I found Illinois’ accountability plan woefully inadequate and full of holes–especially when it comes to protecting vulnerable groups of students–so imagine my surprise when my state was awarded a “perfect score” by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Fordham analyzed the plans submitted by all fifty states and the District of Columbia under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). and scored them… Read more →
The Every Student Succeeds Act—the federal education law that required all states to define what success looks like for 100,000 public schools and 50 million public school students nationwide–will go into full effect this year. But you’d never know that from asking everyday parents and educators about the accountability law. No one is talking about it. No one is paying attention to what… Read more →
If you want a peek at where our educational priorities might land in about 10 years, take a look at this poll. Here are a few hot-button findings that jump out from “Education in America: The Views of Millennials:” Millennials support school choice, both charters and vouchers, especially if the vouchers help low-income families afford private school. Millennials think there… Read more →
Real Clear Education, 5-5-2016
The much-maligned student testing could actually reveal social disparities and potentially unite diverse communities, according to a new report.
Major gaps exist in how low-income versus middle- and high-income communities view student testing, according to a report released today by Northwest Evaluation Association and Gallup. NWEA and Gallup’s data show that low-income parents think state tests improve learning despite the opt-out movement, and the movement itself isn’t necessarily moving the needle at the school and district level.
One-third of parents with a household income under $60,000 indicated that they believe state standardized tests improve learning, compared with a mere 16 percent of parents with a household income between $60,000 and $89,999.
The next round of standardized tests for third- through eighth-graders begins April 4. The high-pressure lobbying to opt out has already started. The pressure is mostly coming from the well-organized and -funded opt-out movement, and the tactics are exposing the lie that this is a parent-led push. It’s teachers unions and members fighting with all their might to destabilize standardized testing in New York in pursuit of their own goals.
As a mother of three, Rhode Island Teacher of the Year in 2013, and an aspiring school leader I struggle to understand the push to opt out of annual testing that seems to be taking hold among suburban and mostly white parents. It is uniquely disappointing and perplexing to read a letter from my former boss and learn that the… Read more →