Showing posts with label Pearson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pearson. Show all posts

Saturday, May 9, 2015

A Jersey Teacher Responds to Alfred G. Binford's Defense of Pearson

New Jersey spent $108 million dollars on the PARCC and I have to buy pencils out of pocket... The aim of Pearson is to lay the ground work for the colonization of public schools systems in largely minority urban communities by contributing to the stack ranking of teachers leading to expedited terminations and the shuttering of so called failing schools.

A Jersey Response to Alfred G. Binford's WaPo piece in Defense of Pearson

The view from the trenches of a Newark Public Schools teacher differs significantly from the perspective of Alfred G. Binford, managing director of assessment and delivery at Pearson. Binford claims that Common Core State Standards provide students with a solid foundation in reading and math. New Jersey previously had well designed standards particularly for English as a Second Language, which is my area of expertise. The Common Core does not address the needs of English Language Learners. The unstated goal of instituting national standards is to create a uniform market for multinational corporations such as Pearson.

The PARCC robs New Jersey students in testing grades of six weeks of instruction, not to mention the untold hours devoted to prepping for the Endless Testing Regime. In addition, my school is under lock down each day until testing is completed. Some children not being tested are deprived of specials teaching Art, Music, World Language because they are utilized in test administration. Teachers receive test results after students have exited their classrooms and are, thus, unable to use the assessments to drive instruction. Teachers are prohibited from examining test questions, thereby, blindfolding them in any attempts to analyze student strengths and weaknesses. Binford’s postulation that the test results provide a vital snapshot of student performance and growth is laughable.

New Jersey spent $108 million dollars on the PARCC and I have to buy pencils out of pocket. Coincidentally, Commissioner of Education David Hespe sits on the PARCC Consortium Governing Board cementing the cozy New Jersey relationship with Pearson. Binford contends that the New Jersey Department of Education was contacted by Pearson to protect the interests of students who had yet to take the PARCC. It was my impression, however, that Pearson was attempting to protect its financial investment in test questions by violating student privacy. The fact not clearly comprehended by Pearson is most New Jersey school children are minors and are, therefore, not parties to non-disclosure agreements.


Despite Binford’s assertions, equity for all students is not ensured by strong accountability and assessment systems. Pearson testing does not mitigate the effects of homelessness, hunger, incarceration, drugs, fatherless children, crime and violence on children growing up in poverty. The aim of Pearson is to lay the ground work for the colonization of public schools systems in largely minority urban communities by contributing to the stack ranking of teachers leading to expedited terminations and the shuttering of so called failing schools.

Abigail Shure

Ed Notes reporter in New Jersey.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Parsing Pearson After Politico Expose

Pearson has been in the news with a Politico piece-  promoted by Diane Ravitch: A MUST-READ: Stephanie Simon in Politico: A Blockbuster Report on Pearson’s Money Machine

We had a heads up the other day with some comments from inside the Pearson machine that were shared with some people in Change the Stakes. There are a few pdfs with some of the comments pointed to below. I know some of these comments don't make sense without the documents but I am not going to post these but will send them to anyone interested- normsco@gmail.com.

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Usually most of the things they say on their internal web site are either dull and unimportant, or shrouded in their lingo (words like "efficacy," etc.) but here we have shilpi giving out talking points, about a politico article that's going to be published today about them.
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Here we have them talking about "lessons learned" from the parcc
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Here is something from January 21, 2015; This is their hilarious response / talking points regarding the recent fortune magazine article, called 'everyone hates pearson,' -- they completely dodge any questions about lausd and their so called charitable foundation, and they deny that barber wants global standards (of course he does) and they go on about how they are the most accurate assessment system ever!
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Maybe you've seen this one, ...but it's straight from the horse's mouth about how they are purposely dumbing down the children, I mean, they say it right there, "this material has been totally re-written, not repurposed from existing materials" and, get a load of the math problem on page two, where "marta" has a glass full of pieces of gravel VARYING IN SIZE (varying in size!!!!) and yet she has to GUESS how many will fill the glass, I mean, THIS IS NOT MATH, this is not rounding numbers, it is absolutely designed to confuse young children and make them feel that there are no correct, exact answers that can be found.  They want kids to do it by a "best-fit" line.  And with algebra, they're teaching it all wrong, they're having the kids move all the scientific formulas around first, solving for just one variable, before plugging in numbers.  That's an extra step you don't need to do, and makes problem-solving very time-consuming. They apparently don't want you to be able to plug in numbers directly into formulas written the way they're supposed to be written in the standard format.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Parents and Educators Reject the Tests, the Scores and Corporate Agenda of NYSED & Pearson

Fred Smith, a test specialist formerly with the NYC Department of Education (DOE) stated, “The State Education Department took a half-step by releasing 50 percent of the English and math questions from the April 2014 exams. It was a half-step not just because it falls halfway short of full disclosure, but also because SED fails to provide data at its disposal that would enable objective evaluation of the questions, each of which is a brick in the wall of the testing program.”   
Where is our union - UFT/NYSUT/AFT? Just the other day, NYSUT Puppet President Karen Magee led a phony tearing up the Pearson contract event. I'll let Arthur over at NYC Educator make the case: NYSUT Takes a Stand. Or Is it a Sit?



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  August 14, 2014
More information contact:
NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) www.nysape.org
Parents and Educators Reject the Tests, the Scores and Corporate Agenda of NYSED & Pearson
Today Commissioner John King and Chancellor Merryl Tisch released the test scores of the state exams in 3-8th grades, showing that, more than 68% of the state’s students were judged not proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) and more than 64% not proficient in Math.  The overall results were largely flat with little to no change year over year with only small gains and drops for specific demographic groups. 

Members of the New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), a coalition of more than 50 parent and educator advocacy groups, challenge the quality of the tests, the accuracy of the scores, and the motives of those who have manufactured these results.  This past spring, NYSAPE estimated that at least 44,000 students had opted out of the state exams; today the Commissioner admitted that the number was as large as 60,000 compared to 10,000 in 2013.
As the growing problems with New York's excessive and speculative testing reforms are exposed, parents across the state are outraged and calling for an overhaul at the state education department.
Lisa Rudley, Westchester county public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE said, “Though Commissioner John King assured us that the new Common Core state tests would be a much better reflection of the skills students will need for ‘college and career’ success with the release of 50% of the questions last week, we learned what educators were forbidden by law from telling us:  these were flawed tests, riddled with vague questions, inappropriate reading passages and multiple product placements. In its new Pearson contract signed amidst a financial crisis, NYSED doubled annual spending on testing and even worse, eliminated the transparency of the previous McGraw-Hill contract.  Where is the management from NYSED and the oversight from the Board of Regents?"
Dr. Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School on Long Island said, "Considering the more than $28 million taxpayer investment in curriculum modules, this paltry increase in scores is one more indication of the ineffectiveness of State Education Department's reforms, and the inappropriateness of the Common Core tests. Parents should take heart in knowing that the ‘college readiness‘ proficiency scores have no connection with reality. My high school and many other well-resourced high schools in NY have proven records of preparing students for college success that are no way connected to the state's newest measure of proficiency."

Eric Mihelbergel, Erie County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE said, "If the released questions are this bad, you have to wonder how much worse the other half were.  I have no confidence in the results released today. Parents now demand new leadership for a Board of Regents and Commissioner of Education who repeatedly fail to adequately respond to their legitimate concerns.”
“Many of the multiple choice questions required up to five steps and compelled 8 year olds to flip back forth between numbered paragraphs. The question becomes more of a measure of attention, memory and test taking skills rather than their deep understanding of a text. The commissioner has stated that education should not be about test prep, but these tricky assessments all but ensure that test prep will continue -- to the detriment of real learning,” said Bianca Tanis, an Ulster County public school parent and special education teacher.

Jeanette Deutermann, Nassau County public school parent and founder of Long Opt Out said, “This past spring, 55,000 to 60,000 New York State students were spared from yet another year of test scores that were designed to show a large majority of failures. The number of opt outs will steadily grow until NYSED takes the concerns of parents seriously and makes the necessary changes to our children's excessive high stakes testing regimen. High stakes testing and the Regents Agenda have hijacked our classrooms, and every day more parents become aware of how they too must protect their children from these harmful policies.”
Jessica McNair, Oneida County public school parent and educator notes, "Until the NYSED acknowledges that these developmentally inappropriate exams take time away from instruction, cost taxpayers, and set kids up to fail -- in an attempt to perpetuate the false narrative of Governor Cuomo’s ‘death penalty’ for schools -- parents will continue to refuse to allow their children to participate in these state tests.”

“The test content was not sufficiently disclosed and there was no quality assurance or mechanism for parents or educators to obtain valuable feedback. The bottom line is that students are getting hurt, money is being wasted and precious time is being spent on high stakes testing at the expense of more meaningful instruction. The system surrounding the NYS testing program is dysfunctional to say the least,” said Anna Shah, Dutchess County public school parent.

Fred Smith, a test specialist formerly with the NYC Department of Education (DOE) stated, “The State Education Department took a half-step by releasing 50 percent of the English and math questions from the April 2014 exams. It was a half-step not just because it falls halfway short of full disclosure, but also because SED fails to provide data at its disposal that would enable objective evaluation of the questions, each of which is a brick in the wall of the testing program.”     

“Like many other parents, I see how flawed the tests are as a measure of learning, and fear for all those millions of students who are told, unjustly, and at an early age, they aren’t ‘college and career ready’. These tests which ask our children to prove the existence of Big Foot and expose them to numerous and inappropriate product placements are the furthest from rigor one could imagine.  I question the motives of the bureaucrats and the testing companies who are forcing these inappropriate exams onto our children – to try to prove to the public that our schools and children are failing, so they can better pursue their privatization agenda and the outsourcing of education into corporate hands,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Thursday: Advocates plan to protest $66 million tax break given to Hoboken publisher

Pearson proves it is gifted and talented at getting tax breaks.

Pearson_Education_logo.jpg 

HOBOKEN – Not everyone is happy about New Jersey's generous corporate tax breaks that helped lure publishing giant Pearson Education to Hoboken.

A coalition representing education, labor, and community advocates are planning to protest the state's $66 million tax credit subsidy to Pearson on Thursday, at the Hoboken Ferry Terminal, 1 Hudson St., beginning at 12:30 p.m. 

The protestors plan to brandish a large fake check made out to Pearson.
The state subsidy program provides subsidies to corporations to retain and attract jobs to New Jersey.

Pearson North America spokeswoman, Wendy Spiegel said in a statement.
Officials with the publishing company, which has pre-leased five stories of the 14-story building Waterfront Corporate Center III, at 221 River St., said at the groundbreaking in Dec. 2012 they plan to relocate 900 employees to Hoboken from Upper Saddle River and Old Tappan in 2014.

"The businesses of Pearson and the talented employees who work with us in the state of New Jersey have a decades-long history working in the state," Pearson North America spokeswoman, Wendy Spiegel, said in a statement. "We are committed to this state and, as we relocate our offices from Upper Saddle River to Hoboken, the number of New Jersey employees will remain constant with the move."

New Jersey Economic Development Authority President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Lizura said in December that Pearson would receive a state Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit of up to $66 million. In return, the company  must retain at least 700 jobs in northern New Jersey for at least 10 years and keep 1,700 people employed statewide in each of the 10 years.
Critics say that the tax credit programs has failed to bring the state’s unemployment rate in line with neighboring states and takes money away from investment in education and other social programs.

Speakers slated to speak at the protest will be Bill Holland, executive director, of New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Stan Karp, director of  Secondary Reform Project, Education Law Center, and Leonie Haimson, executive director, Class Size Matters.

Pearson Education publishes textbooks and produces a range of other educational materials for students and teachers.

Legislation designed simplify the state’s economic development tax incentives was approved by the Assembly yesterday.
 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Pearson’s plan to control education

Susan Ohanian included this in her daily update:
Don't miss the research on Pearson's intent to conquer the world. This research was commissioned by the British Columbia Teachers Federation. Where are our unions? The AFT is making model lessons for the Common Core.
http://www.susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=494

Pearson’s plan to control education
Donald Gutstein
Report to the BC Teachers Federation
2012-06-30
http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=494

Read this Report to the BC Teachers Federation. It is thorough; it is scary. It is critical information.

And here is some good news from Susan:
Schools That Change Communities
Susan Notes:
Schools That Change Communities a film by Bob Gliner 58 minutes Watch the trailer and order the film here
by Susan Ohanian
Rejoice. Here's a film about good things happening in schools.
A celebration of place-based education, Bob Gliner's film will lift your hearts--and your will to combat the regimented, standardized offal that Bill Gates has bought for the schools.
From primary graders in the Mattapan section of Boston learning about their neighborhoods to high schoolers in Watsonville, California documenting their community, these kids don't have to ask, "Why am I learning this?" They know. And so do their communities, which become such a vital part of the education exchange. That's the whole point, really, getting schoolkids connected in very real ways to their communities.
When high schoolers in Howard, South Dakota decided to take on the issue of getting people to spend money at home rather than traveling elsewhere, one girl wrote Senator Daschle for help. Everybody was amazed that he came in person. What astonished the student was "He took the time to listen."
It's a poignant moment, one I replayed several times. Students aren't used to anybody listening.
The whole school reform movement could be turned on end if people would listen more. Really listen.
People in Howard, South Dakota took the students' words to heart--because all the subject area teachers participated in this place-based learning effort to reinvigorate the town. And some of the results turn out to be "cutting edge" technology.
In Cottage Grove, Oregon, students at Kennedy Alternative High School are involved in the sustainability of the surrounding environment, and in Watsonville, California they are interviewing people in the town--migrant workers, the Salvation Army, the mayor, and lots of others--trying to learn about the economic problems and what they can do. As one student says, "There is a problem and we need to help fix it."
Cottage Grove students spend a few days out in the field and this experience energizes their studies back in the classroom. As an administrator says, "These studies aren't easier; they're different." So when students are learning math skills through their work on a wetland mitigation project, they see real problems, not just textbook math problems.
A profound comment made in Watsonville, where 50% of the population do not have high school diplomas: Teachers discover they have a voice ... seeing themselves as people who can effect change in the system.
And how many teachers do you know who have said that lately?
"The neighborhood" is a common curriculum theme for primary graders, but in Mattapan children learn that "a neighborhood is not just where we live." Learning about civic engagement and "not to be a bystander" is an essential part of the pedagogy. Children interview adults, learning that "everybody has a story." At the end of the year the children create a professional quality radio program.
This film is about how schools can--and should--be critical parts of the surrounding communities. It is about students and teachers learning they have value. It is about students and teachers getting up from their desks and doing important work.
My advice is to buy two copies of this film, one for your local school board and one for your PTA. Write a letter to your local paper, advocating that they see the film as a first step to getting place-based learning in your community.
Write and tell members of the House and Senate Education Committees about it. We have schools doing good things, and this film highlights a few of them.
— Susan Ohanian, film review
docmakeronline.com

http://www.docmakeronline.com/schoolsthatchangecommunities.html

Sunday, July 8, 2012

UFT/AFT Sells Out on Common Core

collaborate: to cooperate, usually willingly, with an enemy nation, especially with an enemy occupying one's country--Dictionary.com 
I can't get behind AFT's resolution on Common Core Standards. To me it contradicts their resolution on testing.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pearson Protest Video by Jaisal Noor

I've been waiting for Jaisal Noor's video of the June 7 rally against field tests at Pearson. I also have footage but he is a real pro.

Growing National Movement Against "High Stakes" Public School Testing

http://youtu.be/gbdTheK9uqY




You know I can post 10 times a day but don't want to wear you all out. Diane Ravitch gets away with it and has been going wild. But she has a cat that wakes her up at 5. I can't keep up with her but I urge you to subscribe to her blog which is covering so much ground.

This one might tickle your fancy: A Letter from Jill Biden to You


Maybe we should start a movement called "Educators NOT for Obama, We Won't Get Fooled Again."

---------------
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Pearson Rally Pics

I'm putting up some text in a separate post. Here are 24 pics. What a great event.
Also see:  www.parentvoicesny.org/



























Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Parent-led Protest Against High Stakes Testing Thursday, June 7th

I will be there to tape this. And see below for notes on Pearson feeling the heat.
See Leonie Haimson at Schoolbook:



PRESS ALERT
Press Contacts:
Martha Foote            

Anne Stone

Parents in X* Schools Boycott Field Tests for High-Stakes Exams:
Fed Up With Over-Testing, Parents Protest at Pearson Headquarters

"Enough is enough - we want more teaching, less testing!"

WHAT:        Press conference and demonstration against the State Education Department, the NYC Department of Education, and Pearson over excessive and high-stakes standardized state testing.

WHEN:        Thursday, June 7th at 10:45 A.M.

WHERE:      Outside Pearson headquarters, 1330 Sixth Avenue, between 53rd and 54th Streets, Manhattan.

VISUALS:   Parents and children holding posters and giant puppets; a theatrical marching band; children in costumes.
WHY:         From June 5th to June 12th, children across the state are being forced to give up learning time solely to serve the research purposes of billion-dollar test publisher Pearson, which has a $32 million contract with the New York State Education Department. But parents in an unprecedented number of schools (number to be revealed at the press conference) are fighting back by refusing to allow their children to take these field tests and joining a protest at Pearson headquarters. 

*Number to be revealed at the press conference

Here is a comment from a NYC teacher pointing to the Pearson spin job at the Pearson site: 
In my seven years of teaching, I have written many "tests" to measure the learning of my own students. I weed out unfair questions by reading the test over carefully and revising it as needed. Sometimes I ask colleagues for suggestions about wording or presentation. On rare occasions a student raises his hand and asks for clarification about the wording of a question. If I can answer him without compromising the content I'm testing, I do. Having the ability to recognize when you don't understand something and asking a reliable person for clarification is, after all, an important college- and career-readiness skill. Apparently the test-writing experts at Pearson cannot determine the fairness of a question without subjecting hundreds of students to it first. Field testing DOES affect students; this year I had 3 students (2 with special needs, 1 an English Language Learner) break down crying during the state math test upon encountering untaught non-grade-level material that may or may not have been embedded field items. Now that teacher evaluations are going to be tied to test scores, I guess the field tests will affect me too!

Here is an internal communication about their response strategy.





Dear Colleagues,

This spring testing season, we’ve seen misinformation and misperceptions on standardized assessment permeate media coverage and call into question Pearson’s role in the educational testing process. Doug Kubach, our CEO of Assessment and Information, shared information today on NEO to answer your and your customers’ questions on testing. 

He also announced the launch of a new social media campaign to demystify testing for parents:  “Parents, Kids & Testing.”  Through the campaign, we will share links to education and testing resources along with information about testing in all 50 states and U.S. territories for parents and their children. 

To read Doug’s full announcement, visit his blog on NEO.

Regards,

Shilpi Niyogi
Executive Vice President, Public Affairs

----------------
Another response:
Dear Colleagues:
Here in our Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Northern Colorado we have been using the texts published by Pearson.  However, in view of the company’s involvement in high stakes standardized testing and the stranglehold the regimen has on public schools, and thanks to all the information that has come through this open forum subscribers’ list, we dropped Pearson from our Spanish curricula for our Spanish 101 and Spanish 102 classes.  I summarized our rationale in the attached letter to a CEO at Pearson.

In appreciation,
Don Perl
The Coalition for Better Education, Inc.
www.thecbe.org
 -------
 
Sandi Kirshner                                                                                                                       
Executive Vice President
Pearson Higher Education
75 Arlington Street
Boston, MA 02116                                                                            May 23, 2012

Dear Sandi Kirshner:

I appreciate your detailed response received on May 22nd to my questions regarding Pearson’s “philosophy of education.”  Here in Hispanic Studies at the University of Northern Colorado we have discussed in some depth the most appropriate direction for implementing resources for our Spanish language students. 
I think a bit of professional information about me is relevant at this time.  As a middle school teacher in the academic year 2000 – 2001, I was charged with administering high stakes standardized testing to my inner city students.  I studied the issue in considerable depth and after much deliberation decided that I could not, in good faith, administer these tests and still consider myself a professional educator.  That act of civil disobedience began a journey to raise the awareness of the citizenry of the dangers posed by high stakes standardized testing.  Enclosed please find a copy of the letter dated January 16, 2001, stating the reasons for that refusal. 
We started a coalition, we forwarded a ballot initiative, we have advertised on billboards on the roadways of Colorado advising parents of their rights as their children face high stakes standardized testing, and have played a part in crafting legislation to take a bit of the onus off the testing regimen.
In view of this mission and our moral opposition to the dangers inherent in high stakes standardized testing, and in contemplation of  Pearson’s involvement in the creation of these tests now so ubiquitous throughout the nation’s public schools, we must look to other publishing houses to provide our students with the necessary resources for Spanish language acquisition.

Sincerely,

Don Perl
Department of Hispanic Studies
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, Colorado 80639
970-351-2746

cc Seth Osburn – Pearson Publishing – 16816 South First Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85045
 ------------
Hello,

In trolling on the Internet, (I Googled "field test" "New York" "2010"), I somehow stumbled on to this!

(I've saved to my hard drive and doc is attached, in case it disappears online.)

It came from:
http://www.fehb.org/

Franklin Essex Hamilton BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services)

The embedded link to NYSED looks dead, but the info here says that each school's strand number stays the same from school years 2010-11 through 2013-14. So perhaps this is a way to predict what field test your school might be offered next year and the year after!
For example, I don't know my school's strand, but from looking at this, it seems my school is "E3." This year's field test was 5th grade math; looks like 
next year's is 5th grade ELA.

Thanks,

concerned NYC parent of a fourth grader/amateur detective ;)
 

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Standardized Test Field Testing This Upcoming Tuesday, June 5, Protest June 7

Join this event!
Join CTS page.
Join us June 7!

https://www.facebook.com/events/342544932483288/



Visit 295 website for boycott letters to download and sign if you do not wish your child to take the field tests: http://ps295.org/English/pta/index.html

As per Huff. Post article: “Opt-out rates for these field tests could be particularly high because the experimental nature of the tests means their results cannot count toward a student's academic record.”

From the people who accuse us of being about adults while they claim to be about children. Posted at HuffPo
A memo has recently surfaced in which the New York State Department of Education appears to encourage educators to mislead students about upcoming standardized field tests meant to "provide the data necessary to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing program."
"Students should not be informed of the connection between these field tests and State assessments," the memo reads. "The field tests should be described as brief tests of achievement in the subject."
 Nice work when the NYSED urges people to lie to children.

********************************
Campo de Prueba estandarizada de pruebas, el próximo Martes, 05 de junio. Visite el sitio web de 295 cartas de boicot para descargar y firmar si usted no desea que su hijo a tomar las pruebas de campo: http://ps295.org/Espanol/pta/index.html




====================
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

NYC Teachers Support Parents on Field Test Boycott in Letter to Walcott

You can show your support for the boycott of Pearson Field testing which uses students and teachers as guinea pigs to test sample questions in days of tests this June. There is lots of action around this issue. Find out if your school is on the list to tested by checking the links at the end of this post.



Teachers and concerned citizens,

A handful of parents fought back against high-stakes testing last month by refusing to have their children sit for the state tests. Most recently hundreds of parents across New York City have been telling their principals they do not want their children to participate in the Pearson standalone field tests that schools are required to administer this month or next.

While many teachers would like to be able to join parents in boycotting the tests, we also know that such risks require a strong union leadership that is willing to support teachers in taking job actions of this kind in protest of unjust DOE practices.

For this reason several teachers have instead drafted a letter to Chancellor Walcott and the DOE requesting permission to not be required to participate in the June field tests. You can read and sign the letter here. The letter is polite and in no way could be considered insubordination, but please know that it is an open letter and we will be sending the names of those who signed along with the letter to the DOE and to press within the next several weeks.

Below is the text of the letter. It has already been endorsed by Movement of Rank-and-file Educators, the social justice caucus of the UFT. Please share widely with those who might be interested, and sign on by clicking here. Non-teachers such as concerned parents or community members can also sign on in support.

May, 2012


Chancellor Walcott and the New York City Department of Education
52 Chambers St
New York, NY 10007


Dear Chancellor Walcott and the New York City Department of Education,


We, the undersigned educators of the New York City schools, are writing to respectfully request that teachers across New York City not be required to participate in or proctor the Pearson stand-alone field tests that the New York State Education Department plans to administer in most schools this month and next. Our reasons for reaching out to you with this request are many-faceted, and while we will comply with any decision that is made, we would ask that you please consider our concerns with the field tests before coming to a decision.


To begin, many parents have become increasingly frustrated by the use, nature and abundance of standardized tests in our schools. We have seen this personally, in conversations with parents who express their concerns to us as their children’s teachers. And we have also seen it as a city-wide movement, which recently included a group of parents who refused to have their children sit for the New York State ELA and Math exams.  This effort by parents, organizing alongside concerned educators through the Grassroots Education Movement’s Change the Stakes committee, was supported by many more parents who said they would like to remove their children from the state exams but were concerned about the consequences. In explaining their reasons for choosing to boycott parents wrote that the increased focus on improving scores has forced teachers less time focussing on “inspiring a love of learning, fostering creativity, or encouraging critical and interdisciplinary thinking.”


Additionally, hundreds of parents organizing  with groups such as Time Out from Testing, Change the Stakes and ParentVoicesNY have now submitted letters to principals in schools across New York City stating that they “respectfully request that the school not give the [stand-alone field] tests at all, and that all students benefit from a day of instruction rather than waste yet another day on test-taking.” In the letter, parents cite concerns such as wasted instructional days and the use of their children as guinea pigs for the research purposes of “a for-profit corporation without [their] consent or permission.” We feel that as teachers it is our responsibility to be responsive to the concerns of the parents whose children we serve, and we would like to support this most recent parent effort around the stand-alone field tests.


Secondly, as teachers we agree with parents that excessive testing is damaging to our students. Indeed, the use of standardized tests to make high-stakes decisions about children, teachers and schools has been repeatedly documented by researchers to have negative consequences on children and on their education.  We have witnessed worrisome anxiety in the children we are charged with educating as the increased pressure to perform on the state exams affects them. We have seen- and in many cases been forced to comply with- a narrowing of the curriculum and the neglecting of non-tested subjects. We think that the use of time for test preparation as well as the number of days taken up by tests and practice tests is unconscionable.  Considering all this, we cannot in good faith subject our students to additional testing days in May and June without at the very least requesting permission to recuse ourselves from this practice on moral grounds.


Finally, we feel that the form and use of the stand-alone field tests are inappropriate for their stated purpose, and we lament the intended long-term strategy of increased “accountability based on tests” of which these field tests are a part. The use of stand-alone field tests for the purpose of norming state exams has been repeatedly criticized by experts. In fact, the NYS Education Department itself blamed stand alone field-testing in part for the need to re-calibrate the cut scores on the 2009 state exams that moved thousands of students across the state from passing to failing.  We also know that the field tests are meant to pilot various questions for exams that will then be used as part of the new New York State teacher evaluation system. We feel that the use of test scores in any form to evaluate teachers is inappropriate. The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences has warned that so-called “value added models” based on test scores cannot be considered fair or reliable enough to make operational decisions about teachers.  But even if such models were improved, the consequences of using tests to evaluate teachers will be damaging to students’ education for reasons mentioned previously, and will also have a negative effect on school culture. The money spent on contracts with Pearson and other for-profit companies to develop, field-test and administer these exams should instead be spent on increased resources for classrooms and on supporting the educational and non-educational needs of all children, in particular children living in poverty.


In conclusion, we would like to assert that our request is in no way intended to be insubordinate but instead to raise concerns about the field tests and to respectfully request that educators across New York City not be mandated to participate in tests to which we have moral objections. Teachers need to be empowered to stand up when we recognize injustices done to our students and ourselves, and we need unions that support teachers in taking on such challenges. Indeed, teacher protections and the ability to take collective action against injustice help us protect children. We hope that you will consider our request, and we thank you for your time.


Sincerely,
Concerned teachers of the New York City Schools

Endorsed by Movement of Rank-and-file Educators, the social justice caucus of the UFT

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PRESS RELEASE - Change The Stakes Demands Full Disclosure of School Testing Program


Elementary and middle schools in NYC will be administering field tests in June.
Do you know which grades in your school will be tested?
Read our press release
Click on your school’s borough to find out which grade and subject will be tested in your school.
Take a stand against high stakes testing!

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

PRESS RELEASE - Change The Stakes Demands Full Disclosure of School Testing Program

 The primary purpose of the June stand-alone testing period is to allow Pearson, the State’s education testing contractor, to perform research for operational exams it will then sell to the SED.  The State is on record as stating participation in field testing is “not mandatory,” yet schools and parents in New York City have been kept in the dark and not advised that they have a choice about whether or not their children should participate.
-----Excerpt from Change the Stakes Press release

UPDATE: Read Gotham Story: With field tests approaching, parents are reprising protests

One of the beauties of working with the groups I've been involved in has been watching as each groups shows the flexibility to spin off other groups that manage to find their own niche. Thus ICE spun off GEM which became a separate group that evolved into something quite different from what was intended --- a focus on the defense of public education and to battle charter schools, very different from the ICE focus on the UFT. Then GEM spun off a committee called Change the Stakes to focus on high stakes testing (which ironically, was one of the original goals of GEM but got lost in the shuffle somewhat).

What a pleasure to see the CTS group evolve from teacher dominated to parent and teachers working in concert as it attracted many amazing parents, some active for the first time, who were objecting to their kids being subjected to high stakes tests.

I've followed the evolution of this press release for the past 10 days and the work put in has been remarkable. Painful at times, but remarkable. And I think a remarkable outcome. I mostly stayed out of it ---- there were so many quality points made and the democratic debate taking place, so far away from anything going on in the UFT, makes me kvell.

I'm a little late in getting this up so I just copied and pasted from Leonie's blog. More on this coming tomorrow based on the wonderful work being done by our testing expert, Fred Smith. And more coming from two other groups, Parent Voices NY and Time Out From Testing. All of this is an opening salvo in what promises to be a major movement in this city and nationally to fight back against high stakes testing, which will hopefully include a new film by GEM/Real Reform Studios on HST. And yes, expect the UFT, while making an occasional squeak about the evils of the tests, to remain on the sideline.


Elementary and middle schools in NYC will be administering field tests in June.
Do you know which grades in your school will be tested?
Read our press release
Click on your school’s borough to find out which grade and subject will be tested in your school.
Take a stand against high stakes testing!

--------------

Change the Stakes demands full disclosure of testing program, including field tests in June


Unbeknownst to most parents, the state is imposing yet another round of standardized testing in June. You can check to see what grade your child's elementary or middle school is field testing here.  High schools are also field testing the Regents; more more information here and here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     Contact: changethestakes@gmail.com                                                               
May 21, 2012                                                                         
                                                
CTS Demands Full Disclosure of School Testing Program
Calls Pearson’s June Field Tests a Waste of Time and Money
 New York City – Change the Stakes, a coalition of parents and educators in New York City, announces its opposition to the latest round of standardized testing, the stand-alone field tests that are scheduled to be given in June.  Over a thousand (1,029) public elementary and middle schools in the city are scheduled to participate in this additional statewide testing.  Last week, science field testing took place in 116 other New York City schools.
The price tag for this extra developmental testing is conservatively estimated to be $3 million. It comes on top of the six days (540 minutes) of regularly scheduled English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams administered just last month, when the items being field tested were embedded within the state-mandated tests.  This doubled the amount of time needed to complete the exams. 
The New York State Education Department (SED) and test publisher, NCS Pearson, Inc., have not provided advance notice to the public about the June field tests nor sufficiently explained why they are necessary. Moreover, testing experts regard stand-alone testing as a dubious practice at best, and virtually useless when conducted so very late in the school year.
“June is a terrible time of year to test children—be it operational or field testing,” asserts Fred Smith, a test specialist formerly with the city Department of Education (DOE). “The expectation that children will be motivated to perform at their best near the end of the year doesn’t even rise to the level of wishful thinking,” stated Mr. Smith.  He also points out that stand-alone field testing by SED was discredited for yielding misleading data on which to develop new tests. “In 2009, SED’s test advisers acknowledged this approach was problematic because students who took the exams knew they were experimental.”
SED’s elementary and intermediate school field tests will be administered between June 5th and 15th.  Most schools will test only one grade between 3rd through 8th; however, 259 (23%) of the schools are being asked to give the experimental exams on two grade levels.  (Change the Stakes is providing user-friendly information about all field test school and grade assignments broken down by borough at changethestakes.org. Parents can visit the website to find out what tests are due to be given this June in their children’s schools.)
The primary purpose of the June stand-alone testing period is to allow Pearson, the State’s education testing contractor, to perform research for operational exams it will then sell to the SED.  The State is on record as stating participation in field testing is “not mandatory,” yet schools and parents in New York City have been kept in the dark and not advised that they have a choice about whether or not their children should participate.
“Our kids are being used as guinea pigs for the financial benefit of Pearson, to the detriment of their own educational experience,” said Deyanira Ruiz, who has a daughter in a grade that has been selected for field testing.  “They’ve already lost untold hours to test prep and the April math and literacy exams, reducing the amount of time devoted to art, physical education, social studies, and languages,” she added. 
Some teachers are questioning the use of valuable class time for field testing. Lauren Cohen, a teacher in Manhattan, is fed up. “Far too many of us teach in schools that already face enormous pressure to dedicate an excessive amount of classroom time to test preparation between September and April.  My school received a notice, on Pearson letterhead, informing us that we must also give an ELA field test to 3rd graders in June,” she said.  “Field tests supply no useful information to teachers or educational benefits to children. My students are burnt out on testing, and this meaningless drudgery will take away valuable learning time,” stated Ms. Cohen. 
Fueling a rebellion among parents against the upcoming field tests is the disclosure to date of roughly 30 errors, along with some questionable content, on the tests administered in April. The state forbids the disclosure of test items, further undermining parent confidence in the exams themselves. Diana Zavala, parent of a 3rd grader in Manhattan, contends, “Transparency and accountability should also apply to the corporations making the tests. If we are to believe these tests are worthwhile and that the company is making ‘better tests,’ we should be able to examine them.” She added, “but what we really want is more teaching, less testing, and assessment that is more connected to the actual learning that takes place in the classroom.”
Change the Stakes is Calling for the Following Regarding June Field Testing:
        
  1. The DOE should immediately disclose specific information about the stand-alone field tests, explaining their nature and purpose and notifying parents of children in the 1,029 field test schools about the dates the tests are scheduled to be given.
  2. Pearson and the SED should address the claim by independent testing experts that the timing and format of these tests make it unlikely they will generate reliable data needed to develop valid operational exams.
  1. SED and DOE should allow parents and entire schools to opt out of participating and only administer field tests to students in schools/grades for whom explicit parental consent has been granted.  The need to obtain authorization to test their children from parents or guardians should extend to all testing when the main objective is to support research and development for commercial testing products.
  2. Non-participating students in schools and grades undergoing testing should have a meaningful educational alternative activity during the testing period.
To schedule interviews with parents or teachers, please contact Andrea Mata @ changethestakes@gmail.com. Testing expert Fred Smith can be reached at fjstats@aol.com
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Change the Stakes, a committee of the Grassroots Education Movement, was formed to expose the damaging effects of high-stakes standardized tests. We are a group of parents and teachers working to build and unite opposition to high stakes testing in New York City. Our membership includes a group of parents who refused to have their children tested during the regular State exam period in April 2012.  We believe high-stakes testing must be replaced by more educationally-sound and balanced forms of student, teacher, and school assessment.  
See our online petition demanding that New York State develop a non-punitive process by which parents concerned about the impacts of high-stakes testing on student learning can opt their children out of standardized tests.
Change the Stakes collaborates with other groups working to challenge high-stakes testing in New York, including Parent Voices NY and Time Out From Testing