Please join me at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York, on January 16 to discuss Common Core, testing, and other issues.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Archives for category: New York
Fred Smith, who worked for many years in the research department of the New York City Board of Education (back when it had a research department, not a public relations department), offered the following testimony at public hearings in New York City on the Common Core testing (he was limited to only two minutes to speak):
My Two Minutes at the December 11, 2013 Forum in Manhattan – Spruce Street School
Chancellor Tisch, Commissioner King, thank you for visiting us.
I didn’t come here to discuss the merits of the Common Core, or rigorous standards, or high expectations, or equity for all children.
I’m here to call for a moratorium on all New York State testing associated with the Common Core, because the tests themselves are indefensible.
The 2013 exams were developed by trying out items on samples of children in June 2012. The State Education Department and its test publisher, Pearson, were well aware the stand-alone method they used to field test material for future exams was not viable, because children are not motivated to do well on items and field tests that they know don’t count—and in June, no less.
SED and Chancellor Tisch also knew the separate, stand-alone field testing approach had failed in 2009 when that year’s operational test results were so implausibly high the Chancellor could no longer sustain an obvious farce. That’s why she led us on the path to the Common Core.
So, it is outrageous to learn the 2013 tests were assembled by replicating the same discredited field testing approach that produced the 2009 fiasco.
Yet, the Chancellor and the Commissioner have described the April 2013 test results as the baseline against which students will be measured in relation to the Common Core Standards.
That the 2013 tests were poorly developed is evidenced by the fact that less time was allocated to finishing the exams than had been allocated in 2012 (7% less for ELA; and 13% less time in math). And, correspondingly, my research finds a significantly higher percentage of students were unable to complete this year’s exams.
How can tests that purport to tap critical thinking, deeper understanding and college readiness give students less time to complete? How can the results of such ill-conceived exams possibly serve as a baseline? It’s simply irrational and points to defective testing.
To make matters worse, the upcoming 2014 statewide tests are built on the same unworkable stand-alone field testing framework—trying out items this past June. Saying that you now intend to embed more items on the 2015 exams, the preferred way to field test them, acknowledges but fails to address the deficiencies in the pivotal 2013 and 2014 exams.
And the State intends to give two more rounds of stand-alone field tests this spring. If precedent holds, SED will not inform parents in advance that taking field tests is not mandatory. Keeping parents in the dark prevents them from withholding consent should they decide they do not want their children to be unpaid subjects in commercial research that only begets unreliable exams.
The State has acted in bad faith by administering a dishonest testing program for over a decade. This shows no signs of changing with the rush to make the flawed 2013 “core-aligned” exams the new baseline. Therefore, nothing short of a moratorium on these tests is acceptable.
~Fred Smith
Fred Smith – Retired from BOE – Worked in Test Department – Member of Change the Stakes
The New York Board of Regents is determined to pour unprecedented sums into more standards, more tests, and more tests and more standards.
Two Regents have opposed this determined focus on standards and testing: Regent Betty Rosa of the Bronx and Regent Kathleen Cashin of Brooklyn. Interestingly, these are two of the few experienced educators on the state board.
In this article, Regent Rosa blasts the board’s agenda.
“In fact, she thinks the Common Core program is based on incomplete, manipulated data.
“They are using false information to create a crisis, to take the state test and turn it on its head to make sure the suburbs experience what the urban centers experience: failure,” said Rosa, a former teacher, principal and superintendent from the Bronx.
When even members of the Regents recognize that state policy has generated a “manufactured crisis,” wouldn’t you think that other members of the board might stop and think?
Time for the Regents to step back and ask whether higher standards and harder tests are the best way to improve academic performance.
If students can’t jump over a four-foot bar, will they do better if the bar is raised to six feet?
Why not use those billions to provide the support that students and teachers need–like smaller classes, universal pre-K, and after-school programs– instead of pouring it into more measurement?
New York established a privately funded “Research Fellow” group to implement the Race to the Top agenda of Common Core implementation and testing. This group was funded by the Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the chair of the Regents, Merryl Tisch.
“Two of the charities bankrolling a controversial $18 million education fellowship program also gave millions to a data company to which the state Education Department plans to send personal student information, despite parents’ objections.
The charitable foundations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, are major contributors to inBloom, Inc., the data company. The two charities and other entities underwriting the fellowships support rigorous standardized testing for the purpose of assessing teachers, the Common Core curriculum, and student-data collection.
Referring to the privately funded state-education research program, which oversees the work of 23 fellows, New York State United Teachers president Richard Iannuzzi told Capital, “In many ways, it goes back to the very fundamental question about the role of government in a democracy and the need for a system of checks and balances. … All of that is effectively circumvented when private structures are used to significantly influence public policy, and that’s what’s happening here.”
One might well wonder, if these foundations and donors wanted New York to have a research capacity, why didn’t they make a contribution to the state so that these employees are public employees, not a privatized group?
Critics are angry about the ties between the Gates-funded group and inBloom, the massive data collection project funded by Gates and Carnegie. The spin on inBloom is that schools and states “need to know” everything about every student, and that private and confidential information about every student should be put into a data “cloud.” At the moment, the data project is free, but it will not be free in the future. Critics say that the cost to the state in the future will run into the millions. Another concern is that the student data may be hacked or made available to vendors who market their products directly to children. At present, the only two states that have agreed to place student data into inBloom’s possession are New York and Illinois.
At the Manhattan forum convened by State Commissioner John King and the chair of the Regents Merryl Tisch, a mother gave this moving speech, which she sent with permission to post.
She wrote;
“Commissioner King, Chancellor Tisch, thank you for the opportunity to share with you tonight. My name is Lorri Gumanow, and my husband and I are the proud parents of a very talented 13-year old public school student who is an actor and puppeteer, and wants to work with the Jim Henson Company someday. I am a newly retired special educator. But tonight I am here to ask you to walk in my shoes as a parent.
Our son was born 3 months premature and has several neurological disabilities and an IEP. His disabilities are not the result of poverty, poor prenatal care or poor educational opportunities. He has always thrived in the public school environment. He has had wonderful teachers, wonderful inclusive public schools, and wonderful supports.
All of a sudden he is failing. He failed the math test last year with a score of 1. What happened? The roll out of the Common Core asks 8th graders to now magically perform as 10th graders, without any attention to the skills and knowledge they might have been required to learn and practice in those 2 missing years.
Your solution is that my son just needs to try harder. Increase the rigor! No excuses! And what do you really mean every time you say, “This work?” He does 4 hours of homework every night and still fails his classroom test! If you don’t pass, you are a failure, and your teacher is a failure too. Fire that bad teacher! Close that failing school! Failure is not an option. Raise the bar. Unfortunately, when you throw some kids into the “deep end of the pool,” with a brick tied to their ankle – label the brick whatever difference you prefer – it is foolish to believe they are all going to be able to come back up for air. A lot of them are going down! I am tired of the jargon and the rhetoric. You are willing to write my son off as collateral damage. I care about my child! I care about all children! And so do his teachers! Education is not a competition – it is a human right and our responsibility!
My son now says he is stupid, he can’t take it anymore, my teacher will get fired if I fail, why can’t I be normal, he says he wants to kill himself, he has meltdowns regularly over homework – AND he has pulled the kitchen knife out of the drawer. He has always received outstanding medical care and mental health care! Now I have to give him, in addition to his daily medications, a sedative when he loses control – over homework and schoolwork????? I sedate my kid with strong drugs so he doesn’t hurt himself over an ELA quiz??? Something is very wrong with this picture. School should not be a life or death experience. School is not worth dying for!
And as a parent, would you want this medical history about your child on inBloom, for the world to see? (By the way, our son has given me permission to share this with you!) Are we overprotective parents, protecting him from rejection and failure? Absolutely not – he is an actor. He knows that when he experiences rejection after an audition, he picks himself up, works hard and tries again. But it’s demeaning to try again when you know you don’t have the skills. Experiencing failure is an important lesson in life. But being punished for something out of your control is abuse, and it is discriminatory.
My son is a proud member of the Drama Desk award-winning TADA! Resident youth theater ensemble, and just earned a leading role in their upcoming off-Broadway musical production. Talent exists in many forms, academic talent being just one form. The arts are what save my son’s life! He will reach his dream through hard work, perseverance, and dedication to his craft. Those are qualities that employers value! Your testing and sorting of children, and treating them as human capital will not bring our children down, because we won’t let you. We love and support our children, and embrace all of their special talents! We are active, concerned, informed and intelligent parents and we won’t let you hurt our children. Pull out of inBloom. Fire Pearson now! Drop the Common Core! All children, not just the children of Ivy-league educated and wealthy parents, are entitled to a good education in our democracy. Not just the kids in private schools and charter schools. ALL children!! I hope you were listening. Oh, and by the way. I graduated from an Ivy-league college too and I believe in our public schools! Thank you!”
New York Commissioner John King held his first meeting in New York City on the rushed implementation of the Common Core and the tests whose cut score was set so high that only 31% of students across the state passed. Among English learners, only 3% passed. Among students with disabilities, only 5% passed. The pass rates among African American and Hispanic students was 15-18%. In NYC, the passing rates were even lower.
Here is a report sent to me by a parent who attended the forum last night at Medger Evers College on Brooklyn.
“I am a Brooklyn public school parent who went to the forum last night at Medgar Evers College with John King. I wanted him to hear the near-universal concerns of my fellow parents that high-stakes testing has gotten out of control. By the time I showed up at 6PM, the speaker’s list was full. My mistake – but the forums had been announced at the last minute, with no information about how to sign up for speaking. Many of us believed (mistakenly) there would be an open mike. Clearly StudentsFirstNY had different information. Apparently they brought in about fifty parents and charter school teachers at 4:30 – one woman from “our” side, a sympathetic teacher, had happened to get there that early, so she was the only speaker who stood up to criticize the NYSED.
The forum began at around 6:45. After the first speaker had criticized was done, a “Parent Organizer” from StudentsFirstNY whooped up her part of the crowd with a racially inflammatory speech charging that “parents in Park Slope don’t want the kids in BedStudy” to get the same education as their kids. She at least had the honesty to acknowledge that she was a paid employee of StudentsFirstNY. I know of at least one other speaker (an ex-teacher) who did not acknowledge that she is an employee of StudentsFirstNY. However, what’s interesting about the first speaker is that (I was told by one of my fellow parents) she is actually a parent at PS321, one of the best schools in Park Slope, where test prep is de-emphasized as much as possible. It seems that she wants test-prep for everyone else, but not for her kid.
Early on a state assemblyman (I think it was Karim Camara) spoke about John King – he said, and I quote, “John King has an Ivy League education. He could be anywhere in the world. But he chose to be here with us. Isn’t that amazing?” I found that a bizarre comment, since John King should consider himself pretty lucky to be NY State Education Commissioner, with precious few qualifications, and listening to the public seems like it should be a basic part of his job, not a favor he bestows on his fortunate subjects.
But then the array of speakers started – one after another, repeating the same talking points, accompanied by cheers. They spoke in turgid cliches which no one could argue with – “Don’t you believe in the children?” over and over again – fending off some mythical Common Core opponent who is against all standards and expectations, and wants minority children to do poorly in school. The majority of people in the audience sat stunned and helpless at the barrage of nonsense being unleashed from the stage – a burst of rhetoric totally unrelated to real debates about common core implementation and high-stakes testing. It’s hard to argue with someone when a) you don’t even get a chance to speak and b) you are called a racist without them hearing any of your arguments.
I actually felt sorry for whatever percentage of charter school parents there who were unpaid. They are right to be angry at the educational inequalities in our society. Their children are not getting the same education as parents on the Upper East Side or even Park Slope. But it is not primarily because of differences in curriculum, and Common Core is not going to make a big difference in those inequalities. What would make a difference is changing the way resources are allocated – why are our poorest schools cut down to the budgetary bone? But none of those parents seemed cognizant of that.
What I find ironic is that they kept saying they wanted the same education for their kids as their richer counterparts. But parents in Park Slope would never put up with the monotonous test prep John King wants to institute in schools state-wide. Of course John King and Meryl Tisch would never expose their own children to that – both send (or sent) their kids to progressive private schools, where their children are taught to think creatively.
After an hour of so of being told we were racists for daring to question King, many of us retreated to the lobby, where we discussed how the event had been hijacked. I don’t even think John King believed he was hearing from true representatives of parents.
I had the temptation to rush the mike and give a Swiftian speech a la A Modest Proposal: Why (I would ask in mock-outrage) had John King refused to allow tests for Kindergarteners? (Note: he recently abandoned the K-2 bubble testing under immense political pressure) Did he not believe in standards? Did he not want low-income children to succeed? Without tests, how can parents know how they’re doing? Does he not believe in the children?”
Commissioner John King finally got a friendly forum about Common Core. At the only hearing in Brooklyn, a borough in New York City with four million residents, every speaker but one praised Common Core and many accused its critics of racism. Reports from those on the scene (directly to me) as well as in the media said that the speakers’ list consisted of people who were affiliated with Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst and charter parents. Parents who were not part of these two groups could not get a chance to speak. The list was closed.
I had heard for the previous two weeks that speakers were being trained to support the Regents and King. And they got their chance to do so last night. One estimate sent to me was that 44 people spoke enthusiastically about Common Core and only one was opposed.
This article arrived in my email unexpectedly, and I decided to post it because it contains a good analysis of how decision makers get stuck defending bad decisions.
Sean Brady explains the dangers of cognitive bias. He writes that it is “becoming increasingly apparent that he [King] may be doing more to undermine the implementation of the Common Core than he is doing to support it. For example, his approval of cut points on the 2013 assessments that resulted in the vast majority of the state’s grade 3 — 8 students to be deemed failing has created a firestorm of criticism, galvanized his critics in New York and stalled the implementation of the Common Core in some other states.
“Commissioner King is clearly a very smart man. Why might he take actions that do not support what he is trying to achieve? A search for cognitive biases and fallacies may provide some insight. There are a number to consider. King’s positive assessment of New York’s Common Core implementation despite mounting evidence of serious problems suggests optimism bias. His reference to a few, narrow data sets to defend his policies points to confirmation bias. However, two others seem to be at the the root of his troubles….”
King, he says, suffers from certainty bias and the sunk cost fallacy.
This is well worth reading.
Casey Barduhn, superintendent of the Westhill Central School District, warns New York Commissioner John King that his reliance on high-stakes testing is destroying the promise of the Common Core standards.
Barduhn wrote to King that he was intrigued by the standards when they were unveiled and hopeful that they would lead to creative and innovative teaching and learning.
But with the advent of the high-stakes testing, that sense of joyful anticipation was replaced by an undue emphasis on testing, test prep, and misallocated time and resources.
The rebellion against Common Core testing continues to grow. At some point, John King will have to listen to experienced educators nd change course. One cannot lead without followers.
What’s the gripe of those “white suburban moms” (and dads) who have turned out in large numbers to complain about Common Core and the increase in testing?
Here is a good analysis by a local Long Island reporter.
Jaime Franchi at LongIslandPress.com interviewed parents and leaders of the revolt and gives a full picture of the uprising.
The story begins:
“Eighth grader Ryan Pepe, 13, of East Islip, reads his “intense” Common Core-assigned homework in his parent’s dining room. (Jaime Franchi/Long Island Press)
“Uncomfortable. Impossible. My chest hurts,” says Vincent Pepe, 10, pointing to his t-shirt where he feels his heart rate accelerating. He won’t make eye contact. He doesn’t like talking about the state tests he took last year.
“There wasn’t enough time,” he says. “It makes you quit.”
His older brother Ryan, 13, looks up from under a pile of homework. Ryan has served as Vincent’s protector since he was born. But Ryan can’t protect him from everything.
Neither will be taking the state tests this year. And they’re not alone.
A battle is being waged in New York State with Long Island on the front lines. The warriors come armed with manila folders of research on topics such as Common Core, data-mining and a billion-dollar company named Pearson. They have bags under their eyes from long, weary nights in front of sometimes-incomprehensible homework. The battlegrounds are the classrooms, the kitchen table, and auditoriums packed with parents and teachers who are demanding a three-year moratorium on high-stakes testing, but will settle for the resignation of New York State (NYS) Commissioner of Education John B. King, Jr. and the head of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. They are an army formed on Facebook, with groups informed by a national movement but concentrated right here, mobilized and motivated by the stress of their children. Their vow is to defeat Common Core, the educational reform so extreme that kids are mutilating themselves in response to the psychological stress that experts are calling “Common Core Syndrome.”
State officials are intransigent. Despite the near-unanimous condemnation of the state’s high-stakes testing regime, the Regents and the Commissioner of Education have made clear that they have no intention of backing down. The kids will get the tests again and again, no matter how many fail.
Nearly 20,000 parents have signed petitions against the testing; that number will grow. The Long Island principals have led a statewide rebellion against the untested “education evaluation” tied to the high-stakes test.
The parents, teachers, and principals of Long Island understand what state officials do not.
Education policy cannot be rammed down everyone’s throats. Collaboration and respect are needed, not the power to compel compliance.
