Tennessee Teacher on PARCC Testing
A reader comments:
Wow, for those opposed to T-cap, wait until you get a good look at common core and the PARCC assessment. The nightmare is about to get worse. As a teacher, I have been working with the debut of common core in Tennessee this year. I don’t even know where to begin to express my frustration with the entire common core movement. It combines an exceptionally narrow curriculum with testing that is vague and open to interpretation (when our group of 6 teachers scored student work we frequently came up with three different scores). The
Wow, for those opposed to T-cap, wait until you get a good look at common core and the PARCC assessment. The nightmare is about to get worse. As a teacher, I have been working with the debut of common core in Tennessee this year. I don’t even know where to begin to express my frustration with the entire common core movement. It combines an exceptionally narrow curriculum with testing that is vague and open to interpretation (when our group of 6 teachers scored student work we frequently came up with three different scores). The
In Los Angeles, Both Mayoral Candidates Want to Publish Teacher Ratings
In 2010, the Los Angeles commissioned a rating system based on test scores and published the individual names of teachers and their ratings. New York City did the same last year. To say this was controversial is putting it mildly.
Many researchers opposed it, as did Wendy Kopp and Bill Gates. If the purpose of the ratings is to help teachers improve, how exactly does it help to publish those ratings? Shouldn’t they be part of a discussion between principals and teachers? Right after the ratings went public in Los Angeles, a fifth grade teacher committed suicide. His name was Roberto Riguelas. Collateral damage, you might say.
John Ewing, the head of Math for America, called this thuggish use of data “mathematical intimidation,” and said
Many researchers opposed it, as did Wendy Kopp and Bill Gates. If the purpose of the ratings is to help teachers improve, how exactly does it help to publish those ratings? Shouldn’t they be part of a discussion between principals and teachers? Right after the ratings went public in Los Angeles, a fifth grade teacher committed suicide. His name was Roberto Riguelas. Collateral damage, you might say.
John Ewing, the head of Math for America, called this thuggish use of data “mathematical intimidation,” and said
Why Rhee’s Test-Driven Incentives Always Fail
In this thoughtful article, Charles Taylor Kerchner of Claremont Graduate University explains that Michelle Rhee’s belief in using test scores to reward and punish teachers is guaranteed to produce adverse consequences like cheating.
Her reliance on test scores plus her “fear-based management style” is the Achilles’ heel of reform policy, he says.
“This is the lesson of organizational history, not an isolated “bad judgment” aberration. It’s about more than school test scores in the District of Columbia, Atlanta, Texas or even Rhee’s possibly outsized claims of how well her students did during the three years she taught school in Baltimore. The policies Rhee endorses create bad incentives. Bad incentives lead to disastrous results. They certainly played a part in the largest business collapses in recent history: Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers and the collapse of the subprime mortgage
Her reliance on test scores plus her “fear-based management style” is the Achilles’ heel of reform policy, he says.
“This is the lesson of organizational history, not an isolated “bad judgment” aberration. It’s about more than school test scores in the District of Columbia, Atlanta, Texas or even Rhee’s possibly outsized claims of how well her students did during the three years she taught school in Baltimore. The policies Rhee endorses create bad incentives. Bad incentives lead to disastrous results. They certainly played a part in the largest business collapses in recent history: Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers and the collapse of the subprime mortgage
Iowa Teacher: Save This Noble Profession Before It Is Too Late
Amy Prime, who teaches second grade in Newton, Iowa, noticed that many of the teachers she knows and admires are counting the days until they retire or quit.
She writes:
“If you teach, you don’t need to get online to read these thoughts. You hear them every day as you pass your colleagues in the halls, at sporting events, at church and in the grocery store. Teachers who are close to
She writes:
“If you teach, you don’t need to get online to read these thoughts. You hear them every day as you pass your colleagues in the halls, at sporting events, at church and in the grocery store. Teachers who are close to
Is There Any Organization That Is Not Funded by Gates?
Obscene amounts of money translate into power.
Obscene amounts of money–billions–often translate into the ability to buy elections. But not always, as we saw in the recent school board election in Los Angeles, when the candidate of the Billionaire Boys Club was beaten by Steve Zimmer.
Billionaires don’t just try to buy elections.
They try to buy anyone who might help them or hinder them in their quest for power.
The Gates Foundation, for example, underwrites almost every organization in its quest to control American
Obscene amounts of money–billions–often translate into the ability to buy elections. But not always, as we saw in the recent school board election in Los Angeles, when the candidate of the Billionaire Boys Club was beaten by Steve Zimmer.
Billionaires don’t just try to buy elections.
They try to buy anyone who might help them or hinder them in their quest for power.
The Gates Foundation, for example, underwrites almost every organization in its quest to control American
Will Rhode Island Continue to Defend the Misuse of NECAP for Graduation?
Tom Sgouros has written repeatedly about the inappropriateness of using NECAP as a graduation requirement for students in Rhode Island.
This is the same issue that produced the activism of the Providence Student Union.
Commissioner Deborah Gist insists that the critics don’t know what they are talking about.
In this post, Sgouros points out that the test-makers say clearly that the NECAP is not intended for
This is the same issue that produced the activism of the Providence Student Union.
Commissioner Deborah Gist insists that the critics don’t know what they are talking about.
In this post, Sgouros points out that the test-makers say clearly that the NECAP is not intended for
Kevin Welner: How Charter Schools Game Their Enrollments
As we have seen again and again in recent years, charter schools have mastered the secret of school success. The most predictable way of getting those highly prized test scores is to have the “right” student body.
Want to learn the tricks?
Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado and the
Want to learn the tricks?
Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado and the
Network for Public Education Endorses Monica Ratliff
This is the first endorsement by the Network for Public Education.
After a careful review by the board, we endorse Monica Ratliff for school board in Los Angeles.
We promised we would support candidates who support public education.
We don’t have the money to compete with the billionaires.
But we hope our support will persuade parents and teachers to get out and vote.
This is a run off and will be a low turnout.
We urge everyone to get out and vote.
Here is the NPE endorsement:
NPE’s First Endorsement: Monica Ratliff
After a careful review by the board, we endorse Monica Ratliff for school board in Los Angeles.
We promised we would support candidates who support public education.
We don’t have the money to compete with the billionaires.
But we hope our support will persuade parents and teachers to get out and vote.
This is a run off and will be a low turnout.
We urge everyone to get out and vote.
Here is the NPE endorsement:
NPE’s First Endorsement: Monica Ratliff
Diane in the Evening 5-8-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: 8th Grade Student: Why So Much Advertising on Pearson Tests? by dianerav A student in a gifted program wrote this piercing analysis of the state tests he and his classmates just endured. The tests he took had many brand names and registered trademarks. He realized this is product placement. He wrote: “Non-fictional passages in the test I took included an article about robots, where the brands IBM™, Lego®, FIFA® and Mindstorms™ popped up, each explained with a footnote. I cannot speak for all test takers, but I ... more »
