NY Common Core Task Force Calls in “Experts” to Help

Cuomo’s NY Common Core task force member Sam Radford (president of the District Parent Coordinating Council of Buffalo) had this to say last week regarding Common Core standards:

“It challenged them to be better and it gave them a set of standards where they didn’t have standards. We should all have the same standards. An A should mean an A no matter where you’re coming from…We need to be clear about the fact that these are good standards. These standards challenge our students to be better. These standards are what our students are going to need to compete globally, and so we want to keep the conversation initially about the standards.” 

Quite a difference from what he offered reporters yesterday:

“Even with the diversity of our background, we don’t know everything. So, in some areas, we need some experts to come in and tell us what certain things are and how they work.” 

Cuomo has a assembled a task force of 15 and charged them with fixing all that is wrong in education in NY. Their very first step is to bring in the “experts” to tell them what to do and say…

NYSED ANNOUNCES TEACHER INVOLVEMENT IN COMMON CORE TESTS- AGAIN!

The next round of NYSED Common Core state tests begins in less than 6 months.

NYSED Commission Elia, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and NYSUT are claiming that the tests will now include input from teachers. Here is the notice from NYSUT announcing this opportunity. What these three groups fail to realize (on purpose or more likely as a badly oiled pr stunt) is that teachers have always been a part of the testing creation process.  )Click here for the roles teachers have played since NCLB testing started in NY.)

Teachers attempted to pair standards with test questions and were offered flexibility with the wording of questions to address the requirements of the standards. Sometimes, teachers were given a bit more voice. For example, when it was clear that none of the test questions matched the new Common Core writing standards, writing was completely dropped from the test (test items only appear as a response to reading, but not aligned to any writing standards). Speaking and listening also had to be dropped as Pearson was unable to come up with a single question that matched the standards. In fact, teachers had such a difficult time setting standards that only about 15% of standards and strands can be used on NY ELA Common Core tests.  Click here for a complete breakdown.

Teachers also score responses from field tests and help create anchor papers that are used during the scoring process. In addition, teachers are part of the final eyes review and can voice concerns before the tests are live.

To clarify, when I say teachers I mean 7 per grade level. 7 teachers per grade level in the entire state are tasked with putting together state tests. How is this possible? The answer is simple- it wouldn’t matter if there were 100 teachers per grade level as teacher input is minimal.

Leaves one to wonder, who makes the decision to put passages and questions on the tests? This is a job for none other than Pearson and its cast of merry psychometricians. Items are extensively field-tested. The items that make it to a live test have produced a desirable outcome (in the case of Common Core tests that outcome is 70% failure). Should the items not perform as the psychometricians predicted they would, Pearson can change cut scores or “equate” passing scores in order to match the predetermined number of students that are labeled proficient. I took on one of the Pearson affiliated psychometricians after he challenged me in the Daily News- still haven’t heard back from him… I guess I got my answer.  Click here for more info.

So what exactly can be done to correct all that is wrong with the 2015-16 tests. Nothing. The psychometricians have been hard at work and the field tests were already given. Still, NYSED, Governor Cuomo, and NYSUT want teachers feel as though they have a say in Common Core state tests.

The test development cycle is a laborious process.  NYSED lays out the 15 steps involved.  Are we to believe that a handful of teachers can somehow work their magic and fix the Pearson test, field test it for accuracy, and have it in the hands of the students in 6 months?  The answer to that questions is not A,B,C, or D.  It is an absolute NO!

Education in NY Headed for an Iceberg

John King had no intentions of leaving NY. While he deserves the credit for creating some of the worst education reforms in NY history, he should also be applauded for attempting to slow Cuomo’s teacher evaluation plan.

As John King was leaving his office in NY, Governor Cuomo sent him a letter.  The letter was meant to serve as a slap on the wrist and called King’s work in NY “unacceptable.”  John was crowned King Botched Implementer by Cuomo and was sent on his merry way.  During his farewell, King took credit for the standards and the curriculum in NY, but he stopped short of taking credit for the teacher evaluation system.  He correctly stated, that the evaluation issue belongs to Cuomo and Cuomo alone.  It was Cuomo’s evaluation plan that drove not only King, but John’s merry men, out of Dodge.  At first, we cheered King’s departure.  Now it has become clear why he left and the future isn’t as bright as we had hoped.

King never formally responded to Cuomo’s letter.  Instead, BOR Chancellor Tisch recruited an interim Commissioner to pen a 20 page response agreeing with much of what the Governor had to say.

Working in tandem- AFT, NYSUT, Board of Regents, and Cuomo installed a new Commissioner in NY.  They needed a Commissioner that wouldn’t waiver from Cuomo’s evaluation plan.  Commissioner Elia has been battled tested.  Her evaluation plan took her former district into the brinks of financial despair and she didn’t even blink an eye. She was the perfect fit.  At least King had the sense to leave, the rest of the folks are working together. This is the reason NYSUT never fought this plan until it was cemented into law.  Instead of fighting a draconian evaluation system that poses a threat to every teacher and student in NY, NYSUT’s President Magee was leading the troops on a wild goose chase demanding equitable funding.  Yes, we received more money and ironically it will not even cover the cost of the new evaluation system.

The message from Cuomo and his Commission (comprised of AFT and NYSUT leaders) will be a simple one- we must move forward.  A few chairs on the Titanic will shift, but we are still headed for an iceberg.