TCAP scores in TN have been embargoed by order of Commissioner Kevin Huffman. Superintendents, principals, and administrators are forbidden to release or discuss this information with the public or the media.

Could it be:

• The results show that their reforms and Common Core aren't working?
• The results show that charter schools are performing worse than public schools?
• The results show that the Achievement School District won't be moving test scores from the bottom 5% to the top 25% of the state, as they promised to do?
• They need more time for their fancy new PR firm (that the TNDOE just hired with our public tax dollars) to put a polished, positive spin on the bad scores?
• They don't want parents upset that their children's report cards were negatively impacted from the TCAP delay and Huffman's illegal waivers?
• They don't want local school boards to see the real results of charter schools in their district to be able to vote on their futures before the new school year starts?
• They are protecting certain charter schools that have ties to politicians and their friends? (like Tony Bennett did in Indiana)
• It is an election year for Governor Haslam and he's already had so much negative publicity?
• They didn't want the negative news to be announced when all the Governors met in Nashville last week?
• They don't want the negative news to cloud the big Koch brothers reform party next week in Nashville?
• They're waiting for Huffman to get back from Las Vegas, NV where is is currently at the Teach For America Conference and the extravagant TFA Awards ceremony.  Huffman is being honored for the lucrative $6.7 million no-bid contract he signed for TN with Teach For America using our tax dollars. (By the way, Tennessee spends more money per Teach for America recruit than any other state, but we cannot even afford to give our qualified, experienced teachers a 2% raise as Governor Haslam promised was his top budget priority last fall.)
     

Tennessee deserves testing TRANSPARENCY.

   We, as parents, should be able to see the test questions our children are forced to answer.

   Teachers should be able to see the questions that their evaluations and jobs are so heavily based upon.

   The public is entitled to know the results of these tests that we paid for.

Commissioner Huffman is hiding something.  What is it?  Will anyone find out?  or will the test results be quietly released the Friday before the next holiday weekend?

One thing is for certain: This secrecy undermines public trust.
 

In a desperate attempt to save Kevin Huffman's credibility and job, a petition was started by rich people.  The signatures on the petition are an elite "who's-who" list of people who get generous paychecks from the reformy charter gravy-train.  There are quite a few "name not displayed" entries on the petition, but from doing internet searches of the people who did sign their name, it is easy to see that these people are enemies of public schools. For example:

• Rebecca Lieberman (managing director of school and sector initiatives for the Charter School Center) was quoted in the Tennesseean's article about the petition.  Lieberman has a nice, cushy job at the Charter Incubator.  According to the 2012 990 tax filing, she made a nice salary of $102,673. (their 2013 990 isn't available, but we bet she made even more last year).  Her organization hit the jackpot financially under Huffman's leadership.  The CEO's salary at the Charter Incubatorincreased a whopping $73,586 in one year! (from $120,750 in 2011 to$176,336 in 2012).  2012 was obviously a boom year for their organization, because they also added a COO position for Justin Testerman with a sweet salary of $127,015.  Nope, you certainly can't make that kind of salary as a public school teacher!
• Teach for America corps members, Derik Ohanian, who taught as a temporary teacher through Teach for America, was then super-launched into an internship with the White House for 4 months over the summer, and then landed a sweet job with the TN Department of Education (working under his boss, Kevin Huffman) as a "Leadership Coaching Consultant" for the past 5 months.  His signature surely bought some brownie points from his boss.
• Achievement School District staffers also signed the petition, of course, like Margo Roen and Alex Little.  Their jobs depend on Huffman, so it makes sense they'd sign it.
• Elissa Kim is a no-brainer signing her name since she works as Executive Vice President for Recruitment and Admissions for Teach For America.   Kevin Huffman was her former co-worker at TFA.  Huffman signing that big $6 million no-bid contract for Tennessee with TFA meant job security for her. Her salary is more than Kevin Huffman's at $224,000 plus benefits. Yes, it is a huge conflict of interest between her job at TFA and the fact that she is on the Metro Nashville Board of Education, but who cares when there is money to be made?  
• John Eason, identified in the Tennesseean article as a “philanthropist,” is really an investor in for-profit management of charter schools (reformers really, really want for-profit charters to be legal in TN and need Huffman to make it happen).  Eason co-founded Beacon Education Management which merged with another firmand now operates under another name in other states.
• The Tennesseean also writes: "Among names on the petition are several founders of publicly financed, privately operated charter schools in Nashville, including Ravi Gupta of RePublic Schools and Todd Dickson of Valor Collegiate Academy. It also includes charter philanthropists such as Townes Duncan and John Eason as well as leaders of the Tennessee Charter School Center."  Quick internet searches show that Valor Collegiate Academy is opening in Nashville, with hopes to open a whole cluster of schools in Nashville.  Cha-ching.  
• Townes Duncan, who fought to remove power from local elected school boards and give control to an un-elected state board allowing charters even more freedom to open in communities where they are not wanted.
• Representative Mark White, devoted water boy for Governor Haslam, signed it and left a touching comment, too.  There's no question of his loyalty and intentions.  We hope the rumor isn't true that Mark White is on the list as a replacement for Huffman's job.  White's contempt for public education and unwillingness to listen to parents & teachers would make him a horrible leader over Tennessee's public schools.

Click HERE to read the real "miracle" of
why TN's NAEP scores jumped so drastically in 2013
and why it won't happen again on the next NAEP.

A quote from a public school Dad:

"It kills me that Charter proponents have so little respect for the public's intelligence that they think they can create something like this and not have it be recognized as a charade starring the normal cast of characters. I also think its worth noting that there are current and aspiring school board members who have signed this petition. Voters need to ask themselves if people who are willing to support the divisive policies of Commissioner Huffman are really the best people to represent them."

Click HERE to read his article

Click HERE to see the petition to remove Huffman

Click HERE to see the Facebook page

Do not be fooled. Follow the money.
See who is really benefiting from Huffman's reforms.
 

Education Commissioner Huffman and Governor Haslam released the state-level 2013-2014 TCAP scores this morning. We are not going to waste any time reviewing the scores here because 1) we don’t believe the test scores accurately reflect what a child truly knows, and 2) it appears that the DOE uses creative statistical analyses, subjective cut-score determinations, and lots of PR spin to make these scores be whatever they want them be.

But we would like to point out that, just this morning, Commissioner Huffman once again indicated that TCAP isn’t a good test for measuring student progress. According to Nashville Public Radio, Mr. Huffman told reporters, “I think there’s some level of a question of whether TCAP captures some of the work our teachers are doing in reading…” Ummm…Mr. Huffman, just about a year ago you testified before the Senate Education Committee and, during your testimony, you admitted that the TCAP is not “strong”. To top it off, the vice-president of the education astro-turf “advocacy” group, SCORE, also told NPR the following: “‘What we would say is it’s not necessarily a complete assessment of what students are learning in the classroom,”…adding that the state needs a test that allows students to give written explanations to show what they really know.”

So, let’s get this straight: 35-50% of a teacher’s evaluation and 15-25% of a child’s grade are based on the results of a test that is not “strong”, nor “complete”. In what other universe is judging someone on a measurement that does not accurately measure what it’s supposed to measure OK?

Parents and teachers have been screaming for years that TCAP results do not fully reflect student or teacher skills. No one listened. Huffman essentially said the same thing almost a  year ago. No one cared. And now, like a proverbial broken record, we are hearing the same old song from Huffman, but this time a member of SCORE is singing backup. On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Tennessee students, teachers, and parents, we are here to say that it’s time the DOE starts singing a couple new tunes: “Scrap the TCAP” and “YPBA” (aka “Yes Performance Based Assessment).

Our only viable hope at this juncture is that the legislature will intervene during the 2015 legislative session and try to bring some sanity to teacher and student evaluations. So, on that note, please research the candidates running for the House and Senate in your district–and vote for those who are against the use of TCAP scores in student grading and teacher evaluations. If we can get enough of them in the legislature, maybe we can finally stop the madness!

The above law was violated by a person appointed to a position of authority over our public schools, Commissioner Kevin Huffman.  The law is clear: he did not have the power to grant TCAP waivers to over 100 school districts.

Teachers are being unfairly held accountable for test scores on tests they are not allowed to see and whose cut scores are admittedly manipulated....  Students are being held accountable for grades on tests that their parents are not allowed to ever see.... but....

Who is holding Kevin Huffman accountable? Certainly not Governor Haslam who appointed him.

Legislators:  All of the laws you pass are worthless if they can be blatantly ignored without any penalty by those at the top.  Not a single legislator voted against this law in the House or Senate.  Beth Harwell, Ron Ramsey, & Bill Haslam all signed it.  Is it okay for the Commissioner of Education to break the laws you pass?

Superintendents & School Board members:  This is a case of "Do as I say, not as I do" by Commissioner Huffman.  Speak up for your districts and demand an end to all of this excessive testing and top-down control.  Talk to your legislators.  Your voices are important.  Do what you know is best for your students.

Media:  Publish facts, not what they want you to believe and print. 

 

Thank you, Legislators, for hearing the concerns of parents, teachers, & administrators in Tennessee!

Representative Bo Mitchell, Representative Gloria Johnson, and Representative Mike Stewart filed a detailed request under the Tennessee Open Records Act seeking records related to the suspicious TCAP delay, post-equating process, and strange results.  

Representative Mitchell said, "I hope this information will shed light on the saga so that we can have some level of confidence in the results of this test for which our students, teachers, and administrators were forced to spend much of the year preparing."
 Visit this link to see the request from the Representatives
 
Meanwhile...

Representative Billy Spivey and Senator Janice Bowling requested that Comptroller Justin Wilson investigate the expenditures and conduct of the Department of Education regarding last week’s delay in releasing TCAP scores.  (as reported by Rocky Top Politics)
 
Check out what is going on in Louisiana...  it is the same fishy scenario as TN!
Click HERE to read the strange situation in Louisiana

A TN Momma Bear writes:
"That is like deja vu with what is going on in Tennessee! Kevin Huffman (also a Chief fire Change) is putting pixie dust on TCAP scores here… messing with cut scores and aligning TCAP questions with Common Core supposedly. The test results were not ready from the state when they were supposed to be (everyone is wondering if the scores show that his reforms and Common Core aren’t working). Districts found out the day the quick scores were due to be released to them that there would be a 10 day delay (announced conveniently after a huge education conference in Nashville was finished and after Arne Duncan was gone) so districts couldn’t get final report cards out in time. So, Huffman said districts could apply for waivers to exempt them from including TCAP in student grades. Huffman granted over a hundred waivers to districts BUT he didn’t have the legal authority to do so. It will be interesting to see how he wiggles his way out of this hot mess! People are awful furious at him right now and with the Governor for appointing him. Even the news media isn’t painting a pretty picture of him like they usually do. Hopefully, Huffman will be fired or will resign soon."

Important Fact You Need to Know:  Kevin Huffman & John White are both in an exclusive organization created by Jeb Bush called "Chiefs for Change".   There are only 7 members in this organization, (Plus Tony Bennett who was given "Emeritus membership" after he was involved in a highly-embarrassing grade-tampering scandal in Indiana to protect a wealthy contributor of Governor Scott who owned a charter school that earned an embarrassingly bad score.  Shortly after Bennett's damning and indisputable emails became public, Bennett resigned.)  
 

"The sad fact is that testing no longer functions as a way to inform teachers and parents and to help children but as a blunt instrument to wear children down and demoralize their teachers."  - Diane Ravitch
 

Tennessee Teachers are stressed out to the max.  

Some teachers were told by their administrators to teach the old TN standards (SPIs) this past school year in order to get TCAP scores higher both for their own personal evaluation and also for their school & district.  Understandably, those administrators made this decision to not teach Common Core last year because of the abysmally low TCAP scores of the previous year when their students were taught Common Core.  Their TCAP scores plummeted under Common Core, so who can blame them to returning to the old standards to boost this year's TCAP scores?   

It was a punch to the gut last week for those administrators and teachers to learn that non-Common Core questions on TCAP were cut by the TDOE.  The old SPI questions won't count.  This means those districts who gambled on teaching the old SPIs will have even lower TCAP results.  Furthermore, if TCAP doesn't reflect what students have learned, how can it measure a teacher's effectiveness to teach?

It is sad that adults feel that they must "game the system" to protect their teachers, schools, and districts. Children are the pawns and are the real losers in this overemphasis on testing.

Legislators, please make this crazy testing merry-go-round stop!

I've been in public education a long time. Enough to watch the pendulum swing many times. This time, however, the pendulum has come loose and we are in uncharted territory.

Public education is being set up for failure and it is INTENTIONAL. There is money to be made by for profit charter schools, textbook companies, and testing companies... most of which are part of the Pearson Corporation.

Without a fight.....public schools will be a thing of the past. All of this is being done behind the backs of the average parent. This will cause the demise of education as we know it and put big bucks in the pockets of a few. Our children are not money makers. They are learners that deserve the BEST!
 - a teacher in Metro Nashville School District 

That teacher isn't the only to have an "aha" lightbulb moment and realize what is really going on.  She sees clearly that the Emperor has no clothes on.  Every day, parents and teachers across the state are realizing that these reforms are not helping our children, but they ARE making some people very, very rich with our tax dollars.

There is a widening disconnect between public school parents and the people who are at the top making big decisions.  Indeed, the pendulum has swung too far.  In fact, in this digital age, clocks no longer even have pendulums.  We are in frighteningly fast (and incredibly profitable for some) territory.  Money is being spent on things that aren't helping.  Teachers and support staff are being cut from our schools to pay for mandates from the top.  Data is being manipulated to show progress that doesn't exist (have you seen the TCAP scores yet?).  Teachers are bullied into silence and compliance.  Parents are being excluded from the process.  This is all so wrong and it must stop. 

from a smart Nashville Dad's blog on 5/23/14:                                                                                         

"I’ve always believed these test scores were finessed to tell the 
political story that was desired at the time."

 “We’re doing great. We need to continue with the same policies.”
or
“We are doing terrible. Its time for change”.

It was an unspoken truth that “cut scores” changed annually. Problem was, test were so lacking of transparency that you could never cite evidence to 100% prove that they were manipulated and the message was so controlled that it was hard to dispute."

"The integrity of the (TCAP) test and its results have been placed on such a pedestal that it has now become the focus to a large portion of the population for several months a year. The ramifications of test scores have grown exponentially.  Commissioner Huffman was willing to stake teachers careers on test results. Parents hire tutors and make decisions on extra curricular activities based on the test. Remember, Little Leagues don’t play games during test week. Teachers and administrators lay awake at night fretting about how to wring more points out of their children. After all, if they lose their jobs due to test scores, the mortgage gets hard to pay. They try to use that to justify attention diverted from their own families. Yes, Mr Huffman, teachers have families, but that’s another story for another day. Today’s story is how you took all this focus and made it for naught."

There's a catch.  There's always a catch, isn't there?

We are told that Tennessee will be developing our own Science Standards, and NOT adopting the controversial Common Core Next Generation Science Standards.  The TN Department of Education posted on their website seeking:

"excellent educators and content experts to serve on science standards development teams.  Up to 30 science standards development team members will be selected, representing all grades and subject levels. Teams will work together to develop proposed grade and course level standards and assessment design specifications."  

Sounds reasonable and fair, right?  Here's the catch...

The application to be considered to belong to this elite group of decision-makers specifically asks the applicant's opinion about Common Core, and even asks why the person believes that Common Core will benefit students in TN.  If you don't agree, then you don't get to answer the rest of the question.  (In other words, they don't want to hear anything negative about Common Core.  You need not apply for this job if you don't love Common Core as much as they do.)

We're not kidding.  See:

(Click HERE to see the other 8 questions on the application )
 
The Question we should all be asking:

Q: Who gets to pick the people to be on this new TN Science Standards Team?  

The Answer we are all slapping our heads over because it is so clear:

A: The Department of Education led by the appointed Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman (who all just love love love Common Core).

In fact, the person to submit applications to is none other than Dr. Bethany King Wilkes, who is pictured below grinning like a Cheshire cat and holding the Next Generation Science Common Core standards learning map with a bunch of other important people.

She gave a speech the day that picture was taken.  In her speech, she used all the reform Common Core buzz-words that people are growing sick and tired of hearing:  

“The Mission is to provide Tennessee students access to rigorous pathways aligned to STEM labor market needs in order to develop and promote a workforce that is educated and skilled in STEM fields”

(Click HERE to read more of her speech and to find out who those other important smiling people are in the photo)
 
So when the TN DOE unveils the new Tennessee State-Led Science Standards, don't be surprised when they are the same pig with different lipstick.  

Indiana did the same thing last month.  Their legislature and Governor revoked Common Core standards to the cheering crowds of parents and teachers. Then, after a process that resembled a "state-led" effort, they slapped a new name on the Common Core standards to rebrand them as the new Indiana standards.  Voters aren't fooled.  Not one bit.

The reality is that these standards must align with the other states for the testing and database fields to be compatible.  This matters to the Federal Government.  This matters to Bill Gates.  This matters to those who stand to profit from tracking our children's personal data.  They don't care what we color lipstick the pig is wearing, as long as they still bring home the bacon.
 

While our local school districts are in survival mode with shoestring budgets, the Tennessee Department of Education has plans to hire a Public Relations Firm to spread its propaganda:

"The State desires to procure media marketing/advertising including design, production, reports and administrative reconciliation services to assist in efforts to inform and educate the public on education issues."

Contract period:  May 15, 2014 through April 30, 2019
 
(Click HERE to see the job details and contract)
 

Lovely... our tax dollars used to "sell" us more you-know-what to cover up the smell of unqualified leadership.


We do NOT need:
any more logos, slogans, TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, videos, social media advertisements, or targeted mail in our state.  

Our schools DO need:
funding to fix leaking roofs, 
funding for more teachers & smaller class sizes,
funding for more assistants in schools,
funding for more guidance counselors,
and funding for technology to meet the state-mandated testing.  


No amount of marketing or advertising will fix the very real and loud problems of Common Core, PARCC, and the TVAAS teacher evaluation system.
No amount of marketing or advertising will erase the mediocre results of charter schools or hide the fat paychecks of the charter school leadership.  
No amount of marketing or advertising will camouflage the failure of vouchers (in the unfortunate event that they become legalized in TN).  
No amount of marketing or advertising will silence the growing awareness of parents & educators that these reforms stink.
 
This is just more money not making it to where it matters... in the classrooms.

A plain ol' TN Mom connected the dots... and discovered something HUGE!!! She wrote us this:
 
I was reading this blog by Mercedes Schneider, and she wrote that Florida's NAEP gains were partly due to the fact that Florida stopped socially promoting 3rd graders, but it backfired on them because it was mostly their minorities that were being held back. Anyway, the blog said that "Jeb Bush tried to erase social promotion in the third grade by holding back number of third graders. Having these students repeat third grade offered the illusion of testing gains for fourth graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In short, if more lower-performing students are kept out of fourth grade, then the resulting fourth-grade NAEP score improvement is misleading."

So that got me curious about TN. Do we socially promote 3rd graders? I searched online and lookie what I found!!!  

• http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/jun/13/new-state-law-ends-social-promotion-third-graders/
• http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/may/18/tennessee-senate-passes-bill-forcing-schools-end-s/
• http://www.wsmv.com/story/16203480/lawmakers-want-to-eliminate-social-promotion-in-schools
• New LAW: http://www.tn.gov/sos/acts/107/pub/pc0351.pdf
• LAW Ammended to include 8th graders: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/billinfo/BillSummaryArchive.aspx?BillNumber=HB3269&ga=107

Tennessee passed a law in 2011 that required Tennessee's 3rd graders to be held back if they aren't proficient.  So, beginning in the 2011-12 school year in Tennessee, no more social promotions to 4th grade! 

Why is this such a BIG DEAL?

The NAEP test is ONLY given to 4th and 8th graders!

And the NAEP test is only given every 2 years! (2011 & 2013)

BINGO!

So, those huge jumps for 4th grade Reading (5 points) and 4th grade Math (7 points) are, in large part, because there were no socially promoted students to take the test!  They were all still in 3rd grade!!!

So, as Governor Haslam and Commissioner Huffman have traveled across the state bragging about being the "fastest improving state in the nation" they don't tell you the whole truth. 

POP!  (That was the sound of their bubble bursting)
 
TN was "fastest improving" because we left our failing students behind a grade before the last NAEP test.