Ed Notes Extended

Monday, April 11, 2016

Opt-Out Driving Ed Deformers and Their Press Lackeys into a Frenzy

Oh, poor boobies. They pretty much had us by the flotsam and jetson as they and their allies - and yes Virginia, the UFT/AFT/NYSUT complex is an ally of high stakes data-driven testing - piled on. And then came opt-out to deny them the data.

A quick Monday Morning update before we continue:
Press lackey Chalkdust features the Post and Daily News daily diatribes against opt-out while ignoring the massive anti-opt commentary below - but the have abandoned blog coverage to focus on the ed deform mainstream press.

'why not opt out of midterms too?'

Editorial: Continued support for the opt-out movement is baffling, since the stakes are now so low. New York Daily News
Columnist Naomi Schaefer Riley: Helicopter parents worried about over-testing are simply worried their kids might fail, after years of trying to do everything to ensure they succeed. New York Post
To continue:

The great blogging crew is out there creating balanced coverage. Culled from our sidebar links, including 3 MOREs - Patrick Walsh, Katie Lapham and James Eterno.
I know it’s the Post and, as such, a low bar but still I believe such a public display of outright incoherence is a small but good sign that we are winning.... Patrick Walsh, Raging Horse,

New York Post Conjures Up New Common Core Villain: Driven, Snobbish Yet Cowardly Parents

Katie Lapham: I detail why the 2016 ELA tests were so bad. The 2016 ELA tests were developmentally inappropriate, confusing and tricky.  Despite the New York State Education Department (NYSED)’s “adjustments” to the 2016 assessments, there was no improvement to the quality of the tests.
https://criticalclassrooms.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-pearson-tests/..
The latter post from James Eterno nails the union leadership not backing the opt-out movement. When someone mentioned they were afraid for MORE's Lauren Cohen, Jia Lee and Kristen Taylor for standing up to Farina's gag order since the UFT will not stand with them. But the parents will - and thus we have the situation where the union would basically abandon them but their major job protection would come from parents and community forces.

But that is an essence of social justice/movement unionism -- fundamental job protection through alliances built.

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