Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is doing a "field test" of its new exams this week. Parents and teachers are buzzing about whether this is a good use of time, and whether the tests themselves are any good.
An elementary school English as a Second Language teacher sent this "snapshot of what has happened in one day, at one school" Monday evening. She identified herself to me, but asked that I not publish her name for fear it will cause problems for her or her principal. I'm sharing it to start the discussion; if any of you who are seeing this first-hand are willing to share your observations for publication, please get in touch (ahelms@charlotteobserver.com or 704-358-5033).
Here's the teacher's report, edited slightly for length and clarity:
*Tests did not arrive at school until Friday, April 1. School administration did not have time to train test administrators enough to feel confident about giving the test.
*Special area classes (music, art, PE, etc) and ESL classes are cancelled this week so that those teachers may assist with testing. This is to ensure that classroom instruction can continue. However, students will miss those special area classes. Most teachers at my school have some planning time during the special area class time. They will not have planning time this week.
*I have 50 kindergarten students to test this week. That is about 20-30 minutes per test, times 50 students. It's mentally exhausting for me. I am wondering how much time the final summative tests will be. We have to administer those next month. We are looking forward to having to cancel instruction for a week then as well. 10 days of instruction lost, out of 180 instructional days. That's a lot.
*The second-grade test has been taking more than 50 minutes. 50 minutes is supposed to be the upper limit of the test. This is only for one portion of the test (like, just math, or just social studies).
*I could write about 5 pages about how poorly constructed the test itself was but I'm not sure how much that would fall into breaking test security. I can say anecdotally that I have administered many different types of tests and this is about the worst test I have ever seen, as a "standardized" test. I don't know how much CMS spent just getting this field test version, but it appears to have been a complete waste of money, at the same time we are decreasing services and planning to lay off hundreds of teachers. The wording of the questions, the graphics that go along with the questions, the instructions for assessing the student's answers... It's not good. That is worrisome since these will (perhaps) eventually be used for Pay for Performance. How can we respect a PfP model if it is built on faulty testing data?
*I am giving the kindergarten science test. It is 34 pages long, so 17 sheets of paper. That times an average of 25 students per kindergarten class at my school. If each K-2 test is about that long: There are 21 K-2 classes in my school. So, 17 sheets of paper x 25 students x 21 classes x the number of elementary schools in CMS. That's a lot of paper. We usually have to ration paper to make copies at school. We would love to have that amount of paper to use to support instruction.
*I work with a lot of highly-educated, very intelligent teachers. We are all terrified of these tests being used to judge our "performance" because they are not indicative of what goes on in the classroom. They do not represent the interesting and innovative teaching that goes on across CMS. They are wasting our instructional time and it will be wasted again in May. These tests will not be used to "drive instruction" unless we begin teaching to the tests. And it's sad because we are convinced that the CMS central office has decided that this is going to happen TO teachers and TO students, not matter what anyone on the ground, in the classroom has to say about. Downtown knows best and no teacher is going to be able to tell them otherwise. They will ram these tests down our throats until we give up and quit.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
CMS test week: One teacher's view
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79 comments:
I also work in CMS and everything the teacher stated is true. The test has multiple flaws, it is taking a team of people to cover the school and do testing, and after reading the social studies and science tests, I don't know how meaningful they are for students or teachers. I am sorry to say we may have missed the mark on this one.
Sadly, everything the writer mentioned is accurate. Misspelled words, misnumbered questions, extra words in sentences, and worst, questions and vocabulary that are completely inappropriate for primary students. Yesterday a kindergarten teacher told me this was the worst day she has ever had as a teacher because she had to watch what 50 minutes of a bad test does to a five year old.
Where is the school board on this issue? Can't anyone stop this waste of our children's classroom time and precious resources? It is clear based on Gorman's actions in the past week that he will do anything and mischaracterize all of the numbers to push these tests through. As a result, only the school board can put a stop to this. Where is their leadership?
Some of the papers were cut incorrectly and the feel of the paper was substandard.
The print seem faded and hard to read.
I felt the fact it was in the font it was made it ineffective.
It was hard to hand out to the students as it was most likely not recycled paper and it had a strange chemical smell which left a dark stain on your hands.
What is this Wisconsin?
*Special area classes (music, art, PE, etc) and ESL classes are cancelled this week so that those teachers may assist with testing. This is to ensure that classroom instruction can continue. However, students will miss those special area classes.
"Special area classes" were cancelled because testing (academics)is deemed more important, yet a couple of school board members and a few wealthy parents are trying to raise $3.6 million dollars to save middle school sports?
What to save and what is important seems to be selective within CMS.
Let's lay off almost 600 teachers but raise millions for a "special area" sports program, while cancelling "special area classes" to give useless tests.
Way to go educrats. Your misplaced priorities continue to amaze us.
Please Ann, request to see a copy of the k and 1 assessments that were given - ask to watch an assessment being given - and not one chosen for you to watch - see the child who is 6 take over 50 minutes to assess - read through the test books - find the question with 5 answers spread over two questions, because the program used to write the tests only allows four answers - see the question asking students to read the title to only find out the title has been removed and can't be read - read the questions about holiday celebrations, and have the student who does not celebrate holidays take the assessment....
I got the "promotional" email yesterday citing the amount of time that students are actually taking assessments. It appeared to be an attempt to head off opposition on the parent front. But their figures are completely incorrect! As a former CMS employee, we know that much of the day is used any time there are tests given. It requires all staff to be used- specials cancelled, lunches rearranged, essential staff being used for test administration. To add more tests to the high number of days already being lost to test administration is not in the students' best interests! Now we learn that they are poorly designed and won't measure much anyway. We need to tell the Board and Gorman to stop this nonsense!
As a parent volunteer, I was in the workroom/teacher's lounge (because, sadly, they are one in the same at our school), when several teachers came in during their lunch. It was fascinating listening to them talk. The kindergarten math test had 100 questions... What is the purpose of that?!? It was very clear to me that whoever wrote these tests has NEVER been a teacher, nor are they parents, because they should know that no 5-year-old is able to sit for a 100 question test. The topics (including one on the kindergarten science test about oil and water mixing) are so far beyond what normal kindergartners know it was ridiculous. What a waste of time and money. Obviously, someone is trying to justify their jobs...
Schools are NOT a business and should not be run as such. Pay for performance doesn't work when you have no control over the raw materials!!
Absolutely insane! Listen - teachers are trained to assess their students. Stop this crazy Govco testing and let teachers do their jobs!!!!!!!!
It is seriously time to repeal the Dept of Education. States should be responsible for the schools in their states. FedGov needs to get out! And speaking of "outing" when are we as a community going to force Pete Gorman out. If the school board won't do it, then maybe the school board needs to go this next election. Oh, that's right, we can't. Charlotte is controlled by the dems so business as usual. Get used to it folks, this is the "new normal". Deal with it, this is what you voted for. This is all dem, no republican voted for this bull hockey!
Schools are NOT a business and should not be run as such. Pay for performance doesn't work when you have no control over the raw materials!!
Nancy, that IS the problem. Schools are not run as a business and should be.
The current model, which is the same as the old model, hasn't worked for decades.
End the status quo.
Teachers need to be evaluated. It's a question of how to do it fairly with minimal classroom disruption or putting excessive pressure and constraints on teachers.
I substituted at a school yesterday and will again two mores days this week. I received three phone calls last night and two this morning to substitute at the same school today. Two of these days I agreed to cover are for a teacher on a curriculum field test committee (in an elective subject area not on any SAT, ACT, EOG, EOC or AP exam).
There was a very long announcement at the end of school yesterday as to how some of the field tests are being administered today.
Basically, a lot of classes will be disrupted. Anyone who is a current or a former teacher (I'm a former certified teacher) knows that any change in a student's regular schedule messes up the entire day with less instruction and learning taking place. This is why the last couple of weeks of school are a complete waste of time after EOG'S and EOC's are completed. It's nothing but field days, parties, talent day assemblies and movies. Teachers are burned out and students are burned out from the stress, anxiety and disruption of it all.
My pediatrician told me her practice always knows when EOG's and EOC's are held because children come into her office with stomach pains, sleeplessness, anxiety and a host of other "illnesses".
I loved the high poverty elementary schools that were giving away bicycles a few years back if students passed their EOG tests (only in Math and Reading because no other subject really matters). I guess if a student failed, they not only had to take the test over, suffer the humiliation of feeling stupid but then didn't get a bike like other kids in their class. So much for instilling a love of learning and motivating kids to do their best regardless of their intellectual ability.
And we wonder why CMS has such a high drop-out rate?
The one constant in all of the major budget issues facing CMS is poor management. The parents who are still involved in CMS (many have left and many more will be leaving when their K comes home talking about being forced to take an hour long test) really need to start seriously scrutinizing Gorman's administration. This administration is doing all it can to ostracize stakeholders except for those billionaire philanthropists Broad & Gates. Taxpayers still pay Gorman's salary and should speak up on April 12 at the board meeting. There will be a massive rally at the government center. Tell the school board that Gorman's time is up.
CMS budget issues and poor management go back much farther than Gorman. He inherited many of the problems he's trying to deal with while at the same time creating a bucket full of his own.
Look at all of the bond monies voters kept approving because "we were growing so fast and needed schools!".
Now we have too much space and more students than when the bonds were passed and all of a sudden we can close schools.
Classic.
My child is in Kindergarten at Lansdowne Elementary. I went to the school early this morning to ask some questions and had a chance to speak with both the principal and my child's teacher about how Lansdowne is implementing the process. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how they seem to have managed to implement this field testing with minimal disruption to the educational process.
Prior to these conversations, I was planning to keep my child home during the testing, but I have now changed my mind about that.
I continue to believe that the process CMS is using is an inappropriate way to evaluate teacher performance, and I continue to have major concerns about the construction of the test. But I trust that the personnel at my child's school are implementing the testing as constructively as possible.
Ten years from now your kids are going to be doing some job with the so so education they got from CMS and some other poor parents are going to be fighting to get something out of this system.
In the mean time we will have poured in even more money for this drop out factory to keep on doing what it has done best, make us all hope that one day it might change.
Well that is not going to happen unless we make it happen. Go to www.WestCharlotte.com and join the people who are going to get Voucher in the hands of all Parents.
YOU will have the future of your Children in your hands and competition will make our system better.
Most people do not know that about the financial aid that is available at private schools. At of course Charter Schools have been approved. The future of Education has just begun and you can make your Child a part of it. www.WestCharlotte.com
Get with the Elected Officials and tell them you want Vouchers Today!!!!
We have tried it for sixty plus years this way and Billions of dollars later. Now try Vouchers.....
7:36 a.m., I have asked to observe a kindergarten field test but have not gotten a clear answer. I don't know how I'd avoid the "chosen to observe" situation; don't think I could sneak into an elementary classroom on test day! I'd be happy just to see the testing in action. I'll request copies of the tests.
I work as a parent volunteer at my my children's school. I am also a former teacher. What CMS is doing is a waste! They are wasting time, money and resources at a time when few of these are available in our schools. Nobody has ever become a teacher for the money. We all know what we are getting into as far as students and paychecks are concerned. However, I do not think anybody can fathom how professionally demoralizing CMS has continually been to its teachers. To force teachers to give multiple tests that are developmentally inappropriate and littered with mistakes is shameful. If we graded this administration with the same standards that we give our students, they would literally fail. I want to see CMS held accountable for the money they are wasting on this assessment!
Ann,
All you need to do to witness CMS is action is to register as a school volunteer. I've proctored EOC tests, tutored ESL kids, ran after school clubs, filed report cards and transcripts, served as grade mommy, leadership team member, door decorator in addition to a host of other things.
Schools request volunteers all the time. You just need to have your name on the list, sign in at the front desk, put a sticky badge with your name on it and you're in!
Also, believe it or not, a lot of people won't have a clue who you are.
Public schools in America are operating in an era of enhanced expectations. Schools are being challenged to meet the demands of an economy that is increasingly oriented toward knowledge and information skills. Recent legislative initiatives at both the state and federal level have created new systems of testing and performance standards that will hold schools and teachers accountable for student achievement. Given these ongoing changes, many policymakers have noted the importance of designing financial systems that provide public schools with sufficient resources to meet the demand for better education.
Creating an alignment between funding and accountability can be difficult. The public policy issues surrounding the financing of public K-12 education are famously complicated. While a quality education is universally understood to be an essential component of childhood development and social mobility, the specific policies surrounding the allocation of funds to school districts are often complex and obscure, based on formulas understood by only a small group of experts. Those concerned with improving public services for children can be left with the general sense that something should be done to improve public education, but without the tools to meaningfully engage in the policy debate.
The comments above were posted in 2002 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
That was almost 10 years ago and here we are debating the same issues.
Let's all meet back here in 2022 and see if anything has changed.
I am currently reading Diane Ravitch's book and have gotten through the chapter where she realized NCLB was not going to work and in fact may actually be upside down. Do you know by 2014 that all schools are to have the students at 100% proficient (not just basic) in math and reading? If not the school can be closed.
Looks like it is time to stop taking federal money and get out from under this nonsense. We can fix a lot of problems ourselves and we would have to come up with $20 to $30 million for the kids that really need FRL. But we can get out of this madness and educate our kids with a good well rounded education which will also address the different ways kids learn. Also, Judge Manning needs to talk to the Kansas City judge to realize he can not improve the school systems.
And a few other things will have to occur. Stop social promotion. Give the teachers not only the responsibility but the authority to maintain order in their classroom. Last year there were 217 assaults on teachers and staff members and 44 sexual assaults. And only 8 students expelled. Something is wrong with this picture. As we have done on many buses, video cameras are more needed in classrooms and hallways to protect the teachers and the students who are in school to learn. Remember all the scary things people said would happen if police cars had cameras. The police love it.
Parents and teachers and voters- if you are sick of this masive waste of time and money called 'summative testing', please go to mecklenburgacts.org, and sign the petition. Get involved, write your state legislators (their addresses are on the site, and all of your school board members. Sign up to speak at the school board meeting next week. Yell loud, long and hard. This fight is just beginning.
I pulled my kid out of CMS for this test and will do so again later this year. I urge you to visit http://www.racetonowhere.org and resist this.
I meant http://www.racetonowhere.com
Sorry.
THE GHOST OF LITTLE RASCAL SCANDAL
In 1989 in Edenton some parents accused the operators of the Little Rascals day care center of 100 acts of perversion against their students. The town went into hysteria and charges were leveled against six others.
What does this have to do with CMS testing? It has to do with the complexity and depth of the testing that have been reported on this blog today.
If it is true, as reported in the blog, that these CMS test go beyond the limits of a child’s ability to concentrate, I can only suppose the results will be as unreliable as the children’s testimony in Edenton. The convictions against the operator, Bob Kelly, were eventually overturned. CMS may be courting the same kind of failure.
I support Pay-for-Performance but the testing, as reported by the teachers, are characteristic of the whole Little Rascals episode. I need to hear a response from CMS that they aren’t asking of mere babes what few adults would tolerate. I need to hear that CMS has thought through the validity of youthful responses to adult questions.
Bolyn McClung
CMSdollars.com
Pineville
The Kindergarten tests do not have 100 questions... they have between 24-26 questions. The answer sheet has space for 100 answers (bubble sheet). Actually, that freaked out some of the Kindergarten students I tested today. "Are we going to do ALL THOSE??" The Kindergarten students have been real troopers, although my favorite quote from today was, "Uhh I have no idea what you just said."
Out of the mouths of babes. LOVE IT!
CMS's new slogan; "Uhh, we have no idea..."
I have been administering the field test at my CMS school for the past two days and all I can say is "absolutely ridiculous!"
Shame on CMS administration for wasting the children's and teachers' precious learning/teaching time. There should be some accountability for this debacle. Teachers must always answer now it is time for accountability of the Board.
At our school the teachers did not administer the test but rather the assistants. This did not bother me, but the test its self is ludicrous. I teach first grade and my class took the math field test. Today we complete 3 tests over the course of the day. The average test is taking about 50 minutes per first grader and this is not affecting their lunch, recess or special area time. WE just completed the Thinkgate assessment last week which was given individually as well. The math test has had between 35 and 32 questions on it so far. There have been pictures covered up with boxes where the students are suppose to mark certain shapes (they aren’t there because of the boxes). They are being scored on some questions using a rubric that spans 2 question bubbles because there are 5 possible scoring scenarios and only 4 answers on the bubble sheet per question. I heard from colleagues in Kindergarten that their students had to WRITE responses (2 complete sentences) to questions. While it may be a field test, shouldn’t the typos, errors, misprints, mistakes and all that be fixed before we spend all the money on printing? I am spending my own money to buy copy paper, pencils and crayons just to name a few, to teach my students but the district can throw money away to hastily print something that will help them develop a test to determine my pay? I just hope that, if they are able to develop this test and move forward with PFP that they put a lot more effort into the final product and create something worthwhile, instead of continuing to create headaches, take from instructional time and expect me to do more with less and less each year.
CMS has less than a month to fix all the problems and errors in these field tests to get ready for the summatives. No way that's happening!! Yet, in a few years, my pay is going to partly be based on these faulty tests! Every formative I have received this year has had some sort of error. Why aren't the people developing these tests being held accountable??
I gave K Social Studies tests today and required to cancel my regular classes to assist also. At first I thought I had been given the wrong grade test booklet. How many of you could explain what a veteran was in K and why Veteran's Day is important? How about the significance of Memorial Day? Having trouble with those? Try writing about two groups or clubs you belong to.
And to Wiley Coyote. I came from the corporate world with 20 yes. of experience. I understand all about performance evaluations and what would constitute fairness for a similar teacher evaluation. I was very open to pay for performance in the beginning and not afraid to have my teaching evaluated in similar manner as previously done in the business world. Unfortunately, I have yet to see anything that even remotely resembles that evaluation process in CMS. If what I saw today in the field test trials is the type of assessment quality teachers can expect to have used to evaluate their performance ALL of us are doomed to fail, because the questions are not aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study we are suppose t be teaching.
Any corporation I ever worked for, they would fire the managers that approved such garbage or poorly designed evaluation criteria, or wasted so many man hours that are currently being wasted this week. Walk a mile in our shoes and educate yourself to the facts before your tell us we aren't earning our money. I make less now than I did 20 yrs ago. Evaluate me like a business. ok...now pay me that way too, and provide a reliable evaluation tool.
I have been a teacher numerous years in CMS. This is by far the worst I have ever seen it!!!! I got the DISPLEASURE of being out of my regular classroom today to administer the K math field test. Everything being said in other comments is absolutely true. This is so ridiculous! I lost a day of teaching to do this taking anywhere from 50 minutes to 30 per child. What an absolute mess our school system is creating. The tests are full of mistakes.
I gave K Social Studies tests today and required to cancel my regular classes to assist also. At first I thought I had been given the wrong grade test booklet. How many of you could explain what a veteran was in K and why Veteran's Day is important? How about the significance of Memorial Day? Having trouble with those? Try writing about two groups or clubs you belong to.
And to Wiley Coyote. I came from the corporate world with 20 yes. of experience. I understand all about performance evaluations and what would constitute fairness for a similar teacher evaluation. I was very open to pay for performance in the beginning and not afraid to have my teaching evaluated in similar manner as previously done in the business world. Unfortunately, I have yet to see anything that even remotely resembles that evaluation process in CMS. If what I saw today in the field test trials is the type of assessment quality teachers can expect to have used to evaluate their performance ALL of us are doomed to fail, because the questions are not aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study we are suppose t be teaching.
Any corporation I ever worked for, they would fire the managers that approved such garbage or poorly designed evaluation criteria, or wasted so many man hours that are currently being wasted this week. Walk a mile in our shoes and educate yourself to the facts before your tell us we aren't earning our money. I make less now than I did 20 yrs ago. Evaluate me like a business. ok...now pay me that way too, and provide a reliable evaluation tool.
Gimicks and Schemes
Why not argue some more over the bar tab on the TITANIC...How can we continue to spend money on developing this PfP plan when teachers have not been paid for the last round of performance bonuses...STRIKES are EMINENT...What would happen if the 600 walked off the job TODAY ?
ANN THIS SHOULD NOT BE A BLOG........IT SHOULD BE A STORY ON THE FRONT PAGE!!!!
I agree, why is this a blog? Pls Ann Doss Helms, publish front and center and help citizens understand we are not a pack of complainers. What is happening is just plain wrong! Also, pls hold Ruth Samuelson's feet to the fire. I am so sorry I voted for her. I thought she supported teachers.
I do not understand how the BOE has allowed Mr. Gorman to get by with his lying and complete lack of integrity regarding handling of teachers and his pfp agenda.
Is there anyone in this city that will hold these admins accountable?
So we herd the kindergartners into the media center like cattle. We assign them to a test administrator - a staff member they may or may not know. The children take a test riddled with errors that takes 50 minutes to complete (although quite a few children do not finish the test in 50 minutes and just miss the remaining items). The test administration and scoring varies greatly within our school, even with a staff that is trying hard to be consistent. Special area classes are cancelled, instruction is lessened and all the while we KNOW that the test results have no validity. But if we speak up we are viewed as only caring about our salaries or being afraid of our performance being judged. What we fear for the most is the damage this testing is doing to children that are far too young to understand that these tests are designed to test the teacher not the student. Who can stop the madness? Our parents? Our school board? Our legislators? Help us help your children, Charlotte!
Parents and Teachers Unite....STRIKE!!!!!
Let's face it, the LAST quarter in CMS should be renamed the LOST quarter because it is no longer instructional time, it is teaching to the EOG time. If the idiots uptown would just give a standardized test like the IOWA, there would be no teaching to the test as it is just based on current knowledge and results show how gifted you child is. I loved knowing my 6th grader was reading on a 10th grade level.
I teach the first grade. Our students were tested by another grade level today, while assistants covered their class...which means the have lost a whole day on instruction. On average it has taken 50 plus minutes to complete the Language Arts/ Reading, and the same for the Social Studies and Math too! It took about 20-30 minutes to complete the Science field test. Each 2nd grade teacher got through about 1/3 of each first grade class...which means another day of instruction will be lost for the 2nd grade children so their teachers can finish testing.
I am so thankful that I work in a charter school. I left CMS for the very reasons discussed in this blog. We do not have to report to a central office that hasn't stepped foot into a school in years. Many reading this may be surprised to know that I am the principal of the school. I never have to leave my school to attend meetings downtown...I know the quality of education we are providing our students because I am there everyday, visible and accessible providing instructionale leadership to the teachers. I value my teachers....they are the heart and soul of the school. I will never forget what it is like to be in the classroom. I stand shoulder to shoulder with my teachers, whether it is lunch duty or carpool duty. I don't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself. Treat teachers like the professionals that they are!
First, just to clarify - Special Area Classes are just that - a class. The teachers teach a state curriculum in subjects such as Science, Literacy/Media, Art, Technology, and Physical Education. These classes all have a Standard Course of Study and support the classroom learning objectives. So, no they are not just "special non academic programs." These classes also give children an opportunity to learn from other teachers and give their classroom teachers an opportunity for planning time and to attend meetings. Of course, one of these classes, Media, is on the chopping block for next year. Gorman doesn't think it is important for children to have access to books, technology, or literacy skills.
At my school, they have been testing K students for two days and are still not finished. It has been talking up to 40 minutes per child. So, either assistants are being pulled from teaching literacy groups (assistants are also teachers - there are not doing much clerical work)or the teacher is being used. Therefore, the rest of the children are missing instruction while it takes more than 24 hours to give tests to one class. Parents, the school board members are your neighbors. They won't list to the teachers. Stand up and speak up for your children. Teachers are not against accountability. They just want things to be fair and what is best for children.
I also gave a field test today and am APPALLED at the quality of the tests. I watched an entire class of kids flip to the back of the test packet to see how long the thing was. They just wanted it over. The testing coordinator in my school, notice that the job title is singular, had to prep tests for 835 kids, some of those kids have to take multiple tests. Material didn't come in until late last week. The testing coordinator at my school is also an administrator. That means that all the teacher paperwork that was due yesterday and today is now backed up. All discipline and bus issues from today and later this week will get backed up. I am so sick of teaching to tests and that mess today was RIDICULOUS! I am in the room with those kids every single day and I can tell you what they can and cannot do. I keep work samples and I keep anecdotal records. I'll show you what they do for free one afternoon. I JUST WANT TO TEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Voters in Charlotte, we elect our school board and our state legislators. If our school board is not willing to take a first hand look at what is going on with the summatives, we must remember this at election time. And believe me, I will not forget the message Ruth Samuelson has sent to teachers.
I wish I got paid $2 million dollars to make mistakes...
I want to say to teachers remain calm. I know that it is extremely difficult to see your students being mistreated in this way just so Pete Gorman can gain approval from people who could give him more power and influence. All of this testing to justify taking teachers pay and redistribute the money to 25% of them he deems "effective" through a value added measure that is inherently flawed and proven not to work. What did our students ever do to him? Teachers remain calm.
I couldn't help but find the irony in these comments that Ruth Samuelson posted on her website when she was running for election. Hmmm...teachers with more security and more money in their pockets...government out of people's lives...hmmmm...well educated employees...where employees want to stay...hmm....
Ruth Samuelson believes in the people of North Carolina and works hard to help keep government out of their lives and pockets.
RUTH'S VISION
I envision
a state where workers want to stay because they have a little more money in their pockets and a little more security in their lives.
a state where businesses want to grow because they know that tomorrow's employees are being well educated today.
a state where people want to live because the air is clean and recreational opportunities abound.
a state where racial distrust and inequities have been overcome.
a state that is simply America's best.
I teach in CMS...this account is 100% accurate...if anything, this teacher is being kind.
On blog vs. story: I expect to do a roundup for print at the end of the week, when I know more about how the field tests play out. This is just a good way to get the discussion going in real time, for the people who are most interested. CMS officials are reading the comments and acknowledge there's merit to some of the complaints. See a follow-up post coming tomorrow morning.
Where can the CMS parents sign up to take these same tests to rate the performance of Gorman, BOE and the Principals of our schools. If anybody needs to be rated by their performance it's Gorman, BOE and the principals who make the decisions but are not in the classrooms. At my childs middle school we have a new principal and most of the students couldn't tell you who it is because he doesn't take the time to meet the students. The former principal who moved to high school knew EVERY students name and made a point to speak to EVERY student, teacher, staff and parent on a daily basics.
I would love the chance to rate our principals performance but I the parent won't get the chance.
PLEASE LEAVE GORMAN BEFORE YOU DO MORE HARM TO CMS.
In my school, and may schools in CMS, it isn't just ESL, special area, and instructional support that are losing instructional time with children, it is also our most neediest Exceptional Children who get zero service time (a violation of Federal law, I might add) during any such testing endeavors. Like many, our school is taking 30-50 minutes per child for ONE SUBJECT of this testing. While I realize these tests are supposedly being reduced in half for the "real testing" in one month, that still will leave a K student with an average of 60 poorly written questions that are well above their developmental understanding. These kids are already over tested and stressed out. Yesterday, we had several wet their pants and a huge increase in health room visits for "stomach aches" and other signs of anxiety. We don't believe that we'll be done in this one week window with K-2 assessments and what is worse is how long that means it will take us to do this (once again) in one month in addition to the regularly scheduled quarterly testing and other events that take away from children's instructional time because the individuals who provide that instruction are locked into one-on-one testing requirements. If the district office is going to make these requirements, then they need to set up a team of individuals who comes in to provide it. There is so little staff at the school level (with even less next year) to provide day-to-day instructional needs that we can't take the loss of any more time. I'm curious to know, has anyone done a study yet on how the increased time in all of this testing is effecting our students emotionally and academically? I can't imagine that those students who are most vulnerable are learning anything on their own.
Half a league
Half a league
Into the valey rode the 600
As I read the articles about this summative testing, the Pay for Performance iniative in CMS, and responses from others I felt the need to comment. This weeks new batch of testing has left some elementary schools, as the ESL teacher shared, without their special area classes this week. This means the classroom teachers are left without a planning time or a break. All of the activities, lessons that are planned, papers that need to be graded, grades that need to be input, and e-mails that need to be sent to parents will happen on our own time. Most teachers I know do this already on the limited amount of planning time they already have, without complaining. As I read the comments on education from people that are obviously not in the classroom, I am amazed at the lack of respect that there is for teachers. Just because teachers are against pay for performance, does not mean that they hate their job and are a lousy teacher. It does not mean they are any less dedicated. I am COMPLETELY against this pay for performance iniative and I am a teacher who would benefit, I believe though it has not been made clear, from this new system of pay, having been in the top 25% in my last few years at CMS. My colleagues work just as hard and I am not okay with this and I am not an uncaring teacher. Before you comment negatively on teachers in CMS, please go into the elementary school classroom with a smile and positive attitude for a year (so you can see all that is expected and all of the new iniatives that CMS begins all throughout the year) and then feel free to comment about the teachers. I absolutely love my job but I do not love having to defend my level of dedication and why I feel the way I do.
Ann:
My guess is that the people from CMS are likely trying to identify people they can get for violating testing secrecy rather than looking for feedback. In spite of the fact they are promoting a profoundly flawed system (which appeared to be testing on about 1/20th of my curriculum), they are familiar with what good and bad tests are. These are just embarrassing.
Dr. Gorman has an ego the size of Texas. He has realized that the teachers are pushing back on his PfP so he hoodwinks Representative Samuelson into moving his agenda forward. To heck with them is his attitude.
He then gets his boy Robert Avossa to lead the charge. Avossa is now a Broad fellow and heads up Gorman's Accountability/Testing group. His C and I leader, Ann Clark is also a Broad fellow. They are all on the bandwagon and be damned to the folks who say this won't work. Samuelson is simply foolish.....like all the "run schools like a business" politicians and folks who think the are experts on how to run a school. It is time for the citizens/parents/voters to stand up. It is time for the teachers to say we have had enough. Write your school board member. Write your legislative representatives. I have done that and you should to.
Sad truth is out of the 150 emails I sent out I have only gotten four responses. None of the four was from Ruth Samuelson.
CMS staff, we are 9000 strong. We need to take control of the next election and get someone in office who clearly understands the issues. We need someone who reads more than what sneaky Pete sticks in front of their face. We need people who run the Board and not fools who simply say what a great job Gorman is doing. Grow some Board!
Anon 5:45...
Perhaps you should go back and read what I posted.
Nowhere did I post anything saying "you(teachers) are not earning your money".
As far as me "educating myself on the facts", I was married to a teacher for 12 years in a past life and know too many educrats I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for.
Educrats/administrators are facilitators and teachers have become nothing more than implementors.
I have stated numerous times that teachers need to be evaluated BUT the way CMS plans to go about it with their testing scheme is ridiculously unfair and won't work.
I came to pick up my daughters today at Park Road Montessori and every teacher I talked to was exhausted and demoralized. They couldn't understand why they were being forced to give up a day of teaching to give these terrible tests.
Once again tomorrow the K-2 students at my school will not be led instructionally by their teachers. Once again our testing coordinator will count and recount tests rather than working with students. Once again small group instruction for our neediest students will not occur because everyone in the school is needed to assist with the summative testing program. Once again our media center will be closed and book checkout will be suspended. And all for the most poorly designed tests I have ever seen. I don't know if PfP can ever work, but I assure you these tests ARE NOT PRODUCING VALID RESULTS. 1.9 million dollars wasted at a time when critical classroom needs are not being met due to budget constraints. Is anyone with any power to stop this wastefulness listening?
PfP should not even be up for discussion at this point. Dr. Gorman and his staff should be focusing all their attention on the budget/staffing crisis. Unless this is a reprehensible diversionary tactic...
CMS Administration is doing a great disservice to this community by further eroding the small amount of support it currently enjoys.
Please don't blame the principals for this. We are at the mercy of Gorman and his Goons!
Do not blame GORMAN. He is not doing anything that an average person seeking status and national fame wouldn't try to do.Blame the clueless SCHOOL BOARD.They provide no measureable leadership nor restraint of his dictatorship philosophy.What is the vote on allowing him to spend the taxpayers money on the creation and implementation of these tests?The entire process is an EXPERIMENT! There is no data currently available that shows this PfP process shows proven results.How can the SCHOOL BOARD approve this use of our tax money? Everyone resists change and our system of education needs to be improved.Lets try to spend the precious little money we have on proven results oriented programs than the EXPERIMENTS of the few.
The statement about not blaming principals is accurate. Most principals recognize the terrible waste the summative tests and all the money spent to create them are for our schools and our students. However, they report to a regime with a plan they plan to implement. They used Ruth Samuelson to work around the teachers. Principals may lose their jobs if they speak the truth. Charlotte, the emperor wears no clothes. CMS educators see it. Can you?
Our school board members, some of them, are too busy doing fundraising for middle school sports, while teachers face layoffs and Rome burns around them....
Will one of the teachers or testers please whip out their cell phone and get a picture of one of the test pages.
Jacob, I gather from several teachers and proctors that they're sworn to some kind of "testing security" protocol.
The test and what is on it is a moot point.
It's all the hooplah surrounding them that is the distraction.
CMS is making this harder than it has to be, rushing the tests to judgement yet holding teachers accountable for the results.
Anyone in their right mind can see what the educrats (the facilitators) are trying to do is just plain stupid.
There is no other way to describe the tests and the people behind them.
I am a teacher at a local charter school that left CMS for many reasons, but the amount of testing was one of those reasons. Students would waste 2 days every quarter on "Quarterly Tests" which is 8 lost instructional days and four days are lost due to EOG's, nine days total. Now you are adding formative and summative assessments, taking more days as well. How is this being allowed? Multiple choice tests do NOT truly measure a child's performance. After taking Master of Ed. classes last year, that is one topic all of my professors stressed, multiple choice is "multiple guess" for most of these kids, especially the ones not on grade level to begin with. AND your going to measure a teacher's performance of a whole year of teaching on one or two "multiple guess" tests. CMS has got to get away from standardized tests so that teachers can actually teach their content area instead of teach the kids how to test well. This is why our kids are not getting the education they need to succeed in the future. How many of our students will take multiple choice tests to get a job? Employers are looking for team players, leadership qualities, problem solvers, NOT good test takers!
As a teacher in CMS, I am outraged at the amount of testing we now require of our students. When did we as teachers sign on to "teach to the test"? That can't be what is best for education? However, Gorman says time and time again that he is doing what is BEST for children - how can a 5year old answering 100 questions be good for him? Explain that to me?
Not to mention the amount of money Gorman has paid to have these tests created! He wants to lay off 6000 teachers but spent over $10,000 a test? What kills me is where is the school board for all of this? How can the board sit back and allow this to happen?
CMS has a horrible reputation everywhere - teachers leave year after year to get away from this kind of misuse of education and yet Gorman continues to shove it down our throats as good use of instructional time? The tests are faulty and since I teach high school they should count for 25% of my students' grades? I haven't even taught some of the material tested - it isn't supposed to be taught until the end of April (according to the CMS Pacing Guide) and yet it is on the test?
Give me a break ... can you say private education anyone?
I left CMS in January for the very reasons described here. Missing 10 instructional days as an ESL teacher is an understatement. It only takes into account the field test and the local summative assessments. What was left unmentioned was the two weeks of formative that already passed (10 more days), the EOGs (4 days) the Extend 2(4 days) the EOG make ups (4 days) and the EOG retests (4 days). That's thirty-six instructional days lost for support staff who will very soon also be held accountable for student performance under the PfP plan. Keep in mind, there is also a complete departure from the standard course of study to begin review activities beginning the first week of April. My fifth grader told me today that she knew ZERO responses on the assessment she took today, and she is a pretty bright child. I've worked with the testing staff at CMS, the conditions of the test don't surprise me at all. The one thing CMS has done right is hire some very gifted teachers- what a tremendous waste of resources.
Today was the first day I was asked to help with the testing. I went into it with low expectations, having heard much about them already. Even my low expectations, though, were too high. I really thought teachers were exaggerating. They are not.
The third grade SS test I administered was poorly worded and contained a few grammatical errors. Many questions had NOTHING to do with the standard course of study for third grade social studies and several of them were open to interpretation. I learned in talking with a colleague that some of the questions on the 3rd grade test that I administered were also on the 4th grade test.
But where the testing really breaks down is in the K-2 level which must be administered one-on-one. The test was FULL of mistakes. The instructions were confusing. A student could follow the instructions precisely but still get scored as having incorrect responses because the instructions were unclear. In some cases, the answers were in the questions. Trying to determine the correct way to score each response, I feel I could have defended giving the response any of the scores in the range for it. There was that much room for interpretation. So if this is how PfP will be based, salaries will be determined by the person who administers/scores the test, not the student who takes it. Furthermore, it was a timed test and each test I gave had the questions is a different order and some of them had different questions altogether. Depending on which version of the test a student got, the number of questions they were able to answer in the allotted time varied significantly.
My verdict? Scrap this for 2011. This test needs FAR too much work to be ready for final testing in a few weeks. Our students need to be engaged in instruction at that time; not taking a work-in-progress test, the results of which are meaningless. Also? Give the testing company a copy of our standard course of study. It's clear that they didn't have one when they wrote these field tests.
And Ann, I just want to thank you and Eric for the work you are doing. I can't imagine how much work this situation would be for CMS educators if we didn't have someone who could ask the tough questions and demand straight answers without fear of retribution. You alone make us feel like our opinions and experiences matter.
I encourage all parents (especially K-2)to go to school and ask how these tests are impacting their students and how much time their child's teacher is missing from teaching (now AND when summative tests come out). Since these are field tests, I believe parents have a right to see (once the tests are complete) what types of questions their children are being asked. Then we all need to begin writing letters and making phone calls to make sure the school board knows how ridiculous the tests are. Would they expect their 5 year old to be capable of writing 2 additional lines of a poem, following the appropriate genre???
As a former CMS teacher and a rising 2012 kindergarten student, I am TERRIFIED of this testing. Not only is it going to further increase the stress of the teachers, but the students as well. I cannot picture 5yo students having the desire to be tested and not go have fun in "specials". My sister is a teacher and she also is breastfeeding. She has to combine her class just so she can go pump! She also can't even go to the restroom without doing the same.
What about spending $2m on these tests and cutting hundreds of CMS jobs makes sense?
Again, I cannot stress how ACCURATE these complaints are. We were told the tests would take no more than 20-30 minutes per child. My first test (English Language Arts -ELA) to a 1st. grader took an hour and 15 minutes. There was a ridiculous amount of written response required by the child (per the test instructions) Teacher prompts were written on the student test as well, my verbal prompt differed from a task the child was asked to do. It was 34 questions long and filled with errors!! If I made THAT many embarrassing mistakes in my day-to-day, I should hope I would be fired! The second ELA test only took about 55 minutes, because it was so vastly different and required much less writing. It was however, no less exhausting. We got to the 9th item and the child asked with a sigh "Are we almost done?" No, honey, we're not. The test had 32 questions. In discussing the test with other teachers, it turns out that there were test bank items that were EXACTLY the same in Kindergarden, First and Second grade tests...WOW.
What a collossal waste of taxpayer money! This is an inconceivable travesty!
My middle-schoolers complained about rampant spelling errors and numbering errors, which didn't correspond to the bubble sheets they were to fill out.
Ridiculous.
Yet another CMS teacher here agreeing with all that has been said about these tests. CMS should be EXTEMELY embarrassed to even put their name on these tests. What a joke! There were SO many mistakes and things that just didn't make sense. Who on earth is sitting behind a desk making up these tests? I am sure their paycheck is at least 3 times larger than mine (a 10 year veteran teacher who is only making 42,000 a year!) Why aren't teachers trusted to make these tests? Apparently the moron making them up knows NOTHING about the North Carolina Curriculum and NOTHING about children. CMS-You have FAILED your students and FAILED your teachers. I had a second grader say to me today "They should make these test more clear."
An exert from my letter to Ruth Samuelson:
To Peter Gorman and the CMS Board of Education, each of these children are merely a name on a page with a test score next to it.
(Based on very conservative estimations)
Kindergarten Entry Profile- 5 minutes
DIBELS BOY- 8 minutes
Miscellaneous Beginning of the Year School Based Assessments- 10 minutes
1st Quarter Formatives- 20 minutes
1st Quarter School Based Assessments- 10 minutes
2nd Quarter DIBELS-7 minutes
2nd Quarter Formatives-20 minutes
2nd Quarter School Based Assessments-10 minutes
3rd Quarter Formatives-20 minutes
3rd Quarter School Based Assessments-10 minutes
Field Test- Predicted 25 minutes per child but are given up to 50 minutes per child (let’s average that out to 37 minutes per child, rounding down of course)
4th Quarter Summative Tests- God only knows how long, let’s continue to be conservative and say 30 minutes per child X 4 content areas= 120 minutes
4th Quarter DIBELS-3 minutes
4th Quarter School Based Assesments-10 minutes
4th Quarter Level 4 Achievement Tests-20 minutes
Let’s look at this data:
Total calculated testing time per child: 310 minutes/60= 5.16 hours X 22 students= 113.6 hours of testing time
Testing time available during and average school day: 235 minutes/60=3.92
7:45-8:25 40 minutes
9:15-10:30 75 minutes
11:10-1:10 120 minutes
113.6 hours / 3.92 hours per school day= 28.98 days of a 180 day school year is spent on testing (this is without taking into consideration transition time, interruptions, varied schedules etc.)
So, as a teacher, I am conservatively estimating that I will spend 29 days of the school year testing students one on one. That is a minimum of 16 percent of the year that I am not even in front of my class teaching. I find this to be such an injustice to my students and a waste of instructional time.
Research shows that the pay for performance model is more detrimental than beneficial to education. By moving forward with this, I fear that CMS schools will lose a large percentage of highly qualified teachers. To quote an article from www.parentsacrossamerica.org: “If we want to make teaching a profession worth pursuing, we must pay all teachers a respectable professional wage—on par with professions that require comparable education and expertise – and provide them the tools they need to do their job – small classes, strong mentors, time for planning and collaboration, scope for their own creativity and help with addressing challenges such as poverty and homelessness.”
Lastly, I want you to realize that behind every salary that CMS wants to slash is a person who has planned their life and made decisions based on their promised salary. In the last 3 years, none of those teachers have received a raise yet the cost of living continues to sky rocket. We have children, mortgages, utility bills, student loans, and a multitude of obligations that we are required to fulfill, yet due to means beyond our control, we will not be able to fulfill many of those obligations if our salaries are cut due to student performance. I’m asking you to look at each teacher as a person not just a dollar amount and each child as a future leader not just a test score.
I am a CMS teacher in a middle school. The tests were mis-numbered, some questions did not have numbers, and a lot of the content was not alligned with the SCOS (NC's Standard Course of Study). It is scary that these tests will determine a teacher's pay rate.
I agree that something needs to be done. However, my staff is at a loss on how to change our damaged system. Our principal rules by fear, so we cannot discuss it freely.
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