N.J.'s new standardized test gets F in South Jersey

N.J.'s new standardized test gets F in South Jersey:

N.J.'s new standardized test gets F in South Jersey

From a Washington Township third grader to grandparents, educators, and parents, speaker after speaker at a public hearing Thursday rose to voice displeasure - or worse - with New Jersey's emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests.

Most had come to complain about the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a new and controversial exam aligned with Common Core curriculum standards. It will be given to third through 11th graders statewide starting March 2.

"PARCC is a not-yet validated test that is wasting valuable classroom time for both teachers and students," said Natalia Reyes, an Eastampton mother of three, speaking to a state student assessments study commission at Camden County College in Blackwood, where the hearing was held.

PARCC supporters have said the test is more rigorous than the exams it is replacing and will help students become college- and career-ready.

But opponents like those at the hearing said PARCC is draining money and resources from other subjects and programs.

Angelina Chila, 8, a third grader at Hurffville Elementary School in Washington Township, said students need to learn more skills and take fewer tests.

In the last three weeks, she said, she has taken eight tests, including a PARCC practice test.

"I think everyone would agree that this is way too much testing!" she said.

Ginny Murphy, a Washington Township school board member, said underfunded mandates like the computer and technology improvements required by PARCC and the new teacher evaluation system have cost her district more than $5 million, hardly offset by about $147,000 in additional state aid. Also, she said, preparing for and implementing PARCC drains staff resources, particularly in a district as large as hers.

"Somewhere between the common standards and the Common Core, we lost our common sense," Murphy said.

Several testified that PARCC is developmentally inappropriate and confusing, with content above grade level and computer skills that many of its takers will not have. They said PARCC would disadvantage many children, including those in special education.

Tamara Gross, a special-education teacher in Cinnaminson, suggested that the money spent on testing, such as the $108 million the State of New Jersey has committed to

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20150220_N_J__s_new_standardized_test_gets_F_in_South_Jersey.html#qgjHU7mWcFGGY3cH.99

Report: Michigan doesn’t hold charter schools accountable | WOODTV.com

Report: Michigan doesn’t hold charter schools accountable | WOODTV.com:

Report: Michigan doesn’t hold charter schools accountable

 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A report from a nonprofit education organization says that Michigan charter schools and authorizers are lagging behind.

The report, called “Accountability for All: The Need for Real Charter School Authorizer Accountability in Michigan,” claims that the state needs to hold charter school authorizers more accountable, even saying at one point that “charter school authorizers, in particular, are arguably accountable to no one — not even our state’s governor.”

>>Online: The full report

The report was released Thursday by the Education Trust – Midwest, a division of a national nonprofit.

Part of the report gives charter school authorizers letter grades based, it says, on how they decide to open new schools, how they set performance standards and improving the failing schools they have.

In West Michigan, Grand Valley State University got a grade of B as an authorizer for its 63 schools. Grand Rapids Public Schools got an A grade for the one school the district authorizes, the Child Discovery Center (CDC).

The CDC serves kindergarten through 5th-grade students, and though it is authorized by GRPS, it is its own autonomous charter school district.

The report calls CDC a model, stating that GRPS “closely monitors [sic] their schools’ progress, with the goal of high student learning at the forefront.”

“Right now we have a separate and unequal education system between traditional schools and charter schools,” said John Helmholdt, the spokesperson for GRPS. “Our belief, and this is something in our legislative platform, is that we are one public education system and that we need to work together.”

Helmholdt said the district doesn’t look at CDC as competition to the traditional district, but rather an extension of what the district has to offer.

“What are the services as central office that we can provide as this big entity that we can say, ‘Hey, IT, food service, other items, professional development, things like that, that were doing for 50-plus schools we can easily provide as a support service to this charter school,” said Helmholdt.

He applauded the report, stating that there needs to be more accountability for charter schools and their authorizers.

“Anyone who opposes that, it’s really a double standard. There is an expectation that you have that level of Report: Michigan doesn’t hold charter schools accountable | WOODTV.com:

Charter groups top unions in lobbying, campaign spending | Capital New York

Charter groups top unions in lobbying, campaign spending | Capital New York:

Charter groups top unions in lobbying, campaign spending

ALBANY—Supporters and opponents of education reform, primarily charter school expansion, spent more than $30 million combined attempting to influence New York State politics in 2014, a Capital analysis of lobbyist reports and campaign finance data found.

Charter school groups and their supporters spent $16 million on lobbying, campaign contributions to state-level candidates and parties and independent expenditure campaigns last year. Charter schools spent nearly $700,000 on lobbying. Education unions and labor-funded advocates spent $11.77 million, according to the analysis.

Additionally, large school districts and stakeholder groups representing school boards spent $922,193. An advocacy group pushing a generous tax credit that would incentivize donations to schools spent $659,404.

In defending their spending and high-profile backers, education reform leaders have often portrayed teachers’ unions as deep-pocketed behemoths representing special interests. But the spending reality is that in 2014, the pro-charter and reform groups outspent unions by a considerable margin.

In the first three months of 2014, New York City’s charter advocates, with the help of Governor Andrew Cuomo, battled Mayor Bill de Blasio over the future of the city’s growing charter sector. Charter leaders felt their existence threatened under the de Blasio administration, which has had frosty relations with the city’s charter contingent.

But after the continued growth of the charter sector around the state was guaranteed in a sweeping pro-charter bill passed last April, the existential threat to charters became less urgent. In the remaining nine months of 2014, pro-charter groups focused more on strengthening accountability measures for teachers and pushing the state and city to take immediate action to fix failing schools.

Each side was led by a group that accounted for more than half of its cause’s spending. While final lobbying totals for 2014 are not yet available, it is likely Families for Excellent Schools, which spent $9.7 million, and the New York State United Teachers, which spent Charter groups top unions in lobbying, campaign spending | Capital New York:

California task force urges reform of special education funding | EdSource

California task force urges reform of special education funding | EdSource:

California task force urges reform of special education funding

CREDIT: JANE MEREDITH ADAMS/ EDSOURCE TODAY
At the podium, Vicki Barber, left, and Maureen O'Leary Burness preview the report on special education. A sign language interpreter is at far left

Feb 19, 2015 | By Jane Meredith Adams | No Comments

Federal and state funding rates for special education would be equalized across California and new special education teachers would be authorized to teach general education if draft recommendations from a task force presented on Wednesday are implemented.

In addition, school districts would include in their new three-year planning documents, known as Local Control and Accountability Plans, details about how they are improving outcomes for special education students, according to a preview of a long-awaited report from the Statewide Special Education Task Force, a group funded by foundations to recommend transformative changes in special education in California.

“We believe the time is now,” said Vicki Barber, co-executive director of the Statewide Special Education Task Force.

A draft version of the report was presented at a meeting of the state Advisory Commission on Special Education, which provides recommendations to state legislators and education administrators. The full report will be presented to the State Board of Education in March.

The brainchild of Michael Kirst, president of the State Board of Education, and Linda Darling-Hammond, chairwoman of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the task force is thought by many to have the clout to push for changes long-sought in special education, including a far-reaching integration of special education students, teachers and programs into general education.

The effort is driven by low achievement rates of special education students, 90 percent of whom have no cognitive impairment. Speech and language impairment is the largest category of students in special education, followed by students with learning disabilities.

“This is a commitment to move forward,” said Vicki Barber, co-executive director of the task force, who presented the draft report to the California task force urges reform of special education funding | EdSource:

L.A. teachers union declares impasse in contract talks - LA Times

L.A. teachers union declares impasse in contract talks - LA Times:

L.A. teachers union declares impasse in contract talks

More than 500 teachers and supporters rally in November at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights to demand raises and changes to work rules and policies in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The union declared an impasse in contract negotiations on Wednesday. (Howard Blume)

By HOWARD BLUMEcontact the reporter

The union representing Los Angeles teachers on Wednesday declared an impasse in protracted contract negotiations with the nation's second-largest school system.

Negotiators for the two sides remain far apart.

L.A. Unified has offered a 5% raise retroactive to July 1, 2014. United Teachers Los Angeles is seeking an 8.5% one-year increase.

Teachers have not had a pay raise or cost of living increase in eight years, and agreed to pay cuts through furlough days during the depths of the recent economic recession. Thousands of teachers also were laid off because of budget cuts and shrinking enrollment. Teachers have continued to receive pay boosts based on education credits and experience. 

Pay is not the only issue. The union also is calling for smaller class sizes and increased staffing, among other things.

"UTLA will not accept a piecemeal agreement that addresses only one or two issues, which fails to improve student learning conditions and educator working conditions," the union said in a statement.

The district counters that it has made fair counteroffers affecting teacher evaluations, class sizes and parent involvement.

If the Public Employment Relations Board officially affirms the deadlock in talks, a mediator will step in. If an agreement still cannot be reached, the teachers will be one step closer to calling a strike. 

"We will continue our aggressive organizing campaign through every stage of this process," the union statement said.

District officials said they welcomed mediation.

“I’ve been disappointed and frustrated by the lack of progress toward an agreement,” Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said in a statement. “It’s my hope that the appointment of a mediator will lead to an expeditious settlement that ultimately supports our students and the L.A. teachers union declares impasse in contract talks - LA Times:

Memo To Civil Rights Activists: Testing Isn’t Helping Education Opportunity Network

Education Opportunity Network:

Memo To Civil Rights Activists: Testing Isn’t Helping

Is forcing every child to take annual standardized tests in reading and math a civil rights issue? That certainly seems to be one of the questions most in consideration in Washington, DC, since deliberations began on how to rewrite the federal government’s most significant education policy No Child Left Behind. Back in January, when Congressional […]

Why Democrats Must Categorically Reject Bobby Jindal’s Education Plan

My colleague Bill Scher recently called our attention to an opinion piece by Thomas Edsall in The New York Times which revealed “the Republican appropriation of leftist populist rhetoric.” Republicans “plan to bring the fight to the Democrats on their own turf,” according to Edsall. Edsall cites numerous examples of “the Republican appropriation of leftist […]

Is This The End Of Education Austerity?

Don’t get too excited yet, but there are signs we may have finally turned a corner for the better in the war for public school financing. Recently, government officials and politicians – from the Beltway to the heartland – have declared allegiance to do what has been, up until now, the unmentionable: Spend more money […]

Senator Warren Clarifies The Money Matter In Revising NCLB

Where can Democrats find clarity in the current debate over how to rewrite No Child Left Behind legislation? For sure, we appear to be in the midst of is an education policy turmoil where instead of right and left “meeting in the middle,” what we see instead are forces on the right and left coming […]

Democrats Should Listen To What Senator Whitehouse Said About Education Policy

A curious thing happened this week on Capitol Hill: A politician said something about education that made sense. The “something” didn’t come from President Obama. In the president’s annual State of the Union address, “K-12 policy largely took a back seat”, Education Week’s Alyson Klein observed. Indeed, the issue was barely in the car. Although […]

To Read More: Education Opportunity Network:

NJ students refuse to end sit-in protest at superintendent's office | Al Jazeera America #‎OccupyNPS‬ ‪#‎OurNewark‬

Newark Student Union Stages Sit-in | Al Jazeera America:

EDUCATION

JULIO CORTEX / AP PHOTO

NJ students refuse to end sit-in protest at superintendent's office

The young activists want Newark's schools chief to meet with them or resign over a program they say is racially biased

February 19, 2015 6:30PM ET

by Wilson Dizard   @willdizard

As their sit-in at the office of their schools superintendent went into its third day, student activists in Newark, N.J. are firm in their demands that the superintendent should either speak with them about a controversial new program or resign.

The eight protesters, members of the Newark Student Union (NSU), say they will not leave until Superintendent Cami Anderson meets with them to discuss her One Newark program, which was implemented in September 2014, two and a half years after she was appointed by the state to run Newark’s struggling schools. 

One Newark requires the city's students, from kindergarten through high school, to reapply for acceptance at 100 different Newark schools, including some charter schools and non-traditional public schools. An algorithm decides which schools the students will attend.

Anderson says that the program will increase schooling options for students. The student activists say that the program forces them to attend schools in inconvenient locations and devalues the rights of black and Latino classmates.

The protestors say they will remain in the offices until Anderson agrees to meet with them and attend a meeting of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board, a parent group. Short of that, they’d like to see her resign.

“The only way we will leave this occupation is if she attends the advisory board meeting or she meets with us, or both. We most likely want both,” said Thais Marques, a community organizer with New Jersey Communities United (NJCU), a local non-profit group that aims to empower low- and middle-income people.

Two members of NJCU have joined the protesters to assist them in their action.

The protesters say that the program puts a heavy burden on disadvantaged black and Latino households that do not have the means to commute to schools far from where they live. They also say the program prevents them them from attending predominantly white schools.

“We definitely find this to be a racial issue,” Marques said. “Newark is one of the most segregated cities in the country, and the One Newark plan only exacerbates this kind of segregation.”

“The algorithm that Cami Anderson uses only separates black and brown students and puts them in worse schools Newark Student Union Stages Sit-in | Al Jazeera America:

When Kids Teach Adults – Lessons from the Newark Student Union Sit-in | #‎OccupyNPS‬ ‪#‎OurNewark‬

When Kids Teach Adults – Lessons from the Newark Student Union Sit-in | gadflyonthewallblog:

When Kids Teach Adults – Lessons from the Newark Student Union Sit-in

February 20, 2015 stevenmsinger

If ISIS extremists flew in from the Middle East and took over our public schools, we wouldn’t stand for it.

But if those extremists are from our own state or federal government, we just yawn and change the channel.

Though not for the last three nights.

A handful of plucky Newark school students have demanded our attention, and, Brother, do they have it!

At least six Newark students have staged a sit-in at the offices of SuperintendentCami Anderson demanding she step down and the district be returned to the voters. The district has been under state control for the last two decades.

This could have been handled easily. Anderson could have met with the students to talk about their concerns. After all, she is a public servant and even school kids are members of the public.

But instead she’s abandoned her office, sent threatening letters to the children’s parents and blocked or held up shipments of food to the young protestors.

Undeterred, the youngsters have set up a live feed on youtube to broadcast their When Kids Teach Adults – Lessons from the Newark Student Union Sit-in | gadflyonthewallblog:

9 reasons Finland's schools are so much better than America's - Vox

9 reasons Finland's schools are so much better than America's - Vox:

9 reasons Finland's schools are so much better than America's

 If there's any consensus on education in the US, it could be this: other countries are doing it better. And in the doing-education-better sweepstakes, Finland has long been the cold and snowy standout.

In 2001, the world was stunned when Finland ended up at the top of international rankings after a standardized test administered to students in developed countries. Finland's dominance continued unabated for a decade (although it slipped in 2012). Endless articles, and some books, all have the same basic gist: what can the United States learn from Finland?

Finland might be a popular example because, no matter your general beliefs on education policy, you can find something to back them up. The result turns into a policy wonk buffet — nearly everybody can a policy lesson to learn from Finland's success, or a factor that explains why it isn't replicable in the US. Even if some of those lessons directly contradict each other.

Here are 9 reasons that have been cited to explain Finland's success.

1) Finland's teachers have high status, professional support, and good pay

Becoming a teacher in Finland is hard, but they enjoy more autonomy and professional development. (Shutterstock)

Teachers in Finland with 15 years' experience make about as much as the typical college graduate with a bachelor's degree; in the US, they make less than that. And the workload is also less demanding. Teachers in Finland teach about four hours a day, with another two hours of professional development, and they develop their own curriculum based on a set of national guidelines. The leadership ranks of education are also drawn from former teachers. The result, writes Pasi Sahlberg, a Finnish teacher and researcher who has become a one-man promotional machine for the country's schools, is "an inspiring and respectful environment in which teachers work… Parents and authorities regard teachers with the same confidence they do medical doctors. Indeed, Finns trust public schools more than any other public institution, except the police."

American teachers unions point to the high status and professional flexibility for Finnish teachers as something they'd like to have themselves. They also often note that nearly all Finnish teachers are unionized and the unions are relatively powerful. They argue that to improve schools, the US should focus on treating teachers the way Finland does — with more professional support and greater respect — rather than using students' standardized test scores to reward and grade teachers, a trend the Obama administration has encouraged.

2) Finland has more selective and rigorous schools of education

One reason teaching in Finland is prestigious is becoming a teacher isn't easy. Finland, like the US, used to have a large number of teachers' colleges. But in the 1970s, Finland dramatically changed how teachers were trained. Teacher education became the responsibility of the country's eight universities, and teachers are required to earn masters' degrees. It takes five years of teacher education to become a teacher, and only about one in 10 applicants to teacher education programs is accepted. Secondary teachers get a master's degree in the content area they're going to be teaching, and all master's degree recipients have to write a research-based dissertation.

This is the other side of the argument about teaching: education reformers in the US argue that Finnish teachers get more respect because they earn it through a rigorous, selective entry process. The policy lesson they draw isn't that teachers should be treated like they are in Finland — it's that the teacher corps in the US needs to be more like Finland's. Groups like the National Council on Teacher Quality argue that teachers' colleges aren't selective or rigorous enough. About half of all new teachers come from the bottom third of college graduates, as measured by SAT or ACT scores, according to a 2010 McKinsey report.

On the other hand, the fact that Finnish teachers are so intensely trained also appeals toopponents of programs like Teach for America. A popular saying among opponents of the two-year program is that there is no "Teach for Finland," because in Finland, teaching is a lifelong career with a long and rigorous training program.

3) Finland doesn't give standardized tests

(Shutterstock)

The most common praise for Finland (pushed by Sahlberg and others) goes something like this: Finland has no national standardized tests and no rewards or punishments for schools that pass or fail them — and yet they still outperform American students on international exams. Students in Finland take one standardized test at the end of high school. The rest of the time, teachers are responsible for setting expectations and evaluating whether students can meet them. The nation doesn't monitor the quality of schools in any way.

Some people argue that the success of Finnish schools without standardized testing means that testing shouldn't be necessary in the United States, either – and that it's possible for the US to improve its educational performance in other ways.

4) Finland emphasizes subjects other than reading and math

Finnish kids get plenty of recess, more than an hour a day; US kids get less than half an hour. Oh, and students do less than an hour of homework per night all the way through the equivalent of American middle school. Arts and crafts are required — both boys and girls learn needlework, embroidery, and metalwork.

It's not clear how much this has to do with the success of the Finnish school system, but Samuel Abrams, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, argued in the New Republic that these subjects allow students to apply science and math skills in the real world. They're also an example of what some parents fear has been lost in the US as teachers spend more time preparing students for standardized tests.

5) Finland has a history of tight oversight for schools

Finland doesn't have a national curriculum now, and Finnish education experts brag about how much autonomy teachers get in the classroom. But that wasn't always the case. In the 1960s and 1970s, Finland totally overhauled its education system. The change to teacher training was part of this, but the country also worked with teachers to develop a mandatory national curriculum and there were national inspections to check on student learning. That tight 9 reasons Finland's schools are so much better than America's - Vox:

House Set to Pass NCLB Rewrite Next Friday - Politics K-12 - Education Week

House Set to Pass NCLB Rewrite Next Friday - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

House Set to Pass NCLB Rewrite Next Friday

By Lauren Camera on February 19, 2015 4:25 PM

Big Education Ape: Twitter Call to Action! Tweet your trouble with NCLB rewrite! The Network For Public Education | http://bit.ly/1AjngfH

The House is set to clear a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act next Friday.

A new schedule laid out Thursday afternoon would send the Republican-backed bill, which the education committee passed on a party-line vote Feb. 11, to the floor for debate Wednesday and Thursday, with a final vote scheduled for Friday morning.

The House Rules Committee, which sets parameters for how bills are debated on the floor, set a deadline for members to file any amendments they wish to offer by Monday at 3 p.m. The committee plans to set the rule for the bill Tuesday before it goes to the floor the following day.

What can we expect for debate on the floor?

For starters, take a look at all the failed amendments that committee Democrats offered during the markup. Those will likely be offered again, in some form or another. A source who has knowledge of the forthcoming process said that Democrats plan to break up the 17 amendments they offered during the markup into smaller amendments, meaning they could offer something like 40 amendments instead.

One to watch: An amendment offered by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., that would allow states to audit the number and quality of tests students take and to eliminate any that are deemed repetitive or of low quality. The proposal is based on a bill she introduced in January that has bipartisan backing.

When Bonamici offered the measure during markup, Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., agreed with the premise of the amendment, but he noted that it would authorize additional funding and create a new program, two things he opposes. He also said that by block-granting a majority of the funding in the bill, states would be free to audit tests on their own. In the end, she withdrew the testing amendment.

As for interesting Republican amendments to watch, everyone in the education policy world seems to be holding their collective breath to see if members pass an amendment that would allow Title I dollars for low-income students to be used at private schools.

As it stands, the Republican-backed bill would allow Title I money to follow students to the public school of their choice, including charter schools. During the committee markup, an amendment from Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., would have further altered Title I portability and allowed it to be used to pay for private schools, something Democrats and a hefty number of education advocates vehemently oppose.

The Title I portability language has quickly become the sticky wicket in efforts to rewrite the NCLB law.

Democrats blasted the proposal, arguing that it would take money away from the public school House Set to Pass NCLB Rewrite Next Friday - Politics K-12 - Education Week: