these photos were taken by retired Texas teacher Steve Coyle.
Archives for category: Testing
In this terrific article, you can see the beginnings of a popular uprising against the testing obsession and the rush to put public dollars into private hands.
In Texas, Republicans are paying attention, even threatening to pull the plug on testing. Rural Republicans seem set to ally with Democrats to stop the voucher movement and protect their community public schools.
Will the national Democratic Party pay attention to its base? It’s base is working people, not Wall Street. Educators, not the 1%.
NBCTs, nationwide: I’m gathering signatures for this letter of support.
You name, school, district, city , state to my email at the bottom. Thanks!
An Open letter to the Seattle Educational Community
Teachers, parents, students, school board members and the administration of Seattle Public Schools owe Garfield High School teachers their gratitude for first speaking the truth about the MAP test. Any reprimand of or negative consequences imposed by Seattle Public Schools on the truth-telling teachers of Garfield, and the teachers at many other sites who have joined them, would be unjust. These teachers should be given public commendations for rightly raising their professional concerns and specific critique of our district’s choice and misuse of the Measures of Academic Progress® [MAP] testing.
An unspoken truth is that most all Seattle Public School stakeholders already knew that the MAP test was expensive and of little practical use in supporting our students’ learning, or in evaluating their classroom teachers, before the Garfield High School teachers spoke up publicly. This view is supported by research elsewhere, and we are disappointed that those who continue to uphold using the MAP test discount this research in favor of anecdotal evidence of its efficacy.
Effective teaching and learning must utilize multiple, meaningful measures to evaluate what a student knows and can do. These measures are also critical to improve teaching practice, reflect on curriculum, and evaluate school and district-wide policies. Students who are struggling and those who have mastered skills and content should be identified and offered meaningful support to succeed and excel. But the advent of the expensive MAP test precisely coincided with a shrinking of actual classroom resources to help address whatever deficits the MAP might have helped identify. Our classroom teachers need resources (instructional assistants, special education help, supply budgets) more than they need this test.
Teachers who are struggling in the classroom should be offered useful critique and professional support. If, after due process, these teachers are unable to meet the high standards to which we hold ourselves as educators, these individuals should be removed from their teaching positions. We wish to continue to improve our district, which is already rated as one of the best in the state and nation, in its ability to serve our students. To quote Garfield High School teachers, “The MAP test is not the way to do any of these things.”
Some might argue that if MAP testing for this school year is already paid for, we should finish the year’s planned MAP testing days. Since the MAP has not proven to be useful or reliable in its given tasks, we ask Superintendent Banda to reconsider his call to wait until the end of the year for a general evaluation of all Seattle Public Schools assessments. Seattle Public Schools’ annual “operating budget” for delivering 180 days of instruction to our students this year is around $566 million; it costs over $3 million per day to operate our schools. If we end MAP testing now, millions of dollars of this year’s operating budget will be spent on school days of teaching and learning instead of on days of ineffective MAP testing.
We also believe that the process employed by Seattle Public Schools administration in accepting this testing regime was flawed. An administrative and public review of the procedures related to these kinds of important adoptions needs to be established that engages all stakeholders to help prevent unworthy, expensive, MAP-like mistakes in the future.
Sincerely,
Sooz Stahl, Ballard High School
Eric Muhs, Ballard High School
Janet Woodward, Garfield High School
Heather Snookal, Garfield High School
Mark Lovre, Garfield High School
Gerardine Carroll, Center School
Kit McCormick, Garfield High School
Taryn Coe, Ballard High School
Paul Franklin-Bihary, Ingraham High School
Alison Bishop, Sacajawea Elementary
Mary E. Bannister, Whittier Elementary
Lisa DeBurle, Pathfinder K-8
Seattle Public Schools National Board Certified Teachers
Jacob Crouch, Bothell High School, Bothell, WA
Peggy McNabb, Evergreen High School, Vancouver,WA
Diane Ball, Deer Park School District, Washington
Patricia J Smith, NBCT, Chimacum S.D., Washington
Judi Goldman, Everett School District, Everett, WA
Linda Myrick, NBCT, Bellevue
Gerald Bopp, Mt Si HS, Snoqualmie, WA
Anna Nordstrom, not currently teaching, partly because of ridiculous testing requirements, Seattle, WA
Washington State NBCTs
Kathy M Xiong, Milwaukee Public Schools
Kelly Sul, NBCT-Literacy, Delano Elementary, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL
Jacqueline Smith – Family School 32 – Yonkers Public Schools, Yonkers, NY
Kathy McCullen, NBCT Parkwood Elementary, Durham Public Schools, Durham, NC
Theo Bullock, Genesee Valley Central School, Belmont, NY
April Stockley, NBCT, West Ouachita High School, West Monroe, LA
John Minnick, Staley High School Kansas City, Missouri
Judy Bjorke, Minneapolis Public Schools, Mpls, MN
John Phillips, NBCT, Tarkington School, Chicago Public Schools
Nonie Kouneski, Minneapolis Public Schools, Mpls. Mn
Jocelyn Alexander Shaw, NBCT, Dr. King College Preparatory, Chicago, District 299
Sarada Weber, King College Prep, Chicago, Il
Amy Hirsbrunner, NBCT-Reading and Language Arts, United Arab Emirates
David Strom, NBCT, Chicago Public Schools
Mendy Heaps, Elizabeth Middle School, Elizabeth School District, Elizabeth, CO
Debbie Anderson, Hawaii State Department of Education, Hilo, Hawaii.
Aeriale N. Johnson,NBCT North Slope Borough School District, Kaktovik, AK
Beth Strong, NBCT Allen-Field School Milwaukee public schools Milwaukee, WI
Matt Prestbury East Baltimore Community School Baltimore,MD
Betsy Waters, NBCT, Calvary Baptist Church Preschool Director Lexington KY
Susan L. Adkins, NBCT (MC-Gen), Mi
Kate Lunz, Monarch High School, Louisville, CO
Eric Muhs
ericmuhs@comcast.net
The entire teaching staff at Garfield High School in Seattle voted to boycott the MAP test, on grounds that it is a waste of time and resources.
The superintendent will soon decide whether to dock their pay as a punishment. Meanwhile, the teachers have created a fund where allies can contribute to help them spread the word about their test boycott.
If the superintendent should fine the staff for their bravery, this fund will be used to help them survive whatever financial penalty he imposes. Please give whatever you can in solidarity. I did.
This just in from a reader:
Diane,
I wrote to you about this before, but this time I have the relevant contact info:
http://equalpayforequalwork.blogspot.com/2013/02/tell-teachers-retirement-fund-to-divest.html
As the teachers rebellion against standardized testing grows, it’s time to flex our real muscle: tell the teachers’ retirement system to take our money OUT of standardized testing companies.
The retirement fund just recently set a precedent by divesting from gun companies, but corporate backed education reform is threatening the very existence of public education by buying politicians and policies that benefit Wall Street at the expense of our kids.
We need to make sure they aren’t using our money to kill our jobs and our schools. I’m providing contact information for California, but if you post other states in the comments, I’ll be glad to add that to the post itself in updates.
In California, you can contact CALSTRS, our retirement system at http://www.calstrs.com/contact…
800-228-5453 • 916-414-5040 (Fax)
P. O. Box 15275
Sacramento, CA 95851-0275
Feel free to use or modify this brief message:
As a member of CalSTRS, I ask that since you have divested from companies whose guns kill students and teachers, you also divest from the corporations pushing education “reform” that are killing public education so they can cannibalize the corpse.
Start with those pushing endless repetitive high stakes testing, like Pearson, ETS, and McGraw Hill.
As an educator, I do not want to invest in businesses that corrupt our public education policy for the financial gain of a few.
I look forward to hearing your plan of action on this.
You can also tell your union to demand that CalSTRS divest from corporate education reform companies, starting with testing companies. Just change the first line of the message to add:
As a member of CFT (or CTA) I ask that since CalSTRS has divested from companies whose guns kill students and teachers, I ask that you direct CalSTRS to also divest from the corporations pushing education “reform” that are killing public education so they can cannibalize the corpse.
Start with those pushing endless repetitive high stakes testing, like Pearson, ETS, and McGraw Hill.
As an educator, I do not want to invest in businesses that corrupt our public education policy for the financial gain of a few.
I look forward to hearing your plan of action on this.
In the AFT, you can contact the president of the K-12 council,
Gary Ravani
K-12 Council President
cfteck12@aol.com
Administrative Office
California Federation of Teachers
2550 North Hollywood Way, Suite 400
Burbank, CA 91505
818-843-8226, Fax 818-843-4662If you are in CFT but not a K-12 teacher, contact:
Joshua Pechthalt, President
jpechthalt@cft.org
In the CTA:
President Dean Vogel
E-mail: dvogel@cta.org
P.O. Box 921
1705 Murchison Drive
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921
Phone: (650) 552-5307
FAX: (650) 552-5007
Check back later for a proposal on what we could do WITHOUT testing companies that would also save states a lot of money.
Read how Superintendent John Kuhn said, “There are 5 million kids in Texas waiting for this legislature to keep our forefather’s promises, and to those who want to take away that promise, I’m with the moms and the trustees and local business people who will say what brave Texans have said before, come and take it. Just try to kill that promise of our Constitution.”
Read how State Senator Kirk Watson said, “The verdict is in, and it says the Texas school system is inadequate, unfair and isn’t even constitutional,”
Read how Former State Commissioner of Education Robert Scott said that some people think that the $488 million contract to Pearson was , “the tail wagging the dog…. [but] I don’t. I look at it as the flea at the end of the tail of the dog trying to wag the dog.”
He said, “I had to turn in my reformer card because I looked at it as a flea circus,” he said. “They are selling two ideas and two ideas only: No. 1, your schools are failing, and No. 2, if you give us billions of dollars, we can convince you [of] the first thing we just told you.”
And I said, among other things, “The testing vampire started here,” meaning NCLB. “Kill it.”
Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in a wonderful rally for “Save Texas Schools” in Austin.
It was a beautiful, clear, crisp spring day, and a great day to be outdoors with thousands of students, parents, and educators.
The city closed the main street leading to the Capitol, and the marchers stepped cheerfully along the dozen or so blocks and massed in front of that majestic building.
There were thousands of marchers. I am no good at crowd estimates but I would guess this one was more than 10,000, there was a wonderful marching band from a Houston high school, bedecked in their beautiful blue uniforms. They were accompanied by a few dozen cheerleaders in spangled tights. There were drummers and singers.
And what a magnificent display of handwritten signs!
Two years ago, the legislature cut the public schools by $5.4 billion, while managing to find nearly $500 million for Pearson. Meanwhile, charters are expanding, and State Senator Dan Patrick wants vouchers. Turns out the state actually has a surplus of more than $8 billion, but there’s no talk of restoring the cuts. The current test regime is called STAAR, the latest in a long line of acronyms. Texas now requires students to pass 15 tests to graduate, the most of any state.
Thus the signs:
A student from Houston held up her handmade “Puppets of Pearson.”
Another: “Money for schools, not fools.”
“”STOP overtesting our students.”
“Our schools, our kids, our future.”
“Kids are more than test scores.”
“STAAR has gone too far.”
“”Your STAAR does not shine.”
“Education is a public good, not an opportunity for corporate gain. Stop privatization.”
“Are you looking out for just your child or all children.”
“Flunk Perry.”
“No STAAR. We need a Supernova.”
“Invest in Schools, not prisons.”
“Education is a right. Not just for the rich.”
“Can the legislature pass the tests?”
“We’ll remember in November.”
“No higher priority for surplus than our children.”
“Our schools are not broken. They are broke.”
“4-Star Education, Not STAAR-Driven Education.”
“I am a parent, and I vote.”
“Don’t mess with Texas children.”
Most impressive was the energy and enthusiasm of the students. They cheered their teachers and their schools. They created a sense of energy that enlivened the day.
Superintendent John Kuhn was electrifying as he spoke about the dedication and selflessness of educators.
An articulate Superintendent Mary Ann Whittaker described how her schools had taken down the banners exhorting the students to work harder for the tests and instead were emphasizing the arts and creativity.
A Baptist preacher, Dr. Frederick Haynes, brought roars from the crowd when he said, “Educate children now, so you won’t incarcerate them later.”
Former Commissioner Robert Scott explained why he could no longer support the high-stakes regime over which he was presiding.
There was much more, but the bottom line was that parents, students, educators, and others concerned about the schools joined to support them in a spirit of joy, commitment and energy.
It was a well-planned thrilling event.
Allen Weeks, the director of Save Our Schools, put together a tremendous show that displayed the energy that is ready to be tapped to change the conversation, not only in Texas, but across the nation.
You might want to reach out and get some tips from him about how to organize similar events in your state Capitol. The only way to beat Big Money is with big numbers of informed voters.
AWeeks@austinvoices.org
If you answered yes, click on this website that is fighting the testing madness in the schools.
Share your stories, and you can even order a bumper sticker.
Encourage other teachers and parents to let the world know they their children are tested to despair.
This is a letter from a kindergarten teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada, to her state legislators. Nevada has the lowest graduation rate in the nation, lower even than the District of Columbia. As she explains in her post, the schools of Las Vegas are underfunded, and the needs of the children are huge. Please read and remember: Everything you need about school reform may be learned from a kindergarten teacher.
The session has begun and I’m worried. What worries me?
FUNDING
Money. People say money should not matter in education but it does. Money buys stuff and staff. Bottom line: Schools are an expenditure. You get what you pay for.
There is a public school funding unfairness in the state – the Nevada Plan. Frankly, Vegas money needs to stay in Vegas. Our children and public schools need the money. I don’t want to see other schools in Nevada starve, but it’s only fair that the tax dollars made with the labor in my community come back the the families and children in my community. We are last in funding in a state last in funding. And we pay everyone else’s bills?
85% of the total state revenue comes from Vegas. 75% of Nevada’s students and teachers live in Vegas. Only 50% of the general fund comes back to Vegas schools. There is something very unfair about this formula.
Isn’t a student in Vegas worth just as much as a student in Eureaka?
REFORM
I’m worried about the scary reform movement. I have had 6 principals in 12 years, 6 reading programs, 3 math programs, taught 3 different grade levels, and taught at 3 different schools. Reform implies that teachers are not willing to change or are stuck in bad habits. Frankly, I have whiplash.
Screaming reform at 17,000+ teachers in Vegas who experience constant change is …. Ridiculous. Our community only has 50% of the teachers it had 5 years ago anyhow. In a profession with high turnover – in a community as transient as Vegas – who are you demanding reform from? The few that are left? Dumb and a waste of time.
We need security, retention, and better working conditions. Some consistency and balance would be nice. I would like to see some work to KEEP good teachers because we are driving them off.
STANDARDIZED TESTS
25 years ago … During my undergraduate studies the professor who was teaching me about tests said this: Standardized tests are racially and culturally biased. Nothing has changed.
He also said: Be careful what you assess because it will drive your instruction. When we place such high pressure on standardized test scores – we are going to force everyone to teach to the test.
What if the test will not get students ready for life or academic success? A, B, C, D multiple choice questions are not measuring authentic life skills. We all know people who test well who lack skills in other areas.
Currently, I spend 75% of my instructional time testing or preparing for testing. My students are 5 years old and I only see them 2 hours a day. It’s too much. I’m not even teaching anymore.
I’m wondering why my community that is predominantly minority insists on testing our children with biased standardized assessments? Traditionally – these tests have been unfair to minority groups.
We are basing how our students are doing based SOLELY on this kind of assessment. There is no balance in this. Teachers will be evaluated ONLY on these scores and this is fair? We will turnaround our schools, develop charters, and sell more schools to Edison because of these biased scores?
States that have been using these standardized tests for years are now moving to OUTLAW their use at all. Standardized tests do not test higher level thinking skills. Real life skill is not measured by them. Innovation, invention, synthesis, analysis, and creativty are not measured by these types of tests.
There is no balance when you place so much pressure on one type of assessment.
Something is wrong when you can tell how many schools will be privatized by test scores -and you can also predict scores based on race.
Sadly race and poverty are brothers and sisters.
POVERTY
The research says: Household income is the leading indicator of how well students will do academically.
My students are poor. I have homeless students. I have a revolving door. Four students did not come back after winter break – they just disappeared. This is normal. My school has a 75% turnover. My school has a high ELL population. My school has 85% free and reduced lunch students.
Guess what? My school has NOT qualified for TITLE funds because there are so many other schools in the district that are at 95% to 100%. I guess my school is considered normal in Vegas.
Teachers are rowing the boat as fast as we can – but the boat has a hole!
CORPORATIONS
While I’m busy tutoring, furthering my education, and working — the wolf has been in the hen house!
I’m calling out the wolf!
Charter school corporations do no better than public schools. They do not take the high needs students. They are not regulated like public schools. They are resegregating our population by race and interest – sometimes religious interest. Tax payer funds are being misused. Yep – misused. Charters are more expensive and with few exceptions no more effective than public schools. This charter experiment is failing across the nation. Nevada does not need to participate in this movement until it proves to be working someplace.
Using tax payer money to fund someone fancy smancy private school idea aka charter schools – is no good.
Now there is legislation to “empower” parents to pull the trigger and turn their neighborhood school into a charter? I can think of so many different ways to empower parents. Killing public schools is a horrible mistake.
Edison claimed it would make money and fix failing schools. It hasn’t. It won’t. Yet these corporate hybrids expand and continue to receive additional money. Someone is making money – not students or teachers. From my point of view, Edison is an investment scam. Joke on the tax payer.
Giving money to a corporation to run a school – is money that is not spent on kids.
Teach for America claims it will give our schools the best and brightest to teach at-risk for two or three years. TFA come untrained and are placed in the hardest areas and expected to know after 6 weeks of intense training what to do? What could go wrong? I guess this is why so few make it through the first year and it’s a very rare person who stays in the classroom for a career. Tourist teachers?
Inexperienced and untrained teachers – are not worth the three or four times the money it will take to hire through TFA.
Elaine Wynn spent A LOT of her own money and her friend’s money to obtain some board seats for TFA friendly board members. I would question – WHY?
The New Teacher Project is a Michelle Rhee non-profit. Michelle Rhee controlled her students with duct tape when she had her own classroom. Then she became an adminstrator who fired teachers on TV. Now she makes money telling governors how to unionbust and get rid of veteran teachers. Students First lurks around waiting for opportunities in Nevada. They invested heavily in campaigns – for extreme conservatives.
I’m not sure why people listen to this foul Rhee woman or any of her banter? She is cruel and making money. Not unlike Ann Coulter.
These privatizing vultures all have one thing in common – promises they can NOT keep because it’s quick fixes and not research based. And they are earning a lot of money. I’m not a fan of privatizing or spending money on someone or a corporation which is NOT effective.
To get at those education dollars — we need our schools and kids to appear to fail right?
FAILING
Someone explain to me please why Nevada needs a High School Math Proficiency Test that is the third hardest in the nation?
We fund last in the nation – but expect our children to test at the highest levels? Then scream because a high number drop out or do not receive a diploma?
It’s a known fact that you can graduate just fine with a Nevada education – you just need to move to another state your senior year if you can NOT pass the math proficiency. We export our seniors?
We fail most of our kids and no one is questioning the RIGOR of the test? I’m questioning the actual validity of every measurement tool I’ve seen. The tests are — BAD tests.
I’ve challenged every school board member to take the math proficiency – and pass. No takers yet.
The “math” proficiency is actually a very technical reading test – word problems. Statistics, proabability, algebra, geometry – all couched in word problems.
Why would this be a problem? 60,000 language learners? Do you think the large number of kids who are not receiving a diploma are primarily second language students who fail the so-called “math” test which is actually a reading English test? It is not adminstered in Spanish.
EARLY INTERVENTION
Speaking of failing ….
My students fail on the first day of school. Yep. Kindergarten. My students are two to three years behind the nation on the first day of their public school experience. Before the public school teacher ever sees the child – they are behind the nation.
Kindergarten is not mandatory in Nevada. Vegas still has a large number of half day Kindergarten programs. We are supposed to compete with the rest of the nation that invests in early intervention and compete with parents who are placing their children in preschool at age two?
30% of Kindergarten students fail. And go to first grade. They are behind and stay behind. At-risk kids in half day programs, class sizes between 30 to 40, racing to catch-up to the nation who began 3 years ago.
We aren’t failing them in high school; Kids fail before the public schools even know their name.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
60,000 identified ELL students. “Identified” because this depends on self identifying when parents enroll their child. For whatever reason, parents may or may not check the right box on the form.
I have a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language. Research shows it takes students 5 to 10 years to develop the academic language ability to be successful. We are not supporting students so it might even be longer.
Studies show that it would take $175 million to support our language learning students in Vegas properly. $50 million would be the bare minimum.
I’ll say it — $14 million? $10 million? I guess if your name is Sandoval you don’t want to be the only Governor with a significant number of ELL students and give them NOTHING.
Our kids have real needs that are not being met.
MISSION STATEMENT
The reason the business model fails public schools is — mission statement.
Business is about making money – the mission statement is about the bottom line.
Public schools are about helping citizens – all people, the mission statement is about a literate democracy.
Public schools are always going to be an expenditure and investment.
When we try to use only data and scores from a biased measuring tool to evaluate our students and teachers like a business – we will get a privatizing business result.
My students are more than a test score. I am more than a collection of their test scores. My craft is an art more than a science. Hard to measure but still valuable. Learning will still take place in my classroom – even if I never give another test.
POWER
Teachers have very little power. All I have is e-mail. I have worked non-stop since the last legislative session to get to know as many legislators as I could and educate my community. I’m the alarm in my own frenzied way
I’m worried.
I see too much willingness to sell our public schools instead of invest in them. We are giving money to snake oil salesmen instead of getting it to the classroom and kids. It’s wasting our precious limited funds.
I believe we are damaging our kids with excessive data collection and testing. We are failing everyone and I’m questioning this – WHY?
I’m worried about disadvantaged kids.
I’m worried about money. I don’t understand why I live in a state that is so rich in money and gold — and we can’t even fund our schools? What does this say about my state?
And I’m worried about Democrats. Yep. It was Democrats last session who did the damage. Why do Democrats follow the extreme right wing logic when it comes to public schools? Stand Up. We believe in a free public education for everyone. It’s worth protecting and fighting for.
We aren’t here to collect money for our next election by selling public schools down the river in a canoe with a hole and a frantic screaming kindergarten teacher!
Do what is right this time around.
Angie Sullivan
Michael Moore, a literacy professor in Georgia, thinks that the state has more tests than it needs already. Where will it get the money for the new Common Core assessments. Moore quotes Peter DeWitt on this blog to make his point. He writes:
“Peter Dewitt, an elementary principal writing in Diane Ravitch’s blog, notes that “we lack the infrastructure to be testing factories, and that shouldn’t be our job in the first place.” Lawmakers, though, face increased lobbying from the same old test makers, Pearson, ETS and, the maker of Georgia’s tests, McGraw Hill. These companies stand to make fortunes on the assessments.”
The word is spreading. The public’s dollars should be spent on instruction, on reducing class size, on hiring guidance counselors and teachers of the arts. Not on more and more testing.
