Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led” | Truth in American Education

Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led” | Truth in American Education:

Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led”

by Shane Vander Hart

I thought that I would start a series on common misconceptions related to the Common Core State Standards.  I don’t know how frequently I’ll come back to this series, but as these misconceptions come up or as I hear them I want to address them.  The first is one that I hear quite frequently and I was told was a misconception repeated in the Iowa House Education Committee meeting the other day when the Common Core was briefly discussed.

The Common Core is not state-led.  To be fair, when I say that I’m not saying that the U.S. Department of Education wrote the Common Core.  I’m not even saying it was their idea.  It wasn’t.  Advocates of the Common Core who say it is state-led typically are saying neither of these things happened.

On that we can agree.

It’s always important to get past lingo and clarify what we mean.  When I say something is “state-led,” I mean it 

Louisiana Educator: COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System

Louisiana Educator: COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System:

COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System

by Michael Deshotels

I watched the video presentation this week by the DOE explaining the COMPASS changes approved by BESE last week. I concluded that the changes could have been explained just as well in about 3 minutes instead of the boring 34 minutes .

Here is all I got from the presentation: The rating system has been changed to allow 20% of the teachers evaluated by VAM to be considered highly effective instead of the original 10%. Also, starting next year, teachers rated by VAM will be given an analysis of their students' expected performance at the beginning of the year so that the teacher can plan better about how to get each child to reach or exceed their expected performance. Finally I learned that all evaluations statewide that have a VAM component will be analyzed by the state and compared to each other. Then the LDOE will analyze how well the observation component correlates to the VAM component for each evaluator and each teacher. This will help the overseers of the evaluation 

UPDATE: Tips from the Trenches: Administration — Whole Child Education

Tips from the Trenches: Administration — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Tips from the Trenches: Administration

January 24, 2013 by Stephen Sroka

During the last few months, I have had the chance to talk with several speakers who strongly affected their audiences. I started to think about the remarkable leaders with whom I have worked over the years and how they have made huge differences with their incredible wisdom, insight, and actions. I contacted some of them and asked them to comment on working in education in these difficult times. I asked them to share sometake-away messages, so that, if they were speaking, what would they want their audience to remember? Read the other installments in the series: school safety and student services.

Leadership is essential to effective education. Here are some "Tips from the Trenches" from the school leaders and leaders of national education organizations themselves.

Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children's Zone and recent speaker at the National School Boards Association's annual conference in Boston:

• "The cost of education is cheaper than the cost of incarceration. We must invest more with kids who 

Tips from the Trenches: Student Services

by Stephen Sroka

During the last few months, I have had the chance to talk with several speakers who strongly affected their audiences. I started to think about the remarkable leaders with whom I have worked over the years and how they have made huge differences with their incredible wisdom, insight, and actions. I contacted some of them and asked them to comment on working in education in these difficult times. I asked them to share some take-away messages, so that, if they were speaking, what would they want their audience to remember? Read the other installments in the series: school safety and administration.
Students are more than grade-point averages. Often they are faced with many barriers to effective education. Dealing with the whole child, and not just the academic child, can help facilitate learning. Safe and healthy students learn more. Here are some "Tips from the Trenches" about the value of supporting students.

Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor, codirectors of whole child partner Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA:

• "School improvement policy and practice continues to give short shrift to addressing barriers to learning 

Tips from the Trenches: School Safety

by Stephen Sroka

During the last few months, I have had the chance to talk with several speakers who strongly affected their audiences. I started to think about the remarkable leaders with whom I have worked over the years and how they have made huge differences with their incredible wisdom, insights, and actions. I contacted some of them and asked them to comment on working in education in these difficult times. I asked them to share some take-away messages, things that if they were speaking, they would want their audience to remember. Read the other installments in the series: student services and administration.
School safety was a front page story following the tragic shooting deaths of 28 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Students need a safe school to learn. Most of these "Tips from the Trenches" regarding school safety were written before the Connecticut shootings.

Joseph Bergant II, superintendent of Chardon Schools in Ohio, where, in February 2012, a 17-year-old student

What Is Missing in the Common Core Standards?

by Maria Hersey

Life in the 21st century is evolving at a rapid and challenging pace, creating a renewed focus on the lack of fit between what education is and what it needs to be. In the United States, the most recent call for education reform is the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, which highlight the importance of curriculum alignment and integration, a respect for multiple perspectives, and the provision of a well-rounded education that prepares students for college and career readiness.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) recognizes many areas of convergence between its aims to develop

Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two

January 24, 2013 by Molly McCloskey

ASCD's Molly McCloskey wonders when "someday" will happen for the millions of kids promised a "free and appropriate public education" and what we are doing today to make it happen.

UPDATE: Latest FLDOE Finding + Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing | Scathing Purple Musings

Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing | Scathing Purple Musings:

Latest FLDOE Finding: Poverty and Race Didn’t Matter in Teacher Evaluation Scores

by Bob Sikes

From Associated Press reporter Bill Kaczor in the Miami Herald:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Studies show students’ race and socio-economic status have virtually no correlation with their teachers’ performance evaluation scores, a top Florida education official told a legislative panel Thursday.
Teachers are being evaluated during the current school year for the first time using what’s known as a value-added model. Half of each score must be based on how much a teacher’s students have improved on reading and math tests from one year to the next.
A hotly debated 2011 law that created the evaluation system prohibits students’ race, ethnicity, 

Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing

by Bob Sikes

In late December last year, Jeb Bush penned an opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News I which he wrote the following:

Today, Texas has the chance to lead again. Moving above and beyond the testing of basic academic skills, the new STAAR exams include end-of-course exams. This is a common-sense improvement to the Texas system of accountability and transparency.
If Texas taxpayers are going to invest in the classroom facilities and personnel to provide students with a physics or history class, it follows that they have the right to know how much students learned about physics or history.
The STAAR exams represent a logical and necessary next step for reform. End-of-course exams 

UPDATE: You Get What You Pay For + The Sky Will Soon Be Falling, Again + School Tech Connect: Nekritz vs. Martire

School Tech Connect: Nekritz vs. Martire:

You Get What You Pay For

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

Ben Joravsky goes right to the heart of it.

And I'd note that CPS uses charters to take care of a community's educational needs during the time poor people are moving out and wealthier people are moving in. At which point they create a regular public school with unionized teachers who get paid a decent salary, because as everyone knows, you get what you pay for.

I actually don't care. Nothing can dissuade me from starting Tim Tech Charter. Like this blog, my school will 

The Sky Will Soon Be Falling, Again

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

The crisis noise has officially been ratcheted up in Illinois, in case you missed it. OMG the sky is falling---- I can hear it now.

The stated motivation for the decision was to prepare students for the more rigorous exams aligned with the Common Core State Standards set to be administered beginning in 2014-15.

There's so much to say, but I'm tired. But let's just say that curriculum and standardized tests have some meaningful relationship to each other, and that it's a stronger relationship than the relationship between socioeconomic status and test scores. Already we're in fantasyland but bear with me. 

Kids will be getting measured on the new ultra-angry Common Core cut scores, even though the Common Core 

Nekritz vs. Martire

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

Blogging while wolfing down cold pizza....A line is forming outside my door. The lights are off....

Recently the good folks at IEA Region 28 posted this message from Elaine Nekritz, a person I would like to see voted out of office but who always has the courtesy to reply to emails.

Thanks so much for your response.  I am familiar with Mr. Martire’s proposal.
The reality is his proposal would require a payment of almost $9 billion into the pension systems next year. The current year payment is “only” $5.7 billion. We could decimate General State Aid for schools by about 75% in order to pay for it, or raise the income tax another 1%. I don’t believe either of those are good for Illinois.
Mr. Martire omits some very important points in his article. The first is that his payment amount does not include the going forward cost of the pensions…the cost that actually funds current teachers versus the cost of those already retired. Second, his proposal only truly works if the State is somehow magically able to turn the pension debt into bonded debt. The markets would never 

Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education: | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education: | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education:

Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education:

by Kate_Lenox

       For the past ten years, the Sacramento City Unified School District has closed schools piecemeal, even when attempting to put a process like a 7-11 committee in place. Now with its back against the wall financially,  the district believes it must close a large number of schools to remain solvent. To address the declining enrollment and over capacity in the district, planning should have begun by considering  the best way to serve the needs of all of the current population of students in the district.  Only then should  discussion have begin on which facilities to remain in service or to close. Yet with the release of the school closure list, it still seems that the district isn't making these decisions with the best interests of all the students of the district in mind. What happened to the district's watch words "access and equity"? Indeed, Governor Brown has urged us to go beyond mere equity because "Equal treatment for children in unequal situations is not justice". Instead it seems that the district is retreating.
              
      While calling for "right sizing" the district and closing schools that make the most sense, (regardless of whatever programs are in place since "programs can be moved"), the school closure list reveals that right sizing was not the most  important factor in the decision making process.  Three of  the Superintendent's Priority Schools will remain open, in spite of the fact they are under enrolled. Oak Ridge was on a closure list two years ago because of low enrollment and  the poor shape of its facility. Now it will be a "receiving school" for students 

Diane in the Evening 1-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Teachers at Roosevelt HS Support Colleagues at Garfield

by dianerav

Forty-Three Roosevelt High School teachers (colleagues in Seattle Public Schools with Garfield High School teachers) signed this Letter of Support (on Jan. 23, 2012) for GHS teachers and a call to for expedient dismissal of the MAP exam because it has not proven to be useful or reliable. (PDF of original with signatures available upon request).
This We Believe:
Teachers, parents, students, school board members and the administration of Seattle Public Schools owe 

Detroit: 28 More Schools Will Close to Cut Deficit

by dianerav

To his eternal shame, emergency manager Roy Roberts will close down more public schools in Detroit to cut the deficit. Who knew that public schools were supposed to turn a profit/surplus?
Roberts is carrying out the orders of Governor Rick Snyder, who views public education with contempt.
Privatization proceeds. Public education in Detroit will be extinguished if the Governor and his willing accomplice have their way.
Shameful.

You Are Invited to a Webinar on High Stakes Testing

by dianerav

Parents Across America is hosting a Webinar on high stakes testing. Think about joining and meeting some of the leading figures in the opt-out movement.
Let’s Talk: A Webinar on High Stakes Testing and Opting Out
On January 27 at 1:00 PM PST, 3:00 PM Central and 4:00 PM EST, Parents Across America will be hosting an online seminar on high stakes testing and opting out of these tests.
Our guests will be:
Jesse Hagopian, teacher at Garfield High School and part of the MAP test boycott
Shaun Johnson, a former public school teacher, current teacher educator and online radio show co-host of At the 

No Charter Oversight in California: A License to Steal?

by dianerav

A reader in California writes:
Charter Schools in California tend to cream out poor performing students with learning disabilities. As a rule, Charter schools are unprepared or trained for special needs students. In fact, they will collect money to educate special needs children and put the funds in their regular payroll.
There is no oversight with Charter Schools, a good example is this audit of the Magnolia Science Academies that had blatantly not documented teacher or student health care, or kept a reserve fund.
Charter Schools such as Magnolia have no oversight on advertising or false claims of “award winning” Just because a school says they win awards look a little deeper, as those awards might be sponsored by the NGOs that feed into and from the schools as the Gulen Movement does. In California the schools were originally started 

Stay and Fight?

by dianerav

I know that many teachers are demoralized. It is not just because I read your comments every day, but because national surveys by Scholastic/Gates and by the Metlife survey report that this is so.
Some of the newbie organizations founded and/or funded by Gates (like TeachPlus and Educators4Excellence) think this is wonderful. So does The New Teacher Project (TNTP), founded by either Wendy Kopp or Michelle Rhee, depending on whom you believe.  They see a new day coming, when teachers who don’t care about a pension or job security, who want to be evaluated by test scores, will fill the classrooms of America.
I say all this is nonsense. Ten years from now, the teaching corps in most districts in the nation will be drawn 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-24-13 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] How Phony Reform Destroys Teacher Morale: “I Quit” by dianerav A reader sent this sad commentary on the state of education today. When you read dozens of letters like this from districts around the country, you have to wonder if the “powers that be” are trying to force experienced teachers out of the classroom, to make room for the young teachers who don’t know enough to think differently, who won’t stay around long enough to get a pension, who won’t question the New Order of testing and submission. Maybe... more »

Torlakson Reacts to State of the State - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

Torlakson Reacts to State of the State - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reaction
to Governor's State of the State Address

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today issued the following statement regarding Governor Brown's State of the State Address:

"With today's State of the State Address, as in his budget, Governor Brown kept his promise to make school funding his top priority. 

"While it will take years for our schools to recover what they have lost, I applaud the Governor for putting California on the path toward restoring the financial health of our schools. I also applaud the Governor's focus on students with greater needs. The state is responsible for providing tools to each of our children for competing in the 21st century, and the playing field is inadequate and inequitable under our current system.

"We will be working with districts and stakeholders across the state to closely examine the Governor's proposal to overhaul education finance. I also commit to bringing schools to the table as crucial partners in linking children to health services as California moves ahead with implementing federal healthcare laws.

"We need to also make sure that all students benefit from California's recovery. Both early childhood and adult education programs, which have been cut severely in recent years, have a tremendous role to play in strengthening our economy, and I will be working to see they receive a fair share of state resources.

"With the worst of the financial crisis behind us, now our schools can focus on the critical work ahead: fully implementing the new Common Core State Standards. 

"California must move forward now so that all children—no matter where they come from or where they live—receive a world-class education and graduate ready to contribute to the future of our state."

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing! - Wait, What?

January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing! - Wait, What?:

January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing!

by jonpelto

When the Connecticut State Board of Education met yesterday to approve their 2013 legislative agenda, a primary initiative was to expand the state’s mandatory standardized testing program to include all Connecticut students in the 11th grade.

As of now, the state’s absurd mandatory Connecticut Mastery standardized testing extravaganza begins in grade three and runs through the CAPT test in grade 10.

Last year, Governor Malloy’s “education reform” proposal included a new mandatory test for students in the 11th grade.  The Democrats on the General Assembly’s Education Committee quickly quashed the idea recognizing that students are already wasting way 

Governor Malloy: Dedicated to alienating the Democratic base?

by jonpelto

Tags: Education ReformGubernatorial Election 2014MalloyStefan PryorTeachersUnions Watching the Malloy administration at work, it almost seems that the Governor and his senior appointees are constantly working to alienate the base of the Democratic Party. As a Democrat, it is not only disturbing to watch but their actions hurt the Democratic Party and further jeopardize the Governor’s re-election chances.  An elected official has [...] (Read more...)

Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two — Whole Child Education

Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two

January 24, 2013 by Molly McCloskey

Four years ago on the inauguration of the first African American president of the United States, we titled ourWhole Child Newsletter "Someday Happens," reflecting a T-shirt I saw at the ceremonies that day. Today, independent of political views, I'm wondering when someday will happen for the millions of kids promised a "free and appropriate public education." While that phrase was first introduced in reference to children with disabilities, it applies too often to kids from all walks of life in all parts of the country.

An education based on solely on mastery (however that is defined) of English/language arts and mathematics is not appropriate.

An education filled with support and care and mastery of nothing is not appropriate.

An education which must be purchased in lieu of free opportunities nearby fails to serve the common good and fulfill the social compact promised by the American Dream.

When will someday happen for each child, in each school, in each community? It will happen the day we as a 

California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip" - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip" - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip"

by Anthony Cody

In today's State of the State speech, (available here) California Governor Jerry Brown continued to blaze a path in a new direction on education reform. He explicitly rejected the dominant reform paradigm which closely manages schools through test scores, and embraced local control, which he argued for using a concept called "subsidiarity." He also called for funding that recognizes the burdens poverty imposes on schools. Here is what he said:

In the right order of things, education--the early fashioning of character and the formation of conscience--comes before legislation. Nothing is more determinative of our future than how we teach our children. If we fail at this, we will sow growing social chaos and inequality that no law can rectify.

In California's public schools, there are six million students, 300,000 teachers--all subject to tens of thousands of laws and regulations. In addition to the teacher in the classroom, we have a principal in every school, a superintendent and governing board for each school district. Then we have the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education, which makes rules and approves endless waivers--often of laws which you just passed. Then there is the Congress which passes 

Gionni Crawford – How students with disabilities can succeed in college - Student Voice

Student Voice:

Gionni Crawford – How students with disabilities can succeed in college

by admin

If you are a college student with a disability, whether it is cognitive or physical, it is important that you understand your rights. You must learn to embrace self-advocacy, which is, effectively communicating and asserting your rights and interests as a student with a documented disability.
As a college student with a cognitive disability myself, I understand that there are other students, like me, who need guidance and reassurance to pursue higher education.
A few years ago, I was struck by a car while crossing the street on my bike and diagnosed with a closed-head injury. After my accident, I was placed in special education courses while still in high school. I was not diagnosed with a disability until late in my sophomore year.
That being said, here are a few things college students need to take advantage of at their institution:

Disability Support Services (DSS)
Many students who received support services in high school can easily do the same in college. DSS is there to advocate for you and ensure the school does not violate your rights. Each department at each school has its 

UPDATE: SPS Librarians also Speak Out on MAP Seattle Schools Community Forum: District Continues to Overbuild?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: District Continues to Overbuild?:

SPS Librarians also Speak Out on MAP

by Melissa Westbrook

From our friends at the Stranger Slog, what librarians are saying:

Laurie Amster-Burton, who spoke on behalf of librarians, says she actually switched schools in part because of how invasive MAP testing had become in regard to library time and space. The district has told educators that it thanks them for their concern but it needs time to work out a solution, but Amster-Burton says that these problems have existed for years, and educators have been bringing them up with the district the whole time. She brought with her a letter to Superintendent Banda, signed by 35 Seattle school librarians, in support of the Garfield teachers and in opposition to the MAP test.

Excerpt from letter:

Librarians, whose role is to teach information skills and support reading instruction, have been required in many schools to spend weeks and weeks as testing clerks. In many schools the first time a student visits the library is not to check out a book or research a topic, but to take a test—a test that is not aligned to curriculum and 

How to Make a Point in a Discussion?

by Melissa Westbrook

From recent elections, there are those who confuse arguing with attacking in order to get what they want or to marginalize others.

I saw this during the charter school election when I got personally attacked by both Lisa Macfarlane and Shannon Campion at several debates.  (What is interesting is that Tim Ceis, the former city official who was known as a pitbull, could not have been nicer at the debates.)  I had thought, in the moment to respond back, but my reward was watching the faces of the audience and clearly, people think little of personal attacks.

Now from Ms. Campion, I expected that.  She's a shill for Stand for Children.  But Lisa and I have known each other professionally for years.  We have stood together on issues around the World School.  I expected better 

Publicola and The Stranger say YES to Levies

by Melissa Westbrook

From Publicola:

Cynical voters may see that as an opportunity to vote the local money down as a way to put the state on notice. Astute voters understand that the McCLeary decision highlighted a crisis that demands collective action. Putting the state on notice that Seattle's all in is the smart thing to do.

PubliCola picks "Yes" On Seattle Propositions 1 and 2. 

From The Stranger (keeping in mind, this is The Stranger talking):

But really... vote yes on both of them.

Slashing a quarter of our schools' funding would be absolutely unthinkable. So don't even think it.

Can you believe it's 2013 and our schools don't have Wi-Fi?

Remember: The children are

District Continues to Overbuild?

by Melissa Westbrook

I'm not an architect so someone who know building design or construction, help me out.

The West Seattle Blog has a report about the "preferred schematic" for the future Genesee Hill school where Schmitz Park will be moving.    The good:

The design principles were described as including “really fit(ting) into the challenging site” where Genesee Hill Elementary now sits, and being “timeless” as well as serving as a “community resource … not just a place of learning … to be a community center, to allow for community access onto the site, to use as a park, if you will,” plus “to be sustainable … good steward of taxpayer dollars and good steward of our environment.”

On the second floor, the library would be located in a way that would take advantage of the Mount Rainier and 

Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead) « Bill Ayers

Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead) « Bill Ayers:

Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead)

by billayers

Bernardine Dohrn, founder and former director of the Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC), Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern Law School, will retire from the Center and Law School on August 31, 2013.

For more than twenty years, Bernardine has been the CFJC’s visionary leader and champion in the struggle for justice for youth. She has advocated for fair sentencing for children, for applying international human rights standards here at home, and for ending the over incarceration of children of color.   With Bernardine at the helm, the CFJC has taught, trained and mentored over 500 students and represented hundreds of youth in conflict with the law.  Bernardine has played a leading role in systemic reform efforts to eliminate both the death penalty and life without the possibility of parole for children. She has led efforts to restore the Cook County Juvenile Court to its rehabilitative and child-focused origins, and to enhance the zealous advocacy of children.  She has long championed the cause of the United States’ adoption of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Bernardine has been steadfast in her commitment to young people, to her students and to the many attorneys who have worked at and with the CFJC. She has inspired many former students to pursue careers in