Guest Post: Deb Herbage on American Institutes for Research (AIR) | deutsch29

Guest Post: Deb Herbage on American Institutes for Research (AIR) | deutsch29:

Guest Post: Deb Herbage on American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Deb Herbage

Deb Herbage (@DebHerbage) was born and raised in Massachusetts and worked for a Fortune 100 company for 20 years as a business analyst.  She relocated to Trinity, Florida in 2007 with her husband and daughter. Deb is an outspoken advocate and active member of the Opt Out Florida Network and over 50 Opt Out groups across the country.

The following is a guest post by Herbage, who has been investigating American Institutes for Research (AIR).

_______________________________________________________________

Who is Really Benefiting from the State Assessment Contracts?

by Deb Herbage

With its inception in 1946, the American Institutes for Research is world famous for their social science and behavioral and psychological research.  Partnering with the US DOD (Department of Defense), the US DOH (Department of Health), the US COC (Chamber of Commerce), and the US DOE (Department of Education), AIR is a non-profit company based in Washington, DC, and is the recipient of many contracts from the various states for their Common Core “state assessments,” whether it be signing a contract directly with a state Department of Education (like the case in Florida, North Dakota, Delaware, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Michigan and Arizona)or through the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) (established in December 2010 for $175,649,539with the funds provided by the Federally funded Race To The Top, RTT).

On September 6, 2012 – AIR announced its partnership with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to create an online test delivery system for the states.

Here is an excerpt from the SBAC Memorandum of Understanding touting the “services” it is providing to their membership states (after they pay the fees of Guest Post: Deb Herbage on American Institutes for Research (AIR) | deutsch29:

Seattle School Board Candidates’ Forum | Seattle Education

Seattle School Board Candidates’ Forum | Seattle Education:

Seattle School Board Candidates’ Forum

The League of Women Voters and the Seattle Council PTSA 
invite you to a
Seattle School Board Candidate’s Forum
Thursday, October 8, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Seattle First Baptist Church
1111 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, 98122

Seattle is the largest school district in the state, serving over 53,000 students and growing. The School Board makes vital decisions about how the Seattle Public Schools operate and oversees many aspects of district funding.  Four of the seven Seattle School Board positions will be elected citywide this November.  Come and learn more about the candidate’s positions and skills.

This forum is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Seattle-King County and the Seattle Council of Parent, Teacher and Student Associations.

There is no cost for admission and RSVP’s are not required.

Seattle School Board Candidates’ Forum | Seattle Education:

Teach for America Deletes Educator Counter-Narratives; Educators Repost EVERY SINGLE ONE! | gadflyonthewallblog

Teach for America Deletes Educator Counter-Narratives; Educators Repost EVERY SINGLE ONE! | gadflyonthewallblog:

Teach for America Deletes Educator Counter-Narratives; Educators Repost EVERY SINGLE ONE!

On Sept. 23, Teach for America (TFA) published an article on its Website about the “Badass Women of Teach for America.”

Many of the more than 56,000 members of the Badass Teachers Association (BATS)commented on this article.

A few days later, all comments were deleted and the ability to make any additional comments was disabled. TFA then published two additional articles about thecomments BATS had made. The authors of these new articles then attempted to debunk what had been written about them but was too dangerous to be left for their readers to see for themselves.

The counter-narratives of hundreds of people had been erased. But as any good Teach for America Deletes Educator Counter-Narratives; Educators Repost EVERY SINGLE ONE! | gadflyonthewallblog:

HOW CRAPPY IS EDUCATION NEWS IN CALIFORNIA? UP to $1.6 BILLION ON COMMON CORE AND NO ONE HAS HEARD OF IT!

Big Education Ape: USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common Core http://bit.ly/1NXBWHn

California. California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, which began in 1998, tests students in grades 2–11 in English, math, science, social science, and history.Estimates suggest that it would cost California taxpayers $1.6 billion to replace the existing state standards with the Common Core standards.[4] Yet California has agreed to overhaul its existing system with the new national standards and assessments.

Congratulations to Denisha Jones! - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform

Congratulations to Denisha Jones! - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:

Congratulations to Denisha Jones!

We are honored to have Denisha Jones as one of our eight UOO administrators!

Denisha Jones is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Howard University.  She is a former early childhood teacher and preschool director. She received her PhD from Indiana University in 2013. She has been active in the fight to stop the corporate takeover of public education since 2011. She is an admin for the Badass Teachers Association, and has recently joined the administration team of United Opt Out and has worked with Save Our Schools to expose the dangers of privatizing public education. She blogs about education for emPower Magazine, @ the Chalk Face, and the Badass Teachers Association. Her research interests include the de-professionalization of teaching, service-learning, providing meaningful professional development for early childhood teachers, and promoting diversity in education.

Congratulations to Denisha Jones! - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:

Help fund the 2016 UOO Conference

Your contribution at United Opt Out's GoFundMe helps with conference expenses!

Find us on Facebook

United Opt Out National

The Washington Teacher: The Extinct Black Educator and the Death of Transparency in DC

The Washington Teacher: The Extinct Black Educator and the Death of Transparency in DC:

The Extinct Black Educator and the Death of Transparency in DC

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Statements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, AFT, Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) or its members. Views are my own. 

Think back and try to remember all the teachers that left the District’s public school system since the era of former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and beyond? (2008-2015)

How many of those teachers were African-American?

Unfortunately, we can’t answer those questions because we don’t have hard data, mainly because the District fails to provide data on the number of teachers hired, separated, resigning, and retiring by race, age, gender, school and years of service on a yearly basis.

Simply put, government officials in DC do not have the authority to refuse to honor Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. When I chaired a WTU Data committee, we attempted to get information about teacher terminations through a FOIA request, as well as through other internal channels. We requested information be released by common identifiers but the information we received was heavily redacted and of little practical use.

Either approve or deny the request. The practice of keeping information out of the hands of the public is government’s way of covering its tracks. 

Albert Shanker Institute researchers encountered similar challenges when preparing their national Teacher Diversity report. “Despite intensive efforts over the past 1 ½ years, we have been unable to procure teacher-level data for the District and charter schools in Washington, DC. We were therefore forced to draw data from a sample provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Schools and Staffing Survey,” as quoted by Shanker researchers.

The Albert Shanker Institute gathered in September to release their findings from their study titled: “TheState of Teacher Diversity in American Education.” The group examined teacher diversity from 2002-2012 in The Washington Teacher: The Extinct Black Educator and the Death of Transparency in DC:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/28/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Accountability for Public Schools Only

CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Accountability for Public Schools Only: USED: Accountability for Public Schools OnlyArne Duncan today held a press chat to announce that USED would be throwing more money ($157 million) at charter schools. Throwing money at public schools is, you may recall, anathema to reformsters, who are concerned that while money has been thrown higgledy piggledy at public schools, it app

by mike simpson / 25min 

Education Matters: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?

Education Matters: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?I ask because that seems to be where we are heading.First look at what education chairman Marlene O'Toole said a couple weeks ago: "You're not allowed to do that (opt out) and keep your chil

by mike simpson / 28min 

CA Smarter Balanced By Zip Code - Schoolzilla, PBC.

CA Smarter Balanced By Zip Code - Schoolzilla, PBC.: CALIFORNIA SMARTER BALANCED RESULTS EXPLORERSchoolzilla provides K-12 districts with a secure, hosted data warehouse and customizable dashboards that bring ALL of their data into focus. If you would like to see what the Schoolzilla data platform could do for your districtNote: California Smarter Balanced Results Explorer dashboards were built us

by mike simpson / 56min 

Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schools - The Washington Post

Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schools - The Washington Post: Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schoolsThe U.S. Department of Education announced Monday it would give $157 million to create and expand charter schools throughout the nation, despite criticisms by its inspector general in the past that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal d

by mike simpson / 1h 

Why Inner City Schools Keep Failing

Inner City Schools: Why Inner City Schools Keep FailingThere is an exquisitely sick irony to the fact that segregated and purposefully maintained inferior inner city public education could not be maintained at the Los Angeles Unified School District and elsewhere in this country without the administrative participation of the same minorities it keeps in their unachieving places.Unless minority adm

by mike simpson / 2h 

Broad Foundation secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LA - NBC Southern California

News Conference LAUSD President on the Charter Schools Controversy | NBC Southern California: Broad Foundation secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LAA big uproar was created this week when a memo was leaked to the LA Times from the Eli Broad Foundation about a secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LA. N

by mike simpson / 2h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Charters Are Not Common Schools

CURMUDGUCATION: Charters Are Not Common Schools: Charters Are Not Common SchoolsCharter boosters continue trying to muster some sort of argument against the decision in Washington State that the charter laws there violate the state constitution. So far, none of the attempts really sing.Over at Campbell Brown's PR site, the 74, Andrew Rotherham (Bellwether) and Richard Whitmire (general reformsteri

by mike simpson / 4h 

Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) Union - NEA Today

Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) Union - NEA Today: Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) UnionTeachers and education support professionals are standing together in the fight for equal opportunity for all students.Educators are driven by purpose. There’s the day-to-day purpose of helping students learn, but there’s also a higher purpose—a

by mike simpson / 4h 

The Education of Jesse Hagopian | I AM AN EDUCATOR

The Education of Jesse Hagopian | I AM AN EDUCATOR: The Education of Jesse HagopianErin Middlewood, writing for The Progressive magazine, flew out to Seattle just before the end of the last school year. She spent an afternoon with me in my classroom and then accompanied me that evening to our Black Student Union senior awards banquet that my students had organized to honor our graduating black lea

by mike simpson / 4h 

Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center

Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center: Libraries at the CrossroadsThe public is interested in new services and thinks libraries are important to communitiesAmerican libraries are buffeted by cross currents. Citizens believe that libraries are important community institutions and profess interest in libraries offering a range of new program possibilities. Yet, even as the public express

by mike simpson / 5h 

Profit Piranha Feeding Frenzy - National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS... | www.myajc.com

National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS... | www.myajc.com: National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS workHalf a dozen local and national foundations are footing the $500,000 bill for high-powered management consultants to develop a plan to improve Atlanta schools in the face of potential state takeover.About half of Atlanta’s 80 schools are at high risk o

by mike simpson / 6h 

USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the Top | Truth in American Education

USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the Top | Truth in American Education:USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the TopPhoto credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-By-SA 2.0)The arguments made by establishment proponents of Race to the Top and Common Core, including some presidential candidates continue to implode.  The well-worn cha

by mike simpson / 6h 

Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow? | Creative by Nature

Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow? | Creative by Nature: Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow?How (and Why) the Opt Out Movement Could Grow into the Most Powerful & Important Children’s Rights Movement in History…HOW:By going on the offensive- holding nation-wide teach-ins, developing coordinated actions to “take out” the corrupt and destructive forces strangling our children’s educ

by mike simpson / 7h 

Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing Campaign - Wait What?

Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing Campaign - Wait What?: Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing CampaignIf you weren’t at the “Special” Sherman Board of Education meeting last Thursday you missed the “show.”Big Brother is Watching and Big Brother is not Happy!As Connecticut is swa

by mike simpson / 7h 

How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving Pupils

How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving Pupils: How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving PupilsWhile there is person variation within any lifestyle, societal trying to learn behaviours kind along continua of discovering versions. In a few civilizations building problems in public areas is a huge sociable embarrassment to remain a

by mike simpson / 7h 

The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger Strike | janresseger

The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger Strike | janresseger: The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger StrikeThe website of the New Yorker magazine just published a fascinating piece by Eve Ewing, written to mark the importance of the recent 34-day hunger strike in Chicago that pressured Rahm Emanuel’s administration to preserve Dyett High School in that city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.

by mike simpson / 7h 

Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell JobsDear Mrs. Laurene Powell Jobs:I commend you for initiating a national challenge to transform the comprehensive high school into a Super School and putting $50 million on the stump for experts, parents,

by mike simpson / 7h 

Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the country - The Hechinger Report

Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the country - The Hechinger Report: Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the countryEarlier this summer, we published a map of high school graduation rates by district across the United States. We’re now breaking it down and exploring trends in different states and regions.You can see it all over our m

by mike simpson / 7h 

Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering? » Missouri Education Watchdog

Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering? » Missouri Education Watchdog: Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering?Parents don’t need data sets to know that if a young child is not ready to learn a skill (but is pushed to do so) or if learning that skill becomes extremely stressful, that child may very well shut down.  Parents also don’t need data retrieval to know that every child

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESMercedes SchneiderAmerica needs less of Pearson. A lot less. -- Deutsch29NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think Arne is decent and honest,” says National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen Garcia, whose union has called for Duncan to resign. “But his reforms are so ridiculous, he’s uniti

by mike simpson / 8h 

Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ Education | TakePart

Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ Education | TakePart: Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ EducationThe First Lady’s 62 Million Girls campaign asks people to answer the question, ‘What did you learn in school?’After Beyoncé informed tens of thousands of people that “girls run the world” at the Global Citizen Festival, First Lady Michelle Obama took to the

by mike simpson / 8h 

Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cuts

Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cuts: Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cutsA third of charter schools in Indiana saw big cuts in Title I poverty aid but were given no explanation for why the funding decreased.Get Hoosier School Heist in PaperbackHoosier School Heist On FaceBookState Superintendent Glenda Ritz anno

by mike simpson / 8h 

Bill de Blasio Allies Call Charter School Ad ‘Racist’ | Observer

Bill de Blasio Allies Call Charter School Ad ‘Racist’ | Observer: ‘Racist to the Core’: Bill de Blasio Allies Blast New Charter Schools AdA couple of Democrats close to Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted a new pro-charter schools television ad today, calling the spot “racist to the core.”The slickly-produced ad attacks Mr. de Blasio, a liberal Democrat, for dooming minority schoolchildren to lousy publi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why. - The Washington Post

Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why. - The Washington Post: Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why.The movement among parents to refuse to allow their children to take Common Core-aligned standardized tests has been growing for several years in states around the country, with some 20 percent of eligible students refusing to take them this pa

by mike simpson / 8h 

In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no gender - Quartz

In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no gender - Quartz: In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no genderOn her first day of Pre-K, my four-year-old daughter used a bathroom that was simply labeled “bathroom.” She will, I hope, grow up in a world where bathrooms—like people—no longer exist along a simple gender binary. If only every school could be

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Classrooms We’re Fighting For | The Opt Out Florida Network

The Classrooms We’re Fighting For | The Opt Out Florida Network: The Classrooms We’re Fighting ForParents opt out of high stakes testing for many different reasons. Among the reasons I hear most often – teaching to the test, narrowed curriculum, too much stress, developmentally inappropriate, data collection, profiteering, the high stakes of retention and remediation, Common Core, and on and on an

by mike simpson / 9h 

USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common Core

SCVNews.com | USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common Core | 09-27-2015: USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common CoreAs Californians get their first look at new test results since 2013, a new poll shows state voters have mixed views on the Common Core State Standards, and their views shift with the way questions about the standards are posed.Levels of support for the Common

by mike simpson / 9h 

Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & Teachers | The Opt Out Florida Network

Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & Teachers | The Opt Out Florida Network: Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & TeachersThe Opt Out Florida Network, and its 40 Opt Out groups across the state, would like to thank the Florida Association of District School Superintendents(FADSS) for making a bold statement about the failures of our education accountability

by mike simpson / 9h 

Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEA - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week

Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEA - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week: Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEAOn Friday, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he'll be stepping down at the end of October.  This decision concluded five long years of caucus clashes between Boehner and the House's Tea Party wing and, in edu-world, occasio

by mike simpson / 9h 

NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and Again | Alan Singer

NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and Again | Alan Singer: NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and AgainA front-page article in the weekend Metropolitan section of The New York Timestakes readers "Inside the three-year effort to open an economically diverse, academically rigorous charter in Brooklyn." One big problem with the Times' campaign to hype charter schools is that this s

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over. | deutsch29

Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over. | deutsch29: Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over.Friendly John Fallon, CEO, PearsonIn my book, Common Core Dilemma–Who Owns Schools?, I have a chapter on London-based mega-company, Pearson. The chapter includes details from Pearson’s February 2014 earnings call, which shows Pearson’s plans to rake in the bucks from Common Core and as

by mike simpson / 21h 

Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need? | NJ.com

Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need? | NJ.com: Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need?Charter schools across New Jersey have built up savings so large that one school has more money saved than it needs for an entire year of operation, according to an analysis by the Newark-based Education Law Center. But that doesn't mean that the schools are needlessly hoard

by mike simpson / 22h 

A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8 | Seattle Education

A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8 | Seattle Education: A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8Thanks to a donation, we now have a video camera to provide videos of interviews and events.Our first interview is with Jon Grant, candidate for the City Council seat, Position 8. The incumbent is Council member Tim Burg

by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public Education | Parents United for Public Education

Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public Education | Parents United for Public Education: Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public EducationA couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a meeting of the Philadelphia Delegation of House of Representatives. Present were 22 House Representatives, Secretary of Education Ed

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/27/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM50 Years After the Moynihan Report, Examining the Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration - The Atlantic50 Years After the Moynihan Report, Examining the Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration - The Atlantic: The Black Family in the Age of Mass IncarcerationAmerican politicians are now eager to disown a failed criminal-justice system that’s left the U.S. with the la

by mike simpson / 23h