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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 14, 2014 18:15:47 GMT -5
A Gathering of Eagles and Turkeys
I hadn’t seen him for five or six years, although I had read of his accolades and laurels regularly over that period of time. He is one of the smartest and most accomplished men I know and have had the privilege to have worked with as an advocate for education. His acumen and accomplishments are legend in the field of public education, locally, regionally (Long Island), across NY State and nationally. Dr. William (Bill) Johnson is the long-time Superintendent of Schools in Rockville Centre, having started his career in public education in 1967 as a high school Social Studies teacher in The City, moving to RVC in 1980 as a Special Education teacher and on to Director of Pupil Personnel Services and ultimately becoming the Superintendent. I am deliberately emphasizing Bill’s C.V. to highlight his extensive first-hand experience with special needs children as well as his solidly established leadership of a highly successful public school district. In 2005 Bill was named NY State Superintendent of the Year, signifying not only his terrific leadership of his own district, but his broader leadership among state and national school superintendents’ councils as well as his hard-earned respect and influence among policymakers and lawmakers at both state and federal levels. When I heard that he was a panelist at the LIU-Post Educational Forum this week, I immediately went online, registered and printed out my ticket. I was not disappointed.
As suggested by that forum’s title: “A Return to Common Sense: Restoring Developmentally Appropriate Education to Our Schools”, this gathering had at its focus the Common Core, within the context of developmental status and capacity of the children who attend our schools. (Readers are asked to keep in mind that the “Common Core” is comprised of four components: a concept; the curriculum; state assessments; and, the correlation of those assessments with APPR—teacher & principal performance evaluations). The forum title implies that the Common Core, taken as a whole, has distorted the developmental appropriateness of what is being taught and tested-against in our public schools, hypothesizing that schools need to restore or return to some formerly realized level of appropriateness.
The title of this blog edition indicates that, in my opinion, the panel was comprised of some “Eagles”, and some non-eagles (my personal opinion). There were three eagles on the dais: Dr. Bill Johnson, Parent-Advocate Jeanette Deutermann, and Principal Jennifer Polychronakos, who is an Elementary School Principal in Comsewogue (Port Jefferson Station) responsible for 450 students. The other (non-eagle) members were Anthony Griffin, teacher from CI, and, Nikhil Goyal, an 18-year old high school graduate, author, and talk-show rounder.
(Eagle) Jeanette Deutermann is the founder of the activist group, Opt-Out Long Island. (Opt-out refers to what amounts to a refusal to allow one’s own children to sit for the Common Core Assessments administered in schools in April and May). In a bygone era she may have been regarded as a provocateur, her group as seditious anarchists. But such bygone eras preceded the sixties, when similar groups and their leaders were called radicals and crusaders, and whose determination and nerve wrought some of the most sweeping cultural—and legal—changes in America since the Civil War. Truth be told, when the “opt-out” option was first being discussed (last year), I was condemning opt-out adherents as “anarchists” and blasting their credo in my blog. I was technically right to the extent that there is no option out of state assessments even as of this writing; technically, refusing to be tested is the correct vernacular for this activity, which, in that form, is apparently now sanctioned by state regulations. She is sincere and true to her cause, through and through, working tirelessly, far and wide to bring her message to interested or curious parents, educators, and lawmakers. I personally feel there is inherent merit in such dedication and determination, as well as in charismatic and effective leadership, even if one doubts or despises the cause that such a leader champions. I wanted to meet Jeanette and hear her message for myself, and appreciate her demeanor and presence, to witness her leadership style in person. I found her to be an articulate and persuasive ideologue, a force to be reckoned with by her chosen or self-declared opponents.
(Eagle) Jenifer Polychronakos was much more reserved and self-contained than Bill Johnson or Jeanette Deutermann. Demure, not very charismatic, she is serious both professionally and on a deeply personal basis, and is that certain style of educator who you would wish to have as the principal of your own child’s or grandchild’s school. Soft spoken yet articulate and knowledgeable, she personifies what I take is a real dilemma for myriad serious, hard-working, and good teachers and principals. I was floored when she clicked on her mic’ and gave her perspective on the Common Core in action.
Here it is appropriate for me to reprise the key comments of the three Eagles presenting at this forum.
Eagle Johnson
The Common Core concept of “college and career readiness is too narrowly defined. We need solid citizens.”
“The 2009-10 developed Common Core Standards attempt to raise the bar for all of our children. How do we expose more kids to that?”
“The Common Core (curriculum) was developed by people not connected with kids…. Learning from modules is not the right way.”
On testing (CC Assessments): “Assessments are truly not a valid measure of anything.” “Testing does not evaluate results. Testing does not inform instruction.” “I have absolutely no confidence in these tests…” (referring to the NY State ELA & Math Assessments).
“The Key to real, significant change is the power of parents: ‘Remove my child from this situation’”.
Asking, “What can WE do?” as school administrators: “Honor the rights of parents to not have their children sit for these assessments.”
Continuing…”But assessments are important.”
Key decisions facing school administrators: “Can districts inform parents about (opting out/refusal to test)”? No. However, Administrators can share information with Parent-teacher organizations.”
However, he said right then and there: “School Districts must hear from parents…in writing.” “SED has backed away from its position to require students to refuse tests in-person, and instead will allow districts to make a local decision to accept a letter from a parent as refusal of testing.’”
He added, “Schools have no obligation to provide any alternative to ‘sit-and-stare’ (for students refusing to be tested)(nor are schools) required to provide a ‘negative option-in-writing’ (to in-person student test refusals)”. He reiterated the test procedure: “students may take out reading materials at the completion of the exam”.
He urged parents to contact their own districts to “get the facts straight” for their child’s school.
Eagle Johnson concluded: “The Common Core has some value; it does. We have to figure out what.” He then mused, maybe that will happen “when nobody shows-up for the exam”.
In the next edition I will elucidate the comments and wisdom of the other two eagles, Eagle Deutermann and Eagle Polychronakos. In a later edition, next week, I may expand on my opinions about the remarks of (non-eagles) Griffin and Goyal. Doing so would be purely for journalistic integrity, meaning to expose the underbelly of the “opt-out” movement, recognizing, however, that it is not my intention to do harm to that movement through my blog.
Thank you for reading along,
Chris Wendt chriswendt117@gmail.com
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 15, 2014 8:26:09 GMT -5
This takes on a special emphasis, having been stated by one of the top public school district superintendents in our state. Eagle (Bill) Johnson concluded:
“The Common Core has some value; it does. We have to figure out what.” He then mused, maybe that will happen “when nobody shows-up for the exam” . Think about that.
Another way to think about it is, maybe that can only happen if the exams are suspended for a few years so people can take the focus off of the assessments, and re-think what is right and good and valuable about the common core... - ...concept
- ...curriculum
- ...assessments
- ...correlation with teacher appraisals (APPR)
I think we can and will find value and benefit, even need and necessity in some revised version of the Common Core Concept and a better thought-out Common Core Curriculum. I seriously doubt that much good will be found in any CC Assessments that are in any way, shape or form tied to teacher evaluations (APPR). Remove the Assessment scores from APPR, or, kill APPR outright, and the Common Core Assessments can then be rectified. But concomitant with killing APPR, NY State needs to revise Education Law Section 3020-a to allow principals, superintendents, and school boards to progressively discipline (and fire) tenured teachers who do not perform effectively. Oh boy! Chris Wendt
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 15, 2014 14:00:50 GMT -5
For the sake of clarification, Section 3020-a of the NY State Education Law is that provision which concerns discipline of tenured faculty, and is responsible for the infamous "Rubber Rooms" filled with teachers suspended with pay but removed from classrooms because of behavioral issues. Under §3020-a, school districts do not decide what disciplinary action should be meted-out to offending teachers; those decisions are left to arbitrators instead of the supervisors, managers, and senior administrators who best know the teacher, the issue, and the circumstances of the alleged offense(s). These cases routinely take two or more years to settle, and cost school districts upwards of a quarter million dollars each to adjudicate.
In the private sector, supervisors, managers, and Human Resources professionals mete-out disciplinary suspensions and terminations based upon their knowledge and understanding of the facts of each case. Cases normally do no require more than a month or two to resolve, and employees charged with behavioral or performance problems are routinely suspended without pay until their cases are adjudicated.
Which process makes more sense to you?
Been there...done that...both ways. I know the difference!
Chris Wendt
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 17, 2014 14:45:49 GMT -5
Monday – 20140317 Edition
Eagle Jeanette Deutermann is a parent advocate and co-founder of Opt-Out Long Island. There is no equivocating her current cause or her position on the Common Core. Now, dear reader, if you are firmly convinced that the Common Core is “just right”, meaning that the Common Core is exactly what this country, what New York State, what Long Island, and what your own school district needs, or, if you believe that all components of the Common Core (the concept, the curriculum, the assessments, and their correlation with teacher evaluations) are the sine qua non for your own child’s academic success, meaning, literally, essential to her/his readiness for college and career, then you may skip today’s installment of my reportage on the LIU Education Forum without fear of repercussion or of having your mind challenged or perhaps changed.
Here is a synopsis of the main message points of Eagle Deutermann’s presentation at LIU-Post, concerning the Common Core, from her perspective as a parent-advocate: “Something is just not right.” The Common Core’s “test-focused curriculum” is causing the “Love of Learning” to fade among our children. Our children need to be “appropriately challenged”. Teaching should be appropriately challenging, “not scripted”. “Science and Social Studies should be taught for their own values… NOT as extensions of ELA!”. “Tests should be of appropriate length and content.” “Parents should be able to see the tests.” “ LOOMING test dates and instensive classroom test prep undermines learning.” She continued to reprise common concerns about “control over data”, meaning identifiable metadata about your child as well as the associated hard data, meaning the ELA & Math Assessment scores earned by your child. In concluding, Eagle Deutermann posited that “teachers need to love what they do” yet noted that “parents hold the cards” (to solve the disconnect between love of teaching and teaching to tests). Her final remark was a declarative statement that there is “no consequence for refusal” to sit for a NY State common core assessment. My summary comment is that, yes, Jeanette Deutermann is a partisan in the Common Core war. But she is an effective and ostensibly influential leader of a formal opposition group (Opt-Out Long Island) which claims 15,000 members as of this time last week. You need to do the math in order to appreciate that even at 15,000, presuming they represent 15,000 children, they are decidedly a minority of parents of grade 3-through-8 students who will be subjected to the common core ELA & Math assessments next month. NYSED has demurred from posting the 2013 School/District Report Cards on their own website, which will contain the data that will show how and where Opt-Out LI has and has not been effective. It is also unclear how fast interest and membership is growing in Opt-Out LI, perhaps it is or will become exponential and sweep across the Island just in time to massively disrupt the April-May assessment cycle. Perhaps the impact, the concerns, the choice about whether to sit for the tests or to refuse them… ….will reach all the way to your own kitchen table.
The next edition of my blog is scheduled to highlight the contributions and Eagle Polychronakos, the Principal from Port Jefferson Station. Thanks for giving this your attention and hopefully some carefully considered thought along the road to the upcoming assessments. You can reach me in confidence at chriswendt117@gmail.comSincerely, Chris Wendt
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Post by rr on Mar 18, 2014 8:01:04 GMT -5
And Eagle Deutermann's main points are backed by what research? Are there any factual research that this is based on? Many of your points seem COMPLETELY opinion based...I'm sorry but "something is just not right" doesn't appear to be a cohesive main point, it sounds like a child's statement. Parents should be able to see the test? Seriously? Any parent who sits with their child to do homework sees the concepts, and the tests are based on the concepts...instead of giving lectures perhaps this eagle needs to spend some time looking at the actual work. Perhaps we should go back to the good old days when we put absolute trust in the teacher to do their best, teach the same old curriculum they;'ve been teaching for years, I guess we should abolish testing and just give everyone a good grade for showing up...obviously I'm exaggerating but the way these people talk you'd think that kids were never tested and that every teacher in the US is motivated and great at what they do...sorry, not the case.
BY the way, who determines what the appropriate challenge is for my child vs. your child? Who determines what is appropriate length? These are pie in the sky comments that put education into a vacuum. The simple fact is that there are no easy answers and the Common Core is a step in the direction. Opting Out is a cheap and easy way out of an issue, sets a horrible precedent for young children on how to avoid a challenge, it takes the power away from teachers/schools and is a distraction for the children that work hard to learn and accept the challenge.
I'm surprised by you Chris, a person who cites facts and looks at numbers and research would be so easily swayed by someones opinion. The fact that she regurgitates the same old unfounded rhetoric does not make her an expert or an 'eagle'. I would love to see the actual 15k members claimed and how many households or children that actually represents and I would love to see the makeup of this 15K. Apologies but I am very skeptical of these numbers as I've seen some Wantagh groups claiming numbers about opt outs and when I reviewed the actual petition found several duplicate names, sever 'unknown' entries and several other people that are not even a parent of child in a testing grade...
This 'eagle' seems like more of a vulture preying on parents insecurities and fears, making people feel like they are a bad parent or uninformed if they do not think opting out is the right thing to do. It's bullying in it's most basic and simple form.
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greda
Junior Member
Posts: 44
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Post by greda on Mar 18, 2014 8:43:27 GMT -5
Good points. Although I do agree with Chris that getting direction from the federal government on a local issue is never a good thing, something needed to be done. And money usually gets people's attention. And you may refer to these people's as eagles, but most of them are part of the problem as they are part of a system that rivals the military complex that Eisenhower warned us about so many years ago. They are entrenched interests who look out for themselves first and our kids second
As I have stated previously, the work my youngest child is doing is head and shoulders what my son did. Granted he scored a 100 on three years worth of spelling tests but that just showed that what they were learning was a joke. And my daughter is more than handling the work. Maybe they should have rolled it out in the 1-5 grades as my middle school son is struggling. But he needs to learn that he has to put some effort into the work and that the coasting that he did because of the simple work in elementary school.
And since Chris is a numbers guy who has connections maybe he could get the school to do a follow-up on the success rate of our graduates over a ten year period after they graduate. They are quick to publish how many kids go on to college, but I truly wonder how they do. I know from my own nephews that they do struggle a little bit and quite a few end up back at NCC to bring their grades back up.
And I apologize for the semi-rant
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 18, 2014 15:16:32 GMT -5
Not at all....
Yes, I originally ran the numbers, such as they were, when the raw assessment scores were released in August. This led me to a treasure trove of data covering every school in every district in every state, federal district, protectorate, military base and Indian reservation that are all parts of American public education. I published several analyses, here. But the holy grail for New York, the NYSED School/District Report Cards has not been published, and most recently (yesterday) public access to the federal NCLB database has been restricted to summary information only. However, I am fairly certain, as in Wantagh, that Rockville Centre, Bellmore, Bellmore-Merrick CHSD, Comsewogue, and Central Islip schools/districts all know their own assessment scores, and to that extent the remarks of the Eagles (and the turkeys) are data-driven.
My own detailed research into the data indicated and opened my eyes to the fact that public education in America, with the exception of Wantagh and most of Long Island, is broken far worse than I ever could have imagined before analyzing the data. But what "broken" means is, namely, wholesale failures of the nations largest school systems (which are responsible to educate one out of every five children in America) to graduate students with their cohort groups after four years of high school (that, following 10 years of earlier education in Kindergartens, elementary and middle schools).
What is broken are 4 (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers) of the Big 5 Cities school systems in NY, plus a meaningful but non-majority segment of the NY City school system, which fail to graduate an acceptable percentage of their students after 4 years of high school.
Another broken facet of life for young men and women, not necessarily the fault or result of public education, is a seeming economic hopelessness, especially in non-minority communities in NY, outside of the Big 5 Cities and away from Long Island and Westchester, where there are so few jobs and fewer "careers" for which to prepare, that many leave public school with no plans for their future. No plans for their future. Some of them drop out, unmotivated, and with no real plans; some actually hang-in and graduate from high school in either 4 or 5 years, and are counted as "completers", but many still have no actionable plans for their lives. A good number do go on to college, but almost as a substitute for having any real plans for life or careers after college.
Cranking up rigorous assessments is NOT the way to go to motivate hopeless students. All the rigor in the world is NOT going to create jobs or careers to which unmotivated adolescents can aspire. All the worthy aspirations which the Central Government may hold out for tomorrow's students will not generate the jobs or the careers that will productively occupy the hands or challenge the minds of tomorrow's graduates, although the few who survive the rigorous assessments will certainly be ready...just in case any jobs open up, or in the unlikely event some "careers" move in to NY from any other state or country. But, of course, New York drives away companies, careers, jobs, and young people because of our insane tax structure.
To Greda's question, that has been asked a thousand times...how do Wantagh's, Long Island's, New York's high school graduates fare in college. Although I would like a data-driven answer, I really don't care that much other than as a matter of curiosity. But I still find any credible answer wanting.
Thanks for the questions and feedback. As I hope everyone realizes, the Common Core is a very complicated and emotional issue.
In the end, rr may be proven right, and I may be proven crazy. The eagles may be disgraced or discredited, or, they may be hailed as dragon slayers, paraded about the Island on the shoulders of throngs of their supporters and boosters.
Regards
Chris Wendt
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Post by lilly on Mar 19, 2014 10:01:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the questions and feedback. As I hope everyone realizes, the Common Core is a very complicated and emotional issue. In the end, rr may be proven right, and I may be proven crazy. The eagles may be disgraced or discredited, or, they may be hailed as dragon slayers, paraded about the Island on the shoulders of throngs of their supporters and boosters. Last statement is a bit divisive. As for me, in general I'm tired of the divisive environment we're in. Less traditional hard core news reporting, more (opinionated/agenda) blogs, often with little facts. Pick Fox or MSNBC as your TV news source, or local news which seems to be more objective if you're good with a 15 second news story. Nothing gets done in Congress with everything so partisan. Social media can be a blessing or a curse. It's been a curse/disservice for CC and certainly a disservice to politics in general. There seems to be no elected officials/politicians who can garner the respect of the other party's voting contingent, a situation exacerbated by social media. Anyhoo, mini-rant over. NYSED messed up in the roll out of CC. But, it's time to move on already. There are no winners or losers here, focus should be on the KIDS, KIDS, KIDS and what districts need to do to make it successful. Oh and I might add, while Jeanette Deuterman's calendar is full of nightly anti-CC meetings including one recently for the Wantagh and Seaford communities, where the heck was the "actively involved" Wantagh contingent for WSD CC meetings? The one for the elementary grades was poorly attended from what I was told and 6-12 even worse. I guess it is easier to sit at home and read a blog, the blaze or a fb group posting than do yourself and your kids a service by getting both points of view before forming an educated opinion. I find the whole thing kind of tiring lately.
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 19, 2014 10:37:29 GMT -5
Lilly
I think I could agree that the tenor of conversation is stressful in most media. Riding the train to work this morning put this into perspective which I would like to share.
When cell phones first became widely the wildly popular, riding the train became a real pain with seemingly everyone having one-way cell phone conversations, and as the din grew louder, people needed to speak louder in order to participate in their own cell call, or in the conversation with the person in sitting in the next seat. Louder and louder, and more and more stressful. Eventually arguments broke out among passengers trying to sleep or work on the train versus those shouting over and over into their crappy cell phones: "Can you hear me? Can you hear me, now?" Well, cell phones and service improved, and texting came into Vogue, and people became more sensitive to the desires of one another for a peaceful train ride. The railroad established "quiet cars", and the situation abated quite a bit.
But then there was this day-tripper on the 8:36 this very morning, not savvy to the commuting routine, blabbing on his cell phone, holding a one-way technical discussion about his technical job, and garnering first the annoyance, then the attention, and finally the comments of the other passengers around him. The comments started out mildly sarcastic and indirect, then became more caustic and direct, until someone asked the offending passenger to listen, and notice that nobody in the entire car was speaking in a cell phone...except him. He apologized and closed his eyes and took a nap.
What's this got to do with your complaint? I think that the coarse level of discourse, especially on blogs and fb will eventually modulate and moderate to a more peaceable tone and higher level of tolerance.
Moving-on from the botched implementation of CC will eventually happen, too, but not until certain vested interests have attained their pound of flesh from the offending gods of education, and the Central Government. Or unless the CC is somehow killed, whichever comes first.
Chris Wendt
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Post by lilly on Mar 20, 2014 10:17:35 GMT -5
Chris, agreed. Pendulum theory. As for cell phones on the train, when I used to commute I would only take limited calls from my office. Those calls allowed me to leave early/civilized time. If my staff was working late and there was a quick question I could answer for them so they could get out of the office, more than happy to oblige. But, they were quick and I always got up and took them in the vestibule as quietly as possible. That was before rules had to be established about quiet cars,
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 20, 2014 12:27:07 GMT -5
While the last few posts may seem to have gone off-topic, they (and this one) are rather apropos of the CC discussion.
Quiet cars on the railroad...meant to create peaceful, quiet commuting for those seeking to work or nap on the train. One car on each rush hour train, the west-most car, and only in the rush hour direction, west in the morning, east in the evening. For me to take advantage of the quiet car, I have to walk all the way to far end—the wrong end—of the train for me in either direction. I no longer go to the quiet car, because instead of peace, and quiet, these cars have become Mecca's for passive-aggressive behavior, and are especially attractive to anyone looking for an argument or to challenge "the system" of rules on the LIRR/MTA by breaking those rules and ignoring the comfort, convenience, and expectations of their fellow commuters. Part of the problem is that the Conductor (the boss of the train) is NEVER in the west car of the train, the person there is either the Brakeman or the Collector, and neither ever wants to get involved with any squabbles about who is using their cell phone, or who is gabbing loudly in the quiet car; "enforcement" of the quiet car rules is left to passengers, some of whom 'get-off' on trying to boss around other people, and some of whom just like to stir the pot and see what reactions they can evoke. Sometimes those interactions devolve into physical pushing-and-shoving. I actually saw one guy come over the top of a seat to "quiet-down" an "offending" passenger!
The LIRR Quiet Car shenanigans are similar to what has come of the Common Core discussion, in terms of hostility, people throwing their weight around, and people stirring-up controversy and creating stress for no apparent legitimate purpose.
Regrettably, the Regents, the Commissioner and SED set-up the stress over the Common Core in NY. This is NOT any longer something that can simply be "gotten over" or from which we can easily "move-on" (and away). I used the phrase "Colossal Mistake" in my earliest blogs about the implementation of the Common Core, and to this day I see that still as a colossal mistake that will require significant action to correct. NYSED is perpetuating their own serious problems with damaged public (parental and faculty) confidence in NYSED itself.
Where are the School/District Report Cards? You and RR and a host of others should be clamoring for that data trove! Access to previously publicly viewable and searchable data has been shut off, restricted, or, altered in ways that make analysis (by media, by parent groups, by other legitimately interested parties, including lawmakers and educators, and ordinary tax-paying citizens) impossible. Among the data that has been obscured is anything that would allow for gaging the success or failure of opting-out, and, a fair data-based determination of how schools and districts performed on the 2013 CC assessments, as the numbers are now being expressed in terms of percentages with numerous rounding errors.
Item analysis, RR should cringe at what I am going to say about this, that part of the assessment process that is specifically intended to inform instruction, item analysis has been turned off. Turned off, and with that, there is no hope of teachers or department heads knowing exactly where they may need to shore up instruction, or re-prioritize lesson planning. The prior year's item analysis (2011-12) has been embargoed, and will not be published...so there goes any notion of a "baseline" against which to compare new data, and loss of a significant set of metrics to adjudge the results of prior years efforts. You guys should be HOWLING about this, because you guys are not getting that very data you keep chiding me about. Because NYSED is trying to kill that data. Can you say "cover up"? Cover up, there, I said it for you. (Item analysis is a readout of student performance on each specific question of each assessment/test. Item analysis can be valuable in that it not only reveals gross performance—successes, weaknesses, failures—but can be disaggregated for analysis by gender, race, special needs status, remedial or supportive services received, native language spoken, poverty level and other socioeconomic factors).
I am delayed in the completion of this blog, the last Eagle, Principal Polychronakos' presentation, because I am waiting for the video of the conference to be put online for fact-checking and clarification of some of her presentation. The article is written, but I am not comfortable releasing it, yet. The two "turkeys" presentations will follow, and again, solely for the purpose of journalistic completeness of my reporting. You will appreciate what I mean when you read it.
Regards,
Chris Wendt
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 25, 2014 6:49:46 GMT -5
Special Edition
“A ship is safe in the harbor…but that is not what ships are for.” Regent Roger Tilles (Address to the 4th Annual STEM Summit at Farmingdale State College, Friday, March 21, 2014).
This edition of my blog is an adjunct to the reportage on the Common Core Symposium held earlier this month at the Tilles Center, LIU-Post. I took the day off work, Friday, to attend the STEM Symposium in Farmingdale for three reasons: (1) Regent Tilles was listed as a speaker (2) I have an abiding interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and I wanted to get a first-hand look at the (60) STEM projects submitted by some of the 700* students who would be attending (3) I had been openly critical of the Nassau BOCES Doshi STEM program since its inception, and I hoped to better evaluate their mission and my own criticism of this “half baked” (in my opinion) STEM Program. I had an overarching reason for spending the day at Farmingdale: I wanted a break from all the noise and distraction surrounding and accompanying the Common Core discussion, and this STEM symposium sounded like the perfect solution for me. Surprise, surprise (not). Regent Tilles was the Plenary Speaker, and after a very brief introduction, he openly thanked the audience consisting of 1,000 (6-12) students and a large contingent of teachers, administrators and parents) “for not booing and hissing” at him, referring to the one subject I was specifically intending to avoid: the Common Core. So, here is my reportage on Regent Roger Tilles’ plenary remarks relevant to the subject of this ongoing blog. Tilles is proud to admit that he took part in developing the Common Core (concept), but stated unequivocally that he is now counted among four of the 17 Regents taking a stand to “slow down and limit testing”. He asked, hypothiectically, “What happened?”, then explained his view that the implementation of the (CC) curriculum and the assessments “did not match-up”. (I inferred this meant that they did not match up either with each other (curriculum, as implemented & assessments, when implemented) as well as not matching-up (being congruent with) the Common Core Concept. I mean, to be sure, nobody envisioned any concept to improve educational outcomes which was dissonant, herky-jerky, and incongruous among its own component parts!)
In the course of developing the Common Core, the leaders of U.S. businesses and education realized, among many other things, that China has more engineers, per capita, than the United States. This led to discussions with the leaders of Chinese business and education, out of which the U.S. leaders learned of the Chinese dissatisfaction with their own engineers because they were lacking in creativity (which, Tilles explained, is one reason for the U.S. continuing dominance over China in innovation and invention). He outlined a simple continuum of engineering with what is “real” on both ends, but with the “abstract” in the middle. (I inferred a process, there, where engineers take what is real (past & present), apply abstract creativity to that reality, and produce a new reality…the future.) Independent and apart from the Common Core, STEM (education) is focused on that creative process in the middle. This, in turn, has lately resulted in a re-casting of STEM as STEAM, with the “A” standing for Art, with art meaning, for the purposes of STE(A)M, design creativity. Now, you should be asking, as was I when listening to Regent Tilles, how are the Common Core (and his opening statements) and STE(A)M related, and of what possible interest would that relationship have to the audience of this symposium? Stay with me, here. ”The Common Core was a change in thinking, it represented a change in thinking, that education should be more about understanding than recall. Getting students to think…’thinking, in a globalized world’. But so is STEM education, which needs to be introduced in early grades, started in elementary schools, in a relevant way. But the implementation of the Common Core (in New York) has caused so many elementary schools to have given up on this (the introduction of STEM), and losing science, art and music to high stakes test preparation in Math and ELA.” He continued, “there are different pathways to education. We need to expose children to art and STEM at an early age. We need to keep and protect Social Studies and Art”…from being displaced by high-stakes testing. “We need to slow down and limit testing.” In previous editions I have presented some of the thoughts of our Educational Eagles, and here are the thoughts and statements of one of our esteemed Educational Kahunas, Long Island’s Regent, Roger Tilles. He is not beating the drum over opting-out, nor advocating for other forms of civil disobedience. There were a significant number of rank-and-file educators and actual parents of school children in attendance, as well as nearly 1,000 of the students who are or will be affected by STEM/STEAM and some (but not most, there) by the Common Core. The bottom line, as I believe I heard it, was that the Common Core is overshadowing other vital subjects and programs, and there needs to be a re-balancing of priorities especially for teaching time and the overall curriculum as a result of what has happened in New York concurrent with the implementation of the Common Core curriculum and assessments (and APPR), here. This, from our own highest-ranking education guru, Regent Roger Tilles. Regards, Chris Wendt * There were originally 700 students registered for this event, but in the days immediately preceding it, student registration had swelled to 1,000, and the event actually had to be moved to a larger venue on the Farmingdale campus, with some breakout sessions held in a separate venue. This provided for some good exercise and fresh air, walking back-and-forth on a chilly and breezy early spring day. In the main hall, I had the pleasure of sitting among a large group of bright and eager sixth graders from the Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center of the South Huntington School District. -CW
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Apr 4, 2014 6:45:51 GMT -5
Eagle William Johnson on 2014 Opt-OutsThe renowned Superintendent of the renowned Rockville Centre School District shared his most recent perspective on Opting-out of the 2014 NYS ELA Assessments with the Rockville Centre Herald yesterday. 47% of eligible students in Southside Middle School refused to be tested this week. "“Parents have figured this out and have recognized that the state exam, as it currently is configured and constructed, is faulty, misleading, and they don’t want to submit their children to it...and I can’t fault them for that.”" The article noted that, "According to Johnson, the state recently changed its stance on the test, saying that it would no longer be used to evaluate children, and would be a factor only in teacher evaluations. But the high number of students in Rockville Centre who opt out will likely ruin its value for that purpose as well." Quoting Johnson directly: “It means that the teachers’ scores will be meaningless, because they’ll be uninterpretable. Since you don’t know what the kids who opted out would have gotten, you can’t tell me a teacher is effective or ineffective based on information that’s incomplete.” Rockville Centre was proactive in preparing for a high percentage of students refusing to be tested. After last year’s high number of “opt-outs” — 20 percent of students, among the highest in the area — Johnson drafted a letter to the principals of the elementary schools and the middle school, outlining what should be done with students who do not take the exams. In the elementary schools, students reported to their regular rooms for attendance, and then were assigned to either a testing or a non-testing room. In the middle school, students reported to pre-assigned testing or non-testing rooms. Those who were not taking the test were allowed to read a book. All students had to remain in their room for the entire allotted testing time. Read the article here (link). Regards, Chris Wendt
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Post by rr on Apr 4, 2014 9:03:33 GMT -5
Because I don't subscribe to the bloodsuckers at Newsday.com I'm only able to read the opinions section and I have to say that I feel lately the pieces are resonating with me....here's another one. www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial-parents-deeper-concerns-about-children-s-future-transcend-the-common-core-1.7600305As far as distinguished educators/administrators that support the opt-out movement, that's all well and good. They have their stake in the outcome of the tests and there are certain aspects of their argument that I can find validity in, however I disagree with what they're doing in promoting this movement. When it comes time to vote for our own BOE I will certainly keep in mind conversations I've had offline with certain members about the topic and the following 'resolution against high stakes testing' that legitimized the opt out process in Wantagh. I will vote with that in mind, and I will vote with the experience of watching the president of our BOE literally yell at a person asking a question of the BOE in one specific meeting when the 'resolution' was read. Some may find that type of behavior acceptable from the 'leadership' of our district - I don't, it was embarrassing. My 3rd grade son took the tests he told me about all the kids opting out, and yes, it was a distraction and even though we discussed the possibility of it the distraction was still there for him. As far as the test - they were fine, no harder than the practice tests we took in class, he said. No harder then what we've been learning in class, he said, basically just another day - because that's what we told him it would be...I'm proud of you, I told him. Certain things are bigger than just taking a test, some people believe that opting their child out is not just about the test, its about the bigger picture. I feel the same exact way, except my bigger picture is not about Common Core, data privacy, government or corporate take-overs of education - to me it's about the type of person my child will grow into. If I set the example that when confronted with a challenge it is acceptable opt out, well that's just not an acceptable outcome in my world. Education will be there and my sons will go to school and learn and hopefully graduate HS and maybe go on to college or maybe not, to be honest, this will all very likely happen whether the Common Core survives or not. To me it's more important to teach my sons how to become a good person, to accept responsibility, to be accountable for their actions. Opting out may serve these parents and their kids in the short term but what is it doing to them in the longer term? Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. -George Edward Woodberry Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. -George S. Patton
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