Pass / Fail : Feedback: Here's what you think about the state's changes to standardized tests | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : Feedback: Here's what you think about the state's changes to standardized tests | 89.3 KPCC:

Feedback: Here's what you think about the state's changes to standardized tests

by Vanessa Romo

Credit: BES Photos/Flickr (cc by-nc-nd)
State school officials say standardized tests as we know them — the multiple choice kind that require Scantron forms and No. 2 pencils — are not working for teachers or students.
What we need,  California Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson said last week, is to  move away from memorization-driven tests.  He's proposing an assessment exam that draws on analytical skills, problem solving, and writing, which are in line with the Common Core curriculum set to debut in 2015.
We asked you for your thoughts on Torlakson's recommendations, which include a moratorium on all state testing next school year, making kids subject only to federally mandated exams. He said that would give 

CEO Patricia Levesque’s Misleading Defense of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education | Scathing Purple Musings

CEO Patricia Levesque’s Misleading Defense of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education | Scathing Purple Musings:

CEO Patricia Levesque’s Misleading Defense of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education

by Bob Sikes

Within her response to Mississippi parent advocate, Nancy Loome, Foundation for Excellence in Education CEO, Patricia Levesque included this:

Loome notes that we take funding from for-profit providers. In fact, more than 90 percent of the Foundation’s budget comes from family foundations or philanthropic organizationsdedicated to improving students’ educational success.
We advocate for policies that benefit students, not the interests of one particular non-profit or private entity.

Levesque should know that this claim can no longer be verified. Less than a year ago, the foundation she runs 

Diane in the Evening 1-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

A Letter About Gun Appreciation Day

by dianerav

Tonight, I watched a lovely tribute to Joan Baez on PBS. Joan is a pacifist, a wonderful human being, and a great singer. She is also very courageous. She put herself in mortal danger as a fighter for human right.
Minutes after turning off the television, I received this email. It upset me. I thought I would share it with you. My reply is at the end of he letter.
On Jan 11, 2013, at 10:03 PM, “Dick Brauer, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)” wrote:
We’re calling for 

Adell Cothorne Contacted Me

by dianerav

I received an email from Adell Cothorne, who was a central figure in bringing the DC cheating scandal to light. She is now running a cupcake shop in Ellicot City, Maryland. She told me she misses education and wants to get back into the schools. I asked her to write for the blog and hope that she will, though I understand that her lawyer may limit what she can say.
Adell took a huge risk when she worked in DC. She saw cheating and she reported it. She recognized that the 

A Lovely Memory on Who I Was

by dianerav

Someone I do not know sent me a surprising gift: a memory of what I said, who I was.
Memory plays tricks on us, and sometimes I learn things about myself from people I met or knew many years

This Superintendent Is Doing It Right

by dianerav

Last week, Wendy Lecker wrote an article in the Stamford Advocate saying that she was in search of one superintendent in the state of Connecticut who was doing the right thing for kids, teachers, and the community. Wendy had read here about the courage of Joshua Starr of Montgomery County, Maryland, and Heath Morrison of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, two superintendents who bravely have spoken the truth about the corrosive effects of the misuse of testing.
Was there one such stand-up superintendent in Connecticut?
I posted her plea and that

Maine Rejects Gulen Charter School

by dianerav

I wrote earlier that the governor of Maine was angry about the rejection of four of five charter applications by the state authorizing committee. He said he wished they would just “go away.” Two of those rejected charters were for-profit online corporations that have hired well-connected lobbyists, their usual method of operation. A third was a Gulen charter, here described by Sharon Higgins, who runs a website called “Charter School Scandals” and follows the expansion of the Gulen network.
Sharon writes:
“One of the rejected schools, Queen City Academy Charter School, was a Gulen charter school. It did not take 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Test Scores at DC School at Epicenter of Cheating Scandal by dianerav The D.C. Inspector General is satisfied that there was no systemwide cheating. The office investigated Noyes campus and found that maybe there was a teacher or two who might have cheated. The U.S. Department of Education seconded the nearly clean bill of health offered up by the DC IG. But here are the actual scores of the Noyes school, compiled by retired DC teacher Erich Martel and posted on Weep for Detroit by dianerav Detroit is th... more »

No Teachers With Guns, No Police In Schools | K-12 News Network

No Teachers With Guns, No Police In Schools | K-12 News Network:

No Teachers With Guns, No Police In Schools

by admin

On December 30, 2012, President Obama said he doubted arming school police with guns will prevent future school shootings, but then January 11, 2013′s EdWeek hints that he may yield to local law enforcement officers and communities if it has “bipartisan” support.

While President Barack Obama said recently that he would be skeptical that more guns would be an answer to school safety, his administration is considering paying to add police officers to secure public schools, in part because it may be an area of agreement among lawmakers of all stripes.

In that same EdWeek article, my own Senator, Barbara Boxer, presented such a plan to Vice President Joe Biden:

California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, told the Washington Post she presented the plan to 

Public School Districts Fight Back Against Privatization With District-Based, All Public “Schools of Choice”

by cynthia

The myth is that charters “own” innovation. I don’t buy the myth. In the K12NN FAQ Wiki, I’ve gathered too many examples of 100% public schools that are truly public inside and out –  democratic governance mechanisms for the internal and operational affairs of the school and with outward public accountability to taxpayers in all things budgetary — I want to highlight as a Best Practice a Texas school district that’s figured out how to do innovation right.
In Grand Prairie ISD Offer School Choice for Parents and Students, we see a Texas school district that has re-organized itself and created mini-academies and themed/specialty curriculum at the various neighborhood K-12 schools in the district. They lay out their thinking behind concept schools here:

The school of choice model offers parents what they have been asking for — to choose a pathway 

Jersey Jazzman: Newark Parents Fight School Closings

Jersey Jazzman: Newark Parents Fight School Closings:

Newark Parents Fight School Closings

by Duke

I've just received a copy of a remarkable letter from a parent group in Newark: Parents Unified for Local School Education (PULSE). The letter is reprinted below; here's the story:

Newark, like so many other urban districts, just went through a round of neighborhood school closings. The pattern seems to be the same in every city: an autocratic mayor or a conservative governor comes in and disenfranchises the local citizens (see New York City, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, etc.).

A regime of charter schools is set up, segregating the children by language, disability, socio-economic status, and, yes, even race. Outsiders then begin a propaganda campaign, convincing both the citizens of the city and the media-at-large that they are offering parents "choice," even though that "choice" is between under-funded, crumbling neighborhood public schools and charters that may have more resources but also impose a rigid and authoritarian learning style on their students.

Inevitably, parents and other concerned members of the community start standing up and demanding that their 

Connected Educators: 122 Awesome Twitter Accounts | My Town Tutors

Connected Educators: 122 Awesome Twitter Accounts | My Town Tutors:

Connected Educators: 122 Awesome Twitter Accounts

Posted on January 10, 2013 by mmolloy

If you are a teacher who tutors, for a limited time, you can register for FREE using promo code:usteachers. “Teachers are great tutors!” Teachers keep 100% of the profits! If you are a teacher PLEASE join! We need great teachers who tutor to be the #1 resource in America for parents looking for tutors!

The feedback from teachers has been incredible to our top 10 twitter accounts for teachers. We would like to continue to provide great resources for teachers and educators, so we are continuing to add to our list.

The only  requirement is that the account receive a perfect score of 100 / 100 from tweet grader. For each account we have included the twitter name and the twitter profile.

Since all these accounts are 100% perfect. We have listed them in reverse alphabetical order. We will be adding additional accounts in the future as we come across them.

1. @WorldLillie – Boston teacher & #travel blogger: http://AroundTheWorldL.com &http://TeachingTraveling.com. #EdBlogs founder:http://www.facebook.com/groups/EducationBloggers Boston (and the world) ·http://www.AroundTheWorldL.com/about/
2. @willrich45 - Parent, author, speaker, instigator, blogger about social Web tools and their effects on schools, education and learning. Flemington, New Jersey ·http://willrichardson.com
3. @wmchamberlain – Husband, Father, Teacher, Adjunct Professor, Fablevision Ambassador, DEN Star, #Comments4Kids advocate, #EdStuff creator. All these tweets are belong to me!
4. @wfryer – Husband, dad, educator, author, speaker, digital storyteller. I’m here for the learning revolution. Also tweeting as @eyesrightblog & @ipadwithwes Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA · http://www.wesfryer.com
5. @web20classroom – Educator, Speaker, Blogger, #Edchat Co-Creator, #140ConfCharacter, Edublogs Twitterer Of The Year, ASCD Emerging Leader. Do You  

Common Core State Standards: A New Foundation for Student Success — Whole Child Education

Common Core State Standards: A New Foundation for Student Success — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Common Core State Standards: A New Foundation for Student Success

January 11, 2013 by Klea Scharberg

This Hunt Institute video discusses the rationale behind the development of the Common Core State Standards.

"These standards now being implemented by more than 44 states across the nation were built upon strengths and lessons learned in states. They were informed by other top performing countries and grounded in research and evidence," says the Hunt Institute. Learn more with ASCD Express.

^{From Common Core State Standards: A New Foundation for Student Success, 2011, Hunt Institute.}

Hopes for the New Year: Begone Ghosts of Reform Past! - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Hopes for the New Year: Begone Ghosts of Reform Past! - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Hopes for the New Year: Begone Ghosts of Reform Past!

by Anthony Cody

The first few weeks of 2013 have greeted us like a trip with old Marley revisiting school reforms of the past. In the very first weeks, we have Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst lobby announce letter grades for states based on their adherence to her favorite pillars of reform policies. John Merrow provided us with a reprise of her greatest hits as the head of DC schools, along with some news regarding the cheating that accompanied her regime.
And next the Gates Foundation has provided us with another example of the perils of mixing research with advocacy. Their multi-year, multi-million dollar Measures of Effective Teaching project has once again supported their belief that we can predict which teachers will get the best test scores next year by looking at who got the best test scores this year. The practice of actually observing a teacher to see how "effective" they are does not apparently add much accuracy to the prediction, but they keep it in there nonetheless, perhaps for sentimental reasons. Then we have tossed in a new element - student surveys. And the perfect evaluation is some balanced mixture of these three elements, which will turn VAM lead into gold.
One reformer, Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Foundation, has come right out and admitted what public school 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: GET in Danger in the Legislature

Seattle Schools Community Forum: GET in Danger in the Legislature:

GET in Danger in the Legislature

by Melissa Westbrook

David Goldstein over at The Stranger Slog lays out the case for the GET (Guaranteed Education Tuition) program.  The legislators who are talking it down are - no surprise - some of very legislators who have turned on their own party, Rodney Tom and Steve Litzow along with Ross Hunter.  (And, as Goldy points out, some live in some of the most expensive areas of Washington State.) 

GET is Washington's prepaid tuition program, a variant of the federally sanctioned tax-free "529 plans." Families buy their children college credits at today's prices, plus a (sometimes hefty) premium, and then cash out in the future, tax free, at the value of the tuition and fees at Washington's most expensive university. One hundred GET units equals a full year of tuition and fees, and the current $172 unit price represents a 39 percent markup over the University of Washington's $12,401 tuition and fees for the 2012-13 academic year. Tuition can't (and won't) keep rising at 20 percent a year forever, so as an investment, GET isn't particularly a very good 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Kahlenberg on so-called 'High-flying, high-poverty schools'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Kahlenberg on so-called 'High-flying, high-poverty schools':

Kahlenberg on so-called 'High-flying, high-poverty schools'

by Mike Klonsky

Don't miss Richard Kahlenberg's provacative piece in American Educator (Winter 2012-2013) which examines the roles of poverty and racial segregation and their impact of student learning. Kahlenberg takes on those who exaggerate the effect of "high-flying, high-poverty schools" or those [like Michelle Rhee--m.k.], who consider poverty to be mainly an "excuse" made by bad teachers who fail to produce high standardized test score results in poor, segregated schools.

Kahlenberg also takes a fair, but critical look at KIPP charter schools in particular, which have been held up as living evidence by the no-excuses crowd. One thing new I learned is that among KIPP graduates, two-thirds have failed to earn a bachelors degree, "a level of failure, one of KIPP's founders, Mike Feinberg, called 

Show us the money: “Master Class” for private equity investors in public education | Parents Across America

Show us the money: “Master Class” for private equity investors in public education | Parents Across America:

Show us the money: “Master Class” for private equity investors in public education

by pureparents

Even when people recognize how hard corporations are working to take over public education, they still wonder – is there really that much money to be made in education? Maybe the hedge funders are really doing all this just to help children.

It’s a natural question given the fact that teachers are modestly paid and schools are mostly underfunded, hardly one’s idea of a lucrative investment opportunity.

Well, the private equity investor drool is on full display in this“Master Class” invitation from Capital Roundtable, a group that bills itself as “America’s leading conference company for the middle-market private equity community.”

Here are just a few quotes from the “Master Class” announcement which should leave no room for speculation about corporate motivation to get involved in public education .

“Private equity investing in for-profit education is soaring.”

“For-profit education is one of the largest U.S. investment markets, currently topping $1.3 trillion in value.”

“2013, and beyond, will see numerous for-profit companies making inroads into public and non-profit 

The letter from the teachers at Garfield High School regarding the MAP test | Seattle Education

The letter from the teachers at Garfield High School regarding the MAP test | Seattle Education:

The letter from the teachers at Garfield High School regarding the MAP test

by seattleducation2011

December 21, 2012

To Whom It May Concern:

We, the Garfield teachers, respectfully decline to give the MAP test to any of our students.  We have had different levels of experiences with MAP in our varied careers, have read about it, and discussed it with our colleagues.  After this thorough review, we have all come to the conclusion that we cannot in good conscience subject our students to this test again.  This letter is an objection to the MAP test specifically and particularly to its negative impact on our students.  Here are our reasons:

• Seattle Public School staff has notified us that the test is not a valid test at the high school level.  For these students, the margin of error is greater than the expected gain.  We object to spending time, money, and staffing 

Friday Ratings Madness: Quality Counts, Students First & Funding Fairness « School Finance 101

Friday Ratings Madness: Quality Counts, Students First & Funding Fairness « School Finance 101:

Friday Ratings Madness: Quality Counts, Students First & Funding Fairness

by schoolfinance101

It’s been a fun week for grading the states. First we had the wacky ratings from Students First which graded states largely on the extent to which they had adopted the preferred policies of that organization. Then we had the old-standard Education Week Quality Counts. When it comes to their finance rating system, little has changed in recent years. These two reports, of course, produced substantially conflicting results.
One might argue that both reports and ranking systems, like our School Funding Fairness report, include several indicators intended to identify policy conditions for success. This has been the standard response of Students First when they have been criticized on the basis that the states that they have applauded most tend to have pretty low average outcomes.  But, the Students First report, Quality Counts and our Funding Fairness report differ quite substantially on what we consider to be policy conditions for success. 
Students First has put policy conditions into three categories – 1) elevating the teaching profession, 2) parent empowerment and 3) finance and governance.  Students first gives no consideration across any of these categories to whether teacher wages, for example are sufficient to recruit/retain high quality candidates into 

Blue Jersey:: QoTD: 19-year-old Socialist School Board Member Talks Some Sense

Blue Jersey:: QoTD: 19-year-old Socialist School Board Member Talks Some Sense:

QoTD: 19-year-old Socialist School Board Member Talks Some Sense

by Rosi Efthim

A 19-year-old pharmacy clerk named Pat Noble defeated an incumbent to win a seat on the Red Bank Regional High School Board of Education, and was seated this month. He is the founder of the Socialist Party of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, ran as a socialist for his seat and plans to bring a progressive, socialist set of ideals to the schools board.And he sounds like a breath of fresh air:

"You reach more people, more quickly when you win an election. People would rather hear from a candidate than some guy on a street corner, especially on socialism when a majority of them are capitalists." [snip]"I'm hoping to bring a different perspective, a left-wing perspective to a board full of capitalists. I have a different view point, both as a younger person and a Socialist, that I think could have a positive impact in and of itself."

On Noble's to-do list: promotion of LGBT issues in sex education classes, banning military recruiters from 

Slam-Dunk! Touch-down! Goal!!!! Taxpayers come through for American’s highest paid CEO - Wait, What?

Slam-Dunk! Touch-down! Goal!!!! Taxpayers come through for American’s highest paid CEO - Wait, What?:

Slam-Dunk! Touch-down! Goal!!!! Taxpayers come through for American’s highest paid CEO

by jonpelto

Don’t let the residue of the Great Recession get you down.

While it is true that America’s middle-class is on the ropes, unemployment remains high, sending a kid to college costs more than most people save in their entire lives, child poverty in Connecticut has gone up 50% in the last decade and the state is facing a $1 billion dollar budget deficit next year, Connecticut’s taxpayers managed to dig deep and find the money to provide one of the world’s biggest hedge fund owners, Ray Dalio, with $115 million in state funds. Meanwhile Stamford’s taxpayers learned this week that they were helping to put the whole deal together thanks to their Mayor’s decision granting a private developer access to some of the most valuable publicly owned waterfront property left in Connecticut.

In return for all this generosity, Dalio, the founder and CEO of Bridgewater Associates, 

The Common Core and Gingerbread Curriculum | Truth in American Education

The Common Core and Gingerbread Curriculum | Truth in American Education:

The Common Core and Gingerbread Curriculum

by Shane Vander Hart

I like gingerbread.  I think it is delicious.  So this post is by no means to be critical of gingerbread lovers.  This is a gingerbread friendly zone.  I just learned that their is a Common Core gingerbread curriculum.

I had a friend email me this story from the DeerPark-North Babylon Patchabout a second grade class at William E. DeLuca Elementary School in North Babylon, NY partaking of these lessons.

Working in small groups, the students rotated through the classrooms in the second-grade wing to work at the various stations. Using edible gingerbread men, the second-graders utilized their math skills by tasting the cookies and graphing which portions of the cookies that they took their first bites of. The students then honed their English language skills by writing essays using their five senses to describe the gingerbread men. They also put their artistic talents to good use by decorating an edible gingerbread cookie, 

Louisiana Educator: Miracle Results of School Takeovers . . . .Not in Louisiana!

Louisiana Educator: Miracle Results of School Takeovers . . . .Not in Louisiana!:

Miracle Results of School Takeovers . . . .Not in Louisiana!

by Michael Deshotels

The education reformers in Michigan and Ohio were told that Louisiana had achieved almost a miracle in student achievement by taking over low achieving schools using a State Recovery School District (RSD) and converting these schools into semi-autonomous charter schools. The news out of Louisiana was so good according to reform activists, that other states should hurry to copy this plan and also produce stunning results for their students. So I understand that Ohio and Michigan have now formed Recovery Districts patterned after the Louisiana model.

There is only one problem with the Louisiana Recovery District model. It does not work!In fact when Louisiana tried to expand its own Recovery District beyond the New Orleans school system, the result can only be described as a clear failure.
After 4 years, out of the twelve schools taken over by the state RSD and converted to charters outside of New Orleans, all of them are still rated “F”, and have declined in performance by an average of 10%. But not only have 

Jake Frackson – RE-SENSITIZING SCHOOLS Student Voice

Student Voice:

Jake Frackson – RE-SENSITIZING SCHOOLS

by admin

Originally posted: http://jakefrackson.wordpress.com/
Raising a child has become a whole new adventure with the advent of the internet. Because of the inundation of information that came with it, teachers, parents, and all others involved in the up-bringing of children have been given an increasingly stressful job. Not only is there an influx of information, there is also a whole new on-slot of inappropriate subject matter to try to negotiate. With so much content, and so few ways to censor it, raising a child really has become a whole new escapade.
When an individual is growing up its important that he or she is exposed to a certain amount of serious and graphic content. Without it, that person will grow up in an unrealistic world and end up with a “sheltered” perspective. However, there is a fine line between enough and too much. Too much, and the individual can become desensitized — a significant, but unpublicized, problem.
This desensitization, to such things as violence, immorality, and dishonesty, can severely corrupt youth — and