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NY TEACHER: SUSPEND TESTING
New York Teacher: Suspend Annual Testing and Focus on Student Needs
We would suggest an end to high stakes testing permanently!
From Diane Ravitch
I am a sixth grade teacher in Comsewogue School District, Port Jefferson Station, NY. I have a PhD in Literacy Studies from Hofstra University. You have previously published my writing on your blog as it pertains to 3-8 testing and APPR. This year it is imperative that the state suspend both so schools can focus on meeting the myriad of students needs in the face of this pandemic.
I want to begin by sharing what I see every day when I go to work. Having been a teacher for 20 years, I see the worst teacher I have ever seen. Every day I judge my performance based upon what I know makes a good teacher. I see little to no evidence of a strong teacher performance based upon existing metrics, and what I know are standards of good practice.
This is a heavy burden to carry. I remind myself I am teaching in the middle of a pandemic. I am working in a classroom that is not my own. All of the materials I rely upon to do my job effectively, are outside, locked up in a trailer. I can’t do the collaborative work that has always benefited students. I am teaching an additional subject, one I have never taught before. We try not to handle students’ papers. I do not have the hundreds of novels and picture books we traverse in a “normal” year. Every lesson must be constructed in a way that ensures there is no shared touching of materials.
THE READING WARS
The Reading Wars Are Over! Lucy Calkins Endorses Phonics
This is an interesting discussion for those interested in reading instruction. Be sure to read the comments which express challenging views on the topic. Also, Paul Thomas has written a piece on the subject as well...see Media “Experts” + Parental Zeal + Political Knee-jerk Legislation + Market Forces = Failing Reading, Again
From Diane Ravitch
Lucy Calkins is one of the most influential reading researchers In the nation. She created the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, whose teaching materials have been widely adopted and is a proponent of “balanced literacy.” BL prominently opposed the “phonics first” approach.
In my book Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform,” I described in detail the long-standing debates about teaching reading, which dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. The phonetic approach was the conventional method until the advent of the very popular “Dick and Jane” reading books in the late 1920s. Those readers relied on the “whole word” method, in which children learned to recognize short words (“Run, Dick, run.” “See Sally run.”) and to use them in context rather than sound them out phonetically. In the 1950s, the debate came to a raging boil after publication of Rudolf Flesch’s “Why Johnny Can’t Read,” which attacked the whole word method. Many more twists and turns in the story, which should have been settled by Jeanne Chall’s comprehensive book, Learning to Read: The Great Debate (1967). Chall supported beginning with phonics, then transitioning to children’s books as soon as children understood phonetic principles. Nonetheless, the 1980s experienced the rise and widespread adoption of the “whole language” approach, which disdained phonics. Then came Calkins and “balanced literacy,” claiming to combine diverse methods. Critics said that BL was whole language redux.
DEM CANDIDATE FOR IN GOVERNOR RECIPROCATES ENDORSEMENT
Indiana governor hopeful Woody Myers would pick Jennifer McCormick as education secretary
She endorsed him. He endorses her. Another great reason to vote for Myers!
From Chalkbeat*
In a live televised debate Tuesday night, Democratic candidate for governor Dr. Woody Myers promised to keep Republican State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick on as Indiana’s top education official if he is elected.
“She has been and will continue to be an outstanding leader for our state,” Myers said in his opening statement.
While an unusual political move, the show of bipartisanship was not wholly unexpected. McCormick crossed the aisle last month when she endorsed Myers’ campaign, after years of clashing with fellow Republicans — incumbent Gov. Eric Holcomb, his appointed education policymakers, and the GOP-dominated state legislature.
DO WE REALLY NEED CHARTER SCHOOLS?
The Foundational Fallacy Of Charter Schools
If your legislators are supporting charter schools, they are throwing away your tax dollars.
From Peter Greene in Forbes
You cannot run multiple school districts for the same amount of money you used to spend to operate just one.
This really should not come as a surprise to anyone. When was the last time you heard of a business of any sort saying, "The money is getting tight, and we need to tighten our belts. So let's open up some new facilities."
Opening up charter schools can only drive up the total cost of educating students within a system, for several reasons.
Let's imagine a school district that serves 1,000 students. Five charters open up in the district, so that now the public system serves 500 students, and each of the charters enrolls 100. What exactly makes this more expensive?
SCHOOL PRIVATIZATION IS BIPARTISAN
Former Democratic mayor raises big money for GOP
From School Matters
A political action committee chaired by a former Democratic mayor of Indianapolis is one of the top contributors to the Indiana House Republican Campaign Committee.
The PAC, Hoosiers for Great Public Schools, was created in April and is chaired by Bart Peterson. He was mayor of Indianapolis from 1999 to 2007 and is now president and CEO of Christel House International, a nonprofit that operates three charter schools in Indianapolis. The PAC’s treasurer is Caryl Auslander, former vice president of education for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
The PAC has contributed $150,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee and another $50,000 to the campaign of Republican House Speaker Todd Huston, according to campaign finance reports. That’s more than almost any other donor with a couple of exceptions.
PRO-PUBLIC EDUCATION BOOK
A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door
From Have You Heard Podcast
If America’s public schools don’t survive the COVID-19 pandemic, it won’t just be due to the virus. Opponents of public education have long sought to dismantle our system of free, universal, and taxpayer-funded schooling. But the present crisis has provided them with their best opportunity ever to realize that aim. Books like Jane Mayer’s Dark Money and Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains sounded a clear warning about the influence that right-wing plutocrats increasingly exert over American politics. Now, A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door takes their analyses a step further, addressing an urgent question: Why is the right so fixated on dismantling public education in the United States?
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| NPE Action endorsements for Indianapolis School Board |
INDY SCHOOL BOARD RACE INUNDATED WITH PRIVATIZATION MONEY
Political groups give over $200,000 to charter-friendly candidates for IPS board
From Chalkbeat*
Deep-pocketed political action committees have thrown over $200,000 into four races for Indianapolis Public Schools board seats, helping candidates who support partnerships with charter schools to far out-raise their competitors.
With significant donations from PACs for Stand for Children Indiana, RISE Indy, and the Indy Chamber, District 4 incumbent Diane Arnold, District 1 hopeful Will Pritchard, and at-large challenger Kenneth Allen have each raised between $57,000 and $123,000, according to pre-election campaign finance reports due Friday. The filings include contributions through Oct. 9.
*Note: Financial sponsors of Chalkbeat include pro-privatization foundations and individuals such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, EdChoice, Gates Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, and others.
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