NCTQ’s “Case Closed” Brain Image Post Plugs Pearson’s RICA Reading Te$t for Teachers. Fails the Smell Test!
Kate Walsh, President of the astroturf National Council of Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a group that pretends it’s for teachers and schools when it’s really about privatization, recently published an article “Case Closed” implying that teachers are “science deniers” when it comes to teaching reading.
But Walsh’s brain imaging illustration is taken from a research article that has little to do with her foggy claims, and her objective appears to be to plug the California RICA test (Online Reading Instruction Competence Assessment) by Pearson. The RICA test is a money-maker and the push to get states like California to pay for it is concerning.
The test was almost thrown out since it was considered a financial burden on applicants, doesn’t respond to needs of high-risk children, exacerbates California’s teacher shortage, and that “passage rates based on gender, ethnicity and other factors demonstrate bias.”
The “reading research community,” whose names we don’t see, inundated the California legislature with letters supporting the test.
If teachers come from state or private colleges where they learn to teach reading, shouldn’t we expect universities to do their job? Why must taxpayers spend money on an outside test to prove teachers know how to teach reading? Even if education schools need improvement, the RICA test isn’t going to fix that.
Walsh promotes RICA with brain image pictures where children’s brains light up. She CONTINUE READING: NCTQ’s “Case Closed” Brain Image Post Plugs Pearson’s RICA Reading Te$t for Teachers. Fails the Smell Test!
