LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-17-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Breaking News: Another School Committee in Massachusetts Allows Parents to Opt Kids Out of PARCC Tests

The school committee  of Tantasqua, Massachusetts, voted to permit parents to opt their children out of the PARCC tests. In doing so, Tantasqua joins the school committees of Worcester and Norfolk, which reached the same decision. The state department of education has opposed opting out, but the school committees are not following orders. The Tantasqua vote was close, 8-7, and the deciding vote wa

12 by dianeravitch / 2h 

Breaking News! Texas Democratic Party Condemns Stealth Privatization of Dallas Public Schools

This just in. On Saturday, the Texas Democratic Party passed the following resolution: WHEREAS Houston billionaire John Arnold, a hedge-fund manager and former Enron trader, is bankrolling an effort to transform all of the Dallas Independent School District into a so-called “home-rule charter district” that would not be subject to essential safeguards in state law for students, parents, teachers,

11 by dianeravitch / 28min 

Rochester Teachers Sue State Over Teacher Evaluations

The Rochester Teachers Association is suing the state over its teacher evaluation system, alleging that it does not take into account the impact of poverty on classroom performance. RTA says the evaluations are “junk science.” “ALBANY, N.Y. March 10, 2014 – The Rochester Teachers Association today filed a lawsuit alleging that the Regents and State Education Department failed to adequately accoun

1 by dianeravitch / 15min 

Privatizers Make Bold Move to Take Over Dallas

Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas is working hard to convince the public that the Dallas Independent School District should be turned into a “home rule” district. What this means is that Mayor Rawlings and his rich pals called (ironically) Supporters of Public Schools want to eliminate public education and turn the whole district into an all-charter district. The shadowy group behind the “home rule”

by dianeravitch / 1min 

Tennessee Teacher Sues to Invalidate Teacher Evaluation System

In one of what is likely to be a tidal wave of lawsuits, the Tennessee Education Association sued the state because a teacher was denied a bonus based on the state’s flawed evaluation system. “The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Knox County teacher who was denied a bonus under that school system’s pay plan after Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVA

4 by dianeravitch / 17min 

Jack Hassard: Why Bill Gates Defends the Common Core

We have long known on this site that Bill Gates’  foundation underwrote every aspect of the Common Core standards. Mercedes Schneider has documented nearly $200 million in grants specifically for the writing, evaluation, review, implementation, and advocacy for the Common Core standards. Jack Hassard, a retired professor of science education, has scoured the Gates search engine and concluded that

by dianeravitch / 9min 

Edward Haertel: Why VAM Fails: The Oak Tree Analogy

Audrey Amrein Beardsley invited Stanford Professor Emeritus Edward Haertel to explain why a video called “The Oak Tree Analogy” is flawed. Apparently there are districts that use this video to try to explain teacher evaluations based on growth or decline of test scores. Whether you are talking about oak trees or corn or teachers, VAM is Junk Science. And if you want to know more, read Haertel’s

by dianeravitch / 14min 

Titanic, 2014?

A reader, Karen Taylor, sent the following reflections about her life as a teacher today: Titanic, 2014 I am finishing the eighth week of my twenty-seventh year of teaching in public schools. Today I had a startling insight- that somehow I have been given the task of saving the sinking Titanic. Public schools are the Titanic, run aground against icebergs of state-mandated test scores and the fail

14 by dianeravitch / 1h 

On Our Way to a Dual School System?

Word of mouth says that charter schools kick students out before the testing begins. The charters make a big show of holding a lottery, but they choose the students they want and kick out the ones they don’t want. They cherry pick the students that will get the highest scores and shed the ones who don’t. What is the end game? A dual publicly-funded school system. One sector gets to choose its

11 by dianeravitch / 2h hide  //  save

Burris: Arne Duncan’s Pathetic Lies About Our Students and Our Public Schools

When Arne Duncan visited Boston recently, he lamented the sorry state of public education in Massachusetts–the highest scoring state in the nation on NAEP, a state whose students have been ranked at the top of international tests—and he praised privately managed charter schools for their excellence. For reasons he has never publicly explained, he wants to see more public dollars and students turne

9 by dianeravitch / 2h 

Marc Tucker on Why Punitive Accountability Fails

Marc Tucker has written an excellent post on the failure of punitive accountability. The working theory behind the Bush-Obama “reforms” is that teachers are lazy and need to be motivated by rewards and punishments and the threat of public shaming. This is in fact a theory drawn from the early twentieth century writings of Frederick Winslow Taylor, who studied the efficiency of factory workers. Tuc

6 by dianeravitch / 3h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-16-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Bloggers Propose the Fight of the CenturyThe bloggers at VAM have proposed what they call “the fight of the century” to replace “the fight of the century that wasn’t.” They refer to the debate that never happened between Michelle Rhee and me. They refer to efforts by Lehigh University to set up a debate between us on February 6, wh

by mike simpson / 9h 

3-17-14 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Pryor: Enough! Read the statute and back off the lie that students must take the common core test

March 17, 2014 Commissioner Pryor, The charade has gone on way to long. Connecticut General Statute 10-14n is clear and concise.  It reads, “For purposes of this section, a state-wide mastery examination is defined as an examination which measures whether or not a student has mastered essential grade-level skills in reading, language arts and mathematics. […]The post Pryor: Enough! Read the statut

by jonpelto / 16min 

Testimony on the Common Core Bill at last week’s hearing

Despite the best efforts of the Malloy administration and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly, the Education Committee conducted a hearing on legislation impacting the he Common Core on March 12, 2014. Connecticut residents provided and submitted incredibly powerful testimony.  Here are just a few of the best examples.  More will be posted in coming […]The post Testimony on the Common Core

by jonpelto / 2h hide  //  save

All I Really Need to Know about Corporate Education Reform (and why we should fight it) I Learned in Kindergarten – by Dr. Yohuru Williams

Dr. Yohuru Williams is a professor of history at Fairfield University and a Badass Teacher Activist.  Diane Ravitch recently featured Dr. William’s piece on her blog. Here is the full piece;  Sometimes the simplest explanations are the best ones. Robert Fulghum’s hugely popular All IReally Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten offers the basis for a […]The post All I Really Need to Know about Cor

17 by jonpelto / 3h 

3-16-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Teachers just never know (By Roger Conway)Valued Reader Roger Conway weighs in with a great letter, For all the words spoken and written about education “reform” and all the bloviating about teacher benchmarks and evaluations, very little is said about what and how teachers feel. And part of the reason for this is that teachers keep their most important feelings about what […]The post

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Answer Sheet 3-17-14

The Answer Sheet:

Wyoming is first state to officially reject new science standards

This time the ruckus wasn’t as much about evolution as man-made climate change, but whatever the reason, Wyoming has become the first state to legislatively block the  Next Generation Science Standards, an initiative aimed at boosting science education across the country. The standards were developed over years in a process that involved the National Research Council, […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 24min 

Billionaires are privatizing science too — not just public education

One of the distinguishing features of the modern school reform movement is the extent to which super-wealthy private philanthropists are leading the drive to privatize the public education system. Some of them believe the public system is inefficient, while others simply don’t believe in the public sector — but whatever the motive, the vast amounts […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 1min 

Are American students grossly unprepared for college?

It has become a common refrain from school reformers that a very large percentage of high school graduates must take remedial classes when they get to college. Are they right? Award-winning Prinicipal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York  looks at this issue in the following post. She has been exposing the […]    

41 by Valerie Strauss / 5h  

The Answer Sheet 3-16-14

The Answer Sheet: How three teachers are dealing with Common Core in classLove them or hate them, the Common Core State Standards in math and English/Language Arts are being implemented in classrooms in most of the country — in some places better than others. A nonpartisan organization called Young Education Professionals asked a few teachers how they are dealing with the new standards, and their

by mike simpson / 8h 

3-17-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Seattle Schools Backs Off on School Cuts

I have received word of the following:The district is to recind the budget cuts to schools and add $1.8M to the budget to cover these cuts.The union is urging members to still attend the School Board meeting on Wednesday to support later start times.I'll be checking in with both groups tomorrow.

by Melissa Westbrook / 44min 

Wilson-Pacific Building Meeting Tomorrow

 I have a call into Mr. Sheppard to ask a couple of questions about this meeting.  Let me know if you have questions; I may be able to get them in when he calls back.NOTICE OF MEETING OF THE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS DEPARTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR WILSON PACIFIC ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLConditions:The Seattle School District is requesting a waiver (departure) from some City zoning regulations for

by Melissa Westbrook / 6min 

"If you know it’s wrong but remain silent, you’re complicit in educational malpractice"

In a very moving and determined move, this Massachusetts parent tells his district what he thinks about ALL high stakes testing. This comes via The Answer Sheet at the Washington Post.Rosa is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth who specializes in curriculum and instruction, language policies, Literacy and social studies education. In his letter, he refers to the

by Melissa Westbrook / 52min 

Nathan Hale has News You Want to Read

I had reason to check in at the Nathan Hale website and discovered their fine student newspaper, The Sentinel.  Very long (I haven't seen such a long student newspaper since I was in high school) and boy, they pack the news in.  (I note that The Sentinel took first place at a Western Washington University student journalism competition recently.)  From a front-page article, it seems that staff may

by Melissa Westbrook / 18min 

The Source/Fusion: Likes, Dislikes, Confusion?

I noted that at the strategic plan community meeting I attended at Hale, several parents said they (and some teachers) have frustrations with using The Source/Fusion.One reader replied:As an SPS teacher I would love to hear what parents like/dislike about the Source & Fusion. Is it limitations in the tool (and if so exactly what aspects)? Is it that teachers don't update the Source? With Fusio

by Melissa Westbrook / 8h 

3-16-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This WeekMonday, March 17thThe wearing o' the Green.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.To note: signups for public testimony for the School Board meeting start at 8 am this morning. Tuesday, March 18thAudit&Finance Meeting from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  AgendaWednesday, March 19thSchool Board meeting starting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda.I see a LOT of audit update items

by mike simpson / 3h 

3-17-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Carol Burris Corrects More Duncan Lies from Massachusetts

Boston's CorpEd rag, the Boston Globe, quoted Arne Duncan's recent lie that 40 percent of MA high school grads attending 4 year colleges take remedial courses.  Did it occur to Globe's Scot Lehigh to do a little fact-checking?  Oh, I forgot, his is a column, so any lie repeated is totally fair.Correction from The Answer Sheet:. . . .What is “staggering” is the gross inaccuracy of the claim. Here a

by Jim Horn / 24min 

Duncan Warns Data Predators to Whom He Gave Privileges in 2009

At the behest of the Silicon Valley billionaires and the testing giants, the Obama Administration gutted FERPA protections for children in schools soon after coming into office, so that now corporate privateers and data predators have rich feeding grounds to collect, sift, and mine student and teacher data for whatever purposes they see fit.With parents and school boards with their hair on fire ab

2 by Jim Horn / 20min 

The common core and testing fever

Sent to the Oregonian, March 19, 2014Brett Bigham suggests that we need more standards and less testing ("Common Core Standards are not insidious: Guest opinion," March 16).  The Common Core,  however, is requiring an astonishing amount of standardized testing, far more than No Child Left Behind (NCLB) required. The new tests include the usual end of year tests, but in more subjects and

1 by skrashen / 5h 

3-16-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Call Your State Senator Tomorrow in TennesseeLocal TV news in Knoxville has typical coverage below of the move by the TN House last week, which voted overwhelmingly to delay implementation of Common Core testing. Note that Mike Edwards, who leads off the "fair and balanced coverage," is the President of Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, a Board of Director member of the Tene

by mike simpson / 12h