UPDATE: Cruelty of the Annual Spring Testing Season +Head over to @guardianteach – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

Head over to @guardianteach and find out about an “education spring” via @debrakidd – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:

The Overuse of “Overuse”

APRIL 23, 2013 BY ONTOGENYX LEAVE A COMMENT

Eight years when I started Schools Matter, Texas had four high stakes tests that high school students had to pass to get a diploma.  Most recently, they devised plans to add 11 more.  When parents and teachers gagged, the state Legislature began to waver, so that now it looks like they will only add one test, for a total of five instead of 15.

Obviously, some people believe that adding one test instead of 11 represents some kind of moral victory for the foes of high stakes testing.   Even a new phrase has appeared that now acknowledges “the overuse of high stakes testing.”  As if there were some use of high stakes testing that was not an overuse.

FairTest used the phrase in an op-ed recently, and when I asked Monty Neill what he thought would represent a high stakes test that was not overused, he accused me “nitpicking” and offered the drivers’ test as an example.  The email 

Benefits of Mayoral Control of Schools: Not So Much

by ontogenyx

Review from NEPC: BOULDER, CO (April 23, 2013) – A recent Center for American Progress report purports to find that school districts led by city mayors are raising student achievement while improving the districts’ fiscal health. A new review finds some useful information in the report, but says it is too flawed to rely on [...]

The Cruelty of the Annual Spring Testing Season

by johnt4853

The spring standardized testing season has begun, and learning has stopped.  Or, should I say that learning the skills and knowledge necessary to become a healthy citizen has stopped? Students will continue to learn about the seamy side of adult politics until the testing ordeal peters out in May. Especially for many students in low-income [...]

Head over to @guardianteach and find out about an “education spring” via @debrakidd

by Chalk Face, PhD

From the article:

It is time to come together – parents, teachers, curriculum and pedagogical experts, as well as children, to take control of this game. An advisory panel, consisting of cross party representation and grassroots stakeholder representatives needs to look at these suggestions seriously and with an open and positive mindset. Our children are not political footballs and we need to ensure that we innovate with integrity. Let’s not allow a political sandman to throw sand in our eyes. We are forming an education spring and we are asking for one simple thing. Let’s root our profession in evidence not politics. In short, let’s keep our eye on the ball.