Archives for category: Testing
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Parents: It Is Time to Change the Stakes

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
29

Parents across the nation are taking a stand against the use of tests to measure, rate, and rank their children.

Local school boards are passing resolutions against high-stakes testing.

People are increasingly angry that tests are being used inappropriately in ways for which they were not designed.

They are forming groups to protest.

One of the best organized groups functions in New York state.

It is called Change the Stakes.

It adopted a statement in opposition to high-stakes testing drafted by testing expert Fred Smith.

In addition to their concerns about narrowing the curriculum and demoralizing students, parents and educators want to know more about the testing. They want to know, for example:

“How many professionally designed and developed tests are being given in New York schools? What is
the purpose of each? When are they scheduled to be given? How much time is spent administering
each test? How many students and schools are involved? And how much money does each test cost
(the material, the scoring and the reports)?
Which publisher constructed or supplied each exam? Who owns the exams we are paying for? Which
ones are field tests—tests and questions that do not count but enable commercial publishers to develop
and sell exams for future use? Which exams are used to screen children for entry into special programs
or selective schools? Which must be passed as a basis for promotion or to fulfill graduation
requirements? Surely, the city and state know and can give us these details for the current year.”

The state and city education officials act as though they own the children and can do whatever they want without supplying even the most basic information to parents.

This is wrong. This is contrary to democratic control of public education. The people in charge don’t know more. They just have more power. And they are using it in ways that disrespects parents and educators.

Categories Accountability, Testing

A Letter to Hari Sevugan

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
9

The other dy we learned from an article on the Huffington Post that several top Democratic staff members quit Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst. One of them was Hari Sevugan, who had been a leading figure in the 2008 Obama campaign. Sevugan’s departure set off speculation about why he left: was it Rhee’s union-busting goals? Was it her advocacy for rightwing governors? Was it her support for privatization?

Sevugan dashed off a comment to this blog in which he insisted that he cares deeply about helping children, nothing more complicated than that.

This teacher-parent in Florida was inspired by the exchange to write this open letter to Hari Sevugan:

Hari,

I would like to say to you … I am a teacher and I am a parent. I see this reform from both sides. I see depleted public schools and public programs. I see our public funds channeled to corporate charter schools. I see those schools failing the communities, and most importantly, the children. I am not the only one who sees it.

I read, just today, that Michelle Rhee praised my state, Florida, for their education reform. I disagree. Last year, in Florida, we reviewed the testing results. We found that less than 10% of all Florida schools are charter schools, yet they comprised 51% of the failing schools in Florida. In some counties, such as my own, the only failing school was, in fact, a charter school. The same is true for many counties in Florida, including the very large Broward county.

How can you convince us that charter schools are the answer?

I don’t believe it is possible to convince us, parents or teachers, that lobbying for charter schools is for the benefit of our children. Certainly not when we can drive down our streets and find a failing charter school, or closed charter school, with huge profits that disappeared in the wind. These are our streets … these are our children.

I do not believe it is possible to convince us. I applaud you for coming on this blog and trying … but these are our kids. We know they deserve better. This is the civil rights issue of our generation. The separation now is between the haves and have nots. Charter schools are furthering that division. I get it that the charter vision sounds good on paper, but the reality proves differently.

We need to refuel and revitalize our public schools … not punish and privatize. Remember, It is a core Democratic value to ensure free and equal public education for all. We learned once, not so long ago, that separate is not equal.

Never was … never will be.

Just my opinion as a parent and teacher. I am simply an ambassador for my child… no fancy title or IPhone for me.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst, Testing, Vouchers

Prediction: Score Inflation in Louisiana

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
10

A reader forwarded this prediction and analysis of the forthcoming manipulation of school grades in Louisiana.

We will hear that scores are going up and that the achievement gap is closing.

Don’t believe it.

It is what as known as gaming the system.

This analysis was picked up and amplified by a blogger in Louisiana who knows the inside of the state Department of Education. This blogger describes the game as “John White’s White Lies”

Categories Louisiana, Testing

Michelle Rhee: The Mask Is Off

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
99

Michelle Rhee issued her report card for American education and now we know what she stands for: privatization of American public education.

States that endorse charter schools, for-profit schools, the parent trigger, school closings, vouchers and online for-profit charters get high marks from Rhee.

States that bust unions, take away teacher tenure, and use standardized tests to evaluate teachers get high marks from Rhee.

States that support public education and resist efforts to privatize their public schools get low marks, especially if they support teacher professionalism.

Her top two states are led by the nation’s most rightwing governors and legislatures: Louisiana and Florida.

Rhee has at last dropped the pretense of bipartisanship and shown that StudentsFirst is a branch of ALEC.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Parent trigger, Privatization, StudentsFirst, Teacher Tenure, Testing, Unions, Vouchers

Will Spain Go the GERM route?

By dianeravitch
January 6, 2013 //
7

This request was posted. Please feel welcome to post your comments and help our friends in Spain.

Dear Mrs. Ravitch,

My name is Amadeu Sanz and I am the publishing coordinator of STEPV, a union of teachers in Valencia (Spain).

In Spain, just as in the US, there’s a heated debate on the results of public schools in international assessment tests such as PISA, and our Minister of Education (José Ignacio Wert) wants to impose a reform of the educational system that advocates the de-regulation of the system to favor complete freedom of school choice and the introduction of the principles of accountability and competition among all kinds of schools (public, private and charter ones). this reform hasn’t been passed in our parliament yet, but we fear that the absolute majority that the party in government has will approve of it, even though there is a wide refusal towards it in all spheres of education (teachers and students unions, parents’ associations, prominent scholars…).

In addition to this, the economic and debt crisis in this country is a perfect excuse to significantly cut education budgets, fire teachers, reduce their salaries and increase the ratio of students per classroom.

The situation is becoming really awful, to the extent that we consider this reform and these cuts the biggest attack against the public school system that has been developed after the death of Franco and the transition to democracy in Spain.
As a response to this situation, STEPV, along with two other unions –STEi, from the Balearic Islands, and USTEC, from Catalonia, with whom we share the same language, Catalan- are developing an opposition campaign to the reform designed by our minister.

In order to enrich our arguments and proposals, we are planning to publish a critical analysis of the reform and we want to illustrate how similar proposals to these from minister Wert have worked out in other countries, being yours a very valuable example.

Because many ideas come from the U.S. and because we’re absolute fans of some of your books and videos, we would be really pleased if you would like to contribute to our critical analysis issue by writing an article about the effects of school choice and accountability on education.

Best regards,

Amadeu Sanz

Categories International, Testing, Vouchers

School Board Showdown in Los Angeles

By dianeravitch
January 4, 2013 //
10

Steve Zimmer is an alumnus of Teach for America.

He is not your typical TFA-er.

He was elected to the Los Angeles Unified school board in 2009, after seventeen years as a public school teacher.

He will be opposed by Kate Anderson, who has endorsements and major funding from the powerful charter school lobby.

Zimmer, because of his experience as a teacher, has become an outspoken, articulate supporter of students, teachers, and public education.

He has tried to slow down the value-added assessment juggernaut; he wants multiple measures.

The charter folks want to get Zimmer off the board because a few months ago, he offered a resolution calling for a higher level of accountability for charters, better auditing and reporting, more collaboration with public schools, and a moratorium on the opening of new charter schools until the new accountability measures are created.

Los Angeles is a major target for the charter lobby. It now has more than 100,000 children in charters, about 15% of the children in the district, more children than in any other district in the nation.

In light of the rapid growth of charters and their uneven performance, Zimmer said it was time to step back, establish reasonable oversight, and frame a reasonable policy for oversight and future growth.

Superintendent John Deasey said Zimmer’s resolution was “unnecessary.”

Two thousand charter parents turned out to hoot and ridicule Zimmer’s resolution.

And now the charter lobby is poised to knock him out.

Kate Anderson is a lawyer who has worked for Democratic officials. She is a mother of young children who attend public schools. She has pledged to support more charters.

Davis Guggenheim, director of “Waiting for ‘Superman,'” is holding a fund-raiser for Kate Anderson at the Sony Pictures commissary.

Steve Zimmer has the wisdom that comes from his 17 years in the classroom. He has the audacity to post on his website an article that showed that Los Angeles’ public schools outperformed the charter schools.

If the charter lobby manages to defeat him, it will be a very bad omen for the future of public education in Los Angeles.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Los Angeles, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

The Dichotomy Between Corporate Reform and Real Reform

By dianeravitch
January 4, 2013 //
14

Anthony Cody has written a crisp analysis of the differences between what corporate reformers want and what supporters of public education want.

People like Anthony and me are often told to be accommodating, to be more receptive of the corporate style ideas.

But, as Anthony shows in this article, there are genuine differences.

Public education is facing an existential threat to its existence from people who support privatization.

They do this in a clever way, by talking about civil rights while advocating privatization.

They say it’s “for the children,” but somehow there are adults who seem to benefit more than the kids.

“They can’t wait,” but it’s not their life and career that is sacrificed while they impose risky schemes.

Yes, there is a dichotomy, and we cannot quietly acquiesce.

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

In Search of One Brave Superintendent in Connecticut

By dianeravitch
January 3, 2013 //
5

Wendy Lecker is a civil rights lawyer who lives in Ciponnecticut. She worked on the lawsuit for more funding for high-needs schools in New York, called the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and has just agreed to become the lawyer for the Campaign.

In this terrific article, she asks whether there is any superintendent in Connecticut brave enough to stand up with such leaders as Joshua Starr of Montgomery County, Maryland, Heath Morrison of Charlotte-Mecklenberg, North Carolia, and John Kuhn of Texas, all of whom have forthrightly criticized the misuse of standardized testing.

Is there one? Two? Please speak up.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Connecticut, Corporate Reformers, Testing

Gary Rubinstein Talks to the Reform Leaders

By dianeravitch
January 3, 2013 //
3

Gary Rubinstein was one of the first members of Teach for America. He is now one of the leading critics of TFA and corporate reform.

His blog is consistently thoughtful and informative.

A few months ago, Gary decided to write to the top figures in the corporate reform movement.

His letters and the replies he received make for fascinating reading.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Testing

Noa Rosinplotz Speaks for Herself!

By dianeravitch
December 31, 2012 //
54

Earlier today, I published an essay about testing (“The Voice of a Data-Point”) by a sixth-grade student, Noa Rosinplotz. Her story was so thoughtful and well-written that some commenters could not believe it was written by a sixth grade student. I emailed Noa and asked her to read the comments and respond. This is what she wrote:

“This is Noa, original writer of the letter. I’m responding to all the comments that I’m not actually in sixth grade or that someone else wrote my letter for me. While my mom did read what I wrote, to make sure it wasn’t “obnoxious” (as she put it), she didn’t make any written edits and I wrote the letter entirely by myself. I used other sources, like Diane Ravitch’s book, for information, but every word in the letter not in quotation marks was entirely my own. The fact that I’m not a certified adult educator shouldn’t make people doubt the authenticity of my letter, it should make what I write all the more accurate, as a student taking the tests. No one “guided my hand”, and protesting standardized tests was my idea and my idea only. I love to write and to make my ideas public, and I thought that if anyone was going to pay attention to my letter, I had to make it as mature and detailed as possible. I wrote a few letters to DCPS in response to their tests at the end of last year, and when I received no response, decided to make my opinions more public. I’m very interested in No Child Left Behind, especially because I’ve never experienced school without standardized tests. It’s not weird that I’M interested in researching tests, it’s weird that adults who have never taken them are. In response to “sixth graders just don’t write this way”, they obviously do, since I’m a sixth grader.”

Categories Students, Testing
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