Is Education Reform Encouraging Cheating? - International Business Times

Is Education Reform Encouraging Cheating? - International Business Times:

Is Education Reform Encouraging Cheating?

By Jeremy B. White | August 24, 2011 8:24 AM EDT

If the education reform movement has a guiding principle, it is accountability: the belief that test scores can be trusted as an accurate gauge of progress and used to reward flourishing schools or punish failing ones.

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(Photo: REUTERS / Hyungwon Kang )
Gains made by Washington D.C. public schools under former education chancellor Michelle Rhee have come under scrutiny.

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But a series of prominent cheating scandals across the U.S. has exposed a potentially fatal flaw in policies stemming from that belief. Intense pressure to demonstrate rising student achievement can lead educators to fudge test results and alter grades, making the ostensible progress a mirage and undermining the idea that test scores can be relied upon as objective.

The pressure comes partially from within school

Back-to-School Special: Arne Duncan Goes Off Script - TIME #AskArne

Back-to-School Special: Arne Duncan Goes Off Script - TIME:

Back-to-School Special: Arne Duncan Goes Off Script

By Andrew J. Rotherham Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2090299,00.html#ixzz1W2fTYMGH

Arne Duncan speaks during the 2011 AAPD Awards Gala at the Ronald Reagan Building on March 15, 2011 in Washington, D.C.

Kris Connor / Getty Images

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As a new school year begins, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan plans to use waivers to rewrite parts of the nation's signature federal education law, whose reauthorization has been stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, states are struggling to meet their ambitious Race to the Top goals as they look for ways to cut spending. I sat down with the former head of the Chicago school system to talk about these issues as well as how he pressured the Iowa governor not to cut his state's pre-kindergarten program

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2090299,00.html#ixzz1W2fNPtlr

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Arne Duncan's new job at the D.O.E.? Celebrity catcher

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Arne Duncan's new job at the D.O.E.? Celebrity catcher:

Arne Duncan's new job at the D.O.E.? Celebrity catcher

The ed secretary now appears to be in charge of silencing the administration's Hollywood critics. WaPo's Valerie Strauss broke the storywith a leak from inside Duncan's department.

According to two people familiar with the efforts, the administration tried to arrange a meeting with Damon and government officials, including Education Secretary Arne

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Why TFA is Dangerous for Our District (or any other)

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Why TFA is Dangerous for Our District (or any other):

Education Advocacy Roster My, but there sure are a lot of education advocacy groups in and around Seattle. There are so many, I'm not sure how the Gates Foundation (which, I think, funds them all) keeps track of them. Let's see how many we can count. League of Education Voters ...

Links to Latest SPS/TFA e-mails For your reading interest: TFA 1 TFA 2 TFA 3 TFA 4 TFA 5 TFA 6 One last thing for anyone from SPS or anyone who works for a government entity - your work e-mails are public e-mails. That means anyone, at anytime can ask for them. Food for ...

Why TFA is Dangerous for Our District (or any other) Lastly, on this latest batch of e-mails were two interesting ones from the e-mail of Maria Goodloe-Johnson. One is frightening and the other is a bit of schadenfrueden for our pal, Michelle Rhee. In June of 2010, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson wrote Wendy Kopp, ...

SPS/TFA E-mails - If You're Not for It, Enfield Won't be Listening When Charlie had e-mailed the Board about his concerns over TFA (antedotal versus data-driven information), here was the response between Dr. Enfield and Janis Ortega (TFA): This immediately sparked a response from Enfield to Ortega, "*We need the ...

New Education Blog in Seattle We are always delighted when others start their own discussions about education in Seattle. There are a number of blogs - some more active than others, some more public than others - in addition to this one. I would like to introduce a newcomer to the ...

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's 9

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's 9

Judge: Teachers cannot be judged solely on students' standardized test scores Judge: Teachers cannot be judged solely on students' standardized test scores: Judge: Teachers cannot be judged solely on students' standardized test scores BY RACHEL MONAHAN DAILY NEWS WRITER Wednesday, August 24th 2011, 7:49 PM [image: A state ...

Michelle Rhee’s “Kittens and Puppies” Bait and Switch | Scathing Purple Musings Michelle Rhee’s “Kittens and Puppies” Bait and Switch | Scathing Purple Musings: Michelle Rhee’s “Kittens and Puppies” Bait and Switch by Bob Sikes From Kathleen Kosobud: It was all over in an instant: a couple of clicks of the mouse, and I had the ...

Highlights of the separation agreement | Philadelphia Public School Notebook Highlights of the separation agreement | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: 'Highlights of the separation agreementby Paul Socolar on Aug 24 2011 Posted in Latest news - COMMENTS (6)PRINT - EMAIL[image: ""] Tags: - Arlene Ackerman ...

Schools Matter: Open note to LA's Promise former CEO Mike McGalliard regarding what he terms my pithiness Schools Matter: Open note to LA's Promise former CEO Mike McGalliard regarding what he terms my pithiness: Open note to LA's Promise former CEO Mike McGalliard regarding what he terms my pithiness by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene *"The results are ...

Kim Bowsky speaks to students about Class Size UseYourTeacherVoice on Aug 24, 2011

Partial win for state union on evaluations, but appeal is likely | GothamSchools Partial win for state union on evaluations, but appeal is likely | GothamSchools: Partial win for state union on evaluations, but appeal is likelyby Geoff Decker, at 7:22 pm A State Supreme Court Judge partially sided with the state teachers union ...

Duncan Takes to Twitter to Answer Your Questions | ED.gov Blog Duncan Takes to Twitter to Answer Your Questions | ED.gov Blog: Duncan Takes to Twitter to Answer Your Questions Posted on August 24, 2011 by Cameron Brenchley (Official Department of Education Photo by Paul Wood) During the past week, thousands of ...

How Rhee manages to keep suddenly silent on Erasuregate How Rhee manages to keep suddenly silent on Erasuregate: How Rhee manages to keep suddenly silent on Erasuregate * * * * Posted: 1:10PM, August 24, 2011 Readers comment on NYT Rhee and cheating article Posted by Guy Brandenburg on GFBrandenburg Blog. ...

How badly did Arne Duncan want to talk to Matt Damon? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostHow badly did Arne Duncan want to talk to Matt Damon? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: How badly did Arne Duncan want to talk to Matt Damon? by Valerie Strauss It turns out that people in the Obama administration made several attempts to ...

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - This Is Why Our School is “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven”

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - This Is Why Our School is “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven”:

This Is Why Our School is “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven”

by Larry Ferlazzo

I’ve written often about the importance of being “data-informed” and not “data-driven” (see The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven”). I learned about the difference from our school’s exceptional principal, Ted Appel. And I’m still learning…

Today, the California State Department of Education released state-wide passing rates for students taking the California State High School Exit Exam.

Ted had shared his thoughts about this topic after our school received our results, and I wanted to share them with readers:

Does Improved Outcome Data Reflect School Improvement?

Luther Burbank High School received back results from the 10th grade administration of the California High

The Best “Fun” Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too — 2011 (So Far)

by Larry Ferlazzo

I usually just do year-end lists many topics, but it gets a little crazy having to review all of my zillion posts at once. So, to make it easier for me — and perhaps, to make it a little more useful to readers — I’m going to start publishing mid-year lists, too. These won’t be ranked, unlike my year-end “The Best…” lists, and just because a site appears on a mid-year list doesn’t guarantee it will be included in an end-of-the-year one. But, at least, I won’t have to review all my year’s posts in December…

Modern School: Why I Hate Charter Schools

Modern School: Why I Hate Charter Schools:

Why I Hate Charter Schools

by Michael Dunn

Educational Cash Cow? (Image by the kirbster)

The California state charter school association just received a $15 million grant from the Walton family with the goal of adding 20,000 new charter school students in Los Angeles and 100,000 statewide, the Los Angeles Times reported this week.

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) already has more charter schools (183) than any other school district in the country and is poised to add many more with the infusion of funds.

Don’t Be Fooled by Jeb Bush’s Email to Rick Scott on Ed Policy | Scathing Purple Musings

Don’t Be Fooled by Jeb Bush’s Email to Rick Scott on Ed Policy | Scathing Purple Musings:

Don’t Be Fooled by Jeb Bush’s Email to Rick Scott on Ed Policy

by Bob Sikes

Last week’s revelations that many of the email correspondences from Rick Scott’s administration transition were deleted didn’t surprise very many folks. Obviously trying to at least give the appearance of propriety, Scotts’s staff scrambled around to find what was left. They did, but did not include one interesting email from former governor Jeb Bush.

The words of wisdom from Bush were released to the Associated Press after the Times/Heraldreported Aug. 18 that transition e-mail accounts for Scott and others on his staff were deleted, potentially erasing public records required to be kept under state law.

Tallahassee lawyer and Scott transition adviser Chris Kise tried to reproduce Scott’s e-mails

Schooling in the Ownership Society: As school opens in L.A....

Schooling in the Ownership Society: As school opens in L.A....:

As school opens in L.A....

by Mike Klonsky

Supt. John Deasy's back-to-school speech gets cool reception.

Administrators also have expressed worries about Deasy's strong ties to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — a staunch critic of some district labor groups — and to charter-school supporters as well as to philanthropists and donors critical of public school performance. -- Howard Blume, L.A. Times

Is the Man from Gates looking over his shoulder at the imported-teacher scandal he helped create before he bailed from P.G. County? Deasy and school officials there, turned to hiring from abroad. Since 2005, Prince

Jersey Jazzman: Oh, Matt...

Jersey Jazzman: Oh, Matt...:

Oh, Matt...

by Duke

From my perspective, there are two MVPs in the current reform debate: Bruce Baker and Matt DiCarlo.

I have enormous respect for Matt. He commands a great deal of information about a complex topic, he has a strong grasp of research methods, and he has the ability to distill the thorny language of academic research into writing that lay people can not only understand, but use to inform themselves about this critical debate.

Which is why I am so very, very disappointed in his latest post:

Using value-added and other types of growth model estimates in teacher evaluations is probably

Parents exercising choice have a right to expect high-quality charters | Thoughts on Public Education

Parents exercising choice have a right to expect high-quality charters | Thoughts on Public Education:

Parents exercising choice have a right to expect high-quality charters - by Ben Austin

by Ben Austin

Across our state and our nation, parents and policymakers are not only waking up to the crisis in public education – they are waking up to the fact that they have the power to do something about it. Over the past decade, high-quality charter schools have become an important part of the solution to the problems [...]

More sophomores passing exit exam - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Increasing numbers of African American and Latino students are passing parts of the high school exit exam early in high school, an indication that more students are arriving in high school with at least basic skills. Results released Wednesday show that a record 94.6 percent of the Class of 2011 passed the California High School Exit [...]

Arne Duncan and the Bourne Identity. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Arne Duncan and the Bourne Identity. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

Arne Duncan and the Bourne Identity.

by Fred Klonsky

In what has to be among the silliest education related stories you will hear this year, the Washington Post is reporting that Education Secretary Arne Duncan tried to intercept the actor Matt Damon as he traveled to the Save Our Schools march in Washington last July. The march targeted administration education policies.

Shouldn’t the guy be in his office studying his beloved data instead of pretending to be part of a plot from theBourne Identity?

Asked about the efforts to reach Damon, Education Department spokesman

Schools Matter: Schools short of money, but no talk of reducing testing

Schools Matter: Schools short of money, but no talk of reducing testing:

Schools short of money, but no talk of reducing testing

by skrashen

Sent to Education Week, August 24, 2011

Schools are "facing tough budget choices" (August 24) and cutting back on teaching positions, tutors, support staff, summer programs, and extracurricular activities. According to an ASCD survey (SmartBrief poll, 2011-12), 78% of respondents said that they are "experiencing a lack of funding and it has affected student learning.

Unmentioned in the Ed Week article is the fact that at the same time money is so short, we are keeping a number of useless tests and actually increasing testing to astonishing levels, in the face of empirical evidence showing that these tests do not increase student achievement

A clear example of a current useless test is the High School Exit Exam used in many states. Studies consistently show that high school exit exams do not lead to more college attendance, increased student

Is a dog a reader's best friend? No.

by skrashen

Sent to the News-Sentinel (Indiana), August 24

Do children improve in reading when they read out-loud to dogs? ("Why a dog may be a young reader's best friend," August 21). A close look at the Tufts study reported in the News-Sentinel shows that the children didn't take a reading test: The test they took measured how many words they could pronounce correctly in one minute. This isn't reading. Reading means understanding what is on the page.

Even if we accept the test as legitimate, the improvement was tiny, about four words per minute, according to

School Tech Connect: SOS in Chicago Saturday

School Tech Connect: SOS in Chicago Saturday:

SOS in Chicago Saturday

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Quick post this morning. I see over at Small Talk that the Chicago SOS group is going to meet at 10AM this Saturday over at Hull House.

Following up on the Save Our Schools March/Rally in D.C., SOS Chicago will hold its first meeting, Saturday, Aug. 27th at 10 a.m. at Jane Addams Hull House, 800 S. Halsted. St. Hope to see you there.

Spread the word. I'm usually just getting in at that hour, but I'm going to try to race down there. Anyway, much more to write about but I'm behind. Plus two nights ago, a creature--- and I believe it was a pterodactyl--- bit me as I slept, and the injury has morphed into something Sigourney Weaver would shoot at without hesitation. With my current health plan, I'm entitled to two leechings and a seance, so that's what I'll be doing today.

On Civility In Educational Debate | Edwize

On Civility In Educational Debate | Edwize:

On Civility In Educational Debate

by Leo Casey

Steven Brill entitled his latest column for Reuters, a long denunciation of teacher unions, “The School Reform Deniers.” Brill’s rhetorical purpose in associating the term ‘deniers’ with those in teacher unions who disagree with his vision of education reform is clear: it is a word most commonly associated with ‘holocaust deniers,’ those who deny that the Nazis carried out a genocide against European Jews during the course of World War II, killing six million.

Would that this rhetorical style was limited to the title of Brill’s piece, and not a constant thread throughout it and his book. A number of the flaws in the Reuters piece are laid out here by Deborah Meier, Diane Ravitch, and Jennifer Jennings, among others.

It is to the credit of the Fordham Foundation’s Mike Petrilli that he calls out Brill on the title of this essay. It is an

What’s Missing in Discussions of “Children’s Interests”? « InterACT

What’s Missing in Discussions of “Children’s Interests”? « InterACT:

What’s Missing in Discussions of “Children’s Interests”?

by David B. Cohen

If you follow education policy debates in the media, you’re sure to hear certain phrases that catch on for a while because they provide a quick and convenient way to simplify and label people. “Defenders of the status quo” know all too well what I’m talking about. I once commented that if I were to refuse education “reformers” offering me gasoline to put out a fire, they’d call me a defender of the status quo. If you