Common Core's Big Test: Tracking 2014-15 Results - Education Week

Common Core's Big Test: Tracking 2014-15 Results - Education Week:

Common Core's Big Test: Tracking 2014-15 Results

Type of Assessment:
  ▮ PARCC
  ▮ Smarter Balanced
  ▮ Other
  2014-15 Scores Reported
  Click to see test results

The 2014-15 school year marked a big change for many states because they switched to tests that for the first time reflect the Common Core State State Standards. Below are the scores from state-mandated mathematics and English/language arts tests given in 2014-15 and in 2013-14 (or the most recent previous year available).

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Please use caution when interpreting these results.

First, state-to-state comparisons can only be made among states that use the same test. In 2014-15, for instance, 18 states used Smarter Balanced and 11, plus the District of Columbia, used Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. (PARCC and Smarter Balanced are two federally funded testing consortia that developed exams aligned to the common core.)

Second, when a state gives the same test year to year, those results can show growth or declines in achievement. But when a state switches to a new test, first-year results can’t be used to compare achievement to that of previous years.

Comparing the results of old and new assessments can show other things, however. A drop in proficiency rates on the new tests could mean that students are still getting used to the new test format, or that schools are still adjusting to teaching new material, or it could mean that states set higher cut points on the new tests than on their old ones.

We offer these results because of the high-profile warnings that proficiency rates would drop on the new tests. What that means in each state that experienced a drop is a story unique to that state.

Notes:
• We report ACT or SAT scores only if they are a state’s only mandated high school test.
• Several states administer separate tests for writing and reading. We chose to report the results of states’ reading tests only, because those are required under the No Child Left Behind Act. 
• Despite the No Child Left Behind Act, policies governing when and how students are tested vary by state. This project reflects our best understanding of those policies as they relate to the scores we are reporting based on data states reported and data gathered by Education Week.

Common Core's Big Test: Tracking 2014-15 Results - Education Week:

Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections | The Progressive

Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections | The Progressive:

Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections

Teach for America scored big in Minnesota recently, with an Election Day, under-the-radar purchase of two suburban Minneapolis school board seats.

Purchase might be a strong word, but Teach for America and its affiliates definitely threw moneyed support behind Richfield, Minnesota school board candidates Crystal Brakke and Paula Cole. Both Brakke and Cole have served as TFA alums, and Brakke has stayed with the organization in executive positions. Currently, she works as TFA’s ombudsperson, based in Minneapolis.

Campaign finance reports for both candidates reveal a surprising influx of out of state dollars, primarily for Brakke:

• California-based venture capitalist Arthur Rock, who has become notorious as a funder of TFA-affiliated school board campaigns, gave both Brakke and Cole around $600.00 each. Rock is a TFA board member, an investor in KIPP charter schools, and has used his fortune to prop up the controversial Rocketship Charter School chain, which seeks to promote large class sizes with fewer teachers and more educational technology.
• New York resident Michael Buman also gave $600 each to Brakke and Cole. Buman is the Executive Director of Leadership for Educational Equity, or LEE, which is Teach for America’s more overtly political, and famously secretive, spinoff. In a 2014 article, writer Stephen Sawchuck noted that, in the span of just a few years, LEE went from a tiny operation—with a handful of staffers—to a coordinated team of 60 people, managing a budget worth close to $4 million. LEE’s stated mission is to “develop leaders” while “growing a movement.” Important note: Arthur Rock has paid $500,000 to place TFA alum in policy positions on Capitol Hill.
• Alex Johnston, another East Coast resident, donated a relatively modest amount--$100--to Brakke and Cole, but his education reform pedigree should not be underestimated. Johnston is the former CEO of “ConnCAN,” which is part of the hedge fund-supported 50CAN franchise. At ConnCAN, Johnston deployed an elaborate marketing campaign to promote a now-familiar list of preferred reform strategies, such as expanding charter schools and evaluating teachers using test scores. Today, Johnston runs “Impact for Education,” which advises “forward-thinking philanthropists” on how to push for “systemic change in public education.”

Brakke also raked in thousands of dollars from Teach for America members in California,

- See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/11/188411/teach-america-2-parents-4-tale-two-elections#sthash.l8TDZDPb.dpuf

Transcribed: Walmart’s Anti-union Employee Orientation Video | deutsch29

Transcribed: Walmart’s Anti-union Employee Orientation Video | deutsch29:

Transcribed: Walmart’s Anti-union Employee Orientation Video

In my November 11, 2015, post about former US senator Mary Landrieu’s becoming a “strategic advisor” for the very-anti-union Walton Foundation, I included the following nine-minute Walmart employee training video, which came to public attention in May 2015:

The video was made public, then disappeared, then returned.

Lest the video permanently disappear, I decided to transcribe the entire video so that the content is preserved. Plus it makes for some eyebrow-raising reading.

The video is a very telling account of the Waltons’ efforts to influence new employees to avoid signing an agreement to allow a union to represent them in labor negotiations. The video is entitled, “Protect Your Signature– New Associate Orientation.”

The primary message is that unions are out to make a buck, and that working at Walmart is ideal because all one must do to resolve any issue is speak to a leader. End of story.

But those unions just won’t go away. And even though signing that union card is each Transcribed: Walmart’s Anti-union Employee Orientation Video | deutsch29:

I Saw A Generation of Educators Destroyed By Silence In Tragedy [Howl Again] | The Jose Vilson

I Saw A Generation of Educators Destroyed By Silence In Tragedy [Howl Again] | The Jose Vilson:

I Saw A Generation of Educators Destroyed By Silence In Tragedy [Howl Again]

Changing our Facebook profile overlays won’t be enough.

I’ve seen a whole generation of educators who have so much direct access to the most massive body of knowledge the world has ever seen and yet are so disconnected from the realities around them as a result. Folks with large followers elide the mere mention of race, religion, and gender in the context of power because, ultimately, it makes them culpable as well. I’m far from perfect, but, tomorrow, I plan on giving my students space to ask and speak, which leaves me open to not knowing the answers.

This means I’m not the expert, and I’ve learned to live with that, too.

As educators, we can’t wait until it’s OK for us to speak up and out about the domestic and international tragedies that plague our humanity. We can fabricate standards if we wish, but the underlying tension can’t be standardized. For those of us in schools, children generally look to those who they’re already learning from. But, from where I stand, hope is not enough. We must continue I Saw A Generation of Educators Destroyed By Silence In Tragedy [Howl Again] | The Jose Vilson: