"Do you think nobody would willingly entrust his children to you or pay you for teaching them? Why do you have to extort your fees and collect your pupils by compulsion?" - Isabel Paterson
"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." - George Santayana
1) Number 1: It’s a really bad test… See here for yourself… Take your child’s test….
2) 70% of children will fail this test because they won’t be able to
understand what the test is asking… or get past the horrendously
complicated computer skills necessary to add and subtract.
3) This test will be permanently etched on your child’s school record
and will carry from employer to employer for the rest of your child’s
life. It will be part of their official transcript, and sold to vendors
interested in your child’s data.
4) Forcing children to undergo testing for very high stakes, is
damaging in itself, They are not adults. But to do it for the sole
reason to make them “think” they are under-performing, is simply cruel..
No religion of today, can endorse any child taking these tests. These
tests are immoral.
5) There are no accommodations worthy of mention for children with
disabilities. They may be geniuses, but not being able to manipulate a
keyboard, they will turn in zeros. This is due to design. The testing
regime does not want handicap children to succeed because it deflates
the value of the test.
6) The English portion of this test uses the north-midwestern dialect
to determine all right from wrong. When taking these tests, the South
does bad (both white and black), inner cities do bad, the West does
bad, immigrant cultures do bad, simply because they do not use the same
accent as do north Midwesterners (mealy mouths) and therefore tend to
use pauses (commas), and word choices that appear more natural and
ascetic to us with the dialects we’ve grown up under. ( The test has
four fully correct responses; You are to guess which of the four is the
“best” answer, a fully subjective exercise).
7) The test is divisive. Those who pass can go onward to the rewards
of a good life. Those who fail, must undergo retraining and more
retraining, and are marked down as permanent laggers with no hope for a
well paying job.
8) The test has nothing to do with children. It’s sole excuse is to
provide a reason to privatize public schools. By making public schools
look horrible, they open a market for private investment which can offer
something better. One needs to look at two schools in Delaware for
proof.. Two of the famed priority schools were rated exceptional by an
independent agency out of the University of Delaware, which under old
law, was charged with the responsibility of determining if failing
schools were improving… Two that were, were included in the priority
schools. And get this… The Secretary of Education is refusing to accept
that independent agency’s verdict? Why? BECAUSE THEY PROVED HIM WRONG FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD TO SEE!!!
If he accepts their verdict, it would prove to all he accepted his
vision and path are the wrong path for education to go down.. (They
are; but don’t expect him to ever admit it… he’d then be fired)…
9) Child psychologists across this nation almost to the tune of 100%
have said this test is child abuse… They have likened it to making
toddlers who can’t jump a 3 foot high jump bar, be forced to jump a 5
foot bar… Then use intimidation, fear, brutality, high-stakes
punishment, and other forms of psychological trauma and force them to
fail. Then fire their coach because they didn’t meet (a brand new,
ridiculous) standard. The Smarter Balanced Test is set two grades
higher than what your child has learned… If he is in 3rd grade, his test
will reflect the level of a 5th grade test… If in 5th grade, he is
being tested on a 7th grade level…
10) This test is actually in spirit, breaking the law… The US
Department of Education is forbidden by statute to interfere with
curriculum of any school. So they farmed it out to private
corporations. These curriculums are copyrighted and only those private
companies sanctioned, may use the material. The Feds then withheld
money to schools and districts, unless districts acquiesced to acquiring
the curriculum. Very few districts, (we have one in Christina) had the
balls to refuse the money and the strings attached. So whereas the
Fed’s did not “imposed” their curriculum on schools, the arrangement is
such, that the curriculum the Feds wanted used, due to situations
created by the Feds, are being used under the name of Common Core.
11) This test is damaging to children’s learning… As previously
mentioned herein, scientists have said that Common Core attempts to
teach at levels too advanced for a developing young child’s brain. The
brain builds a core and that core stores basic facts… Such as one plus
one equals two… If those principles are not put in at that particular
time, the brain is forever deficient of being able to perform that task…
Basically the child goes through life never knowing that one plus one
equals two; but will always have to use another method everytime he
needs to calculate to determine every new time that one plus one will
equal two… Scientists warn that Common Core will make the next
generation completely mathematically illiterate because everything in
life depends upon the relationship between numbers. There is a
biological reason we memorize things as unrelated facts. Without that
memorization at the proper time, that core never exists.
12) This test is unconstitutional.. The Constitutionality of this
nation is solidly based upon the fact that “We, the People” in order to
form a more perfect union, elect representatives to make policy that
affects our lives. If they do wrong, we replace them with someone who
will undo that damage. No elected representative ever had any imput on
this test. No elected representative ever saw the test, and said, yes
that is a good thing…. What did happen, was that private companies
created the test without allowing teachers, parents, or trained
educators to input opinions. Those few educators hand picked to give the
test credibility, all said that they and other educational experts were
ignored in the making of the test., Every single one has spoken out
against this test. Every single one said their opinions were ignored,
dissed, and the test makers did what they wanted to do anyways… The
creator of the test, had never even raised children…
13) This test was never debated in public. There are some things
very wrong here. But required legislation was maneuvered through
legislature with no debate… Using all tricks at a speaker’s disposal,
this was pushed into law before anyone other then a handful of people
even knew what it was about… One legislator who voted for it, said he
never even read the bill. It was too complex. He just took them at
their word… As with being rushed into a marriage with a groom you do
not know, sometimes the best option is to just say no….
Opt out of this test.
14) if this test were a good test, one that did really good things…
despite all the other secondary arguments, we would not be having this
argument about implementing it… Maybe some people out there would still
object, but not absolutely every one who has taken this test and experienced it firsthand. You
really need to see what the fuss is all about… You need to take the
test… Once you do, you will join us and opt out your child from taking
the Smarter Balanced Assessment… I’m almost guaranteed that… Because no
one really HATES their own child so much as to purposefully subject them to this,… what has realistically been called, … a form of torture.
Many parents are having their children opt out of standardized test. The following letter appears in full on Google.com.
Many parents are opting out for many reasons, for more information about common core and standardized testing in New Hampshire visit Stop Common Core in New Hampshire.
Letter to my Daughter’s Teacher: Why We’re Opting her out of the State Tests
Dear Grace,
It is with the highest level of respect for you that I’m writing to inform you that Haven will not participate in the state mandated standardized tests this April. Using student test scores to rate and rank students and teachers is an ethically unsound practice and is degrading to the profession of teaching.
This year I have been in awe of your incredible skills as Haven’s teacher, and I know that no standardized test can come even close to capturing what she has learned in your classroom. Furthermore, your bravery and resolve in the face of the top down pressures from the State of New York may weigh on you, but you do not let that determine your curricular decisions. Instead you teach with your heart and soul, and your excitement has ignited Haven’s passion for social studies, reading, writing, and mathematics. No standardized test can measure the spirited dinner conversations Haven has initiated this year about immigration, thanks to your elaborately designed integrated social studies curriculum. I listen carefully as Haven describes class field trips in New York City, her excitement about historical fiction, and her deep analysis of primary sources and questions regarding privilege, prejudice and access. I cannot count the number of times Haven has greeted me at the door with, “Mom, did you know…?!” No test could possibly be designed to measure the multitude of ways in which she extends the investigations you start in class, or document the initiation she has taken to write her own books at home about the immigrants living in her mind. Her learning is demonstrated in her written work, performance of role-plays, various conversations, not to mention your regular curriculum newsletters, extensive and detailed narrative reports, and personal emails. Watching Haven learn this year has deepened my own commitment to preparing teachers to design integrated curriculum that examines enduring questions and takes up multiple perspectives. Haven’s learning is travelling far beyond the walls of your single classroom. I do not need a test score to validate her learning this year.
Everyone needs an option other than public schools. The following article appeared on EAGNews.org
STUDY: Black home schooled students outperform white public schoolers Kyle Olson
Kyle founded Education Action Group in 2007.
Find Kyle on Twitter.
SALEM, Ore. – A new study proves all students can learn – provided they’re in the right setting.
A new analysis of standardized test data
conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute reveals
black home schooled students outperformed white children in public
schools.
“The Black homeschool children’s high achievement test scores were
remarkable. Parents without teaching certificates helping their children
from a traditionally low-achieving minority group excel this way should
cause all educators and social advocacy groups to take special note,”
Dr. Brian Ray, the researcher and president of NHERI, says in a news release.
Ray looked at black home schooling families nationwide and children
who learned by that educational option for more than half their
school-age lives.
According to NHERI:
These Black homeschool students’
achievement test scores were quite high, all things considered. They
scored at or above the 50th percentile in reading (68th), language
(56th), math (50th), and core (i.e., a combination of reading, language,
and math; 58th) subtests. By definition, the 50th percentile is the
mean for all students (of all ethnicities/races) nationwide in
institutional public schools.
After controlling for the gender and family socioeconomic status of
students, Ray’s analysis found home schoolers had an effect size in
reading scores of about 42 percentile points higher than children
educated in a government school.
For language, home schoolers outpaced public schooled whites by about
26 percentile points. For math, being homeschooled had an effect size
of about 23 percentile points higher than if they attended a government
school.
NHERI reports some of the top reasons black parents gave for home schooling their children:
* “Prefer to teach the child at home so that you can provide religious or moral instruction,” * “Accomplish more academically than in conventional schools,” * “For the parents to transmit values, beliefs, and worldview to the child,” * “To customize or individualize the education of each child,” and * “Want to provide religious or moral instruction different from that taught in public schools.”
Other research indicates black families have increasingly been moving
towards home schooling. Rates have increased 127 percent over the last
four years, according to the Heartland Institute.
“I wonder how teachers unions, African American advocacy groups,
certified teachers, public school administrators, and professors of
education will look at these findings. Will they start encouraging Black
families to homeschool?” Ray asks.
I have never understood why more teachers are not busted for racketeering. I was glad to see these teachers finally get convicted.
Teachers in Atlanta cheating scandal hear verdicts
Last Updated Apr 1, 2015 4:09 PM EDT
ATLANTA -- Eleven former Atlanta public
school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role
in a wide-ranging conspiracy to inflate scores on students'
standardized tests.
Only one teacher was acquitted of all charges.
The 11 convicted represented teachers, testing coordinators and other
administrators who were accused of participating in the conspiracy
dating to 2005, motivated by pressure to meet federal and local
standards to receive bonuses or keep their jobs in the Atlanta Public
Schools district of about 50,000 students.
Former
Dobbs Elementary school teacher Dessa Curb and her defense attorney,
Sanford Wallack, listen in Fulton County Superior Court March 19, 2015.
AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kent D. Johnson
The
teacher acquitted of all charges, Dessa Curb, was found not guilty of a
racketeering charge and two charges of false statements, CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL-TV reports.
When
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter asked for the guilty
teachers to be taken into custody, their attorneys were quick to argue,
but the judge held firm.
By Steve Mac Donald | Watchdog Arena
The small town of Croydon, N.H. found a way to bring school choice to
its families using existing state law, upsetting the state school board
chairwoman.
New Hampshire has a number of small towns that do not have school
buildings or only educate younger children. To address education at
higher grade levels, they contract with neighboring towns and negotiate
area tuition agreements.
State law allows towns to pursue these agreements, sending taxpayer
education dollars to any accredited school, public, charter, or private,
even in neighboring states, with the exception of religious schools.
The local board, at the behest of voters, negotiates contracts and
approves taxpayer-funded tuition payments to those schools.
The money follows the student.
With this in mind, Croydon looked ahead to a time when their current
contract with a neighboring district would expire. Rather than just
renew the contract, they began a discussion about school choice. They
looked at state law, spoke with the State School Board, and asked voters
about their preferences.
The result was a program, legal within existing statute, which would allow public education tax dollars to follow every student.
Development of this uncommon program began in 2007 and
will be implemented this coming school year. Although it is a unique
opportunity for younger students, a nearby district has offered a
similar choice option for high school students for more than 25 years.
(In the interview) Dr. Underwood also talked about
how the school board collaborated with surrounding public and private
schools, so schools are competing for Croydon students. This is bringing
down the tuition costs – a savings to the town.
While Croydon had been researching their options as early as 2007,
their discovery only became more widely known when they began
implementing it in the 2014-2015 school year. State School Board Chair Virginia Barry—whose mindset is “the districts legal obligations must supersede parent’s demands”—announced that the plan violated state law and told Croydon they would have to stop.
If they refused the state would withhold $39,000.00 dollars in
statewide education money. But Croydon felt certain the law was on
their side.
Last month, Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry
wrote to Cynthia Gallagher, superintendent of SAU #43, and said the
practice of sending pupils to private schools using taxpayer funds is
unlawful; the state ordered the SAU to stop. Underwood said state law supports school choice and that there is precedent.
“There are communities on the borders of Vermont and
Maine who send their kids to Vermont and Maine private schools. They are
not controlled by the state Board of Education at all,” Underwood said.
Lyme has tuition agreements with both Thetford Academy and St.
Johnsbury Academy, both in Vermont, she said. And several communities
along the Maine border have tuition agreements with Fryeburg Academy in
Maine.
Croydon, along with former State Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas, sent a letter to Barry with regard to her incomplete application of state law as grounds to invalidate the tuition plan.
You cite RSA 193:1 and purport that it says that
districts may only assign students to public schools. This is
inaccurate. RSA 193:1 defines the duties of parents to ensure school
attendance, and neither describes the duties districts have nor
restricts the assignment ability of districts. In addition to your
inaccurate interpretation, you cite to the portion of that statute that
states: ‘A parent of any child at least 6 years of age … shall cause
such a child to attend the public school to which the child is
assigned.’ You fail to cite section (a) of the statute which clearly
states that private school attendance is an exception to attending
public school.
"When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start
representing the interests of school children." - Albert Shanker, Former
President of the American Federation of Teachers
Today, we have a guest post by author and educator Charlotte Cushman.
Contrary to what most people think, the sole purpose of
education is not just to fill a child up with lots of information.When a child grows up, he will need to know
how to take what he knows and apply it in order to survive in the world.He will need to know how to make decisions,
how to prioritize, how to discern between right and wrong and so on.In short, he will need to know how to think,
and since thinking does not happen automatically, reasoning skills is what he
needs to be taught. The Montessori
Method does exactly that.
The thinking process starts with identifying the facts of
reality.An entire area of the
pre-elementary classroom is devoted to the identification of reality through
the use of the senses.In addition, the entire
Montessori classroom has self-correcting materials so that the child can figure
out for himself what is true or false, the causes of events, the effects of
actions and numerous other aspects of the real world.
Montessori children learn facts, but they learn them along
with the ability to logically unite them together.The child forms concepts
based on the facts of reality and then goes on to learn new concepts based on
the first ones he learned.Any new
knowledge is consistent with what he has learned before. His learning also
occurs in a logical sequence.He does
not learn fractions, for example, until he has a concept of whole numbers. In
history he does not skip around from event to event or merely memorize a bunch
of dates, he learns history in the order that it happened.Concepts are presented to the child in order,
progressing from simple to complex, concrete to abstract, in incremental steps
that he can recognize and understand.This
is important because everything that we know depends on what we learned before,
what we had to understand in order to grasp the next concept. Thinking is based
on these sound principles of reality, consistency and order and because
learning happens logically in Montessori, the child feels that he can
comprehend the world.
Another essential
element to the child’s development is the ability to concentrate.Montessori thought that concentration lays
the foundation for the child’s character, social behavior, intelligence, body
control, academic success, morality, etc. Thus, she created another area in the
classroom devoted to learning concentration. In order to learn how to concentrate, a child
needs to be allowed to work independently, without interruption and he needs to
practice and repeat his work as much as he needs until he feels satisfied that
he understands it.Without understanding what he is learning, the
child will be hampered-- he will memorize information, only to forget it
shortly thereafter.This does not teach
a child how to think, but rather, teaches him how to forget and leaves him with
a poor memory.
The child’s mind is the only thing that can bring him
success and happiness and its method of development is crucial. The only
educational system that I know of that has a specialized, integrated
methodology for the specific purpose of teaching a child how to think is
Montessori.
The following article appeared in full on the Union Leader.
State wants to work with Croydon on school choice issue
By MEGHAN PIERCE Union Leader Correspondent
CROYDON — The Department of Education is looking for common ground on school choice in the Croydon School District, an official said Friday.
Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry “has met with some of the representatives of the community, and the commissioner has expressed an interest in supporting the community in looking at the options that are available,” Judith Fillion, director of the Division of Program Support at the Department of Education, said Friday afternoon on behalf of Barry. “She wants to help in any way to have the community offer their children the best education possible,” Fillion said of Barry.
In a letter to Barry this week, Croydon School Board Chairwoman Jody Underwood defended the school district’s new practice of paying tuition to send a handful of students to private schools. There is nothing in state law that says public school districts can’t pay tuition to a private school, Underwood said. In the letter, written by former N.H. Supreme Court Associate Justice Charles G. Douglas, III, Underwood also said Croydon would continue sending “students to private schools when it believes it is in the best interest of the child and the district.” Fillion said Friday she didn’t know if Barry had received the letter or not yet, and did not have a response to the letter.
Underwood said, though, she has not heard from the Department of Education, yet she was pleased to hear Barry wants to support options. “We look forward to working with her to provide the best opportunities for education for every child. Sometimes, private school best fits the needs of an individual student, and they should have the opportunity to attend those schools without additional costs,” Underwood said. In February, Barry wrote to SAU 43 that the practice of sending pupils to private schools using taxpayer funds to pay tuition was unlawful and ordered the SAU to stop.
The letter from Douglas and Underwood argues against the state laws Barry used to support her order to stop school choice in Croydon: “You cite RSA 193:1 and purport that it says that districts may only assign students to public schools. This is inaccurate. RSA 193:1 defines the duties of parents to ensure school attendance, and neither describes the duties districts have nor restricts the assignment ability of districts. In addition to your inaccurate interpretation, you cite to the portion of that statute that states: ‘A parent of any child at least 6 years of age ... shall cause such a child to attend the public school to which the child is assigned.’ You fail to cite section (a) of the statute which clearly states that private school attendance is an exception to attending public school.” Croydon faced the possibility of the state withholding up to $39,000 in adequacy money next year if they continued school choice in the fall.
Croydon and Newport are both part of SAU 43. There had been a long-standing agreement that Croydon students would attend Newport schools after leaving Croydon Village School, a kindergarten through fourth grade elementary school. There are currently about 60 students from fifth to 12th grade in the district. Most of the students continue to go Newport Middle/High School.
But since school choice became an option in the district, Croydon has been sending five of its students to a non-Newport school, including one student who attends public school in Sunapee, one who attends Kimball Union Academy in Meriden and three who attend Newport Montessori. Along with state law, precedent also supports school choice, Underwood said.
"Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education
from happening. The average American [should be] content with their
humble role in life, because they're not tempted to think about any
other role." - William T. Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1889
