Diane Ravitch's blog
Reader: Brookings Economist Sees CCSS as Entry Point for “Big Data” Machine
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG
DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating the Florida “Brighter Choice” scholarship program, whose criteria were changed in a way that has a disparate impact on black and Hispanic students. The Miami Herald reports: “Since the program’s inception, an outsized share of more than $4 billion in scholarships has gone to white or affluent families, at least some of who
Boston’s Citizens for Public Schools show how a powerful group of parents, teachers, and concerned citizens can inform the public and keep the heat on legislators. I was unable to repost all the links; there were so many! Go to their website to find them all. Here is their latest update: CPS writes: What a fascinating week it’s been for education news! First, there was the spectacle of leading ch
Lauren Anderson, a professor at Connecticut College, probes the upsurge in interest in the concept of “grit” and “character” and concludes that it is just another form of “blaming the victim.” She is especially critical of the work of Angela Duckworth, who recently won a MacArthur “genius” award. Duckworth has emerged as the leading academic in “grit” studies. Anderson takes the “grit” narrative t
This should be interesting. President dent Obama will deliver the commencement address at Worcester Tech High School in Massachusetts. Many Worcester parents are opting out of the Common Core tests funded by the Obama administration. Secretary Duncan visited Massachusetts last week and said its students–with the nation’s highest scores on NAEP–are not prepared for global competition. Wonder whethe
Mercedes Schneider came across a speech that Bill Gates gave to state legislators in 2009. It lays out the blueprint for everything that has happened in education since then. Forget what you learned in civics class. Gates gave legislators their marching orders. Duncan already had his marching orders. Gates laid out $3.2 billion to create and promote the Common Core standards. His buddy Arne handed
Reader: Brookings Economist Sees CCSS as Entry Point for “Big Data” Machine
Reader Laura H. Chapman shares this exchange with an economist at the Brookings Institution about the Common Core: I had a brief email exchange with Darrell West of the Brookings about the CCSS. He wants the CCSS to be standardized so that test scores will provide “big data” for his real interest, which is an automated system of telling students what they need to do in order to master CCSS content
Houston: A Teacher Struggling to Survive in a “Model” District
Rachel Fairbank is a first-year teacher in Houston. She always wanted to be a teacher. She was inspired by her own teachers. But she is drowning in paperwork, busywork, mandates, and directives. She doesn’t know if she will make it. The district does nothing to support her as a new teacher. Houston was honored by the Broad Foundation as the most improved urban district in the nation (reprising its
Report: Shocking Loss of Teachers in Louisiana Due to State Incompetence
Rodolfo Espinoza reports that Lafayette, Louisiana, is experiencing a major exodus of teachers who have resigned because of confusing and conflicting directions from the state bureaucracy. Espinoza is president of the local teachers’ association. He writes: Lafayette is in a crisis of employee resignations and early retirements. Changes in state policies spearheaded by unqualified state leaders, c
Linda Darling-Hammond Testifies in Vergara Trial
A friend who observed the proceedings in the Vergara trial sent me the following notes, based on the testimony of Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond. She is probably the nation’s leading expert on issues related to teacher recruitment, preparation, retention, and support. Her testimony, based on many years of study and experience, was devastating to the plaintiff’s case. Linda Darling-Hammo
YESTERDAY
Massachusetts Parent: My Children Are Opting Out
A comment by a reader: We are parents of 3 children in MA. Since March 5th when I joined 6 moms from my town to attend a Northboro forum to hear Sandra Stotsky & Jamie Gass (www. pioneerinstitute.org), we have been learning everything we can about PARCC/CCSS. On Feb 24, we learned our 3rd grader “won” the PARCC ELA lottery “mandating” 5 additional days of research of “test the test” research
Can Massachusetts Parents Opt Out?
Massachusetts officials say parents can’t opt out of state tests. Several local school districts are opting out anyway. Just do it. The children belong to their family, not the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Ask yourself: What would Henry David Thoreau do? What would Ralph Waldo Emerson do?
Florida Set to Waste Hundreds of Millions on Vouchers
UPDATE: the sponsor of this legislation withdrew it because of parent opposition and reluctance to hold voucher schools accountable ********* Jeb Bush has his eye on the Presidency. He will boast of his education record, but it is a record of smashing public education and diverting public funding to charters, for-profit charter chains, vouchers, corporate vendors, anything but our basic public sc
Breaking News: Tennessee State Senate Guts Local Control
The Tennessee State Senate passed a bill based on ALEC model legislation to minimize local control. ALEC is more dedicated to privatization and to the destruction of public sector agencies than to local control. ALEC’s agenda is not conservative; it is extremist. Under this bill, those who wish to open a privately managed charter school may apply to a state authorizing board if the local board tur
David Greene: How the Common Core Standards Stifle Creativity
Just a few days ago, Bill Gates told the annual assembly of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards that the Common Core standards were “the key to creativity,” and likened their development to the standardized electrical plug. I am not sure I see the analogy, but I guess he meant that with a standardized electrical plug, we could all have electric lights and do better work in the l
Good News! TEA Sues Governor, Commissioner re Junk Science VAM
The Tennessee Education Association filed a second lawsuit against the use if value-added assessment (called TVAAS in Tennessee), this time including extremist Governor Haslam and ex-TFA state commissioner Huffman in their suit. The teachers rightly say that the evaluations are unfair, a point on which most reputable researchers are in their corner. “TEA’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of Knox Cou
Jason Stanford: “Divergent” is a Major New Film about Testing Abuse
Testing is rapidly becoming radioactive. No one lies it, yet Congress can’t bring itself to drive a stake through the withered lifeless heart of NCLB, nor call a halt to Race to the Top’s promotion of even more testing. Jason Stanford says a new film called “Divergent” shows how standardized testing is harming students, determining their future, and inspiring rebellions against it. It will debut
Florida: Parents and Teachers Stopped the Voucher Bill
Kathleen McGrory of the Miami Herald shows how parents and teachers stopped the voucher bill in Florida. ““We really saw this as an attack on public education,” said Mindy Gould legislative affairs for the PTA. “The testing issue had become a sticking point. “John Kirtley, who helped craft the original voucher legislation in 2001 and is chair of the Step Up board, said it would have been “a very
You Too Can See “Rise Above the Mark”
Rocky Killion, the superintendent of West Lafayette, Indiana, public schools and his film crew created a fabulous documentary about the greatness of teachers, of our kids and our public schools. They traveled across the nation to interview leading policy experts, and spent lots of time in classrooms interviewing teachers and principals. They produced “Rise Above the Mark,” which is inspiring. It i
A Néw Way for Néw York?
Several superintendents in Long Island, Néw York, hope to find a path out of the morass created by Néw York State’s authoritarian Board of Regents, which loves high-stakes testing. Here is a comment by one of those superintendents: Opening the Door: An Alternate Way for Public Education Our public education system is truly at a crossroads. The question is, do we just passively sit and watch big
Bad News from Michigan as Failed EAA Expands to Harm More Children
A reader reports: “Big win for Arne Duncan and Rick Snyder on Eli Broad’s EAA experiment in Detroit: “Democratic lawmakers said the bill is an attempt to prop up Snyder’s struggling EAA, which has been dogged by declining enrollment, financial problems and teacher turnover during its two years of running schools formerly operated by Detroit Public Schools. “This isn’t about helping schoolchildren
NEPC: Rural Communities Do Not Need Charters
Did it ever occur to you that what rural communities really need is a privately managed charter school to compete with the community school? Apparently the idea sounds swell to Andy Smarick, who doesn’t think that communities should have any public schools. Smarick worked as deputy commissioner of education in Chris Christie’s administration in New Jersey and before that worked in the George W. B
Study: Most Teachers Will Never Collect a Pension
Stephen Sawchuk reports in Education Week on a study finding that most teachers will not stay on the job long enough to collect a pension. He writes: “The report from Bellwether Education Partners, a Washington-based consulting group, contends that states’ current defined-benefit pension policies, which pay out according to a fixed formula, are not well aligned with a profession that has grown r
Fred Smith: Parents Should Say NO to Field Tests
Fred Smith is a testing expert in New York City who has been advising parent organizations about their rights and explaining the technicalities of the tests to laymen. He writes here: “There are many reasons to refuse to participate in the field tests. They are summarized here–concerning New York State’s stealthy field testing practices, but having wider application to field testing, in general.
MAR 20
Breaking News! Florida Voucher Expansion Bill Withdrawn!
Great news! The sponsor of the Florida voucher bill withdrew it, as it sailed through the Florida House, after the State Senate insisted that voucher schools would have to take state tests. “After promising a “massive expansion” of school choice options this session, House Speaker Will Weatherford retooled his rhetoric Thursday after the Senate dropped plans to take up a proposed build-up of the
Breaking News: Worcester, Mass., Supports Parents Right to Opt Out!
Although Mayor Joe Petty lobbied hard to reverse the school committee’s decision to allow parents to opt out, the school committee stuck with their original decision. Parents mounted a “say no to Joe” campaign, and the school committee agreed with the parents who elected them. Parents are free to opt their children out of PARCC Common Core field testing.
Where Is All That Money Going?
A teacher writes in response to an earlier post about the vendors making lots of money these days, but not schools or classrooms: hahaha… I can laugh now, but, until I retired, I taught in a portable classroom, where termites would fly from the walls and I had to get rid of the smell of cat urine when I moved in.Yet, I had a smartboard, responders, laptop along with desk computer (T1 line plus wif
David Berliner Testifies at the Vergara Trial
The distinguished education researcher David Berliner testified yesterday at the Vergara trial in Los Angeles. The issue is whether teachers should be permitted to have tenure; the plaintiffs say that job protections for teachers deny the civil rights of children. Last week, the teacher of the lead plaintiff testified; he does not have tenure. He has never had disciplinary proceedings or any negat
Shocker! North Carolina Does Not Deserve Duncan’s Congratulations for Improving Teaching
As I reported earlier today, Arne Duncan reviewed the results of the $4.3 billion competition called “Race to the Top,” and he lauded four states for making the most progress: Hawaii, Delaware, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Note that two of the four states are controlled by legislatures and governors that are to the far-far-far right: North Carolina and Tennessee. The commissioner of education in
The “New York Times” Misses the Big $tory about Millions for Charter TV Ad Campaign
A reader notices that the New York Times discovered that $236,000 of private money was spent to advocate for Mayor de Blasio’s plan for universal pre-kindergarten. But the Times did not find it newsworthy that $3.6 MILLION was spent to dramatize the plight of Eva Moskowitz’s charter schools. From a confidential source, I know that the Times’ reporters had the information about the $3.6 million but
Erica Bryant: How NASA Differs from NY State Education Department
The Rochester Teachers Association is suing the state for its flawed evaluation system, which unfairly judges teachers. Erica Bryant explains why in this article. “Years ago, I visited the Kennedy Space Center and bought a coffee mug from the gift shop. It is decorated with some NASA equations, including one used to calculate the speed an object needs to escape Earth’s gravity. This formula fits
California: The Language Police Are on the Job!
A teacher in California sent me the latest state testing guidelines and was disturbed to see the large number of forbidden topics. I was not surprised because in 2003, I published a book called “The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn.” I reported that testing and textbook publishers, the federal government and state education agencies collectively adhere to a long l
Congressman Supports NPE’s Call for Congressional Hearings on Testing
PRESS RELEASE March 19, 2014 Contact: Robin Hiller phone: 520-668-4634 email: robin@networkforpubliceducation.org Anthony Cody phone: 510-917-9231 email: anthony_cody@hotmail.com Member of Congress joins with The Network for Public Education and calls for public hearings on the misuse and abuse of standardized tests. Massive social networking camp
Breaking News: Charter Advocates Spent $3.6 Million on Attack Ads Against de Blasio
The New York Daily News reports that pro-charter advocacy groups spent $3.6 million on attack ads against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to deny 3 charter applications to Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter chain (while approving 5 of her other applications). They spent these millions while claiming that they could not afford to pay the city rent for use of public space. Current state legisla
Did StudentsFirst Buy Facebook “Likes” in Bangladesh?
The Tennessee Mama Bears did some research. They wanted to know who was giving all those “likes” to the StudentsFirst Facebook page. Here is what they found. It is hilarious. Check out the graphics. STUDENTSFIRST’S “LIKES” ON FACE BOOK: PATHETIC POPULARITY CONTEST 03/18/2014 Momma Bears has often wondered about the gullible people who fall for the StudentsFirst sales pitch. Students
Bill McDiarmid: North Carolina’s Legislature Is Destroying Public Education
Only days before Arne Duncan hailed North Carolina as one of the stars of the Race to the Top, Bill McDiarmid, dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, warned that public education was in dire peril in the state. Although North Carolina was once renowned as the most forward-looking state in the south, known for fundings its schools and for promoting statewide early childhood educa
Matt Di Carlo Warns about Expecting Too Much
In a recent post on the Shanker Blog, researcher Matt Di Carlo chastises those “reformers” who expect transformational results from educational interventions. “A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education presented a summary of three recent studies of the differences in the effectiveness of teaching provided advantaged and disadvantaged students (with the former defined in terms of value-
Songer: Is PARCC Developmentally Inappropriate for High School Students?
Gerri K. Songer of the Illinois Township High School, District 214, conducted a Lexile analysis of the PARCC assessment and what she found was very alarming. The reading levels embedded in the assessment are absurdly high. Many young people will fail the PARCC test because it is developmentally inappropriate for high school students. What exactly is the point of writing a test at a level that larg
Peter Greene: Duncan Hails North Carolina for Improving Teachers (Really)
Peter Greene noticed in his scan of reports from Arne Duncan that Duncan singled out the super stars of his Race to the Top. Most surprising of all was that North Carolina won a gold star for improving the teaching profession. To call this startling is an understatement. Don’t take my word for it: Read what Duke University Professor Helen Ladd and former New York Times education editor Edward Fisk
MAR 19
Florida Voucher Bill Advances, $1 Billion Boondoggle
Florida Republicans are rushing through a voucher bill with no accountability for state tests. Even with state tests, it would be a terrible bill as its purpose is to destroy public education. One leading voucher advocate bluntly told an audience in California that the game plan was to sell the bill as being a benefit to poor minority kids. Of course, that’s a scam. The main goal is to break publ
Chicago Teachers Union Fights “Deformers” and “Pension Thieves” in Elections
The Chicago Teachers Union is getting politically active on behalf of public education and teachers. It supported candidates who oppose school closings and privatization via charters. Note the lessons: The last one is: “This ain’t Wisconsin.” NEWS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin March 19, 2014
Jersey Jazzman Dissents from Cami Anderson’s Paean to Herself
In a post called “This Is You Brain on TFA,” Jersey Jazzman scrutinizes an article written by Cami Anderson about her moral courage. He writes: “I often get the sense that something happens to the brains of people who do their two years or less at Teach For America and then, rather than continue to teach, go on to “stay in education” as “leaders.” Maybe their self-granted halos are a little too
The Mess That Race to the Top Inflicted on Connecticut’s Schools
What a mess in Connecticut! Robert A. Frahm writes in the Connecticut Mirror about how teachers and principals are struggling with the state’s test-based evaluation system. Teachers waste time setting paperwork goals that are low enough to make statistical “gains.” If they don’t, they may be rated ineffective. Every principal spends hours observing teachers—one hour each time—taking copious note
Randi Warns State Chiefs Common Core Is in Deep Trouble; They Don’t Listen
A fascinating article in Education Week describes a verbal tiff between the Council of Chief State School Officers and the leaders of the two major teachers’ unions. The Chiefs, as they are known, are the state superintendents. CCSSO received at least $32 million from the Gates Foundation to “write” and advocate for the Common Core, and no matter how much parents and teachers complain and demand
Robert Shepherd: Economists at Brookings Institution Call for Common Core Censorship Office
Robert Shepherd, a frequent commenter on this blog, has spent his lifetime as a designer and author of textbooks and curriculum. He has frequently criticized the Common Core standards on grounds that they promote an unhealthy uniformity. Here he expresses his concern that the organizations that wrote and copyrighted the Common Core might actually enforce that copyright to stifle competition of ide
Michigan Students Make a Video about Governor Snyder’s War on Public Schools
High school students in Ann Arbor, Michigan, made this video to express their views of Governor Rick Snyder’s assault on their public schools. It is only 3 minutes. Please watch and tweet.
KrazyTA Explains What Bill Gates Wants for His Own Children
The most famous line ever written by John Dewey was this: “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.” Our frequent commenter KrazyTA has been exploring what our leading reformers–who see themselves as our best and wisest educational visio
Jeff Bryant: Why Democrats Erred by Embracing the GOP Agenda
Jeff Bryant of the Education Opportunity Network writes in Salon that voters are increasingly disenchanted with the bipartisan Bush-Obama education policies of high-stakes testing, Common Core, and privatization. He points out that the attacks on public education are not playing well at all in the political arena. The overwhelming majority of parents are very happy with their local public schools
An Opt Out Letter for Parents in New York
A reader submits a model opt out letter for parents in New York: “If anyone is interested in refusing the state assessments or know someone who is: REFUSAL LETTER: Dear Board of Education, Superintendent, Principals, and Teachers of ________________ school district, We are writing today to formally inform the __________ school district of our decision to refuse to allow our child _____________ to
Jessie Ramey: 13 Ways Standardized Testing Hurts Kids, Ruins Education
Jessie Ramey, who writes the terrific blog Yinzercation, writes a cogent list of the 13 ways that high-stakes, standardized testing hurts children and ruins their education. Here are six of the 13. Open the link to see the other seven: So what are the “high-stakes” for students in high-stakes testing? Examples we’ve been hearing from parents and educators across Pennsylvania include: Lost learnin
MAR 18
Breaking News: Another School Committee in Massachusetts Allows Parents to Opt Kids Out of PARCC Tests
The school committee of Tantasqua, Massachusetts, voted to permit parents to opt their children out of the PARCC tests. In doing so, Tantasqua joins the school committees of Worcester and Norfolk, which reached the same decision. The state department of education has opposed opting out, but the school committees are not following orders. The Tantasqua vote was close, 8-7, and the deciding vote wa
Eagle Academies: Not Miracle Schools
We live in a very strange age, where pundits and policymakers are in search of miracle schools, not willing to accept how incremental progress is and how difficult it is to measure progress.. Last Sunday, the “New York Times” held up the Eagle Academy schools in New York City as very successful hybrid schools that provide the equivalent of a private school education.. After all, 82% are bound for
Breaking News! Dare County, NC, Votes NO to North Carolina Anti-Teacher Law
The Board of Education in Dare County, North Carolina, voted unanimously to oppose the law recently passed by the extremist legislature that would end career status for teachers, require the board to give a $500 bonus to the top 25% of teachers in exchange for their giving up their career status. “The Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution calling for the state to roll back the new
Susan Ohanian: Bill Gates Is Running Scared
Think of it: the richest man in the world poured over $2 billion into the creation of national standards, and he is out on the media-power trail, fighting for their survival. Gates is worried about the pushback against the standards and the testing in a score of states. In some states, the very term “Common Core” has become so toxic that they are called something else, rebranded. And don’t forget
How Chris Christie Is Promoting Segregation and White Flight in Hoboken
By now, there is a sizable literature about the connection between “choice” and segregation. We should never forget that choice was the favorite school policy of George Wallace and other segregationists. Hoboken, New Jersey, is Governor Chris Christie’s little Petri dish for segregated schools. The best way to keep gentrification going is to kep expanding charter schools, so that young white fami
Help NPE Stop Testing Abuse! Join Us! Change the World with Us!
The Network for Public Education needs your help tomorrow!!! As you know, The Network for Public Education’s first Conference culminated with a major announcement by the NPE Board about the board’s press release to call for formal Congressional hearings “to investigate the over-emphasis, misapplication, costs, and poor implementation of high-stakes standardized testing in the nation’s K-12 public
The Vergara Trial: Read All About It
The Vergara trial in California is a calculated effort to remove due process protections from teachers. The plaintiffs claim that the superintendent must be able to dismiss teachers at will, without the bother of a hearing. The billionaires sponsoring this attack on teachers’ job protection insist that any protections for teachers in the workplace violates the civil rights of students. They gather
A Very Different Cuomo, Once Upon a Time
Thirty years ago, the governor of New York addressed the Democratic National Convention, held in New York City. His name was Mario Cuomo. His theme was “A Tale of Two Cities,” ironically, the same campaign theme as Bill de Blasio in 2013. He denounced tax breaks for the rich. He spoke of caring for the family of America. This is not the same Cuomo who is now governor of New York, who wants to be k
Tucson: The Radical Message of the NPE Conference
David Safier writes a terrific blog about education and politics in Arizona. He made the trip to Austin to the first annual conference of the Network for Public Education and found he was in an alternate universe, where people care passionately about the preservation of public education. He attended along with several other Tucson residents, including Robin Hiller, not only executive director of
Meet New York State’s Newest Member of the Board of Regents
This spring, the five-year terms of four members of the New York Board of Regents expired. Many parent groups mounted a campaign to persuade the State Assembly to replace all four of them, since they refused to listen to parent complaints about the Common Core and the fiasco associated with the Common Core implementation and testing. The Assembly responded by selecting someone with no experience i
Study: Newark Plan Will Have Disparate Impact on Black Teachers
Bruce Baker, Mark Weber, and Joseph Oluwole completed another study of Cami Anderson’s “One Newark,” which will hand over about one-third of Newark’s public schools to private charter operators. This will result in the layoff of hundreds of teachers. Because the lowest performing schools are largely racially segregated, and because most of their teachers are black, the authors predict that “One Ne
MAR 17
Breaking News! Texas Democratic Party Condemns Stealth Privatization of Dallas Public Schools
This just in. On Saturday, the Texas Democratic Party passed the following resolution: WHEREAS Houston billionaire John Arnold, a hedge-fund manager and former Enron trader, is bankrolling an effort to transform all of the Dallas Independent School District into a so-called “home-rule charter district” that would not be subject to essential safeguards in state law for students, parents, teachers,
Rochester Teachers Sue State Over Teacher Evaluations
The Rochester Teachers Association is suing the state over its teacher evaluation system, alleging that it does not take into account the impact of poverty on classroom performance. RTA says the evaluations are “junk science.” “ALBANY, N.Y. March 10, 2014 – The Rochester Teachers Association today filed a lawsuit alleging that the Regents and State Education Department failed to adequately accoun
Privatizers Make Bold Move to Take Over Dallas
Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas is working hard to convince the public that the Dallas Independent School District should be turned into a “home rule” district. What this means is that Mayor Rawlings and his rich pals called (ironically) Supporters of Public Schools want to eliminate public education and turn the whole district into an all-charter district. The shadowy group behind the “home rule”
Tennessee Teacher Sues to Invalidate Teacher Evaluation System
In one of what is likely to be a tidal wave of lawsuits, the Tennessee Education Association sued the state because a teacher was denied a bonus based on the state’s flawed evaluation system. “The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Knox County teacher who was denied a bonus under that school system’s pay plan after Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVA
Jack Hassard: Why Bill Gates Defends the Common Core
We have long known on this site that Bill Gates’ foundation underwrote every aspect of the Common Core standards. Mercedes Schneider has documented nearly $200 million in grants specifically for the writing, evaluation, review, implementation, and advocacy for the Common Core standards. Jack Hassard, a retired professor of science education, has scoured the Gates search engine and concluded that
Edward Haertel: Why VAM Fails: The Oak Tree Analogy
Audrey Amrein Beardsley invited Stanford Professor Emeritus Edward Haertel to explain why a video called “The Oak Tree Analogy” is flawed. Apparently there are districts that use this video to try to explain teacher evaluations based on growth or decline of test scores. Whether you are talking about oak trees or corn or teachers, VAM is Junk Science. And if you want to know more, read Haertel’s
Titanic, 2014?
A reader, Karen Taylor, sent the following reflections about her life as a teacher today: Titanic, 2014 I am finishing the eighth week of my twenty-seventh year of teaching in public schools. Today I had a startling insight- that somehow I have been given the task of saving the sinking Titanic. Public schools are the Titanic, run aground against icebergs of state-mandated test scores and the fail
On Our Way to a Dual School System?
Word of mouth says that charter schools kick students out before the testing begins. The charters make a big show of holding a lottery, but they choose the students they want and kick out the ones they don’t want. They cherry pick the students that will get the highest scores and shed the ones who don’t. What is the end game? A dual publicly-funded school system. One sector gets to choose its
Burris: Arne Duncan’s Pathetic Lies About Our Students and Our Public Schools
When Arne Duncan visited Boston recently, he lamented the sorry state of public education in Massachusetts–the highest scoring state in the nation on NAEP, a state whose students have been ranked at the top of international tests—and he praised privately managed charter schools for their excellence. For reasons he has never publicly explained, he wants to see more public dollars and students turne
Marc Tucker on Why Punitive Accountability Fails
Marc Tucker has written an excellent post on the failure of punitive accountability. The working theory behind the Bush-Obama “reforms” is that teachers are lazy and need to be motivated by rewards and punishments and the threat of public shaming. This is in fact a theory drawn from the early twentieth century writings of Frederick Winslow Taylor, who studied the efficiency of factory workers. Tuc
MAR 16
Our Unaccountable, Corrupt Charters in Ohio
A reader writes: “How do you like this for accountability??? Lack of regulations, accountability and transparency invites charter school fraud “Pet care, alcohol, vacations and other personal purchases were charged to taxpayers via Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy charter school, according to a 2013 state audit. The school misspent $520,000 in public money. Two former officials from the Cinc
Richard Hake Defends Testing with No-Stakes
From a reader: “You might be interested in a related discussion list post “The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents – Response to Hunt” [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads: *************************************************** ABSTRACT: In a post “Re: The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents” [Hake (2014)], I pointed to the “vigorous leadership, voluminous messaging, and pro-public-/anti-private-
Michael Powell on the “Gilded Crusade” for Charters
Thank goodness, there is one journalist at the New York Times who sees the big money behind the charter “movement.” It is Michael Powell, who writes a political column. Michael Winerip used to write a clear-eyed weekly column on education for the Times, but for no reason, his column was dropped, and there is no more regular education columnist. Winerip used to be a scourge of those who love high-
Worcester, Massachusetts, Newspaper Urges Parents to Opt Out Of State Testing and Reject Common Core
The Worcester Telegram commended parents who choose to opt out of state testing and reminded parents that they–not the federal government, not the GatesFoundation–are the ultimate controllers of their children’s education. The paper laments the fact that Massachusetts dropped its successful state standards to chase federal dollars. After reviewing the genesis of Common Core,the newspaper conclude
Bloggers Propose the Fight of the Century–LINK REPAIRED
The bloggers at valueaddedmeasureit.com have proposed what they call “the fight of the century” to replace “the fight of the century that wasn’t.” They refer to the debate that never happened between Michelle Rhee and me. They refer to efforts by Lehigh University to set up a debate between us on February 6, which did not happen because Rhee kept raising new demands and eventually backed out when
Peter Greene Deconstructs the Conservative Defense of Common Core
Conservatives have a problem: they don’t like federal overreach. They supposedly like local control. But so many conservative thought leaders like Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, and Michelle Rhee support the Common Core that they have to figure out how to justify why a program beloved by the federal Department of Education should appeal to conservatives. Peter Greene explains what a heavy lift this is a
Bloggers: Join the Education Bloggers Network!
If you blog and if you support public education as a pillar of our democracy, consider joining the Education Bloggers Network. This is an informal group that was assembled by Jonathan Pelto of Connecticut. There are no responsibilities or burdens, just the opportunity to share your work with others across the nation who share your passion and interests. Please contact Jonathan Pelto at jonpelto@gm
What Arne Said in Boston
As EduShyster said in her previously noted post, Arne Duncan’s visit to Boston gave him another opportunity to tout charter schools as the answer to what ails American education, and to tell his favorite writer at the Boston Globe how terrible U.S. public education is. Although Massachusetts is the highest performing state in the nation and performs as if it were one of the highest performing nati
EduShyster: Arne’s Secret Visit to Boston
EduShyster here breaks the story of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s secret trip to Boston. It must have been secret because, she reports, not a word appeared in the Boston media. He used his time in Boston to tout “no excuses” charter schools and a “turnaround” school that demonstrated the great success of his grand theory: Fire everyone and the school miraculously improves. But, as EduShyste
Burris and Aja: The Myth of “Equity” and Common Core
Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, and Alan A. Aja, assistant professor of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College (City University of New York) here explore and explode the claims that the Common Core Standards will promote equity for the most disadvantaged students. The assertion is often made that these standards, because they are common
MAR 15
Matt Haney: Why School Boards Matter
Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco local school board, here responds to Reed Hastings’ proposal that local school boards should be replaced by charter schools. School boards are part of our democratic concept of education. They are elected by the public to serve the public. They can be thrown out of office if they don’t serve the public. Charter schools, by contrast, are run by private bo
An NBCT Listened to Bill Gates and Reacts Here
Bill Gates lectured the Nationally Board Certified Teachers on Friday about the joys of Common Core and why standardization unlocks creativity. Not being a NBCT, I was not there to hear him, but this teacher was there. She writes: “As a high school English teacher, one of the first things I taught my 11th grade students was to know their audience when speaking and writing; knowing about the exper
Washington State Rejects Arne’s Junk Science Mandate, Will Be Punished
Washington State legislators refused to accept Arne Duncan’s demand that teachers be evaluated by a flawed and erroneous method, and the state seems certain to lose its NCLB waiver. “That would mean that, starting in 2014-2015, school districts throughout the state would lose control over roughly $38 million in Title I funds designed to help low-income students. “Loss of the waiver would also mea
Big Business Fights Tea Party in Support of Common Core, with Questions
Stephanie Simon reports at politico.com that big business is launching a major campaign to counter Tea Party opposition to the Common Core standards. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have endorsed a major advertising and public relations campaign on behalf of the Common Core. Within days, Indiana will very likely become the first state to officially scrap the standards, tho
Mercedes Schneider Takes Bill Gates to the Woodshed
Mercedes Schneider was not at all pleased that Bill Gates lectured teachers about teaching at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards annual conference. He has never taught but he thinks he knows how to teach. Messing with education is his hobby. Why was he invited? Schneider thinks he bought the platform by donating millions to the NBPTS. She takes him to the woodshed and gives h
Sara Stevenson, Fearless Librarian
At the meeting in Austin of the Network for Public Education, I singled out a large number of people and groups who are turning the tide on behalf of the public good. One of them was Austin’s own Sara Stevenson, a librarian at a middle school. Sara reads the editorials in the Wall Street Journal and responds whenever they lash out at teachers or public schools. This keeps Sara very busy, because p
Dr. Yohuru Williams: Everything I Need to Know about Corporate Reform I Learned in Kindergarten
Dr. Yohuru Williams teaches history at Fairfield University in Connecticut. In this post, he condenses the lessons of the best-seller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, reducing sixteen lessons to only six. They are on point and hilarious. These are six rules to live by and to learn by. School would be a far better place for learning if everyone took Dr. Williams’ good advice. He
An Innocent/Guilty Pleasure
A couple of years ago, I read an article in The New Yorker about the federal government’s efforts to shut down health-food cooperatives that sell raw milk. The story focused on California, where SWAT teams descended on sellers of raw milk and locked them up. What is “raw milk,” I wondered. It is milk as it comes from the cow, not pasteurized, not homogenized. Sounded frightening. I remember in hea
A Teacher in L.A: Who Is John Deasy?
A teacher in Los Angeles has a gripe about his superintendent, John Deasy: he says Deasy is an uninspiring technocrat, not an educator. He has no educational vision. The LAUSD board recently extended Deasy’s contract to 2016, despite the fiasco in which Deasy committed to spend $1 billion on iPads while laying off arts teachers, closing libraries, increasing class sizes, and neglecting school repa
A Reader Comments: Will Changes in the SAT Matter?
A frequent contributor to the blog’s discussions calls himself or herself “Democracy.” Here is the comment left by this reader in response to the announcement about changes that will be made to the SAT: ****************** “Democracy” writes: I’ve noted this point multiple times on this blog but it bears repeating. College enrollment specialists say that their research finds the SAT predicts betwee