Richard P. Phelps: The D.C. Reform Hoax, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard P. Phelps: The D.C. Reform Hoax, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard P. Phelps: The D.C. Reform Hoax, Part 1

Richard P. Phelps recounts his experiences as the director of assessment for Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Phelps was expected to expand the notorious IMPACT testing program, meant to evaluate teachers. Phelps visited hundreds of administrators and teachers and asked their advice about how to make the program better. They gave him good ideas, and he passed them on to top staff as recommendations. The professionals’ advice was rejected by two top reformers.

Phelps’ article was posted on the blog of D.C. activist Valerie Jablow. She acknowledged its origin in this editor’s note:

[Ed. Note: In part 1 of this series, semi-retired educator Richard P. Phelps provided a first-hand account of what went down in DCPS as ed reformers in the early days of mayoral control pushed standardized tests; teacher evaluations based on those tests; and harsh school penalties. This second part looks at the cheating scandals that arose in the wake of such abusive practices. Such accounts are all the more important now that the DC auditor has just released a bombshell report of poor stewardship of DC’s education data. Both articles appeared in Nonpartisan Education Review in September 2020 and are reprinted here with permission. For this part, the author gratefully acknowledges the fact-checking assistance of retired DCPS teacher Erich Martel and DC school budget expert Mary Levy.]

Phelps came to realize that the “reformers” really didn’t CONTINUE READING: Richard P. Phelps: The D.C. Reform Hoax, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard P. Phelps Looks Back on D.C. Reform, Part 2 | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tQi via @dianeravitch

10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps | GFBrandenburg's Blog

10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps | GFBrandenburg's Blog

10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps

Stolen from Valerie Jablow:

Looking Back on DC Education Reform 10 Years Later, Part 1: The Grand Tour by Valerie Jablow

[Ed. Note: As DC’s office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) seeks a waiver of PARCC testing again (recall that OSSE waived PARCC last school year due to the pandemic) and the DC auditor just released a bombshell report of poor stewardship of DC’s education data, it is time to revisit how standardized test data, teacher evaluations, and harsh school penalties were united by ed reformers in DCPS under mayoral control. This first-hand account of what went down in DCPS, the first of two parts by semi-retired educator Richard P. Phelps, appeared in Nonpartisan Education Review in September 2020 and is reprinted here with permission. The author thanks DC budget expert Mary Levy and retired DCPS teacher Erich Martel for their helpful comments in the research of this article.]

By Richard P. Phelps

Ten years ago, I worked as the director of assessments for DCPS. My tenure coincided with Michelle Rhee’s last nine months as chancellor. I departed shortly after Vincent Gray defeated Adrian Fenty in the September 2010 DC mayoral primary.

My primary task was to design an expansion of that testing program that served the IMPACT teacher evaluation system to include all core subjects and all grade levels. Despite its fame (or infamy), the test score aspect of the IMPACT program affected CONTINUE READING: 10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps | GFBrandenburg's Blog

UPDATE: Richard Phelps Reviews Michelle Rhee’s “Reforms,” Ten Years Later, Part 1 & Part 2 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard Phelps Reviews Michelle Rhee’s “Reforms,” Ten Years Later, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard Phelps Reviews Michelle Rhee’s “Reforms,” Ten Years Later, Part 1

A decade ago, Richard Phelps was assessment director of the District of Columbia Public Schools. His time in that position coincided with the last ten months of Michelle Rhee’s tenure in office. When her patron Adrian Fenty lost the election for Mayor, Rhee left and so did Phelps.

Phelps writes here about what he learned while trying to improve the assessment practices of the DC Public Schools. He posts his overview in two parts, and this is part 1. The second part will appear in the next post.

Rhee asked Phelps to expand the VAM program–the use of test scores to evaluate teachers and to terminate or reward them based on student scores.

Phelps described his visits to schools to meet with teachers. He gathered useful ideas about how to make the assessments more useful to teachers and students.

Soon enough, he learned that the Central Office staff, including Rhee, rejected all the ideas he collected from teachers and imposed their own ideas instead.

He writes: CONTINUE READING: Richard Phelps Reviews Michelle Rhee’s “Reforms,” Ten Years Later, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Richard Phelps Reviews Michelle Rhee’s Reforms, Part 2 | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-rOk via @dianeravitch