Do we need the SAT?

Sent to USA Today

Not mentioned in the discussion of changes in the SAT ("Sharpen those pencils: The SAT test is getting harder," March 6) is the question of whether we need SAT-type examinations.

In two different studies, researchers from UC Berkeley, Harvard and Princeton reported that high school grades were a good predictor of college success, and that adding SAT scores did not improve the predictive power of grades alone.

These results suggest that teacher evaluation does a better job of evaluating student potential than standardized testing does: The repeated judgments of professionals who are with students every day appears to be more valid that a test created by distant strangers.

Stephen Krashen


Sources:
Bowen, W., Chingos, M., and McPherson, M. 2009. Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Universities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Geiser, S. and Santelices, M.V., 2007. Validity of high-school grades in predicting student success beyond the freshman year: High-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes. Research and Occasional Papers Series: CSHE 6.07, University of California, Berkeley. http://cshe.berkeley.edu

original article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/05/sat-college-board-redesign-college-entrance-exam/6078091/

BIlingual education: What does the research say?

Sent to Education Week, March 5, 2014

There are two crucial research findings related to the Sen. Lara's proposal to repeal Proposition 227 ("Calif. Bill Would Repeal Bilingual-Education Restrictions," March 4).

The first: study after study has shown that students in bilingual programs outperform similar students enrolled in English-only programs on tests of English reading.

The second: As noted by Prof. McField in the Ed Week article, dismantling bilingual education in California has not improved achievement for English learners in California. 

Both of these findings deserve more salience in the bilingual education debate.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

original article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/05/23bilingual.h33.html

Joy in My School: Save Our Schools

NYS Test Refusals Hit Main Street

Parthenon to Ed Industry Investors: If Common Core Has teeth, the "Performance Gap" Will get a lot bigger!

One of the chief bottom feeders of the ed industry consulting business is Rob Lytle of the Parthenon Group.  Here are two slides from a 2012 ppt. that points out how growth in the ed industry depends upon guaranteed failure mechanism like Common Core, which is the testing delivery system for another generation of public school turnovers to CorpEd.  More here.

Massachusetts Parents Should Opt Out of Pearson Pilot Tests

Clearly the State of Massachusetts needs a wake up call.  Parents should say NO to PARCC tests.  Send a message to the corporate stooges who are more interested in Pearson's well being than the learning needs of children.

WORCESTER — Small percentages of students at 31 Worcester public schools will field test a standardized assessment that could someday replace MCAS, but some parents are saying they want their children to opt out, an option the state says does not exist.

Statewide, 81,000 students, about 8 percent of the total student body, are scheduled to participate in field tests between March and June. They will test drive exams developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and education company Pearson.

As a practical matter, if Worcester students refuse to take the PARCC field test on their scheduled day, they will be sent somewhere else in the building in a non-punitive manner and given something to read or another task, Worcester Superintendent Melinda J. Boone said. "We won't have kids just sitting there idle," she said.

She has yet to hear of any Worcester principal receiving notice from a parent requesting his or her child not take PARCC, she said.

But neither she nor the state believe opting out is an official option. A Feb. 20 memo from Rhoda E. Schneider, general counsel at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to David A. Perda, chief research and accountability officer for the Worcester public schools, says that students "must participate in the PARCC field test, which is a component of the statewide student assessment program" mandated by state law.

J.C. Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said Friday, "There's no provision to opt out of PARCC."

Ms. Boone, too, said, "This is like any other state assessment program, and there is no opt out" provision, although there may be little the district can do about students who refuse to take the test.

Donna M. Colorio, a parent and former School Committee member, pointed to the Policies Handbook for the Worcester Public Schools for legitimacy. On page 18, it says, "Students whose parents opt them out of state or district standardized assessments will not be academically penalized or face disciplinary action except as prohibited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or of the United States." But in an apparent contradiction of this, the book says on the following page, "All students… are required to participate in all MCAS tests scheduled for their grade."

"That handbook is a problem," Ms. Boone said Friday. The policy was written before she arrived in 2009, but she believes it is meant to protect children from repercussions in all but 10th grade if their parent is "a true conscientious objector" to a standardized test. Students still must complete the 10th grade MCAS requirements to get a high school diploma.

Ms. Colorio has been distributing electronic and hard copies of opt-out forms. She believes students are being forced to be research subjects so that Pearson, the corporation that developed the test with a consortium of states, can test its product. Ms. Colorio believes parents can opt out of the field testing if they submit their request in writing to the school.

She is against PARCC itself, against the field testing, and against the fact that field-tested students in Worcester will also have to take MCAS. "I think we're over-testing," Ms. Colorio said.

Edward L. Moynihan's daughter is in 10th grade and is scheduled to take both the MCAS tests, which are a graduation requirement, and a PARCC field test, which he intends to have her skip.

"They're taking a couple hours of class time away from her and away from her teachers," he said. "I am in charge of her education first and foremost, and when she enters the classroom, I give her to teachers to educate her, but I don't give up my parental rights."

He plans to address the School Committee on Thursday and ask its members to do more parent outreach and education about the tests, such as meetings at school where some classes will take the field tests.

Ms. Boone said parents of students in classes doing the field tests will get a letter about the tests. Selected classes at 31 schools in the district are participating, but not entire schools. The field tests should not be stressful, she said, because they will not count for anything for the student or their school this year.

School Committee member Tracy O'Connell Novick also believes that parents have the right to choose whether their child should take the field test, though she objects to the field testing mainly because Ms. Boone is having field-tested students take their regular Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exams on top of PARCC field tests. Ms. Novick cited Canterbury Street School as the worst example of test overload: Two of the school's third-grade classes will take MCAS for the first time, plus two types of PARCC tests. Why not let those kids skip MCAS for a year?, she wondered.

"Don't pretend that the only way you get any information is from the MCAS," Ms. Novick said.

State Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester left the issue of whether to double test up to superintendents, and Ms. Boone has been steadfast in her decision. She said Friday that parents and principals have said they do not want to miss a year of MCAS data showing how their children and school are progressing. The PARCC field tests will not produce any scores for parents or districts.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported Feb. 24 that Northampton's superintendent and School Committee have requested to withdraw from field testing for other reasons, namely the time involved in setting up and overseeing the tests and the lack of a wireless network needed for the computerized version of the test. The superintendent did not return a call for comment Friday, and the state had not taken any action on the request.

Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said: "I don't believe the parents can individually opt out, but I think if the districts want to opt out, I'm not sure that the state has the authority to coerce them."

The association has not taken a position on PARCC or on the Common Core curriculum, which is already in place in Massachusetts and which PARCC is designed to test.

The state is scheduled to decide in fall 2015 whether to replace MCAS English and math tests with PARCC.

Contact Jacqueline Reis at jreis@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JackieReisTG

Randi the Riddler Goes BAT Shirt Crazy

If you are a BAT dedicated to ending high stakes tests and the testing delivery system, Common Core, you may want to grab your BAT barf bag.

Ravitch Conference invited guest and Ravitch chum and Common Core fanatic, Randi Weingarten, emerged from her meeting looking like Robin's mom.

Tennessee School Board Model for Resistance to CorpEd

RESOLUTION OF THE RUTHERFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

IN OPPOSITION TO  LEGISLATION

THREATENING A FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

WHEREAS, Rutherford County Schools are not for sale; and

WHEREAS, a number of bills are being advanced before the State of Tennessee’s legislature by private lobbyists and for profit companies aimed at privatizing the State of Tennessee’s free public education system; and

WHEREAS, a number of out of state companies and alleged non-profit organizations are lobbying our State Representatives and our State Senators to obtain funds from the public education system to benefit their private companies and organizations; and

WHEREAS, paid lobbyists are lobbying our State Representatives and our State Senators to propose and vote for legislation seeking to move the State of Tennessee in the direction of allowing private companies and organizations to take control of our State’s free public education system; and

WHEREAS, many of these companies and organizations are out of state companies and organizations who are spending significant sums of money to advance their agenda through television advertising and lobbying; and

WHEREAS, the public education system of Tennessee is best managed by Tennesseans for which it serves and not by out of state companies and organizations; and

WHEREAS,  paid lobbyists routinely appear before State of Tennessee legislative committees seeking to advance the causes of their private companies and organizations; and

WHEREAS, the taxpayers of the State of Tennessee do not have any lobbyists to protect the interests of Tennesseans in the State’s free public education system; and

WHEREAS, HB 2293 seeks to restrict the ability of Boards of Education across the State of Tennessee to provide information and communication to State legislators and legislative committees regarding education related matters; and

WHEREAS, legislation has also been introduced seeking to enlarge State government’s central control over local school systems and remove decisions from locally  elected  Boards  of  Education  to  appointed  State  of  Tennessee  officials  in Nashville; and

WHEREAS, local Boards of Education who are familiar with their local area, demographics, schools, citizens and employees are able to make better decisions utilizing their taxpayer’s dollars than State appointed officials; and

WHEREAS, Rutherford County continues to have one of the highest achieving school systems in Tennessee and proposed legislation is threatening the school system; and

WHEREAS, the success of the Rutherford County School System is one of the primary factors attracting new employment and businesses to Rutherford County and growing the Rutherford County economy; and

WHEREAS,   proposed   legislation   also   threatens   the   economic   future   for

Rutherford County;

NOW,  THEREFORE,  be  it  resolved  by  the  Rutherford  County  Board  of

Education:

1.    The Rutherford County Board of Education opposes HB 2293 seeking to limit Boards of Education ability to participate in legislation affecting the public education system.

2.   The  Rutherford  County  Board  of  Education  opposes  HB  2250  seeking  to restrict local Boards of Education ability to control its own budget.

3.   The Rutherford County Board of Education opposes SB 0677 seeking to vest certain control over local Board of Education matters to the State of Tennessee’s appointed Commissioner of Education.

Alan Morrison: Another Indiana Amway/Walmart Player

By Doug Martin

After Indiana House District 42’s Republican Alan Morrison appeared at a crackerbarrel session in the small town of Clinton over the weekend, someone noted on facebook that “Morrison was very condescending and argumentative to some of the citizens, especially to a couple of local school teachers.”   This is no surprise to people closely following the school privatization movement in Indiana, but the good citizens of Clinton (and those in Vermillion, Vigo, Clay, Warren, Fountain, and Parke counties which make up Morrison’s district) probably don’t know that Morrison, like his comrade and fellow Republican Bobby Heaton, have been bought by billionaires who want to turn Indiana schools over to for-profit companies (some of which have funded Indiana Republican campaigns) and give money to religious schools.

Morrison, like local basketball hero Heaton, has a background in sports, not playing them but as a corporate executive of the Flint Generals hockey team. He  now works directing recreational services for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

And like Heaton, Morrison has been bought by 13 extremely rich people out to privatize Indiana public schools.  In 2010, Morrison received $72,000 from the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC (see page 2 in PDF), by far the biggest contributor to his campaign.  The Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC is funded by the Walmart/Amway Corporation DeVos family/hedge fund  manager/school voucher/charter school millionaires and billionaires who run the American Federation for Children and All Children Matters, front groups which I detail in my upcoming book Hoosier School Heist. 

Here is how the Walmart and DeVos/Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC's school privatization  agenda went down.  Using heavy funding from 13 donors which included Betsy DeVos, Walmart’s Alice and Jim Walton, Pennsylvania hedge fund managers, two leaders of charter schools in Indiana (John Bryan and J.C. Huizenga), and Jeb Bush friend John Kirtley, the American Federation for Children’s Indiana-registered PAC in 2010 funneled over $4.6 million into the Hoosier state (through the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC) and six other states using the Terre Haute office mailbox address of Christian Right lawyer James Bopp Jr., the man behind the Citizens United case which gave rights to corporations to fund campaign super-PACs without publically disclosing their donors and who also handed Morrison some money (see page 4). 

In 2010, the American Federation for Children gave various Indiana corporate school front groups $375,000 to attempt to swing eighty-five primary and general elections, using millionaire Fred Klipsch, School Choice Indiana, and Hoosiers for Economic Growth to elect a super-majority of Republicans to the Senate and take total control of the House to pass anti-public education laws in 2011.

In April 2012, Klipsch even wrote a letter endorsing Morrison again (or someone on the DeVos/Walmart family payroll wrote it).

On his website, Morrison says “I value family, education, individual freedom and limited government as major components for success.”  But the family he values most is the Amway/Walmart family.  Limited government, for Morrison and all Indiana Republicans, translates into handing taxpayer money over to the school privatizers.  

Morrison however, believes it is not the for-profit charter schools run by Jeb Bush’s friends who are destroying schools in Indiana; it is the illegal immigrants who are “a drain on education.”

There’ s not a whole lot of illegal immigrants in Clinton, Indiana, draining funding from the schools, but Walmart moved in a few decades ago and helped close down all the local businesses. And people like Morrison won’t rest until Walmart-funded charter schools close down a few community schools in his district, too.

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The Witch of Wall Street May Go to Court

Federal Judge Orders Michelle Rhee Suit to Go Forward, will Broaden to Concealment and Fraud Claims

A US federal judge has denied a Motion to Dismiss by former DC Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee in a wrongful termination lawsuit over the mass firings of DC Public School teachers back in 2009. Case to be amended to add concealment and fraud claims against Rhee and her CFO Noah Wepman.

       

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) April 01, 2013

For nearly three years, efforts by hundreds of DC Public School teachers who were victims of the much publicized mass firings by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee- herself hailed as a reformer and darling of major media- have failed to gain any traction in the courts.

However, in what may be a turning of that tide, US District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras has denied Rhee’s motion to dismiss claims by a music teacher that his firing was concocted by using a misapplied or non-existent job title to enable his poor evaluation and subsequent firing.

The suit involves Willie J. Brewer Jr., a 53-year-old teacher who worked for DCPS for 28 years before being terminated in October of 2009 due to “budgetary constraints” under a RIF (Reduction in Force). Under this circumstance, the pecking order of teachers to be terminated as determined by Rhee, were first those with poor performance evaluations. 

However, Brewer claims he was an instrumental music teacher and that his RIF competitive standing was erroneously governed by the standards for a vocal music teacher, a position that required a skill set different from his own. As a result, Brewer claims he scored a poor evaluation and was terminated.

Brewer has set out to prove that his circumstance was not the result of mere error but an illegal systematic effort by Rhee to replace teachers en masse- perhaps supported by Rhee’s own public statements regarding her ideology to aggressively fire, en masse, teachers she deems as failing.

(Read Judge Contreras’ Memorandum and Order for US District Court for the District of Columbia Civil Action No. 11-1206 http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=1&xmldoc=In%20FDCO%2020120921E21.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR&SizeDisp=7)

Along that line, it has been learned that Brewer will now amend his original complaint to broaden the scope of Rhee’s alleged actions into possible civil fraud and concealment claims. This has developed as a result of videotaped testimony by the former DCPS CFO Noah Wepman before the DC City Council on November 30, 2009. In that testimony, Wepman appears to admit that he willfully concealed, with the knowledge of Rhee, the true accounting figures which indicated that the DCPS had no budgetary shortfall at all- the pretext for the RIF to be instituted and the mass firings to take place.

The alleged scheme indicates that after the mass firings occurred, Rhee and Wepman then reported the true accounting figures and the money re-appeared in the DCPS budget enabling them to hire an entire flock of new teachers.

If Brewer prevails, with the case now in its discovery phase, Rhee’s- and now presumably Wepman’s- ideological experiment, which has been widely heralded by an entire nation, may quickly unravel.