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Monday, October 26, 2015

Star-Ledger Says NJ Parents Who Opted-Out of PARCC are "Sabotaging the Data" | Truth in American Education

Star-Ledger Says NJ Parents Who Opted-Out of PARCC are "Sabotaging the Data" | Truth in American Education:

Star-Ledger Says NJ Parents Who Opted-Out of PARCC are “Sabotaging the Data”




And that raises a core question for opponents of this test, and all those who boycotted it: Would New Jersey somehow be better off not knowingthese facts? To ask that question is to answer it. The notion is absurd.
The PARCC test, unlike earlier standardized tests, is designed to help teachers and principals identify exactly where kids are learning, and where they are struggling. That can help educators tailor their lessons to be more effective.
It also allows states to compare their performance to other states, with an apples to apples measure. Under the current system, each state offers its own tests. That allows them to claim success when their only real accomplishment is to lower the bar to artificially boost scrores. That’s known as the “honesty gap” which many educators, and leaders like former Gov. Tom Kean, have decried.
Perhaps most important, these tests could be an important tool in the fight to close the achievement gap between black and white students, which stubbornly persists in New Jersey — not just between cities and suburbs, but within racially mixed, suburban towns like Montclair. How can we fix that problem if we can’t measure it?
Those who boycotted this test undermined those efforts. Yes, the resistance to testing is understandable, and many educators agree that the load has grown too large. But 
Star-Ledger Says NJ Parents Who Opted-Out of PARCC are "Sabotaging the Data" | Truth in American Education:

 About Advance Publications, Inc.
Star-Ledger 
Advance Publications, Inc., is a privately held communications company that, directly or through subsidiaries, owns Condé Nast Publications, American City Business Journals, the Golf Digest Companies, and newspapers in more than twenty-five American cities; Advance Publications' subsidiaries also have extensive interests in cable television, as well as in Internet sites which are related to its print publications.

An Open Letter to America's Parents and Teachers: Let's Make Our Testing Smarter | Barack Obama

An Open Letter to America's Parents and Teachers: Let's Make Our Testing Smarter | Barack Obama:

An Open Letter to America's Parents and Teachers: Let's Make Our Testing Smarter




Here's a simple question: If your kids had more free time at school, what would you want them to do with it?
If you're like most parents, here's what I suspect you wouldn't want your children to be doing with their extra time in the classroom: Taking more standardized tests. I certainly wouldn't want that for my girls.
In moderation, I believe smart, strategic tests can help us measure our kids' progress in school. As a parent, I want to know how my kids are doing, and I want their teachers to know that, too. As President, I want to hold all of us accountable for making sure every child, everywhere, is learning what he or she needs to be successful.
But when I look back on the great teachers who shaped my life, what I remember isn't the way they prepared me to take a standardized test. What I remember is the way they taught me to believe in myself. To be curious about the world. To take charge of my own learning so that I could reach my full potential. They inspired me to open up a window into parts of the world I'd never thought of before.
These aren't the kinds of things you can easily measure by filling in the right bubble. In letters, emails and conversations around the country, I've heard from parents who worry that too much testing is keeping their kids from learning some of life's most important lessons. I've heard from teachers who feel so much pressure to teach to a test that it takes the joy out of teaching and learning, both for them and for the students. I want to fix that.
I've asked the Department of Education to work aggressively with states and school districts to make sure that any tests we use in our classroom meet three basic principles.
First, our kids should only take tests that are worth taking -- tests that are high quality, aimed at good instruction, and make sure everyone is on track.
Second, tests shouldn't occupy too much classroom time, or crowd out teaching and learning.
And third, tests should be just one source of information. We should use classroom work, surveys, and other factors to give us an all-around look at how our students and schools are doing.
The Council of the Great City Schools -- a group of the nation's largest urban public school systems -- recently released a new report that surveyed standardized testing in our schools and found that the average student in some school systems are taking 112 standardized tests before high school graduation. The report shows how much opportunity there is to eliminate redundant and uncoordinated tests -- and free up more classroom time for teaching and learning. You can take a look at that here.
We're going to work with states, school districts, teachers and parents to make sure the principles I outlined are reflected in classrooms across our country -- and together, we're going to help prepare our kids for a lifetime of success.
If you've got thoughts on this topic, I want to hear them. Share them right here.

Tensions erupt at Newark school board meeting | Bob Braun's Ledger

Tensions erupt at Newark school board meeting | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Tensions erupt at Newark school board meeting




A growing sense of impatience and frustration over continued state control of the Newark schools and increasing encroachment by privately-operated charter schools boiled over into disruption Monday night at a regular meeting of the city’s school board. A pro-public school activist, Jimmy White, charged the stage at University High School where board members were sitting, angrily denouncing the system’s business administrator. Although White was ejected by security guards, students and others in the audience cheered him on and continued to disrupt the meeting after his eviction.
“You have to go,” shouted White as he strode toward the stage. He was aiming his comments at Valerie Wilson, the business administrator who had just completed a long presentation outlining just how difficult it would be for local control of schools to be returned to Newark after 20 years of state control. “You brought us these problems.”
Newark Student Union leaders Jose Leonardo (left) and Tanaisa Brown, lead chants in White's support
Newark Student Union leaders Jose Leonardo (left) and Tanaisa Brown, lead chants in White’s support
Tensions already were high because of an apparent decision by pro-charter school parents and leaders to push back against increasing demands by pro-public school activists to slow the burgeoning growth of the privately-operated charter schools.
Increasing enrollment of charter schools, which are publicly-funded, decreases the amount of funds available to traditional, neighborhood public schools. That is happening at the same time that the state administration is cutting funds because of a budget shortfall.

Roberto Cabanes, who helped organize the Newark Student Union, speaks to supporters outside University High School.
Roberto Cabanes, who helped organize the Newark Student Union, speaks to supporters outside University High School.
The pro-public school advocates have lost ground recently. The city’s planning board–with the apparent blessing of Mayor Ras Baraka–approved the building of a new charter school by the NorthStar chain on land once owned by The Star-Ledger. The New York-based chain of KIPP charter schools–known in Newark as TEAM Academy–also announced plans to open five new charter schools. A consortium of from three to five public schools also is expected to try to convert to charters.
One of the pro-public school advocates, Annette Allston, a vice president of the Newark Teachers Association,  predicted the city would soon “become another New Orleans” where all public schools have been closed and replaced by charters. Charters now enrollt about a third of all Newark students but that number is expected to grow to nearly 70 percent in a few years.
The pro-public school advocates also felt the sting of the possible loss of a champion, Baraka, who rode to election last year  on a wave of anti-privatization sentiment. Since that time, he has moved closer to the supporters of charter schools.
Baraka did not show up–but his pro-charter rival in last year’s election, Shavar Jeffries, did. Jeffries is now head of the pro-charter Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) that blames public school unions  for  the failure of urban schools.
The night saw a resurgence of the Newark Student Union, an organization that Tensions erupt at Newark school board meeting | Bob Braun's Ledger:

The Waltons Promote the (Failing) Tennessee ASD | deutsch29

The Waltons Promote the (Failing) Tennessee ASD | deutsch29:

The Waltons Promote the (Failing) Tennessee ASD



On October 26, 2015, the Walton Foundation sent this email to subscribers of its Walton Family Foundation (WFF) list, wffnews@wffmail.com.  Here is an excerpt:
Dear [Name],
Bobby White graduated from Frayser High School in Memphis in 1990. Last fall, he came back — not just as an alumnus but as the school’s leader.
In the time since White’s graduation, the school had become “chaotic,” and the students’ achievement was suffering. The school was in the bottom 5% of schools in the state of Tennessee, and so were many of the other schools in the local community.
“There needed to be a lightning bolt to kind of shock the school into a new state of thinking,” White told us.
Because of its low performance, the school (now renamed MLK Prep) had been designated as part of the Achievement School District (ASD) — a special district created in Tennessee to dramatically improve the bottom 5% of the state’s schools.
The email comes from the Walton Foundation’s “K12 Education Program Director,” Marc Sternberg, who was once senior deputy chancellor at the New York City Department of Education, and whose career in education began in the mid-1990s as a Teach for America (TFA) temp teacher. Sternberg is promoting the Walton priority of opening charters in select cities.
Sternberg’s email promotes Tennessee’s Achievement School District (ASD) by focusing on a Memphis school that has been in ASD for only one year, MLK Prep (formerly Frayser High School).
What caught my attention immediately is that this Walton charter school promotional showcases a school that is relatively new to ASD, which the Walton sell defines as “a special district created in Tennessee to dramatically improve the bottom 5% of the state’s schools.”
So, if ASD dramatically improves schools, why feature a school that has been in ASD for only a single year? Why not feature schools that have been in ASD for years The Waltons Promote the (Failing) Tennessee ASD | deutsch29:

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch won't seek another term | WBFO

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch won't seek another term | WBFO:

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch won't seek another term

The leader of the New York State Board of Regents will not seek a new term. Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch made the announcement at the start of board meeting in Albany Monday morning.






Tisch was first selected to serve as chancellor in 2009. She has been with the Board of Regents for 20-years, first appointed in 1996.  She was re-elected to five-year terms in 2001, 2006 and 2011. 
Tisch has been in charged since the implementation of the highly controversial Common Core Learning Standards. 
The Executive director of the Network for Public Education Foundation, Carol Burris, was in our studio earlier this month, where she called for Tisch to step aside."I think that it's time for Merryl Tisch to go," stated Burris.  
When we reached Burris Monday afternoon, the retired Long-Island Principal, said she was 'very pleased' to learn Tisch would be leaving when her term ends in March.
Carol Burris, Executive director of the Network for Public Education Foundation, recently called for Tisch to step down.
CREDIT WBFO NEWS PHOTO BY EILEEN BUCKLEY
"She created a lot of problems for the students and the schools in New York State as well meaning as she might be, and I'm really looking forward to new leadership in that position," responded Burris.
Burris said Tisch should have stepped aside during the back-lash over Common Core. 
"Many of the decisions she made and push were weak ones," said Burris.  "I think if she had put life-time educators in that position, I think it would have been a more successful term, instead she was heavily involved during the very difficult time and I think she made a lot of poor decisions. It's going to take a while for New York to recover from that."
Tisch is a former first-grade teacher. Her current term ends in March.  
In announcing her decision, Tisch urged board members to continue to pursue higher learning standards.
The New York State United Teachers also reacting to Tisch's announcement.  The union issued a statement saying it 'opens the door to a new direction in state education policy — one that more fully respects the voices of parents and teachers and values teaching and learning ahead of standardized testing and data-driven Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch won't seek another term | WBFO:

Greater Wisdom — Hmong Innovating Politics

Greater Wisdom — Hmong Innovating Politics:

HOW GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE CALIFORNIA SMARTER BY VETOING AB 176

Greater Wisdom

By Andy Le, HIP Member

On October 7, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 176, a bill that would have required California’s Community College system to collect disaggregated data on Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) subgroups. In his veto message, California Governor Jerry Brown wrote,

“Dividing people into ethnic or other subcategories may yield more information, but not necessarilygreater wisdom about what actions should follow."

UNFORTUNATELY, GOVERNOR BROWN’S DECISION TO VETO AB 176 FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SIGNIFICANT WISDOM AND MORE THOUGHTFUL PUBLIC POLICY THAT HAS ALREADY RESULTED FROM THE ON-GOING BATTLE TO MOVE BEYOND THE “OTHER ASIAN” CATEGORY.

A DREAM DENIED

In 2003, UC Berkeley Professor Khatharaya Um published A Dream Denied (2003) about Southeast Asians and their challenges in higher education. In the groundbreaking report, Professor Um chronicled the struggles of Southeast Asian American students using disaggregated data and recommended additional support for student retention and high school outreach programs. The insights gained from this small sample size of data helped drive campus initiatives that saw increases in student retention and success among historically underserved populations.  










COUNT ME IN!

While AB 176 was ambitious in trying to codify disaggregated data collection into State law for community colleges, it was not an unprecedented change in regards to higher education. Nearly ten years ago, in the culmination of the student-led “Count Me In” Campaign, the University of California recognized the tremendous wisdom in understanding the diversity within the API community and agreed to further disaggregated its data collection. Spearheaded by student leaders from UCLA’s Asian Pacific Coalition, the “Count Me In” campaign helped bring to the light the challenges many API students encounter in trying to access higher education. Moreover, the “Count Me In” Campaign helped policy makers and school administrators better target resources to low-income and first generation students who needed the most support.

Read more about the Count Me In! Campaign here:

PLANTING NEW SEEDS AT UC IRVINE

I co-founded the Southeast Asian Student Association (SASA) in the fall of 2012. The passion behind the formation of SASA was to continue the dialogue of the Southeast Asian refugee experience and to allow students to tell their family stories. Our family stories are often left out of history textbooks, which provides important insight on themes of trauma, war, displacement, colonization, violence, and much more. Therefore,  SASA created a space for political, cultural, and educational advancement of Southeast Asian students.

I researched and requested disaggregated data on freshman retention rates by specific Southeast Asian ethnic groups. Somewhat surprisingly, I noticed the administration’s lack of attention to Southeast Asian students educational experiences based on the low retention and graduation rates. As a result, I piloted a seminar-program called Southeast Asian Retention through Creating Hxstory (SEARCH) to assist incoming first-year and transfer Southeast Asian students.  The importance of disaggregated data supported the funding of SEARCH, identified key student retention issues and the development of a holistic advising model. SEARCH ignited a needed discussion surrounding retention on a national level supported by the Southeast Asian American Studies Conference.  

Choosing to know less about our communities is not wise. In fact, being ignorant to the diversity within the State of California dangerously overlooks the social, economic, health, and educational disparities that continue to exist.
— Andy Le, HIP Member
By vetoing AB 176, Governor Brown perpetuates the model minority myth and exacerbates the invisibility, marginalization, and untold hxstories of our community. Choosing to know less about our communities is not wise. In fact, being ignorant to the diversity within the State of California dangerously overlooks the social, economic, health, and educational disparities that continue to exist.

Disaggregated data gives decision makers and administrators wisdom they would otherwise never have. Fully Greater Wisdom — Hmong Innovating Politics:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/26/15


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