A national push-back against standardized testing debuted this week, with groups from Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham signing a petition for the federal government and state legislators to ease up on exams.
The petition calls for developing better ways of holding schools accountable for student achievement. Sponsors include such national groups as the NEA, FairTest, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Parents Across America, with Pamela Grundy of Charlotte as a spokeswoman.
As most of you recall, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools created an uproar last year by launching dozens of new local exams, from science and social studies tests for kindergarteners to multiple-choice tests on high school journalism. CMS has since backed off, but state and federal mandates continue to demand heavy use of standardized tests to grade students, teachers and schools.
It's probably not a coincidence that as this effort was kicking off, the most bizarre test question I've ever seen began making the electronic rounds. You may have seen the story of "The Hare and the Pineapple," a hilariously surreal tale used to test reading comprehension. I really thought someone had been tricked by an item from The Onion or some other satirical site, but it's posted on the web site of the New York State Education Department, responding to criticism about its use on a state exam created by Pearson Inc.
Meanwhile, a former colleague shares this article about 3- and 4-year-olds in New York City taking test-prep classes so they can get into public kindergartens for gifted children. Yikes!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Testing mania: At least we're not New York
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50 comments:
If the best we can say is.... "at least we're not New York"...we have lost perspective.
The private church affiliated preschool my children attended here in Charlotte prepared 4-year-olds to pass the kindergarten entrance exam into Charlotte Country Day. I don't know if this preschool still does this.
Interesting that there are tests to get into public kindergartens and then you have systems like CMS that spend over $20 million per year putting 3,000+ kids into pre-K every year for "nothing"?
...and there is no data to support keeping this wastefull program; at CMS or the state.
I would support CMS having programs for "gifted students" going into kindergarten.
The pineapple story is indeed bizarre but I wish we were blogging about what happened at the school board meeting last night--much more relevant. Ericka coming up with the newest concern "the opportunity gap"--unfairness of differing course offerings at different schools (thankfully CMS staff could discount much of her theory by explaining broad access available to high school students for all manner of courses on-line through a state program); Richard's questioning whether students who have been expelled would have access to these courses (only fair you know); Tom Tate's ruminating that the board could do something about high poverty schools with assignment; Joyce's total confusion about why some students don't do as well as others in IB courses (not sure she actually understands the premise behind IB); and finally Ericka's comments that she, Mary, and Joyce attended the national school board association convention and heard a "renowned" speaker who said class size doesn't matter if you have a good teacher (and she was not talking about our high poverty schools). Incidentally Tim, Eric, and Rhonda all said they understood the need for more resources at high poverty schools but none of the other board members seemed the least bit interested in plight of suburban schools.
9:06 - I agree with your comments as I was shocked that Ericka thought more money on top of the record money the schools get today will help. Of course it was so bad at Harding that she moved her son out of CMS entirely this year. This is the begining of the busing conversation folks dont be fooled again. The grass is always greener on the other side of town. Tim, Eric & Rhonda thats the 3 stooges folks. Is Morrison still coming to Charlotte after Mary/Ericka/Kojo took him to their breakfast rally yesterday?
We're not New York now, but we will be if we can't get state and federal officials to back off on this crazy testing. Please sign the petition, folks, and share it with any and all groups and individuals concerned about public education. We're keeping people posted on developments on the MecklenburgACTS Facebook page.
Ann, Before you make your trip to Reno are you going to write a column about school board discussions last night? Public should know what our leadership is thinking. That's at least as important as the testing brouhaha, which everyone is already well aware of.
Sharon Starks
Ann, another reason to write about last night's board meeting. CMS staff, led by Ann Clark, made several presentations on what could be considered "equity" issues. Public needs to hear exactly what is available to all students across the system and how funding per pupil at each school is determined.
It's also interesting to see how little some board members (not new ones) actually know about the system--Richard's insistence that all EC classes are in inner city schools (wrong); Joyce not knowing where Montessori Schools are located, etc.
Richard Dear.
EC and gifted classes are offered at every school by federal law.
Oops...
EC and gifted classes are offered at every school as required by federal law. Now, there is a disproportionate number of minority and low-income students in EC classes which is probably the issue Richard was trying to address. Whether or not this is a result of blatant bias, racism or an "opportunity gap" is up for lively debate.
Ah, now the dance begins. Kojo is manipulating the BOE as expected and the busing folks are already raising their voices. They better hope the economy stays in the dumps or CMS will be less than 10% white in 3 years.
This is old news, about testing to get into good kindergartens in NY and even testing here in to get into private school kindergartens. Wow, are you behind!
But as you see in this article and at the show (the BOE) last night, some districts as usual keep electing the buffons you see on stage.
Morrison better step up quickly and put his foot down on several board members. Or he will be steamrolled and his tenure will be much shorter than his contract.
as long as we're all off topic, I read the article about the new stuff proposed by the legislature re: tenure. Do they not realize that last I heard, teachers ALL sign a contract every year, tenured or not. tenure just affected your retirement funds & amt of observations/evaluations a year....have things changed THAT much in the 2 years since I escaped CMS?
I anticipate some manipulation with school boundaries on the horizon but not a full-fledged cross-town busing plan like the one we had before "Whomever It Was vs. CMS". Prepare for Armageddon if this happens. Even Richard said busing is the worst thing we ever did. However, anyone who looks at a CMS map can see that some school boundaries don't make any logical sense and certainly aren't consistent with any "guiding principle" which is why the Breakfast Club in Ballantyne needs to put a sock in it. School boundaries in the Ballantyne area are logical, contiguous, and make sense. Ardrey Kell High School also doesn't have a "slice and dice" feeder pattern from Quail Hollow MS, South Charlotte MS, Carmel MS and Community House MS like neighboring South Meck. South Meck. also absorbed some of Waddell this year although Harding got the worst of the brunt. Sending the neighborhood across the street from Calvary Church on HYW 51 to Myers Park High School makes no logical sense. The Myers Park High School assignment map is the most convoluted thing I've ever seen.
We should have just saved the money on the super search and gave the job to Kojo. If he wants to take over the schools and so we can start are own thats fine. Its about were we are at this point anyhow. He can take Ericka,Richard,Joyce and Mary as between the 4 of them they cannot speak much english. Joyce really you need some major speaking improvements. Your starting to sound as bad as Timmy Morgan with your broken jargon.
Tom Tate's ruminating that the board could do something about high poverty schools with assignment...
Keith Hurley, where are you?
Reverend Waffle did not even take a few hours to start the ball rolling toward busing did he?
November 2013 can't get here soon enough!
November 1013 only gets the districts re-voted. The usual districts will send the usual out of touch people because there is little competition.
12:14, Ballantyne is screaming about so little per student spent in their schools versus the egregious property tax they pay through the dishonest real estate evaluations much like Mecklenburg County hollars at the state for sending back so little of the tax receipts Mecklenburg County sends.
They are not screaming about pupil reassignment. Keep up or stay out. People streaming misinformation like you do not help this community.
6:40 am, right on!
Of course that is standard practice for the CMS mindset. "At least we are not that bad" argument why CMS wants to be compared to urban districts when we have, at least some, suburban left.
Anon 12:43...
South Charlotte is supporting SPARK's deconsolidation efforts to split up CMS.
So yes, in a sense they are screaming about reassigment and they are the ones who want to do it their way. Draw the lines here so we don't have to deal with the rest of the County.
It goes hand in had with Ballantyne wanting autonomy.
Wiley,
At the recent Ballantyne Breakfast Club meeting there was much less interest in school de-consolidation than there was in exploring the idea of de-annexation. (that may have something to do with how poorly SPARK presents its case). Just because a small group of people listens to what someone has to say that doesn't mean an entire area supports that person's ideas.
My comment was in response to another, maybe you, saying the south was looking at splitting up CMS and yes they have done a lousy job trying to get their point across.
A well known candidate who had their name in the hat for a position on the BOE is supporting the attempt. So I would say there are more than "just a few" supporting the move.
http://pundithouse.com/2012/03/smartspark-movements-picking-up-steam/
Ya' know. CMS could BUS Ballantyne students to, say, West Charlotte and then the little darlings would have equal funding.
I suggest Ballantyne rename itself Sun City - after King Louis the IX.
12:23 - Thsi does not surprise me in the least. I watched very little of the meeting last night since the hockey playoffs are on. I wrote of the Morrison hire and Busing that will follow. Observer and hundreds of others said no. I will let the fall and then try to pick them up again when I run in D-5 next year. I will follow up with a party of grilled crow for that crowd soon enough. Keith W. Hurley
A large chunk of south Charlotte would like autonomy from Ballantyne.
From the Pundit page--
Raintree Country Club in south Charlotte was packed last week with a crowd of more than 50 concerned citizens who attended the most recent meeting of SMART (South Mecklenburg Alliance of Responsible Taxpayers) and SPARK
Raintree was "packed" with all of 50 attendees? Come on, Wiley. And really, anyone could put themselves up for school board. That doesn't mean they have a lot of support.
Of course, after watching the board meeting Tuesday night one would be tempted to ask--why would I want to be part of this school system? Leadership has an obvious agenda which does not appear to include the suburbs (except for their money).
Anon,
Let me make myself clear here. I do not support SPARK OR SMART.
I put the info out there to show there IS some support for the splitting of CMS, no matter how small the effort.
If you read farther down on the Pundit page, you'll see my comments about the 50 showing up versus 1,000 in Union County for their meeting about funding cuts.
Their has to be a equal equity division amongst the separate areas of town. If the minority kids just dont get it on a $8500 term budget then teach them in the summer on their dime. After a few years of that they will come around. The other kids who cost half that to educate can enjoy summer break. Mcdonalds is always going to need the drop out kids lets face it that wont stop with money. Look at Ericka she could not keep a main stream corp job and Kojo got her elected. Look at Tim Morgan he has no day job. He can not work with others that clear.
OPPORTUNITY GAP IS AN ATTACKED ON HIGH ACHIEVING ADULTS WITH FAMILIES.
Here is the definition of “Opportunity Gap” provided by the Charles Hamilton House Institute for Race and Justice.
“……… the difference between the life chances afforded children who live in high poverty neighborhoods and attend high poverty schools vs. the life chances afforded children who live in low-poverty neighborhoods and attend low-poverty schools”
Everyone has opportunities. Some are better at making the most of them. This definition fails to take that into account.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
I understand Ballantyne's frustrations over per-pupil spending but threatening to pick up your marbles and go home isn't a solution.
3:16 Very TRUE and I dont think they could afford the exit fee Charlotte would put on the for roads,sidewalks,schools,power grids,traffic lights,trees & all of the above. It sounded good at first , but just not achievable at this point. They can always move to SC its close enough anyway.
Re: Buzzword bingo--the blog topic from a few days ago.
Perhaps "Opportunity Gap" should take the prize.
Poorly written and poorly researched. If anyone allows a 3 or 4 year old to be tested then the parents should be tested for sanity. You are comparing Apples to Airplanes. You obviously are in the dark about what is actually going on in the CMS testing "data/technology" team office. "AT LEAST WE ARE NOT NY?" Seriously, their testing program has been in place since the early 1970's NOT SINCE 1995. NY requires students to actually write short answers to open ended questions, NY does not require students and teachers to give "formatives" that do not help in instruction AT all. Boo!!!!!
Bolyn,
The business Opportunity Gap is exactly the same. If you don't execute your category management and sales to its full potential for your market and a competitor does, you will have a gap.
You're exactly right.
Why do you think I harp about taking diversity out of the equation?
Help ALL children achive their potential and stop with the EXCUSE as to why they can't because of where they live and how much money they have.
What was the last count of agencies assigned to help the poor in this country?
126 separate federal government programs designed to fight poverty.
The poverty rate is still about the same as it was in the 1960's and yet we've spent over $15 TRILLION in Federal and state dollars fighting it.
The Obama administration has increased spending on welfare programs by more than $193 billion....
....The nature of government is such that programs are al-most always implemented in a way to bene-fit those with a vested interest in them rath-er than to actually achieve the programs’stated goals. As economists Dwight Lee andRichard McKenzie among others point out,the political power necessary to transfer in-come to the poor is power that can be usedto transfer income to the nonpoor, and thenonpoor are usually better organized po-litically and more capable of using politicalpower to achieve their purposes.30Amongthe nonpoor with a vital interest in anti-poverty programs are social workers andgovernment employees who administer theprograms and business people, such as land-lords and physicians, who are paid to pro- vide services to the poor. Thus, anti-poverty programs are usually more concerned withprotecting the prerogatives of the bureau-cracy than with actually fighting poverty.But more important, the concept behindhow we fight poverty is wrong. The vastmajority of current programs are focusedon making poverty more comfortable—giv-ing poor people more food, better shelter,health care, and so forth—rather than givingpeople the tools that will help them escapepoverty. And we actually have a pretty solididea of the keys to getting out of and stayingout of poverty: (1) finish school; (2) do notget pregnant outside marriage; and (3) get a job, any job, and stick with it. (Cato Institute)
Anon @9:06am,
Right on with your analysis of the meeting discussions last night. I, too, would love for ADH to blog about those conversations.
One thing I am really curious about is Ericka's suggestion that class size doesn't matter if you have a good teacher. She said she heard this at an address by Sal Khan at the National Association of School Board Conference in Boston over the weekend (she and Mary and Joyce attended). She seemed to be implying that suburban concerns are not that important because look what this famous speaker said (he's really well known, she said).
However I have been reading a bit about him. He apparently is very successful at teaching using videos, which students can access anytime. His intro at the conference says: "His innovative approach has accelerated learning for students around the world, with over 2,300 popular videos available via Internet on a wide range of topics, mainly focused on mathematics and science." And I think he himself is probably an exceptionally gifted teacher--not someone you're not going to find very often. So I'm kind of doubting his "large classrooms" do not exactly mean the same thing as 41 kids in a middle school English class here in Charlotte. Anyone know what he really said?
Sorry--should have said "And I think he himself is probably an exceptionally gifted teacher--not someone you're going to find very often. So I'm kind of doubting his "large classrooms" mean the same thing as 41 kids in a middle school English class here in Charlotte. Anyone know what he really said?
Sal Khan is certainly not an expert on class size. He makes a lot of videos that are informative but not especially innovative or engaging. The best research on class size shows that it definitely makes a difference for kids. It makes the greatest difference for disadvantaged kids, who generally need more individual attention, but it makes a difference for kids from all backgrounds. Corporate-style "reformers" have tried to argue that class size doesn't matter, because small classes are more expensive than larger ones, but the evidence is quite clear.
I am very familiar with Sal Khan. I have been following him closely over the years. His first venture was to help his niece understand principles of algebra over the internet via a youtube type video he creates.
He has never had to teach a class. He follows no instructional precept. He just goes through the exercise. His current effort he is developing is as one of the test students put it, turns learning upside down. That is, the student does the video leasson at home the night before, ha, ever heard of being prepared to go to class by reading the lesson and doing the exercises yourself, and then proceeding through the course and tests at your own rate. I did that for 2 courses in college and the principle was called self taught study. He simply is using these well known educational principles and utilizes newer technology to deliver them. The teacher then can rove the classroom as the students are working and her tablet informs her how far along students are and what portions might be giving them trouble and she focuses on that student for a few minutes to reinforce the principle.
Sadly, you have a school board chairperson here who has no idea what education instruction is and how to identify the other parameters around what makes a successful student.
Really? The State of NY Regents testing has made sense for years and students do very well in college-and are prepared for the rigor. Please, refrain from cutting down one of the best in education in the nation--some of our middle school students have taken 3-4 "Field Tests' this month on top of District Formatives and teacher made tests. All we have done is test!
Ann, it is time to investigate why cms security and the police are suppressing reports of discipline problems at Harding. Also ask how many teachers are leaving and how many new hires are staying only a few days. How many staff have had to go out on medical leave or quit because of the stress from the hostile work environment?
Teachers are being left out on their own when classes of students become hostile. It is rumored that a teacher threw a chair the other day.
Teachers are tired of the bullying and intimidation tactics of the administration so CMS better prepare for a huge turnover of teachers at that school. They are not only leaving Harding, they are leaving the education profession; just ask TFA and Teach Charlotte teachers. Fear of retaliation has kept teachers from letting CMS know.
Read more here: http://obsyourschools.blogspot.com/2012/04/cms-publishes-gorman-leadership-book.html#storylink=cpy
get rid of the incompetent principal and APs at Harding.
I belive the problem comes from the schools inability to distinguish disability from delays created by inappropriate home environments. It is difficult to test for but cms is trying.
anon 3:16 PM ... yes it is! You must be part of the moocher class or a bleeding heart.
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