Ohio Congressman questions Arne Duncan’s $32 million charter grant - The Washington Post

Ohio Congressman questions Arne Duncan’s $32 million charter grant - The Washington Post:

Ohio Congressman questions Arne Duncan’s $32 million charter grant

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) had an unusual reaction to news that the U.S. Department of Education was giving his state a $32 million grant: He was alarmed.

The money is meant to expand public charter schools in Ohio, which have been rocked by recent scandals involving fraud, oversight failures and the resignation of a senior official at the state education department after it was discovered he manipulated performance statistics to favor some charters.

“The charter school system in Ohio is broken and dysfunctional,” said Ryan, who sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, asking him to “place stringent restrictions” on the federal dollars he is sending to Ohio. “My concern is that we work very hard down here (in Washington) on appropriations to fund and get money back to our state and the last thing we need is a black eye because the money went to a dysfunctional program that we knew was dysfunctional.”

[Feds give $157 million in grants for more charter schools]

Public charter schools are funded with tax dollars but privately operated and are usually not unionized. In Ohio, dozens of private entities are allowed to create charter schools and are permitted to sell them services and have other business relationships that would be considered a conflict in other states. Several for-profit managers of Ohio charter schools also are among the biggest GOP donors.

“There are people making a lot of money off schools,” he said. “Why would we send more money to schools now, when we know it’s going into the pockets of people?”

Ryan wants the U.S. Department of Education to delay the grant until Ohio officials change the way charters are overseen. Legislation to do that is pending in the State House.

Ryan, who represents Youngstown and part of Akron, has strong support from labor unions. But he said his concern about the charter schools in Ohio is non-partisan.

“You may not like charter schools, but if you’re sending this much money you have to make sure it’s going to be used properly — that’s what this is about,” he said. “Our system in Ohio is corrupted, and that’s a real red flag.”

Ryan isn’t alone.

Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, said he was “shocked” by Duncan’s decision to pump $32 million into Ohio charters. “Heck, my first thought when I saw the grant award was concern,” Yost said.

In a special audit this year, Yost found a pattern of charter schools inflating enrollment in order to pocket taxpayer subsidies for students who don’t actually attend their schools.

Yost, a supporter of charter schools, has called the state’s charter system “broken” and repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass reforms.

He said his staff planned to carefully monitor how the latest federal dollars are spent and is asking the state’s department of education to work Ohio Congressman questions Arne Duncan’s $32 million charter grant - The Washington Post

Louisiana Educator: Public Records Request for PARCC data

Louisiana Educator: Public Records Request for PARCC data:

Public Records Request for PARCC data

Today a group of legislators, BESE members, school board members, educators, and citizens filed a formal public records request for the purpose of securing the release of vital data from the Common Core tests that were given to Louisiana students almost six months ago.

            These public officials and citizens believe that the results of the Spring 2015 PARCC testing are in the possession of the Louisiana Department of Education and therefore constitute public records under Louisiana law.

            The law provides that any Louisiana citizen over the age of 18 may request any public record and that the custodian of public records must provide such public records immediately, but at least within a period of five business days.

            These citizens believe that this formal public records request is necessary because numerous similar informal requests by various citizens have either been denied or ignored by the State Superintendent.

            Representative Brett Geymann, the lead author of Common Core related legislation this last session expressed frustration that the data from the tests has not been provided to the educator and parent committee that was formed to revamp the standards. He said, “This last legislative session we attempted to remove the Common Core Standards from our curriculum because it was not appropriate for our school children. However in the course of the legislative process we worked out a compromise agreement that required a thorough review of the present Common Core Standards for the purpose of developing Louisiana Educator: Public Records Request for PARCC data:

Standardized Assessments: Fact vs #EdReform Talking Points » Missouri Education Watchdog

Standardized Assessments: Fact vs #EdReform Talking Points » Missouri Education Watchdog:

Standardized Assessments: Fact vs #EdReform Talking Points

Do you have concerns if the assessments used in your states and for students are valid and age appropriate?  Your state can crow about*excellent* assessment results but as you as a parent can’t access the assessment questions (and neither can your school), how do you know these results are valid and your student is learning anything of value?

Gerri K. Songer published (September 2015) a study she performed on the ACT, SAT, PARCC and SBAC using Lexile scores.  This is quite different than the nebulous *college and career ready* talking points we hear from ed reform NGOs and state/local educational bureaucrats touting why these assessments are critical to this readiness.  Songer’s report deserves a response from supporters of the CCCSSI  on why their reform, based on theory and not actual research/facts, is preferable to a study using a scientific method which in antithetical to the proponents’ talking points.

You can find more on her research regarding Common Core research (July 2015) in Gerri K. Songer Explains Why Common Core Tests Are Actually Harmful to Students:

I was asked by my EA President and the Superintendent of IL HS Township Dist. 214 to review Smarter Balanced, ACT, SAT, and PARCC. The following is a portion of my review:

“In terms of text complexity, ACT, SAT, and PARCC all use excessively high level text. PARCC is by far the worst assessment for many reasons, some of them including the use of multiple passages between which comparisons and contrasts are made; finite detail-oriented questions; and multi-step cognitive analysis. Yet, the ACT disseminated last March resembled PARCC in reading and mathematics, with the exception of Standardized Assessments: Fact vs #EdReform Talking Points » Missouri Education Watchdog:

Jersey Jazzman: The Reformy Arguments Are Getting Worser

Jersey Jazzman: The Reformy Arguments Are Getting Worser:

The Reformy Arguments Are Getting Worser

Michael Vaughn posted a piece at Education Post that makes this increasingly tiresome claim:

But it’s getting harder and harder to see the teachers unions as fighting for the common good when they’re so often fighting against what is clearly good for kids.

I picked apart Vaughn's argument and pointed out he had made assertions that were not backed up by the evidence. He responded, and I agreed to post his response here. However, as this is my blog, I claim the privilege of having the last word.

Let's start off by disabusing Vaughn of several of the claims he makes in his response to me:

And the latest CREDO study shows that urban charters, in some cases, serve more students from low-income families and higher percentages of English-language learners and students with disabilities.

No, it does not. The CREDO study shows in some cases -- emphasis on some -- that the student populations that they studied had those characteristics. This is one of the major methodological criticisms of the CREDO study: its home-grown method for matching students excludes too many charter students who can't be matched to public students.

The table on page 6 of the CREDO study shows the characteristics of the tested students of the charters in the cities studied -- not of all of the students in those charters. The fact that nearly 20% of the students in the charters studied could not be matched is a good indication that the populations of the charters differ significantly from their hosting public school districts. And the study didn't include all cities with charter students.

In addition: the CREDO study aggregates students of varying levels of economic disadvantage and special need into one group. That's not very helpful when comparing charter populations to district public school populations.

And let’s stop the “privatization” nonsense and the efforts to deny parents access to those options.

For about the millionth time: charter schools are not public schools in any meaningful sense. Yes, they access public funds, but so do many non-profit and for-profit organizations that are not state actors. Charters belong in this latter category.

The Ninth Circuit Count of Appeals says so. The Washington State Supreme Court says so (admittedly, it's a matter of local state law in that case). The National Labor Relations Board says so. The Census Bureau says so. Legal scholars writing in academic journals and for the American Bar Association say so.

Further, we know that investors are looking to make money from privatized charter - See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-reformy-arguments-are-getting-worser.html#sthash.oXFP5Wsk.dpuf

Model parent letter on testing | Parents Across America

Model parent letter on testing | Parents Across America:

Model parent letter on testing 

PAA-Roanoke Valley leader Laura Bowman shared this excellent model letter prepared by her PAA chapter for parents to bring to school at the beginning of the school year:

Dear_____________,

Parents are concerned with the number of standardized tests their children take each year. In addition, parents believe the time spent preparing for the tests is excessive and they see the emotional fallout from the pressure from standardized testing on their children and on their children’s teachers. The expense of the tests at a time when our schools are being historically under-funded, and teacher retention rates are at an all-time low, has parents questioning the use of their tax dollars for these tests.

Parents understand the need for a reasonable amount of accountability and assessment. However, parents believe the focus on standardized test scores to gauge student learning reduces their children to mere data points, narrows the curriculum, and robs their children of meaningful learning experiences in the classroom. Parents want their children to become lifelong lovers of learning, not good test takers.

Therefore, parents in your district are requesting the following information on the standardized tests their children will be subjected to this school year. If you deem these standardized tests vital to instruction and assessment, parents are requesting transparency and accountability on your part. In short, parents are asking that you justify the resources, including time and money, being spent in your school district, on standardized testing.

It would be helpful for your school district to provide an answer sheet to each parent at the start of the school year, detailing the answers to the questions below.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response and to the answers to the questions below.

Sincerely,

____________

Parent in your school district

1. How many standardized tests does my child have to take this year?
2. What are the names of these tests and what is the specific academic purpose of each one?
3. Where do these tests originate? Are they mandated by the state or are they the choice of the district?
4. How will these tests affect my child’s academic future or standing?
5. For each test, does the teacher see individual student results and have a chance to adjust individual instruction to help each student?
6. Who sees the scores, where will they be recorded, and for what purpose?
7. Do the scores become part of my child’s record?
8. What are the costs associated with the tests per student and to the district per grade level?
9. How much time does the administration of the test take?
10. What training is provided to staff to administer the test and how much time does that encompass?
11. Can you explain how test costs are used in a way that is in the best interest of the students?
12. How many staff are taken away from teaching or counseling duties to administer the tests?

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/model-parent-letter-testing/#sthash.tQlwosVT.dpuf

A U.S. judge blocks the latest attack on teachers' political speech - LA Times

A U.S. judge blocks the latest attack on teachers' political speech - LA Times:

A U.S. judge blocks the latest attack on teachers' political speech

The lawsuit known as Bain v. California Federation of Teachers always had a Lewis Carroll flavor.

As we reported in May, it was an attack on the collective voice of teachers masquerading as a defense of free speech. A complaint about teachers being excluded from their unions' policy discussions, with two union officials among the plaintiffs. And a purported defense of the rights of students, bankrolled by rich hedge fund managers and the Walton family.

On Wednesday the lawsuit, which named the CFT and five other local and national teachers unions, was tossed out of court by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of Los Angeles. Wilson gave the plaintiffs 30 days to file an amended complaint. A spokesman for StudentsFirst, the organization bringing the suit, said it would proceed.

The group's prime target is the "agency" or "fair share" fee. Under the law and according toa 1977 Supreme Court decision known as Abood, public workers can't be compelled to join a union and therefore support its political activities with their dues. But because public worker unions are required to represent all workers in contract negotiations and enforcements, non-members can be assessed fees to cover solely the cost of those activities. That's the arrangement in California.

The Bain case is part of a continuum of efforts to stifle the voice of teachers--indeed, all public employees--in politics. These have included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2005 ballot initiatives to reduce teacher tenure rights and hamstring public employee unions' authority to spend member dues on political activity. Both failed. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear another effort from California to get Abood overturned, Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assn., in the coming term.

In Plaintiffs' view, this is a Hobson's choice.- Federal Judge Stephen V. Wilson

The Bain plaintiffs maintain that even the agency fee system coerces them to support political positions they don't accept. That's because union membership provides so many benefits that they lose too much by remaining non-members, the only condition under which they can avoid supporting union political stances with their dues.

Essentially, they want to have membership benefits without membership obligations. Their claim in court was that since the unions have contracts with public entities, they're effectively and unconstitutionally being denied their 1st Amendment free speech rights by A U.S. judge blocks the latest attack on teachers' political speech - LA Times:

Big trouble in Florida schools — and it’s not a hurricane - The Washington Post

Big trouble in Florida schools — and it’s not a hurricane - The Washington Post:

Big trouble in Florida schools — and it’s not a hurricane

There’s big trouble in Florida — and it’s not a hurricane.

A battle over Florida’s public education system may be reaching a tipping point, with school superintendents revolting against the state’s school accountability system and editorial boards of major newspapers now weighing in on their side. One, the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida,  is warning against the collapse of that system.

The Florida Association of District School Superintendents issued a statement on Sept. 25 saying that  superintendents have “lost confidence” in the current accountability system for students and schools, which is based on the scores students receive on the controversial Florida Standards Assessments. The superintendents called for a suspension of the accountability system and a full review.

The assessments — given to Florida students for the first time this past spring — are aligned to the Florida Standards, which were adopted in 2014 to replace the Common Core State Standards but strongly resemble the Core. Florida also dropped the Common Core test known as the PARCC, which was created by a multi-consortium funded by the Obama administration to develop new exams aligned to the Core. The administration of the new exams was marred by severe technological problems, frustrating superintendents, teachers and students.

The Miami Herald published an editorial on Sept. 28, with the headline, “State fails its own school district,” that said in part:

The long-festering dispute between local school districts and an unreasonable Florida Department of Education turned into open revolt last week as superintendents across the state finally declared that they’ve lost confidence in the state’s testing and grading system.

The well-justified howl from the districts follows years of mounting frustration with a flawed system that unfairly affects schools and students, and the refusal of state education leaders to acknowledge the damage.

Essentially, the superintendents declared that they’ve had it with a so-called “accountability system” that shortchanges the teachers, students and parents across Florida, regardless of what Education Commissioner Pam Stewart and her allies in Tallahassee may think.

And the Sun-Sentinel ran an editorial [see full text below] on Sept. 29, which succinctly explains what is going in Florida, where Jeb Bush, as governor, launched education reforms from 1999-2007 that were adopted by many states around the country. As the editorial notes, Bush’s standardized test-based accountability system was a model only in the sense that people followed it, not because it was good. It says in part:

The superintendents say in their statement that, “We have witnessed the erosion of public support for an accountability system that was once a model for the nation.” But Florida’s system was a “model” only in the sense it has been emulated. It never has been the perfect model too many pretend.

Now the flaws have been exposed to an extent never before acknowledged. Unless teachers are held harmless and the only school grades assigned are “Incomplete,” the collapse of Florida’s accountability system will be complete.

Bush is now running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and is touting his education reforms. However, he doesn’t discuss the collapse of the Big trouble in Florida schools — and it’s not a hurricane - The Washington Post:

Deposition Shows How Much We Are in the Dark About Smarter Balanced | Truth in American Education

Deposition Shows How Much We Are in the Dark About Smarter Balanced | Truth in American Education:

Deposition Shows How Much We Are in the Dark About Smarter Balanced

I was reading the deposition in David Delk v. Ohio County (WV) Board of Education, a lawsuit currently before the Circuit Court of Ohio County, WV.  Delk is an attorney and the father of a third grader in Ohio County Schools. He filed a FOIA request to see the questions on the Smarter Balanced after results were released.  His request was denied and he then sued.  The person being disposed is Sue Ellen McGuire who is the assessment director for Ohio County Schools.

The following jumped out at me.

Q. And who is the vendor for this test?

A. American Institutes for Research, AIR.

Q. And do you have an understanding how those people who read the assessments are trained?

A. I do not, sir.

Q. Do you have any idea what their background is?

A. I do not, sir. Q. Do you have any idea what their level of education is?

A. I do not, sir.

Q. Do you know whether it’s a part-time or temporary job? A. I have no idea, sir. Q. Do you have any idea what the job pays? A. I have no idea, sir.

So humans are grading the written sections of the assessment and we essentially know nothing about how they trained and what kind of background is required.  Nice.

Then right after talking about who is grading they discuss cut scores.

Q. Does Ohio County Schools have any indication or knowledge what level of performance is required to hit the various cut levels on the assessment?

A. Ohio County Schools has no knowledge of that.

Q. Does the West Virginia Department of Education have that information, to your knowledge?

A. I would say they probably do not.

This report uses a scale score, and the scale scores would be a conversion of the student’s raw score to a common scale. So they may or may not know, and I would be 

Deposition Shows How Much We Are in the Dark About Smarter Balanced | Truth in American Education:

National Education Association PAC likes Clinton for 2016 - The Washington Post

National Education Association PAC likes Clinton for 2016 - The Washington Post:

National Education Association PAC likes Clinton for 2016

The political action committee of the National Education Association is recommending that the nation’s largest labor union endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest.

The PAC, known as the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education, made the decision at its quarterly meeting in Washington on Thursday.

The recommendation now goes to the NEA’s 174-member Board of Directors, which is meeting on Friday and Saturday. To win the endorsement, Clinton needs at least 58 percent of the board to vote for her, and most observers believe she’ll clear that hurdle.

But that doesn’t mean there is unanimous support for Clinton among teachers.

The Vermont NEA has already endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, its home state senator, for the White House. And there’s an effort underway among other affiliates to show support for Sanders. At the NEA annual meeting in the summer, the most enthusiastic cheers went up for Sanders, when NEA President Lily Eskelsen García mentioned the three Democratic candidates, according to Education Week.

As part of the vetting process, the NEA sent questionnaires to all presidential candidates, Democrats and Republicans, but only Clinton, Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley responded. They each sat for a videotaped interview with Eskelsen García.

[Hillary Clinton makes a promise to union leaders: I’ll listen to teachers]

Clinton struck a particularly sympathetic tone in her interview with the NEA, telling the union that people are “dead wrong to make teachers scapegoats for all of society’s problems.”

Clinton’s relations with teachers unions didn’t begin as smoothly when she first entered public life. As first lady of Arkansas in 1982, Clinton pushed to broaden course offerings in public schools, smaller class sizes and institute competency testing for teachers — an idea that provoked a fierce pushback from the unions.

But as a first lady and then a U.S. senator, Clinton promoted policies much more friendly to the teachers unions, including expanding preschool and after-school programs. As a presidential candidate in 2008, she opposed merit pay for teachers, another stance in line with the unions.

[American Federation of Teachers endorses Hillary Clinton in Democratic race]

NEA is the nation’s largest labor union and represents nearly 3 million National Education Association PAC likes Clinton for 2016 - The Washington Post:

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post:

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been called the most powerful education secretary for a reason.

He has led a department that has been criticized for being “a national school board” because of its micromanaging states on some key education issues. Duncan talks a lot about “accountability” and the importance of making sure that schools are doing right by kids. When the department began its $4.3 billion Race to the Top funding competition among states, it made clear what its priorities for applications were, and when it offered waivers to states from the most onerous parts of No Child Left Behind, there were detailed strings attached. (And when Washington did not evaluate teachers by standardized test scores as the department wanted, it yanked the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver).

But when it comes to its support of charter schools, the department hasn’t been doing all that much to manage the more than $3 billion it has given to charter networks and state education departments for the purposes of creating and expanding existing charters. And it just this week announced that it was awarding $157 million in new grants for charters.

State Educational Agency Grantees:

Grantee Name	FY 2015 Funding	Total Recommended Funding
Arizona Department of Education	$15,709,697	$23,624,997
Colorado Department of Education	$18,179,999	$36,359,999
Illinois Department of Education	$21,143,113	$42,286,226
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (District of Columbia)	$10,083,900	$20,167,800
Ohio Department of Education	$32,556,801	$71,058,319
Oregon Department of Education	$4,180,000	$8,790,931
Nevada Department of Education	$7,896,989	$16,481,251
South Carolina Department of Education	$15,218,801	$30,437,602
Total	$124,969,300	$249,207,125

Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools Grantees:

Grantee Name	State	FY 2015 Funding	Total Recommended Funding
Achievement First, Inc.	CT	$3,226,599	$8,453,100
Across the Bridge Foundation	CA	$827,128	$241,6000
Baltimore Curriculum Project	MD	$217,359	$282,720
Einstein Group, Inc.	LA	$2,189,999	$5,000,000
Lawndale Educational and Regional Network	IL	$3,202,879	$6,547,950
Mastery Charter High School	PA	$3,764,836	$9,587,266
Noble Network of Charter Schools	IL	$1,564,999	$8,412,500
RePublic Schools	TN	$3,799,332	$9,599,999
Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc.	NY	$3,794,396	$13,440,000
UP Education Network, Inc.	MA	$2,167,984	$4,335,971
Uplift Education	TX	$4,484,112	$10,330,905
West Denver Prep DBA STRIVE Preparatory Schools	CO	$3,168,894	$6,774,087
Total		$32,408,517	$85,180,498

The largest recipient — getting $32.5 million this year with a recommended multi-year total of $71 million — is the Ohio Department of Education, which runs a charter school program that is among the most troubled in the country.

How troubled? A June story in the Akron Beacon Journal noted that  “since 2001, state auditors have uncovered $27.3 million improperly spent by charter schools, many run by for-profit companies, enrolling thousands of children and producing academic results that rival the worst in the nation.” It also said: “No sector — not local governments, school districts, court systems, public universities or hospitals — misspends tax dollars like charter schools in Ohio.” A Sept. 19 Beacon Journal story had this headline: “Blame and ignorance follow 200th charter school flop in Ohio.”

[Troubled Ohio charter schools have become a joke — literally]

Education Department officials say that they only give grants to high-performing charter school operators but that they don’t have a lot of control over the states. On a press call about the new grants on Monday, Duncan said:Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post:

CURMUDGUCATION: What Happens After You Blow It All Up

CURMUDGUCATION: What Happens After You Blow It All Up:

What Happens After You Blow It All Up

At the Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch last week, Jonas Persson unearthed some footage from a panel in New Orleans posted last June, sponsored by the American Federation for Children, a group associated with Betsy DeVos.

Persson's coverage zeroed in on a minute's worth of talk-noises from Rebecca Sibilia from EdBuild, in which Sibilia appears to rather gleefully celebrate just how awesome the bankruptcy of major school districts would be, allowing the new operators to dump legacy debts like building and pension costs.

Sibilia charges that the post "blatantly (and bizarrely) mischarecterizes" what EdBuild is about, and so I figured, what the hell, I'll just watch the whole thing and see if her somewhat awful comments improve with context.

The clip has not been played much (fifty times when I got there), but it's actually pretty good viewing, featuring some familiar reformy names like Andy Smarick, Mike McShane and moderatorDerrell Bradford, plus some folks I didn't know, like Jaime Casap and Katie Beck. We have thirty-five minutes of discussion to get through, and much of it requires some thoughtful consideration, so if you were hoping for a short blog post, you should probably just abandon hope here. So here we go (the whole clip is at the bottom, in case you want to check my work). 

Knocking It Out and Tone

The actual title of the panel is "Knocking Out Yesterday's Education Models," though Persson reports 

Thompson: Jennings's Call for Education Policy Worthy of Our Democracy - This Week In Education:

This Week In Education: Thompson: Jennings's Call for Education Policy Worthy of Our Democracy - Linkis.com:

Thompson: Jennings's Call for Education Policy Worthy of Our Democracy

Jack Jennings's Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools is a must-read for anyone seeking to improve our public schools. Drawing upon a half century of political and education research, Jennings writes a history of federal involvement in school reform and makes sensible suggestions for the next era of school improvement.

Jennings chronicled the first generation of federal education reforms and their results. The ESEA Act of 1965 had big goals and it was well-funded.  From the mid-1960s to the 1980s, often fragmented federally funded efforts only produced modest improvements and they did not bring equity.  But, those gains now look pretty impressive in comparison to post-NCLB outcomes, especially since their funding did not increase in order to meet the ambitious goal of closing the Achievement Gap. To produce equity for the most disadvantaged students, who disproportionately were concentrated in high-challenge schools, a far greater investment into their entire learning environments would have been necessary.

Jennings then documents how and why NCLB accountability failed. He bluntly reminds us that "Tests do not a good education make.”  Moreover, “When it came to measuring student progress in school, NCLB got it wrong.” Pulling it all together, Jennings’s analysis of NAEP testing results shows:

It is ironic that from the 1970s to the early 2000s. achievement generally rose and achievement gaps generally narrowed, which would seem to refute the Title I evaluation results used to support the shift to test-driven reform.

He also concludes:

The long-term NAEP results showed gains, especially for Black and Hispanic students, until 2008. A disturbing finding, though, is that since 2008, achievement has not increased for students except for 13-year-olds, nor have achievement gaps narrowed between racial/ethnic groups.

Jennings is judicious in summarizing the evidence about the effectiveness of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, telling Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post  “The record will show these policies brought about minimum improvement. ... They also did considerable harm.”

Then Jennings turns to solutions. First, he calls for a vigorous debate regarding the new direction that federal education policy should take. While I applaud that invitation, teaching in an era of failed test-driven reforms has made me more risk-adverse. But, Jennings’s closing paragraph has finally convinced me:

The biggest lesson I have learned over a half century of involvement in education politics and policy is that if you are not working to implement your own agenda, then you are working off someone else’s This Week In Education: Thompson: Jennings's Call for Education Policy Worthy of Our Democracy - Linkis.com:

Brains At Play: What Do We Know? : NPR Ed : NPR

Brains At Play: What Do We Know? : NPR Ed : NPR:

Brains At Play: What Do We Know?

Why do we humans like to play so much? Play sports, play tag, play the stock market, play duck, duck, goose? We love it all. And we're not the only ones. Dogs, cats, bears, even birds seem to like to play. What are we all doing? Is there a point to it all?

The scientist who has perhaps done more research on brains at play than any other is a man named Jaak Panksepp. And he has developed a pretty good hypothesis.

In a nutshell, he, and many others, think play is how we social animals learn the rules of being social. Sort of counterintuitive when you think about it: Play is how you learn rules.

You might learn what your fellow humans think is fun. And what they think isn't so fun. You might learn what your limits are. Or which of your friends likes what.

In fact, play seems so deeply wired by evolution into the brains of highly social animals that it might not be a stretch to say that play is crucial to how we and they learn much of what we know that isn't instinct. In one experiment (not Panksepp's), kittens deprived of play still could hunt perfectly well when they grew up, but they couldn't read other cats' social cues — they jumped to aggression much more quickly than normally raised cats.

Not surprisingly, Panksepp and others think the lack of play is a serious problem. Especially at younger ages. And particularly in school settings. Without play, we know that other species become quick to aggression and have trouble "fitting in." Panksepp thinks the rising rates of ADD and ADHD may in part be due to this problem. In trials where extra playtime was given to kids showing signs of these disorders, there was marked improvement in their behaviors as reported by teachers and parents.

"It's not just superfluous," says Panksepp. "It's a very valuable thing for childhood development. And we as a culture have to learn to use it properly and have to make sure our kids get plenty of it."

A version of this story was published on NPR Ed in August 2014.Brains At Play: What Do We Know? : NPR Ed : NPR: