Tuesday, April 23, 2013

UPDATE: Ed Notes Online: Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING

Ed Notes Online: Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING:

Fair Test: Testing Resistance & Reform News: April 18-23, 2013

by ed notes online

Every week seems to set a new record for coverage of the rapidly expanding national movement against high-stakes testing overkill. -- Fair Test

Except at Gotham Schools.

Read the idiot Gotham Schools piece supporting Pearson tests by Jennifer Borgioli who actually cites George W. Bush to support testing and makes other nonsensical points or as one activist states: it is one of the worst edited pieces I have ever seen. It is illogically constructed, badly written and the arguments are so weak as to be laughable, and read NYC Educator's piece critiquing it (Gotham Schools Defends High-Stakes Testing)

Let's show some muscle. Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING

Come out to Tweed on Friday from 4-5:30 to show how you feel about the child/teacher abusing use of highs takes tests.

Check this list from Fair Test's Bob Schaeffer:

Every week seems to set a new record for coverage of the rapidly expanding national movement against high-stakes testing overkill. In addition to stories about resistance to standardized exams from a dozen states, many excellent commentaries were published in the past few days.

Remember that back issues of these updates are online at http://fairtest.org/news -- click on the red button at the top of the page to Donate to support FairTest's work making testing reform news and distributing it.

Overuse of High-Stakes Tests Feeds Cheating Explosion -- USA Today editorial response by FairTest
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/22/standardized-tests-cheating--editorials-debates/2104923/

High-Stakes Testing Exposed . . . Again
    http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=11240#more

Education "Reform" Missing Another "R" -- Results
    http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/education-reform-missing-another-r-word-results-rf9hgtc-202854471.html

How Do You Evaluate Teachers Who Change Lives? (not by "value-added" test scores)
    http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/04/17/28cella.h32.html

New York Parents: My Kids Not Taking Another Standardized Test
    http://news.yahoo.com/york-parents-kid-not-taking-another-standardized-test-025008171.html
Parents Outraged by Common Core Testing
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/education/common-core-testing-spurs-outrage-and-protest-among-parents.html

Error by Testing Giant Pearson Shuts 2,700 NYC Students Out of Gifted-and-Talented Classes
    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exam-error-shuts-2-700-gifted-talented-programs-article-1.1322573

Chicago Students Plan Boycott of State Test
    http://www.wbez.org/news/students-want-boycott-state-test-106735

In Bid to Pare Exams, Texas Targets Pearson
    http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/21/taking-aim-testing-firm-quest-pare-state-exams/
State Tests Impede Learning
    http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/westerlund-state-tests-impede-learning/nXQR3/
Crash Test: A History of Texas Testing and the Growing Resistance
    http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/history-of-standardized-testing-in-texas

Portland Students Protest High-Stakes Testing
   http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/04/cleveland_high_school_students.html

Ohio School Administrators Under Investigation in Another Cheating Scandal
     http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/04/17/ohio-new-school-cheating-scandal

Testing Regime Fails Georgia Students
     http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-04-20/blackmon-testing-regimen-failing-georgia-students

Only Bubble-Headed Zombies Rely on Standardized Testing in North Carolina
   http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/13/2821145/our-bubble-headed-zombie-creating.html

Testing time: Anxious Kids. Angry Parents. Approaching Revolution
     http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/apr/20/testing-time-anxious-kids-angry-parents/

Teaching to Test Takes Away From Education
   http://www.seminolechronicle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/516ffd6a3ad3b

School Uses Bribes and Threats to Make Students Take Tests
     http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/22/school-warns-students-no-test-no-sports/

Standardized Testing: The Great Deception
     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-rhonda-joy-edwards-vansant/standardized-testing-the-_1_b_3118062.html

Testing Addiction is Real School Scandal
     http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2013/04/21/The-real-school-scandal-is-our-testing-addiction.html

How High-Stakes Testing Transformed My Job From Great to Infuriating
     http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/21/teacher-how-my-job-went-from-great-to-infuriating/

The First Race to the Top
     http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/opinion/sunday/the-first-testing-race-to-the-top.html

Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING

by ed notes online

MORE teachers will be joining with Change the Stakes parents this Friday at 4PM. Following this event some MOREs and ICEers will be going out to dinner for informal election return analysis.

Note the editorial pages and cartoons of the papers are jumping on parent opt-outers as coddling their kids. Just shows you how threatening this movement is to ed deformers.

Whether or not your children took the state tests, please join a rally in front of Tweed on FRIDAY 4/26 at 4pm to protest the ways that high-stakes testing is robbing our children of a decent education! BRING THE KIDS!

RALLY

CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING and

Putting Back the 'PUBLIC' in Public Education

Our children are NOT a test score!

WHEN: Friday, April 26 at 4 pm*

WHERE: TWEED NYC Department of Education

52 Chambers Street

(4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge. N, R to City Hall. J to Chambers Street)

WHO: Families, Teachers, Children and Supporters of Educational Justice

WHY: Because private schools already said "NO!" to high stakes testing!

Because WE demand 180 days of learning!

Because schools should foster a love for life long learning.

Because positive relationships between schools and families are at the core of learning.

BRING SIGNS with YOUR VISION and DEMANDS for the SCHOOLS

we want OUR CHILDREN to be in.

Bring Mops, Brooms, Scrub brushes,

Buckets and cleaning supplies to Mop UP the MESS!

Bring #2 Pencils for us to transform them into a new vision of Public Education

JOIN Change The Stakes (www.changethestakes.org)

and Time Out From Testing (www.timeoutfromtesting.org)

*Rain Date: Tuesday, April 30 @ 4 pm

Like this on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/121996241329636/?notif_t=plan_edited

Class Sizes, Slogans, and Leadership | PWC Education Reform Blog

Class Sizes, Slogans, and Leadership | PWC Education Reform Blog:

Class Sizes, Slogans, and Leadership

by pwceducationreform

As this budget season comes to a close, one unfinished issue stands high above the rest – too large classes in Prince William County Schools. Over the past several years, as the economy crashed and has struggled to come back to life, PWCS has slowly been increasing class sizes to save money. Last year class sizes were pushed to the state’s legal maximum. The net effect is that classes in PWCS are the largest in the state by a significant margin.

Many parents have complained to me about high school math classes with 40 – 42 students in them. Many teachers have told me that they believe learning has been undermined by too large classes. Unfortunately for our school age children, there appears to be no plan whatsoever to bring class sizes down.

I think this is partly because our leaders are too busy batting around unachievable slogans to show real leadership.

Concerns from parents about these huge classes seemed to have had an impact on Peter Candland, the Gainesville District representative to the Board of County Supervisors. Mr. Candland proposed that percentage of taxes received by the county that are allocated to the school division be increased so that the school division could reduce class sizes and increase teacher compensation. Mr. Candland’s proposal was ultimately rejected, but the fact that it was brought up and discussed in public session is astounding.

The BOCS has no power over the school division other than to appropriate funds. It can’t designate the purpose for which

Sheila Resseger: How Testing Impacts a School for the Deaf - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Sheila Resseger: How Testing Impacts a School for the Deaf - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Sheila Resseger: How Testing Impacts a School for the Deaf

by Anthony Cody

Guest post by Sheila Resseger.
I recently participated in the inspiring and informative webinar "How to Organize a Grassroots Group" put on by the Network for Public Education and the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education. I am a retired teacher of the deaf, having retired from the Rhode Island School for the Deaf in the fall of 2011 profoundly dismayed by the unreasonable sanctions placed on the school by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), headed by Deborah Gist (Broad Superintendents Academy 2008).
During my 25 years as a teacher in the high school and middle school, I was at heart an English Language Arts teacher. I say at heart because I was originally hired to teach introductory Latin and Roman Civilization. Teaching deaf students a "dead" language may seem to some a non-starter, but Latin is actually a rich starting point to demystify aspects of English grammar and to build a broad and deep academic vocabulary. As I gained experience I became painfully aware of the many and varied difficulties many of my deaf students had with English print. What most people unfamiliar with early childhood deafness do not appreciate, is that a child deaf or severely hearing-impaired from birth or early infancy will not develop English as a native speaker, due to incomplete and distorted input, even if members of the family are native English speakers. This problem is

A coalition for effective teaching that didn't consult teachers? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

A coalition for effective teaching that didn't consult teachers? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

A coalition for effective teaching that didn't consult teachers?

by Timothy Boyle

The School District of Philadelphia needs all the help it can get, so I’m happy to see a number of local nonprofits band together to offer their advice.

The member groups of the recently launched Coalition for Effective Teaching are calling for reforms to the teachers' contract. As I looked over their list of recommendations, I saw a mix of ideas, some already happening and some that would be helpful. But there are many that are misguided. The coalition would have greatly benefited had they bothered to talk to rank-and-file educators during the planning process.

First off, there is much to agree with in the coalition's proposal.

Maintaining class-size caps. Many teachers are struggling to get to know the 30 or 33 students under their charge well enough to personalize their learning. Increasing the cap size would only make things worse.

Implementing research-based school-climate programs. The time has come for the School District to demand that "positive behavior supports" or restorative justice practices be employed in schools that are not only persistently dangerous, but also schools that have dozens of serious incidents each year.

Training principals on meaningful teacher evaluation that is meant to help teachers grow as professionals. This is a win for everyone. Teacher evaluation must do much more than pick the satisfactory and the

Advice to Rookies | Taking Note

Advice to Rookies | Taking Note:

Advice to Rookies

by John Merrow

“My child/grandchild/sister/brother is joining Teach for America. What should she/he do?” I’ve been asked that question about a half dozen times every year for the past few years by friends, acquaintances or strangers.

So how do I respond?

First of all, I do not say, “Don’t smile until Christmas,” because that’s just plain stupid. Smiles are good.

Nor do I say “Remember that you are their teacher and not their friend,” because that equally stupid cliché implies the roles are incompatible. You are teachers first, of course, but friendships sometimes follow, and that’s good.

No, my advice to new teachers has nothing to do with students and everything to do with their

A-to-F accountability systems thrive, college-career readiness still problematic SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

A-to-F accountability systems thrive, college-career readiness still problematic
By Tom Chorneau
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

California is not alone when it comes to wrestling with new accountability indicators as evidenced by the struggles of lawmakers and educators in several other states also undertaking reviews – some drawn in the wake of federal waivers from No Child Left Behind mandates.

One popular approach this spring appears to be focused on simplifying the system by grading schools just as their students have been for generations using an A-to-F matrix. While such systems may prove more accessible for parents and taxpayers – program architects still largely rely on the same handful of indicators that make up some existing evaluation systems.

Last week for instance, the Mississippi Board of Education revised their A-to-F accountability matrix that among other things added graduation rates. Lawmakers in the state of Washington appear close to an agreement on a new A-to-F system that would include rewards for improved student achievement.

Meanwhile, the head of public schools in Texas said he plans to roll out a new system for grading schools A-to-F next year that will emphasize closing the achievement gap and improving the educational outcomes for low-income students.

One area that states seem to struggle is with defining good indicators that can reflect college and career readiness. That issue has become important to states awarded waivers from the U.S. Department of Education from NCLB

Uptick in numbers of disabled students passing part of exit exam

Over the past three years, the number of California students with disabilities asking to be excused from key parts of the high school exit exam has decreased dramatically.

2013 National Teacher of Year: Public education not in crisis

2013 National Teacher of Year: Public education not in crisis:

2013 National Teacher of Year: Public education not in crisis

Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 23, 2013 at 6:00 am

The newly named 2013 National Teacher of the Year, who is visiting with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday with other award-winning teachers, is not a big fan of all of Obama’s education policy initiatives and believes that some reformers are mischaracterizing America’s public schools.

Jeff Charbonneau, a high school science teacher from Zillah, Washington, was tapped as the 63rd National Teacher of the Year in a contest sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers. The winner, chosen by a committee of representatives from 15 education organizations, is pulled from the cohort of State Teachers of the Year, who themselves are selected through different processes in various states.

He and the other State Teachers of the Year visited Monday with Jill Biden, a veteran educator, at the official residence of the Vice President, and will all go to the White House on Tuesday to see Obama.

Charbonneau teaches chemistry, physics and engineering at Zillah High School. He is the founder and director of the award-winning Zillah Robot Challenge, which is open to

A windfall for failing charter schools?

by Valerie Strauss

How’s this for a treat? Lawmakers in Indiana are debating whether to forgive millions of dollars in loans that the state gave to charter schools that lost their charters because they were failing academically. According to this story by the … Continue reading →

Cooper Union Trustees Vote to Impose $19,000 Tuition |

Cooper Union Trustees Vote to Impose $19,000 Tuition |:

Cooper Union Trustees Vote to Impose $19,000 Tuition

by Angus Johnston

At a public meeting that began just moments ago, Cooper Union board of trustees chair Mark Epstein announced that the prestigious college, which has been tuition-free for undergraduates for well over a century, will begin charging new students annual tuition of more than $19,000 in the fall of 2014.
The tuition charge will replace the college’s longstanding automatic 100% scholarships for all students with a new 50% scholarship. Since the college’s official tuition rate is $19,275 a semester for 2012-13, new students can expect to be charged at least that much beginning next year.
According to tweets from meeting attendees with the Cooper Union Task Force and Free Cooper Union, the board considered a 75% scholarship rate, which would have put annual fees under $10,000, but concluded that it wouldn’t bring in enough revenue. The college expects the 50% scholarship to remain in place for “the next few years” at least.
Asked whether the base tuition rate was likely to increase over time, Epstein said it probably would.
Financial aid will be made available, according to Epstein, and admissions will remain need-blind.
More soon.
12:30 Update | Today’s meeting was announced with just six hours notice. Epstein says the board’s decision to

Bill Gates’ $5 Billion Education Plan: Let’s Put Cameras Classrooms

Bill Gates’ $5 Billion Education Plan: Let’s Put Cameras Classrooms:

Bill Gates’ $5 Billion Plan: Let’s Put a Camera in Every Classroom

The hope is to evaluate teachers more effectively, and provide them with useful feedback.

Bill Gates, gates foundation, teacher evaluations, education reform

(Just a Reminder that Pot was Legalized in Washington State! )

The way public school teachers are evaluated is complicated—and highly controversial among educators.

In fact, two out of three teachers feel that the methods don't accurately capture what they do in their classrooms, according to a January report by the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tying teacher performance to test scores is the main factor that has teachers up in arms. It was one of the main reasons teachers went on strike last year in Chicago and why educators in Seattle boycotted the MAP testearlier this year.

Instead of focusing so much attention on test scores, philanthropist Bill Gates has another idea.

How about spending $5 billion to put a video camera in every classroom in America?

Anya Kamenetz of Fast Company reports that in a TED Talks Educationspecial airing on May 7 on PBS, we can expect to hear more about Gates' plan. Kamenetz writes that Gates "wants the country to spend $5 billion for every teacher in every classroom in every district to be filmed in action so they can be evaluated and, maybe, improve."

The philanthropist has dedicated resources in the last few years to identifying and developing effective teaching. His foundation funded the $45 million MET project designed to determine how to best identify and promote great teaching. They enlisted the help of 3,000 teachers and many experts

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, April 23, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Students will read more nonfiction, but schools won't ignore classics under new standards

Students from kindergarten through high school will soon be reading more nonfiction — biographies, speeches, even a government publication on insulation — under new national standards that are changing what and how children learn.

School budgets looking better

Three local school districts that risked being unable to pay their long-term expenses — Calaveras Unified School District, Sonora Union High School District and Curtis Creek School District — are on more solid footing than they were last year.

School district unification forum draws a crowd

The discussion was narrowed to unification of the four largest school districts in Salinas — Alisal Union, Salinas City, Santa Rita Union and Salinas Union High School.

Monterey Peninsula USD postpones hiring controversial new superintendent; board president resigns

Alain Guevara came to Monterey to take over as superintendent of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. Instead, he walked away from the board room of MPUSD refusing to talk to the press after a roomful of community members pleaded with trustees not to hire a man so tainted by controversy.

Coachella Valley Unified School District aims to hike graduation requirements

The Coachella Valley Unified School District has pledged to increase graduation requirements so more graduates will be eligible to apply to California’s four-year universities.

Ramona imposes teacher pay cuts

The Ramona school board Monday night approved across-the-board compensation cuts for its teachers, a move that follows 18 months of unsuccessful contract negotiations between the district and union.The cuts take effect immediately, Superintendent Robert Graeff said.

Suit seeks to change ABC Unified to trustee system

Not one Latino sits on the seven-member ABC Unified District school board in southeastern Los Angeles County, even though a quarter of the district's registered voters share that ethnic background. Every board member is from Cerritos, even though the district also encompasses Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and parts of Lakewood, Long Beach and Norwalk. So Olga Rios is doing what plaintiffs across California have done: suing under the 2001 California Voting Rights Act.

Oakland school board member Gary Yee seeks to temporarily replace outgoing Superintendent Tony Smith

Oakland Unified School District board member Gary Yee said Monday he will give up his District 4 seat in order to temporarily replace outgoing Superintendent Tony Smith, whose last day is June 30.

State officials to decide penalty for Burbank school breach of test security

Burbank Unified may be punished by the state after a teacher allegedly helped students answer questions on a high stakes test. The incident took place last week in a third grade classroom, officials said.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Monterey Peninsula USD's choice for superintendent named in sexual harassment lawsuit

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District trustees are confident they picked the right man for the superintendent's job, even though he has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Palm Springs Unified School District harder on black students

The Palm Springs Unified School District suspends black students almost twice as often as their white or Latino peers, an inequality that has persisted at least a decade.

Racial balance still issue for Menifee, Perris districts

Menifee Union School District's push for unification still faces a number of roadblocks, including securing racial balances, according to a report that Assistant Superintendent Robert Wolfe will present to the governing board Tuesday.

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Cheating Scandal

+ A Retrospective - Season of the Witch

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

Best of the Ed Blogs

Jeff Bryant

April 22, 2013

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Bill Gates’ $5 Billion Plan: Let’s Put a Camera in Every Classroom

Education Headlines

Best of the Ed Blogs