achievement Archive

  • I have spent a little time today looking at the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) over the past several years. The NAEP is often referred to as the gold standard in testing and provides a longitudinal, consistent database of student achievement. Meanwhile, through the No Child Left Behind Act, the public has been sold on the idea that a regimen of high-stakes tests accompanied with punitive measures directed at teachers and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress on these tests will produce growth in achievement and will close the so-called achievement gap. We are now more than 10 years into the experiment on our children and the results are coming in. Here is what my investigation of Washington State NAEP trends found. In the period from the mid-90s to 2003, about when NCLB kicked...

    High-Stakes Testing: Learning Improvement Tool or Corporate Boondoggle?

    Posted on April 29, 2012 | No Comments
    I have spent a little time today looking at the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) over the past several years. The NAEP is often referred to as the gold standard in testing and provides a longitudinal, consistent database of student achievement. Meanwhile, through the No Child Left Behind Act, the public has been sold on the idea that a regimen of high-stakes tests accompanied with punitive measures directed at teachers and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress on these tests will produce growth in achievement and will close the so-called achievement gap. We are now more than 10 years into the experiment on our children and the results are coming in. Here is what my investigation of Washington State NAEP trends found. In the period from the mid-90s to 2003, about when NCLB kicked...

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  • This is an open letter from Washington State’s Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz: A Democrat For Education Count me as a Democrat opposed to the most strident elements of so-called Education Reform. Let me be clear that I am not opposed to high standards, high achievement, or accountability. What I reject is the culture of scapegoating teachers for the failures of society to protect families and kids, the hypocrisy of defunding schools while corporations bank record profits, and the focus on the latest fads instead of long term, structural improvements. Follow this link to read the entire letter: http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/washington-state-democratic-party-chairman-dwight-pelz-speaks-up-on-ed-reform/   For additional information about the issues addressed by Pelz follow this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2017598267_dwight_pelz_ed_reform_is_like.html    

    Washington State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz speaks up on ed reform

    Posted on February 29, 2012 | 1 Comment
    This is an open letter from Washington State’s Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz: A Democrat For Education Count me as a Democrat opposed to the most strident elements of so-called Education Reform. Let me be clear that I am not opposed to high standards, high achievement, or accountability. What I reject is the culture of scapegoating teachers for the failures of society to protect families and kids, the hypocrisy of defunding schools while corporations bank record profits, and the focus on the latest fads instead of long term, structural improvements. Follow this link to read the entire letter: http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/washington-state-democratic-party-chairman-dwight-pelz-speaks-up-on-ed-reform/   For additional information about the issues addressed by Pelz follow this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2017598267_dwight_pelz_ed_reform_is_like.html    

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  • Our friend from Arizona, Mike Martin,  posted the following on EDDRA2. a listserv we are part of.  It was in response to an article in the Washington Post blog, The Answer Sheet.  Here, Mike takes on the kind of teacher evaluation proposed and being piloted in Washington State.  What is your verdict?  We post it here with Mike’s permission.   I call to the stand Professor James Popham, an expert on testing who noted that test construction requires that for a question to be valid it must be answered by only about half of the students.   Me: Professor Popham, would you please tell the court what you stated in a March 1999 Educational Leadership article:   Professor Popham: “Thus, the better the job that teachers do in teaching important knowledge, and/or skills, the less likely it is that there...

    Value-added teacher evaluation goes on trial

    Posted on February 6, 2012 | 3 Comments
    Our friend from Arizona, Mike Martin,  posted the following on EDDRA2. a listserv we are part of.  It was in response to an article in the Washington Post blog, The Answer Sheet.  Here, Mike takes on the kind of teacher evaluation proposed and being piloted in Washington State.  What is your verdict?  We post it here with Mike’s permission.   I call to the stand Professor James Popham, an expert on testing who noted that test construction requires that for a question to be valid it must be answered by only about half of the students.   Me: Professor Popham, would you please tell the court what you stated in a March 1999 Educational Leadership article:   Professor Popham: “Thus, the better the job that teachers do in teaching important knowledge, and/or skills, the less likely it is that there...

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  • Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today unveiled the long-awaited revisions to NCLB with promises that the new version will remove the onerous Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) provisions of the original.  In the attached article, Monty Neill, Executive Director of FairTest, reveals the hidden Greek warriors ready to rip out what is left of the heart of public education and hand it over to private interests.  Well, that is a BIT dramatic, but it is essentially what is hidden in the Duncan/Obama proposal. Excerpts from and Comments on Ed Department’s ESEA/NCLB Waiver/Flexibility Provisions Monty Neill According to the main document on waivers/flexibility released today by the Education Department – http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility – the key requirements for obtaining a waiver are as follows. (I recommend that you read the whole thing – some of the details will matter for some groups or students...

    Beware the Trojan Horse

    Posted on September 23, 2011 | No Comments
    Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today unveiled the long-awaited revisions to NCLB with promises that the new version will remove the onerous Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) provisions of the original.  In the attached article, Monty Neill, Executive Director of FairTest, reveals the hidden Greek warriors ready to rip out what is left of the heart of public education and hand it over to private interests.  Well, that is a BIT dramatic, but it is essentially what is hidden in the Duncan/Obama proposal. Excerpts from and Comments on Ed Department’s ESEA/NCLB Waiver/Flexibility Provisions Monty Neill According to the main document on waivers/flexibility released today by the Education Department – http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility – the key requirements for obtaining a waiver are as follows. (I recommend that you read the whole thing – some of the details will matter for some groups or students...

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  • Subjectivity IS a sinister problem.

    Can You Measure Temperature With a Spoon?

    Posted on August 11, 2011 | No Comments
    Subjectivity IS a sinister problem.

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  • Thursday, March 10, Race to Nowhere, a film about the dark side of America’s achievement culture was shown at Kennewick High School. Among the viewers were Kennewick Superintendent Dave Bond, school board members Kathy White and Wendy London, Assistant Superintendent Bev Johnson-Torelli and KEA president Mary Shaw. This showing was approved by the Kennewick Education Association executive board with funding and arrangements by KEA. Filmmaker, Vicki Abeles, was motivated to understand what was happening in her community after seeing stress levels rise in her own children and the suicide of a local 13 year old girl. What she has learned is represented in this film which premiered in October 2009. Her documentary examines the pressures faced by students, teachers and parents in our high-stakes education culture.

    Race to Nowhere Report

    Posted on March 22, 2011 | 1 Comment
    Thursday, March 10, Race to Nowhere, a film about the dark side of America’s achievement culture was shown at Kennewick High School. Among the viewers were Kennewick Superintendent Dave Bond, school board members Kathy White and Wendy London, Assistant Superintendent Bev Johnson-Torelli and KEA president Mary Shaw. This showing was approved by the Kennewick Education Association executive board with funding and arrangements by KEA. Filmmaker, Vicki Abeles, was motivated to understand what was happening in her community after seeing stress levels rise in her own children and the suicide of a local 13 year old girl. What she has learned is represented in this film which premiered in October 2009. Her documentary examines the pressures faced by students, teachers and parents in our high-stakes education culture.

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  • Bill Gates spoke to the Council of Chief State School Officers on November 19. You can find his remarks here. Although the site appears to be editing the comments and striking those that are most critical, we have saved a few for your viewing: Samantha Marie This one drove me nuts too: “We know today that the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching. It’s amazing how effective the great teachers are. We should be making the most of their skill. But we don’t. ” That SHOULD read the factor within school. There are other unmeasurable factors that effect a student’s achievement outside of school, but those factors can not be controled for, so let’s focus on the teachers. There was one point where I did agree, almost. Yes we aren’t making the most of their (the...

    Comments on Recent Bill Gates Speech

    Posted on December 11, 2010 | 1 Comment
    Bill Gates spoke to the Council of Chief State School Officers on November 19. You can find his remarks here. Although the site appears to be editing the comments and striking those that are most critical, we have saved a few for your viewing: Samantha Marie This one drove me nuts too: “We know today that the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching. It’s amazing how effective the great teachers are. We should be making the most of their skill. But we don’t. ” That SHOULD read the factor within school. There are other unmeasurable factors that effect a student’s achievement outside of school, but those factors can not be controled for, so let’s focus on the teachers. There was one point where I did agree, almost. Yes we aren’t making the most of their (the...

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  • KSD Citizens favors a return to enriched curriculum which educates the whole child. Curriculum like that in Kennewick schools shortchanges the arts, music, science, PE, social studies, vocational and career classes. Current practice is a disservice to our children and places the entire culture at risk.

    Retired Educator Speaks Out on Reform

    Posted on December 1, 2010 | 4 Comments
    KSD Citizens favors a return to enriched curriculum which educates the whole child. Curriculum like that in Kennewick schools shortchanges the arts, music, science, PE, social studies, vocational and career classes. Current practice is a disservice to our children and places the entire culture at risk.

    Continue Reading...

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