Testing reform in the news: June 6-12, 2013

From Fair Test:

Many major stories about assessment reform progress this week -- Texas significantly reduces standardized exam mandates; a rally in Albany opposes testing overkill, and major national groups call for a moratorium on Common Core tests.

All our weekly newsblasts are posted on the web at http://www.fairtest.org/news/other - this one will be up shortly.

Texas Governor Signs Bill Eliminating Two-Thirds of Required High-Stakes Exams

http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2013/06/perry-signs-bill-to-reduce-high-stakes-testing/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/10/texas-governor-signs-legislation-to-reduce-standardized-testing/
Rebellion Against a Culture of Testing Bubbles Over
http://www.summitdaily.com/news/6810995-113/texas-state-testing-bubbles

Thousands Protest Standardized Exam Overkill in State Capitol Demonstration
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130608/NEWS01/306080043
Why we Rallied Against High-States Testing -- OpEd by a former school
superintendent
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/ricken-too-much-emphasis-on-school-standardized-tests-1.5424228
"Stop the Madness Song" Highlights Anti-Testing Rally
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Campus-Notebook-Testing-protest-meant-to-strike-4584931.php

North Carolina Governor: Public School Students Take Too Many Tests
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/05/2941170/gov-mccrory-public-school-students.html

Oklahoma Lifts Testing Requirement for Learning Disabled Students
http://www.news9.com/story/22553805/new-legislation-changes-testing-requirements-for-special-needs-students

MSNBC High-Stakes Testing Protest Overview
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755822/ns/msnbc-the_ed_show/vp/52151738/#52151738

Major Ed Groups Support Moratorium on Common Core High-Stakes Tests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/06/common-core-supporters-back-moratorium-on-new-tests-high-stakes/
Unwrapping the Flawed Common Core Tests
http://andreagabor.com/2013/06/03/unwrapping-new-york-states-new-common-core-tests/
Common Core Collides with "Education Spring"
http://educationopportunitynetwork.org/?p=716&preview=true
See FairTest Common Core fact sheet "More Tests, But Not Much Better"
http://www.fairtest.org/common-core-assessments-more-tests-not-much-better

Parents Bill Pearson for School Time Wasted on Field Tests
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rEIh17ceiWc/UbJVly6ntpI/AAAAAAAAMvI/JtgJVFbOOZ8/s1600/Invoice+to+Pearson.jpg

Teachers Open Letter to Pearson: Send Profits Back to the Classroom http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/06/05/33tanenbaum.h32.html

Pearson Field Tests Earn an "F"
 http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/An-exam-that-gets-an-F-from-critics-4581122.php

Great Neck School Board Adopts Resolution Blasting Over-Testing
http://www.theislandnow.com/great_neck/article_26cc3ec6-ceb4-11e2-af0a-001a4bcf887a.html
Read the Great Neck Resolution
http://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/gnps/pages/TestingResolution2013.pdf
Sign the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing
http://timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution/

Third Graders Slam School Time Wasted on Testing in Letters to New York
Governor
http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/rockland-kids-slam-state-exams-write-to-cuomo-we-re-only-in-third-grade-for-heaven-sakes-1.5415097?qr=1

Indiana Computerized Exam Should Fail Independent Test
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-istep-failure-shouldn-t-pass-outside-test/article_428d4d4f-1b90-5912-8add-c001b5f1fc81.html

Local School Board Opposes Rhode Island State Grad Test Plan
http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x793338210/Tiverton-School-Committee-blasts-NECAP-requirement-in-meeting-with-state-officials#axzz2W0b62ss0

Jeb Bush's "A to F" School Grading Scam Hurts High-Poverty Districts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/07/superintendent-virginias-new-a-f-school-grading-system-will-hurt-high-poverty-districts/

Play the Value-Added Evaluation Game or Help Your Students?
http://edge.ascd.org/_Play-the-Evaluation-Game-or-Help-Your-Students-You-Must-Choose/blog/6532486/127586.html

More Ed. Leaders Should Fight Damaging School "Reforms"
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/06/why_arent_more_school_leaders_fighting_against_ed_reform.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2

Asking the Right Questions to Close Achievement Gaps
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/210647341.html?page=1&c=y

An Alternative Vision of Real School Reform
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/civic_mission/2013/06/extraordinary_people.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW
Final Installment of Excellent Video Series "A Year at Mission Hill" --
The Impact of Testing Mandates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VduHn6GmVt4&feature=youtube

Sign a New Declaration to Overhaul Test-Driven Schooling
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2013/06/in_counter_to_joyless_schools_%20coalition_demands_supports_based_reform.html

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
ph- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779
cell- (239) 699-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org/

Zombies in Central Park Plus Some Carpentry

The Zombies, our favorite group -- we went to London twice to see them, plus numerous viewings here in NYC  -- are doing a 6PM free -- yes free -- concert in Central Park today and we are heading in for a (not-free) 4PM session with lead singer Collin Blunstone (who looks at us as stalkers) and Ron Argent.

A fact you need to know from Wikki: Their 1968 album, Odessey and Oracle, comprising twelve songs by the group's principal songwriters, Argent and Chris White, is ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

She's Not There is one of my fave songs which haunted me in 1964 when I was in love and she wasn't there.



Norm the carpenter

I've been working on building a base for a rubber maid shed I bought and it's taken some time -- I work a half hour and rest for 2 hours -- and oh that mud.

But here is something more fun with people who actually know what they are doing.

I am heading off with my screw gun and hammer to the Rockaway Theatre Company's Sandy-damaged theater in Fort Tilden to help put the plywood down on the stage which we worked on last Saturday. I spent part of last Saturday crawling under the stage at the Fort Tilden theater putting screws into the concrete floor. I won’t go into the ugly details other than to say I can now get work as a contortionist. I am going back to help the always amazing Tony Homsey and his crew put down the plywood stage floor (volunteers are welcome), so the theater is ready for the gala July 19th reopening with “Rockaway Café: The Comeback.” There will be 10 benefit performances over three weekends to raise funds for repairing the theater. When the RTC is back, Rockaway is back.

Here is my report in The Wave this week.


Rockaway Theatre Company: The Comeback
By Norm Scott
http://www.rockawave.com/news/2013-06-14/Columnists/Dispatches.html

I was at a town hall meeting at PS 114 Friday June 7th at which we were broken up into groups to summon the ghost of Rockaway Future. Someone came up with, “A world class theater that would put on plays that would attract people from all over the city.” “We already have the Rockaway Theatre Company, a world class theater that puts on Broadway quality shows,” I chimed in.

The next morning I joined a group of volunteers under the direction of chief carpenter, set builder, tech advisor and do everything and anything guy, Tony Homsey, to help rebuild the guts of the Sandy-ravaged stage in preparation for an upcoming inspection by the Parks Department at Gateway National Park. If it passes, Tony will lead a volunteer crew all day Saturday, June 15th, to put down the plywood to cover the stage (come on down and bring a tape measure and hammer). There is a rush to get the stage ready in preparation for the July 19 opening of “Rockaway Café, The Comeback “which will focus on storm-related music in Act 1. Act 2 will focus on the light at the end of the tunnel as the RTC storms back from the abyss of Sandy, “the first performance in our new updated theater,” said Susan Jasper, one of RTC’s mainstays.

OK, at the risk of being branded an RTC Kool-Aid drinker, I believe shows at the RTC are often at a highly professional level. As one of the RTC videographers I get to see every show multiple times and am thrilled at every single performance. The final show of last season was postponed and forced to be moved to a church in Howard Beach last March in much modified form but was still a wowser. Many Howard Beachers were seeing the RTC in action for the first time and were blown away by the talent.

There will be ten benefit performances over three weekends beginning July 19th (Friday, Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.). Proceeds will be used to cover the considerable costs of rebuilding the severely damaged theater. Auctions and raffles will be held and any individuals and merchants willing to donate items can contact Susan Jasper at rockawaytheatre@verizon.net.

Paul Krugman Inadvertantly Lays Waste to Obama Ed Policy

Education, then, is no longer the answer to rising inequality, if it ever was (which I doubt). .. Paul Krugman, June 14, NY Times

Until recently, the conventional wisdom about the effects of technology on workers was, in a way, comforting. Clearly, many workers weren’t sharing fully — or, in many cases, at all — in the benefits of rising productivity; instead, the bulk of the gains were going to a minority of the work force. But this, the story went, was because modern technology was raising the demand for highly educated workers while reducing the demand for less educated workers. And the solution was more education..... today highly educated workers are as likely as less educated workers to find themselves displaced and devalued, and pushing for more education may create as many problems as it solves.  

... Paul Krugman, NY Times, Sympathy for the Luddites

One of the tenets of ed deform is to blame poverty on poor schooling with the focus on the teacher as the major culprit. (Yes, we, not the bankers, caused the depression.) That has been the essence of Obama policy. Krugman in Friday's column takes on this issue but without making a direct connection to Obama's (Bloomberg, etc) failed ed policy.

Here is the entire column, worth reading.

June 13, 2013

Sympathy for the Luddites

By PAUL KRUGMAN

In 1786, the cloth workers of Leeds, a wool-industry center in northern England, issued a protest against the growing use of “scribbling” machines, which were taking over a task formerly performed by skilled labor. “How are those men, thus thrown out of employ to provide for their families?” asked the petitioners. “And what are they to put their children apprentice to?” 

Those weren’t foolish questions. Mechanization eventually — that is, after a couple of generations — led to a broad rise in British living standards. But it’s far from clear whether typical workers reaped any benefits during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution; many workers were clearly hurt. And often the workers hurt most were those who had, with effort, acquired valuable skills — only to find those skills suddenly devalued. 

So are we living in another such era? And, if we are, what are we going to do about it? 

Until recently, the conventional wisdom about the effects of technology on workers was, in a way, comforting. Clearly, many workers weren’t sharing fully — or, in many cases, at all — in the benefits of rising productivity; instead, the bulk of the gains were going to a minority of the work force. But this, the story went, was because modern technology was raising the demand for highly educated workers while reducing the demand for less educated workers. And the solution was more education. 

Now, there were always problems with this story. Notably, while it could account for a rising gap in wages between those with college degrees and those without, it couldn’t explain why a small group — the famous “one percent” — was experiencing much bigger gains than highly educated workers in general. Still, there may have been something to this story a decade ago. 

Today, however, a much darker picture of the effects of technology on labor is emerging. In this picture, highly educated workers are as likely as less educated workers to find themselves displaced and devalued, and pushing for more education may create as many problems as it solves.

I’ve noted before that the nature of rising inequality in America changed around 2000. Until then, it was all about worker versus worker; the distribution of income between labor and capital — between wages and profits, if you like — had been stable for decades. Since then, however, labor’s share of the pie has fallen sharply. As it turns out, this is not a uniquely American phenomenon. A new report from the International Labor Organization points out that the same thing has been happening in many other countries, which is what you’d expect to see if global technological trends were turning against workers. 

And some of those turns may well be sudden. The McKinsey Global Institute recently released a report on a dozen major new technologies that it considers likely to be “disruptive,” upsetting existing market and social arrangements. Even a quick scan of the report’s list suggests that some of the victims of disruption will be workers who are currently considered highly skilled, and who invested a lot of time and money in acquiring those skills. For example, the report suggests that we’re going to be seeing a lot of “automation of knowledge work,” with software doing things that used to require college graduates. Advanced robotics could further diminish employment in manufacturing, but it could also replace some medical professionals. 

So should workers simply be prepared to acquire new skills? The woolworkers of 18th-century Leeds addressed this issue back in 1786: “Who will maintain our families, whilst we undertake the arduous task” of learning a new trade? Also, they asked, what will happen if the new trade, in turn, gets devalued by further technological advance? 

And the modern counterparts of those woolworkers might well ask further, what will happen to us if, like so many students, we go deep into debt to acquire the skills we’re told we need, only to learn that the economy no longer wants those skills? 

Education, then, is no longer the answer to rising inequality, if it ever was (which I doubt). 

So what is the answer? If the picture I’ve drawn is at all right, the only way we could have anything resembling a middle-class society — a society in which ordinary citizens have a reasonable assurance of maintaining a decent life as long as they work hard and play by the rules — would be by having a strong social safety net, one that guarantees not just health care but a minimum income, too. And with an ever-rising share of income going to capital rather than labor, that safety net would have to be paid for to an important extent via taxes on profits and/or investment income. 

I can already hear conservatives shouting about the evils of “redistribution.” But what, exactly, would they propose instead?

Leonie Haimson Skinny Awards This Tuesday, June 19, Honors Arthur Goldstein and Gary Rubinstein

Money raised goes to the great work Leonie has been doing.

See why NYC Educator is going. My Secret Identity

Contact Class Size Matters for event informationhttp://www.nycharities.org/events/EventLevels.aspx?ETID=6292

Fifth Annual "Skinny" award dinner

Leonie Haimson and Diane Ravitch Patrick Sullivan Monica Major and Emily Horowitz invite you to the Fifth annual Skinny Awards When: Tuesday, June 18 at 6:00 PM  Where: Fagiolini on 40th 120 E. 40 St.  (betw. Lexington and 3rd Ave.) New York, NY 10016 A fundraiser for Class Size Matters  Please join us where we will honor two exceptional teacher bloggers:  Arthur Goldstein Author of the NYC Educator blog and ESL teacher at Francis Lewis High School in Queens  Gary Rubinstein Blogger at Teach for Us and math teacher at Stuyvesant HS in lower Manhattan A rare opportunity to enjoy a four course dinner with wine and celebrate two people who give us the real "skinny" on NYC schools Tickets:  $250 - Defender of Public Education $150 - Patron $75 – Supporter Or send a check to: Class Size Matters, 124 Waverly Pl.  NY NY 10011; your contribution is tax-deductible.

Retired Chapter Leader Slams UFT in Eval Deal, ATRs and Support for RTTT

The UFT claims we should be treated the same as regular teachers but they seem to have abandoned us and are sliding away from all members concerns....I and several others approached Amy, Jose and the other UFT leaders at the one ATR meeting and expressed our desire to contribute to the UFT our unique perspectives and substantiated concerns about violations to our contract. The UFT was not interested and they were informing us to be glad that our jobs had been saved.

..... An ATR

From a recently retired chapter leader:

Dear Norm,

It is with such trepidation, felt by many, that the implementation of the new teacher evaluation will be enforced in the 2013-2014 school year.  I just read Lynne Winderbaum’s posting in JD2718.org and wondered if the ATRs will be unfairly evaluated.  They are not assigned to a roster of students for an entire year so as to determine if there was an actual 20% growth measure.  How will they be evaluated and will it be fair?

I received an email from an ATR who was very concerned about the implications that the new teacher evaluation might have on her and others in the ATR pool.

She writes:

“I have found that many schools DO NOT have chapter leaders or they DO NOT introduce themselves to the ATR. I have called the UFT and spoken to several different people and I have found that they gave me the advise to FIND the chapter leader or come in and speak to someone at the UFT. I find this very disheartening since we are only there for five days and we need immediate action. Also I and several others approached Amy, Jose and the other UFT leaders at the one ATR meeting and expressed other desire to contribute to the UFT our unique perspectives and substantiated concerns about violations to our contract. The UFT was not interested and they were informing us to be glad that our jobs had been saved. The UFT has a worth of information that can be gathered from ATRs that can attest to the issue that many members face at various schools. it is not the word of one but of  different weekly members observing the conditions. We have not been included in any meaningful PDs or training's on the new standards but are expected to apply for employment in schools implementing these new directives. So sorry to take the long way to answer your question but I felt that needed my insight. Thanks for your continued service.”

Another situation that she encountered in travel from school to school was the following:

” As an ATR I have observed and been subject to the followings things at different schools.;

    1. NO BATHROOM KEYS

    2. NO ELEVATOR KEY

    3. LUNCH TIME SHORTER THAN CLASS ROOM TIMES

    4. BEING GIVEN CLERICAL DUTIES

    5. BEING GIVEN ALL DAY HALL DUTY

    6. NOT GIVEN ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENTS IN VARIOUS SUBJECTS

    7. BEING TOLD TO CLOCK IN OR SIGN IN TIME OF ARRIVAL.

Finally ATRs could have been used by the UFT to develop a comprehensive complaint to fight the DOE. ATRs have documents and have experienced the various systems that exist that do NOT comply with UFT or DOE regulations. The UFT had one meeting in October 2012 and NOTHING since then pertaining to ATRs. We also have received NO training in the new standards or the Danielson "experiment". ATRs are experienced professionals and can contribute to the STRENGTH of the dissolving commitment of the UFT. The UFT claims we should be treated the same as regular teachers but they seem to have abandoned us and are sliding away from all members concerns.”

I have not heard anything on how the new teacher evaluation will be utilized if you’re an ATR.  But, I truly hope that the union leadership’s decision to apply for the RttT money and the June 1^st imposition of the new teacher evaluation does not adversely hurt the members who are more than just union dues.

 

Common Core: Commentary on NY TImes Sunday Piece from Ohanian and Daily Howler

Our public schools were now being compared to the world’s most famous shipwreck! And by the way: As long as this Standard Story is told, our public school teachers will get blamed for the disaster they have produced. The wreck of the Hesperus will get blamed on them and their infernal unions.
.....does it make sense to have a uniform set of “standards” for every child in each grade? Given the large academic gaps within our ginormous student population, this basic notion has never made a lick of sense. But given the way our “public discourse” works, this question has almost never been raised as the so-called “standards movement” has taken hold in the past twenty years. In their apparent main point, Hacker and Dreifus worried about the millions of kids—black kids, white kids, Hispanic kids—who are functioning near the bottom end of the vast academic ranges found in our public schools. If those kids can’t make it through high school today, how will they be helped if we make our “standards” tougher?

... Daily Howler

There are loads of comments on this piece (Who’s Minding the Schools by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus - New York Times, June 09, 2013) and below are a few. One thing I found interesting was the emphasis on the right wing (Glenn Beck) and minimizing the left/anti-testing crowd. This was from my Wave column today:

We can expect the testing to get heavier due to another national imposition on schools called the “common core” with all kinds of ridiculous rules on what and how to teach – really, why trust teachers to make ANY decisions? You know something weird is going on when Glen Beck and the tea partiers and right wing Republicans are joining the left in opposing the Common Core. For the right it is the Obama/Arne Duncan assault on local control over education. Like let’s teach that the South really won the Civil War (maybe they did) or that Darwin was really the serpent in the Garden of Eden. That has been used by CC supporters but the left is not having any of it, opposing the CC on the heavy testing and control exerted over schools where they would actually teach important stuff if they were allowed to.

Susan Ohanian chose a few (http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=507):

Indiana Reader Comment: There is a winner-takes-all aspect to the implementation of Common Core that I find chilling. The authors are right to ask: how does this curriculum account for or prepare those who don't "make it" (whether that means not finishing high school, not going to college, or some other form of societal misstep)?

It reminds me of the horribly-named "Race to the Top". Dearies, we can't all be at the top. By definition. We need to be considering the 80% of our population who aren't, well, the top 20%, and who likely won't be getting good jobs with good benefits and living out the American Dream.

Please don't pretend that ensuring a continually higher level of average academic achievement will somehow produce happier citizens who feel more secure in their health and well-being. That's nothing more than an academic arms race.

Los Angeles Reader Comment: Does anyone with a functioning brain really think that education and standardization have anything in common? Education by its very definition is the exact opposite of standardization. Education is a liberating force, the breakdown of boundaries and limits in pursuit of knowledge in its purest and most profound sense.

Standardization is great for Microsoft and other businesses that mass produce a product. But does anyone want their children to think or be like everyone else? Does anyone even believe such a goal is possible?

One could easier imagine standardized, one-size-fits-all liquor laws and drivers license tests across these 50 diverse and unique states before anything approaching standardized education. Yet 45 states have rushed to embrace Common Core? This hasty and ill-considered attempt to radically change the very heart of public education in America without the slightest bit of public discussion is sheer madness.

Westchester County Comment: As a 7th grade English teacher, this year, I incorporated numerous informational texts to link to the novels my class was reading. Many of these included New York Times articles of high interest levels for my 7th graders. It was gratifying to help students to deconstruct the articles, along with some movie reviews, so that they could interact directly with well-crafted writing. It was exciting to see students work to make sense of difficult vocabulary and to share their interpretations in lively discussions.

On a regular basis, I ask myself: Am I giving them a foundation that will help to fire up curiosity about how to communicate and to understand other points of view? Am I helping to demystify novels and articles and approaches to writing?

Wow. Was I ever asking the wrong questions! The ELA exam wiped my students and me out. We are all demoralized.

During the three days of testing, my students struggled to finish textbook informational texts that didn't resemble any authentic newspaper or magazine articles we had studied earlier in class.

If somebody from another planet had visited us on those test days, s/he/it might conclude that reading is an unpleasant chore and that writing is something you've got do to shove the words down on the paper, so you can get it over with; get as far away from the "learning" as possible, because it is painful.

I'm not on the same page as the Common Core and the Exams.

Here is a different take from Bob Somerby at The Daily Howler. Bob was a long-time teacher in the Baltimore school system so he knows of what he speaks when it comes to education. Somerby talks about a lot of stuff but I love it when he talks education.

TWO KINDS OF FACTS: Some basic facts which are always withheld!

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:01 AM PDT

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013

Part 4—Including some horrible facts: We’ve been asking the question all week:

How many readers were able to discern the main point of the piece by Hacker and Dreifus in Sunday’s New York Times?

We raised that question at the start of the week, noting the rather jumbled writing the Times didn’t bother to edit. Because their piece was a bit opaque, we wondered how many readers had actually discerned the authors’ (apparent) main point.

Yesterday, one set of results came in.

The Times published five letters about the piece. None of the letters addressed the (very worthwhile) point the professors seemed to be raising in their piece about the new Common Core standards.

The authors seemed to be asking a critical question: If twenty-five percent of American students can’t get through high school as matters stand now, what will happen when the “more rigorous” Common Core standards make the task that much harder?

“Supporters are confident that students will rise to these challenges and make up for our country’s lag in the global education race,” Hacker and Dreifus said at one point in their stroll through the land. “We are not so sure.”

In our view, Hacker and Dreifus raised an extremely good point. Yesterday morning, in five separate letters, no one seemed to realize that this was the question they asked.

We don’t know what kinds of letters the New York Times may have received. But none of the letters the paper published addressed the authors’ (apparent) main point.

That said, two of the letters did recite the propagandistic Standard Story which dominates our nation’s discussions of the public schools. We refer to the mandated Standard Story about “our country’s lag in the global education race,” a Standard Story the authors themselves recited as part of their piece.

The first letter-writer praised the new standards, failing to mention the point of concern Hacker and Dreifus had raised. But as she ended, she tickled the strings of our nation’s Favorite Song:

“I think that we all agree—the old approach was not working.”

The old approach has been working reasonably well for a fairly large number of kids, as we will note below. But it seems to be federal law: You simply can’t discuss public schools without advancing that Standard Claim.

Another letter-writer pumped up the volume on this mandated tune. “Isn’t arguing about the Common Core State Standards rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?” he gloomily wondered.

That was more like it! Our public schools were now being compared to the world’s most famous shipwreck! And by the way:

As long as this Standard Story is told, our public school teachers will get blamed for the disaster they have produced. The wreck of the Hesperus will get blamed on them and their infernal unions.

Alas! These letter writers approached Sunday’s piece like the famous blind men groping the elephant. Though these folk seemed to be down the hall groping parts of a rhino instead.

The basic point of the piece went unaddressed. But twice, we got to hear the mandated Standard Story—the familiar old story about how gruesome our public schools actually are!

Let’s be clear: American students do not lead the world on international tests. On most measures, the Asian tigers outscore the rest of the world, the United States included.

On the other hand, we aren’t exactly on the Titanic, though everyone and his crazy uncle seems to know that such a claim must, by law, be made.

Sorry, Virginia! American students do not “score well below their European peers in reading and math,” the false claim advanced by Hacker and Dreifus midway through their piece. Even on the international test the authors cherry-picked for maximum gloom, American students outscored their peers from Germany, France and England.

Sorry, Virginia! Scandinavian countries do not “show higher levels of student achievement than the United States,” the bogus claim which appeared in the Washington Post on May 18, placed there by the brightest college kid in the country—by a very bright and caring kid who has been brainwashed by the ubiquity of the Standard Story.

But so what? Everyone from Hacker on down repeats the Standard Story, preferably in a demonstrably bogus form. But then, the Standard Tales which control our discourse are typically built upon two kinds of facts—invented and withheld.

Today, let’s look at some facts which get withheld from your view when public schools get discussed. You will never see these facts when your upper-end press corps pretends to discuss public schools.

Some of these facts are almost uplifting; some of these facts are horrific. All these facts open the window onto our brutal history. But all these facts are actual facts—and they are highly relevant to Hacker and Dreifus’ apparent main point.

These facts are constantly withheld from your view. Although they routinely appear in major reports, you are never shown them.

Let’s start with the semi-gloomy facts which Hacker and Dreifus misstated. Below, you see average scores in reading literacy on the 2009 PISA, the international tests on which the professors chose to focus:

Average scores in reading literacy, 2009 PISA:
Korea 539
Finland 536
Canada 524
New Zealand 521
Japan 520
Australia 515
[...]
United States 500
Germany 497
France 496
United Kingdom 494
Average of OECD countries 493
Italy 486
Spain 481
Turkey 464
Chile 449
Mexico 425

Korea scored highest of the 34 OECD nations; Mexico scored lowest. For simplicity, we are omitting 21 countries, none of which outscored the U.S. in a "measurably different" way.

To peruse the entire list, click here, scroll down to page 8.

As you can see, the United States outscored the major European nations, though sometimes by small margins. The New York Times should file a detailed, prominent correction of the claim made by its high scholars.

(If they do, they will of course load it with other cherry-picked facts.)

That said, the United States was outscored on this test, in a “measurably different” way, by half a dozen nations. Prompted by endless propaganda, excitable people may compare this to an outing on the Titanic.

If they do, the New York Times will rush their cries into print.

Propagandized people will wring their hands over this gruesome result. Below, we’ll present a different, more detailed version of this list.

We will include some additional facts, including some which are horrifying. The National Center for Educational Statistics gives prominent placement to these “disaggregated” scores; scroll down to page 14. But when you read about public schools, these facts are always withheld, perhaps because they are accurate:

Average scores in reading literacy, 2009 PISA:
(United States, Asian-American students 541)
Korea 539
Finland 536
(United States, white students 525)
Canada 524
New Zealand 521
Japan 520
Australia 515
[...]
United States 500
Germany 497
France 496
United Kingdom 494
Average of OECD countries 493
Italy 486
Spain 481
(United States, Hispanic students 466)
Turkey 464
Chile 449
(United States, black students 441)
Mexico 425

Propagandists and tribalists will interpret those “disaggregated” scores in various ways. But only to the extent that they’re forced to view them, since these facts are always withheld when we discuss public schools.

Some of those scores are almost encouraging; others are horrifying. For ourselves, we will say that the worst of those scores represents the effect of three centuries of brutal racial history, in which our benighted ancestors worked very hard, for three hundred years, to eliminate literacy from one major segment of the American nation.

Aside from that, how did you like the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries? With Jim Crow to follow?

That much said, we’ll ask two questions. Let’s start with the first:

Even on this cherry-picked test, do our schools seem like the Titanic when you look at the average score of white students? These are the kids whose ancestors weren’t violently stripped of access to literacy for roughly three hundred years, depending on when you stop counting.

That is this country’s mainstream majority population, the population of kids whose ancestors weren’t violently stripped of the culture of literacy. (Some of those other countries have nothing but a mainstream majority population. To their credit, they didn’t direct three centuries of violence at segments of their populations.) And yes, that average score includes the work of the gap-toothed, shoeless, yahoo-raised kids we fiery liberals like to picture in the southern red states.

Do our schools really seem like the Titanic when you look at that average score?

That said, the average score on this test by American black kids is close to horrifying. It must be said, because it’s true, that many black kids are doing extremely well in school. And it must be said that Americans kids of all descriptions tend to score better on other international tests.

In Massachusetts, black kids outscored Finland in math on the 2011 TIMSS! To review those inspiring numbers, click this. Remember, the authors cherry-picked the PISA because it provides the gloomiest scores. This is one of the basic ways the nation gets propagandized.

We reach our second question:

Our nation still lives in the backwash of centuries of brutal racial history. Meanwhile, many black kids do extremely well in school; many white kids do quite poorly. But on the 2009 PISA, our white kids were reading, on average, like kids from middle-class, unicultural Finland. On average, our black kids were closer to Mexico.

In such a country, does it make sense to have a uniform set of “standards” for every child in each grade? Given the large academic gaps within our ginormous student population, this basic notion has never made a lick of sense. But given the way our “public discourse” works, this question has almost never been raised as the so-called “standards movement” has taken hold in the past twenty years.

In their apparent main point, Hacker and Dreifus worried about the millions of kids—black kids, white kids, Hispanic kids—who are functioning near the bottom end of the vast academic ranges found in our public schools. If those kids can’t make it through high school today, how will they be helped if we make our “standards” tougher?

For kids who are struggling as it is, won’t tougher standards just make matters worse? Hacker and Dreifus seemed to be asking that (very important) question.

Alas! In the cluelessness which never sleeps, the New York Times printed exactly no letters which spoke to this, the authors’ main point. But on Monday, the paper did publish a front-page report which touched on this general question.

Slate and Salon tried to comment.

Almost all our public discussions are built around two kinds of facts. The cluelessness of our elites was on display in Monday’s reports, which tended to withhold basic facts about our nation’s academic divides.

Tomorrow: Can our elites read and do math?

UFT Fiddles as Christine Rubino 2-Year Suspension Ends Today

Thursday, June 13, 2013
To: mmulgrew@uft.org, mmendel@uft.org, Amy Arundell, aabrams@uft.org, asolomon@uft.org, hschoor@uft.org,

I am sure you all are well aware of the fact, that my 2 year suspension is supposed to be over-effective tomorrow. I have yet to hear from anyone regarding this matter. If possible, can someone please contact Laura Brantley or Claude Hersch to find out what is going on with this issue? Maybe, Theresa Europe can be consulted?

Thank You,
Christine Rubino

A union is "supposed" to stand by their members and seek information that will help them... [My NUSYUT attorney] kept telling me the benefits of resigning. I was completely shocked. Why would a NYSUT lawyer even suggest that was an option? ... The App division affirmed the lower court decision [negating the firing] and the 2 year suspension is now over--- effective 6/14.... I make phone calls and visit UFT offices and get no response.... I went to go see Amy Arundel in the Manhattan office and she actually said.."What can we do for you? You have your own lawyer?"... I would like to know who or what can be done, so that on 6/14 I know where to go... It has been 2 years, I have lost my career, my house, my whole life, and my identity.... Christine Rubino, letter to UFT officials (excerpts from June 11 letter).

Well, today is the day that Christine's suspension ends and she is due back on payroll. [For background links see below].

The fundamental thing unions must do it protect their members, which it is clear the UFT leadership does not do. Christine admits she made a mistake --saying something privately on facebook to her "friends" -- one of which obviously wasn't -- that I heard so much worse in teachers rooms. Yet the UFT leadership seems to be making a value judgement on a teacher -- they don't want to be seen as defending a teacher who might make a comment they don't deem proper?

When we had breakfast with George Schmidt, in from Chicago a few weeks ago, I brought up Christine's case and George made the emphatic point: we don't get into judging people -- especially with the attacks going on against teachers -- we defend people and stand up for the role a union plays in doing that, especially in a case that has nothing to do with in school issues. This is just the Tweed lawyer gotcha squad being allowed to run rampant to justify their existence while the UFT sits by -- sort of like watching someone in the middle of the road with a truck bearing down but not bothering to holler, "Watch out!"

(MORE put out a statement of support for Christine a few weeks ago: A Call For Fair Discipline: MORE Supports Christine Rubino).

Here is the full email Christine sent to all of the above plus Randi Weingarten the other day:

My name is Christine Rubino and I was a due paying UFT member until June 2011, when I was fired for a Facebook comment. When, I first received charges, I could not believe how quickly my union abandoned me. My "crime" did not seem like an offense worthy of termination.

When, I was assigned to a my NYSUT attorney, Mr. Sean Kelley, I could not believe what I was hearing. There I was – a 14 year teacher with nothing but satisfactory ratings and wonderful write ups from my principal, being chased down for one minute of stupidity.

The first time, I met Mr. Kelley, he was hell bent on having resignation papers drawn up. He kept insisting, it was much easier to resign, than to be fired. He kept telling me the benefits of resigning. I was completely shocked. Why would a NYSUT lawyer even suggest that was an option?

Through diligent research I came to realize the whole 3020a process is completely skewed against the teacher. In fact, I came to realize, that the whole process is INDEED skewed against the teacher.  I have even spoken to many other teachers who say, they were told the same thing. I kept my mouth closed, and sought outside counsel. This came in the form of a wonderful man, named Bryan Glass.

Mr. Glass, has been by my side since the beginning of this nightmare, and although we couldn't win at the hearing (of course, not...the cards are stacked against teachers) I continued to work closely with Mr. Glass. We took case to Supreme Court, we won.

NYCDOE slapped a stay on order, we asked App. Division to lift the statutory stay, and they did. This forced the NYCDOE...to negotiate a new penalty---before the App. Division would here the case. The NYCDOE needed to have a remand hearing. They chose to do this on paper, with the same arbitrator who fired me, presiding. Of course, she came back with a 2 year suspension, which would take me through the Appeal case.

The App division affirmed the lower court decision [negating the firing] and the 2 year suspension is now over--effective 6/14. The time is here, I have been a VERY PATIENT GIRL. I make phone calls and visit UFT offices and get no response. Nothing. I would like to know who or what can be done, so that on 6/14 I know where to go. I do not want to let that day come and go. I have been out of work long enough and have gotten to where I am, BECAUSE, my lawyer hard faith in the case, when my own union did absolutely nothing to help me. A union is "supposed" to stand by their members and seek information that will help them. To this day, I have not heard from anyone who has any information about returning. NOTHING.

As a matter of fact, I went to go see Amy Arundel in the Manhattan office, and she actually said.."What can we do for you? You have your own lawyer?"

My lawyer is my lawyer... he works with the law, he is not a direct pipeline to NYSUT, UFT, or the DOE. I would appreciate some answers as to my current situation, and what can be done, to get me back on the payroll.

It has been 2 years, I have lost my career, my house, my whole life, and my identity. I am the only person who has suffered through this, and yet people who have been accused and found guilty of far worse...have been returned to their school and are working. I look forward to hearing from someone soon, as I have many questions I would like answered. Please feel free to reach out to me...anytime...

Thank you
Christine Rubino

Outrage at Christine Rubino Two Year Suspension for Facebook Transgression, 

The Arbitrator's original decision can be found here. Barbara Jaffae,  ruling

The Assailed Teacher: The Human Cost of Teacher Bashing: The Christine Rubino Case, The DOE’s Long War on Christine Rubino

Perdido Street School:  A Two-Tiered Justice System

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL

If Only Christine Rubino Were Either Michelle Rhee, Mychael Willon, Derrick Townsend, John Chase JR, or Jose Maldanado-Rivera

Chaz's School Daze: 

The Christine Rubino Facebook Decision And Why The Arbitrator's Award Is Excessive.   

NYCDOENUTS: Rubino Plans To Appeal the Two-Year Suspension

Betsy Combier: here and here and here.

Francesco Portelos: The Christine Rubino Story

Afterburn:
Look for multiple posts today -- I feel like a July day at Kennedy airport with all the backups.

IS YOUR CHILD’S PROMOTION IN DOUBT? Find out what you can do about it

Change the Stakes Provides NYC Parents With Resources on Convoluted DOE Promotion Policy.

SO AMAZING!!!! Thank you! Thank you! --- NYC parent (and teacher)

As letters of horror rolled in from parents about threats to hold their kids back if they don't go to summer school, the CTS crew took on the immense task of collating lots of invaluable info.

It takes a village and Change the Stakes is a VILLAGE.

I always say that given where CTS started less than two years ago, and the fact that the people running it today mostly came on board later on (I play almost no role other than cheer-leading) seeing their output and the spirit with which this now almost all parent group works is one of the most gratifying aspects of activism. It makes this old guy kvell.

Please share this info with your students' parents.

Here is the email from Janine Sopp (who claims she has become this amazing parent activist after being inspired by our film.)

The CtS Student Promotion committee (Andrea, Jane, Diana, Nancy, Deborah, Igor, Lisa Shaw, and Jia) did an amazing job of creating new materials and assembling links to answer many of the questions and concerns you may have about your child's promotion.  It is all posted on our website in two different ways.  The first is on the homepage and a featured post, the second is in a stationary position under opt out/portfolio assessment.

We hope you find this helpful and encourage you to share this information with other parents, teachers and administrators.  Thanks for your patience and for the hard work the committee did on this!

http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/questions-about-student-promotion-decisions-this-year-change-the-stakes-resources-and-additional-links-right-here/

http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/national-opt-out-movement/opt-into-portfolios/promotion-in-doubt-what-parents-need-to-know/

June 14 Mayoral Forum, June 15-16 booth at Clearwater Festival

Additional news:

     June 14, 6-8 PM at Murray Bergtraum HS 7 candidates for mayor will respond to questions from 15 parents representing a range of education groups and unions.  See attached flier

June 15-16 Michael Shaw, David Greene, and Rosalie Friend will host a Save Our Schools booth in the activists area of the Clearwater Hudson River Revival at Croton Point Park on the Hudson River.  The Clearwater is a replica of the wooden sloops that carried freight up and down the Hudson River.  It was created by Pete Seeger and others to focus efforts to clean up the Hudson River and enhance the environmental health of the Hudson River Valley.  The festival is a huge gathering - 20,000 people, 7 stages of music, dance and story-telling, plus crafts, activists, and a children's area.  If you attend the festival, be sure to come to our booth.
The Save Our Schools booth will ask people to respond to the question of the Campaign for Artful Resistance, "What is it you love about school that you have lost because of high stakes testing, school closings, budget cuts, curriculum losses, teacher firings, and other educational catastrophes?" by creating a tweet of 140 characters or drawing a picture.  Tweets and pictures will be photographed and posted in the on line Gallery of the Campaign for Artful Resistance.  At noon Saturday, Terry Moore will play the guitar and sing original songs like "Testing Sells, Testing Smells"  and "There are teachers I'll remember  all my li--ife though schools has changed."   We will also have fliers to distribute about the missions of Save Our Schools and Change the Stakes, and we hope to engage others in our effort.

The Worm Turns on Ed Deform in Indiana as the NEW Status Quo Comes Under Attack

Indiana’s love affair with so-called school reform is cooling. Serious cracks are showing in the relationship between lawmakers and anti-labor, pro-privatization forces that have fueled the so-called reform with millions in campaign contributions.... Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette 

For the last decade we have been attacked as status quoers by the deformers, which was so funny given that some of  us have been fighting the status quo since the early 70s. Joel Klein couldn't get a sentence out with resorting to the mentioning the old SQ while establishing the new SQ. But given that ed deform has been actively been pushed since Chicago, 1994, the deformers are now the SQ and real reformers have been on the counter attack, with new organizations springing up all over the place.

The signs of reform pushback come as no surprise to Phyllis Bush, who retired from South Side High School as an English teacher and department chair in 1999. She became a vocal critic of the school reform movement about two years ago after attending a town hall meeting by an area legislator who seemed to know little about the bills being pushed on schools and instead deferred to one of Bennett’s assistant superintendents to respond.
“A roomful of teachers asked some pretty good questions about charters and vouchers,” Bush said. “I was completely appalled by his smugness.”
After attending a Washington rally for public schools, she mobilized a group of Fort Wayne residents to establish the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education. Energized by education historian Diane Ravitch’s appearances in Bloomington and at IPFW’s Omnibus Lecture, the group jumped in to help elect a new state superintendent. Since Ritz’s election night upset, they have continued to monitor so-called reform measures and kept up a relentless letter-writing campaign.

We (our GEM group - Julie, Brian, Lisa D, Lisa N, Gloria, Khem, Alev) met Phyllis Bush when she attended the workshop we presented at that SOS event in DC in July 2011 where they showed our movie. Phyllis went home to help organize the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education --- and told us she was using our movie as an education and organizing tool -- and has accomplished a hell of a lot in less than 2 years. Defeating the slimy Tony Bennett as state ed commissioner with Glenda Ritz, a candidate opposed to ed deform -- in Indiana, yet, is a MAJOR victory for all of us.

Yes, it takes individuals to act -- educate, organize, mobilize -- and retired teachers who stood up to ed deform have the knowledge and time to take on these roles.

Hey, how about calling for an election for NY State Ed Comm so we can get rid of John King? I know people worry about the money that comes into an election but Indiana of all places proves we can defeat the deformers even with all their money. Bennett was one of the deform stars that Phyllis and crew helped shoot down.

I wrote a post on worm turning back in Dec. '12:

Ed Notes Online: The Worm is Turning: Ravitch with Smiley and West

Dec 10, 2012

Anthony Cody is in the forefront of the NPE. Note the ref to New Zealand, which I visited in Dec. 2011 and had some social media contact with an educator who wanted to see our film (we got a nice donation from the NZ teachers assoc to support the film.)

By the way -- if you haven't watched our film or shared it with your colleagues, help break the UFT boycott just click the tab at the top of this blog.

Volume 1, Issue: #11 June 13, 2013

Inside NPE News The Worm is Turning New Zealand Joins NPE Uncovering the Truth Webinar 10,000 Sign Education Declaration Tell NPE Your Story NPE Webinar: Uncovering the TruthAbout Ed Reform

Greetings! Welcome to the eleventh edition of our newsletter. From coast to coast, we are seeing signs of what is being called Education Spring. We have news from Indiana to New Zealand, of the growing movement to take back our schools. Read it all here! And like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and JOIN US at our website. "The Worm is Turning" Headlines in Indiana, the "Reformiest State in the Union" Indiana has been on the front lines for corporate reform for years. Vouchers, charter schools, and more. But a recent editorial in the Fort Wayne Gazette declared that "The Worm is Turning" on education reform.  Anne Duff, one of the members of the North East Indiana Friends of Public Education who helped select teacher Glenda Ritz to the office of state superintendent of education, offers us this description of a recent visit by Ritz. After Glenda Ritz beat Tony Bennett last fall for the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Indiana, those of us who had been advocating for public education and had been working diligently spreading her name through mailing postcards, changing our Facebook profile pictures to her logo, and talking about her to friends, family and even strangers at the grocery store, were elated by her victory.  Most people know by now that this was not only big news for Indiana, but for the country as well.  Bennett had ten times the amount of money for his campaign, yet Glenda won 52% of the votes, earning more than even the governor, as often stated in the news.  But once the race was won, we didn't hear much.  We didn't notice many changes, and as the legislative session began, it seemed to be a huge attack on public education.  Vouchers were expanded, budgets were cut, programs were cut, and grading our schools A-F became law.  Those of us who had been writing letters and talking to legislators in support of public education felt powerless as our voices had not been heard and our words written out of passion for our schools had not been read. Last Wednesday a small glimmer of hope shined over those of us working so hard to effect change for public schools.  Glenda Ritz spoke about her work as Superintendent of Public Instruction at the Future of Education conference held in Fort Wayne, IN. Her words inspired us to continue the fight even though this last legislative session made us feel as if all of our efforts had been ignored.  She is working on eliminating the high-stakes, pass-fail assessments that we are currently using and working on implementing a true growth model assessment so teachers and students know how they are doing and what grade level they are working at; not just whether or not students can pass or fail a grade level test. She is coming up with a new teacher evaluation model instead of RISE that bases part of teacher evaluations on the high stakes tests. She is focusing on student centered learning instead of market-based education. She is a hero for public education.  Slowly, yet deliberately and thoughtfully, she is trying to undo Tony Bennett's iniquities. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel; there is hope for public education.  What is right for our children and for public education shall prevail.  NPE's First International Ally: New Zealand's Quality Public Ed. Coalition From down in New Zealand we learn that corporate education reform is a global phenomenon.  Bill Courtney  of the Quality Public Education Coalition, has written to share how people in his nation are facing challenges very similar to ours.  He would like a little help as well, in figuring out some things. He writes: So, how can you help us?  We'd love to hear from you with feedback and ideas on a few key areas for us: How do we promote stronger parent feedback on issues such as standards, league tables, school reporting, testing and narrowing the curriculum? Charter school analysis and evaluation.  We keep an eye on sites such as School Finance 101 and Mercedes Schneider's excellent insight into Louisiana schooling but we need more insights and stories about charter schools and their impact on the public school system; How do we fight the (Global Ed Reform) GERM agenda in our country and the raft of common policies it seems to generate? Read more here. NPE Webinar: Uncovering the Truth About Education Reform: Recording Available Learn from the Experts! Are you frustrated when corruption goes on and nobody even seems to notice? Do you want to learn how to uncover the truth about what is happening to our schools? We are presenting a special webinar where two outstanding experts will share tips and techniques. Michael Corwin, a licensed investigator with twenty-five years of case preparation experience discussed techniques for identifying, locating and using public records in researching public officials. Mercedes Schneider shared techniques for discerning truth versus "hype" in research on educational reform, including tips on critically reading data and research studies. Her  excellent blog is here  The online webinar was recorded and can be found here.   10,000 Sign Education Declaration to Rebuild America More than 10,000 people signed the new Education Declaration in the first day of its launch. A statement from the sponsors says, For too long, our policymakers have engaged the nation's schoolchildren in a grand experiment, with frequent testing, incentive programs and top-down mandates that promised much but delivered little. Today, after an education spring of protest and dissent, leading advocates, academics, and educators have come together to demand An Education Declaration to Rebuild America. We invite you to add your name and forward this to friends so that we can grow this movement for real education reform based on what America needs and our children deserve. You can read the Declaration and sign on here.  Tell NPE  Your Story NPE wants to hear from you! We would like to publish real stories about the effects of misguided school reforms on our Friends & Allies. Please share this and send responses to  networkforpubliceducation@gmail.com. Here is this week's topic: June  3rd - "Recently there have been major glitches with high stakes testing in Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Oklahoma causing enormous issues for students, teachers, parents, and schools. What have been the consequences of testing in your area and/or what has been your experience this year with high stakes testing? Tell us your story."   Please forward this newsletter far and wide!  In solidarity, The Network For Public Education