Shanker Blog » Herding FCATs

Shanker Blog » Herding FCATs:

Herding FCATs

by Matthew Di Carlo

About a week ago, Florida officials went into crisis mode after revealing that the proficiency rate on the state’s writing test (FCAT) dropped from 81 percent to 27 percent among fourth graders, with similarly large drops in the other two grades in which the test is administered (eighth and tenth). The panic was almost immediate. For one thing, performance on the writing FCAT is counted in the state’s school and district ratings. Many schools would end up with lower grades and could therefore face punitive measures.
Understandably, a huge uproar was also heard from parents and community members. How could student performance decrease so dramatically? There was so much blame going around that it was difficult to keep track – the targets included the test itself, the phase-in of the state’s new writing standards, and test-based accountability in general.
Despite all this heated back-and-forth, many people seem to have overlooked one very important, widely-

Modern School: New Astroturf Group Calls Tenure, Seniority Unconstitutional

Modern School: New Astroturf Group Calls Tenure, Seniority Unconstitutional:

New Astroturf Group Calls Tenure, Seniority Unconstitutional

by Michael Dunn

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

A right-wing astroturf group, Students Matter, has escalated the war on California’s teachers with a lawsuit seeking to overturn five state laws related to teacher tenure, seniority and the dismissal process.

The law suit, which was filed on May 14 in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of eight students, argued that "A handful of outdated laws passed by the California Legislature are preventing school administrators from maintaining or improving the quality of our public educational system," the Los Angeles Times wrote this week.

The suit is full of logical inconsistencies. For example, it argues that teachers can earn tenure 

Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers 

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Bill Gates — Close, But Not Quite, on Teacher Evaluations

Bill Gates — Close, But Not Quite, on Teacher Evaluations:

Bill Gates — Close, But Not Quite, on Teacher Evaluations

by Sam

There’s an Op-Ed in today’s New York Times in which Joe Nocera discusses the Gates Foundation’s ambitious new efforts to crack the code of teacher assessment and evaluation, a valid goal is ever there was one. Piloting a new system in four districts — and providing local leaders with tens of millions of dollars to implement it — the Gates team seems to have recognized the limited value of test scores; in these communities, they comprise only a small part of a teacher’s evaluation scorecard. As Nocera writes, “The combination of peer review and principal review comprise 60 percent of the evaluation. And students are also asked questions aimed at eliciting how well their teachers are instructing them.” Significantly, Gates is also paying for a cadre of peer teachers, whose sole job is to work with classroom teachers and help them improve the quality of their practice.
Sounds great, right? And indeed, already this morning I’ve heard from friends and family who read the piece and wanted to confirm I shared their belief in the self-evident value of the Gates work. Except there’s something not quite right with this picture. You can locate it in the words of Thomas Kane, the Harvard education professor who 

"NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations." May 21, 2012. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

"NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations." May 21, 2012. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org:

NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations

NYSUT Media Relations - May 21, 2012 

 

ALBANY, N.Y. May 21, 2012 - Hundreds of grassroots lobbyists from New York State United Teachers will vigorously press lawmakers Tuesday to enact legislation protecting the privacy rights of teachers by shielding their evaluations from exploitation by the public and news media.

"This is an opportunity for legislators and the Governor to do the right thing and show respect for the state's teachers," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "Every employee, public and private, should be able to expect a certain level of confidentiality when it comes to personnel records. Elected officials who say otherwise have lost touch with the people they represent."

NYSUT activists will call for legislation to remove the right of the media and public to have access to teacher and principal evaluations, as at least 26 states have already done. Iannuzzi said preventing public exposure of teachers' evaluations is essential to the purpose of New York's teacher-principal evaluation law – improving teacher quality in order to enhance student learning.

• Take action online at NYSUT's Member Action Center

Teachers and other educators who are members of NYSUT's special committee of volunteer activists will arrive at the concourse of the Empire State Plaza (Madison 

NYSUT demands end to 'broken' testing system

Armed with a resolution overwhelmingly adopted by nearly 2,000 delegates at the union's annual convention, NYSUT is demanding an end to the current system of testing in New York - and calling on SED to reduce the focus on questionable standardized tests in favor of quality measures of student learning that are more "accurate, fair and appropriate."

Iannuzzi: The essence of our dream is our unity

We, as unionists in education, health care and public service are the key to reclaiming the American Dream for millions of Americans: the unemployed, the under-employed; the immigrant, the migrant worker; the student on the wrong side of the achievement gap, the patient seeking proper health care; and, the less fortunate seeking assistance through the multitude of services our dedicated members provide. All of us create opportunity for all who seek the American Dream.

A Standardized Composition Test « Cooperative Catalyst

A Standardized Composition Test « Cooperative Catalyst:

A Standardized Composition Test

by Brent Snavely

We know bubble sheets are unrelated to “real life”.
I think we made the “education thing” up by constructing much nonsense about the written word being the supreme method of sharing ideas and information.
I think we have forgotten that sharing experiences and doing things together are matters that (1) allow us to learn and (2) make us human.
I began asking a question of Paramedic and EMT students (HS grads/GED) to kick-start discussions about medical-legal issues. I ask them to write down the first word that comes to mind when asked “What Are You?” I ask that question three more times, and request they again write their answer down.
The answers generally deal with biological sex, sex/gender/family roles and issues, race/ethnicity, nationality 

Philadelphia and the privatization of a school system | Seattle Education

Philadelphia and the privatization of a school system | Seattle Education:

Philadelphia and the privatization of a school system

by seattleducation2011

We first made note of what was going on within the Philadelphia school system last year with the post Who Will Run Philadelphia’s Schools? Bill Gates?
Then in the Weekly Update : The Philadelphia horror story this month, I described how the schools in Philadelphia were to be privatized by closing neighborhood schools and populating the urban landscape  with charter chains. This wringing of hands over the economy and finding that enough of a reason to close public schools and replace them with the corporate vision of sanitized and privatized education has become the model for the takeover of our school systems starting in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina and continuing on to Chicago and New York. For more on that subject, read the introduction to the Shock Doctrine by Naomi KleinBlank is Beautiful: Three Decades of Erasing and Remaking the World.
To follow is a portion of an article written by Ellen Brown, titled The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Quiet Drama in Philadelphia.  Ms. Brown not only writes about the devastation wrought by closing neighborhood schools but also offers one solution of many in terms of providing greater financial power to states, cities and communities.

“You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised,
The revolution will be live.”
- song by Gil Scott-Heron

Last week, the city of Philadelphia’s

Wall Street's Investment in School Reform - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Wall Street's Investment in School Reform - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Wall Street's Investment in School Reform

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,
You and I used to have lively debates about standards, curriculum, pedagogy, and a lot of other matters where we disagreed. Now those debates seem antique compared with the current uncertainty about the future of public education.
The question today is whether a democratic society needs public schools subject to democratic governance. Why not turn public dollars over to private corporations to run schools as they see fit? Isn't the private sector better and smarter than the public sector?
The rise of charter schools has been nothing short of meteoric. They were first proposed in 1988 by Raymond Budde, a Massachusetts education professor, and Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. Budde dreamed of chartering programs or teams of teachers, not schools. Shanker thought of charters as small schools, staffed by union teachers, created to recruit the toughest-to-educate students and to develop fresh ideas to help their colleagues in the public schools. Their originators saw charters as collaborators, not competitors, with the public schools.
Now the charter industry has become a means of privatizing public education. They tout the virtues of 

Stop the Campaign Against Public Schools! « Diane Ravitch's blog

Stop the Campaign Against Public Schools! « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Stop the Campaign Against Public Schools!

by dianerav

My review of the Council on Foreign Relations’ report on US public schools as a “grave threat to national security” is now available online. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/do-our-public-schools-threaten-national-security/?page=1
I hope it is widely read. I urge everyone who reads it to send it to their friends and colleagues.
The report I reviewed was written by a task force chaired by Joel Klein and Condaleeza Rice. I believe the report is part of a campaign to undermine public education. Public education needs constant improvement, of that there can be no doubt. But it does not need to be disparaged and demeaned as a national security threat.
As I say in the review, the real threat to our future is growing poverty and income inequality and intensifying racial isolation. The report mentions these issues but fails to offer any suggestions to reduce their negative impact on 

NYC Educator: The Pressure Mounts

NYC Educator: The Pressure Mounts:

The Pressure Mounts

by Miss Eyre

If I'm counting right (and, this late in the school year, that is a very big "if"), there are 14 school days until the English Regents.  And, at this stage of the game, it's very hard to get hung up on the love of literature when the paragraphs we've been working on writing all year long are still a struggle for some of my students.

I freely admit that I'm not handling this well.  I'm taking it personally, practically as an affront to me, that my kids don't seem 100% ready this close to the test.  I'm comparing my students to the other teachers' student and blaming myself for them not measuring up.  I'm making myself sick over it, wondering what I've been doing wrong all year, talking myself down from freaking out on whatever child or colleague happens to be nearest by.  And then the talk goes in a bigger circle, expanding into indignation against the Board of Regents for making my kids take such a stupid test and eventually the universe for a long list of tangentially related sins.  I'm being hyperbolic, but you get my point.

I don't know what my deal is here.  I taught middle school ELA for three years and never got this worked up about the state exams. 

CSBA: Vote for both tax plans | Thoughts on Public Education

CSBA: Vote for both tax plans | Thoughts on Public Education:

CSBA: Vote for both tax plans - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

The state PTA backs the tax initiative financed by civil rights attorney Molly Munger; the California Teachers Association and the Association of California School Administrators endorsed the governor’s initiative. This week, the California School Boards Association decided to support both.

On Sunday, at the urging of CSBA’s board of directors, school board members in the Delegate Assembly voted 129-79 to encourage their constituents to vote for both tax proposals that will appear on the November ballot. They did so after an hour-and-a-half debate and after defeating, by voice vote, an amendment calling for CSBA to support on

CA breaks another bad record - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

More California school districts than ever before are nearing or on the brink of insolvency. The State Department of Education’s Second Interim Status Report for 2011-12, released yesterday, named 188 districts with serious financial problems; of those, twelve have negative certifications, meaning they won’t be able to meet payroll and other bills for this academic [...]

Daily Kos: A personal perspective on education statistics in Florida

Daily Kos: A personal perspective on education statistics in Florida:

A personal perspective on education statistics in Florida

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

My good friend, Rita Solnet, is is a Florida co-founder of Parent Across America, has given me permission to cross-post a piece she just did.  I strongly recommend you read her story.
Everything below this point is Rita's words.  Please read and pass on to others.   Thanks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statistically Speaking, Florida -- I Don't Believe Them
Florida's education statistics were front and center all week.  As I prepare for my son's college graduation, I can't help but wonder how different his future would be had we lived by statistics.
A '08 graduate of an outstanding public high school in Boca Raton, Jeff attended twelve years of Florida's public schools. He gained admission to some of the finest universities in our nation thanks to a village of supportive teachers, staff, guidance counselors and a host of interesting AP and college courses at his disposal.
Today Florida's education reform decisions are based on failed reforms touted by third parties with vested interests.  Worse still -- those decisions are then supported with illogically skewed or fatally flawed statistics  vs. real-world, in-the-trenches input.
Last week we learned that children could not write any better than martians arriving on planet earth yet later in the week the news trumpeted that Florida's reading scores improved across the state. Both tests crafted and scored from the same company. They can't write but they can read and comprehend very well.  Does that make sense to anyone? Flawed results based on flawed tests, forgotten instructions to schools, and flawed scoring methods were inflicted upon children. But one Conference call and presto, the passing grade drops under a recommendation by Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future which receives funds from Pearson.

Unneeded Charters « Diane Ravitch's blog

Unneeded Charters « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Unneeded Charters

by dianerav

Stories like this one from Nashville (http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120509/NEWS04/305090116), or this one from Los Altos, California (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/taxpayers-billed-for-millionaires-kids-at-charter-school.html) remind me how far the charter idea has strayed from its origins.
Parents in Nashville are fighting the Great Hearts charter because they know it is targeting children who are affluent and white; they know that it will cause their own public schools to become more segregated; they know it will drain needed resources from their public school to serve the most advantaged students.
The Bullis Charter is a school for the children of the rich and affluent in a high-end community. It is, in all but

Will Vouchers Fizzle?

by dianerav

The Jindal education reforms include a huge voucher program that had rightwing choice advocates jumping for joy and supporters of public schools trembling. More than half the students in the state are eligible for vouchers, about 380,000 children.
But not so fast. It turns out that there are only a few thousand seats available in the state’s private and religious schools. Maybe new ones will open, but at present the voucher program looks like a mouse rather than an elephant.
Schools have the authority to decide if they want voucher students, and some politely say no. Others are full. Some don’t want students with disabilities (of 1,800 students in New Orleans who now use vouchers to go to

Enroute to Atlantic City

by dianerav

I woke up this morning thinking that today I would be unable to post on my blog. That would be a first, and I was not happy about it. Since I started this blog a month ago, I have posted–let’s see–I think this is blog #89. I didn’t want to miss even one day.
I’m on my way to Atlantic City to speak to the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. The car is bouncing a bit, but I can still hit the right keys with my one finger (yes, I can type with both hands, but this is an iPad). So I am reading articles downloaded from the Internet and posting blogs and tweets.
Why do I write so much? I’ve been writing about and studying education for 40 years, and I have a long perspective on the events of the day. I read articles about something happening today and my tendency is to put it into perspective. Sometimes I react with astonishment about the ideas being promoted, sometimes with alarm, 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Anatomy of a big high school

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Anatomy of a big high school:

Anatomy of a big high school

by Mike Klonsky

Chicago's great architectural critic Lee Bey writes for WBEZ public radio, about his alma mater, Chicago Vocational High School ("School of architecture: A look at sprawling Chicago Vocational.") 

The massive, 72-year-old school, located at 2100 E. 87th St., is not only the city's second largest high school building (only Lane Tech is bigger), but is Chicago's best large-scale example of Art Moderne architecture. The 27-acre school, formerly known as Chicago Vocational High School, was built for $3.5 million, with 45 percent of the cash coming from the federal Public Works Administration.

CVS was the first high school that joined the Small Schools Workshop 

A NATO Question for Mayor Emanuel and President Obama from My Students. | The Classroom Sooth

A NATO Question for Mayor Emanuel and President Obama from My Students. | The Classroom Sooth:

A NATO Question for Mayor Emanuel and President Obama from My Students.

Posted on May 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

My freshmen world studies class today did a quick media study of the NATO experience in Chicago, particularly looking at these photos from the Chicago Tribune, and came to the conclusion that perhaps the NATO summits shouldn’t be held in a major urban area.  

“If people new the protesters were going to be violent, why not just hold the meeting elsewhere?” 

Profoundly simple question, @ChicagosMayor and @POTUS. 

What Jeb Bush Has Wrought | Scathing Purple Musings

What Jeb Bush Has Wrought | Scathing Purple Musings:

What Jeb Bush Has Wrought

by Bob Sikes

News yesterday that influential members of congress were calling on the Florida Board of Education to reconsider the grade changes as they affect english-langauge learners. From Jeff Solochek in Gradebook:

The Florida Board of Education’s decisions to change the state school grading system to count the proficiency levels of students still learning English has drawn criticism from some of the state’s top Hispanic politicians.
 U.S. Rep. Iliana Ros-Lehtinen, state Sen. Rene Garcia and state Rep. Carlos Lopez Cantera have sent letters (attached below) to the board deploring its new policies, and the fact that several recommendations made by educators and activists were completely overlooked. They’re asking the board to think again, with an eye toward removing barriers that could hurt schools and students who can’t necessarily show their academic prowess in English.
 ”By not including any of the recommendations of the Task Force, your actions will severely impact the positive trend in student achievement made by Miami-Dade County Public Schools and various other school districts,” wrote Garcia chairman of the Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus.

Perhaps this is what Miami-Dade superintendent Alberto Carvalho was alluding to last week. Still, its important 

State plans big changes to testing, instruction | UTSanDiego.com

State plans big changes to testing, instruction | UTSanDiego.com:

State plans big changes to testing, instruction

‘Common core standards’ stress critical thinking skills, rapid feedback from tests

By Michael Gardner

Monday, May 21, 2012

SACRAMENTO — California has embarked on a course to fundamentally reshape how every student is taught and tested.
These new “common core standards” for grades K-12 go into effect in fall 2014 for English Language Arts and math. Revisions to the curriculum and assessments for other subjects, such as science and history, will follow in later years.
“It’s the biggest change in our careers; in a lifetime in education,” said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators.
Here are a few reasons why:

Federal judge won't hear parents advocacy group's suit over Title I funds - LA Daily News

Federal judge won't hear parents advocacy group's suit over Title I funds - LA Daily News:

Federal judge won't hear parents advocacy group's suit over Title I funds

By Barbara Jones Staff Writer

Posted:   05/21/2012 09:38:55 PM PDT

Updated:   05/21/2012 09:42:10 PM PDT

A federal judge refused Monday to take jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed by a parents advocacy group, which claims that Los Angeles Unified illegally suspended its operation and seized control of federal money set aside for its use.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow involves a suit filed in December by the District Compensatory Education Advisory Committee. DAC is an elected group that represents the parents of tens of thousands of impoverished students for which Los Angeles Unified receives Title I federal funding.
The DAC lawsuit contends the district is legally bound to honor an April 2006 Parent Involvement Policy, which outlines the group's rights and responsibilities in advising on Title I programs. It also claims the policy is a condition for LAUSD to receive about $450 million annually in federal funds.
Last summer, however, after several contentious meetings involving DAC members and district officials, 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Is David Coleman Doing the Humpty Dumpty?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Is David Coleman Doing the Humpty Dumpty?:

Is David Coleman Doing the Humpty Dumpty?

by stlgretchen

Is the Common Core fairy tale being exposed as just that?

David Coleman, chief architect of the Common Core standards and newly named head of the College Board, is being questioned on not only his motives in crafting the standards and financial gain realized from his participation in their implementation, but also on his understanding of historical documents and the basis of the standards themselves.  

Jim Stergios posted an article, "The Wrong Lesson on National Standards", addressed to Mr. Coleman about his participation in the Common Core:

I’m sorry because I think I may have gotten some of the intentions of Common Core's supporters wrong. Considering the heavy hand of the Gates Foundation and DC-based trade groups and their support of an 

Pension Call Tuesday. « Fred Klonsky

Pension Call Tuesday. « Fred Klonsky:

Pension Call Tuesday.

by Fred Klonsky

From Todd Mertz.

What: Rally at Rep. Tom Cross’ Office
When: This Wednesday, May 23rd 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: 540 W. Lockport St.  Suite 204  Plainfield, IL  60544
Why: Cross has been teachers’ worst enemy.  Cross told me personally in Springfield that Ty Fahner and the Civic Committee were involved in writing the horrendous SB512 which eventually did not have the needed support, but may resurface in a similar form anytime.  He is working hard to throw teachers under the bus while protecting his wealthy friends of the Civic Committee and Civic Federation.   
During the rally, Dennis Grosskopf, President of the Minooka Education Association, will be delivering petitions to Cross’ office.  

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From the IEA:

What needs to be done We need to increase contacts with legislators. If you haven’t done so, please  call your senator and state representative. If you get voicemail, please leave a message and call back later. Lawmakers are in their home districts all weekend.  Call them at their district offices.  See if you can make an appointment for an in-person meeting. More information is here.

U.S. School Districts Can Enter ‘Race to Top’ Competition - NYTimes.com

U.S. School Districts Can Enter ‘Race to Top’ Competition - NYTimes.com:

District Grant Contest Unveiled

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Published: May 22, 2012

School districts will be able to submit proposals for innovative educational programs this year to compete for federal grants of up to $25 million under a new national contest, part of the three-year-oldRace to the Top program. Rules for the competition were to be announced on Tuesday by the Department of Education.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants to bring learning “into the 21st century.”

News, data and conversation about education in New York.

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Like the department’s state-level competition for federal grants that preceded it, the program will require systems for measuring student progress and assessing teachers and administrators and will target low-income communities. Under the department’s rules, the schools included in each application must have at least 40 percent of students qualify for federally subsidized school lunches.

A spokesman for the department said it would look for programs that provide ways to tailor instruction to individual students.

“We need to take classroom learning beyond a one-size-fits-all model and bring it into the 21st century,” Arne