MYTHS!
This was a quick response I made to an article today in The Advocate - Baton Rouge newspaper. One of the myths we're addressing in our efforts to inform the public about the ALEC reform agenda and my stance on working with our local unions.
http://theadvocate.com/news/2832484-123/teachers-leader-assails-jindal-laws
ABayouBoy - Much of the "failure" of our public schools has been orchestrated beginning with NCLB (No Child Left Behind federal legislation) - actually before, but this law sealed the deal. A wolf dressed in sheep's clothing, this law presented a worthy concept (equity in education outcomes) but enacted it with a process that was doomed to "failure" - high stakes standardized testing. Worse - it was promulgated by the profit motives of many who would benefit from the billions of dollars that it necessarily costs to educate every child in this country.
One only needs to look closely at Pearson, the textbook/testing/virtual school company that sucks funding from the top most to the lowest (local) taxpayer coffers. Pearson has successfully perpetuated the myth that a singleSTANDARDIZED test can measure LEARNING. And to bolster that myth, we now have been handed aSTANDARDIZED set of Common Core Standards that will necessarily result in a STANDARDIZED CURRICULUM that will necessarily require a new STANDARDIZED TEST that is designed to STANDARDIZEour children - impossible I hope.
I cannot envision straight lines of quiet children goosestepping from one class to another where teachers will
http://theadvocate.com/news/2832484-123/teachers-leader-assails-jindal-laws
ABayouBoy - Much of the "failure" of our public schools has been orchestrated beginning with NCLB (No Child Left Behind federal legislation) - actually before, but this law sealed the deal. A wolf dressed in sheep's clothing, this law presented a worthy concept (equity in education outcomes) but enacted it with a process that was doomed to "failure" - high stakes standardized testing. Worse - it was promulgated by the profit motives of many who would benefit from the billions of dollars that it necessarily costs to educate every child in this country.
One only needs to look closely at Pearson, the textbook/testing/virtual school company that sucks funding from the top most to the lowest (local) taxpayer coffers. Pearson has successfully perpetuated the myth that a singleSTANDARDIZED test can measure LEARNING. And to bolster that myth, we now have been handed aSTANDARDIZED set of Common Core Standards that will necessarily result in a STANDARDIZED CURRICULUM that will necessarily require a new STANDARDIZED TEST that is designed to STANDARDIZEour children - impossible I hope.
I cannot envision straight lines of quiet children goosestepping from one class to another where teachers will