Nashville School Board Member Blocks Pearson “Nonsense Word” Test
Jill Speering, a retired teacher and reading specialist, is a member of the Metro Nashville school board and its most outspoken critic of high-stakes testing. She led a successful effort to block a Pearson contract to test reading by use of nonsense words. The test was intended to test decoding skills without the need for understanding. Speering pointed out that the committee that approved the con
Red Queen in L.A.: Where Is the Outrage?
Blogger redqueeninla takes a hard look at what is happening to the schools and the children and asks the inevitable question: “Where’s the outrage?” Why do parents tolerate classes with 50 students? Teachers can’t teach such large classes. Does anyone care? Why does the media report calmly about self-enriching deals for corporate interests without treating it as a scandal? Why do we ignore segr
What Educators in North Carolina Say About Recent Legislative Changes
This last year, the legislature and governor in North Carolina enacted legislation affecting the teaching profession in North Carolina. Scott Imig and Robert Smith at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington decided that it was important to hear how the legislation affected those in the state’s schools: They wrote: In the summer of 2013, the North Carolina legislature passed broad educationa
Breaking News: Weingarten Rejects VAM!
Randi Weingarten has come out in opposition to value-added modeling (VAM), the statistical measure that judges teacher quality based on the test scores of their students. This is great news! As I have often written here, VAM is Junk Science. It also is the centerpiece of Race to the Top, which makes the absurd assumption that good teachers produce higher test scores. Researchers have shown again a
Jersey Jazzman: Why Urban Districts in New Jersey Can’t Be Trusted to Run Their Own Schools
In an astonishing piece of journalism, Jersey Jazzman nails the Star-Ledger of New Jersey for its arrogant editorial putdown of local residents and elected officials in Newark who dare to disagree with Cami Anderson, their Broad-trained and unelected education leader. Why, they are being “shrill and unreasonable” for resisting corporate-style reforms. The subtext: the locals are black, and the ide
Why Common Core Tests Cause Scores to Collapse
Just as the holidays began, Education Week published a very important article explaining why Common Core testing causes a collapse of test scores. Since most people were preoccupied with preparations for the holidays, it probably didn’t get much attention. But it should have because it unlocks the mystery if why state after state is experiencing a 30 point drop in passing rates on Common Core tes
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH Diane Ravitch's blog 1-5-14
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Paul Thomas: An Educators’ Agenda for 2014Paul Thomas proposes that educators must set goals for other crucial sectors of our society. After all, there is such low confidence in other institutions, and it is our joint responsibility to do what we can to restore confidence for the good of society. If we do not solve the crisis of ou