Saturday, March 15, 2014

NPE: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing

The Network For Public Education | Grassroots Toolkit: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing:










SAVE the DATE!
Wednesday March 19th


@NetworkPublicEd

Twitter Storm


5-7 pm PDST
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Grassroots Toolkit: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing

March 7, 2014 NPE Tool Kit
congressional-hearings
Will Your Congressperson or Senator Join Us?
On March 2, 2014, The Network for Public Education issued a call for congressional hearings into the overuse and abuse of tests in our schools. Our campaign is gaining steam! We need your help in getting even more traction. We are asking our friends and allies to reach out to your Senators and Representatives.
Below are two ways that you can help out. The first is a letter that you can send via mail or email to your Congressperson or Senator. The second is a guide to making an appointment with their staff. Thank you for taking the time to do one or both of these actions?




1. Write a letter to a member of Congress using the following template.


Dear Representative/Senator_______
On March 2nd the Network for Public Education called for Congressional hearings about high-stakes standardized testing. As (identify yourself—a retired teacher, a parent, etc), I encourage you to accept NPE’s request to hold formal hearings.  I believe that it is important to investigate the overuse, misuse, and abuse of high stakes standardized testing.  These tests are having a negative impact on children, public schools, and communities.  Tests should be diagnostic or evaluative. Currently, high stakes tests are used to punish rather than to benefit children.  These tests are not being used in an instructionally appropriate manner, and are wasting precious time and money.The Network for Public Education is calling on Congressional leaders to pursue the following eleven questions concerning testing:
  1. Do the tests promote skills our children and our economy need?
  2. What is the purpose of these tests?
  3. How good are the tests?
  4. Are tests being given to children who are too young?
  5. Are tests culturally biased?
  6. Are tests harmful to students with disabilities?
  7. How has the frequency and quantity of testing increased?
  8. Does testing harm teaching?
  9. How much money does it cost?
  10. Are there conflicts of interest in testing policies?
  11. Was it legal for the U.S. Department of Education to fund two testing consortia for the Common Core State Standards?
I encourage you to visit the NPE website here (http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/), to study the questions, and to answer the call for a formal hearing.
Sincerely,
Name
address
phone
email



2. Schedule a meeting with a Congress person or their staff.
Put together a group of like minded constituents (e.g. school board members, teachers, administrators, parents, students.) and contact your Representative or Senator. If you plan to make an appointment with a legislator by email, write the words ”SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT in the subject line.
What do you say and do when you get there?
  • Have specific talking points. Have a specific focus or goal in mind.
  • Prepare stories and facts to share that show why Congressional hearings are needed.
  • Bring handouts that you can leave with them.
Don’t forget to follow up by sending an email or letter. Consider writing a thank-you note to let the legislator know you appreciate their time and interest. Be sure to ask if they need any further information. Also consider writing letters and op-eds in local newspapers making the call for congressional hearings.
Your congressional delegation will be home March 17-21 for constituent work week. Now is the perfect time to get in touch and urge them to hold the hearings.
For your congressional representative, go here:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
The following web pages explain The Network for Public Education’s call for Congressional Hearings. Please distribute widely!
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Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany? | The Nation

Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany? | The Nation:



Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany?






 On the first Tuesday in March, thousands of students, parents and teachers rallied at the New York state capitol in Albany to protest what the media quickly dubbed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “war” on charter schools and minority students. Eva Moskowitz, the founder of the Success Academy charter network and one of the mayor’s fiercest critics, closed all twenty-two of her schools so that students and staff could participate in what she called “the largest civic field trip in history.”

But it wasn’t merely a field trip; the rally was a political event, in protest of de Blasio’s decision not to approve plans for three Success Academies to co-locate with traditional public schools, and more broadly his proposal to charge rent to charters occupying city school buildings. (The mayor approved forty-five other co-location proposals, five of them put forward by Success Academy.) Moskowitz has been the most vocal opponent of the new mayor’s education policies, though few have been enacted. As the debate intensifies, staff and students at Success Academy are being increasingly drawn into the political battle—or pushed into it, according to several employees who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity.
“I don’t want to say it’s hostile, or abusive, but definitely I feel that coercive measures are taken,” said a staff member who works in the school’s administration. “The rally really demonstrated this 
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Arne Does Boston | EduShyster





Arne Does Boston | EduShyster:



Arne Does Boston





 What a week, reader! The excellence express rolled into the Bay State, carrying some seriously career-ready cargo—none other than Arne Duncan himself. What do you mean you didn’t know anything about it??? Now ordinarily this is the point at which I would lambaste you for eschewing excellence in favor of conducting your own race to the bottom of the wine box. But you’re off the hook. You see, almost no one knew that Arne was in town this week as his visit garnered nary an inch of newsprint. Which seems a little, well, odd, given that the battle over the Liftin O’ the Charter Cap is reaching its acme. Tin foil at the ready, reader. It’s time for another edition of *the story behind the story.* 

¡SIGcess!
The first leg of Arne’s journey retraced a by now well-trod path: to Orchard Gardens, a Boston SIGcess story, otherwise known as the most 
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Measuring Privilege | educarenow

Measuring Privilege | educarenow:



Measuring Privilege

Posted on March 15, 2014 | Leave a comment



Diane Ravitch was recently interviewed in Salon on her thoughts on the current state of education reform.  It’s a great interview with an appropriately prophetic title,  Saying Goodbye to Public Education, so be sure to read it.
Ravitch, very knowledgeable about testing and its effects, highlights here the way that standardized test do not measure the effectiveness of public education, as they are purported to do, but simply measure privilege, and thus reinforce it.
“We’re doing to standardized testing what was done in ‘Brave New World.’ And in ‘Brave New World,’ the meritocracy was determined at conception. We use standardized tests as our means of sorting out kids, and saying ‘you’re at the top, and you’re at the bottom.’ The problem with that is that suggests an end to social mobility. Because the one thing we know about standardized testing is that no matter what standardized test it is, those who have are at the top and those who have not are at the bottom…
There are a few kids who rise to the top despite all obstacles. And kids from 
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solidaridad: Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket

solidaridad: Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket:





Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket



Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket
Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman eliminated most literature from @gatesfoundation's #CCSS racket. pic.twitter.com/1qDAGhRTIo— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 15, 2014
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 33min 

YESTERDAY

LAUSD Parent writes about John Deasy and Casey Wasserman's deceptive practices
LAUSD Parent Crystal Smith posted this incredible expose of John "let them eat iPads" Deasy and right-wing-meddling-millionaire Casey Wasserman's grand deception of Los Angeles families and educators on the Repairs not iPads facebook page. Reprinted here with permission. The teachers, administrators, parents, but especially the students deserve better By Crystal Smith Does anyone reme
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 21h 
Winning LAUSD breakfast combo: Deasy Drinking Water + LA Fund BIC Muffin Mold!
Winning #LAUSD breakfast combo: Deasy Drinking Water® + @LAFund BIC Muffins! @RepairsNotIPads https://t.co/rWSnNI1bbq pic.twitter.com/OAWrtFvIRF— PESJA Los Angeles (@PESJA_LA) March 14, 2014
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 21h 
Repairs, not iPads presents: Repairs not DEASY Rally!
REPAIRS NOT IPADS FACEBOOK PAGERepairs not Deasy RallyTuesday, March 18, 20 at 4:00pm Chatsworth High School10027 Lurline Ave, Chatsworth, CA 91311 We will be Heard!Repair our SchoolsHands off our Repair and Construction BondRestore our Libraries, Early Education, Adult Education, Physical Education, Arts Education, Counselors, Lower Class Size iPads are not a Civil Right! Repairs not Deasy
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 23h 
Teacher help needed: Hannah Nguyen of Students United for Public Education recruiting students for EmpowerED 2014
We need help Los Angeles teachers! Some of you may already be familiar with Hannah Nguyen. She is the USC student who gained national attention when she called Michelle Rhee out at Rhee's own event. Hannah was recently one of the student panelist at Diane Ravitch's Network for Public Education (NPE) event in Austin. She is in integral part of the national leadership of Students United for Public
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1d 

MAR 12

Boyle Heights Parents and Students Rally to Save Beloved School
**************************** Media Release March 11, 2014 For Immediate Release Boyle Heights Parents and Students Rally to Save Beloved School333 Beaudry Ave, Los Angeles, CA. 90017 4-6pm For the third week in a row, students and parents from Roosevelt High School's Academy of Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) will take to the streets in protest of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy's decisi
2 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2d 
SKrashen: Yes, let's drop the SAT essay. While we're at it, let's drop the SAT
SKrashen: Yes, let's drop the SAT essay. While we're at it, let's drop the SAT: Sent to the NY Times, March 11 Re: "Can writing be assessed?"  March 10. There is no point in testing writing form, i.e. the use ...
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2d 
Vote to transform UTLA into an effective defense of public education and humane pedagogy
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 3d 

MAR 11

Return Dr. Rangel, OUR Principal, back to Maya Angelou High School, Fine Arts Academy!
Return Dr. Rangel, OUR Principal, back to Maya Angelou High School, Fine Arts Academy! #LAUSD http://t.co/2GbsKiHClM pic.twitter.com/FkAOw1Z47Y— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 12, 2014 Petition | Rally & Press Conference
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 3d 

MAR 10

Ed Notes Online: Dora Taylor: What is a Charter School
Ed Notes Online: Dora Taylor: What is a Charter School: Dora reminds us of her 2010 piece on charters at the Seattle Education blog. What is a Charter School? The basic difference between a tr...
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 
Did Genethia Hudley-Hayes use John Deasy's ONE WEIRD TRICK to 'earn' [buy] PhD?
L.A. school board candidate accused of falsely claiming doctorate Did Genethia Hudley-Hayes use John Deasy's ONE WEIRD TRICK to "earn" [buy] PhD? #LAUSD #edchat http://t.co/U7GqpbxX7O pic.twitter.com/S6h51rNIhA— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 11, 2014
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 
Professional educator Lydia Gutierrez versus profit minded businessman Marshall Tuck
I'm currently not endorsing anyone in the race for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, but there is one individual whose life-long mission to destroy public education must be stopped. Tom Torlakson would have easily won my endorsement had it not been for his support of the abject Pearson plc, News Corp, and Gates Foundation profit pit otherwise known as Common Core State Standa
1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 
Once more the tyrannical Deasy regime sacks an excellent administrator whose service to students was peerless
Once more the tyrannical Deasy regime sacks an excellent administrator whose service to students was peerless. #LAUSD pic.twitter.com/xCF4fBVXsj— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 10, 2014
4 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 5d 

MAR 09

Lisa Karahalios calls for iPad CCTP oversight committee to continue
March 5, 2014. Speaking at the CCTP Tech (iPad) Committee, Lisa Karahalios expresses disappointment in Dr. Vladovic's decision to shut down the ad hoc committee. "Given that this is probably the largest public works rollout of technology in schools in history, I think this committee should go forward, and it shouldn't just be an ad hoc committee, I think it should be an official committee of
8 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 5d 

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Reflections on Teaching » Week 20-24: Where did the hours go? + Human Rights lesson done right…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 20-24: Where did the hours go?:



Week 20-24: Where did the hours go?









 Waste less EARTH do less homework[Day270]*
So between a week up at Sly Park in the Sierra, parent conferences, and the craziness brought on my an early spring in California, I have become a very poor correspondent about goings on in my classroom. This is the time (before spring break) when it can become a grind, for the kids, and for me. Time goes both fast (look at how these posts have gotten away from me) and s-l-o-w, stretching everyone’s patience. It’s probably the time to change things up, but given a super-busy outside of school schedule I have, that hasn’t happened. What are the kids doing?
  • They’ve started work on Country Reports that will lead to a Tour of Nations fair in April. The exciting part of this is that I’m including the inclusion students who come to my class, so it’s been a good 
Human Rights lesson done right…
So way back, in the dim mist of time (before winter break), I finished a unit on human rights loosely based on an idea from a really poorly executed unit that I first heard about here. The unit had students reading the novel Esperanza Rising, while looking at her life through the lens of a legal document, the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On the whole, the unit worked very well, and t
1 by alicemercer / 58min 

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Teaching & Learning Conference Presentation | InterACT

Teaching & Learning Conference Presentation | InterACT:



Teaching & Learning Conference Presentation

MARCH 15, 2014
tags: , , , 
by 


Greetings to anyone who attended or is interested in our presentation at the Teaching & Learning Conference 2014. We’re glad to share what we’ve done, what we’ve learned, and what we’re still figuring out about teacher leadership.
My partners in this presentation are Pat Graff (NM), Lanelle Gordin (CA), Cheryl Suliteanu (CA), Maren Johnson (WA). Below you can find the main point of the presentation and some useful links. Presentation slides are available at the bottom of the page, though the settings for background images didn’t transfer from Powerpoint and will make some slides hard to read. The slides with information you’re most likely to want to look up or follow up are pretty clear though.
The central idea of our presentation is that teacher leadership is essential to school improvement and advancing the profession. New roles for teacher leaders are already emerging, and we must ensure that as these roles evolve they are formalized (yet flexible!), sustainable (funded and integrated), and truly professional (requiring demonstrated accomplishment and skill). Not everything we talk about is entirely there yet, and our examples are all variations on the theme, but we think our stories are instructive regarding how teacher leaders are changing the field and where we should be headed.
Thank you to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for putting on this excellent conference and inviting us to speak, and thank you to all who came to see our presentation (or cared enough to read this blog post anyways!).
Resources and connections (links open in a new window/tab): Teaching & Learning Conference Presentation | InterACT:
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UPDATE: All Things Education: On strange bedfellows in ed reform skepticism

All Things Education: On strange bedfellows in ed reform skepticism:


Thoughts & questions on race and grassroots education reform
Riffing off of my last post, I have been thinking a lot lately about the intersection of race and the grassroots education reform movement. Here are some thoughts/questions I have come up with:1.  What a person knows about race dynamics constantly evolves, no matter how long or how much one has been involved in struggles against racism, or how involved one has been in communities of color. Once we
by Rachel Levy / 1h 



On strange bedfellows in ed reform skepticism


Lately, there has been some debate over whether progressives align themselves with the Tea Party to defeat the Common Core. I would argue that progressives should be skeptical of aligning ourselves with Tea Party at all because it is an affront to anti-racism and it may lead us to win the battle but lose the war for public education.

Within the progressive white education reform movement, there seems to be a troubling double standard among some members. Why is it an unacceptable violation take Gates money, find common ground with Gates, or consider any potential merits of the Common Core, while working with the Tea Party (many members of which don't think public education should exist) on one issue is acceptable because it's "pragmatic"?

 Nancy Flanagan brought it up a couple of months ago and concluded:
Agreeing with the folks who see the Common Core as tearing children from the arms of their parents is a dangerous business. Let's have a rational conversation about the uses and misuses of content standards.
I agree: Public education advocacy work should be about policies and not about aligning ourselves with individuals or groups--in this case policies about standards and discussions about their use. If individuals or groups endorse the same policies I do, so be it. If your elected official happens to be a Tea Partier, you should still call them to express your views. Just because members of the Tea Party are in power doesn't mean we should abdicate our rights and powers as citizens, or that we should give up hope that people can change their opinions. I will never surrender my rightful role in 
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