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Arizona Plan to Increase Inequality

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2013 //
12

Governor Jan Brewer has an idea.

It is a bad idea.

Someone please explain it to her.

She wants all schools to start with the same base funding (perhaps lower than what they have now). Then to give bonuses to schools that get an A or B!

As this blogger, David Safier, explains, the schools that get high marks are likely to be the school serving the students from affluent families.

Governor Brewer’s plan will increase inequity in funding and drag down poor kids whose schools need more staff and more resources. It will reinforce the Matthew Effect where those who have get more, and those who have not get less.

Safier proposes a way to make performance bonuses equitable, by factoring in family income.

Personally, I oppose funding schools in relation to their test scores because the tests are far too unreliable to carry that burden. And the more pressure you put on test scores, the less valid are they as measures because of the amount of time that will be squandered on test prep.

Really, someone on the governor’s staff should explain to her that there is quite a lot of research showing that bonuses tied to test scores do not produce higher test scores, although they often produce cheating and narrowing of the curriculum.

Categories ALEC, Budget Cuts, Corporate Reformers, Merit pay, Poverty, Testing

Take Two Kids

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2013 //
8

News from the Equity Center of Texas about the state’s unjust accountability system:

The EC Xpress

January 22, 2013 • An Equity Center Publication • Volume 4, Number 3

Take Two Kids…

Take two children. Dress one in street clothes and work boots. Dress the other child in competition track gear with the finest track shoes; give him starting blocks, more coaching; put him on a fast all- weather lane to run his race. Give the first child a lane that is uneven and difficult to navigate; then move him 10 yards behind the starting line. Start the race with a gunshot, photograph the finish, and publish the photo in the newspaper for everyone to see.

This is exactly what our state accountability system has always done and continues to do today. Grades are being assigned to school districts all across the state and anti-public school people are pointing to the child with all of the disadvantages and saying, “See, our public schools are failing.”

The truth is no race can be competitively run, nor accurately called, when the race is not fair to begin with. We would never tolerate such things at a district track meet, yet we do tolerate it when it comes to the most important thing schools do. And it is time for it to stop.

Legislators must either level the playing field with the same revenue at the same tax rates so all children have an equal chance to rise to their fullest academic potential—or change the accountability system to account for the disparity in funding.

We learned last week that one school district has set out to make a change. John Kuhn, Superintendent Perrin-Whitt CISD, shared a resolution that was recently adopted by his Board. The resolution points out that no matter if a school is high-funded or low-funded, they are all held to the same academic standards in the accountability system and the system fails to acknowledge the funding differences that exist among the school systems.

It also states, “Texas citizens deserve not only an honest accounting of schools’ performance but also an honest accounting of the Legislature’s fiscal support of schools as schools strive toward the state’s own goals.”

The resolutions calls on the Legislature to “tie the school funding system in Texas directly and transparently to the school accountability system in Texas, in order to develop a shared accountability system that holds funders no less accountable for their actions than it holds teachers and students for theirs. It also resolves that schools with scarcer resources achieve identical levels of academic performance as schools blessed by the state with disproportionate funding.

We are reminded of Margaret Mead, who once said, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” We could not agree more. We want to encourage all of you to be a part of the change movement and take a moment to view the sample resolution (based on PWCISD’s) that we have attached to the original email. This is yet another step in a very long process, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Categories Accountability, Testing, Texas

We Will Help the Garfield Teachers

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2013 //
59

I was interviewed today by a Seattle radio reporter who said that the teachers who refused to give the MAP test may be fined 10 days pay.

I told him they were acting in the finest tradition of American resistance to unjust authority. I mentioned Thoreau and King as Americans who blazed the trail of resisting injustice. King taught us the power of collective action. He taught us that unity of large numbers of people can defeat money and political power.

There are two ways the Garfield teachers can win.

One is if teachers at every other school in Seattle join them. In unity is strength.

Second, if they are fined, I will personally lead a campaign to raise money to make up what they lose. I urge the Garfield teachers and their friends to open a bank account. I will gladly make the first contribution.

Categories Teachers and Teaching, Testing, Washington State

Is the Tide Turning?

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2013 //
11

The Journey for Justice brought civil rights activists from across the nation to Washington, D.C., where they presented their demands to Secretary Duncan.

This is an important development because until now the leaders of the corporate reform movement have called themselves leaders of the “civil rights issue of our times.” This phrase has been bandied about by Joel Klein, Condoleeza Rice, Mitt Romney, Michelle Rhee, Michael Bloomberg, and Arne Duncan, as they applaud the closing of schools in minority communities, attack unions, and privatize public schools.

Now grassroots activists are speaking out in defense of their schools and communities. They are reclaiming the leadership of the civil rights from the 1%. Add to this the determination of the Garfield teachers in Seattle, the student protests in Portland, Oregon, and Providence, Rhode Island.

Something is in the air. Teachers, students. school boards, and parents are beginning to see what is happening, to understand that what is happening in their community is not a local issue but a determined, coordinated effort to privatize their schools.

Spring is coming.

Here is a first-hand account of the events associated with the Journey for Justice:

1/30/13
Dear SOS,
Many activists went to Washington, DC on a “Journey for Justice” to protest the school closings that are targeting our minority students living in impoverished communities.
Hear what transpired and be inspired.

This email came from Jaisal Noor- his coverage of the day

“Parents and Students Demand Nationwide Moratorium on Schools Closings
//”Journey for Justice” activists rally in DC to DOE investigate alleged Civil Rights violations in school closings
link: http://youtu.be/pCGrkb1qc7o

Chicago Parent and Activist Jitu Brown at “Journey for Justice” Hearing in DC
//Part 2 of TRN’s coverage of the “Journey for Justice” DOE Hearing on School Closings
link: http://youtu.be/1PX7y9-GWzI

New Orleans Parent and Activist Karran Harper Royal at “Journey for Justice” Hearing in DC
//Part 3 of TRN’s coverage of the “Journey for Justice” DOE Hearing on School Closings
link: http://youtu.be/c00PWQl8wLk

JAISAL NOOR: PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS AND STUDENTS FROM 18 CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY GATHERED IN WASHINGTON, DC THIS WEEK TO DEMAND A NATIONWIDE MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS.
FEDERAL PROGRAMS LIKE RACE TO THE TOP OFFERED FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO CITIES AND STATES FOR RADICALLY CHANGING THEIR SCHOOLS, INCLUDING FIRING STAFF AND SHUTTING SCHOOLS DOWN. WHILE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TOUTED THE COMPETITIVE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PROGRAM AS A WAY TO IMPROVE EDUCATION AND BETTER PREPARE STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE AND THE WORKFORCE, MANY PARENTS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS SAY THE CHANGES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTING LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.

(CLIP HELEN MOORE) “I came here to demand, I am demanding an education for our children. We pay the money, we have a right to have our kids educated”

THAT’S HELEN MOORE, A DETROIT EDUCATION ACTIVIST. SHE WAS ONE OF HUNDREDS WHO ATTENDED A HEARING TUESDAY IN WASHINGTON DC CALLING FOR A NATIONAL MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS. BROWN WAS PART OF A GROUP THAT FILED A TITLE VI CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT LAST SUMMER CHALLENGING THE POLICIES. SHE SAYS SCHOOL CLOSINGS IN DETROIT, A CITY ALREADY MARKED BY HIGH RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT, VACANT HOUSES AND FORECLOSURES, ARE DESTABILIZING THE COMMUNITY.

(CLIP HELEN MOORE) “The neighborhood start going down as the families start moving out. They don;t want to be told what school to go to because there is no other school.

WHEN A SCHOOL IS CLOSED, THE STUDENT POPULATION OFTEN HAS TO TRAVEL TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL BUILDING OR RE-APPLY TO GO BACK TO THEIR SCHOOL. ADDITIONALLY, THE STAFF IS OFTEN REPLACED AND RESOURCES ARE REGULARLY CUT, SOMETIMES IN FAVOR OF A CHARTER SCHOOL THAT IS OPENED IN THE SAME BUILDING.

SETH GALANTER IS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS. HE SAID THEY ARE INVESTIGATING PEOPLE’S CONCERNS AND THE 6 TITLE VI COMPLAINTS THAT WERE FILED:

(CLIP SETH GALANTER)” When we look at these things, i need to emphasize, we cannot deal with every harmful decision that happens. sometimes people are negatively affected, but that doesn’t mean civil rights violation. THe question we are asking is if there’s an intent to discriminate or decision to make an illegal closing. Not only investigate weather to close schools, which schools to close, and how these decision impacted and affect on students. ”

AFTER THE HEARING, HUNDREDS OF PARENTS AND STUDENTS MARCHED TO THE MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL FOR A RALLY, CONTINUING THEIR CALL FOR JUSTICE. JOEL VELASQUEZ , A PARENT FROM OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA SAYS HE FOUGHT PLANS TO SHUT HIS SON’S SCHOOL BY LEADING A 3-WEEK LONG SIT-IN AT LAKEVIEW ELEMENTARY.

(CLIP JOEL VELASQUEZ) “After a year of trying to meet with officials, superintendent, we were left with no options, we took our school back. ”

HE WAS JOINED AT THE RALLY BY OAKLAND EDUCATOR AND ACTIVIST MIKE HUTCHINSON WHO SAYS SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND INCREASED CHARTER SCHOOLS ONLY TARGET THE CITY’S LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES

(CLIP HUTCHINSON) “If you look at a map of Oakland, we have the flatlands and the hills. In the flatlands, which are less affluent, that’s where all the school closures have happened, thats where all the charters are. There are no school closures and charters in the hills. If charter schools and school closures are the best option I would expect them to be applied across the board, but I haven’t seen that happen”

A DELEGATION FROM NEW ORLEANS, THE CITY WITH THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY, ALSO TRAVELED TO DC. STUDENT TERREL MAJOR SAYS HIS PUBLIC SCHOOL GETS LESS RESOURCES THAN THE CHARTER SCHOOL THAT SHARES THE SAME BUILDING.

(CLIP TERREL MAJOR)”Like when the storm Issac came, after we came back from the storm, – their side of the cafeteria- we sit on different sides, their side of the cafeteria and our side was damaged for weeks. It made me feel lesser than, that I didn’t really matter in our own school.”

MAJOR CALLS THAT DISCRIMINATION. DESPITE THE CHALLENGES, SOME ARE ENCOURAGED BY THE GROWING GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT AGAINST SCHOOL CLOSINGS, INCLUDING NEW ORLEANS PARENT AND ACTIVIST KARRAN HARPER ROYAL.

(CLIP KARRAN HARPER ROYAL) I think we are at a turning point because there are people organizing around the country. In Seattle its testing, we are organizing around school closures, there are teachers organizing around evaluation systems. We are at a critical point because we are not getting the desired outcomes. ”

IN ADDITION TO A NATIONWIDE MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS, ACTIVISTS ARE CALLING FOR SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION, INCREASED RESOURCES AND A COMMUNITY-BASED INPUT PROCESS . ORGANIZERS HAVE VOWED TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON IF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DOES NOT TAKE ACTION. REPORTING FOR THE REAL NEWS AND FSRN, THIS IS JAISAL NOOR IN WASHINGTON.”

—

Melody
Colorado Information Coordinator
Save Our Schools
saveourschoolsmarch.org
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/285175064843594/

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Parents, Privatization, Students, Testing, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. education, Unions

Seattle Parents Support Test Boycott

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2013 //
21

A Seattle parent explains why the Garfield teachers have the support of parents like herself.

Hi everyone,

For his first school-library experience in kindergarten, my five-year-old son was not allowed to check out a book. Instead he was placed in front of a computer with a set of headphones and told to take a test for an hour.

That was my family’s introduction to the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®), a computerized, adaptive test for math and English, administered to Seattle public school children in grades K-9, three times a year since 2009.

Seattle parents were told the test would help teachers inform instruction and lead to personalized teaching for our children. Instead, it has cost our schools weeks in lost class-time and library access, reams of administrative busy work, and as much as $11 million in scarce district funding. It has also proven to be an unreliable tool, and one which our district is seriously misusing.

Seattle public school children are already fed a veritable alphabet soup of tests, beginning in kindergarten – MAP®, MSP, EOC, HSPE, SAT, ACT, and now, tests tied to the Common Core State Standards.

So when the teachers at one of Seattle’s most highly respected schools, Garfield High School, made national news on Jan. 10 by announcing that they will no longer administer the MAP® test, I applauded their courageous act.

Here’s why:

In 2010, a small group of Seattle parents met with the school district’s test administrators. We wanted to know more about this new test. Why did our children have to take it so often, and at such an early age? Was it intended to take so long? Did the district know that libraries were monopolized by MAP-testing for weeks at a time?

We were told that MAP® should take an hour, but kids may take longer; that it is not well suited for kids in grades K-2 because of their limited reading and computer skills; that advanced learners tend to hit the ceiling so it was of limited use for them; and yes, 40 percent of our school libraries were rendered off-limits three times a year because of MAP®.

I also learned that MAP® is not appropriate for English Language Learners or children with special needs, and that the margin of error in 9th grade exceeds the potential margin of growth.

Above all, the test is not aligned to our district’s curriculum, so it is not a relevant or meaningful assessment tool. This is the main – and legitimate – grievance of the Seattle teachers who oppose it, and a good reason for parents to object to it as well.

In fact, almost from the beginning, parents have reported bewildering swings in their children’s MAP® scores. Then in 2012, the vendor, Northwest Evaluation Association, Inc., announced a “recalibration.” It retroactively recalculated Seattle student test scores for three years, changing some by as much as 20 points. Parents jammed the district web site trying to find out what had happened to their children’s scores.

In Seattle, MAP® has morphed into an all-purpose, arbitrary gauge of most everything. The district is using it to determine eligibility for advanced learning programs, to screen fifth-graders for math placement in middle school, and now, in an apparent bait and switch, to evaluate teachers, a purpose for which even vendor, NWEA, has said it is not designed.

MAP® in Seattle has effectively become a high-stakes test.

Endless testing is not the education experience I want for my children, and that is why I have opted my children out of MAP® for the past three years. I want them to become critical and creative thinkers, not subservient test-takers. I don’t want my children or their teachers shackled to a faulty testing product, or any standardized test, for that matter. That is why I support the Garfield teachers. That is why parents and teachers are saying: Enough – and opt out!

Sue Peters is a Seattle Public Schools parent, a founding member of Parents Across America, and the co-founding editor of the Seattle Education Blog.

Categories Parents, Teachers and Teaching, Testing, Washington State

Providence (RI) Students’ Press Release Against Test Misuse

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2013 //
2

PRESS RELEASE

January 30, 2013 | *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

CONTACT: Aaron Regunberg | Aaron@ProvidenceStudentUnion.org | 847-809-6039 (cell)

STUDENTS CALL ON GOVERNOR TO STOP HIGH-STAKES TESTING POLICY

Providence, Rhode Island – January 30, 2013 – Public high school students, teachers, and other community members staged a press conference today to protest Rhode Island’s new high-stakes testing graduation requirement, calling on Governor Chafee to end a policy they described as unjust and ineffective.

“We are here today to explain why we believe this graduation requirement will do nothing to improve the quality of our schools or our education,” said Priscilla Rivera, a member of the youth organization the Providence Student Union (PSU) and a junior at Hope High School. “Instead, it will cause real harm to the lives of many students like me.”

Starting with the class of 2014, Rhode Island’s new policy requires students to score at least “partially proficient” on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) in order to graduate from high school. Students stressed the widespread implications this policy could have, pointing out that last year, 44 percent of all students across the state did not score high enough on the NECAP to have graduated under the current requirement. Seventy-one percent of black students and 70 percent of Latino students in Rhode Island did not score high enough last year to have graduated, and in Providence, 86 percent of students with disabilities in Individualized Education Programs and 94 percent of students with limited English proficiencies would not have graduated.

“We believe in high expectations,” said Kelvis Hernandez, another PSU member. “We believe that we should graduate with a high-quality education. But this policy is not the right way. Punishing students—particularly those who haven’t had the opportunity to receive the great education we deserve—is neither effective nor just. It is ineffective because we have spent 10, 11, or 12 years in schools that are underfunded, under-resourced, and unable to give us the support we need to do well on the NECAP. And it is unjust because the students who have received this inadequate support are the ones being put on trial.”

Speakers at the press conference also pointed to other harmful effects of high-stakes testing. “Test prep is not what we mean when we say education,” said Dawn Gioello, a family member attending the press conference in support of her niece. “I want my niece to be going to school to learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to become a young woman with the confidence and abilities to succeed in college and her career. I don’t want her to go to school to get really good at taking this one test so that she will be able to graduate. I don’t want her whole school experience—her curriculum, her class work, her time after school—to become dedicated to drilling for one exam when she will need so much more than that to achieve her dreams in life.”

“What’s even worse,” added Tamargejae Paris, a junior in high school and a member of PSU, “the NECAP was not designed to be used as a high-stakes test. The makers of the NECAP themselves have said that the test should not be used as a graduation requirement.”

After delivering hundreds of messages to the Governor’s office in opposition to this policy, students called on Governor Chafee to support them. “In just one week, the results of this year’s NECAP test will be released,” said Kelvis Hernandez. “It’s our hope that everyone in Rhode Island passes. But it’s more likely that thousands of students will not score high enough to pass this graduation requirement, particularly among the state’s most vulnerable populations—English Language Learners, students with disabilities, students of color, and low-income students. Will you support this policy that takes away so many of our futures? Or will you join us in calling on the Board of Education—whose members you nominate—to end this discriminatory and misguided graduation requirement? We hope you’ll make the right decision.”

###

Categories Accountability, Students, Testing

Breaking News: Students in Providence Oppose High-Stakes Testing

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2013 //
3

Yesterday it was students in Portland, Oregon, today it’s students in Providence, Rhode Island.

The students in Providence have called on Governor Lincoln Chafee to stop the new high-states tests.

The students warn that huge numbers of students with disabilities, English language learners, and minority youth will not get a diploma. They blame these results on years of underfunded schools that did not provide the support that students need.

Here is an excerpt from the story:

“We are here today to explain why we believe this graduation requirement will do nothing to improve the quality of our schools or our education,” said Priscilla Rivera, a member of the youth organization the Providence Student Union (PSU) and a junior at Hope High School. “Instead, it will cause real harm to the lives of many students like me.”

Starting with the class of 2014, Rhode Island’s new policy requires students to score at least “partially proficient” on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) in order to graduate from high school. Students stressed the widespread implications this policy could have, pointing out that last year, 44 percent of all students across the state did not score high enough on the NECAP to have graduated under the current requirement. Seventy-one percent of black students and 70 percent of Latino students in Rhode Island did not score high enough last year to have graduated, and in Providence, 86 percent of students with disabilities in Individualized Education Programs and 94 percent of students with limited English proficiencies would not have graduated.

“We believe in high expectations,” said Kelvis Hernandez, another PSU member. “We believe that we should graduate with a high-quality education. But this policy is not the right way. Punishing students—particularly those who haven’t had the opportunity to receive the great education we deserve—is neither effective nor just. It is ineffective because we have spent 10, 11, or 12 years in schools that are underfunded, under-resourced, and unable to give us the support we need to do well on the NECAP. And it is unjust because the students who have received this inadequate support are the ones being put on trial.”

“Speakers at the press conference also pointed to other harmful effects of high-stakes testing. “Test prep is not what we mean when we say education,” said Dawn Gioello, a family member attending the press conference in support of her niece. “I want my niece to be going to school to learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to become a young woman with the confidence and abilities to succeed in college and her career. I don’t want her to go to school to get really good at taking this one test so that she will be able to graduate. I don’t want her whole school experience—her curriculum, her class work, her time after school—to become dedicated to drilling for one exam when she will need so much more than that to achieve her dreams in life.”

“What’s even worse,” added Tamargejae Paris, a junior in high school and a member of PSU, “the NECAP was not designed to be used as a high-stakes test. The makers of the NECAP themselves have said that the test should not be used as a graduation requirement.”

Why do students make more sense than policymakers in Washington and the state capitals?

Students in Providence: Take a tip from students in Portland: Boycott the tests.

Categories Accountability, Students, Testing

Reader: How I Scored the FCAT Tests

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2013 //
8

A reader explains what happened when she was hired to score the FCAT:

 

My first job out of college in 2001 was scoring 8th grade FCAT essays. We made $10/hour in a small office building in Arizona, and we churned out scored tests like Big Macs.

Sometimes the bossmen would test our overall consistency by having us score the same writing sample. One of these samples blew me away with its creativity and control of language. It had definite boy’s handwriting and was written in one solid block of text with almost a full blank page left over. Handwriting, paragraphs, and length weren’t supposed to matter according to the rubric, but half of the scorers gave the paper the lowest score. The sample paper was supposed to have received the highest score (6), but it ended up receiving every possible score.

I still don’t understand why we hate children so much in this country.

Categories Education Industry, Florida, Testing

Good News! Students in Portland, Oregon, Are Speaking Out

By dianeravitch
January 30, 2013 //
11

High school students in Portland, Oregon, are organizing to fight high-stakes testing.

From their statement:

“The PPS and Portland Student Unions will be teaming up in organizing an Opt-Out Campaign in which students are encouraged to opt-out of taking their standardized OAKS tests. The Student Unions want to send a strong message against to the standardized testing system as we believe that standardized tests scores are an inaccurate depiction of a student’s knowledge, have an extremely high correlation to a student’s family’s income, have a high correlation with race, are expensive, and in all are taking up class time that we could use learning things that are more applicable to our lives, as well as be developing better relationships with our teachers and peers.”

How come they know more than Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, and their own state legislature?

When you add the teachers’ protest at Garfield High and the school boards’ protest in Texas and the demands by civil rights groups to stop closing their schools and the rising number of students who are sick of being force-fed standardized tests, you have the makings of a movement.

Stand tall, Portland students! Students, parents, teachers, and yes, administrators are counting on you. Tell the truth. Don’t be afraid. Demand a real education, not training in test-taking.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Students, Support for public schools, Testing

More on National School Boards’ Blast at Duncan

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2013 //
3

You earlier read the press release from the National School Boards Association here, reasserting the importance of federalism, a concept unknown to the U.S. Department of Education these days.

Here is a great summary and a link to the NSBA’s proposed legislation, which tells the federal government to abide by its federal role–not as the boss of the nation’s schools, but as a support.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Testing
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