their kids out of state standardized tests, but she says she still wants to talk to them to try to bring them back to the fold.

“We haven’t done enough communication,” Elia said. “But if parents understand it and they still want their child to opt out, that certainly is their right.”

“Robert Lowry, the spokesman for the New York State Council of School Superintendents, says some superintendents did indeed ask for help. Others are trying on their own to convince students to participate. But he says many more believe that the tests themselves are fundamentally flawed.

“The real issue is that the tests have to change,” Lowry said. “Parents are upset for a reason.”

“Lowry says the preparations was not well thought out, and schools get too little information on results too late.”

This is a work in progress.

Message to parents: do what you think is best for your child.

Categories New York, Opt Out, Parents, Standardized Testing, Students

A Long Island Superintendent Tells His Teachers Not to Worry about Scores

By dianeravitch
September 1, 2015 //
22

The following letter was sent to teachers in Patchogue-Medford, Long Island, in New York state by the superintendent, Dr. Michael J. Hynes. Hynes is a hero of public education. He joins the honor roll of this blog for his thoughtfulness, his care for his staff and students, and his willingness to stand up and speak out. When State Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia met with Long Island superintendents to help them understand why they must take a firm position against opt outs, Superintendent Hynes of Patchogue-Medford, Superintendent David Gamberg of Greenport-Southold, Superintendent Steven Cohen of Shoreham-Wading River, and Superintendents Joe Rella of Comsewogue, were not invited. All have been outspoken against the state’s misuse of standardized testing. Gamberg and Cohen did not encourage opt outs, but they both sent letters home to parents explaining that there was no penalty for opting out.

August 28, 2015

Dear Ms. ——-,

The purpose of this letter is to let you know that I DO NOT CARE what your state growth score is. Let me be clear … I DO NOT CARE. It does not define you. Please know that I understand nobody likes to be reduced to a number.

The fact is, you are much more than a number; not only to me, but most important to the children and parents you serve. Keep your head up and your eye on what is more important … your students and your teaching craft. The Patchogue-Medford School District fully supports you as an educator, regardless of what this meaningless, invalid and inhumane score states. Let me know what you need and it is my sincere hope you have a great year.

With warm regards,

Signature
Michael J. Hynes, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Honor Roll, New York, Opt Out, Standardized Testing

Fred LeBrun: Elia Risking Her Future Because of Tough Stance on Opt Outs

By dianeravitch
August 30, 2015 //
18

Fred LeBrun of the Albany Times-Union warns State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia that she is making a huge mistake by her confrontational tactics with the parents of the 225,000 children who opted out of mandated state tests last spring.

He predicts that if she doesn’t change course, the number of opt outs will grow in 2016.

She assumes that the parents need a lecture (“it’s the law!”) or information (they just don’t understand how important these tests are).

Neither is true, writes LeBrun. The law days the state must give the tests, but the law does NOT say that students must take them.

And the opt out parents in Long Island and upstate New York are not uninformed. They know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it.

LeBrun writes:

“Remember the state Education Department’s own statistical analysis of Opt Outers, the one-third of eligible upstate and Long Island third through eight graders who chose not to take the standardized tests last spring. Their families are white, solidly middle class, well educated, generally from low needs — that is to say, not impoverished — school districts. Regardless of what the new standardized tests might suggest about them — more would fail than pass — these students routinely grow up to hit the appropriate SAT benchmarks, graduate and go on to two- and four-year colleges.

“These are not the kind of parents who are likely to be intimidated by vague assertions that, as Elia now suggests, a reason to take the standardized tests is because, ”listen, it’s the law.” It may be the law that public schools must offer the tests. But nothing I’ve read even suggests it’s the law a student must take them. Parents do have rights. If anything, Elia’s tack is likely to throw fuel on the fire rather than quell it in terms of opting out. Likewise, any back handed attempt to paint the Opt Out movement as being fanned by teachers is as insulting to the legions of parental volunteers who are Opt Out’s core, and know it, as it is to teachers. Nor is Elia’s condescending suggestion that fuller knowledge of what Common Core is and these standardized tests are about will turn Opt Outers around.”

Categories New York, Opt Out, Parents, Standardized Testing

Elia: Struggling Schools Will Improve, Or Else!

By dianeravitch
August 30, 2015 //
38

New York State’s new Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia says she will put together a team to fix the state’s 144 lowest-performing schools and give them one year to improve. If they don’t, she will hand them over to independent managers or make them charter schools.

This is magical thinking at its best. On Long Island and probably everywhere else in the state, the struggling schools are racially segregated and have high proportions of poverty.

Can they be “turned around” by a member of Elia’s crack team? Where is Beverly Hall when we need her?

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, New York

New York Teacher Tells Lt. Governor that the State Tests are “Asinine”

By dianeravitch
August 27, 2015 //
40

Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul went to the New York State Fair and encountered a large group of educators wearing T-shirts saying “Call Out Cuomo Tour.” She sat down and had a public talk with Beth Chetney, a teacher of ninth grade English for 24 years in the Baldwinsville Central School District. Chetney tried to explain why teachers were frustrated and angry. She said the teacher evaluations based on the tests were unfair, the tests themselves are “asinine,” and her own son opted out of the tests. Cuomo himself, said Chetney, was part of the problem because he has targeted teachers and disrespects them.

Hochul assured Chetney that Governor Cuomo really cares about teachers and quality education

“It’s easy to pull out these sound bites that sound the most contentious,” Hochul said. “But I’ve sat in rooms with him, and heard his real concern for teachers and the students. And I don’t think that gets covered….

“I’m here to tell that you he has a true commitment to supporting the profession and making sure that New York state regains its position as No. 1 in the nation in education,” Hochul said.

Categories Cuomo, Andrew, New York, Opt Out, Standardized Testing, Teacher Evaluations
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »