Criticism of the NEW SAT grows as Connecticut’s 11th grades are told they MUST take it on March 2nd - Wait What?

Criticism of the NEW SAT grows as Connecticut’s 11th grades are told they MUST take it on March 2nd - Wait What?:
Criticism of the NEW SAT grows as Connecticut’s 11th grades are told they MUST take it on March 2nd

Thanks to Governor Dannel Malloy and the Connecticut General Assembly, high school juniors attending Connecticut public schools are being told that they MUST take the NEW SAT during the school day on March 2, 2016.

Considering that the NEW SAT isn’t even aligned to Connecticut’s graduation requirements or high school curricula and that the new version of the SAT won’t even be statistically validated on a national level until after Connecticut’s 11th graders take the test, Connecticut’s elected officials have done nothing other than turn our students into guinea pigs for the $1 Billion standardized testing industry.

But of course, that is what the corporate education reform industry is demanding.

42,000 Connecticut students taking a faulty test, all at the expense of Connecticut taxpayers!

The truth is that after realizing that student grades are a better indicator of college readiness than standardized tests, hundreds and hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States are dropping the requirement that students even provide an SAT score with their application.

And as for the mandate, although Malloy’s Commissioner of Education continues to claim that high school juniors “MUST” take the discriminatory NEW SAT, like the SBAC testing scheme for grades 3-8, there is no federal or state law, regulation or legal policy that prevents students and parents from opting out of the test nor is there any law that allows Criticism of the NEW SAT grows as Connecticut’s 11th grades are told they MUST take it on March 2nd - Wait What?:

CURMUDGUCATION: More Bad Poverty News

CURMUDGUCATION: More Bad Poverty News:
More Bad Poverty News

We have seen versions of these findings before, but one more study drives home the point again-- education does not erase the economics of your family of origin.

This particular study is written up by Brad Hershbein over at Brookings, and the findings are short, simple, and important.

While some folks accept that a person from a rich family and a person from a somewhat-less-rich family won't be put on a level playing field by a college degree, they'll at least enjoy the same sort of boost from that education. But Hershbein's research says, no, that's not how it works. This chart spells it out--

(FPL is Federal Poverty Level)

In other words, a BA helps rich kids get way richer, while a BA helps poor kids get only just a little bit less not-poor.

As I said, this is not exactly news. A Johns Hopkins study over twenty-five years in Baltimorecemented the importance of family-of-origin. Robert Putnam wrote an entire book about how CURMUDGUCATION: More Bad Poverty News:

ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) sections for #uoo16philly conference - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform

ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) sections for #uoo16philly conference - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:

ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) sections for #uoo16philly conference

We are providing some pertinent links to the ESSA  (Every Student Succeeds Act) to assist conference participants in following conference work and conversations (in person or via livestream). Please see our complete schedule here.

The entire text of the ESSA can be read at congress.gov.

ESSA Title 1 Part A Section 1005 State Plans

ESSA Title 1 Part A Section 1006 Local educational agency plans

ESSA Title 1 Part A Section 1010 Parent and family engagement

ESSA Title 1 PART B Section 1201 State assessment grants

ESSA Title II Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High-Quality Teachers, Principals, or other School Leaders (this section includes Section 2001 – 2213)

ESSA Title III Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Section 4001 through 4112 (includes PART A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants)

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Part B 21st Century Community Learning Centers (section 4201 to 4206)

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Part C Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools (Section 4301 to 4311)

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Part D Magnet Schools Assistance

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Part E – Family Engagement in Education Programs

ESSA Title IV 21st Century Schools Part F National Activities

 ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) sections for #uoo16philly conference - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:

Read Across America: Oh, the Places You'll Go... - Lily's Blackboard

Read Across America: Oh, the Places You'll Go... - Lily's Blackboard:

Read Across America: Oh, the Places You'll Go...



 It is here! It is here! Let’s give a cheer! It is finally here!

With apologies to Dr. Seuss (and to those who aren’t fans of exclamation points), I had to go there. It’s time for one of our most beloved events of the year: NEA’s Read Across America, our celebration of reading and the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.

Our featured Dr. Seuss book this year is What Pet Should I Get? But you can focus on whatever book(s) you’d like, as long as our students get excited about reading.

From February 26 through March 4, NEA leaders will travel to schools in six cities, providing resources to schools in need and honoring Dr. Seuss. This is the 19th year of what I think of as our “literacy party.”

NEA's Read Across AmericaFollow On

What Pet is based on a manuscript discovered among Geisel’s belongings in 2013, more than 20 years after his death. The manuscript was painstakingly reconstructed by his longtime designer and art director, and the original illustrations and text are believed to date to at least 1962. 

The story is about two kids searching for the perfect pet on a deadline. As with all Dr. Seuss books, the rhymes and simple language help get across complex notions in a fun way. In this case, it’s the challenge of making a decision when there are lots of options and not much time:

 Oh, boy!

It is something

to make a mind up.

Dr. Seuss offers a treasure trove of books for students of all ages – from beginners who love his playful rhymes and fantastical drawings, to older readers who gain insights on such subjects as environmental stewardship. But as we know, there are lots of good reads out there that will inspire and enrich our students. NEA’s website can help you find them. 

To help spread the joy of reading, NEA’s Read Across America and the NEA Foundation are making 100 $1,000 awards to public schools serving economically disadvantaged students.  The grants were made possible by a contribution from The Weinstein Company and Walden Media. You can apply for a grant until April 29 to purchase a variety of diverse books and reading materials for your school’s library. Recipients will be announced by June 15 on the foundation’s website. 

But on March 2, we’re taking some time to celebrate the wonderful world created by Geisel. The NEA Read Across America website offers plenty of planning tips, downloadable materials, and other resources.

Some educators will be wearing Cat in the Hat suits to mark the occasion. But if costumes aren’t your thing, not to worry. There are many ways to celebrate Read Across America Day on March 2, and countless ways to share the fun and joy of reading every single day. Please share your celebration on social media by tagging photos and updates with the hashtag #readacrossamerica. Happy reading!Read Across America: Oh, the Places You'll Go... - Lily's Blackboard:

Roberts: Why does the Arizona Legislature hate public schools?

Roberts: Why does the Arizona Legislature hate public schools?:

Why does the Arizona Legislature hate public schools?

The Arizona Legislature marched forth Monday in its ongoing, unending quest to dismantle Arizona's public schools.

The Senate voted 17-13 to approve a bill that would dramatically expand the number of students eligible to get taxpayer funding to go to private schools.

Senate Bill 1279 phases in vouchers for all students over the next few years until 2020, when every one of Arizona’s 1.1 million public school students could get state funding to attend private school.

Those hallelujahs you hear? Those are the parents in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley who've been planning to send their kids to schools like Phoenix Country Day or Rancho Solano, learning now that taxpayers will now pick up a portion of the tab.

VALDEZ: Get the pitchforks - vouchers are coming

ROBB: Expand vouchers, nix the tax credits

The Republican-led Legislature has long schemed for ways to divert money to private schools in the name of parental choice. But our leaders  ran into a bit of trouble in 2009 when the state Supreme Court declared Arizona's voucher program an unconstitutional use of public funds on private or religious schools.

Thus was born the Empowerment Scholarship Account. Basically, the state loads tax money onto a debit card and hands it to you, the parent, to spend as you wish provided it's used to educate or get therapy for your child, either now or post high school.

ESAs began in 2011 as a narrowly-focused program, allowing children with serious disabilities to attend private school using public funds. It was a decent thing to do for a small group of children whose needs the public schools couldn't or wouldn't meet.

Then, the program was expanded to the children of active-duty military members and to children in foster care. Then to certain kindergartners and to children attending public schools that received a D or an F rating from the state – because heaven forbid we actually fix our failing schools. Then to Native American students who live on reservations.

Currently, about 2,200 children have ESAs.

Should taxpayers fund private education?

Republicans want to expand the program so that every Arizona child is eligible for a taxpayer-supplied private-school education. Assuming, that is, that every Arizona child’s parents could afford to pay the difference between what the state would provide and the actual cost of a private-school education. Assuming, too, that they are the sort of kid a private school would want.

Arizona taxpayers still will have to provide public schools for the have-nots – the kids whose parents are too poor to send them elsewhere or too otherwise occupied to worry overmuch about where and whether their kids are getting an education.

The suckers, we'll call them.

For years, the Legislature has been sucking money out of the public schools. Arizona public education has endured some of the nation’s deepest cuts to public education.

Total spending on K-12 education was $412 less per student in 2014 than it was in 2009, according to a report last year by the Arizona auditor general. And that's in a state where our $7,500 in per-student operational spending already trails the national average by about 42 percent – or more than $3,000 per student.

That’s not counting the money they siphon away via tuition tax credits for private schools and now by approval of a full-blown voucher program.

Supporters of the expansion plan say current limits on ESAs make it too difficult to score a voucher.

Opponents say expansion would decimate the public school system, robbing an already starved system of badly needed funds.

Which is, of course, the point.Roberts: Why does the Arizona Legislature hate public schools?:

Market "Reform" Is Destroying Public Education - Linkis.com

Market "Reform" Is Destroying Public Education - Linkis.com:

Market "Reform" Is Destroying Public Education

Latoya and Jalesa, both 26, grew up on the west side of Chicago, attending Calhoun Public School during the day and stepping across the street to Marillac Social Center for after-school programs. They lived in a tough neighborhood. Latoya said the summer gunshots came as often as the sound of ice-cream truck bells in the suburbs. But everyone knew each other on those two blocks; kids walked together, to and from school and in the evenings. Parents -- most of whom had gone to Calhoun -- also knew each other, often through volunteer work at the social center.

In 2013 Calhoun was one of 50 schools closed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It was shut down despite a committee recommendation that it remain open. Jalesa and Latoya, who still work at the center as they pursue other career interests, said the children are scattered now. Most of them take buses to a variety of public and charter schools outside the once-intimate neighborhood. Some have to walk a few blocks, some have to cross busy streets. None of them gather together before and after school, as they used to do on the grounds of Calhoun.

K-12 Education is Getting Worse

A shocking new OECD report says that among developed countries the U.S. has the highest percentage of youths ages 16-19 with low numeric skills, and the 3rd-highest percentage with low literacy skills.

SAT scores in 2015 were the lowest since the test was revised in 2005. Math scores for fourth-graders and eighth-graders dropped for the first time since the tests were first administered in 1990.

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Market "Reform" Isn't Working

The unsatisfactory results, according to the Washington Post, "reflect a troubling shortcoming of education-reform efforts."

Technology-based instruction is apparently doing more harm than good. An analysis of "Programme for International Student Assessment" (PISA) scores led to the conclusion that "While PISA results suggest that limited use of computers at school may be better than not using computers at all, using them more intensively than the current OECD average tends to be associated with significantly poorer student performance." The American Statistical Association cautioned against the use of standardized student test scores for teacher evaluations. Online instruction, not surprisingly, is likely the worst form of schooling, as suggested by Stanford's CREDOresearchers: "Innovative new research suggests that students of online charter schools had significantly weaker academic performance in math and reading, compared with their counterparts in conventional schools."

The Three Big Sins of Charter Schools

Charter schools generally perform no better than public schools, as summarized by the nonpartisan Spencer Foundation and Public Agenda: "There is very little evidence that charter and traditional public schools differ meaningfully in their average impact on students' standardized test performance." Yet in at least three ways Market "Reform" Is Destroying Public Education - Linkis.com:Market "Reform" Is Destroying Public Education - Linkis.com:

.@DavidCBerliner hosts 2015 Bunkum Award – Cloaking Inequity

.@DavidCBerliner hosts 2015 Bunkum Award – Cloaking Inequity:

.@DavidCBerliner hosts 2015 Bunkum Award

 I am honored to be a National Education Policy Center fellow. One of the most exciting and incredible things that they do is the Bunkum Awards! It’s the annual salute to the worst education think tank work in the United States. They write:

With the Oscar celebration next week, and the Emmys and Pulitzers on the way, the National Education Policy Center announces this year’s winner of its Bunkum Award. We invite you to enjoy our 10^th annual tongue-in-cheek salute to the most egregiously shoddy think tank reports.

It’s not easy to laugh when data are manipulated and made to fit foregone conclusions or when the research literature is misrepresented or ignored and low-quality or dishonest “evidence” has real impact on policy and on children. As best they can tell, polar bears aren’t laughing at reports from the American Petroleum Institute.

Yet “humor is one of the best ingredients of survival,” according to Aung San Suu Kyi—whose travails have been far weightier than ours. So we will persevere in our commitment to having a bit of fun each year with the evidentiary farce-lympics.

The Think Twice Think Tank Review Project arose as a response to the often-outsized policy influence of glossy, well-publicized reports that have not been vetted by peer-review. These reports regularly wrap themselves in the veneer of research, but we are frequently little more than propaganda masquerading as social science.

This year’s awards announcement, available on the NEPC website, is hosted by Dr. David Berliner, the Regents’ Professor Emeritus and former dean of the College of Education at Arizona State University. Berliner is a member of the National Academy of Education and the International Academy of Education, a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a past president of the .@DavidCBerliner hosts 2015 Bunkum Award – Cloaking Inequity: