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Texas Charter Founded by Football Star in Financial Trouble

By dianeravitch
December 6, 2013 //
20

Texas has given out charters to various non-educators. Being a celebrity is credential enough to get state authority to open a school.

There are charters run by a tennis star, a football star, a basketball star, and a horde of entrepreneurs with no educational experience. This is called “reform” for some reason.

The Texas Education Agency is currently investigating financial disorder and mismanagement at a charter school in Dallas founded by a former football star.

According to news reports from Dallas, the school fired its founder–for the second time.

Remind me why charter schools run by amateurs are supposed to be better than schools operated by credentialed professional educators.

Categories Charter Schools, Texas

When Does Schooling Become Psychological Abuse?

By dianeravitch
December 1, 2013 //
49

In response to an earlier article by psychologists and social workers about abusive tactics in certain schools in Texas, this parent wrote the following comment:

 

Quote from the above article: ” During the same 30 years when A.D.H.D. diagnoses increased, American childhood drastically changed. Even at the grade-school level, kids now have more homework, less recess and a lot less unstructured free time to relax and play.”

In my children’s school, the principal thinks ADHD meds are “steroids for the brain” and has a standard recommendation for all parents whose children can’t sit still for 8 hours of drill each day. Last year, when my 7 year old son could not sit still in 2nd grade for two days of four hour STAAR test practice, it was recommended that I take him to the doctor and say that he could not “focus” on his schoolwork. All the doctor did was write out one sentence stating an ADHD diagnosis and a script for meds. The doctor seemed to be under the influence of the school? I decided it was not my son that needed changing, it was the school! I changed both my son and daughter to a private school this year, even though we cannot afford it. What is happening in elementary schools of Texas is abusive. I’m glad it is finally being called what it is:

Mental and Physical cruelty for children is psychological abuse!

Categories Students, Texas

Jason Stanford: What Texas Moms Can Teach Arne Duncan

By dianeravitch
November 26, 2013 //
5

Jason Stanford explains why it won’t be easy for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to “walk back” his insulting remarks about “white suburban moms.”

When defenders of the testing industry in Texas tried the same tactic, they succeeded in strengthening the backlash against high-stakes testing.

It was not just “white suburban moms” who objected to the overemphasis on testing, but moms and dads of all races, living in not only suburbs, but cities and rural areas.

They organized, they pushed back, and they beat the testing industry, which had for many years successfully gotten hundreds of millions of dollars for more and more testing, even as school budgets were cut to the bone.

Stanford concludes:

As in Texas, Sec. Duncan’s attempt to blame mothers has caused a backlash. Sec. Duncan’s half-hearted apology for his “controversial-sounding soundbites” and “clumsy phrasing” has done nothing to quell the full-throated opposition. Critics have started a petition on WhiteHouse.gov to remove Duncan as Secretary of Education, and a Facebook group called Moms Against Duncan (MAD) had more than 3,500 members.

The apology is beside the point. Parents of public school students — myself included — are mad that our education system is still based on standardized tests that are developmentally inappropriate, unable to measure classroom learning, and over-emphasized to the point of corrupting the curriculum. Moms (and dads, for that matter) will not be happy until we put developing children and not raising test scores at the center of our education policy. We’re just waiting for Sec. Duncan to realize that he isn’t as brilliant as he thinks he is.

 

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Testing, Texas

Texas: Is the Age of the Hero Superintendent Coming to an End?

By dianeravitch
November 12, 2013 //
15

This superb article in the Texas Observer by Patrick Michels is one of the most astute and hopeful I have read in months.

It chronicles the idea of the school superintendent as super-hero: the man or woman who can reshape the schools and achieve astonishing goals solely by force of will and personality.

The story is about Mike Miles, the superintendent of Dallas, but it is really about the national scene, about the rise and fall of the myth of the Super-Superintendent, the super star who makes bold promises, sets lofty targets, disrupts the district, then moves on–either to more money or obscurity.

The working premise of the Hero Superintendent is that the system is broken and needs to be turned upside down, with  lots of firings and threats.

Michels writes:

The business world’s interest in remaking public education is nothing new—calling school leaders “superintendents” became popular a century ago, when factory efficiency experts took a first pass at redesigning public schools.

America is enjoying another such moment today. Popular business literature is suffused with the idea that strong leadership has the power to improve even the most massive bureaucracy, and the education world has fallen in line. The George W. Bush Institute, the think tank tied to the presidential library at Southern Methodist University, is home to an “Alliance to Reform Education Leadership.” The Broad Superintendents Academy in Los Angeles is one of the most polarizing institutions of the current school-reform movement, grooming “exceptional leaders and managers to help transform America’s education systems, raise student achievement and create a brighter future,” according to its website.

“I think there’s been something of an infatuation with business management in education,” says Young, the University of Virginia scholar. “Schools are not businesses. We don’t necessarily have the same moral obligations to the community and to kids that you have to stakeholders that are investing their money.”

“The reason it works in business is you do have a bottom line,” Brewer says. “In order to do that in education, they had to find one indicator of success. That’s not necessarily compatible with the complexity of education.”

New superintendents who focused on “quick wins” in the “first 90 days”—that’s all straight out of popular business literature. So is the focus on transformational change, the faith that we’re capable of rapid improvement in society if only we’ll shake off the old ways and dismantle the status quo. No business concept has been more contentious in schools than the tech-inspired enthusiasm for “disruption.”

As it happens, after a year of disruptions, firings, and departures, Miles was in deep trouble with his board. He barely survived, on a 5-3 vote.

The article ends with the prediction that the age of the Hero Superintendent is drawing to a close.

Michels writes:

You can’t improve a school district if you only last a couple of years. School chiefs who ride into town with a hero complex, alienate everybody and get dragged out like martyrs don’t get to build a legacy.

Joe Smith of TexasISD.com believes the hero trend is falling out of favor. “We’ve gotten to the peak of that movement, and I think we’ll see the pendulum come back,” Smith says. “If you’re looking at redefining your schools in your community, I would think that someone who knows the community would have a jump on anybody else.”

 

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Texas

San Antonio Goes for Charters for Affluent

By dianeravitch
November 8, 2013 //
26

San Antonio has committed to a dramatic expansion of charters, the emerging growth industry of our time.

San Antonio has welcomed BASIS and Great Hearts Academy, which are known for their appeal to affluent white students. Rocketship will serve the low-income Hispanic students by keeping them in front of a computer a large part of the day.

Remember that Supreme Court decision in 1954–what was it?–oh, yes, the Brown decision. San Antonio says, Full speed away from that loser.

Categories Charter Schools, Texas

Do New York Officials Understand NAEP Scores?

By dianeravitch
November 8, 2013 //
20

This reader points out that the leaders of New York State so not understand NAEP achievement levels. They are not grade levels. “Proficiency” on NAEP means superior academic performance. Please, someone, explain the levels to them :

“John King and Merryl Tisch continue to mislead the public or demonstrate a total lack of understanding for NAEP scores.

Today, Chancellor Merryl Tisch and Commissioner John King released a joint statement reiterating their belief that our public schools are faltering (http://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/naep-scores-2013.html). New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said. “I’m encouraged by the progress I’ve seen in classrooms around the state and the hard work educators are doing to help their students succeed. But the NAEP results for New York students confirm what we already know: our students are not where they should be… The NAEP results are consistent with the findings of several other measures of New York students, including the state’s measurement of college and career readiness (35 percent of students are college and career ready).

The problem is that the Chancellor and Commissioner’s definition of “proficient” is not synonymous with NAEP’s. NAEP defines proficient as solid academic performance and competence over challenging subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter. They define basic as partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade. NAEP’s basic is students achieving appropriate grade level performance. (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/achievement.aspx)

Therefore according to NAEP scores 70% of our 4th graders and 76% of our 8th graders are performing at grade level in reading. In math, 82% of our 4th graders and 72% of our 8th graders are performing at grade level. These numbers are much more encouraging than the approximately 35% proficiency levels claimed by the new Common Core State Assessments.

Looking at this data I can draw two conclusions. Either our education officials do not understand what the NAEP scores mean or they are determined to misinform the public. Neither scenario is what I expect of the individuals chosen to lead our public schools. It’s time to stand up, ask questions and let our concerns be heard.

–

Categories NAEP, New York, Texas

Castle Bridge Parents Speak Out Against Standardized Testing

By dianeravitch
October 29, 2013 //
7

The parents of Castle Bridge Elementary School said no to state testing. They refused to allow their little children in grades K-2 to take a standardized test. The test was canceled.

The parents drafted the following statement, which was sent to me by a parent leader, Dao Tran:

Statement of Castle Bridge School Parents on New State-Mandated K–2 Testing

October 28, 2013

When we first heard in September that the New York State Education Department was requiring some schools to give high-stakes, multiple-choice (bubble-in) tests for kindergarten through second-grade students, many of us were stunned. Tellingly, the tests are only given in English and we are a dual-language (Spanish/English) school.

We discovered (although we received no communication from our school district) these tests have nothing to do with identifying areas in which our children need help and support and everything to do with measuring their teachers’ supposed “value added,” in order to evaluate them.

However, we already have a “data system” that is far superior to anything a commercial bubble-test provider can offer.

Our children’s teachers provide us with rich, insightful narratives telling us how our children are responding to their thoughtfully designed curriculum, what progress they are making, and what challenges they are working to meet. They might include a story about how a child helped a classmate, overcame a fear, or showed a passion for an activity or experience. This gives us a much better sense of the value their teachers are adding than knowing which quartile a child falls into on a standardized test.

In a school such as ours, where the sounds of happy children engaged in hands-on projects, serious problem- solving, play, and singing is often heard, the threat of a multiple-choice test—bringing with it fear, stress, and the testing protocols that penalize collaboration—could not go unchallenged. Our children are not data points!

We knew even if a few individuals opted their individual children out, if teachers were forced to administer these tests, class instruction time would nevertheless be impacted. We prefer teachers use school time to encourage children to be curious and love learning—teaching to the child, not to the tests.

Opting our children out in large numbers was the only way to protect them while sending a strong message to policymakers that excessive testing is not in our children’s—or school’s—best interests.

As of this writing, families have opted out 93 of the 97 students who would have been subject to the tests and we know of none who want their child tested. Our principal Julie Zuckerman, having a supportive approach to parental input, heard our concerns and canceled the test.

Over the last decade, there has been a shift in public school instruction to support test preparation and erodes the quality of education. Using the scores from exams to determine the effectiveness of teachers elevates the importance of these exams—which give only a snapshot of a student’s ability to perform—to a level of absurdity.

The K–2 high-stakes tests take excessive testing to its extreme: testing children as young as four serves no meaningful educative purpose and is developmentally destructive.
Imagine if all the resources spent on test development, administration, and scoring were allocated to fund enrichment programs, school infrastructure, and staffing, we would be closer to meeting the actual needs of school communities. By refusing these tests, the message we sent was threefold:

1. To the city and state Departments of Education: testing K–2 children is not acceptable and developmentally inappropriate, excessive, and destructive.

2. To our children’s teachers and principal: we know that you can evaluate our students and help them learn and grow better than any test and we want no part of punitive evaluations of your work.

3. To other families of children in the NYC public school system: Your voice matters and you have the power to prevent your children from having to prepare for and take these unsound tests.

We hope that by saying no to these standardized, high-stakes tests we will embolden others to do the same and that together, we can reverse the tide of excessive testing in our public schools. Schools should not resemble machines that seek to track and sort children or to surveil and punish teachers.

Rather they should be caring communities of joy and learning where teachers, administrators, and parents work together to ensure a high- quality education for all children—who to us mean much more than a score.

Categories New York City, Parents, Principals, Resistance, Teachers, Texas

Jason Stanford Has News for Arne Duncan

By dianeravitch
October 28, 2013 //
14

Jason Stanford listened to Arne Duncan’s put down of the “armchair pundits” who oppose Duncan’s obviously brilliant plan to reform American education. How can we forget how Duncan saved the Chicago public schools? But I digress.

Stanford, a veteran journalist in Austin, describes himself as an “armchair dad” of children in the public schools of Texas.

He has news for Secretary Duncan. Texans are sick of testing. They do not share the Secretary’s enthusiasm for the super-duper tests that will make all children college-and-career ready and tell us the truth that all the previous tests failed to tell.

Stanford points out that the Texas legislature reduced the number of tests needed for graduation from 15 to 5, in response to massive protests by parents and local school boards. The people of Texas said “enough is enough.”

But that’s not all.

Astonishlngly, the legislators “even made it illegal for testing lobbyists to give them campaign contributions, a rare move in a state notably hostile to limits on lobbying, business or giving them money.”

But that’s not all.

Stanford writes:

“The only thing wrong with these limits on school testing, say Texans in a recent poll, is that they didn’t go far enough. The Texas Lyceum polled 1,000 adults and found only 14% said the legislature should have left the 15 tests in place, and slightly more (17%) liked the changes. The shock of the poll is that 56% of Texans wanted either to get rid of standardized tests entirely because they encourage “teaching to the test” or leave accountability standards up to local school boards.

“That’s a lot of armchair pundits.”

Arne Duncan’s love of high-stakes testing has had real world consequences. It has hurt children. It has labeled them as dumb and caused many to give up. It has caused many youngsters to be denied a high school diploma whose lives will be blighted because they couldn’t pass one of the five mandated tests.

Stanford writes why this matters:

“More than a third of Class of 2015—a group of Texans equal to the population of Abilene—currently won’t graduate because the students have failed at least one state test and two subsequent retests. In elementary school, a quarter of the state’s fifth graders will be held back because they failed the reading test. In the eighth grade, a third of all black and poor students have failed the state’s math test.

“Either those scores are signs that two decades of test-based accountability has utterly failed to improve education for underserved populations, or they are proof that test-based accountability is a faith-based ideology with less credibility than believing that marking your child’s height against a wall causes him to grow. You don’t need to sit in an armchair to think that a system that excludes a third of a state’s population from public education might be a sign that you need to re-examine the basic assumptions underlying education policy.”

Categories Duncan, Arne, Testing, Texas

A New Hero for Public Schools in Texas?

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2013 //
2

A letter from a reader notes a worrisome trend in Texas, where money talks loud:

Diane,

Maybe we have a new potential hero in Texas, Representative Lon Burnam.

I received this Alert this week from his office concerning the proliferation of Charters in Texas and the potential harm to district credit ratings (financing for new construction). I have previously been contacted by a person doing research for him concerning a presentation I was doing at the TASA-TASB conference this last September titled “School Reform and the Danger To Our communities”. (Diane, I promise I did not plagiarize your book, I had to submit the proposal early last summer!) This contact was very helpful and supportive. By the way, my session was well attended (150) and attendees, particularly school board members, were very attentive. I have been asked to present now to local superintendents and a northeast Texas School Board gathering. The ALERT is below.

ED-ALERT
OCTOBER 23, 2013
VOLUME 33

The latest news on education in Texas from
State Representative Lon Burnam, District 90

IN THIS ISSUE:

Moody’s finds increased charter enrollment may endanger local district credit ratings

Make your voice heard on charter applications:

State Board of Education on November 20, 2013

As the State Board of Education meets to consider whether to grant final approval or veto the charter applications tentatively approved by the Commissioner of Education, I want to highlight three recent news articles that make it very clear why we should pay close attention to charter school enrollment and expansion in local school districts.

A study conducted by Moody’s Investor Service describes the downward spiral that may result from increased charter enrollment in urban districts. It’s critical that we understand the long‐term impact that increased charter enrollment may have on local school districts so that we can take steps to strengthen public schools and create a level playing field in which they can thrive.

The State Board of Education will consider final approval of four new charter applications at its next meeting on November 19 – 22, 2013. These applications, if approved, will increase charter enrollment in North Texas, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso. I urge parents, districts, and education leaders to make your voice heard at the State Board meeting.

The four articles are below and the information for commenting on or participating in the charter approval process is at the end of this Ed Alert.

Moody’s Investor Service – Increased charter enrollment may endanger district credit ratings

Moody’s released a new study that raises concerns about the credit rating of local school districts in urban areas where charter enrollment is growing.

“The dramatic rise in charter school enrollments over the past decade is likely to create negative credit pressure on school districts in economically weak urban areas…Charter schools can pull students and revenues away from districts faster than the districts can reduce their costs. As some of these districts trim costs to balance out declining revenues, cuts in programs and services will further drive students to seek alternative institutions including charter
schools.”

Full article:
Charter schools pose greatest credit challenge to school districts in economically weak urban
areas (10.15.13)
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Charter-schools-pose-greatest-credit-challenge-to-schooldistricts–
PR_284505?WT.mc_id=NLTITLE_YYYYMMDD_PR_284505%3c%2fp%3e

Washington Post – Downward spiral for urban districts

*A Washington Post article provides a concise summary of the findings in the Moody’s study:

“And some urban districts face a downward spiral driven by population declines. It begins with people leaving the city or district. Then revenue declines, leading to program and service cuts. The cuts lead parents to seek out alternatives, and charters capture more students. As enrollment shifts to charters, public districts lose more revenue, and that can lead to more cuts.
Rinse, Repeat.”

Full article:

Charter schools are hurting urban public schools, Moody’s says (10.15.13)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/10/15/charter‐schools‐are‐hurtingurban‐
public‐schools‐moodys‐says/

Nashville – Charter expansion creates a tipping point for public schools

The scenario described in the Moody’s study is playing out not only in large urban areas such as Philadelphia, but also in smaller urban districts such as Nashville. A recent article quoted district officials in Nashville who are worried that the district budget may be reaching a tipping point as a result of increased charter enrollment.

“Too many charter schools too fast could force the district ‘off the fiscal cliff’ unless there are proper guardrails’ in place, school officials say.”

“ ‘There is a lot of pressure on us because everyone wants to come here and open a charter school. How many schools the community can afford to go to scale is a real question,’ said Jesse Register, Metro Nashville Public Schools director of schools who said he doesn’t know where the tipping point is.”

Full article:

Could charters break MNPS bank? (3.31.13)

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city‐news/could‐charters‐break‐mnps‐bank

Make Your Voice Heard: Public Testimony on New Charter Applications

The State Board of Education will meet November 19 – 22, 2013 in Austin to consider four new charter applications that have been approved by the Commissioner of Education. The Board can take no action and let the Commissioner’s approvals stand, or it can veto the applications.

Public testimony will be allowed at the meeting of the Committee on School Initiatives on Wednesday, November 20. The committee will make recommendations to the full State Board.

Committee on School Initiatives meeting

Wednesday, November 20, 2013
8:00 AM
Room 1‐111
Travis Building – 1701 N. Congress (Austin)

People who wish to testify should register online in advance of the meeting. Online registration starts on Friday, November 15 and ends on Monday, November 18 at 5 PM. Registration on the day of the hearing (November 20) will be considered “late” and may not be allowed if time is limited.

To register online:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769804082
Charter applications under consideration
The commissioner of Education approved the following charter applications on September 27, 2013 that
will be considered by the State Board in November:
Carpe Diem Schools – San Antonio
El Paso Leadership Academy
Great Hearts Academies Dallas (North Texas)
Magnolia and Redbud Montessori for All (Austin)
To review new charter applications (listed on the last page):
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4_wide.aspx?id=2147507674
Make Your Voice Heard: Public Testimony on New Charter Applications
The State Board of Education will meet November 19 – 22, 2013 in Austin to consider four new charter applications that have been approved by the Commissioner of Education. The Board
can take no action and let the Commissioner’s approvals stand, or it can veto the applications. Public testimony will be allowed at the meeting of the Committee on School Initiatives on
Wednesday, November 20. The committee will make recommendations to the full State Board.
Committee on School Initiatives meeting
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
8:00 AM
Room 1‐111
Travis Building – 1701 N. Congress (Austin)
People who wish to testify should register online in advance of the meeting. Online registration starts on Friday, November 15 and ends on Monday, November 18 at 5 PM. Registration on the day of the hearing (November 20) will be considered “late” and may not be allowed if time is limited.
To register online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769804082
Charter applications under consideration
The commissioner of Education approved the following charter applications on September 27, 2013 that
will be considered by the State Board in November:
****Carpe Diem Schools – San Antonio
****El Paso Leadership Academy
****Great Hearts Academies Dallas (North Texas)
****Magnolia and Redbud Montessori for All (Austin)
To review new charter applications (listed on the last page):
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4_wide.aspx?id=2147507674
###

If anyone knows of documented negative actions by the Charters, please send links to bendeancarson@gmail.com

Categories Texas

Jason Stanford: What Alternative to Standardized Testing?

By dianeravitch
October 23, 2013 //
39

Jason Stanford, who lives in Austin, reports here on the efforts to 23 school districts to develop a sensible alternatives to the standardized testing that everyone hates, except for the testing industry and their lobbyists.

He writes:

Despite the difficulty in chasing two tails, Dawson Orr, Consortium co-chair and superintendent of Highland Park ISD, pledges to press on to find an accountability system that actually measures what goes on in schools.

“You know, there’s just an awful lot of authentic work that goes on in classrooms that represents student learning that state and federal bureaucracies don’t know how to handle because they need the ease and convenience of a multiple choice test,” Orr said.

Another Texas leader, the late Speaker Sam Rayburn, once said, “A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one.” There are a lot of folks trying to get rid of high-stakes testing—and a lot of merit in doing so—but thanks to 23 gutsy school districts, we now have some carpenters looking for an accountability system that makes sense. Good luck to them.

There are other alternatives: One, look at what Finland does. Select the best teachers; educate them well. No standardized testing. Let the teachers write their own tests. Trust them to do what is right for their students.

Or do what the best private schools do: I have never heard of any that administer standardized tests, other than for admission purposes.  Have you? Might be worth checking out what accountability looks like at Sidwell Friends (where President Obama’s children are in attendance), Lakeside Academy in Seattle (where Bill Gates went), Maumee Country Day School in Ohio (where Michelle Rhee went), Harpeth Hall (where Rhee sends one of her daughters), the University of Chicago Lab School (where Mayor Rahm Emanuel sends his children).

Let’s learn from the best!

Categories Testing, Texas
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