This reader responds to the findings
of the PDK/Gallup poll, which showed a shift in public
opinion against testing, against using test scores to evaluate
teachers, and against public release of teacher personnel files and
ratings. “We said last year that we had a lot of hard work to do,
to inform and educate the parents we work with, to organize
communities and form effective coalitions of resistance…We said
it was going to be a herculean task. For the past year we each have
been busy doing just that. (I held a series of advocatcy workshps
for parents at my school, with my principal’s blessing) We have
been relentless promoting our cause in the media and on the
internet…constant unrelenting communicating and informing, always
learning. Knowledge is power. “Now we discover that since last
year, the percentages have shifted in favor of teachers, teacher
concerns and Public Education. I ask you, “Who said American public
educators are not effective teachers?” Just look at what we have
accomplished in a year! “We are AMAZING educators and incredible
motivators…Congratulations everyone (((cheers)))
(((applause)))… “Now we need to keep at it until every classroom
in our great nation is FREE of the corporate influence. Keep active
educating other teachers and supporting parents and encouraging
students to organize…the battle is shifting in our favor and it
is a battle, but the war is far from over. We can do
this!”
A group called the Campaign for High School Equity made
news the other day when it criticized Arne Duncan’s NCLB waivers
and complained that the waivers might reduce the amount of
high-stakes testing for poor and minority students. Mike Petrilli
at the conservative think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute
challenged me to admit that the civil rights groups were leading
the charge to protect high-stakes testing. I accepted his
challenge. It didn’t make sense, on the face of it, that civil
rights groups would want more testing. Every standardized test in
the world reflects socioeconomic status, family education and
income. Testing measures advantage and disadvantage. Some kids defy
the odds, but the odds strongly predict that the have-not kids will
be at the bottom of the bell curve. They will be labeled as
failures. They may get help, they may not. But one thing is sure:
standardized testing is not a tool to advance civil rights. Testing
is not teaching. Low scores do not produce more resources or higher
achievement. More testing does not improve learning. It increase
rote learning, teaching to the test, narrowing the curriculum, and
sometimes, cheating. So who is this group and why does it want more
testing. First,
the article that Mike forwarded to me. It says that the
waivers are allowing too many schools to avoid the consequences of
being low-performing. In other words, the Campaign for High School
Equity prefers the draconian consequences of No Child Left Behind
and the punitive labels attached to schools based on high-stakes
testing. Of course, their statement also makes it appear that Arne
Duncan is trying to water down punishments and high-stakes testing,
when nothing could be further from the truth. Who is part of the
Campaign for High School Equity? It includes the following groups:
National
Urban League • National
Council of La Raza • National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People • The
Leadership Conference Education Fund • Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund • League
of United Latin American Citizens •National
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational
Fund • Alliance
for Excellent Education • National
Indian Education Association • Southeast
Asia Resource Action Center Why are they in favor of
high-stakes testing, even though the evidence is overwhelming that
NCLB has failed the children they represent? I can’t say for sure,
but this I do know. The Campaign for High School Equity is funded
by the Gates Foundation. It received a grant of nearly $500,000.
Some if not all of its members have also received grants from Gates
to support the CHSE. The NAACP
received $1 million from Gates to do so. LULAC
received $600,000 to support the CHSE. The Alliance
for Excellent Education received $2.6 million “to promote
public will for effective high school reform.” The Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights Fund received
$375,000 from the Gates Foundation to support CHSE. The
National
Association of Latino Appointed and Elected Officials is
Gates-funded, though not for this specific program. The National
Indian Education Fund received
Gates funding to participate in CHSE. The Southeast Asia
Resource
Action Center was funded by Gates to participate in CHSE. The others are not Gates-funded.
When CHSE demands more high-stakes testing,
more labeling of schools as “failed,” more public school closings,
more sanctions, more punishments, they are not speaking for communities
of color. They are speaking for the Gates Foundation.
Whoever is actually speaking for minority communities and children of color is
advocating for more pre-school education, smaller class sizes,
equitable resources, more funding of special education, more
funding for children who are learning English, experienced
teachers, restoration of budget cuts, the hiring of social workers
and guidance counselors where they are needed, after-school
programs, and access to medical care for children and their
families.
Bill Gates has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in
search of an answer to the question: “What makes a good teacher?”
Arne Duncan, building on his record in Chicago, knows what makes a
good teacher: It is the teacher who raises test scores, and he has
spent billions of dollars to induce every state to agree with him.
Here, the students of Madison,
Connecticut explain what makes a good teacher. What do
they look for? Someone who is kind and patient. Someone who helps them. Someone who encourages them. There, that was easy, and it
didn’t cost billions of dollars.
Bruce Baker brilliantly explains how absurd the reformy policies are in both Philadelphia and Tennessee.
In Philadelphia, teachers are being blamed for a massive deficit that was in fact caused by historic state budget cuts.
In Tennessee, the reform plan is to tie teachers’ licenses to test scores, even though only 1/3 teach tested subjects.
Baker explains:
“The true reformy brilliance here is that these changes, with little doubt, will cause the best teachers from around the region and even from Finland, Shanghai and Singapore to flock to Tennessee to teach…at least for as long as they don’t roll a 1 and lose their license (pack your dice!). In fact, it is a well understood reformy truth that the “best teachers” would be willing to take a much lower salary if they only knew they would be evaluated based on a highly unstable metric that is significantly beyond their direct control. That’s just the reformy truth! [a reformy truth commonly validated via survey questions of new teachers worded as “don’t you think great teachers should be rewarded?” and “Wouldn’t you rather be a teacher in a system that rewards great teachers?”]
“No money needed here. Salaries… not a problem. Resource-Free Reformyness solves all!
“All that aside, what do we know about the great state of Tennessee?
“Tennessee is persistently among the lowest spending states in the country on its public education system.
“Tennessee is not only one of the lowest spenders, but Tennessee spends less as a share of gross state product than most other states.
“Tennessee has one of the largest income gaps between public school enrolled and private school enrolled children, and has among the higher shares of private school enrolled children.
“Tennessee has relatively non-competitive teacher wages with respect to non-teacher wages.”
Let see if Tennessee races to the top as it sheds teachers.
This came from a New Jersey administrator who heard
Charlotte Danielson speak about how to use her rubric: “At the
NJAFPA Conference on May 29, Charlotte Danielson (creator of the
Danielson Frameworks for Teaching evaluation system that so many
states and districts have adopted) said in her keynote: “Using
standardized test scores to assess teachers is indefensible.” Very
strong words, considering her audience included members of the
NJDOE. Danielson went on to say: “What counts as evidence? How will
we use it? People are calling me for information on this; I don’t
know; NO ONE KNOWS! Rather than standardized tests, we need to look
at classroom/teacher’s learning evidence.”
An article by Will Oremus in Slate blames the decline of Microsoft on its poisonous stack-ranking system for evaluating employees. This system involves ranking employees in each unit from best to worst, then firing those with the lowest rating. This is demoralizing and causes bitter rivalries and office politics.
Jack Welch is credited with devising this system of internal competition. It sets employees against each other, all fighting for survival.
A brilliant article last year by business writer Kurt Eichenwald in Vanity Fair predicted that stack-ranking was destroying Microsoft’s culture, causing it to lose ground to Apple, Google, and other nimbler corporations. He was right.
Unfortunately, Bill Gates imposed the same toxic methods on the nation’s public schools. He still can’t understand why stack-ranking has not produced the great results he predicted in schools nor why it has engendered a hostile response from teachers, even those who get high ratings. He can’t figure out why they prefer collaboration with their peers rather than the internal competition that is causing his company to fall behind the high-tech companies that treat their employees with respect and that build a culture of teamwork.
A reader sent this comment:
“U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued the following statement today in support of Tennessee’s decision to make changes to its teacher licensure policy:
“I want to praise Tennessee’s continuing effort to improve support and evaluation for teachers. For too long, in too many places, schools systems have hurt students by treating every teacher the same – failing to identify those who need support and those whose work deserves particular recognition. Tennessee has been a leader in developing systems that do better—and that have earned the support of a growing number of teachers. Tennessee’s new teacher licensure rules continue that effort, by ensuring that decisions on licensure are informed by multiple measures of their effectiveness in the classroom, including measures of student learning. The new system also adds reasonable safeguards to make sure any judgment about teacher performance is fair.”
“Chicago schools are in chaos, Detroit schools in chaos, Philadelphia schools may not open. What is Arne Duncan concentrating on? Promoting his good friend Mr. Huffman. Last week he was promoting his good friend Mayor Bloomberg.
“The cluelessness is just amazing. I’d say “out of touch” but that may be an understatement. They simply don’t live in the same world we do.”
A teacher explains what accountability means in North Carolina:
I argue that the validity of these test scores and results are dismal because the test itself does NOT hold students accountable (at least in my state of NC). The entire basis of the test is invalid before the students even took the test.
The only person that gets any consequence from poor test scores are teachers. No student is held back due to failing the tests (even before the Common Core exams) and every student knows this – they state it out loud in my classroom. I had a student fail EVERY assignment (many assignments were not turned in at all and if completed late could be turned for a grade) and was in the 1% on the high stakes test and STILL was promoted. the teachers now get “report cards” based on student test scores. Sure if I was responsible for these young peoples diet, bedtime, homework help and general health and education care I would be happy to be graded based on their test scores. Many students & their families do not value education in my school district, many are not getting their basic needs met and because I am employed in a very low income school district in a very backwards state I am getting a grade. My grades are average for teachers and I excel in all that I do and a highly trained leader and teacher (I have run education programs and have taught for 20 years and have received numerous awards) but none of that changes the life conditions at home. Yes if I was a poor teacher it would be worse – but even the best teachers cannot overcome the effects of ignorance, poor health and poverty. Grade me on my lessons, on my leadership , on my character and my work ethic – these are measurable items that can be assessed with fairness. But I cannot be graded based on student scores of a 4 hour test at the end of 180 day school year – the 6th graders do not care all they know is in 7 days they will be on summer break!
This retired district superintendent says that State Commissioner Kevin Huffman has not been alone in his assault on public education on Tennessee. Aside from the support if an extremist governor, he has been able to count on the silence and complicity of the education establishment.
He writes:
“I wish I could share your optimism that a grassroots groundswell will turn the tide against the privatization and corporate takeover of education in Tennessee. Unfortunately, Tennessee is the “perfect storm” for this risky experiment in greed against the children of the state. It goes beyond the culpability of the rubber stamp State Board of Education. Three organizations who should be the caretakers of reason and leaders of school improvement also share in the destruction of public schools here. Through their actions, or often inactions, they, too, should be held accountable at some point.
“First, there are the local school superintendents. I sat in meetings and watched as the cool and calculating Huffman and his TFA State Department ran roughshod over superintendents with their permission. TOSS, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (really a weak arm of the State Department rather than a real professional organization) looked very much like the Polish resistance to Germany at the onset of WWII. Better described as the “Kick Dirt and Spit Club”, this organization’s main work revolves around organizing golf tournaments and turkey shoots, rather than seriously vetting educational reforms in any serious manner. Over all, superintendents simply have not spoken out as they should against this onslaught. Frankly, I am no better in that I might have done more myself.
“Second, the Tennessee School Boards Association. This group’s leadership enjoys the thrill of hobnobbing with the powerful and elite of what passes for politics in this very red state. Since most School Boards are well meaning, but lack the knowledge and depth of analysis it takes to deal with reform, they follow the lead of TSBA, which is at best a paper tiger in the fight for public schools. A more vocal and stronger resistance is called for on this front.
“Last, there is TEA, of course- the state teachers’ union. For as long as I can remember, this organization’s main goal is keep the membership numbers up and protect ,through lengthy and costly court battles, the small minority of teachers who represent malpractice. They set the public relations stage for public opinion that the kind of reform being placed upon public schools now is needed and desired.
“This may seem harsh, but I believe this to be true. The victims, however, are the thousands of hard working educators and children who do their best each day. For their sake, I hope my pessimism is unfounded.”
As if to demonstrate their utter contempt for teachers, the Tennessee State Board of Education changed the licensure rules on a telephone conference call that was open to the public.
The vote was 6-3. Some board members said the change should be delayed because the changes were not well understood by the board.
Not all the board members agreed with voting to adopt a plan that had elements that concerned them, even with the delayed implementation.
Dr. Jean Anne Rogers of Murfreesboro suggested voting the proposal down and studying the issues “piece by piece” rather than implementing something that board members did not fully understand.
“I just have such serious concerns with a couple of the issues,” she said.
A dog was heard barking in the background of the call, although maybe it was a teacher howling in despair about the board’s unending attacks on teachers.
As a result of the changes approved by telephone meeting, teachers’ licenses will be tied to student test scores.
This is a strategy that has not produced better education anywhere but is guaranteed to produce teaching to the test and a narrowing of the curriculum.
It is not clear what will happen to the licenses of teachers and other staff who do not teach tested subjects.
Perhaps Tennessee will invest tens of millions to test everything.
We know who benefits. Not teachers or students. Testing corporations.
The changes in licensing rules was warmly endorsed by the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform. Their members take home millions of dollars in income every year, but they don’t see why teachers need to earn more than $40,000 a year unless they raise test scores. Teachers in Tennessee earn less than the secretaries of most board members of DFER.
