tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post8464121706156837571..comments2024-03-24T11:39:28.574-04:00Comments on NYC Public School Parents: Read the blog post that PARCC doesn't want you to see -- and then share it on your blogs!Patrick Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10631038958645725010noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-70109633623124571412017-04-01T15:29:58.791-04:002017-04-01T15:29:58.791-04:00As a special education teacher I am incensed every...As a special education teacher I am incensed every year by these tests and the expectation that all children, (except the very tiny minority of children with profound developmental and physical disabilities), take these tests. I have students who cry each time they take these tests because they "aren't smart enough". These tests solidify in students with learning difficulties a perception that they are stupid, will never be successful and that school is "just not for them". Giving a 4th grade student who reads at a kindergarten level and has processing speed deficits a test with a reading passage far above a typical 4th grade reading level is simply unjust. We already know they cannot read at a 4th grade level and testing them at such does not give us any information we do not already know. It is a waste of our students' time and emotional energy. Additionally it is a waste of children's educational dollars that could be spent on things that could truly enhance their academic experiences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-817047770467123192016-07-18T16:26:04.317-04:002016-07-18T16:26:04.317-04:00instead of taking the time to answer those prompts...instead of taking the time to answer those prompts to satisfy the adults in their lives, our children could've climbed a tree, read a book that interests them and that they like, observed the pattern of ripples on a river, investigated a spider, made up a jump rope rhyme, or a million other things that are also learning<br /><br />take your children out of school and let them live<br /><br />for their sakeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-59064146434072744772016-06-10T10:24:00.408-04:002016-06-10T10:24:00.408-04:00Wasn't sure if I even wanted in on this conver...Wasn't sure if I even wanted in on this conversation. We are home educators. We are glad to see this type of forum about this subject. It is interesting to find out what those in the public arena are saying about the public standards. <br /><br />We wish the tax payers had a say in what works and what doesn't when it comes to individual students' learning styles. Teaching to the student vs. teaching to the test. I can say that each of our children is a different type of learner. We (parents) can adjust to that and help each one learn what they need to learn at a specific grade level. The set standard for 4th grade (above) seems to be a blanket standard for students who may or may not have been taught or even exposed to the concepts in their classroom. Isn't this the concern? <br /><br />We somehow need to get on the same page when it comes to helping our students love learning. Critical thinking will come, in time, from reasoning and be added to in the logic stage of learning. <br /><br />I cannot say I or my husband are avid internet surfers or blog-readers. This was so compelling I just had to stop by. Good and informative comments people.<br /><br />p.s. Not to bash anyone, because I make mistakes all the time, but for being "educated" ourselves and reading and writing comments on this blog, there certainly a lot of grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes! LOL... As I said, I'm notorious for it as well. :PAnnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-64325871314043827192016-06-08T18:19:16.423-04:002016-06-08T18:19:16.423-04:00"will never learn the foundational skills the... "will never learn the foundational skills they need, will never know the enjoyment of reading and writing from intrinsic motivation, and will, sadly, be denied the opportunity to become a critical reader and writer of media."<br /><br />This statement, in a nut shell, explains the overall goal of common core. Add math and science. A future society of illiterates is a society easily manipulated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-16384818266512128672016-06-06T22:19:19.228-04:002016-06-06T22:19:19.228-04:00I was surprised by how many commentators said they...I was surprised by how many commentators said they had college degrees but even so, they'd have a hard time answering some of the questions. <br /><br />RE: ELA 4th Grade Prompt #1 question 7 <i>"Think about how the structural elements in the passage from “Emergency on the Mountain” differ from the structural elements in the poem “Mountains.” Write an essay that explains the differences in the structural elements between the passage and the poem. Be sure to include specific examples from both texts to support your response. </i><br /><br />A passage is going to have sentences organized in paragraphs; a poem is going to have lines, and possibly rhyme and meter. Those are the two main points that the grading rubric will be looking for, and you don't even have to read the passage and poem to figure that part out. Now, using the term "structural elements" in a 4th grade level test is weird because it is not grade-level appropriate, but I would fault the test for another reason: The question identifies which one is the passage and which one is the poem!!!! If you REALLY wanted children to prove they knew which was which, then you don't give it away in the question. It needs to be asked in a way that the testee has to figure it out. <br /><br />eg. Which one of the samples below is a poem and what differences led you to figure it out? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-18402295543891614562016-06-03T07:05:07.901-04:002016-06-03T07:05:07.901-04:00I agree that homeschooling is a great option for t...I agree that homeschooling is a great option for those who can do it. I actually have six kids. We homeschooled them all, my oldest three homeschooled all the way through high school, and they did very well in college and after. We homeschooled my youngest three until my wife left me, then we had to put them in public school. My fourth son did very well in high school and I actually love the school and the teachers. But the schools are largely bound by district and state politics which are the result of the educational money and power politics game. Now as far as the "money per student", it may be true that one child leaving the school costs them a few thousand dollars per year. But if ALL the kids in the district who chose private education options had to go to the public school, it would actually cost them a lot more money because they would need more classrooms, teachers etc. I can assure you that most states would not be able to find room in their budgets to fund all those extra kids, so they would also have to cut the "per capita" funding ratios. <br />Ultimately, when parents take responsibility for educating their own children, it SAVES the state a lot of money! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02435477286982417367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-46356535420331006312016-06-02T14:01:58.956-04:002016-06-02T14:01:58.956-04:00Homeschooling is the way to go! I had the assista...Homeschooling is the way to go! I had the assistant superintendent call me in a room to try and talk me out of homeschooling back when I first started 7 years ago. He was starting to give me a line about how my child would get behind, etc. I stopped him and said that I knew he was just trying to stop me because he was going to lose $13,000 for my child not attending school and no matter what he said, I was still going to homeschool. He said "Well, I think you are going to do great, have a nice day." That was the end of that! It was all about the money - they don't care that your kids will get behind (homeschoolers outperform public and private students all the time!)... they just care about the money they don't get when your child isn't enrolled! So many kids are behind in public school, so where do they send them?? It isn't about that and they know it. $$ speaks - so glad that I saved property tax payers $13K yearly by homeschooling my kid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-41470317804326403752016-06-02T04:03:25.218-04:002016-06-02T04:03:25.218-04:00Thank you so much for carrying this message forwar...Thank you so much for carrying this message forward and exposing the lies that the modern educational system is based on. My own children have provided me almost daily examples in their homework of the stupidity of the "Common Core" system and its means of education. The principal of our local grade school explained that common core was meant to have students learn things "more deeply". Unfortunately, it is sheer folly to have your child jump off the high-diving board before they have learned to wade. Even more foolish is one who would jump off a high-dive into a 3-foot deep pool. The new educational testing standards make these mistakes.<br /><br /> <br /><br />I had a doctor once who told me "When nothing else makes sense, look at the dollar signs". We must remember that education is an industry.<br /><br />Those who work in the industry, especially those who design curriculum, do so to reap profits. They must continually re-invent curriculum in order to keep selling more. They also bribe local, state and federal officials to adopt their curriculums as the law of the land. It is a very corrupt system. Your local school teachers generally DO NOT participate in this system, nor profit from curriculum changes. They may or may not drink the Kool-Aid served up by school administrators as to why change is good. At the end of the day, the schools are "public" because they are controlled by the public through the elections process. We need to exercise our clout as parents by voting out board members who tolerate "experimental" means of teaching, and elect board members who promote time-proven methods of instruction. Our children are not guinea pigs!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02435477286982417367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-65172399633334576072016-06-01T23:52:05.163-04:002016-06-01T23:52:05.163-04:00I think anyone who is defending these "questi...I think anyone who is defending these "questions" as developmentally appropriate and reasonable assessment tools must not have any background at all in elementary education -- or is a moronic drone of the system (I have sadly encountered too many of these in education). Having worked with fourth-graders in a school where most students come from firmly middle class and above families, most of them with two parents, I think that even with those advantages most of the students there would have a stressful experience trying to perform these ridiculous tasks. Hopefully, the opt-out movement will gain enough momentum that it will render these tests invalid. Too bad it will harm so many kids meanwhile. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-81378389197984622362016-06-01T22:51:44.170-04:002016-06-01T22:51:44.170-04:00I agree with Alison Costa.I agree with Alison Costa.Ms. Vachrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537651070176193639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-69404088550798318652016-06-01T21:16:47.039-04:002016-06-01T21:16:47.039-04:00This is exactly why we chose to leave public schoo...This is exactly why we chose to leave public school three years ago to homeschool instead. My children are able to enjoy a rich classical education without jumping through testing hoops from the Federal Government, and without allowing them to collect personal information for their workforce database. If you can homeschool, do it!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-13787531630000664862016-06-01T18:52:44.346-04:002016-06-01T18:52:44.346-04:00I am an adjunct, college English instructor and a ...I am an adjunct, college English instructor and a home-schooling mom, among the many other fabulous adventures I've been on! The real question for me is "What do we want our children (citizens) to learn?" I can tell you, literary criticism is a merry-go-round I don't want my kids on! These questions pull in a lot of high-falutin' nonsense. I want my children to think clearly, reason well, read and decipher language and argument well, and, most importantly, to be able to cut through the surface of what's presented and recognize the core or underlying meaning/agenda. Let's get to meaning, to human values and folly, to the fundamental questions of human life and experience; that's what gets kids (and adults) thinking and talking and growing. Yes, compare stories and themes. Yes, understand structure and how it can super-charge or deaden a story or composition. Yes, be able to compare and contrast themes and ideas and stories, but the test questions presented here have underpinnings in literary theory; there's no place for that stuff in 4th grade. Reading, understanding, reiterating, and thinking past the surface is what they need, not academic self-gratification. Conversations about meaning, the give and take of ideas and opinions, and grappling with the big questions of meaning and purpose - that's what our citizens need, and that is sorely lacking. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-16855999029122816942016-05-30T03:32:34.939-04:002016-05-30T03:32:34.939-04:00I homeschool, & after reading this article, I ...I homeschool, & after reading this article, I will place no importance on my 4th grader's test scores. (Thank you!) She is an excellent reader, but the questions for writing are beyond an average 4th grader's ability I believe. So we will just continue to homeschool using our Classical Education method, & keep learning Latin, Saxon Math, History (no Social Studies here!), Science, lots of grammar, & lots of reading!MamaKathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181114065629830378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-9328394956009722602016-05-27T10:17:14.695-04:002016-05-27T10:17:14.695-04:00Something similar happened to me and I am a parent...Something similar happened to me and I am a parent, not a teacher although I was at the school last year. My daughter came home bawling because her teacher was stressed out about testing and laid into all of them, telling them that when they all fail the test, they will be able to tell their friends why they're in fourth grade again next year. I complained on Facebook, not naming the teacher but saying that I wasn't happy about it, and I was called in by Administration and was admonished and told not to post things. A teacher that I used to work with had begun to spread rumors about what I said and it got around. I was not rude or vulgar, I simply said that I felt bad for my daughter who had been crying about it. I had thought the meeting was in regards to something else, and then Administration totally caught me off guard.AutumnLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15329491015695426071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-22648629293121260692016-05-26T11:24:05.569-04:002016-05-26T11:24:05.569-04:00I have had a Doctorate and actively working in my ...I have had a Doctorate and actively working in my field for the past 45 years. It would take me a considerable amount of time to answer these questions while having to 'guess' at what the expected correct answer would be. This is not just way above the 4th grade level, it is fully a structured elimination process of the presentation of the correct level, content, usefulness, and appropriateness, of the necessary preparation of these students to move forward in a productive education and life. The results is a lack of proper orientation and preparedness for these students in making informed choices for their adult life, as they are being steered into a programmed Socialistic type system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-47848577224838197532016-05-26T10:30:53.731-04:002016-05-26T10:30:53.731-04:00I'm not a teacher, but a grandmother who helps...I'm not a teacher, but a grandmother who helps her two grandchildren with their homework. One is in 9th grade; the other in 6th grade. I did okay in school, so it's not like I'm "stupid," but while trying to help them, I feel stupid! It's impossible for me to help the 6th grader with her math. Why are there four steps to a simple addition or subtraction? Her science class is unbearable for both her and me. They might as well be speaking Greek! As far as the 9th grader is concerned, it makes me wonder if I ever went to high school. (I did!)<br /><br />Something needs to be done about this Common Core business. It is ruining children's school days which should be the best times of their lives.Lanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05212172325101953682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-65578102649030656872016-05-26T09:55:51.530-04:002016-05-26T09:55:51.530-04:00I'm not surprised at the absurdity of the test...I'm not surprised at the absurdity of the test questions or the CCSS. CCSS and the testing consortium are designed to create failure. On first analysis of this whole boondoggle, money seems to be the primary motivator with some allusions to altruistic goals. But I believe that if you look deeper it is not a stretch to see that this is a well orchestrated 'planned failure' and collapse of the entire public education system. Be prepared to hear this soon: "Clearly, if the system is miserably failing at educating our children then the only solution is for the Federal government to step in and seize control of the entire system. Local control and even privatization of education are incapable of getting the job done. Education is too vital to our national security to allow it to flounder any longer. We need to create national databases to track students progress and predict requirements. etc....". This whole thing is just another piece being put into place in our steady march toward the disaster that is Socialism. Homeschool, co-op, private... are the only options for people who want to raise successful children.Hockey momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14639134617557814110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-69109597964300846402016-05-26T09:00:49.584-04:002016-05-26T09:00:49.584-04:00PARCC Gets Parked: What Testing Companies Don’t Wa...PARCC Gets Parked: What Testing Companies Don’t Want Parents to Know – Alan Singer’s Latest Huffington Post<br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/parcc-gets-parked-what-te_b_10140282.html<br /><br />Alan Singer, Department of Teaching, Learning and Technologyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05469101630110029537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-80343507165407179472016-05-25T22:32:05.914-04:002016-05-25T22:32:05.914-04:00I genuinely applaud you as an instructor. How badl...I genuinely applaud you as an instructor. How badly have we messed up our educational system when we consider prepping children to pass a test to be the same as igniting passion in a subject and inspiring them to learn? The latter is usually why people become teachers. It certainly isn't for the money.rilea2005https://www.blogger.com/profile/14088837426700480571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-89291715568728111072016-05-25T22:27:12.713-04:002016-05-25T22:27:12.713-04:00The only books my son will willingly read from any...The only books my son will willingly read from any school list come from the banned book list. He had been an avid reader since pre-k, until the school's insistence that he analytically dissect every paragraph he read. Seriously, does anyone take pleasure reading like that?rilea2005https://www.blogger.com/profile/14088837426700480571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-73077949564411933262016-05-25T20:18:42.513-04:002016-05-25T20:18:42.513-04:00What utter nonsense. Makes me think of the infamo...What utter nonsense. Makes me think of the infamous question about the rabbit and I think a pineapple, that made no sense at all but was on tests for years. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-23779067546937657182016-05-25T17:48:07.135-04:002016-05-25T17:48:07.135-04:00AC is right on! It is past time for the whiners a...AC is right on! It is past time for the whiners and naysayers to come forward with <b> exactly </b> what test for accountability they are willing to endorse. It is too easy to criticize the work of others. <br /><br />Or what about this heretical idea: let every teacher, class, school, county and state teach <b> whatever </b> they wish at any time and in any manner of their choosing with no accountability of any kind. Let the marketplace of employment sort this out as it surely would. I would predict rioting in the streets. Perhaps a baseline test such as the Armed Forces Qualification Test would be appropriate?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-86986935723306973112016-05-25T16:25:43.362-04:002016-05-25T16:25:43.362-04:00I suppose that the posted test questions are repre...I suppose that the posted test questions are representative of the whole test. If this is so it becomes obvious that the writers of the questions have zero understanding of human nature let alone, child psychology. To assume that all 4th graders "should" be able to respond to these practically unintelligible questions in a predetermined way to prove that they are worthy of being at an arbitrarily designated non-existent in reality, "level of intelligence" is simply a revelation of ignorance concerning anything about being a human being. Every child is born with a DNA pattern that has enormous effect on how he or she will evolve or unfold. Every child is born into a set of circumstances which have an enormous effect on how she or he will evolve or unfold. No two children are exactly the same. Each of us is born uniquely different. There is no way to tell how or why or when a child will "turn on" so to speak.<br /><br />Teachers, real Teachers, know this instinctively. They love every child and encourage every child to grow and manifest the inborn capacities which are unique to each child. I taught groups of the "brightest and best" in a high school that "tracked" children in four groups based on score from "IQ" tests. I also taught what were termed 4's, the dullest and worst.<br /><br />I used basically the same lesson plans for both groups. The young men and women who were stigmatized by the tests as 4's were illiterate, that is they had trouble reading and writing. However, they could talk pretty good if they felt safe from ridicule. So I read to them. I read the same stuff to them that the 1's were studying: Faulkner, Ellison, Amy Tan, Virginia Wolfe, Harper Lee, James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Shelly, Keats and Shakespeare. The "4" students understood the novels and poetry. They understood the "themes" of this literature. the got racism and courage and valor, and love and fear and kindness. The could talk about it, give examples of the challenges from their own lives. They understood the difference between BS and truth and could sense it in a hot minuet.<br /><br />These folks would fail the present tests instantly. But most of them demonstrated a kind of intelligence that enabled them to survive in conditions that were way below what we would call average.<br /><br />Point. The overwhelming focus on how smart some really ignorant test indicates one is has generated a class of arrogant ignoramuses who have been not so much educated as vocated. <br /><br /> Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:<br /> Little we see in Nature that is ours;<br /> We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! WW 1802<br /><br /><br /> It is these folks who, I assume, are responsible for the disaster these tests are fostering.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-34674007860000426822016-05-25T12:15:40.625-04:002016-05-25T12:15:40.625-04:00It is deeply unfair to our children that they have...It is deeply unfair to our children that they have to spend so many hours preparing for this developmentally inappropriate test. It horrifies and offends me and makes me sad and angry on behalf of my kids. My 4th grader loves to read (as do I) DESPITE what he has to do in school, not because of it. He hates and dreads the ELA prep and test and comes home to read books he enjoys--and can meaningfully discuss. This is for-profit corporate intrusion in to schools in the worst way. The NYC DOE has more than enough outstanding teachers on staff who can develop appropriate grade-level relevant tests. Why do we need to send millions of tax payer dollars to a private company to develop this piece of garbage test?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13240637299154555412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586988941850907367.post-78070159029351280992016-05-25T11:34:23.549-04:002016-05-25T11:34:23.549-04:00Why was my post deleted? It adds to the discussion...Why was my post deleted? It adds to the discussion!<br /><br />May 24, 2016 at 7:22 PM<br /> Anonymous said...<br />I have written professional assessment tests for grades 2 through 12, and I agree that these questions are inappropriate for 4th grade students. But whatever its faults, the idea of a Common Core is hugely relevant. From working in educational publishing, I see first-hand how some states handicap their students by teaching few skills, by not demanding enough of their students and their teachers, and by placating everyone. All students in the U.S. should be receiving a high-quality education that teaches both facts and analytical skills; humanities, art, and writing as well as math and science; history, geography, and civics, as well as daily living skills and healthy behaviors. Too many districts fall short on those requirements.<br />Assessments can be very useful tools for clarifying whether a child has learned the skills taught in the classroom. If a child doesn't do well on a test, then it should mean that for whatever reason, the lesson didn't take hold (and I'm excluding all the other reasons from illness to "having a bad day," etc.] Tests shouldn't be used to grade teachers or to label students, but they should be used as one of many tools used to diagnose learning. <br />My first suggestion regarding the specific questions put on this website is that the questions should be expressed more clearly. The vocabulary/reading level for the questions should be grade-level or even lower. They should be easy to understand, even if they intend to elicit a complex or analytical response. The child shouldn't be wasting time trying to disentangle a convoluted or abstract question. It is in the answer that the child has the opportunity to show analytical and age- or individual-appropriate complexity. <br />Some examples: (!) The poet makes a comparison in this poem. What is being compared? What do you think the image in line 5 describes? (2) Reread the paragraph. In your own words, describe in 2 or 3 sentences what the small fish do to hide from the sharks. <br /><br />While the passages should be age-appropriate, it is harder to address that issue without seeing all of the passages chosen for the tests. But also, realize that in many school districts today, children in 4th grade could be the same age as 5th or even 6th graders were 30 years ago. In addition, fo some districts, a middle school begins with 5th grade. Likewise, whether they are called "middle school" or "junior high" still varies across the country. So that seems like a minor quibble to me; however, there is a tendency in some educational circles to push inappropriate content on young students (note: I don't mean challenging material, which should be encouraged; I do mean age-appropriate subject matter).<br />May 24, 2016 at 8:10 PM<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com