Teacher: Why I won’t give students high-stakes standardized test:

Teacher: Why I won’t give students high-stakes standardized test

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 14, 2013 at 4:00 am

•   Text Size
• Print
• Reprints

I received the following email from a teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle, where nearly all of the teachers are refusing to give students mandated standardized district tests called the Measures of Academy Progress.

The Garfield teachers say the tests are flawed and don’t evaluate learning. After their boycott was publicized last week, teachers at a second Seattle school, Ballard High, joined in. You can read my post about that here.

One of the reasons that there is growing opposition to high-stakes standardized tests is that increasingly states are requiring districts to evaluate teachers based on the test scores of their students, an assessment method that experts say is unreliable.

Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser, a social studies teacher at Garfield, wrote the following email to me to explain her position about the boycott and standardized testing. Anybody who thinks the

School superintendents urge Obama to act on gun violence

by Valerie Strauss

Here is a letter that the National Superintendents Roundtable, a nonprofit organization of nearly 100 school superintendents in 30 states, just sent to President Obama in support of efforts to protect schools from gun violence. The group's Steering Committee -- which includes the superintendent of Alexandria City Public schools, Morton Sherman -- decided unanimously over the holidays to issue a statement on the need to reduce gun violence in the country, and last week, every member signed a letter insisting on meaningful action. It has been sent to Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, all members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and every governor, according to the roundtable's executive director, James Harvey.
Read full article >>

Tony Bennett and Most of State Board of Education “Share a Devotion to Bush” | Scathing Purple Musings

Tony Bennett and Most of State Board of Education “Share a Devotion to Bush” | Scathing Purple Musings:

Tony Bennett and Most of State Board of Education “Share a Devotion to Bush”

by Bob Sikes

When does this become creepy? From an AP story by Bill Kaczor:

Tony Bennett’s style didn’t sit well with Indiana voters. In November, they voted him out of office after one term in favor of school librarian Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, while electing another Republican governor and backing Mitt Romney in the presidential race.
Bennett may fare better when he begins his new job today in Florida, where Republicans control the governor’s office and Legislature.
His agenda includes private school vouchers, charter schools, accountability standards for school administrators and teachers, high-stakes testing, and teacher pay based on annual evaluations. 

NYC Educator: The New Skill Set for Effective Teachers

NYC Educator: The New Skill Set for Effective Teachers:

The New Skill Set for Effective Teachers

by NYC Educator

by Recovering ATR

I go to a lot of dance performances, and sometimes the dancers are performing new "experimental" choreography. Sometimes the new choreography is wonderful, and everyone goes home happy. But there was one particular performance of a new dance that was so excruciatingly bad that when the dancers came out towards the end for a curtain call they looked mortified. Like "please don't remember me for this."

This particular mortified look can be found on people with some self-awareness when they're forced to make a presentation that they know is just complete nonsense. I remembered the dancers when my AP held a department meeting this week and explained the new Regents grading protocol. To help along with the process he prepared a powerpoint lecture. I was assigned to take the 

Missouri Education Watchdog: StudentsFirst does NOT represent School Choice

Missouri Education Watchdog: StudentsFirst does NOT represent School Choice:

StudentsFirst does NOT represent School Choice

by stlgretchen

Does this woman want even more control of educational decisions and state coffers?

"Entrepreneurial investment in education technology has skyrocketed from $100 million in 2007 to $429 million in 2011. It’s peculiar that the huge increase in companies investing in digital classrooms and testing materials to eventually align with the Common Core State Standards’ requirements began the same year Rhee became Chancellor of DC Schools and Obama began his reign as president". 

Potter Williams Report: War on Education 2013 exposes the federal takeover of education and Michelle 

Will Teachers Refuse to Administer Common Core Assesssments? Garfield Teachers Might Pave the Way for More Teachers to Say "NO".

by stlgretchen

Will teachers say "NO" to the Common Core assessments caused by "crises" fabricated by private interests?

Will Missouri teachers (and teachers from other states) stand up to the increased Common Core standardized assessments and begin to refuse the avalanche of testing required?  They can take a page from the playbook of teachers in Seattle who are saying "no" to testing.   From The Underground Parent:

**************************************************************************** 

The Garfield Stand and the Common Core: Will They Both Come to a School Near 

DIANE RAVITCH SAYS LAUSD IS NOT ALONE IN THE CLONE WARS - Perdaily.com

DIANE RAVITCH SAYS LAUSD IS NOT ALONE IN THE CLONE WARS - Perdaily.com:

DIANE RAVITCH SAYS LAUSD IS NOT ALONE IN THE CLONE WARS

by Leonard Isenberg

Obey or Quit-The Bullying In Education by dianerav http://dianeravitch.net/2013/01/12/obey-or-quit/ A teacher sent me this post, which has generated lots of discussion on Facebook. She said that the discussion on this blog shows a widespread bullying of teachers by administrators, who are in turn being bullied to produce "results." Everyone is under pressure to meet demands created by politicians, economists, and statisticians who never spent a day in a school classroom after their high school graduation. Here goes: "Paul's Story" Yesterday I received an emergency phone call from an experienced teacher in a Bronx school who received his first ever "U" on an observation report. Emotionally overwrought with fear and anger, it took all I could do to calm him down and get him to figure out how he could resolve this issue and continue to teach and at

SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR LAUSD, IT'S HARD WORK INSURING STUDENT FAILURE OVER GENERATIONS - Perdaily.com

SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR LAUSD, IT'S HARD WORK INSURING STUDENT FAILURE OVER GENERATIONS - Perdaily.com:

SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR LAUSD, IT'S HARD WORK INSURING STUDENT FAILURE OVER GENERATIONS

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español) 

Probably the best indicator that racism is still alive and well in inner city public education in this country - and more specially at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) - is the fact that nobody wonders why Latino and African American students continue to do so abysmally- it's as if it's expected of them. There is a tacit assumption that these students are somehow inherently incapable of learning and competing with more affluent predominantly White and Asian students. In offering poverty as the sole excuse for underachievement, forgotten is the critical function of public education in prior generations of poor 

Jersey Jazzman: How Many Golden Globes Did "Won't Back Down" Win?

Jersey Jazzman: How Many Golden Globes Did "Won't Back Down" Win?:

How Many Golden Globes Did "Won't Back Down" Win?

by Duke

Congratulations to all of the Golden Globe winners tonight! Hey, how many awards did the "blockbuster" reformy hit Won't Back Down win? You know, the refromy film that was "based on a true story" that wasn't true and wound up becoming one of the biggest flops Hollywood has ever seen?

I hear Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis were at home washing their hair tonight...

Well, maybe Michelle Rhee can pass out a bunch of gift cards on Bill Gates's dime and generate a buzz in time 

This Week in Baltimore Education News | Re:education in Baltimore

This Week in Baltimore Education News | Re:education in Baltimore:

This Week in Baltimore Education News

by Edit Barry

These are three of the stories that jumped out at me this week. Lots of room to opine, but I am biting my tongue. (Trying my best, anyway). I said I’d spend only an hour a week on this blog. (Trying on that score, too.)
Methadone clinic next to Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle?
Denied. No sooner than it was proposed, the appeal to the zoning board was dismissed because the woman who filed it didn’t show. Big sigh of relief from parents. Adam Bednar from North Baltimore Patch covered the story:
Methadone Clinic Proposed Near Charles Village School, January 7, 2013
Zoning Board Dismisses Methadone Clinic Request, January 8, 2013
My questions: Who represents our public schools in cases like

WINNER 2013 Golden Globe BEST MOTION PICTURE in the CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS CATEGORY

WINNER 2013 GOLDEN GLOBE

for the

BEST MOTION PICTURE 

in the 

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS CATEGORY 

is

 http://peopleforourpublicschools.org/

Brought to you with the EXTRA$$$ EXTRA$$$ 

Generous Support from the

AND THE WINNER IS ... NOT YOU!!!

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

Couldn't Find Your Own Special Charter School Scandal

Just Type the name of your city or charter school in the box below

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

If you don't find yours today

Keep checking

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Be sure to check out two other Great blogs:

-THE BROAD REPORT (as in Eli) -THE PERIMETER PRIMATE

Media Silence on #edreform? Not @ the chalk face « @ the chalk face

Media Silence on #edreform? Not @ the chalk face « @ the chalk face:

Media Silence on #edreform? Not @ the chalk face

by Timothy D. Slekar

January 13th, 2013 @ the chalk face internet radio

Louisiana has a VAM scam going on.  Shaun and Tim talk to Dr. Mercedes Schneider about how Louisiana’s teacher evaluation system is worthless and really serves as a dehumanizing system meant to harm the children and teachers of Louisiana.

Read Dr. Schneider’s report here:

School Tech Connect: Do You Need Something To Do?

School Tech Connect: Do You Need Something To Do?:

Do You Need Something To Do?

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

I'm not going to lie, I slept most of the day.

Actually, I fell on the ice this morning while walking Scout and Butterbean, and for the first time in my life, I fell like an old person rather than a young person. There was a moment, down there on the ground, when I had doubts about my ability to get back up. Currently my left arm refuses to let me use it anywhere above the elevation of my shoulder, and I'm pretty sure a rib is involved.

It was pretty much a crawl-back-to-bed situation rather than a pleasant weekend nap.

Nevertheless, I've had my headphones on through dinner, and I just 

Dan Gelber: “Getting straight A’s for having lots of tests is not the same as getting A’s on the tests” | Scathing Purple Musings

Dan Gelber: “Getting straight A’s for having lots of tests is not the same as getting A’s on the tests” | Scathing Purple Musings:

Dan Gelber: “Getting straight A’s for having lots of tests is not the same as getting A’s on the tests”

by Bob Sikes

And emphasizing twice that “testing is not teaching’ former Florida state senator Dan Gelber chided “the usual suspects engaged in the typical self-adulation,” for Education Week’s recent high-ranking of Florida. This from his column in Florida Voices:

I don’t relish being the guy constantly throwing cold water on the party, but a closer read of the Education Week report reflects what most parents of schools kids already know. All is definitely not well in Florida’s schools. The report grades the 50 states on a variety of education components, and where Florida did well is not nearly as important as where we tanked.
Florida received top grades for its accountability and assessments. In other words, we got an “A” 

Jersey Jazzman: David Coleman Doesn't Give a S#@! What You Think

Jersey Jazzman: David Coleman Doesn't Give a S#@! What You Think:

David Coleman Doesn't Give a S#@! What You Think

by Duke

David Coleman, architect of the Common Core, explains the "real world":

Popout

Diane Ravitch posted about this speech last year:

In a speech last year, David Coleman, the new president of the College Board, who was one of the chief creators of the Common Core, worried about students’ focusing on opinion over analysis in their writing. “As you grow up in this world, you realize people really don’t give a s— about what you feel or what you think,” he said. “It is rare in a working environment that someone says, ‘Johnson, I need a market analysis by Friday, but 

Jersey Jazzman: If VAM Is So Awesome, Why Sneak It In?

Jersey Jazzman: If VAM Is So Awesome, Why Sneak It In?:

If VAM Is So Awesome, Why Sneak It In?

by Duke

If someone tries to sneak something in under the cover of darkness, you know that they know that they're up to no good:

Over the Holidays, the Governor signed the latest education bill, HB 555. StateImpact has a decent rundown of most of the items that were addressed in the bill. However, one major piece of policy change made in HB555 has gone totally unreported, not surprisingly since it was done in the 11th hour, with no testimony or hearings. Indeed, we're doubtful many lawmakers even knew it had been slipped in there.  

[...]

HB 555 radically changes the method of calculating evaluations for about 1/3 of Ohio's teachers. If a teacher's schedule is comprised only of courses or subjects for which the value-added progress