Louis C.K. Sounds Off Against Common Core Testing on Letterman Show
This is hilarious. Comedian Louis C.K. was interviewed about the Common Core by David Letterman. This is my favorite line: “He told Letterman he’s trying to help his daughters with their math work, but the questions are just nonsense like “Bill has three goldfish. He buys two more. How many dogs live in London?” When Common Core becomes a national joke, you know it is in serious trouble.
A Triumphant Return to Professionalism in New York City
A New Contract, A New Beginning The other day the largest teacher union in the nation (New York City’s United Federation of Teachers) and the New York City Department of Education reached a ground breaking agreement on a new contract. Subject to approval by union members, this agreement should explode many of the myths that corporate education reformers like to spread about teacher unions. It show
Peter Greene Knocks Newsweek for Mocking Louis C.K.
Peter Greene, in his inimitable style, takes apart a Newsweek writer who mocks the comedian Louis C.K. The aforementioned Mr. C.K. had the nerve to criticize Common Core. As is well known by now, the Common Core supposedly teaches critical thinking. But the one thing you are not allowed to think critically about is the Common Core. If you dare to do so, you will be called an extremist of right or
More on Houston Lawsuit Challenging VAM Methods to Evaluate Teachers
As readers of this blog know, using value-added-assessment is a very poor way to gauge teacher quality. The research and evidence do not support this methodology. Teacher quality cannot be judged by computers. Test scores reflect only a small part of what teachers do. And as the American Statistical Association recently said, teachers account for about 1-16% of the variation in test scores, yet th
Rebecca Mead: Why Louis C.K.’s Complaints about Common Core Matter
Thank goodness at least one prominent journalist in the mainstream media sends her child to public school! At Rebecca Mead’s public school, two-thirds of the children opted out of the state tests aligned to Common Core. So Mead understands the frustration of the comedian Louis C.K., whose tweets about the Common Core tests went viral. Louis C.K. had more than 3 million Twitter followers so w
State-Appointed Superintendent of Camden: I Represent the People of Camden
Professor Stephen Danley of Rutgers has been attending the school board meetings in Camden. Camden has been under state control for many years. Its new, young, inexperienced Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard wants to turn Camden’s public schools into charter schools. There is no evidence that the people of Camden want him to give their children and schools to charter corporations, but no one can s
Why the Tech Industry Loves Common Core
A teacher sent the following comment in reference to the requirement that all Common Core testing must be done online. Schools will lay off teachers and cut programs and services to pay for technology for testing: “My campus has 1200 students and 32 computers in the lab. You do the math. We have to buy HUNDREDS of new computers, so that our primary-aged kids can take a test in the spring. Our dis
FairTest: Protests Against Testing Madness Continues to Grow
The following report comes from FairTest, which keeps track of news about testing a Ross the nation and advocates for sensible testing policies: This week’s stories about test protest and reform activities — as well as a few victories — come from more than a third of the states, as the movement continues to spread, intensify and gain more clout. Four Reasons Why Alabama Parents Want to Opt Their
Jersey Jazzman: New Jersey Sends Loser to New York: Oh, No!
For as long as I can remember, New York has been dumping its losers in New Jersey. New Yorkers have this arrogant attitude, you see, and we offload the stuff we want elsewhere, especially if it is just across the Hudson River. But now New Jersey has pulled a fast one: they (or at least a couple of Jersey billionaires) are sending New York a guy who was a leading mouthpiece for privatization. He i
The Story of Houston Teachers Suing District’s Test-based Evaluation System
Here is the story of the Houston Seven, the teachers suing to invalidate the evaluations based on student tests scores. How nutty is this? “Andrew Dewey is an award-winning history teacher at Carnegie Vanguard High School in Houston. In 2011-12, he earned the top merit pay award that his school district gives out and had “most effective” teacher status through a controversial evaluation system t
Michael Teitelbaum: STEM and American Hysteria
Michael S. Teitelbaum, author of a new book called “Falling Behind? Boom, Bust, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent,” writes in the Los Angeles Times that claims of a shortage of scientists and engineers are exaggerated. He reminds us that there have been at least five cycles of hand-wringing since the end of World War II about our alleged technological decline. The reality, he argues, is th
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-30-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jersey Jazzman: Did NPR Sell Out to the Walton Family Foundation?Jersey Jazzman heard NPR describe the reason that Washington State refused to bow to Arne Duncan’s demand that the sate use test scores to evaluate teacher quality. It wasn’t because the methodology has no evidence behind it. It wasn’t because the method has been ques