What if there were No Tests?

 The Impact of High Stakes Testing Students, Teachers, and Schools

Introduction: How will students in districts that refuse the tests compare with students that take the tests?
• Background of the Problem: See Lace to the Top, Diane Ravitch’s Blog, Long Island Opt Out, NYSAPE, NYSED, NYSUT, AFT, for primary source information
• Statement of the Problem: High-stakes testing and Common Core have changed education and parents are challenging education officials about the damage it is doing to their children and the motives behind the change. The system is so bad that people who support and fund it prevent their own children for being part of it.
• Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of high stakes testing and Common Core on kids, teaching, learning, and joy in American schools.
• Theoretical Framework: Ravitch’s (2013) Reign of Error, has debunked the notion of an educational crisis in America and supports the idea that children today are part of the “Smartest generation yet.” Students, therefore, should not be subjugated to an antiquated industrial model form of education based on the even more antiquateder Enlightenment to asses the rigor of their education or “commonness” of their abilities.
• Research Hypotheses: Students that refuse testing will experience more joy than those who take tests, teachers that value their relationships with their students more than the scores they earn will be more effective than those that are forced to test prep, and schools that think students are more than scores will demonstrate stronger morale and efficacy than those that focus on testing.
• Importance of the Study: Kids, education, the future. If you need more, get out of education.
• Summary: This study is intended to support the crazy idea that teachers are not our enemy, US education is not in crisis, we need smaller class sizes, fewer educrats, and genuine effort to help reduce poverty.

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Parental Rights Gone Wrong

Tags

common core, education, Parent, teacher, testing

Districts are quick to dismiss parental rights and force students to take high-stakes tests.  It encourages one to ask why?  They must have a great reason. 

 Parents (for the most part) take issue with the high-stakes tests and standards, but not with the district itself.  These high-stakes tests and standards were not created by the district, but have come by way of a much lower authority- John King & Co.

 Lace to the Top has planned a public debate for March 5th, 2014 at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station.  Invitations have been sent to anyone willing to support high-stakes tests and Common Core Standards.  While many administrators are willing to meet parents 1:1 to discuss the many fine points of Common Core and high-stakes testing, NOT A SINGLE PERSON IS WILLING TO PUBLICLY DEBATE THEM.   

 Some districts are protecting the tests and standards at a great cost, forcing students (as young as 5) to sit and stare with an abusive, self-imposed policy.  This is a method of punishing parents and their right to boycott something that is corrupt and unjust, with their children caught in the crossfire.  Districts are also greeting parental refusals with removal of honors courses, mandatory AIS, and elimination of after school programs.

 Districts are willing to punish the students, but will not defend the rationale for the abuse.  I truly question their motives and allegiance.  Schoolhouses once stood as the center of the community.  Some have lost their backbone and have become nothing more than a pipeline for the corporate education reform agenda sending their money, data and students’ future to the highest bidder. 

 

Districts must respect the rights of parents or rewrite their mission statements.    

Lace to the Top

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CONFIDENCE in NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi

Tags

Parent, teacher, testing, union

I call for a vote of CONFIDENCE in NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi.

We are in the middle of a war on public education. The union that provides a shield over its members (and indirectly over the students they serve) is under attack. We have been screaming for help and we have been heard.

In June 2013, Richard Iannuzzi gathered the troops for the ONE Voice rally in Albany. 10,000 members showed. Iannuzzi screamed “GET IT RIGHT”, but King didn’t listen. 

In July of 2013, Dr. Rella and Richard Iannuzzi grabbed green laces and let every student (and parent) in NY know that they are more than a test score. They shouted for King to stop, but he didn’t listen. 

Now, Richard Iannuzzi has called for a vote of no confidence in John King and withdrew support of the Common Core as they have been implemented. 

I am grateful for Richard Iannuzzi’s leadership. 

We can go back and discuss the reasoning and rationale behind NYSUT’s every move, but it is counterproductive and will only weaken us. We need to focus our energy on what we can do now, to make our movements forward strong and meaningful.

We stand far stronger together- AS ONE…

 

They refused to budge an inch; time to reply in kind

Lace to the Top was created to protect kids from bad tests by uniting homes and schools around children. Our mission has not changed. High-stakes tests are bad for kids.

Support of Common Core is bad for kids. APPR is bad for kids. Data mining is bad for kids. A manufactured crisis in public education is bad for kids. State education leaders without children in public education are bad for kids. PTA leadership that ignores parents, teachers, and children is bad for kids. The best plan for me to protect my child from all of these bad things is to refuse the test. My child has not, and will not take tests attached to his teacher’s APPR or field tests. If he were in third grade, he would not take the ELA or math tests.

Our mission has not changed. If we stay together, we will protect our kids and bring about higher standards from the schools we trust, and escape the strings attached from the profiteers we don’t.

This crisis has awakened compassionate leaders with personal interests in the success of children, teachers, schools, and public education. Refusing the tests removes control from those who have ignored our voices so we can work collectively to make schools in our neighborhoods uncommon, joyful, and ours. Refuse as one.

King of NY?

Tags

common core, parents, students, testing

This week the politicians came out swinging and John King (as arrogant as ever) simply brushed off their words and told them he is moving forward with his agenda. 

 While King does not answer to any politician, it forces one to wonder- to whom does he answer?  Clearly it is not the politicians, students, teachers, administrators or parents.  Does anyone else matter in education? 

 How have we developed a system that allows one person to determine the trajectory of education for the entire state?  If one person is in charge, is this the best we could find?  John King only taught for 3 years prior to taking the position (1 in a public school).  His experience in education comes from his work in charter schools.  Charter schools answer to corporations because they have no choice.  Corporations are only concerned about profits and that is just about the worst motivator for schools one could think of.

 NY is not another charter school that King can sell to the highest bidders.  The parents will not allow this to happen!  King may not be listening to our concerns, but as parents we no longer have to force our children to abide by his mandates.

 Hear us now or hear us in March, it makes no difference. We are going to take our schools back!

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Where’s the Proof?

Tags

education, parents, testing

Prior to teaching, I worked for Morgan Stanley as a prime broker for hedge funds.  The year I left to pursue a career in teaching, some strange products came to the market.  They were allegedly “asset-backed” and some of the smartest people spoke with such certainty as to their value.  Requests for proof were met with more rhetoric and people continued to invest with blind faith.   Within a few months, the entire market collapsed and these securities played a significant role.

Education is following the same trajectory of “asset-backed” securities.   We are told high-stakes tests & inappropriate standards are good for our children,.  Our requests for proof are met with the infamous taglines “college and career readiness” and “rigor”.

Lace to the Top is a pro-kids movement that asks one simple question, “Where’s the proof?”  We have assembled some of the best and brightest in the education field and cannot find a shred of evidence.

There are no Common Core Social Studies Standards, but let the lesson of the Great Recession be our guide.  We can no longer sit back and follow an agenda with blind faith.  As terrible as the financial collapse was, the collapse of  education for an entire generation is far worse.

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Why can’t teachers drive CCSS?

Why couldn’t we simply apply the current standards to the resources already in place? Why the need to rush out and purchase everything with a CCSS label? If these truly are just standards, then couldn’t they apply to any text or math problem?

CCSS became far more than a set of standards. It became tests students couldn’t pass and standards teachers couldn’t teach without pricy new curricula or the “free” filled/poorly constructed modules.

The reform agenda will only take us so far. The real buy-in is with technology. Cities and states will be dedicating billions. Only a handful of companies are in that space and oddly enough they are the same companies that control the test.

Goes back to my point- what is the danger in teaching high standards with some great books and math problems that have stood the test of time? As long as 2+2=4 then we should be ok.

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A Beautiful Moment Happened in My Class Today

A beautiful moment happened in my class today. My students are required to grade each other’s memorized poems. I called Juan (name changed) to the front of the room, his eyes closed, and he exhaled. The students, as is the custom, clapped to support his walk to the front of the room and recite his poem, “Nothing Gold can Stay” by Robert Frost. He stood in front of the room, looked to me for the green light to begin, and faced a full class of his peers. He put his hands behind his back, introduced himself, and recited the poem. He stumbled, forgot words, shook, but finished the poem.

Another student recited half the lines and sat. The third, rushed through and sat down. The fourth, spoke softly, paused often, but recited “The World is too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth, word for word.

Where is the beauty in four students reciting poems with so much difficulty and with so little skill? Someone looking to only give the recitations a score would have missed it. The students’ parents would not. Their friends would not. Their teachers would not.

To me, these were not four 17-18 year old Latino and african-American data points from a high tax, low wealth district who receive free lunch. They were not to their peers either.

At the end of the period, I asked the class, “How many kids failed today?” Open mouthed silence, and uneasy stares came back at me. “Who had a tough time giving a failing grade to those who went today?” One hand raised, followed by another, until the whole class was raised. “Why?”

As it always is with education, the best lessons come when the students know why. Their answers were honest; “Because I know how scary it is to speak in front of the class.” Their answers were personal; “Juan has been practicing that poem every day in lunch since last week. He didn’t deserve to fail.” Their answers were wise; “Would you fail them?”

There is no humanity in testing, but there is in teaching. There is no compassion in testing, but there is in teaching. There is no conscience in testing, but there is in teaching. Teaching builds relationships, cherishes them, and values them over skills assessments and data collection. There are opportunities for beautiful things to happen in teaching. The same can not be said for testing.

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FIRE AWAY!!!

Tags

education, parents, students, testing

When 70% of the students are labeled as failures and not meeting grade level expectations, they should have received mandatory AIS.

This year, the rules were “relaxed” since most districts could not afford to provide the required academic intervention services (AIS).  Instead, students and their parents were told they would be “monitored”.

Last summer, most districts penned letters to their communities claiming they didn’t have time or the resources available and the test was not an indication of student performance- at least not yet.

With a 70% failure rate and a promise of incremental growth, we can expect student scores to follow the path of Kentucky (currently in year 3) with 3-5% growth.

In all likelihood, 65- 68% of students will still be labeled failures again this year.  With razor thin margins, there is no guarantee a student that passed last year will pass this year.  The only guarantee is a minimal gain overall.

In year 2, can districts hide behind the same excuses when the results come out?  Is any district strong enough to support the notion that 70% (or more) of their children are failures?

In an effort to preserve communities and education, districts need to take aim at high-stakes tests.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!!!!!

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