Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, March 22, 2015

PARCC exams: Following the money behind N.J.'s costliest test | NJ.com

PARCC exams: Following the money behind N.J.'s costliest test | NJ.com:



PARCC exams: Following the money behind N.J.'s costliest test





 Question: How much will New Jersey taxpayers spend to implement the new PARCC standardized tests in the state's public schools?

(A) $25 per student
(B) $22 million
(C) $108 million
(D) No one knows
The answer, according to state officials, is all of the above. New Jersey is spending about $25.50 per student, or about $22 million on the new exam this year. Within four years, the price tag could go as high as $108 million.
But, as New Jersey school children sit this month for the new exams, there are still big questions about how much the controversial tests will eventually cost.
The debut of PARCC - short for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - ushers in a new era for New Jersey's public schools. For the first time, the state is using computers to test all students in grades 3 through 11 with an exam that is also being used by nearly a dozen other states.
PARCC has also ushered in a new level of vitriol in the state's schools. Some parents are waging war on standardized testing by refusing to let their kids take the exams with the open support of the state's largest teachers union.

RELATED: PARCC exams: How Pearson landed the deal to produce N.J.'s biggest test
Behind all of the strife is an unprecedented and unusual deal with Pearson Education, a for-profit testing company that landed the contract to provide the exams in New Jersey without a traditional competitive bidding process.
NJ Advance Media examined thousands of pages of contracts, pricing agreements and legal documents to track how taxpayer funds are being spent on PARCC. The documents show a complex deal with more than 60 price variables that make it almost impossible to determine how much New Jersey will eventually spend on PARCC testing over the next few years.
New Jersey education officials say they got a good deal. Their early estimates indicate the PARCC tests will cost $25.50 per student this year, about $3 less than previous standardized tests used in New Jersey.
However, the overall bill will be about $3 million higher than last year because more New Jersey students are required to take the PARCC compared to previous exams.

"This is a higher quality assessment and we'll get much deeper information out of it, I think that for me is a huge selling point," said David Hespe, New Jersey's education commissioner. "We're basically getting a better assessment at just about the same amount of money we're spending per pupil as we are now. I think that really is a value."
Critics question whether New Jersey is spending too much time and money on standardized testing. They also question whether New Jersey's agreement with Pearson, the world's largest testing company, is in the best interest of the state's taxpayers and school children.
"I don't want to paint a picture of a sinister corporate giant out there. They are looking after their interests," said Daniel Katz, director of secondary and secondary-special education at Seton Hall University. "I am concerned that PARCC did not go through sufficient bidding before they landed that contract."
PARCC did not respond to questions about the bidding process.
Pearson declined to comment for the story.

The New Mexico deal

Standardized tests are nothing new in New Jersey, which began using annual statewide exams in the 1970s to gauge what students were learning.
Over the last few years, New Jersey has been using the NJ ASK and HSPA tests to measure students. Measurement Inc., a North Carolina testing company, has the PARCC exams: Following the money behind N.J.'s costliest test | NJ.com:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 3/22/15



Special Nite Cap Catch Up on Today's Post 3/22/15


Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM





Peg with Pen: Littleton Public Schools, Colorado: Will You Stand on the Right Side of History?: Littleton Public Schools, Colorado: Will You Stand on the Right Side of History?Last Thursday night I addressed the Littleton School Board. See video here. Here are my comments.My name is Peggy Robertson. My son, Sam, is a sophomore at Littleton High School. I am a teacher in the Aurora Public School Di
Hello Superintendents - Common Core SBAC Test “Mandate” is not like Connecticut’s truancy laws. - Wait What?: Hello Superintendents – Common Core SBAC Test “Mandate” is not like Connecticut’s truancy  Reading the misleading letters that Connecticut parents are still receiving from some local school superintendents it remains clear that Governor Dannel Malloy’s administration more than a handful of
Bill Would Limit Use of Student Data - NYTimes.com: Bill Would Limit Use of Student DataSpeaker John A. Boehner, right, administering the oath of office to Representative Jared S. Polis in January. Mr. Polis, a Colorado Democrat, is co-sponsor of the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act. Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Is the digital revolution in the classroom giving t
Teachers, Parents Challenge Deal’s School Takeover Plan Ahead of House Committee Vote | Atlanta Progressive News: TEACHERS, PARENTS CHALLENGE DEAL’S SCHOOL TAKEOVER PLAN AHEAD OF HOUSE COMMITTEE VOTE(APN) ATLANTA — The House Education Committee will soon decide whether to advance Gov. Nathan Deal’s controversial proposal to allow the state to take over and privatize struggling schools.At a hearing
Badass Teachers Association: Teach for America – What a Stupid Idea! (Or is it?)By:  Steven SingerOriginally posted on his blog  https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/teach-for-america-what-a-stupid-idea-or-is-it/Welcome to the Hall of Stupid Ideas!I’ll be your guide through this section of the museum.Moving past the hall of phrenology, past the flat earth wing and the newly renovat
Great teacher = great results? Wrong | Jack Marwood | Comment is free | The Guardian: Great teacher = great results? Wrong‘Some children find school and learning easy and some don’t, often for reasons out of their, and our, control.’ Photograph: Jeff Morgan/AlamySir Michael Barber, once a chief education adviser to Tony Blair, introduced one of the enduring modern myths about education when he quo
List of Student Protests Against the PARCC | Teacher Under Construction:List of Student Protests Against the PARCCThis entry was posted on March 22, 2015, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a commentAbout 11 student protests against the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam have sparked in 5 different states across the country. These states inclu
Privatization of public resources and services - Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for Mayor of Chicago: Toward Fiscal Sustainability: A New Approach in Prudent Fiscal Management of Chicago The city's primary responsibility is to ensure that the public has equitable access to its services and assets, and my responsibility as Mayor will be to protect these for future generations. Therefore, I am genera
BustED Pencils Online Radio by Busted Pencils | BlogTalkRadio: BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson and Spygate.Too much sugar? Too much TV? Too much testing? Live from Next Door BrewingLiterally join Jed and Tim at 5:00 pm CST  live from Next Door Brewing Company as we talk public school activism with parents, teachers, and citizens prior to Too much sugar? Too much TV? Too much testing?  We wan
Uncategorized | Student Privacy Matters: Student Privacy MattersOur letter to Reps. Polis and MesserFebruary 11, 2015February 11, 2015 Dear Representatives Polis and Messer: We write on behalf of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, a nationwide network of parents, citizens, and privacy advocates, concerned with the widespread, rampant, and poorly regulated data collection, data-sharing, data
Marie Corfield: Can God save the children from #PARCC?: Can God save the children from #PARCC?This is the worst PARCC story I've heard:A friend of mine who lives in one of New Jersey's many wealthy suburbs with excellent schools and parents who routinely hire tutors for their children as early as first grade was with her daughter at a children's Stations of the Cross event at her church. The 14 St
Action Now endorses Garcia for Mayor - Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for Mayor of Chicago: Action Now endorses Garcia for MayorAction Now, one of the City’s largest grassroots organizations, has announced its endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in the April 7election for mayor of the City of Chicago.“I know first-hand the power of grassroots groups to hold politicians’ feet
Jersey Jazzman: NJDOE, Hespe Turn Blind Eye to Segregating Charter Schools:NJDOE, Hespe Turn Blind Eye to Segregating Charter Schools  I've said before that Hoboken, NJ is one of the most interesting case studies of charter school expansion in the country. Charter school parents have amassed significant amounts of social, political, and financial capital for their children's schools, making them e
These are not the tests we took as children. | lacetothetop: These are not the tests we took as children. These are not the tests we took as children. These are tests designed to produce massive failure rates and propel a harmful agenda.  Take a look at the two 3rd grade samples currently posted on engageNY:On the left (pre- Common Core 2005) is A Winter Surprise.  The readability average through
Award-winning principal urges legislators to say ‘no’ to Gov. Cuomo - The Washington Post: Award-winning principal urges legislators to say ‘no’ to Gov. CuomoHere is a letter that an award-winning New York high school principal is sending to every member of her state’s legislature in regard to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposals to reform teacher evaluation (for the second time in three years). Among Cu
The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr | BBS Radio: Pearson and Spygate: The Story Continues (Who Done It?)The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr | BBS RadioBob BraunJoin host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. as he continues to expose how Pearson is invading the privacy and taking away the first amendment rights of our students.Bob Braun of th
The Axe is grinding: Is PAR teacher evaluation discriminatory? | Cloaking Inequity: The Axe is grinding: Is PAR teacher evaluation discriminatory?Julian Vasquez Helig gave no statistical rebuttal to my data, therefore his comments are meaningless. Brian CrowellI am usually up for a challenge. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and Brian Crowell was up to his usual schtick critiquing Peer Assistance
How To Sell Off a City - In These Times: How To Sell Off a CityWelcome to Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, the privatized metropolis of the future. In June of 2013, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a new appointment to the city’s seven-member school board to replace billionaire heiress Penny Pritzker, who’d decamped to run President Barack Obama’s Department of Commerce. The appointee, Deborah H. Quazzo, is
30 Reasons to Be Thankful You're a Teacher | Roadtrip Nation in EducationRoadtrip Nation in Education: 30 Reasons to Be Thankful You’re a TeacherPosted: November 25, 2014 by: KatrinaThe blaring alarm at 6 AM, the papercuts from trying to quickly grade tests, struggling to find a balance between caring-too-much for your students and not-caring-enough about your own need for sleep. Teaching comes wi
'Take Back the PARCC' event to raise awareness of controversial standardized test | NJ.com: 'Take Back the PARCC' event to raise awareness of controversial standardized testThe fight against the PARCC testing system is still rippling throughout New Jersey as the exam period enters its last week on Monday, with the largest district in Gloucester County set to bring even more awareness to the contro
Wolf, legislators push for charter school reform - GoErie.com - Erie, PA:Wolf, legislators push for charter school reformGov. Tom Wolf addresses the media March 18 in the lobby of General McLane High School in Washington Township during a visit to promote his 2015-16 budget and specifically his plans to increase funding for public education in Pennsylvania. CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWSLegi
Standardized Tests | The Crucial Voice of the People: Standardized TestsStandardized Tests (aka assessments, measures, sometimes included as “indicators”)SUMMARY of inappropriate uses of standardized “achievement” tests include:1) Evaluating schools because “both socioeconomic status and inherited academic aptitudes [individual abilities] reflect what children bring to school, not what they learn
Mayoral Tutorial - Pensions for Citizens: Pensions for Citizens by Don Washington on 2013/12/21Our pension situation is not a crisis in the sense that pensions will suddenly run out of money or not be able to pay benefits. - Don Washington – Paul Krugman – Dean Baker – Richard Wolff – Joseph StiglitzGood people as the year ends and various bankers, conservatives, libertarians and Sith Lords are sa
Special Nite Cap Catch Up on Today's Post 3/21/15Charter Schools Players Ball EditionSpecial Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMHedge fund execs' money for charter schools may pay off - NY Daily NewsHedge fund execs' money for charter schools may pay off - NY Daily News: Hedge fund executives give 'til it hurts to politicians, especially Cuomo, to get more charter schools Outside the Harvard Club in Midt
Hedge fund execs' money for charter schools may pay off - NY Daily News: Hedge fund executives give 'til it hurts to politicians, especially Cuomo, to get more charter schools Outside the Harvard Club in Midtown, a group of parents from the Alliance for Quality Education picketed as they chanted, “Public schools are not for sale!”But the hedge fund chiefs inside had other ideas.The title of the he
No Child Left Behind Is a Cheats’ Charter: No Child Left Behind Is a Cheats’ Charter Although re-authorization is still politically complicated, 2015 appears to be the year the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will bereformed.Popularly known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), ESEA promised to close the achievement gap and herald an era of evidence-based education policy by giving federal
More California parents exercise right to skip standardized tests | Local News - KCRA Home: More California parents exercise right to skip standardized testsState launches its newest student testing programSACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —California launched its newest student testing program Tuesday. Superintendent of Instruction Tom Torlakson made the announcement at Sutter Middle School in Sacramento
PARCC Consortium Protects Pearson Using “Best Practices” Co-authored by Testing “Nonprofit” | deutsch29: PARCC Consortium Protects Pearson Using “Best Practices” Co-authored by Testing “Nonprofit” On March 20, 2015, I published a post about the lately-produced Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) “Test Fairness and Security” statement.Included in that statement i
She gets $250,000 a year to spearhead Rauner education plans - Government News - Crain's Chicago Business: She gets $250,000 a year to spearhead Rauner education plans(AP) — A former Chicago charter schools executive is earning $250,000 a year to spearhead Gov. Bruce Rauner's top education initiatives, a salary that is more than double what her predecessors received and places her as the highest-p


2015 National Conference – Chicago

The Countdown to Chicago Has Begun!

The Network For Public Education | 2015 National Conference – Chicago