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Post by Chris_Wendt on Apr 27, 2015 12:13:12 GMT -5
I heard today that there is one LI school district where all the students in Grades 3 through 8 are in school for the Assessments, while Grades K through 2 get to stay home (no classes). This is first-hand information, so I have to accept that it is true.
I heard on Saturday that another (neighboring) district does not allow students who are "opting-out" of the Assessments to do anything other than read during the testing times, and that, in response, some parents are keeping their opt-out children home from school. This is also first-hand information, which I must accept as being true.
This all sounds bizarre to me.
I think the "Opt-Out" battle has been fought—and lost. My own negative feeling aside about the efficacy of the Common Core, it appears the CC Assessments are here to stay, and that teachers will not escape future CC-Assessment-based APPR (performance reviews) in NY State, either. While there are numbers being touted about opting-out in some districts and Island-wide, these are not actually big numbers in the context of the Big Picture.
The flip-side of my own dim view of the Common Core is reflected best in the current spate of dueling TV ads, those from the Governor, and those from the Teachers' Union. I must admit that Cuomo's ads seem to have carried the day, and the main underlying fact—that almost all NY teachers have been rated "effective" in the face of even the most deplorable educational outcomes—seems to ring true with any reasonable person who will listen to it.
Aside: Wantagh's enrollment is very low and continues to decline, going even lower than the BOCES actuarial study of several years ago.
Uh-oh!
Chris Wendt
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Post by rr on Apr 27, 2015 14:39:34 GMT -5
And with that declining enrollment wouldn't it be great if we were able to assess, in a relatively objective way, which are our best teachers and retain them? I think you know my stance on the opt out situation and I've certainly made it clear on this and other forums that I think it's a bad idea but it's also a personal decision. In my opinion, opting out robs the process of the most critical component, the data. Without the data, it stalls the process of creating a real, effective process to evaluate teachers over the course of YEARS and take action against those showing no improvement.
I'm glad the whole thing is over and I dont have to read anymore misinformation or see ridiculous commercials trying to scare people into opting out about it for another year...at least that's my hope.
The state science tests are coming up soon, curious how the opt out rates will be for that test, I don't believe they are "high stakes".
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Post by lilly on Apr 28, 2015 9:39:21 GMT -5
Chris, I'm with rr on this for stated reasons plus a whole lot more.
The anti-testing parents and their kids have been used as pawns in a labor dispute (APPR) and they don't even realize it. And please don't say this is a parent-driven initiative. See Wantagh's own Don Sternberg, Carol Burris and a whole bunch of other LI educators behind this plus Diane Ravitch with her ever changing pov's.
Yes, the CC roll-out in NY has been flawed. And, there are problems with the testing.
However, prior to this CC adoption I have seen neither NYS Ed or the teachers union step up to the plate on a number of NY education issues - dumbed down Regents testing, increasing numbers of kids entering college unprepared, flawed special education laws and their execution, flawed teacher evaluations, academic levels in the big 5 NY districts, etc. Therefore, they have NO BUSINESS taking an anti-testing stance now when it happens to be convenient for them. It's a loss of credibility.
And they used only one type of aid (gap elimination adjustment decreases) without looking at the total aid picture in anti-Cuomo statements. They can be as anti-Cuomo as they want, that is their right, but please use intellectually honest arguments. Yes, LI is cash cow for NY state but need to look at whole picture, not just one convenient sound byte. If we can't rely on teachers, who are in charge of developing our kids' critical thinking skills, to argue effectively - then that is just plain sad.
Is CC "the solution"? Not sure but I do like teaching kids how to be critical thinkers. I can't even "go there" with the testing. Just have the kids take the tests for baselines and state ed learning.
Unless you have a special ed kid, if your kid is getting freaked out over school, parents you are "doing it wrong".
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Apr 29, 2015 11:15:33 GMT -5
Good talk... RR noted: "The state science tests are coming up soon, curious how the opt out rates will be for that test, I don't believe they are 'high stakes'". Perhaps a couple of years after the Common Core Concept actually includes science and social studies, along with Math and ELA, we may see the focus in classrooms turn from today's teaching to the two "high stakes" assessments (Math & ELA) and instead address the broader concept of teaching to the curriculum as a whole.
Someday, maybe still during my lifetime, someone will realize that APPR is not an effective method of evaluating teachers and deciding on retention or reduction decisons. Of course, the correct fix is to amend Education Law Section 3020a to allow principals and department chairs to discipline ineffective (or worse) teachers, with school superintendents having the power to suspend or terminate poor teachers (and retain excellent teachers), with the only appeals allowed being to the local Board of Education. Contrast this to the long established (current) 3020a process I which no one in the local district has the power to suspend or fire any teacher, but instead, paid outsiders hear the merits of any case against a teacher and decide the penalty, with no appeal possible. In the case of retaining excellent teachers in the face of reductions-in-force (layoffs, school closings, enrollment declines), forget about it for now: seniority rules, regardless of the performance of the teachers being let go, or of those being retained. This needs to be fixed, and a simple change in one section of one state law would do that! Sheesh! Chris Wendt |
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Post by rr on Apr 29, 2015 12:32:34 GMT -5
Chris, I know your stance on APPR from prior discussions but one question/comment regarding it is this. Prior to the new process evaluations were (and basically still are) primarily based on evaluations from the principal and/or administration. This is subjective, this hasn't worked, as seen in the fact that over ~98% of teachers on LI are rated as effective...are we to believe that this profession is the statistical anomaly? By the way, the new APPR guidelines haven't even been released or negotiated yet but the Union PR machine has the fear mongering in high gear on TV and on Facebook and any other social media...
Sorry but without some sort of objective measure, there is no effective way to measure a teacher's effectiveness. As someone who has worked in the world for as long as you have I'm sure you've heard the term SMART goals:
Specific
MEASURABLE
Assignable
Realistic
Time-Related
I think there has to be a good way to measure teacher effectiveness and reward top performers (meritocracy) and take action against those that have proven over time that they are not effective teachers. Is the Common Core and the current testing process the final answer, of course not...benchmarks need to be created so that we can make proper assessments based on demographic and geographic elements to evaluate the talent in our schools. Opting out has created quite a buzz but really the movement is hindering progress, it's disrupting the flow of data required to create benchmarks. It's a political hot button for those with agenda like politicians, teachers, unions, tv personalities, and online warriors that just want to belong to a movement. It's misinformation and bullying parents into thinking that its the right thing to do or education will forever be ruined, making people think they are misinformed or a bad parent if they don't opt their child out of a test. It's a distraction for kids trying their best to apply the skills they've learned when they walk in and half the class is missing and half the class if wearing some silly T shirt with a catchy slugline and when they eat lunch and kids talk about not having to take the tests.
My oldest son took the test, it was a non-issue for him, everyday he came home and said "no big deal"...one test is not going determine the fate of anyone, teacher nor student. It's a test, it's a marker, a signal, an indication of skills learned...nothing more, nothing less.
I'd like to see the stats around all the great teachers that lost their job this year because of the results of 1 test...I would love to show you some of the test grading, homework feedback and report cards comments I get to illustrate how engaged some of our teachers are and how some are not. It's evident in what comes home in the schoolbags, unfortunately all these teachers are 'effective' and the ones that have proven to not be effective, well they just get moved from school to school or from my experience, they get moved from testing grades to non-testing grades. That's a great solution...
Lilly, if you're reading this I sent you a message.
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