WaPo Repost: #TooManyTests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/11/time-on-testing-738-minutes-in-3-weeks/?wprss=rss_answer-sheet
Time on testing: 738 minutes in 3 weeks
Time on testing: 738 minutes in 3 weeks
Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 11, 2012 at 11:30 am
How much time do teachers and students spend on standardized tests? That’s one of the big questions in public education today, which Adam Heenan, a Chicago school teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union addresses here.
How much time do teachers and students spend on standardized tests? That’s one of the big questions in public education today, which Adam Heenan, a Chicago school teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union addresses here.
By Adam Heenan
A few days ago, a colleague walked into our social studies department with a bubbled-in answer sheet from a test he had just administered. One student had turned the sheet on its side and bubbled in the colloquial acronym “YOLO” — You Only Live Once — on the exam. The teacher had created the test, but to the teenager, it was just one more exam in a seemingly endless series of bubble-sheet, auto-scored assessments.
A few days ago, a colleague walked into our social studies department with a bubbled-in answer sheet from a test he had just administered. One student had turned the sheet on its side and bubbled in the colloquial acronym “YOLO” — You Only Live Once — on the exam. The teacher had created the test, but to the teenager, it was just one more exam in a seemingly endless series of bubble-sheet, auto-scored assessments.
Charter School Forum in Chicago, Broy refused neutrality w. CTU
I attended the Charter School Forum last night hosted by the Better Government Association (@BetterGov), and Catalyst News (@CatalystChicago), a education news source in Chicago. The forum comes at a time when 140 Chicago Public Schools are slated to be “turned around” and/or “charterized.” Broy of the Illinois Network of Charter School maintained that charters schools are “places of innovation” though Potter of the Chicago Teachers Union often pressed him on this he seemed to dodge the answers. Potter constantly asked Broy for a “neutrality” pact to stop the continuous proliferation, lets study what’s actually happening in these experimentation centers, and to actively allow charter school teachers to unionize. Currently, fourteen charters are unionized, though there is still much harassment when charter school teachers express interest in forming a union.
At the end of the forum, Catalyst expressed interest in continuing this discussion. I would hope that in the next panel discussion we could hear from teachers, parents and students.
At the end of the forum, Catalyst expressed interest in continuing this discussion. I would hope that in the next panel discussion we could hear from teachers, parents and students.