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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Test Scores, Multiple Measures, and Circular Reasoning | Edwize

Test Scores, Multiple Measures, and Circular Reasoning | Edwize:

Test Scores, Multiple Measures, and Circular Reasoning

by Christina Collins

Anthony Cody’s recent reflection on this year’s Education Nation program on MSNBC offers an important caution to those trying to develop “multiple measures” for student learning and effective teaching. If the decision to use a given measure is determined solely by whether or not it’s linked to higher standardized test scores (as with theGates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching study), then you don’t really have “multiple measures.”

Tracking test scores can be an important tool in helping students make progress, and it is useful to know which elements of classroom practice have a significant impact on students’ performance on end-of-the-year tests. For example, teachers in Chicago who had high ratings on Charlotte Danielson’s framework for evaluating effective teaching have also been shown to have higher value-added scores. However, when test scores are used as the sole measure of effective teaching and learning — or when valuable aspects of effective teaching and important types of student learning are discarded or ignored because they don’t align with standardized test results — our

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I Am Special Ed | The Jose Vilson

I Am Special Ed | The Jose Vilson:

I Am Special Ed

by Jose

Special Ed of "I Got It Made" Fame

I have a confession to make: at one point or another, at some point in my life, maybe even this one, I am “special ed.”

No, not the rapper, but the title we give to students who have specific needs that can’t be met in a 30 student to 1 teacher classroom. As I look around my classes over the last few years, none of the “special ed” kids looked any different from the other kids in my class. Only by looking at their IEPs (Individual Educational Program) and using my own assessments do I realize that certain students needs a little more attention than most … which is to say that I pay a lot of attention a lot of the time to even my most self-motivated students.

Thus, my mother added another layer to what I do in the classroom when my fiancee and I sat down with her and her friends for dinner. She started telling her friends that, in my youth, my school informally assessed me and

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Sargent Shriver American Exceptionalism at it's BEST

Sargent Shriver: Welcome:




  • Sargent Shriver was an American peace builder, political leader and activist. He was the first leader of the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy. The husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was also a beloved father.
    Read more about Sargent Shriver's Life
  • While writing his biography of Sargent Shriver, Scott Stossel had an awakening. Moved by Shriver's work, he felt pushed to work harder, to do more, to dream bigger about working for peace and social justice.
    The Author's Moving Tribute to His Hero
  • Sargent Shriver deeply supported the civil rights movement throughout his life. He played a key role in integrating Chicago schools in the 1950s, and encouraged John F. Kennedy to support Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s.
    His Fight for Society's Oppressed
  • John F. Kennedy leaned on him; Lyndon Johnson relied on him. Sargent Shriver's political work for both Presidents was historic, groundbreaking and impactful - and shaped the political landscape of America today.
    Programs He Led -- and Made Successful
  • When President Kennedy needed a leader to help establish the Peace Corps, he turned to Sargent Shriver -- who responded by bringing the program to life, almost overnight. That same energy and commitment live on today.
    The Story of the Peace Corps in Photographs
  • As the Director of the War on Poverty under President Lyndon Johnson, Sargent Shriver helped to create a variety of programs - including Head Start, Job Corps, and VISTA - that continue to serve Americans today.
    His Pioneering Work in Fighting Poverty
  • Today, Special Olympics is active in 170 countries - thanks, in large part, to the tireless efforts of Sargent Shriver, who believed the organization could be an agent of change, as well as an agent of peace.
    His Work as an Ambassador of Change
  • First and foremost, Sargent Shriver was a public servant - to his country, to the world and to his family. Throughout his life, he challenged Americans to serve. Now, with his passing, Shriver challenges us again - to serve, serve, serve.
    Learn More About Shriver�s History of Service
  • Sargent Shriver's spirituality and faith in God cannot be separated from his work and life. He was a faithful, devoted Catholic who served in politics and law; he personally believed we must all be servants to fully express our love for God.
    Learn More About Shriver�s History of Service
  • To Sargent Shriver, almost everything in life was a family affair, but no group of people was as dear to him as his family at home -- his wife Eunice and their five children, Bobby, Maria, Timothy, Mark, and Anthony.
    Their Love Shows in Touching Family Photos
  • The Sargent Shriver Peace Institute was founded to serve a big idea - that by paying attention to his achievements, we could advance peacekeeping, not just in the U.S., but abroad.
    How Shriver's Work Guides the Peace Institute
  • Established in 1993 in honor of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver, the Shriver Center has transformed the lives of thousands. Its mission: Create a new generation of leaders who can affect policy on a national level.
    Learn More About The Shriver Center
  • The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law is dedicated to Shriver's goal of providing fair and equal access - including legal services - to low-income people and communities. Today, the Center continues to advocate on behalf of these groups.
    Vision Behind the Center on Poverty Law
  • Words are powerful tools - to motivate, to inspire, and to encourage - and no one wielded words the way Sargent Shriver did. A highly gifted public speaker, he always knew the right turn of phrase to captivate his audience.
    His Most Inspiring and Powerful Quotes
  • The film "American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver" tells the story of his life as a public servant, and also documents how critical events in modern American history - from the Depression through the Vietnam War - shaped his worldview.
    A Deeper Look at This Unique Film
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For or Against Children The problematic history of stand for children

For or Against Children:






For or Against Children?

The problematic history of stand for children
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE & SAVECurrent issue pdf just $4.95. Subscribe
CONTENTS
Vol. 26, No.1
COVER STORIES • Still Fighting for All Our Children

Blowin' in the Wind
By the editors ofRethinking Schools
FEATURES
For or Against Children?
The Problematic History of Stand for Children
By Ken Libby and Adam Sanchez
Patterns and Punctuation
Learning to Question Language
By Elizabeth Schlessman
‘Before Today, I Was Afraid of Trees’
Rethinking Nature Deficit Disorder
By Doug Larkin
What Do You Mean When You SayUrban?
Speaking Honestly About Race and Students
By Dyan Watson
It’s OK to Be Neither
Teaching That Supports Gender-Variant Children
By Melissa Bollow Tempel
COLUMNS and DEPARTMENTS
ACTION EDUCATION
SOS March Builds Pushback to Corporate Reform
By Stan Karp
GOOD STUFF
Keywords
By Herb Kohl
Got an idea for an article? Got an idea for a letter? Contact Jody Sokolower, policy and publications editor:
jody@rethinkingschools.org
Fall 2011

Illustration: David McLimans
By Ken Libby and Adam Sanchez
Last October, a friend called with a question: “What do you know about Stand for Children?” The advocacy organization, based in our hometown of Portland, Ore., was expanding into his state of Illinois, and he hoped to glean some insight into the kinds of reforms the group would support. Just two months later, Stand’s Illinois branch had amassed more than $3 million in a political action committee and unveiled an aggressive teacher evaluation bill.
“Have they always been like this?” he asked.
The short answer: no.
Stand for Children was founded in the late 1990s as a way to advocate for the welfare of children. It grew out of a 1996 march by more than 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. The aim of the march was to highlight child poverty at a time when Congress and the Clinton administration were preparing to “end welfare as we know it.” Jonah Edelman, son of children’s and civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, co-founded the group and continues to serve as CEO.
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Complete College America

Complete College America:

By the Numbers

TK

How is Your State Doing?

In just ten years, more than 60% of all new jobs will require a college education. Will your state be ready? Good family incomes and the health of state economies depend on more of our young people succeeding in college. See where your state stands currently, and then commit to making college completion a priority.

Current percentage of young adults (ages 25-34) with a college degree:
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