Geaux Teacher!: Face off - Diane Ravitch takes on Newsweek and Wins!

Geaux Teacher!: Face off - Diane Ravitch takes on Newsweek and Wins!:

Face off - Diane Ravitch takes on Newsweek and Wins!

I can't help myself. I have to re-post some of these excellent articles that lend truth to the fiction of Common Core Standards, standardized testing, evaluating teachers based on student test scores etc.

Here is another one -comprehensive!  A must read.

Diane Ravitch Backs Louis C.K., Blasts Newsweek Piece: 'Your Belief...Has No Research to Support It.'

A poorly argued article repeats Common Core myths, but Ravitch sets the record straight.

http://www.alternet.org/education/diane-ravitch-defends-louis-ck-takes-down-newsweek-piece-your-beliefhas-no-research?page=0%2C0&akid=11800.1086139.8uGDxu&rd=1&src=newsletter992024&t=5&paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

I am a supporter of national health insurance, so I don’t accept the analogy between the Affordable Care Act and Common Core. The difference between them, which may be unknown to Alexander, is that the U.S. government, including the U.S. Department of Education, is prohibited by law from taking any action that would direct, control, or supervise curriculum or instruction. Now we know that Arne Duncan regularly says he is doing none of the above, but it would be hard to find a teacher who would agree that neither Common Core nor the federally funded online tests has any effect on curriculum and instruction. Common Core and the related testing has had a dramatic effect on both. And, so, at risk of being called a name by Alexander, I would say (having worked for two years in the U.S. Department of Education) that the federal encouragement of Common Core and the federal funding of the Common Core tests directly conflicts with federal law.

You are right that it is far too soon to judge Common Core’s efficacy. But that is the fault of those who wrote it. In 2009, when I met at the Aspen Institute with the authors of the Common Core, I urged them to field test it so they would find out how it works in real classrooms. They didn’t. In 2010, I was invited to the White House to meet with Melody Barnes, the director of domestic policy; Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff; and Ricardo Rodriguez, the President’s education advisor, and they asked me what I thought of Common Core. I urged them to field test it. I suggested that they invite three to five states to give it a trial of three-five years. See how it works. See if it narrows the achievement gap or widens the achievement gap. They quickly dismissed the idea. They were in a hurry. They wanted Common Core to be rolled out as quickly as possible, without checking out how it works in real classrooms with real teachers and real children.

Are we judging Common Core too quickly and too harshly? Consider the first Common Core test results last year in New York. The passing mark was set so high (artificially high) that 97% of English learners failed; 95% of children with disabilities failed; more than 80% of black and Hispanic children failed; statewide, 69% of all students failed. Maybe there wasn’t enough time foGeaux Teacher!: Face off - Diane Ravitch takes on Newsweek and Wins!: