The solution to everything: More Standardized Testing!

Sep 04

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Arnie Duncan, Education Reform, Malloy, Stefan Pryor, StudentsFirst, Teach for America , , , , 15 Comments

Public education experts Diane Ravitch and Gary Rubinstein write about a recent letter from 30 plus “education reform” groups to Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

The “education reformer’s” message; standardized test scores should be used to measure the effectiveness of teacher training programs in the United States.

No don’t laugh, these people are for real.

Here is what they want. Colleges graduate teachers; teachers get hired; the teacher’s students take standardized tests; the standardized test score not only determine which teachers are retained and which are fired, but the scores are also used to determine whether the colleges that trained them should get more or less funding.

Their plan completely fails to take into consideration the role poverty, language barriers and special education needs play in influencing standardized test scores.

What will happen?  Universities and colleges that push their teachers to teach in high income, low need areas will show their “worth” by having graduates that have students that produce consistently high test scores.  Colleges and Universities that urge their students to tackle the most difficult teaching environments, poor, inner city schools, will run the risk of being labeled “failures,” because the students of those graduates won’t score high enough on standardized tests.

Who would even think of such a stupid plan, let alone work to get the Obama Administration to implement it?

A group of 30 charter school management companies…

And who is at the top of the list of organizations signing the letter.

Connecticut’s own Achievement First Inc., the large charter school management firm that was founded, in part, by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

And another group behind the effort, ConnCAN, the charter school lobby organization, that was set up by the directors of Achievement First.

And 50CAN, the national off-shoot of ConnCAN, also set up by Achievement First’s directors is pushing the absurd concept.

Other organizations behind the effort are “Teach for America, StudentsFirst, Democrats for Education Reform (the Wall Street hedge fund managers), The New Teacher Project, Jeb Bush’s rightwing Chiefs for Change and his Foundation for Educational Excellence.”

Read Diane Ravitch’s blog here:  http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/04/talk-about-nerve/

And Gary Rubinstein’s blog here: http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2012/09/04/tfa-implores-obama-administration-to-hold-teacher-preparation-programs-accountable/

As Diane Ravitch notes, “these people and these organizations are wrong. They are driving American education in a destructive direction. They will reduce children to data points, as the organizations thrive…”

The time to stop the standardized testing madness is now.

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  • msavage

    Disgusting, as usual. And please note this very important line from Ravitch’s blog post: Read Gary Rubinstein’s blog about it here, where you will see the full cast of corporate reform characters, many of them funded by the Gates Foundation.
    I’ll say it again–philanthropist, my as$! Bill Gates is a dangerous, opportunistic psychopath who needs to be stopped. Take a good, hard look at his “philanthropic” ventures. Like ed “reform,” where he is partnering with textbook, testing and data manipulation companies to push the testing and “Online learning” agenda so that he can profit. Or his “work” with Monsanto–where the pushing of genetically-altered crops is leading farmers in third-world countries further into poverty while Gates further lines his pockets. Take a look at the sleazy, immoral way he cornered the market with Microsoft. Why would a vulture capitalist suddently turn into a humanitarian? Answer? He WOULDN’T! Everything he has his creepy, sicko hands in is designed to make him more money. He doesn’t give a rat’s as$ about the education of the poor or whether starving children die in India. Wake up, world. Bill Gates is no better than Mitt Romney or Rupert Murdoch. They’re all one and the same–money-addicted creeps who can never get enough of the green stuff. Seriously–would a “nice guy” philanthropist really live in a 66,000 square foot house with HEATED DRIVEWAYS? In a world where our indiscriminate use of fossil fuels is killing creatures at an alarming rate–and threatening to lead to the eventual extinction of the human species?

    • Linda174

      Yes and read about Media Bullpen. I will also link the full article:

      The Gates Foundation has had a seminal role in many of the groups that have advanced both parts of the education reform formula – the high stakes testing that has been used to discredit public schools, and the market-based solutions we have been sold as the alternative. The Gates Foundation has funded most of the market-based reform groups mentioned in this report.

      The Gates Foundation gave $2 million to publicize Waiting For Superman.

      Jeb Bush’s Excellence in Education has been funded by the Gates Foundation for a number of years, and just received a grant for $151, 068 “to complete a statewide communications campaign in Florida delivering the message on why there is a drop in school grades, why it is temporary, and how raising the bar on education standards leads to greater student success.”

      You have heard of the new “parent trigger” movie, “Won’t Back Down”? The organization that initiated the idea, “Parent Revolution,” started in 2009 with funding from the Gates Foundation.

      The Gates Foundation has funded the Media Bullpen, which issues “grades” to the media based on how supportive they are of market-based reforms such as vouchers and charters.

      The Gates Foundation also funded the creation of the Cities for Education Entrepreneurship Trust which launched stating: “CEE-Trust’s goal is to accelerate the growth of high-impact entrepreneurial education solutions in member cities across the country.”

      And although the Gates Foundation announced they would not extend future funding to ALEC, their grant of $376,635 remains in effect, “to educate and engage its membership on more efficient state budget approaches to drive greater student outcomes, as well as educate them on beneficial ways to recruit, retain, evaluate and compensate effective teaching based upon merit and achievement.”

  • AM

    Any chance our universities will see through this and kick TFA recruiters off their campuses?

    • msavage

      See through it? Probably. Do the right thing and go against the slick, immoral (but profitable) flow? Probably not.

  • George Peterman

    The Broad and Walton (as in Walmart) Foundations are also deep into these groups. We’ve been hearing about this type of evaluation for a while, but here it is. It just shows how empowered these pricks, such as Patrick Riccards, feel after achieving some gain in the quest to take down public education. If they can do this in “liberal” Connecticut, what’s next? The sad fact is they aren’t done with Connnecticut yet. ConnCAN and there cronies cry that not enough has been done to protect the poor children. Unions must be outlawed and private companies brought in to save the day. That’s worked real well so far, hasn’t it? To think that standardized test score reflect anything about the teacher-training institutions is just ludicrous. But that’s the infuriating world we live in. These charlatans armed with misleading data are pulling the wool over too many people who don’t have the sense or integrity to look behind the curtain. At least the folks in Windham are waking up. Maybe that will start a little grassroots fire.
    One of the great ironies of all this BS is the fact that the regressive red states that started embracing “reform” first – Texas and Florida to name two obvious ones – are now back-pedalling on their legislative efforts now that they are getting negative results.

  • Magister

    So I guess to survive the college education programs will teach Ed students teach tithe test strategies. Either that, or they will go the way of the dodo bird and teacher prep will consist of deprofessionalized, five week, TFA style training seminars. I have about twenty years left in my teaching career. I hope I can survive this and see the pendulum swing back the other way before it is time for me to retire (unless the underfunded pensions implode and I can’t retire).

  • Linda174

    Read about Charlotte PAA being banned from the Students First sponsored viewing of Won’t Back Down…big guys in black ties woudn’t let moms in and blocked their entrance. I thought this was all about parent choice?

    http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2012/09/pam-and-carols-excellent-students-first-adventure/

  • Luv2Teach

    This is SO scary! Furthermore, in Bridgeport, Common Core books were ordered, so that’s what we’re teaching. We know this administration doesn’t ‘care much’ for those pesky CMTs…However, our Governor deems them acceptable as 45% of our evaluation, so we should care and be worried… and, more than anything, what it’s doing to our kids is just heart breaking! When will it stop? I just want to TEACh and let me kids LEARN, for COL!!

  • Linda174

    Please comment on this article where CT rep.
    Bartlett blames Ravitch for the leaked Students
    First memo that makes him look like another eduvulture:

    http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/former_lawmaker_dismisses_leaked_letter_on_education_debate/

    • jonpelto

      Will do….
      He couldn’t be more wrong.
      To blame Diane for the tone of michele rhee’s organization’s attack on the ct parent’s union is absurd.

      Sent from my BlackBerry please excuss typos

    • Guest

      Makes him look like an eduvulture? Mr. parent trigger what’s in it for me Jason Bartlet?

      Mr. DUI, license suspended, gets arrested while sitting on the CT legislature Jason Bartlett?

      Let’s remove democratically elected school boards with a freaking petition Jason Bartlett?

      Where do they find these people?

      • Linda174

        Please post just that on CT news junkie.

      • Guest

        Posted something a little less obnoxious;-)

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