FAILING CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PATHETIC TEACHERS « Teachers Fight Back

FAILING CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PATHETIC TEACHERS « Teachers Fight Back:

FAILING CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PATHETIC TEACHERS

by alkleen

Chicago Public school officials have reported that 7 of their 32 privately run charter schools are rated by the district at “Level 3,” the lowest standard for academic performance. In the 2011 -12 school year, more than two dozen charter schools in Chicago scored below district averages on key state assessment tests.
Wow! The non-union teachers in those charter schools must really be pathetic. Charter schools have such an advantage over the normal public school. Those charters have the kids dress neatly, they enforce a rigorous discipline code, they get rid of troublemakers, and they have concerned parents who often waited for quite a time before they could get their kids in the school. They have all those factors going for them and they still can’t do better than the normal Chicago public school ?
Every charter school should do better than the normal public school. They have parents who care about their 

Promoting Quality Teaching: New Policy Report from Accomplished California Teachers « InterACT

Promoting Quality Teaching: New Policy Report from Accomplished California Teachers « InterACT:

Promoting Quality Teaching: New Policy Report from Accomplished California Teachers

by David B. Cohen

Following is the press release formally announcing the new publication from Accomplished California Teachers.  Inquiries may be sent via comments below or via the ACT website contact form.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 11/15/12
STANFORD, CA — Approximately one-third of all new teachers in the United States leave the profession within five years, and veteran teachers are leaving at ever higher rates. Teacher attrition, which has grown by 50 percent in the past 15 years, costs the nation roughly $7 billion a year for recruiting, hiring, and inducting new teachers. With this revolving door of teachers and the resulting hemorrhage of resources, schools suffer from instability and students lose out on the opportunity to learn from high-quality teachers.
Among the factors behind this high turnover are outdated teacher compensation systems and narrow career options for professional growth, according to a new report by Accomplished California Teachers (ACT), a teacher-leadership network based at Stanford.
The report, Promoting Quality Teaching: New Approaches to Compensation and Career Pathways, is written by a group of master California teachers and draws from current research and best practices in the field to make recommendations on how to improve teaching quality by improving the systems that compensate them. This is 

Chicago Newsroom. Don Washington and I discuss pensions and elected school board with Ken Davis. « Fred Klonsky

Chicago Newsroom. Don Washington and I discuss pensions and elected school board with Ken Davis. « Fred Klonsky:

Chicago Newsroom. Don Washington and I discuss pensions and elected school board with Ken Davis.

by Fred Klonsky

Learning from an Experiment in Year-Round Schooling: The Importance of Context in School Reform | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Learning from an Experiment in Year-Round Schooling: The Importance of Context in School Reform | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Learning from an Experiment in Year-Round Schooling: The Importance of Context in School Reform

by obriena

We’ve all heard about summer learning loss. Students lose between one and two months' worth of academic knowledge each summer. Low-income students are particularly sensitive to this phenomenon – some research suggests that more than half of the achievement gap seen in reading between these students and their wealthier peers can be attributed to summer loss.
So across the nation, schools, districts and states are trying to address the issue. One seemingly obvious solution: A move to year-round schooling. Given that the most popular school calendar in the nation is a relic from our agrarian days, when children were needed in the fields at specific times during the year, it certainly makes sense to revisit it. And many schools and communities have adopted a year-round calendar, replacing a long summer break with shorter breaks throughout the year.
But I was interested to read an article out of Grand Rapids, MI, that indicated a possible move in the opposite direction. Because of chronic absences at some district elementary schools that run on a year-round calendar (at one school, 41% of
read more

Student Survey System Going Big - LA School Report

Student Survey System Going Big - LA School Report:

Student Survey System Going Big

by LA School Report

Inspired by innovations in sports statistics, the New York Times‘ statistics guru Nate Silver, and all the Gates Foundation talk about the value of school climate surveys, a group of Yale seniors led by North Hollywood High School alumn Aaron Feuer (son of Mike) has developed a relatively cheap, cloud-based software platform called Panorama that can help schools conduct nearly-instant surveys of 

What's Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: Osmosis — Whole Child Education

What's Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: Osmosis — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

What’s Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: Osmosis

November 15, 2012 by James H. Stronge

Unfortunately, and despite what appears to be a concerted effort across the last several decades, the assumption that a picture of educator skill and practice can be gained through observation, alone, simply doesn't work. In the final analysis, this simplistic approach to teacher evaluation most certainly results in neither teacher improvement nor increased accountability. Teachers don't value or trust their own evaluation, administrators view it as merely one more bureaucratic hurdle to check off, and it has no credibility with parents and other stakeholders.

So, what can we do about the abysmal state of teacher evaluation? Firstly, we need to recognize what's wrong and, secondly, we need to fix it. In the first post in this series, I discussed how observation does not equal evaluation. Today's post is about purposeful, data-driven evaluation.

The Problem: Osmosis

os•mo•sis
Pronunciation: \äz-ˈmō-səs, äs-\
Function: noun
Definition: a process of absorption or diffusion suggestive of the flow of osmotic action; a usually effortless, often unconscious, assimilation
Example: learned a number of languages by osmosis
(Adapted from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 2010)

What's Wrong

Merely walking through the classroom occasionally doesn't constitute evaluation. That kind of minimalist

Tony Bennett’s Defeat’s Impact on the Common Core | Truth in American Education

Tony Bennett’s Defeat’s Impact on the Common Core | Truth in American Education:

Tony Bennett’s Defeat’s Impact on the Common Core

by Shane Vander Hart

The education consulting group Whiteboard Advisors recently conducted surveys of 50-75 anonymous political and policy “insiders” before and after the election asking them to weigh in on a variety of issues.  One of the items that caught my eye they asked “How will Tony Bennett’s (the incumbent Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction) defeat impact the Common Core?”  They asked the question of Indiana and then what national impact it might have.

Within Indiana:

• “Common Core in Indiana is safe once Ritz realizes that NEA supports the standards and they gave
  her the money to be elected.”
• “I think the Common Core will survive if teachers feel they are included in the implementation discussions.”
• “I don’t know. Generally, the Common Core has a long way to go.”
• “The Common Core has always been a Trojan horse to get out of accountability which they will do in other 

SignOn.org - Do not throw our kids over the fiscal cliff; raise taxes on wealthy & cut Race to the Top instead!

SignOn.org - Do not throw our kids over the fiscal cliff; raise taxes on wealthy & cut Race to the Top instead!:

Do not throw our kids over the fiscal cliff; raise taxes on wealthy & cut Race to the Top instead!

By Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters (Contact)

To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama

PETITION STATEMENT

We urge you to prevent our children being thrown off the fiscal cliff by 1) ensuring that the wealthiest Americans making over $250,000 pay their fair share and 2) cutting inessential & even damaging education programs, like Race to the Top and other competitive grants that promote more high-stakes testing, merit pay, school closings, firing teachers, and online learning, all of which threaten to undermine the quality of education that our children receive. Instead, focus your efforts on personalizing learning by funding smaller classes and ensuring that all children receive a well-rounded education, including art, music and the services they need.

Petition Background

Hugely damaging across-the-board education cuts will occur, causing increased class size & loss of essential services to kids, unless the President & the Congress agree on a budget which raises revenue and saves expenses. Please urge them avoid this outcome by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, who should be paying their fair share, and by cutting non-essential & even damaging programs, like "Race to the Top" and other competitive federal grants, promoting more high-stakes testing, merit pay, school closings, mass teacher firings, and the expansion of online learning, which replaces the personal attention that children need to succeed. None of these programs have any evidence to support them and are creating havoc and rising discontent among parents, teachers & other concerned citizens throughout the country.

Hundreds of Students Attempting to Shut Down UC Regents Meeting Over Tuition Hikes | The Dissenter

Hundreds of Students Attempting to Shut Down UC Regents Meeting Over Tuition Hikes | The Dissenter:

Hundreds of Students Attempting to Shut Down UC Regents Meeting Over Tuition Hikes

from Firedoglake by Leighton Woodhouse

UPDATE (11:19 AM PT): After issuing a dispersal order to remove all students from the room, the Regents are voting on the budget now.
About 500 students are currently blockading entrances to the University of California Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco this morning, where the Regents are scheduled to vote on a budget that presumes a 24 percent across-the-board increase on UC tuitions. Picketing students have pledged to shut the meeting down.
According to Charlie Eaton, one of the organizers of the protest and co-author of a report released this week thatcharged the Regents with employing exotic financial instruments that doubled the UC system’s debt load over three and a half years, as of 8:45AM PT only a third of the Regents have made it inside the building. About 100 

Budget approved by UC Regents Wednesday unrealistic, governor says - The Daily Californian

Budget approved by UC Regents Wednesday unrealistic, governor says - The Daily Californian:

Budget approved by UC Regents Wednesday unrealistic, governor says

BY D.J. SELLAROLE | STAFF

At its meeting Wednesday, the UC Board of Regents approved the UC’s 2013-2014 budget —  despite objections from Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom that the plan is unrealistic.

The plan calls for state funding to the University of California to increase by more than $267 million next year — something Newsom said is very unlikely to happen.

“What we’ve basically passed today is a minimum 6 percent tuition increase,” said Newsom. “The budget is unrealistic. I’m concerned that the default to this plan is going to be to raise tuition to levels worse than what we were afraid of if Proposition 30 didn’t pass.”

Last week, California voters passed Prop. 30, which is projected to save the university $250 million this year in trigger cuts built into the state budget that would have gone into effect had it failed. Newsom emphasized that it is a myth that the proposition created new money for the UC system.

Newsom said that even if the state Legislature were able to approve the UC’s request,  the CSU and community college systems would certainly expect similar treatment. Brown seconded Newsom’s concerns, citing the need for alternative solutions for the UC’s revenue problems.

“When you look at this budget, the state would have to increase its funding by 12 percent to the university, and that’s just not likely to happen,” Brown said. “This is a group of bright people around here, and we can figure this out … but you’ve got to change the paradigm. We need reasonable, creative 

UPDATE: Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing! Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing!:

Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing!

by admin

Alderman Matthew O'Shea introduces Monty Neill at St. Xavier forum November 2, 2012.

Parents in Chicago and around the nation are sick of all the tests that our children face in school these days. Teachers are fed up, too. They tell us that there are so many tests now that they just don’t have enough time to teach.
Anti-testing fever heated up even more during the CTU strike, when the issue of excessive and unfair testing and test-based “accountability” was forcefully and effectively raised by marchers and their picket signs. Now parents all over the city have been getting together to talk about the problem and make plans for what we can do together to fight this growing attack on our children’s education.
I spoke at a meeting with parents from Drummond Montessori school about testing on October 4. On Nov. 2,

Testing resistance resources

by admin

• PURE Fact Sheet: Opting out of student testing: What’s the law for Chicago families?
• PURE Fact Sheet: Tests in the Chicago Public Schools 2012
• PURE Tip Sheet: Sample Testing Opt Out letters
• PURE Tip Sheet: Action Steps for better assessment: What you can do to win the testing battle
• PURE Tip Sheet: Testing opt out legal language
• Reasons for not testing: chart from Illinois State Board of Education
• Illinois state law on state assessment
• Opt Out toolkit from United Opt Out National
• Indiana parent flyer on opting out
• PURE Fact Sheet: How Arne Duncan may be taking the FAMILY, RIGHTS, and PRIVACY out of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• FairTest Fact Sheet: A Better Way to Evaluate Students and Schools
• FairTest Fact Sheet: Common Core Assessments: More Tests, But Not Much Better
• FairTest Fact Sheet: Why Teacher Evaluation Shouldn’t Rest on Student Test Scores
• National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing – Sign Now!

Stand for Children front man: No need for “parent trigger” with Chicago’s LSCs

by admin

I was proud to share the Local School Council model with my co-founders at Parents Across America, and delighted when PAA adopted it as our alternative to the “parent trigger” school privatization mechanism.
Unlike charter or private turnaround companies, LSCs have a significant track record of improving schools over time without any extra resources beyond the collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, administrators and community members.
Now, to my astonishment, organizers for such pro-privatization groups like Stand for Children and New Schools 

Date with the Lunch Lady: New School Food Rules « MomsRising Blog

Date with the Lunch Lady: New School Food Rules « MomsRising Blog:

Date with the Lunch Lady: New School Food Rules

by Beth Bader

This story originally appeared in the (ex)Expatriate’s Kitchen blog.

I pack my child’s lunch every day. When it comes to food, yes, I am a helicopter mom. Not that I don’t havegood reason to worry. Even with the improved school meals, I am still concerned about the meat sourcing and continued use of heavily processed foods. So, each day I still pack my kiddo a nice little lunch box with each item all segregated just the way she likes it.
This works, except for the morning — in the 10 minutes from car to school room — the lunch got dropkicked into the cubby or at least violently shaken by an unseen force (“I don’t know, it just was like that, Mom.”) and my well-spaced carrots then mix with the applesauce and whole grain sandwich — and the lunch got ruined. The kid ended up in the lunch line.
I find out when I get an email at work that her lunch account has a negative balance. I keep it at zero just because I did NOT want her to buy “chocolate” milk and juice to go with her lunch. Negative balance?
I get the story at home later. “So,” I asked. “What did you pick from the lunch line?”
“Well, I got a ham sandwich, apple and salad,” she replied. I had a proud mom moment there. She chose salad! That doesn’t mean she ate it, but she at least chose it. The choice thing is my other concern with school

Children grow up fast. We can’t wait for healthy school lunches…

by Alison Crockett

I got the new menu for my oldest daughters lunch and noticed something strangely new: there were carrot sticks, cucumbers, romaine lettuce and even…oh my goodness…hummus, on the menu! I am a mom who likesto cook but doesn’t love to cook and like many have little time in the morning to prepare a school lunch for my daughter. So I end up letting her eat lunch at school two to three times per week.

Girls Rule.

by Katrina Alcorn

Ladies, we are having a very good year.
This election, a record number of women—binders and binders full of them—ran for office, and…best of all…won.
In the new Congress, we will have 20 female Senators, up from 17. We will have the first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin, in Wisconsin. We will have the first Asian-American woman in the Senate, Mazie Hirono, and the first Hindu in Congress, Tulsi Gabbard. Last I checked, 81 women had been elected to the House, while a few races were still being counted. New Hampshire will have the nation’s first all-female delegation. (Feel free to express your gratitude with a donation to EMILY’s List.)
This election wasn’t just a win for women, and it wasn’t just a win for the men who love them, it might also be a

PFT Results - Physical Fitness Testing (PFT) (CA Dept of Education)

PFT Results - Physical Fitness Testing (PFT) (CA Dept of Education):

PFT Results

PFT results for 2011-12 and prior years are now available. The 2012 PFT summary results are posted to DataQuest.

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DataQuest PFT Summary Results

PFT 2012 DataQuest Reports
View schools, districts, counties, and state results. Results are available by gender and ethnic groups.

PFT Research Files and File Layouts
View statewide PFT data with file layout.

PFT 2011-12 News Release (November 15, 2012)

San Joaquin County Office of Education PFT Results

District Reports 
PFT district coordinators can access downloadable district data files from San Joaquin County Office of Education including individual student reports (ISRs). Please note access to this site requires login and password.

Contact Information

California Department of Education
Assessment Development and Administration Division
1430 N Street, Suite 4409
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-9449
E-mail: pft@cde.ca.gov

Questions:   High School and Physical Fitness Assessment Office | pft@cde.ca.gov | 916-445-9449

UFT lawsuit pushes back on education department redactions | GothamSchools

UFT lawsuit pushes back on education department redactions | GothamSchools:

UFT lawsuit pushes back on education department redactions

by Philissa Cramer, at 2:00 pm

A page from a batch of Department of Education emails released in June was almost completely redacted when it was released in response to a Freedom of Information Law request. The UFT is suing over the scope of the department's redactions.

The city teachers union wants the Department of Education to justify withholding large swaths of information in emails it released to the union earlier this year.

The UFT announced today that it is filing a lawsuit charging that the department redacted more than it should have when it fulfilled a union request for internal emails earlier this year.

The emails were the target of a May 2010 Freedom of Information Law request by the UFT. The union wanted to see the communication exchanged between top department officials and charter school supporters in late 2009 and early 2010, a period when legislators were under pressure to lift the cap on the number of charter schools in the state.

The department did not quickly release the emails, saying that the request was too broad when it deferred the request each month. In April, two years after first asking for the emails, the union filed suit over the delay, and shortly after that, the department started releasing the emails in sections.

The emails shed some light on the department’s internal communications and showed that then-Chancellor Joel Klein kept close tabs on legislative advocacy around charter schools. But to a significant extent, they 

USDA Announces First-Ever Round of Farm to School Grants – NSAC

For Immediate Release: USDA Announces First-Ever Round of Farm to School Grants – NSAC:

USDA Announces First-Ever Round of Farm to School Grants

Washington, DC November 14, 2012 – Today USDA announced the recipients of the first-ever round of Farm to School Grants.  The awards span 68 projects in 37 States and the District of Columbia and total $4.5 million in funding.

“By increasing purchases of local farm products, schools provide lucrative market opportunities for farmers and ranchers, expand access to fresh foods for schoolchildren, and stimulate community economic development,” explains Helen Dombalis, NSAC Policy Associate.  “The Farm to School Grants are a crucial step, and must be combined with legislation in the Farm Bill, in order to fully realize the economic potential of farm to school programs.”

The Farm to School Grant Program provides competitive grants to schools, nonprofits, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and Indian tribal organizations to increase local food procurement for school meal programs and to expand educational agriculture and gardening activities.  There are two types of awards: planning grants for doing the homework needed in advance of starting a farm to school program and implementation grants to start or advance an existing program.  The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) worked with the National Farm to School Network and other partners to win a total of $40 million in mandatory funding for the new program in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

NSAC Members Receive Awards

In this first round, three NSAC member organizations received implementation grants.

The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) received a two-year $100,000 grant to launch the Sonoma County Farm to School Program.  Exemplifying the community engagement that farm to school programs foster, the comprehensive project will be conducted in partnership with the county’s Department of Health Services and Santa Rosa City School, among others.  Notes Diana Abellera, CAFF Regional Food System Director, “After nearly a decade of working on farm to school programs, we are thrilled to now have the resources to build a sustainable program that can benefit students and growers across the entire county as a result of institutional and systemic changes.”

Based in Milwaukee, Growing Power received a grant for $99,868 for its project Farm Fresh toMilwaukee Public Schools.  The project will not only provide children with curriculum‐based education on urban sustainable food systems but will also facilitate procurement of more locally produced food for the state’s largest public school system, of which 82.6 percent of the student population is low-income.

Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI) received $100,000 over two years for implementing its projectScaling Up: Healthy Kids & Thriving Farms.  A highly collaborative project, other partners include schools in eight districts, a group of farmers eager to meet school needs, the region’s Intermediate School District, Michigan State University Extension, and other committed community partners in the Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network.  Explains MLUI Senior Policy Specialist Diane Conners, “The grant fills crucial gaps in northwest Lower Michigan.  It will provide important lessons for rural farm to school programs nationwide by showing how rural districts can collaborate with each other, community partners, farmers, and other supply chain partners to scale up local food procurement.”

Farm to School by the Numbers

As of 2010, every state in the US has at least one farm to school program, however the exact number of programs is currently unknown.  A new Farm to School Census being administered by USDA will soon reveal this much-needed data.  We do know that with over 14,000 school districts throughout the country, there are many communities still to benefit from farm to school programming.

Today’s awards – 32 planning and 36 implementation grants – will reach over 3,200 schools serving 1.75 million American schoolchildren.  Demonstrating the demand for farm to school programs and the eventual need for additional funding for the grant program, USDA received 365 applications – 230 for implementation grants and 135 for planning grants – but is only able to fund a total of 18.6 percent of proposed projects.

Farm Bill Reauthorization

Along with its farm to school advocacy in the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization, NSAC is calling on Congress to further farm to school programming through the farm bill.  Included in the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act, NSAC proposes flexibility in commodity programs that would enable more local food procurement in school meal programs. While the Senate-passed bill includes a more general farm to school pilot program, the House Agriculture Committee-passed bill specifically authorizes schools with low annual commodity entitlement values to start making their own food purchases, provided USDA determines this would yield reduced administrative costs.  Additionally, the House bill would create demonstration projects in at least 10 schools to test alternatives to USDA food distribution through farm to school procurement models.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Reason No. 54 why we need an elected school board

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Reason No. 54 why we need an elected school board:

Reason No. 54 why we need an elected school board

by Mike Klonsky

If you're looking for another reason to replace the mayor's hand-picked school board with an elected one, look no further than yesterday's school board meeting. CPS board meetings continue to be a place where citizens come for their monthly share of abuse. Yesterday it was CTU Recording Secretary Michael Brunson being insulted and yelled at by a vitriolic board president, David Vitale.

As Brunson got up to speak, Vitale, had the nerve to accuse him and the CTU of "spreading lies" and "threatening and intimidating the board" as the union, along with parents and community groups attempt to stop the board's arbitrary school closings in under-served neighborhoods.  

"If you want us to continue to act civilly to you, you need to act civilly to us," Vitale said

Wait! What! This coming from the former bank president who was even booted from his position as head of the 

Teaching Democracy

by Mike Klonsky

There was a good turnout of students and faculty Monday night at Lake Forest College, to hear Deborah Meierspeak on the topic of "Democracy is more complicated than rocket science: So why don't we teach about it?" Wow! That's a brainfull.

Here's my headline of the week. It says a lot.

The growth of charter schools

NYT reports that between 2010-11 and 2011-12, the number of students in charter schools increased close to 13 percent, to just over two million.

New Orleans, where the city’s schools were essentially destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, leads the nation in the proportion of students in charter schools, at 70 percent. But in six other districts, including Detroit, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, more than 30 percent of public school students 

SI&A Cabinet Report – Teacher effectiveness study aims to help LAUSD close achievement gaps

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Teacher effectiveness study aims to help LAUSD close achievement gaps
By Kimberly Beltran
Thursday, November 15, 2012

Even small variations in teacher effectiveness can have great impact on student learning, equating to months-long differences in the amount of instruction pupils receive according to a new study released Wednesday.

Researchers from Harvard University identified teacher effectiveness patterns in the Los Angeles Unified School District in an effort to quantify some of those impacts and provide insight for improving academic achievement.

Using some six years of district data – including analysis of student test scores to measure teacher effectiveness – researchers at the Strategic Data Project at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard revealed a number of key findings about practices in teacher assignment, recruitment and retention.

Included in the SDP findings: Novice teachers are too often assigned to students who are already behind academically – perpetuating the achievement gap; teachers recruited through the Career Ladder and Teach For America programs are more effective than the typical novice teacher, and National Board Certification is a stronger indicator of effectiveness than an advanced degree.

Researchers also observed that LAUSD has a wide variance in teacher effectiveness, implying that there is a 

LAO delivers cheerful economic outlook – deficits covered, debts repaid

In as rosy an economic forecast as California has received in more than a decade, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst predicted Wednesday lawmakers would be in a position to not only meet ongoing K-12 education needs over the next five years but also to pay down some $13 billion in debt obligations owed schools.

Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables | Seattle Education

Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables | Seattle Education:

Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables

by seattleducation2011

The Variables

High stakes testing has ramifications including ending careers and affecting communities by closing schools. Hence, we need to look carefully at the variables that might affect a student’s performance on a test.

Teachers and principals do not work in a vacuum. They have students with lives outside school. Students live in a real world. The real world affects how they behave and their ability to focus in class. These factors include:

• English being a second language
• The physical and emotional health of the student
• If the student has had enough to eat or adequate time to sleep
• If there are distracting circumstances at home
• If the student has a home
• If the student is supported by tutors or parents who can