Sign the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing

I don't understand.

There are over 3 million public school teachers in the United States.

I know that many of those teachers are upset by the excessive focus on testing brought on by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. I know that many, many public school teachers would like to see us take a more rational approach to testing -- an approach where testing is used for classroom and instructional diagnosis rather than for ranking schools or evaluating teachers. I know that many, many public school teachers would like to see us spend less time on testing and test-prep and more time on learning.

So where are all those voices?

Why haven't they signed the National Resolution on High Stakes Testing?

The resolution currently has about 10,600 signatures. Even if all of them were from public school teachers (which they are not) it would be about 1/3 of 1% of all the public school teachers in the country.

The resolution was based on another resolution passed by more than 360 Texas school boards as of April 23, 2012.

It was written by Advancement Project; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; FairTest; Forum for Education and Democracy; MecklenburgACTS; Deborah Meier; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; National Education Association; New York Performance Standards Consortium; Tracy Novick; Parents Across America; Parents United for Responsible Education - Chicago; Diane Ravitch; Race to Nowhere; Time Out From Testing; and United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries.

The resolution calls on states to develop assessments systems which...

1) do "not require extensive standardized testing"

and

2) reduce "testing mandates" and "promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality."

The resolution was written by a group which includes the National Education Association. Why haven't all of NEA's state affiliates signed on to this? Why haven't all of NEA's local affiliates signed this?

Three of the four local teachers associations in my county are affiliates of the Indiana State Teachers Association and the NEA. Only one, Fort Wayne Education Association, has signed the resolution. Where are the others?

10,000 individual signatures is not enough. We need millions!

400 group signatures is not enough. We need thousands.

We need to show the nation that the excessive emphasis on testing has gone too far. We need to send a message to legislators around the nation that there are hundreds of thousands of us who will vote for people to end the testing madness.

Get your colleagues to sign it. Get family members to sign it. Get your state and local association affiliates to sign it.

Mrs. Mimi told a story about trying to get a struggling second grader to finish "the test." While proctoring her class during "testing season" Mimi noticed something was wrong with one of her students...

Mimi: (noticing...one friend, a friend who struggles in reading... I mean STRUGGLES) (kneeling down and whispering) Are you okay?
Child: (tears streaming down face) (STREAMING!) I just can't do it anymore. (Is your heart breaking yet?)
Mimi: I know it's hard, sweetie, but you just have to do your best.
Child: The words are just too hard. I'm not smart enough.
Mini: (trying not to let tears stream down my face because I have to get this kid to try and finish) Just try a few more and then we'll stop.
Child: And we'll go back to learning?
Mini: (choking back sob) Yes, honey, we'll go back to learning.

It's time for us to get back to learning.

~~~

Stop the Testing Insanity!

Sign the National Resolution on High Stakes Testing!

~~~

Looking Back

Here are a few of my favorite blog entries of 2011 from a few my favorite education bloggers (including two of my own). The most important one is the last one. If you missed it before, don't miss it this time. It's a must read for every American citizen who has an interest in public education (aka everyone).

••• From It's Not All Flowers and Sausages, October 19, 2011

I Think It's Called "Having A Chip On Your Shoulder"

Mrs. Mimi (now aka, Dr. Mimi) is the author of It's Not All Flowers and Sausages, a collection of her early blog posts. Mrs. Mimi is a teacher...a real one. She works with real live children in real live classrooms. You can tell.

I guess these days I just assume people are going to shit on teachers. I assume they are going to complain without pausing to recognize what is working. I assume they will be all critique and no constructive thought. I assume they're going to blame it all on the teacher.

••• From Parents Across America, December 31, 2011.

The worst and the best education events of 2011

The list from Parents Across America lists events from other sources, not their own blog.

Hundreds of millions of dollars from the Billionaire Boys Club of Gates, Broad, the Walton family, and the Koch brothers are funneled into creating and expanding numerous Astroturf organizations like Stand for Children, Students First, Teach Plus, 50Can, etc. all devoted towards spreading their tentacles into both political parties, to choke off democracy, demonize teachers, mandate more high-stakes testing, and privatize our public schools.

••• From An Urban Teacher's Education, December 31, 2011

Life Learnings: 2011

A teacher near Seattle, WA (formerly of New York City; Washington, DC; Renton, WA; and Knoxville, TN) writes about the challenges he faces daily in his classroom, as well as national issues. His reports on the SOS Conference in Washington DC from July were especially interesting. This excerpt is from his end of the year post. Click the link embedded below to read his "Day One" entry.

5) The importance of working together

In July (July 28, 2011) I went to the SOS Conference in Washington, DC. I met hundreds of amazing educators there, all rallying together to fight the stubbornness of corporate reform, and I learned the impact that people can have when they come together. My experience there in combination with what I've read over the past year about the Arab Spring and similar protests across the world has reminded me that for all the reasons so many have to complain about this world that we live in, I am happy to remember that it truly is the people who have the power, and that we really do have the government we deserve. Perhaps we might soon deserve something better...

••• From The Answer Sheet, December 12, 2011

A Superintendent Calls School Reformers’ Bluff

Every public school teacher in the United States should read and/or listen to John Kuhn. Thanks to Valerie Strauss and her valuable Answer Sheet blog in the Washington Post.

By John Kuhn

Today some 22 percent of American children live in poverty. Are we going to pretend forever that it is acceptable to ignore the needs of children outside the schoolhouse and blame teachers and principals for everything that happens inside?

As soon as the data shows that the average black student has the same opportunity to live and learn and hope and dream in America as the average white student, and as soon as the data shows that the average poor kid drinks water just as clean and breathes air just as pure as the average rich kid, then educators like me will no longer cry foul when this society sends us children and says: Get them all over the same hurdle.

And so I as an educator now say to a nation exactly what it has said to me for years: No excuses! Just get results.

••• From Walt Gardners Reality Check, November 18, 2011

Teaching is no Longer Fun

For teachers who started their careers before the accountability movement gained traction, the transformation has been traumatic. No longer can they rely on their professional judgment in preparing lessons, nor are they likely to experience the satisfaction of having opened the eyes of their students to knowledge for its own sake. They now have to treat their lessons as part of an assembly line, where instruction is evaluated strictly on the basis of how much value it adds. The rationale is that the real world operates accordingly.

Reformers maintain that teaching and learning can't always be fun. They say that discipline is an indispensable part of the educational process. That is certainly true. But the way things are unfolding in classrooms across the country means that even if students perform adequately on standardized tests, we run the risk of forever turning them off to further learning in the same subjects. As I wrote before, you can teach a subject well but teach students to hate the subject in the process. When that happens, it's a Pyrrhic victory.

••• From Bridging Differences, October 27, 2011

There Are No Quick Fixes

The Bridging Differences Blog is written by Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch. I spent a lot of time this year quoting Dr. Ravitch (and did again at the end of this post), but one of the most important entries in their blog was this one from October by Deborah Meier. Make sure you take 10 minutes to watch the chalk talk by Daniel Pink.

By Deborah Meier

Why suddenly does the common-sense fact that teachers (and unions) fight for contracts that give them less onerous workloads, more job security, and more pay turn into a crime? Does Wall Street live by another code? (Educators and Wall Street'ers both need to watch Daniel Pink's chalk talk on motivation to consider his counter-intuitive findings—that rewards are counterproductive when it comes to honesty and doing good work.)

••• From Living In Dialogue, July 6, 2011

The Brooks/Ravitch Dialogue Expands

Anthony Cody is a powerful voice for public education. He was instrumental in organizing the SOS Conference in Washington DC last summer and has continued to speak out for public education in the United States. Here he comments about the single most important factor which the so-called corporate "reformers" refuse to discuss, the level of poverty afflicting our nation's children.

Witness the latest cheating scandal in Atlanta. We have leaders intent on proving that poverty is no obstacle to student success. After 24 years of teaching in Oakland, I can tell you that it is. Poverty and the social and environmental phenomena that are its companions: hunger, violence, PTSD, chemical pollution, lack of access high quality daycare in early years, lack of access to vision, dental and medical care, and lack of access to books. Addressing ANY of these would yield better results than the policies underway that attach ever higher stakes to standardized tests, and continually expand the variety and frequency of tests.

••• From Live Long and Prosper, March 4, 2011.

The Daily Show: Diane Ravitch - Teachers vs. Wall Street

Click HERE to see this entry. No one highlights the hypocrisy of the so-called "reformers" better than Jon Stewart of the Daily Show.

••• From Live Long and Prosper, December 11, 2011.

The Most Important Speech on Education in Years

This year, the OTL Summit featured Diane Ravitch as one of the keynote speakers. Dr. Ravitch's presentation was titled Whose children have been left behind? The Daily Kos calls it the "most important speech on education in years." I agree. It is important. The Daily Kos blogger (teacherken) wrote:

You can read the entire text here (pdf).
You should.
You should pass it on.

Ravitch wrote:

Surely the greatest nation in the world can mobilize the will to do what is right for the children. It won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, and it won’t be fast. Doing the right thing never is. The only simple part is to recognize that what we are doing now is not working and will never work. What we need is a vision of a good education for every child. We should start now. Today.

A Break From Politics...

While the Indiana Legislature is poised on the brink of the destruction of the state's teaching profession...and the US DOE continues it's all out attack on teachers...I have something else I want to write about.

First, if you're from Indiana, go HERE and tell your legislators not to destroy the teaching profession in our state...

Second, here are some blogs and articles I considered writing about:

• Teaching without classroom teachers...Which reminded me of Isaac Asimov's short story from 1951, The Fun They Had...
• Why Bloomberg Picked Cathie Black...
• Diane Ravitch: Testing remains the problem...

Read them...become enraged or motivated...and then use your voice.

Now...to today's topic...teachers and all they do.

I read Mrs. Mimi's blogpost today, Blood, Sweat, Tears and Many, Many, MANY Dots and was impressed by the list of things that teachers do.

I remember all those things...and more...that took up my time every day. The little things...sorting books, putting up bulletin boards, picking up pencils off the floor, cleaning off the chalk board tray, a million other little tasks every day on top of planning, teaching, grading, phoning parents, collaborating with colleagues and recess duty (If I tried to include everything there wouldn't be room for anything else).

Mrs. Mimi made a comment in her entry today...

People [meaning non-teachers] can sympathize with the behavioral issues. They can sympathize with the hours of grading papers. They can try and understand how unappreciated teachers are. They can feel for our early wake up times.

First of all, I understand that many jobs have their little tasks that threaten to overshadow the important things that people do...and the old adage "walk a mile in my shoes" is completely true. No one knows what another person's day is like unless they've experienced it. I rant about politicians and political appointees not having any idea what it's like in a classroom (yes, you, Secretary Duncan), but I understand that I am in the same position with regards to others' work.

That's why it's so important for teachers to support each other. Who knows better than another teacher what you go through every day? Who knows better than another teacher the stress of trying to actually teach while being interrupted, pressured, twisted and thrown about. Again, from Mrs. Mimi...

But I don't think any non-teacher will truly understand how much time and energy teachers spend organizing, cleaning, lifting, moving, hanging, stapling, taping, cutting, running, bending, wiping and basically doing anything and everything that needs to be done. Whether it feels professional, in our job description or even clean. We just roll up our sleeves and get it done.

Here's to the teachers who try to teach their children while being pummeled by the outside world.

Here's to the teachers who KNOW that what they're being asked to do is NOT in the best interest of their students so they work twice as hard to actually teach, as well as getting all the crap done that the administration (or state DOE, or US DOE, or whoever is bashing teachers today) requires.

Here's to the teachers who, despite all the pain, stress, disrespect, and insults from those who haven't a clue, still get up every day and greet the children in their care with smiles, patience and professionalism because they love what they do.

Make it a point to tell a teacher something supportive every day...That in itself might be all it takes to turn American education around...

Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences are always difficult for people to predict because...well...because they're unintended.

When No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001 the members of congress believed that focusing on helping the poorest performing children would be beneficial. Who would argue that we should "leave children behind?" The fact that the law, and it's successor, Race to the Top, has had a detrimental effect on those students the laws were specifically written to help, was unintended...or was it?

I've started reading the blog, Accountable Talk written by Mr. Talk, a veteran New York City teacher.

In his latest post, Unintended Consequences, Mr. Talk refers to his TDR, or Teacher Data Report. The report he got was based on, among other things, the test scores of his students. His report was poor because, as he says,

Besides the fact that the formula is wildly unpredictable, I had the added disadvantage of teaching extremely needy kids in an otherwise excellent school. I have no one to blame for that but myself; when my AP asked whether I'd take on the most challenging students they had, I agreed. I had some crazy idea in my head that helping the students who needed it most was what a teacher should do. So I did it.

When the TDR was released, he realized that he was in a difficult situation. He scored poorly because he chose to teach the most difficult students. Should he continue to do that...and continue to get poor TDRs or quit volunteering and teach students who were "easier" and less "needy?"

Sadly, he chose the latter.

I just quit volunteering to teach the very children who needed me most. When my AP asked me to take them on again (which he would not do unless he knew I'd been successful), I said no. This year, those kids are with another teacher who has difficulty just getting them to sit in their seats. (This is not a knock on her. She is new and these are tough kids).

This year, his students are not the most difficult and they will, he is sure,

...vault me back into the rarefied air of the "excellent" teacher.

He is, frankly, concerned about his future.

I have a family to support and they are my primary duty. I can not take a chance that I will lose my job over some erroneous data.

And he's not the only one.

There are other consequences of the TDRs that became apparent to me immediately. I've had discussions with at least three excellent teachers who have told me that they are now planning on leaving the DOE for sure, because they can not see how they will ever be able to put in enough years to retire from this system. They feel everything is stacked against them. Because it is.

High quality, dedicated teachers are leaving the profession because they are being made the scapegoats in the corporate push to demonize public schools. They are being forced out because people who know nothing about education, children and schools are changing the way teachers must teach. For teachers, it's no longer about helping kids learn, it's about survival in a crazy world. When you have to pass up teaching the most needy children in the school because your livelihood depends on the students' achievement level few people are going to choose to take on the challenge of teaching the nation's most difficult students.

Another consequence is that no one wants to teach the grades or subjects that are targets of the reports. I have a feeling that a LOT of teachers are going to request K-2 assignments or look to leave middle school so they don't have to be subjected to public humiliation should their numbers not stack up with whatever new system the DOE devises.

This "unintended consequence" is preventing the best teachers from volunteering to help the students who need them the most. No Child Left Behind is leaving children behind. The Race to the Top is causing schools to push test scores to the detriment of learning. This situation, like the one in Los Angeles (where the LA Times published test scores from teachers' classes labeling the teachers successful or failing) is not about education. It's about blaming teachers for the problems our society refuses to deal with.

Mrs. Mimi said it best in a post she had...She went to comfort a child crying in frustration over "the test." I've printed this before, but the content is equally chilling today...if not more so. We are hurting children because billionaires and politicians who don't know a thing about education are setting education policy.

Read this from Mrs. Mimi's blog...

Don't tell anyone, but I used to just call it quits after a while.  I mean, enough is enough, right?

Me: (noticing that one friend, a friend who struggles in reading... I mean STRUGGLES) (kneeling down and whispering) Are you okay?
Friend: (tears streaming down face) (STREAMING!) I just can't do it anymore. (Is your heart breaking yet?)
Me: I know it's hard, sweetie, but you just have to do your best.
Friend: The words are just too hard.  I'm not smart enough.
Me: (trying not to let tears stream down my face because I have to get this kid to try and finish) Just try a few more and then we'll stop.
Friend: And we'll go back to learning?
Me: (choking back sob) Yes, honey, we'll go back to learning.

This child...this "low achieving" child...is wise enough to know that testing is not teaching or learning. Test scores don't always measure what's important.

~~~

Assessment and Accountability or Educational Malpractice and Cruelty?

On Monday I have to stop teaching to give inappropriate tests to kids with learning disabilities. They get accommodations for some of it...I can read the questions on the math, or social studies, or science, for example, but...

But...and here's the crime in all this...they are required to take the "Reading/Language Arts" portion of the test...at (what the state defines as) grade level with no help.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a disability mean that a child has trouble in a particular area...and that area is usually reading (though not always)?

I'm not against assessment and accountability, but this is not assessment, it's torture and educational malpractice. It's not accountability, it's cruelty.

Read this from Mrs. Mimi's blog...

Don't tell anyone, but I used to just call it quits after a while.  I mean, enough is enough, right?

Me: (noticing that one friend, a friend who struggles in reading... I mean STRUGGLES) (kneeling down and whispering) Are you okay?
Friend: (tears streaming down face) (STREAMING!) I just can't do it anymore. (Is your heart breaking yet?)
Me: I know it's hard, sweetie, but you just have to do your best.
Friend: The words are just too hard.  I'm not smart enough.
Me: (trying not to let tears stream down my face because I have to get this kid to try and finish) Just try a few more and then we'll stop.
Friend: And we'll go back to learning?
Me: (choking back sob) Yes, honey, we'll go back to learning.

This story of a child wanting to "go back to learning" is, unfortunately, not isolated. There are many stories of kids falling apart emotionally, vomiting from nervousness, acting out in disturbing and pathetic ways...

The indifference in this country (or is it outright antagonism) towards the needs of our children is telling...and disheartening.

Central Falls...

Central Falls Rhode Island.

All the teachers are being fired. Fewer than half of them will be rehired for next year. This is the Duncan/Obama way of improving a school.

Where will they find the teachers willing to teach here? Who would be stupid enough to want to work at a place with that kind of job security?

Mrs. Mimi said it best (in the first of several rants on the subject), I think [Warning: When Mrs Mimi gets upset she uses language inappropriate for young children]...

Holy crap, I don't even know where to begin. There are so many parts to this puzzle that are being conveniently ignored. You all, in your infinite wisdom, have made some fantastic comments about this issue on my Facebook fanpage.

I mean, how can these ass hats seriously fire all the teachers with a straight face and a clear conscience while conveniently ignoring the fact that the school is PLAGUED BY POVERTY. I guess you can't fire poverty, but you certainly shouldn't IGNORE IT ALL TOGETHER IN A DESPERATE DISPLAY OF DEMONIZING AND FINGER POINTING. I was watching an interview on CNN (the Anderson Cooper one...just scroll down) where [someone] just dismissed poverty with a, "well, you can't do anything about that."

Really?

Cuz I know it's a tough mountain to climb to, you know, end poverty, but to ME, saying that we "can't really do anything about poverty" is just about as pathetic, sad and depressing as saying, "well, we can't do anything about this school, so let's just fire all the teachers Donald Trump style." (Bad hair and power tie not necessarily included.)

...There is a low rate of academic success among the students at this particular school....First of all, can we just give a shout out to the bullshit that is standardized testing being used as the only measurement of student achievement? I mean, that's a whole post in and of itself. Second of all, what curriculums are being utilized? How much freedom to teachers actually have to teach in ways they believe in? Or are we telling them exactly how to do their jobs, providing them with sub-standard resources and then getting pissed when it doesn't come out all rosy?

...And again - these kids are LIVING IN POVERTY. These friends are probably coming to school hungry, dealing with ridiculous home lives, perhaps even working a job to try and help their families and we're surprised when they don't ace their math quiz????? And I hate to hate on people who are already struggling, but what about their parents? WHAT ABOUT THEIR ROLE IN THEIR CHILD'S EDUCATION?

It just seems to me that a lot of people (administrators, policy makers, parents, etc) want to put in their two freaking cents when it comes to telling us how to do our jobs but then want to take no responsibility whatsoever when shit hits the educational fan. I'm just sayin....if you can't take the heat, THEN LEAVE US ALONE AND LET US DO OUR JOBS!

Am I going to blindly stick up for every single one of those teachers? I hate to say it, but the answer is no. I'm sure there are teachers in that building who suck. Just like there are workers in every job in every industry everywhere who are sub par weak links who everyone talks about but no one does anything about. Now I know it's hard to fire a teacher, and I don't even want to get started on a debate about tenure (need to keep the old heart rate under 140 for my little friend here), but it IS possible. There IS a process to do that when a teacher demonstrates an inability to be effective in the classroom. Where are the fingers pointing at the transient administration who failed to follow this explicit process? I mean, I recently wrote about the teacher evaluation process in which numerous times I witnessed administrators never actually pay attention to my lesson and then write up a report on the wrong subject...

So we're completely comfortable in ignoring the failure of this process and these individuals but have arbitrarily decided to pin 100% of the blame on teachers?

Teachers are being unreasonable when they asked for more money for additional work. I guess the school system wanted teachers to eat with the children (To increase instructional time? Make them nauseous? Increase aspirin consumption and therefore boost sales?), add minutes onto their instructional day, spend time outside of school tutoring students and attend weekly 90 minute meeting. Can you please show me another profession in which people are asked to work more hours, take on greater responsibility and take on some seriously ridiculous odds for no extra money? It is also clear to me that the people suggesting this have never actually eaten in a school cafeteria. And to them I say, "Friend, shit ain't gettin' done at lunch. Those kids need a break!!!"

They keep pointing out the salaries of the teachers, saying that they make $72,000 a year, which judging by the facial expressions of the finger pointers, sounds ridiculous to them. They make arguments such as "teachers are putting their salaries ahead of the needs of the kids."

Um, I'm sorry, but did I miss the word VOLUNTEER somewhere in my job description? Why do people think it okay to play the altruism card here? Because if "good intentions" were the only requirement for this job, we'd all be screwed. Maybe teachers should have demanded payment in sunshine and rainbows...there might be some of that to spare.

Teachers are the scapegoats...

Flowers and Sausages...

Teaching has it's drawbacks...politicians who have too much power over public education and too little understanding of what education is, poor teachers ignored by administrators, angry parents, paperwork, administrators who have forgotten what it's like being in a classroom, ignorant newspeople, US Secretaries of education who have no education credentials (the last two, for example)...

For the last 34 years I've searched for ways to improve my teaching and for ways to reach hard to reach students. The challenge is always there and what we as teachers do affects the lives of children in ways we can't imagine. It's frustrating that the people who control what goes on in the public schools of America (in the form of standardized tests, funding, etc) don't have a clue. Am I self-righteous about my quest to improve my teaching? Yes...of course I am. I have worked hard to learn what I have learned about education and children. To have a basketball player with a degree in Sociology, who NEVER ATTENDED OR WORKED IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL and who is NOT a teacher, lead the nation's public schools is, dare I say it, irresponsible on the part of the federal government.

Not that just any old teacher would make a good secretary of education...Rod Paige comes to mind...

Only another teacher understands what it's like...and we need to be the voices heard the loudest in the national discussion about education.

One of my favorite "voices" is a blogger...Mrs. Mimi, the author of "It's Not All Flowers and Sausages", a second grade teacher in New York City (currently on leave to work on her Ph.D. dissertation).

Mrs. Mimi shares the essentials of teaching. No, not pedagogy, although she sometimes touches on that...and not knowledge of subject matter, though that's obvious in her writing as well. What she shares is an understanding of children, a sense of humor tempered by love for her students, an appreciation of the human growth process and most of all, a sense of wonder at the delightful things that our students bring to us every day. She writes as "every teacher" giving us examples of the good things we are lucky enough to see in our classrooms. She writes about experiences that are universal to teachers everywhere.

Her profile says that she has to "make it funny so I don't routinely poke myself in the eye" and she does just that. Her insight into the workings of schools, the hearts of teachers and the lives of children provides a bridge that reaches across cyberspace to inspire and entertain her readers (and it also impresses me that her favorite books include "anything Jonathan Kozol").

In the short time that I have been reading her blog (and her book) I have gained a new appreciation for what we do every day. Teachers have the challenging task of growing citizens. It's up to us to prepare the next generation of cooks, doctors, writers and truck drivers (and yes, basketball players and sociologists). We're charged with leading children into their future.

Mrs. Mimi provides pain relief for the frustrations heaped upon us by the state legislatures, the US DOE and the media. I look forward to each day's post (she's promised to give us one every day in January and so far has come through) for my dose of understanding, insight, and humor.