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Saturday, May 4, 2013

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

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Teacher: No One Escapes High-Stakes Testing, Not Even My Child

This teacher was accustomed to teaching poor minority kids how to pass the tests. She was really good at it.
But she was shocked to discover that her own children’s school–in an affluent neighborhood in Brooklyn–had succumbed to the same pressures.
Testing, as she realized, had found her and her children. There was no escape. She concluded:
“As I reflect on why I was (am?) so shocked that testing had found me, I recognize that I honestly believed that


Teaching or Testing?

Michael Weston shares the news from his school, where testing takes precedence over teaching.
He writes:
May 3, 2013. It actually happened at Freedom High School today. The Unthinkable. Beyond the Pale. This afternoon, 7th period, we had an AP Testing pep rally. Yes, a testing pep rally. I had heard rumors of such things, but had a hard time believing them. Today I saw.
Hillsborough County Florida is one of those districts that has stuffed AP classes full with any student who a) 


Mentor: How to Fix Teach for America

David Greene mentored many Teach for America teachers. He knows how poorly prepared most of them were for the job of teaching in New York City’s toughest schools. He tried to help them cope.
Here he offers good advice to TFA.

Could This Be True?

Beware, this might be a hoax.
I hope it is true.
If it is true, please share at once with your legislators. Send it to Arne Duncan. Share it with corporate leaders.
A principal of an elementary school in Massachusetts fired the security guards and expanded the school’s arts programs. Everyone and everything got better.
Call Ripley. Tell “Believe It or Not.”

Online Testing Broke Down in Several States

State testing was disrupted by major computer breakdowns in Indiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Minnesota.
All 46 states and D.C. are supposed to administer Common Core assessments online by 2014-15.
Maybe the corporations will solve the technological problems by then. Maybe states will come up with the money to pay for enough computers by then. Maybe students will figure out how to hack into the assessments 

Diane in the Evening 5-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Will Common Core Make Kids Smarter? by dianerav Arthur Goldstein teaches high school in Queens, New York. Many of his students are English language learners. He blogs at NYC Educator. His blog is one of the best in the nation. He wrote the following for readers of this blog: How Smart Will Common Core Make Our Kids? Judging from the editorials in the papers, you’d think Common Core was the best thing since sliced bread. Actually, sliced bread is highly overrated, as anyone with fresh artisan bread and a good kn... more »