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Monday, May 20, 2013

Diane in the Evening 5-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:







Providence Students Challenge Commissioner Gist to Debate Issues

That amazing, pro-active, brilliant Providence Student Union has challenged Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist to a debate about high-stakes testing with them.
Will Commissioner Gist agree to debate them?
The students thinks it is wrong to use NECAP–the state assessment–as a requirement for graduation. The corporation that created the test agrees with the students that the test was not designed as an exit exam. Gist is sticking to her guns and has the support of the lawyer who recently was appointed to chair the state board of 

NECAP and Central Falls High School

Jim Morgan writes about the NECAP, the New England Comprehensive Assessment Program that RI Commissioner Gist defends and the Providence Student Union oppose, and reflects on the tragedy of Central Falls High School, which Superintendent Frances Gallo and State Commissioner Deborah Gist threatened to close in 2010:
“I teach in a district adjacent to Central Falls. CFHS has always been a school with excellent teachers trying their best to help an economically underprivileged ELL population of students to do their best. What Gist and Gallo did to those educators and their students is a travesty that will never be forgotten or forgiven in Rhode Island.
“CFHS’s test scores are always at or near the bottom of NECAP rankings. Most of the kids there are poor, many 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Bloomberg Empire Strikes Back by dianerav This year the city of New York will pick a new Mayor, after 12 years of Michael Bloomberg. There were only supposed to be 8 years of Bloomberg, as the voters of New York City had twice endorsed term limits of only 2 terms. But Bloomberg decided he wanted a third term, refused to call for a referendum, and got his faithful friend City Council President Christine Quinn to twist a few arms, promise that the members ... more »