Why Mandatory Online Testing?
From a reader: “FYI. Tennessee computers across entire state crashed on second day of writing test. Attached is letter from admin of White Station High School in Memphis. Thought you’d be interested: White Station High School February 4, 2014 Dear Parents, We started our state writing assessments yesterday. Everything flowed smoothly. Today the online portal crashed statewide. As a result, today’
New York: Legislative Leaders Call for Two-Year Delay of Testing
Legislative leaders in the Assembly and Senate in Néw York called on the Board of Regents to delay implementation of Common Core testing for at least two years. In addition, “At the same time, the Senate backs a one-yuear moratorium on the proposal to share student data through the controversial third-party vendor inBloom. “In addition, students, parents, teachers, privacy experts and school adm
News from Washington, D.C.
I had a very exciting day in our nation’s Capitol today. Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers invited me to spend a day in D.C. And offered to set up meetings with members of the education committee in both houses. At the end of he day, the AFT hosted a reception. I took the train to D.C. to avoid the uncertain weather of recent days, and spent 2 hours on the train writing bl
The All-New Online Common Core PARCC Tests: Not So New After All
An early version of the PARCC common Core tests have been released, and bloggers are underwhelmed. Chris Cerone thinks they look more or less like the same old standardized tests, but way more expensive. Blogger Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters wrote: “They just released computer based sample PARCC items. http://www.parcconline.org/computer-based-samples Go directly to the test items in gra
Peter Greene: Common Core and Planned Obsolescence!
Peter Greene, a teacher in Pennsylvania, sees the incredible marketing opportunities associated with Common Core. And he worries that the marketing department has missed some even more spectacular opportunities to sell CC-aligned products: True– “CCSS” has been stamped every printed object that a school might potentially buy. Every book and worksheet now touts its CCSS-ness. Heck, there are elemen
David Brooks Has a Conversion Experience
Something interesting has happened to David Brooks. Only a couple of years ago, he wrote about schools that produced high scores as the paradigm of success. Now he describes a different skill set to define what is needed most in the emerging future. As computers become more powerful, the usual definition of success will change, he writes: “As this happens, certain mental skills will become less
Michigan: EAA Investigates Itself and Clears Itself
What an exhaustive investigation! After Eclectablog published reports of abuse of students, poorly trained TFA teachers, bulging classes, and other problems in the state’s Educational Achievement Authority, the EAA investigated itself and declared that all was well. Well, that is reassuring! The EAA was created by Governor Snyder to take over low performing schools and turn them around. From the
New York Teachers’ Union Condemns “Sit and Stare” Policy for Students
The New York State United Teachers issued a statement condemning any policies that punish children whose parents have told them not to take the spring tests. Next test for NYSUT: when will they call on parents and students to boycott the tests that will be used to rate and (de)grade teachers, based on junk science? NYSUT said: ALBANY, N.Y. Feb. 3, 2014 – New York State United Teachers President Ri
Is Chris Christie’s Newark Superintendent Shaping the Mayoral Race?
Cami Anderson, appointed by the Chris Christie administration, has lit a fire in Newark. Newark public schools have been under state control since 1995. The outrage that Anderson ignited is now influencing the mayoral race. This article describes the dynamics. Newark residents are angry about Anderson’s plan (ironically called “One Newark”) to privatize or close many public schools. The candidates
EAA Responds to Claims by Eclectablog about EAA Schools
In a comment sent to the blog, Terry Abbott, the communications director for Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority, vigorously denies the charges leveled against the EAA by the blogger Eclectablog. In another comment, he said that since I had not visited the EAA, I was in no position to judge the truth or falsity of the claims. This is true. I have never visited the EAA schools. Since I write
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-3-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan’s EAA: A Scary Place for Kids with DisabilitiesEclectablog of Michigan continues its invaluable reports on the stste’s disastrous so-called “Educational Achievement Authority.” This one contains the testimony of a special education teacher. Governor Snyder has created a streamlined version of the school-to-prison pipeline.