"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Friday, September 07, 2012

New York Principals Fight Continues

From Sean Feeney and Carol Burris:

We thank you for your support and would like to provide you with an update on activities since the end of the 2011-12 school year. As always, the most recent version of the APPR Position paper (with all signatures) is available at: http://www.newyorkprincipals.org/appr-paper. Given that the paper with signatures is over 140 pages long, we have also created a separate link for the four-page paper alone.
As of the beginning of this new school year, over 1500 New York State principals have signed the letter: that's nearly one-third of all principals in NYS! We have over 5800 total supporters right now. Be sure to check out our website for the most current information.
Our Work Continues
In the face of everything we understand about improving schools and evaluating teachers, New York State is moving ahead with its "reform" agenda. We will continue to speak out and inform the public of what is happening. It is critical that we all continue to move forward and remember the importance of preserving what works in our schools as we all search to provide the best opportunities for all of our students. 

Some articles to Review:
1) Washington Post Answer Sheet
2) Barbara Madeloni and Academic Freedom
Professor Madeloni was released from University of Massachusetts shortly after a New York Times article appeared highlighting her students' resistance to Pearson's field test. You can read the NYT article through this link. You can view a petition to rehire Professor Madeloni through this link:http://www.change.org/petitions/university-of-massachusetts-at-amherst-rehire-professor-madeloni-and-protect-academic-freedom-2

3) Relationship Between Test Scores and Employment
Hank Levin of Teachers College is an economist and educational researcher. He recently released an important paper on the relationship between test scores and employment. It is very important:

http://roundtheinkwell.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/more-than-just-test-scores-sept2012-2.pdf

4) Georgia Professors Blast Teacher Evaluation System
It seems that New York Principals are not the only folks speaking out these days against unsound educational practices!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/georgia-professors-blast-teacher-evaluation-system/2012/07/09/gJQAFhSbZW_blog.html

5) New York Education Commission
Governor Cuomo established an Education Commission to review all aspects of New York State schools. You can view the commission members and a schedule of upcoming pubic meetings through this link: 
 http://www.governor.ny.gov/puttingstudentsfirst

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