High-Stakes Testing Forum Today May 10 6:30 at PS 321K

I'm going to head over to this tonight.Liz Phillips is the wife of the always awesome Mark Naison. Aaron Pallas has been on the right side of the ed debates with powerful analysis and observations. He also was Jennifer Jennings' (Eduwonkette) mentor. And one funny dude too.

High-Stakes Testing Forum

Join us to learn about the uses and misuses of standardized testing and to explore how high-stakes testing affects children, teachers, principals, and our schools.

FEATURING:

AARON PALLAS: Professor of Sociology and Education – Teachers College, Columbia University

Dr. Pallas formerly worked as a statistician for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics and is a featured columnist for Gotham Schools and Hechinger Report. His most recent projects are explicitly designed to inform policymakers, parents, and other stakeholders about conditions in New York City public schools.

ELIZABETH PHILLIPS: Principal – P.S. 321 

ALEX MESSER: 4th Grade Teacher – P.S. 321 

MARTHA FOOTE: 4th Grade Parent – P.S. 321

THURS.

May 10, 2012

6:30–8:00pm

at P.S. 321 180 7th Avenue,

Brooklyn

CHILDCARE WILL BE PROVIDED

AFT PA Offcial Helped Sell Out Philly School District

A pox on Jerry Jordan and especially former President Ted Kirsch of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for allowing the Commonwealth of PA to take over the School District of Philadelphia.

A special mention to the wife of Ted Kirsch who had the second Charter School in Philadelphia; especially so since Ted was still "advocating" for the rank and file of the PFT as our President.

Please note Ted Kirsch, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, quit the very next day after Paul Vallas left Philadelphia for New Orleans to assume leadership of the PA AFT.

----- Message from Philadelphia teacher to NYCED News listserve

 How many incidents do we need to show that teacher union leaders are in bed with the enemy? So here is Ted Kirsch, the President of the Philly union whose wife opens a charter school and then he becoems head of the state AFT. I don't know anything about him but I will bet he is an ally of Randi and Mulgrew and crew. Thank goodness for CORE in Chicago as the lone bulwark against handing over our public school system to privatizers. And of course the amazing parent activists connected to Parents Across America, with Helen Gym (see below) in Philly as a great rep.

I remember meeting someone from the Philly union at the AFT convention in Seattle who was an undercover dissident and told us how similar the union leaders there were to Unity Caucus. Yes, there are Unity Caucus Klones all over the nation – Vichyites – Quislings. If you are not aware why I use these terms go and check them out.

I am more and more convinced that those who stay on the sidelines inside the union are in essence supporting the Unity sell-out because silence is used by Unity as evidence of support. [AD: MORE meets in an open and democratic process this Saturday at CUNY -- help build a democratic alternative to Unity.]

Later I'll post some of my back and forth tweets with Randi Weingarten which might make you pull your hair out.

Here is the full post.

Dear Leonie,

Thank you for putting this on the listserv again.

Special thanks to my dear friend Helen Gym of AAU for being one with whom the powers that be must reckon.

A pox on Jerry Jordan and especially former President Ted Kirsch of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for allowing the Commonwealth of PA to take over the School District of Philadelphia which passed Act 96 which prohibited ONLY Philadelphia teachers from striking; an unconstitutional law gone unchallenged since 1996.

A special mention to the wife of Ted Kirsch who had the second Charter School in Philadelphia after St. Sen. John Perzel's wife right after Act 22 was passed; especially so since Ted was still "advocating" for the rank and file of the PFT as our President.

Please note Ted Kirsch, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, quit the very next day after Paul Vallas left Philadelphia for New Orleans to assume leadership of the PA AFT.

Thanks for the millions spent on outside consultants, outside unaccountable District SRC's, (School Reform Commissions), unaccountable CEO's brought in to privatise the School District and their buy-out packages for them and their cronies who promoted and protected them against us at our expense.

Thanks for selling off the School District's valuable Art Collection to persons unknown, our headquarters in an Art Deco building and refurbishing a former plant that printed TV Guide magazine and making District Headquarters into something reminiscent of "HBO's Series 'Oz.

Thanks for ignoring highly successful Philadelphia Public Schools, (Central High and Masterman) rated top schools in the US over and again.

Thanks for wanting to close primarily schools with African-American schools who have been successful since before NCLB because Universities and Realtors have plans to gentrify the neighborhood they occupy and not because they are failing schools.

Finally, thanks for giving whatever crumbs that were left to Charter Schools who squandered them and used them for self-aggrandizement and enrichment.  This is why we teachers have to buy paper, printer toner, software to protect our students from thinking all is not well.

After all the money spent, the sole alternative is to dismantle the School District of Philadelphia; and so it goes.

At LEAST, I kicked serious tail today for my final observation. My kids came through like the best ELLs in the world. Love them.

Here is a post by Helen Gym on the PAA web site:

Dear parents and PAA colleagues:

It’s taken me a while to talk about what’s happening in Philadelphia because of the destructive forces threatening public education in our city.

In case you haven’t read the news, Philadelphia’s Chief Recovery Officer – a gas industry executive paid $150K over six months – hired the Boston Consulting Group for a cool $1.4 million to create a “Blueprint for Reform”. The Blueprint sets out a five year course of action which calls for closing one-fourth of Philadelphia’s schools, 40 alone next year (64 total), placing 40% of students into charters, and dividing up the remaining schools into NYC-inspired “achievement networks” run by third party operators under a five year performance contract.

There are of course the standard union-busting threats, the exclusion of parent and community voices, and the consolidation of political interests, large charter operators, and voucher supporters. There is also terrible shock and awe rhetoric to silence Philadelphians into accepting this plan. Our Mayor for example said the school district was on the verge of imminent “collapse” and said the plan was something Philadelphians needed to “grow up and deal with.” Our Chief Recovery Officer just last week stated that schools may not open in September unless Philadelphians funded the plan with $94 million in increased property taxes.

And all of this is happening in a state where a Republican Governor has slashed $1.1 billion from public education in the last two years.

Parents United is up and running and working with clergy and community groups across the city. Last night over 1,000 people gathered for an education dialogue at one of Philadelphia’s most influential churches. Our radio ads with our teachers union will start running this week. We’ve reignited a Protect Public Education Coalition of student organizing groups, labor and others to work on City Council and launch a media campaign. But of course we’re outfunded and fighting an uphill battle against local and national forces that have completely lost their moral compass about the public in public education.

We’re asking for your help to publicize what’s happening to almost 200,000 children in public and charter schools here. Philadelphia is the poster child for the disasters of national education reform – we’re reeling from a state takeover, EMO’s like Edison Schools, privatizing and contracting out, unchecked charter school growth, massive education budget cuts, and constant turnover in leadership. We’re not unlike many cities across the country, but we are quite possibly the largest city to date to propose an effective dissolution of public education in the name of so-called “reform.”

Below is some basic reading. Feel free to share and spread the word.

• The Philadelphia Public School Notebook: City Paper: “Who’s Killing Philly Public Schools?” http://www.citypaper.net/news/2012-05-03-whos-killing-philly-public-schools.html
• Diane Ravitch on what’s happening here : http://dianeravitch.net/2012/04/26/my-visit-to-philadelphia/
• Helen Gym’s response to Philadelphia Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen, , reprinted in the WashPost Answer Sheet: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/parent-to-schools-chief-you-dont-understand-schools/2012/04/27/gIQA1vLFlT_blog.html
• Local student groups respond to the District’s “plan”: http://home.phillystudentunion.org/pdf/20120425300/PSU-Blog/Philadelphia-Student-Union-Youth-United-for-Change-Respond-to-District-s-Plan.pdf

Thanks everyone!
Helen Gym, Parents United for Public Education
parentsunitedphila@gmail.com

Pat Dawson 3020A Hearing Notes - CORRECTED

NOTE May 9: There was a mistake in the reporting on this story. Jo-Ann Demas contacted me to point out that she mistakenly labeled the snitch at the parent coordinator when it was really the PTA President, Louise Blaney. Please make note of that change. I'm reposting.

Original post: April 30.

I have been out of town and could not attend the hearings last week but did attend previous hearings. I still haven't written it all up but see below for previous posts related to the story. I can't not make the case of how ineffective the UFT has been in all aspects of this and so many other cases. Like how about at least some PR showing the persecution of teachers?

Notes from retired teacher Jo-Ann Demas

A case against High School of Economics and Finance teacher, Patricia Dawson, who made hyperbolic comments on Facebook, has just closed in a 3020(?) hearing. Principal Michael Stanzione charged the popular English teacher, who is African American, with termination. No letters in the file, no warnings just termination. In his summation, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) attorney Chris Callagy pointed out that Stanzione and the DOE ignored “the doctrine of progressive discipline.” What compounds this rush to judgment is that a teacher is being held to a standard that does not yet exist: There is not one word in the Chancellor’s guidelines about teachers using social media networks. It was established through hearing testimony of Principal Stanzione that during required professional development sessions at the HSEF no mention was made of social media networks.

One wonders what is behind the thrust of condemnation of this teacher. A formulation was offered inadvertently by DOE attorney, Andrea Chilaka. In her summation, she stated that “thanks to the Facebook postings, it was revealed (that)…this teacher had a special connection and rapport with her students.” Instead of being applauded for successfully reaching out and winning the confidence of her students, Ms. Dawson faces the loss of her job.

How Stanzione became aware of the FB quotes is an illustration of the brown-nosing atmosphere at many of our schools. The PTA President, Louise Blaney, who was a FB “friend” of the teacher, did not inform Ms. Dawson of her concerns. Instead, she immediately made a copy of the FB dialog and gave it to the principal. Stanzione called Ms. Dawson into his office NINE DAYS later. He expressed his concern. He did not order her to take down her page. The teacher took down her FB page on her own. She was removed from the school and charged.

Her attorneys advised her not to have contact with any students and to refrain from reaching out to apologize for possible damage. Her first opportunity to apologize was during her testimony at the hearing. Yet DOE attorney Chilaka criticized her for not apologizing earlier. Union attorney Callagy pointed out that no harm to students was proven by the teacher’s FB comments. The DOE “can’t discipline for what might happen.” Here is a situation where the teacher is being held to a higher standard than the DOE itself: “She should have realized her comments on FB postings go beyond HSEF,” admonished the DOE attorney. Meanwhile, many high school teachers including those at HSEF, use FB to communicate with their students. In this vacuum, the DOE still does not have a policy on social media networks yet is ready to pounce on a popular teacher.

Callagy reminded Josh Javits, the hearing officer, that there has never been a complaint against Ms. Dawson in the past. On the contrary her principal has written her letters of praise regarding her work as student affairs coordinator and “ambassador for HSEF at recruitment fairs.” The conclusion of the hearing heard the DOE attorney reiterate that the appropriate discipline should be “only termination.” It may take several weeks or months to find out the decision of the hearing officer. We’ll let you know the outcome and follow-up.

Previous posts:
The Michael Stanzione Files: As Case Falls Apart, ...
Educational Stop and Frisk Infects Schools: The Michael Stanzione Files Continued

================
ISN'T IT TIME TO CHALLENGE THE UNITY CAUCUS MACHINE? CHECK OUT THE MOVEMENT OF RANK AND FILE EDUCATORS (MORE) THE NEW CAUCUS IN FORMATION, WORKING TO ESTABLISH A DEMOCRATIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE UFT. THE CAUCUS WILL NEED PEOPLE IN EVERY SCHOOL AS CONDUITS OF LITERATURE TO COUNTER THE UNITY MACHINE. YOU CAN JOIN THE CAUCUS ON MAY 12 AT THE NEXT MEETING. EMAIL ME FOR DETAILS. NORMSCO@GMAIL.COM

Pearson Gets It Right - in Urdu as Teachers Pulled From Schools to Mark Faulty Tests

Pineapplegate continues, with 20 more errors, and finally an apologia from Pearson

News round up at NYC PubSchl Parents blog: http://goo.gl/dOOBJ 

But is it too late? Includes video news report from Central NY, which says that errors have forced rescoring of the exams, costing cash-strapped districts even more money!

---- Leonie Haimson on the NYC Parent blog

Picky, picky, picky Leonie. My sources say that there were no mistakes on the Pearson tests in Urdu, Hindi, Magyar, Macedonian, and a couple of obscure Amazon rain forest Indian dialects.

today Pearson leaked another memo to NY1, admitting that they had screwed up royally and that an internal investigation is underway: "Pearson agrees that we need to work diligently to improve."  Is this too little, too late?  As Lindsey Christ, NY1 reporter, rightly points out:

Chancellor Tisch said she will give the company one more year. However, some parents and teachers want the state to cancel the company's five-year, $32 million contract. They say students don't get a second chance with high stakes tests, so why should the test company.

Yes, let's close Pearson's contract down due to poor performance. Just like they close down schools. Pearson has been double dipping -- or rather 20 times dipping by getting paid to design tests by many states but using the same questions.

And there are field testing coming up in many schools in June -- subjecting our kids to tests that have no other purpose than to help Pearson build more tests and make more money. Shouldn't the teachers and students get a cut? Or just boycott.

Here are some reports about teachers being pulled out of schools to mark exams, losing even more days of instruction. The outrages continue.

Our last day of five ELA teachers out of building is tomorrow. Thursday starts the five math teachers per day. That only lasts one week. With normal unexpected absences we have had up to 9 teachers out of building on any given day. The DOE thinks that's okay. Had another testing consequence come my way today when an eighth grade parent asked about their child having multiple subject tests on the same day. I know that having tests on same day is not ideal, but I pointed out that it has been three weeks since some teachers could give any tests on the material they have been teaching in their classes. One of the aspects of the data driven nonsense of the past decade has been the absolute disregard of "data" collected by teachers. Teachers are always taught to find multiple ways to assess their students, keeping portfolios of various types of assessments, upon which report card grades can be derived. This work seems more and more to be considered worthless. We all know the idea of any standardized test is to normalize results across diverse populations, but what is taught everyday must also be assessed. As standardized testing takes on more and more value, teacher generated data will not only be more and more ignored, it will be harder and harder to find the time to creatively assess students. One can imagine, thinking about the disgusting piece on Joel Klein in todays NY Times (we learn from Regent's boss Tisch that Klein admires Murdoch!!), how his company will be soon at the door of school districts across the country with products designed to remove all creativity from the work of teachers with a suite of digital products, designed like baby food, for easy digestion and predictable results.

-------

Well, those of us parents who have boycotted the standardized tests are advocating among other things the principle that the primary assessments of students should be made by the education professionals who are working with them every day -- their teachers. That's how it was when I grew up in Indiana, where the only standardized test I had before the SAT was one 1-2 hour test in fourth grade that had no preparation and no consequence. The idea that teachers would not be considered competent to determine whether their students were ready for the next grade would have been inconceivable; that's exactly what teachers do and know better than anyone else! As long as standardized tests are usurping the rightful place of teacher's assessments and evaluations of their students, our family will be having no part of them, regardless of the DOE's policies.

--------

I just spent the past 10 days grading ELA tests. As an SETSS teacher, that means that the children I see missed 10 days of mandated services according to their IEPs. I will, of course, record this in my SESIS report, but I think it's inexcusable for teachers providing mandated services to be sent to mark tests! 

From Monty Neil at Fair Test: Testing in the News -- May 7 - 9, 2012
Lots of interesting stories as the annual K-12 "testing season" reaches its peak. 

A Glimpse of Technology Enhanced Tests (be sure to read the comments)
      http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2012/05/experts_who_work_on_technology.html

Kentucky is First State to Implement Common Core Tests
      http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120505/NEWS01/304290101/kentucky-schools-testing

Physical Fitness Impacts Test Scores
     http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/05/children_who_are_fit_tend_to_d.html

No College Left Behind -- The "Holy Grail" Test Does Not Exist
     http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/no-college-left-behind-a-guest-post/2012/05/08/gIQAnkypAU_blog.html#pagebreak

More Mistakes on State Tests -- Lots of Errors in Translating Math Exam
     http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/160845/mistakes-on-translated-state-math-exams-add-up

Accountability for Test Errors -- Great Letters-to-the-Editor
     http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/letters-doubts-about-state-s-tests-1.3704666

Tracing Test-Cheating Scandals to Their Roots
    http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/05/09/tracing-the-test-cheating-scandal-back-to-its-roots/

Chancellor Condemns Exam Errors -- Will Still Use Flawed Scores for "Accountability" (Except for Testing Companies)
    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/chancellor-merryl-tisch-condemns-testing-mistakes-article-1.1074997

Weingarten Praises Klein's Integrity

She clearly must have a different definition of integrity than I do.

-- Leonie Haimson

Klein And Murdoch - A Model In Cronyism And Corruption 
-- Perdido Street School blog

Today's NY Times puff piece on Joel Klein (Steering Murdoch in Scandal, Klein Put School Goals Aside) was a howl.

We’ve had our history of battles,” Ms. Weingarten said of Mr. Klein. “But he’s always had a reputation for integrity, and I can’t imagine the last several months of being mired in this scandal have been fun for him.”

After her May 1 chat with Steve Brill (The Enemy Within: Warning, Ed Deformer in the Hous...) really, Randi is the gift that keeps giving. I would add Weingarten to that headline.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who has clashed with Mr. Klein in the past, called the company’s education push in the midst of the hacking scandal “the definition of chutzpah

Leonie responds:

And yet she’s on the advisory board of the Gates-funded LLC that will hold confidential teacher and student data, and be operated by Wireless Generation.

My comment in response to Leonie was that Klein actually has more integrity that Randi since he states what he is.

----------
On another front, there is Obama's amazingly dumb statement about charters as Incubators of Innovation. I tweeted that's like saying FOX  is an incubator of fair and balanced journalism.

Diane Ravitch blogged about it:

“Incubators of Innovation?”

M.O.R.E - Movement of Rank and File Educators Weekly Update #6 - 05.07.12

The process of putting a new caucus together with people from many different groups plus independents has been a rigorous one, to say the least. Paying attention to true democratic principles while trying to put in place a foundation that will allow the organization to function effectively has been a long but fruitful process. Everyone has been invited to take part in this open process through open monthly meetings since February. Membership is open to all people not affiliated with Unity Caucus. Here is a chance to get involved with the work of transforming the UFT through one of the MORE committees.

You can also sign up for these weekly updates at more@morecaucusnyc.org

Greetings Movement of Rank and File Educators!

All out for our membership meeting on Saturday, May 12 at Noon at the CUNY Graduate Center  - Room 5414 (New Location! 365 5th Ave @ 34th St, 6 to 33rd, B/D/F/M/N/R to Herald Square).  Also, there is an important demonstration against teacher harassment on Tuesday, and a discussion of our election efforts on Friday (see below).  Save the date for an end of year meeting/celebration on June 16.

Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/MOREcaucusNYC - and follow @morecaucusnyc on Twitter.  We want to know what you are thinking! Post on our Facebook wall and join MORE’s discussion listserve here to get more emails and join in the conversation. Our new website will be coming soon...

Proposed Agenda for May 12th:

1. Introduction     12:00-12:20   
2. Name/slogan 12:20-12:35 (See below; reply with suggestions)
3. Committee reports 12:35-12:55   
4. Actions/DA 12:55-1:40   
5. Membership Drive: 1:40-2:10
6. Principles of Unity 2:10-2:40 (See below; reply with suggestions)   
7. Wrap-up  2:40-2:45

Suggestions for the main “tag lines” or “slogans” to go with our name are below, as well as our draft Principles of Unity and specific amendments; please send amendments with specific wording to this email address by Wednesday, May 9th.

Meetings are organized by an open planning committee, which would love to have your input and voice.  Click here to join and get details on the planning committee, or reply to this email.

Also, Tuesday, May 8 at 4pm -  Demonstration against political harassment of teachers at Clara Barton High School (901 Classon Ave. 2/3/4/5 to Franklin, S to Botanic, Q/B to Prospect), for bringing students to the AFLCIO “One Nation” Rally in Washington in 2010.  

Upcoming Committee Meetings: Elections:

Friday, May 11th, 4 PM

Skylight Diner (34th St. at 9th Ave., SW corner - 1/2/3/A/C/E to 34th St.)

Walcott Denies Parent Choice - to Opt Out of High Stakes Tests

So tonight CEC6 met with Chancellor Walcott and, among other issues, we raised our concerns with the negative impact that high stakes testing is having on our children's education.  I'll spare you the (much abbreviated) rationale we offered for our concerns, but we proposed that the DOE develop a policy for parents who wish to opt their children out of the high stakes tests in a non-punitive fashion so that our children do not suffer (more).  His response, according to someone who wrote it down: "No I won't accept that resolution." Well, there you have it; the Chancellor will not support a DOE policy that will allow us parent the CHOICE to opt our kids out and avoid the mind-numbing, educationally stunting test prep and testing that dominates the 6 weeks post-February break.
Nice.   ----- NYC Parent

Well of course Choice is only used by ed deformers when it refers to charters. Parent choice to opt out of tests or make a choice to call for lower class size over spending big bucks on Tweed consultants.

Don't you think all politicians should publish their SAT scores before they can run for office? Just a thought. And an ugly one at that. Even more ugly:  male politicians should publish their penis size. After all, since they are going to fuck us the public has a right to see the data on the equipment.

Then there's the test mania, pineapples, opting out (come to the Change the Stakes meeting on Weds. at CUNY at 5:30, rm 4202).

Here are just a few tidbits:

A NYC parent:

My husband, a middle school teacher whose classroom routine was
interrupted for state testing, is now removed from the classroom for
five days to grade the ELA tests. Actually, one day is spent training
him to grade the tests. While he's away, his classes are covered by a
substitute teacher, hired by his principal. This is yet another waste
of already-shrinking school budgets and masks the economic impact of
all this testing, since the DOE doesn't have to absorb this cost. The
school does. Additionally, the kids aren't learning from their
teachers!

And other NYC Parents

Yes- it is unacceptable- and to boot schools can choose instead to pay a heft fee to NOT send teachers to correct exams.

 This is the system in place since 2008 when Deputy Chancellor Grimm, at the time head of Finance,  announced among other "huge cuts to the central budget"  that more money would go to schools /classrooms.

 One of these "savings" was ' a new way to correct the assessments'.

 Well, when we dug just a little we learned that the supposed tens of millions in savings was just an offload of the costs to correct the test from central accounting to the schools!

 Instead of centrally hiring teachers outside of school time and paying them per session as HAD been done, now schools were supposed to send in a number of teachers (proportionate to testing grades/ regardless of size/configuration) to correct the tests during the school day for weeks at a time.

 I traced this new expense in my district schools and found:

  an elementary school that had spent tens of thousands of dollars in funding on subs to cover the test correcting teachers taken form the classroom (after English and before the math tests);

  a high needs middle school that did w/o ESL or special ed instruction for 2 weeks in order to send those teachers, instead of core classroom teachers, to correct the tests;

  and even a brand new MS that only had a 6th grade staff/students in its first year but had to send staff to correct 6, 7, 8th grade exams.

---------

Of course there was no check/balance or any type of  authority or watch dog to even catch the DoE at these tricks. Which is how they get away with it!

I have the second group of five teachers out for the next five days at my school and spent the school day running around making sure subs were doing what teachers off grading had requested. A complete waste of time. An outrage which seems to have outraged no one. The money stolen from schools, the loss of class time, the fact that teachers whose job is to teach must spend their time being trained to grade these mediocre tests. I find all of this far far far far worse than another single day of field testing in June. You give six days of lousy tests and then remove teachers to grade for 15 school days!!!!! all to save a secret amount of money. I estimate the cost should be 16 million dollars. An in-kind contribution from your families like yours!!!!!

 -----

I'm trying to pinpoint the wording in the administrators guideline that is
being interpreted as Make the kids sit still and do nothing after they
finish their tests.  I can't find anything to that effect in the guidelines.
Can you point me to it?  All I can find is the directive to not let them
bring anything into the testing room.  Nowhere does it say that they can't
be given anything to do once they complete the test.

From Leonie:

Leaked absurd memo from Pearson defending the Pineapple story

Everyone should read this memo.  It is one of the most surreal things I have ever read., unbelievably, the Pineapple passage & questions have been used 27 times before, in 5 other states, and three large districts!

It just shows how the testing companies have been allowed to run rampant over our kids, with no accountability and no one looking over their shoulder.  Poor Alabama kids, who have been subjected to this passage 8 times since 2004; though you would think eventually they would catch on.

State administrations include:
• Alabama 2004-2011
• Arkansas 2008-2010
• Delaware 2005-2010
• Illinois 2006-2007
• New Mexico 2005-2007
• Florida 2006
Large District Administrations:
• Chicago 2006-2007
• Fort Worth
• Houston

Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/04/pineapplegate-exclusive-memo-detailing-the-hare-and-the-pineapple-passage/2/#ixzz1tvAmpMaL

And look at the author’s name: Jon S. Twing, Ph.D. Executive Vice President & Chief Measurement Officer, Pearson

Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/04/pineapplegate-exclusive-memo-detailing-the-hare-and-the-pineapple-passage/2/#ixzz1tvAaHQzF

A perfect object lesson in why psychometric pseudo

science (and justifying babble) should not replace real live human qualified and trained TEACHERS and teacher-generated assessments.

Why trust this flawed model with evaluating the teaching and learning of our kids, teachers, schools and districts?

 And why cut our school budgets to the bone so we can afford these outrageous for-profit vendors, when we (under) pay teachers and administrators to assess effective teaching and learning every day?

This is a sham,  a scam and all about the ADULTS, not the kids! 

Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores

May 4, 2012 //

6

We have a plethora of governors, legislators, and state commissioners of education who are gaga over standardized testing, They can’t imagine a child who is not taking a test today, tomorrow, and next week. They want to test everything: not only reading and math, but the arts, science, civics, history, foreign languages, physical education, you name it and they want to test it.

When the test-lovers see low scores, they want to find the teacher swho did it and fire them. They can’t see any reason for low scores other than those darn teachers. They want “great” teachers and they figure the way to get them is to keep teachers insecure and intimidated. That’s sure to attract the best and brightest!

When the test-lovers see low scores, they not only want to fire teachers, they want to close the schools where those kids are enrolled and hand them over to private managers. The private managers will kick out the kids with low scores and find some students who have a better shot at getting those better scores. That’s called progress. Nobody wants those kids with low scores. Send ‘em back to the public schools that haven’t been closed yet.

I have a modest proposal for the officials–elected and appointed–who are so test-happy.

They should take the tests and publish their scores. If they aren’t willing to take the tests and publish their scores, they should pipe down.

Just a thought.

Diane

Police in the Schools: Rally and March from Lehman HS Today

I spent almost my entire career without police in the schools. The people at the desk checking you in were school aides. In some quarters this may be controversial and let's assume there is a need for a security force in some schools, this force should not be under the control of the NYPD.

I would say it should be under the control of the principal but given the ditcatorship and lunacy of so many of these people I can imagine shoot to kill orders for teachers who raise questions about the school leadership team. Or a principal like Darlene Miller featured by Sue Edelman in the NY Post for being absent. And drunk. But no digging on her history of harassing teachers.


So the question of how to deal with a security force and things like metal detectors which I -- from a distance of course - oppose.

When I interviewed Carol Burris at her high school in Rockville Center on Friday for our new film I did jokingly ask her where the metal detectors were. Let's face it, no matter where you stand the idea of putting mostly black and brown kids through these detectors and an occupying police force with cops without the training or experience educators and social workers have in dealing with them makes for a very different high school experience than suburban white kids get. If you want to spell that r-a-c-i-s-m go right ahead.

ON MONDAY, MAY 7th @ 3:30pm.........................

SUPPORT OUR H.S. STUDENTS AS THEY MARCH IN THE BRONX AGAINST POLICE TERROR IN THEIR SCHOOLS                                              

For Immediate Release

March from Lehman H.S. to the Bronx 45th Precinct to file a complaint against officers who harass & terrorize our students.

Sixteen-year-old Malik Ayala, a student of Lehman High School, waiting to take an important examination, became the target of all kinds of hustle interrogation in the hallway of the school. Demands were made for his ID, records, documents, first by Peace Officers, then by his dean and then by police officers. And he was told, that the literature he planned to hand out to fellow students was illegal, because it had the symbol of a black panther. Finally he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct. Because of all this, he was forced to miss that very important examination.

Less than two weeks later, after observing someone being arrested in the subway, Malik took out his phone and began video recording the police actions. Police officers demanded to see the phone, slammed him against the wall and searched him despite Malik's refusal to agree to let them do so, which was his legal right. Once again Malik was served with a summons for disorderly conduct.

This is not a unique case. Many of our youth, predominantly of color, go through the same experience daily in their schools and communities. On Monday May 7th there will be a march of fellow students and Bronx community residents to file complaints against officers, who are harassing youth of color.

Who: People Power Movement, Lehman High School students, Bronx community.

What: March to 45th Precinct in the Bronx. 

Where: Meet at Lehman High school 3000 East Tremont, Bronx NY 10461.

(Take #6 train to Westchester Square)

When: Monday, May 7th,  at 3:30pm.               

In schools, where youth of color predominate, young people treated not like  students, but criminals. There are metal detectors and Peace Officers. Police officers are called in routinely. Apparently the aim is to condition the students to be subjects of a police state, to create an atmosphere of intimidation and to establish a pipeline from school to prison.

Contact:  Jason Javier     +1(917) 496-3314
                 jasonjavier4@gmail.com

               Mark Torres     646-696-8485
                harlem120@msn.com

 
By the way, I an interviewing Mark Torres for the film later this week.

Alice McIntosh Fights Discontinuance at Rally Today

Over the years we at ICE have been contacted by a number of teachers who received the Dreaded D rating which basically blackballs them from teaching under their license again even if another principal wants to hire them.  It give unfettered power over non-tenured teachers to principals. Ask yourself why would a principal absolutely ruin a young or new teacher's career it they could find another job? Because they can. That is a sign of the kinds of people Tweed has put into school leadership positions.

Ed Notes has written about the D: Ed Notes Online: On the Dreaded D's and U's: Discontinued and ...

Ask any of them after about 6 months of obfuscation by the UFT how they feel about their union and you will have to contain the explosion.

Will the UFT be at this rally crying crocodile tears?


From Jonathan Halabi to NYC Ed Listserve:

Probationary teachers in New York City are discontinued every week, and they rarely generate news stories. Some of the discontinuances are justified, some are unjustified, but the ex-teachers usually just go away quietly. Not Alice McIntosh.
McIntosh, a 50-year-old Black woman with masters in public health from Columbia and another in education from Pace, is not going away quietly. Her story was featured in the Daily News. And now that her appeal has been denied (by the same superintendent who signed off on the U rating!), her family and friends from New Day Church are rallying in her support.

The fact that McIntosh had favorable evaluations, but questioned the use of out-dated, non-relevant curriculum, should make people of good conscience highly suspicious.

Sunday, May 6, 1:30 – 2:30.  P10X@PS15 (2195 Andrews Avenue near W 183rd, the Bronx)

Click for press release:  McIntosh 5.6 Media Advisory.

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition 103 East 196th Street Bronx, NY 10468 Tel: 718-584-0515 cell: 646-646-6313 fax: 718-733-6922 Contact:

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release

Alice McIntosh, 718 679-5824, aymcintosh@gmail.com

Allison Manuel, 917-213-6028 or Allison@northwestbronx.org

Fired Bronx Teacher Takes DOE To School!

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition calls for reinstatement of teacher Alice McIntosh, administrative accountability for State-required mentoring and the creation of an unbiased appeal process for teachers

Bronx, NY— On Sunday, May 6 at 1:30 PM, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition; New Day Church; and former students, colleagues and supporters of 2009 Teaching Fellow Alice McIntosh will gather in front her P10X @ PS 15, in support of her being reinstatement.  According to Ms. McIntosh, former P10X literacy teacher and current Director of New Day Church Sunday school, she intends to “take the DOE to school.”  

“My case makes crystal clear that the DOE is in need of serious schooling on how to support new teacher success and an unbiased, independent appeals process,” said Ms. McIntosh. “We have sent over 200 letters, elevated the stories of other teachers like me in the press, and have made a clearly substantiated case in the NYCDOE Office of Appeals.  All have fallen on deaf ears. This Sunday, we’re taking them back to school.”

Ms. McIntosh was fired from the DOE without being mentored, as outlined by State requirements. Currently as well as during her appeal hearing the Administration of P10X has not provided any documentation that she was ever mentored.  In spite of not being supported by her administration, Ms. McIntosh received glowing recommendations from parents and her colleagues and all satisfactory observations from the same Vice Principal who supported her U-rating.

Ms. McIntosh and her supporters say they intend to visit the office of Superintendent Gary Hecht, who authorized McIntosh’s firing and decided the outcome of her appeal. They will demand that the he answer questions about the inconsistencies surrounding her unsatisfactory performance rating and ultimate firing, the appalling lack of evidence to support the allegations made against her, as well as why she worked for two years without being mentored or supported.

“I am completely disgusted by the fact that Superintendent Gary Hecht, had the power to approve my unsatisfactory rating and firing and ultimately made the final decision on my appeal,” said Ms. McIntosh. “Is there any court of law where the same judge can sentence and decide the appeal?”

Ms. McIntosh’s case is not an isolated incident, and so she and the NWBCCC have launched a campaign to hold the NYC Department of Education accountable for the impacts of lack of mentoring and relevant, consistent support for new teachers and an appeal process that at its core is corrupt and biased.  In 2004, the State of New York Board of Regents modified the teacher certification regulations, requiring all teachers with less than one year of teaching experience to receive a “quality mentoring experience” prior to receiving full certification. New York City implemented this requirement with a $36 million teacher mentoring program that was intended to "increase teacher retention, enhance classroom instruction, and improve student achievement. (Goertz, Loeb, Wyckoff, 2011)  In spite of that, The UFT reports that 40 percent of teachers leave before the end of their three-year probation period, largely because they don't get enough support and professional development. Additionally, 51% of NYC Teaching Fellows do not stay within the teaching profession for more than 5 years.  This translates into a dramatic loss of talent and potential from Teaching Fellows themselves and a costly loss of the City’s time and money spent on educating and employing them.   Fellows cite lack of mentoring and inconsistent support as a top reason for leaving within the first five years.  The Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers have both published studies on the alarmingly high attrition rates of new teachers.  Yet nothing has been done to remedy this.

Who: The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, New Day Church, former students and colleagues of Alice McIntosh
What: Demonstration to demand the reinstatement of Alice McIntosh, administrative accountability for State required mentoring and the creation of an unbiased, independent appeal process for teachers
When: Sunday, May 6, 2012, 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Where: P10X@PS15 (2195 Andrews Avenue between W 183rd and Hall of Fame Terrace, Bronx, NY 10453)
Visuals: Giant Blackboard with the ABCs of supporting new teachers; 100 supporters of Alice McIntosh brandishing signs, singing, and praying over testimonies

Change the Stakes and GEM Invitate you to high stakes testing meeting this Wednesday

The Change the Stakes Committee formed by GEM last July has picked up a massive head of steam in fighting high stakes testing both locally and nation-wide. You know our theme in GEM has been: we have to do things like make a movie defending teacher and union rights and fight testing and teacher evaluation reports, etc, etc, etc because the UFT doesn't.

Thanks again for your support of the petition to Give New York State Parents the Right to Opt Their Children out of High Stakes Testing.

Anyone interested in joining other parents and educators working to challenge high stakes testing is invited to the next meeting of the NYC-based Change the Stakes Campaign this Wednesday.

What     Change the Stakes Meeting
Where    CUNY Graduate Center, 34th Street and 5th Avenue, Room 4204 (the Urban Education Lounge)
When    Wednesday, May 9th, 5:30-7:30 PM

For more info on Change the Stakes please visit the website or email changethestakes@gmail.com.

For more information on the upcoming boycott of June field tests please visit Time Out From Testing.

Thanks again,

Andrea from the Change the Stakes Campaign

 Here is the TOFT petition on field testing to the crooks at the NY State Ed Dept:

It has come to our attention that the State Department of Education (SED) wants our children to work for the testing company, Pearson.  Right now our children are being tested in English, math and science. They have spent many hours prepping for and taking these tests. This year the tests are much longer because Pearson Publishing has embedded field test questions in the existing tests.  These questions do not count toward your child’s grade but rather help Pearson write future tests.

The SED has awarded a $32 million contract over the next 5 years to Pearson. The DOE is mandating every school to give stand alone field tests the week of June 5th. Our children have become lab rats for this multi billion dollar testing company.

Parents want to boycott the field tests. In NYC we have 5 short weeks to get going.  We hope that many of you can convince your schools’ parents to join in and tell your principal that there should be no field testing that week. We would rather that the week of June 5th be devoted to real learning rather than test taking devoted to aiding a testing company do its job.

We have posted on our website at www.timeoutfromtesting.org both a parent letter and a boycott Fact Sheet for you to use (Spanish versions will be up soon.) The fact sheet is a way to enlighten your parent body since we have learned that most do not know about the field testing. In addition, parents are signing the letter and handing it in to their principals so that their schools don’t give the tests. Please let us know if your school is on board. We hope there will be many schools boycotting. To the best of our knowledge since these are field tests, there will be no ramifications for our children, our teachers or our schools.

Feel free to write us or call if you have questions.

Regards,
Jane Hirschmann and Dani Gonzalez
917 679 8343             646 701 4014

The Saturday Night Special: Pete Fornatale

The Saturday Night Special is a new feature of Ed Notes published every Sat. between 9 and 12 in the evening. Hopefully, something a little different than the rest of the dribble on this blog.

Cinquo de Mayo, 2012

Well, I am not in a bar or a Mexican restaurant and I even missed the Kentucky Derby.

Why? because we are avidly listening to WFUV's tribute to Pete Fornatale. He died over a week ago from the effects of a stroke while we were down in Virginia and Washington DC. I actually learned of his death from Reality Based Educator at Perdido St. School while I was away. I had heard he was sick but had not idea this was on the horizon.

It was a shock. He was my favorite music person on the radio and I listened to him whenever possible. I came late to rock music - as I did and do to just about everything. My growing interest coincided with Pete's rise to prominence on WNEW in the early 70's, though it was hard to listen when I was at school and he had that 10-2 show. But then there was Mixed Bag.  I learned a lot about rock from him, from the way he put music together. Like I was too dumb to know that the Beatles' "Back in the USSR" was a takeoff on the Beach Boys' "California Girls" - until Pete played them back to back. OK, I told you I was late. I believe he was the guy who brought back the Beach Boys by getting rock fans to look at their work as art. But then again what do I know? And then there was Poco and the roots back to Buffalo Springfield (and can't we use their anthem song right now to battle the ed deformers?)

I loved his appearances on Mike Francesa on WFAN. Pete was Mike's English teacher in parochial school. I hope Mike replays some of those segments some time. Because I was out of town I didn't hear if Mike talked about Pete but I assume he did.

When I learned that Pete lived out here in Rockaway and the Rockaway Theatre Company was doing a salute to Simon and Garfunkle in one of their spectacular Rockaway Cafe fall shows a few years ago and hearing that Pete has a book out on S and G, I emailed him at WFUV and he offered to come to a Saturday night show. He got up on stage during intermission with my acting teacher Frank Caiati and they did some joshing back and forth. Later he arranged a book appearance and did so again a few years later with another book. We got to chat and it was so good to hear that voice in person.

It's hard to figure how the death of a person you don't know will affect you. Certainly John Lennon and others of his ilk. Harry Chapin was a guy we felt we knew and that still hurts because he was such a great guy and we attended so many of his concerts. Phil Ochs hanged himself out here in Rockaway -- my wife and I had gone to lots of his shows.

Pete falls in that category. Listening to the last 4 hours of tribute to Pete was just so sad. We just ordered tickets to his May 27 tribute.