Category: Students

Puke

10/22/2014

The awareness & outrage over standardized testing is growing. A Knox County School District meeting this week about the SAT-10 test for young elementary students lasted over 5 hours. Some parents who wished to speak during public comments weren't able to because they had to leave to put their children to bed. Some strong parents & teachers stayed until 10:30pm to be heard.

A frustrated TN Mom wrote the letter below during TCAP testing last year. She wanted to know how to send it to someone who could make a difference, so we are happy to pass this along to all the School board members, Superintendents, Senators, Representatives, Commissioner Kevin Huffman, Governor Haslam, and to the media. It is easy to see why parents are so upset:

Dear important elected official who can make a difference,

I know you are a very busy and important person, but I would really appreciate it if you could read my letter. It matters very much to me and my family. See, I just cleaned up puke.

Yes, vomit. My youngest daughter, who is 9 years old and in the 3rd grade, is stressed to the point that she threw up. She can’t sleep she is so worried. She loved school until just this past month. Now, everything that is normal and consistent in her school has changed because they are in TCAP testing prep mode. Instead of being with her teacher that she loves, her class is herded like cattle between 5 different 3rd grade teachers each day to be drilled on TCAP questions. This will be the schedule for 3 weeks. Drill, drill, drill. No weekly spelling words or literature stories anymore because they have to be ready for THE test. In music class, they were taught songs about testing and “Zapping the TCAP”. Her guidance counselor even taught the whole class how to deal with stress by practicing deep breathing just in case students freaked out on THE test. (Which is like me telling you not to freak out if a giant spider crawls on your head because it just might happen. To kids, that will be ALL they can worry about until it really comes true). Also, her school, which is normally a cheerful, bright environment full of colorful artwork will soon be stripped bare and their school will look like a prison to prevent cheating. Blank concrete cinder-block block walls and empty cork bulletin boards in every classroom will be what children see for testing week (and really for the rest of the year, since there are only a few weeks left before summer break). The only thing allowed on their desk will be #2 pencils.

How do I know my vomiting 9 year old isn’t really sick? Déjà vu… It was just a few years ago that our oldest child was only 8 years old in the 2nd grade when she started having stomach aches. 8 years old. We thought it was a virus at first, but when it didn't get better, we took her to her pediatrician. The pediatrician thought it could be a food allergy, so over the course of a few months, we tried all sorts of remedies from eliminating dairy & gluten, and adding probiotics to her diet. Her stomach issues only got worse. She missed quite a bit of school. The pediatrician was perplexed and referred her to a GI doctor who sent us to an outpatient facility to have our 8 year old daughter put to sleep so he could put cameras inside her little body. He looked at every inch of her intestinal tract and cut out tissue samples to biopsy. His diagnosis: our child was perfectly healthy, thank God! The next week after the biopsies were back, he asked her some questions and diagnosed her with: Anxiety. Specifically, anxiety over the testing at school. 8 years old. He said he is seeing more and more of this test anxiety in children, especially in the children who are A+ level over-achievers like my daughter. We had no clue she was worried about the standardized test at school (Our child called this test "TCAP," but the test for 2nd graders was really the SAT10 test which is basically the same thing as TCAP except for 2nd graders)

I know my kids better than anyone on the planet. No matter how much my husband and I tell our children that the stupid TCAP test doesn't matter, they know better. They see how the teachers are stressed over it. Kids are very intuitive and pick up on things. I want to opt my children out of the stupid tests, but the district won’t allow it. The district says the state law won't allow it. If we keep them home on test days, their grades on their report cards will drop from A’s & B’s to C’s & D’s. I hate this. You don’t know how much I hate this. There are curse words I’m thinking of right now (but I won't say aloud) because of the greedy testing companies and politicians who force this on my children. There is no good reason for this. This test doesn't help my children learn. We won’t even get their scores until the fall, a few months after they have moved into the next grades! If we could afford private schools, my children wouldn't even have to take these high-stakes tests. Do politicians even realize how bad it is in public schools?

And this stupid Common Core math makes me want to puke, too, right along with my child. Don’t get me wrong… I agree with high standards. I agree with understanding clear concepts. However, I don’t see the point in doing math with these backward, confusing methods. Drawing arrays and hoops on a number line is NOT the clear, simple way to solve a simple equation. It confuses younger kids by showing them so many methods that they can't remember any of them correctly. This new math is only making the curriculum companies richer.

Even scarier, I sure as heck don’t want the government or a company contracted with the government tracking my child's personal information or guiding my child into a career path based on test results. That is my children’s right to decide for themselves. Their data should be protected, and we, as their parents, should be able to control and protect who has access to it. The FERPA law doesn’t protect my children, it protects the companies who seek to profit from my children’s data. There is a big difference between the two.

Don’t tell me that Common Core is “only standards” or that the problems are from “bad implementation” or that “Common Core doesn't require data mining”. I know better. I've read the Race to the Top Application and all the Appendixes to it. It is there. It is inseparable. It is undeniable. It boasts how the government will track children, a "360 degree view of the child" from PreK through the workforce. TN agreed to do Common Core before the standards were even written. In exchange for money. Money that is long gone. Money that didn’t trickle down to my children’s classrooms. In fact, there are more students in my children’s classes now because our district had to “excess” teachers and increase class sizes because the money is so tight in our district to pay for all these stupid tests. Teachers are stressed. Children are stressed. Parents are stressed. Our kids are being boxed in to standards and tests that nobody can prove even work.

I’m not the only parent who feels this way. It is the main topic of conversation at PTO meetings and while waiting to pick our kids up after school. I know it is wrong of me, but I feel a sense of relief knowing that it isn't just my children having these reactions; their kids are barfing and crying over Common Core and all this crazy testing, too. Teachers in our community are even risking their jobs to hold public meetings against Common Core and testing. This anger in the community is not going away.

I don’t think politicians or the media realize what a hot button this is. There is no Republican or Democrat party to pin the blame on for these problems. Parents are angry at both sides for forcing this on our children. When Democrats are willing to vote for a Tea Party candidate if that person says he will abolish Common Core, you know something is very, very wrong.

Which is why I am writing this letter right now, even though I should be washing the pile of puke-covered laundry. Please, I beg of you, STOP Common Core. STOP this incessant testing. Let our kids have normal childhoods and enjoy learning. Stop pushing OUR kids in ways that YOUR children in private schools are not forced to do.

Thank you for reading my letter,
A mother of stressed children in Tennessee

Common sense reforms:

10/1/2014

I attended a community meeting at Jere Baxter Middle School tonight to hear discussion of the East Nashville "Third Way" plan. Jere Baxter is located just off Dickerson Pike and only a few blocks away from the new Rocketship charter school (which is directly across the street from Jenna's Adult Toy Box, but that's an entirely different issue).

Jere Baxter boasts a beautiful new building, but is severely underenrolled at only 53% capacity. Dr. Register said hundreds of students in the area are now attending new charter schools, which have oversaturated the East Nashville market. (See the correlation here?)

Jere Baxter serves a population of 97.9% free and reduced lunch students. It has a mobility rate of 58% and a chronic absence rate of 18%. To no one's surprise, this school is struggling. This year, only 15.8% of its students were reading on grade level.

Dr. Register led off the discussion with Jere Baxter's dismal performance and said that no child should be subjected to a "failing" school. A parent responded with the question I had in mind: What actually makes Jere Baxter a "bad" school? Although Dr. Register didn't really answer this question, staff members complained about the lack of continuity - with constantly rotating students, teachers and principals. Teachers asked for greater supports. A parent noted that many students at the school are desperately seeking teachers' attention, and the school needs more staff. One teacher who had taught at both a charter and traditional schools pointed out that guidance counselors at traditional schools are too tied up with testing to actually offer counseling. (This is definitely the case at my child's school.) No one mentioned the elephant in the room - the impact of poverty and mobility on student performance.

The most disturbing part of the discussion for me, however, was the new focus onrecruiting students, rather than discussion of how to best address the huge challenges at the school. According to Dr. Register, the need to compete for students is just a reality now, and traditional schools need to step it up. He went on: Because charter schools are "out recruiting us" (despite the fact that our traditional schools provide more offerings than MNPS charter schools), we must become better recruiters at traditional schools. Other MNPS officials also spoke about the need to "sell" and market our schools and go door-to-door looking for students (like our charter schools). One teacher pointed out that charter schools often host huge BBQ dinners to recruit families and (only somewhat jokingly) asked for a budget for BBQ!

This focus on recruitment and competition is all a direct result of the national, state, and local attacks on public education, created by those who view our schools as markets, our families as consumers, and our children as mass-produced commodities.

Then, a voice of reason spoke up. A teacher said, "I went to school to be a teacher. Not a business person. Not a marketer. Not a recruiter." She asked: When can I do my job and teach? Where are my supports?

So after tonight's meeting, here are my questions: Is it really a good idea to require parents to compete for spots at coveted "choice" schools and ask teachers to become recruiters for the best test takers? Where is community in all this "choice," competition and winning?

What has happened to the ideal that we will work together to build healthy communities and ensure that every neighbor is welcomed and accepted? We should make sure that children who have special needs, immigrant children who can't speak English, those with behavioral problems, and those who simply struggle in school are just as welcome as children who perform best in school, and that our struggling students will receive the extra support that they require. We should work together to support our schools in addressing these difficult issues and never give up on a single child.

In the end, this all seems to be a numbers game. Last year, Memphis closed down several of its "failing" schools, which increased Nashville's number of "failing" schools. We can now respond by shutting down our own "failing" schools (poof- no more "bad" schools!) and play the game of competing to win. Or we can take the brave step of not buying into all of this market-driven insanity.

In short, we can choose to educate children, or we can sell out by "marketing" our "product" to "customers."

We can have chaos, or we can have community.

What would happen if MNPS refused to play the "reform" numbers game anymore? What if we just decided to stand up to the bullies? Instead of merely shuffling students around to make our numbers look better, we, as a district, could decide that shuffling struggling students around is not the answer, even though it may momentarily make MNPS look better on the State Report Card. We could decide that we value each individual student and recognize that just moving "failing" students from school to school does nothing to address their academic problems. Instead of rubber-stamping military-style schools that get great scores, but don't offer healthy social/emotional learning opportunities, physical activity or enrichment, we could demand a focus on best practices. We could acknowledge that there are no miracle school cures, just like there are no miracle diet cures, and invest time, energy and long-term resources into our existing schools. We could create a budget that allows for extra support staff in the schools with the most challenging populations.
We could acknowledge that real school reform takes time.

I believe these are the discussions we need to undertake. Who's with me?

- written by Amy Frogge, Metro Nashville School Board member
[emphasis added by TN Parents]

See why this is not working?

Run schools like a business? See the flaws in that theory

9/24/2014

This article excerpt is shared with permission of its author:

Run schools like a business? Flip that theory to see flaws
by Lisa Woods, originally posted on 7/20/2014 at News & Record

I would like to posit a scenario where “job performance and value” are based on the following objectives and conditions:

You are meeting with 35 clients in a room designed to hold 20.
The air conditioning and/or heat may or may not be working, and your roof leaks in three places, one of which is the table where your customers are gathered.
Of the 35, five do not speak English, and no interpreters are provided.
Fifteen are there because they are forced by their “bosses” to be there but hate your product.
Eight do not have the funds to purchase your product.
Seven have no prior experience with your product and have no idea what it is or how to use it.
Two are removed for fighting over a chair.
Only two-thirds of your clients appear well-rested and well-fed.

You are expected to:

Make your presentation in 40 minutes.
Have up-to-date, professionally created information concerning your product.
Keep complete paperwork and assessments of product understanding for each client and remediate where there is lack of understanding.
Use at least three different methods of conveying your information: visual, auditory and hands-on.

The “criterion” for measuring your “worth and value” is that no less than 100 percent of your clients must buy and have the knowledge to assemble and use your product, both creatively and critically, and in conjunction with other products your company produces, of which you have working but limited knowledge.

Only half of the clients arrive with the necessary materials to be successful in their understanding of your product, and your presentation is disrupted at least five times during the 40 minutes.

You have an outdated product manual and one old computer, but no presentation equipment. Your company’s budget has been cut every year for the past 10 years, the latest by a third. Does this mean you only create two-thirds of a presentation? These cuts include your mandatory training and presentation materials (current ones available to you are outdated by five years).

You have no assistant, and you must do all the paperwork, research your knowledge deficiencies and produce professional-looking, updated materials during the 40 minutes allotted to you during the professional day. You cannot use your 30-minute lunch break. Half is spent monitoring other clients who are not your own.
Your company cannot afford to train you in areas of its product line where you may be deficient, yet you are expected to have this knowledge and incorporate it into your product presentation in a meaningful way.

You haven’t had a raise in eight years and your benefits have been purged, nor do you receive a commission for any product you sell. Do you purchase all the materials needed so your presentation is effective? Will you pay for the mandatory training necessary to do your job in a competent and professional manner?

School is not a business

Does this business model seem viable? Of course not.

Nor would it be appropriate for me to come to your job and evaluate you on a set of standards for which I have no experience or knowledge beyond use of your product (assuming from your presentation that I understand it). This is an absurd comparison, yet schools are continuously compared to a business model, which, when reversed, would be considered stupid by those in “business,” for there would be little if any profit, and the expectations of 100 percent success are delusional at best.

Think about what is provided for you to succeed at your job and imagine how you could meet your goals with the conditions described above.

Is “100 percent high quality” an adequate and realistic assumption for the quality of your workforce? Does your company have any poor employees? If an employee shows promise but needs help, is it provided, or is she fired immediately? Are the same criteria used at all levels of employment for all people? Must your employer have a reason to terminate an employee or can it fire someone it doesn’t like?

There are so many blanket statements made implying that most teachers are incompetent and only want more money. This is offensive.

Reality check: Most teachers do so for their love of learning and children and to make our community and beyond a better place. None would ever delude herself into thinking there is a lot of money in this career. For most, it is a vocation, not a job.

Bad teachers don’t stay

Because our state provides no right to collective bargaining, tenure is job protection. In my 30-plus years as an educator, I have rarely seen ineffective teachers remain long on the job. Are there some? Sure, but basic statistics will tell that a 10,000-employee company (Guilford County Schools) will have a statistical spread where “average” and “high average” is the largest chunk, and hopefully the smallest percentage is the “least effective.”

Does it bother me when I know there are less-effective teachers making the same pay I do? Sure, but complaining about it won’t make my compensation commensurate with my value and work product. Look at the current teacher assessment instrument. While it needs improvement, I can’t imagine that someone who is incompetent and showing no improvement would last long.

Tenure is not granted willy-nilly at the “magic” four years. Nor does it guarantee a job.

If a teacher’s evaluations are not up to a specific standard, the teacher is put on probation. And if no improvement is made, goodbye! And, with the continuous cuts and diversion of funds through vouchers to parochial schools, who knows how many public school teaching jobs will be left?

Tenure does not guarantee quality teachers, but applying the business model to schools is as absurd as applying the “school reality” to business. Until a better and fairer assessment and compensation structure is created, those “in the trenches” are actually consulted, and the reality of our working environment is considered and remedied, the symbolic little gesture of tenure will be an important one to insure that excellent teachers remain in North Carolina.

Lisa Woods, a master teacher at Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts, has taught in the Greensboro and Guilford County school systems since 1989. She holds an MFA and National Board certification and has completed all coursework for a master’s in education. She was on the national faculty for the National Paideia Center in Chapel Hill and has taught studio art from grade school to the college/graduate level.

Bottom line: School is not a business and never should be. Tennessee parents question why all those business people got seats at the table & microphones at the Governor's exclusive Education Summit, while parents and teachers were not even allowed in the room. Our children are not widgets in their human capital workforce.

Click HERE to read the story of the blueberries
which will radically change your perception about students

Teachers REFUSE testing for their own children

3/6/2014

Some brave teachers, who are also Moms & Dads, have made the difficult choice to defy their district administration and the TN Department of Education. These teachers have REFUSED testing for their OWN children. Teachers are required by the state and district to administer the tests to students in their classes. However, the state and district cannot trump their parental rights to do what is best for their own children.

Why did they do it? One teacher tells why...
As a teacher, I made a decision for my own children, as their parent. I am most fortunate to be very involved in my children's education. I'm sure most parents feel the exact same way. Unless you are a teacher, you really aren't as involved as you think you are. I teach for the same system my children are educated in. I know things that I'm grateful to know, but at the same time the wind is often knocked clean out of me because of what I know. Because of what I know, I chose to opt my children out of unnecessary testing.

I chose to opt my children out of computerized testing as a means of determining intervention needs.
I opted my children out of tests that contain material they haven't been taught yet according to the curriculum maps teachers follow.
I opted my children out of tests written for the sole purpose of assisting the developers of PARCC test which will replace TCAP next school year.
I opted my children out of feelings of failure when material is placed in front of them that they haven't been exposed to yet, in the form of a test. I opted their teachers out of feelings of betrayal because that's how we feel when we do this to the children we teach.
I opted my children out of the DEA, given three times per year as a predictive measure to determine how they might perform on TCAP. The DEA is also full of skills not introduced according to the curriculum maps. Test A - 18 of 32 skills not introduced yet. Test B - 19 of 32 skills not introduced yet.
I opted my children out of the CRA which is an assessment used for the sole purpose of assisting the developers of PARCC, and is written in a form that children are not capable of being successful on.
I opted my children out the practice writing assessment for the practice writing assessment which I opted them out of too. Really? Practice for practice? Not to mention, it is computerized and children as young as 8 are expected to sit at a computer for two hours to analyze informational texts and write an essay through typing their responses. Our children do not know how to type.
I opted my children out of IStation computerized testing to determine if they have a need for intervention.
I opted my children out of all computerized programs designed to determine their needs. I chose to leave that up to their highly qualified teachers.

As a teacher, I must endure the guilt and shame I feel each time I test my students on material they haven't been yet exposed. As a parent, I will not tolerate such with my children.
- A teacher and mother in Shelby County

How did they do it?
It is simple. These brave parents simply sent letters and emails of refusal to their sons' and daughters' teachers and principals stating that they will not allow their child to take the tests. (Note the wording says "refusal" and not "opt-out" since TN does not have an "opt-out" law, yet, and the attorney general seems to be forcing parents into testing their children against their wishes by saying it is not "legal" to "opt-out")

Some states have laws and policies that allow parents to opt their children out. Tennessee does not. Yet...
There is currently a Bill in the Legislature that, if it passes, would allow parents to legally Opt-Out of testing for their children without penalties (HB 1841 / SB 2221) . The Bill's sponsor, Rep. Gloria Johnson, is also a teacher. (Unfortunately, a half a BILLION dollar fiscal note has been attached to the bill, and the bill has been rolled to the final calendar to prevent it from passing. Contact Governor Haslam if you're not happy about that. His phone # is 615-741-2001 and his email is: bill.haslam@tn.gov).

What are the repercussions of REFUSING tests?
In TN, refusing or opting a child out of the TCAP test counts as a zero on the child's final report card (state mandated 15%-25%). In some districts, this means that 10% of a child's final English grade will be a zero, and 10% of a child's final Math grade will be a zero. (Check with your local school district to find out). Despite the lower report card grades, having to keep their children at home on testing days, and having unexcused absences on their child's records, parents feel strongly enough that the tests are inappropriate for their children to REFUSE the tests for their children.
(This could work: Parents in other states have gotten around the testing by un-enrolling their children from school to "homeschool" before the mandated test and then re-enrolling them after the testing window is completed. This method works to avoid hurting the child's report card grade and attendance, but, gosh, it sure is a hassle!)

Links to Opt-Out testing websites & groups:
United Opt-Out website
United Opt-Out in Tennessee website
Stop TN Testing website
Stop TN Testing Madness facebook group
Stop TN Testing facebook page
Knox County Parents Against Testing facebook page
Williamson County Parents Concerned about Common Core & Testing facebook group

These brave teachers and parents are sending a clear message that they do not agree with the tests and that their child is more than a test score.

CRA test is CRAZY

1/20/2014

We have heard from numerous Tennessee parents since we posted about the CRA test. [The Constructed Response Assessment (CRA) is a state-mandated test made up of math word problems given to grades 3-12 in “preparation” for Common Core testing that will begin in 2015.] Here is what some parents and teachers in TN said about how the CRA has affected their children and classmates:

I would like to send out a big congratulations to the TN Dept of Education for making a bunch of elementary kids cry at school today! Today my 3rd grader was given a state test (some kind of pre-common core evaluation) she was so over whelmed by it that she broke down crying in the middle of the test. 4 of the 19 kids in her class did the same thing and only one actually finished the four question test (it took her 45 min). The test covered things they have not even talked about in class! What 3rd grader knows how to figure AREA?!?
The next day I meet with the superintendent to express my concerns and find out why this test was given in the first place. She told me that the test was optional for the district to give and this year they were only giving it once instead of 3 times like the previous year. The reasoning behind giving the test in the first place was to "introduce the students to this type of testing, since they have not experienced it before." I understood that but why my it so difficult? Teaching children how to take a test with material that they have not even been taught yet is like teaching a child to ride a bicycle by putting them on a morotcycle. It's just crazy!
I have been able to see a copy of the test my daughter took. It was insane! I let my coworkers read through it and it took them a few times reading it to even understand the questions. The questions are POORLY worded and the subject matter has not (and in some cases will not) be covered in the classroom yet.
It is obvious from seeing the test that our TN Dept of Education is trying to set our kids up for failure! No wonder they don't want parents to see these tests, because if more parents could actually see the CRAs their child is given, there would be a mass out-crying and complete OPTING OUT!!! The scary thing about the CRA is that it's a preview to the PARCC test. We need to fight this now!
My child took the CRA tests last year in 5th grade (we are in Shelby County, TN). She is an APEX level straight A student, but she came home crying. She was devastated that she had failed the 4 question math test. She had not been taught how to do fractions on a number line, but the teachers had to give the CRA anyway. Why waste valuable learning time, precious teacher hours, and scarce education dollars to stress children to the point of tears? This is so wrong! I opted my children out of all asessments and surveys this year. I feel sorry for the children whose parents can’t or won’t.

My 1st grader cries most nights about being stressed about tests at school. Both girls don’t like school most of the time. This blog post is an eye opener!

I teach first grade, and this year, we begin giving CRAs to 6 year olds. In fact, our first and second graders take their first CRAs this week. Testing is completely out of control in TN and throughout the country. Teachers have tried appealing to our counties and our state, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Parents, you have the power. We love and care about your children.. they are why we stay. But, you must stand up and take action. We will stand with you. My heart is heavy and sad for our education system and the great teachers we are losing daily. I am also looking at how long I will remain in the system.. it’s just not worth the stress. Opt out, attend Board Meetings, email the politicians, call your superintendents, vote in next year’s elections!! Bless you for speaking out. All of society will be affected, and our children’s education is at stake.

Click HERE to visit the StopTNtesting.com website to read more testimony from TN parents and teachers.

It is clear that the CRA test is an incredible waste of time and money, but, worst of all, it is cruel to our teachers and students. Which leaves us, once again, pondering these questions:

Why does the DOE demand such things from our teachers?
Why does the DOE purposely set our children up for failure?
Why does the state legislature allow this to continue?

Please, put an end to this abusive test. Tennessee parents & children are counting on you! Thank you.

What this student learned:

1/14/2014

What this student learned:

I learned that I mean nothing more to my state than a test score, and how well I perform on one of these tests will soon dictate how much my teachers get paid.
I learned that I should try and get the best teachers I can while I can. Good teachers are quitting because they are worn out and tired of being forced to comply with a direction in education that compromises their professional and educational beliefs.
I learned that this “reform” is not geared towards helping students, but rather the pockets of corporate testing companies.
I learned that I should not become a teacher because it would mean entering a career where I would not be treated as a professional, I would have to teach to a test, I would be overworked, and I would be underpaid.
I learned that I am lucky to be graduating this year because it means that I will be narrowly escaping a new education system that sucks the joy out of learning and focuses on redundant and repetitive testing that unnecessarily stresses students and teachers.

But most importantly, I learned to stand up for what I believe in and to take action against the injustices and wrong-doings.

(The above words were those of a smart high school senior in New Mexico.)

New Mexico is also experiencing the same ed reform turmoil that Tennessee is suffering. Interestingly, New Mexico's Secretary of Education, Hannah Skandera, brags that "Tennessee LOVES all this reform being forced upon us..." and we supposedly "LOVE Kevin Huffman and how he is degrading our teachers..." Skandera couldn't be more wrong (and couldn't be more underhanded in lying about TN to promote her own agenda in NM)

Some smart parents in New Mexico (who call themselves "Just Moms" in reference to Skandera's derogatory dismissal of their remarks opposing the harmful policies forced on their public schools) didn't believe that claim about Tennessee for a minute. It took just a few seconds on the internet for them to find Tennessee parents. We were happy to enlighten the New Mexico parents with links to multiple facebook pages from different groups to Remove Kevin Huffman as TN Commissioner of Education and an online petition to Remove Kevin Huffman that steadily gets signatures from people across our state as awareness grows.

Parents are smarter than you think.
Students are, too...

Click HERE to watch this smart TN student educate his school board.

Practice does NOT make perfect...

1/8/2014

We will begin this month with a practice writing assessment for a practice writing assessment in February. The practice writing assessment for the practice writing assessment which will not count towards student's grades nor count towards school/district scores will not count for anything. Get that? We are to spend the entire month of January teaching our students to take a practice writing assessment to take the actual practice writing assessment in February which is intended to be practice for the actual PARCC writing assessment NEXT year.

The students will take the practice writing assessment online. Each student is to be given two hours with at least one 15 minute break. I have five computers in my room, but I will have access to a cart of 20 laptops. Sounds good, right? Many of the laptops will only hold a charge for about an hour. What then? Many of the laptops are missing keys. Missing keys are going to be a huge problem for children who have only been exposed to a computer at school and for the most part, they are only familiar with the mouse and poking a few numbers and letters here and there. We are asking them to type an essay and they have not been exposed to typing nor should they be as their little hands are not ready! We will also be expecting them to use the split screen function, highlighting, cut/copy and paste functions. There isn't a spell check option, yet we have abandoned spelling this year to prepare for Common Core Standards to be put into place next year.

Also during the month of January, 3rd grade students will be taking the DEA which is a practice test for TCAP. This assessment is used to "predict" how they might do on TCAP. In February, 3rd grade students will be administered another CRA which is a pilot test to see how students might do on the PARCC assessment NEXT year! I have to abandon the curriculum I am supposed to teach which happens to be aligned with TCAP which my evaluation and pay will be tied to. For what? To see how my students might or might not do next year? I can tell you how they are going to do... very, very poorly! Because I have spent so much time this year practicing for tests that may or may not be administered next year.

The directions for the practice writing assessment for the practice writing assessment instruct students to write an "essay" after reading two complex texts. They are to compare and contrast and use key details from the text and they are to remember to follow the conventions of standard written English.

(Shared anonymously to protect this 3rd grade teacher in Shelby County)

Tennessee parents do not like this. Stop the incessant focus on testing. Let teachers teach, let students enjoy learning.

Legislators: Fund our schools so teachers and students have what they need to succeed.

School board members: Stop spending scarce resources on test-prep materials.

TN BOE members: Stop mandating these excessive and inappropriate tests.

Place a moratorium on testing until it is determined how Common Core will (or will not) be implemented. Otherwise, students are denied valuable instruction time just to collect data. Our children are over tested!

CHALLENGE: Tennessee parents want to see our legislators & school board members take some of these tests our children are forced to take. How about it??? Maybe a 5th grade TCAP, CRA, or pilot of the PARCC?

Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee?

1/7/2014

That is a fair and valid question raised by a group of concerned parents called, "Momma Bears." They researched and found out some really suspicious info about StudentsFirst and the way it operates.  Here is an excerpt from their article about StudentsFirst:

"As StudentsFirst pretends to support children, StudentsFirst attacks the very teachers and school environments that nurture and educate children. Through millions of dollars from corporate interests, StudentsFirst influences campaigns and laws that benefit their wealthy supporters."

"In Tennessee, StudentsFirst by far leads the pack of outside funding to influence elections and legislators.  Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee? or any state?  Because of the huuuuge profit to be reaped with public tax dollars by turning our public schools into profitable charter schools."

"Momma Bears aren't fooled. This is definitely NOT a grassroots organization. "Astroturf" is a better description. There are no healthy roots, only an expensive layer of fake green plastic that doesn't fool anyone."
Click HERE to read the entire article about StudentsFirst. Warning:

... you may be surprised at some of the facts they uncovered.

...you might be angry that this organization seeks to take control away from our locally elected school boards.

...you will be sad to see what has become of schools that followed Michelle Rhee & StudentsFirst's agenda.

Tennessee parents most certainly do NOT want the same fate for our schools.

NOTE: We see that many TN legislators, and even some local school board members, have received large campaign contributions from StudentsFirst. In fact 9 of the top 15 campaign contributions last year from StudentsFirst went to Tennessee politicians. According to the news media, StudentsFirst plans to give and spend even more this year in TN.

While we can't fault politicians for turning down free campaign funding, we wonder HOW MUCH INFLUENCE does StudentsFirst have over the people that WE cast our votes to elect to represent US? How much weight do StudentsFirst lobbyists carry when they hand legislators their professional, expensive pamphlets containing beautiful graphs of manipulated data? Are our legislators and school board members misled hearing their "buzz-words" and empty promises? Are our legislators gullible or flattered enough to vote against OUR children in favor of corporate profits?

Are we wasting our time sending these TNparent emails to those we elected? It takes quite a bit of time to collect, collaborate, edit, and send these emails and post them on our website. We do this because we believe in public education, and we believe in TN. We intend to make a difference. Tennessee parents are awake, and we will be closely watching how our legislators vote.   Tennessee parents will remember at election time, and wise leaders would do well to remember that. Our voices are strong, but our votes are stronger.
Please hear OUR voices, not their dollars.

Sincerely,
TN parents

PS - We see that some TN Board of Education members unsubscribed from our emails... Clearly Richard Rhoda and Dr. Jean Anne Rogers do not want to hear what Tennessee parents have to say. Rest assured, we get their message loud and clear.

What are we doing to our children?

1/6/2014

My son has autism, and you wouldn't believe the hoops we have had to jump through over the years. He has terrible test anxiety. When he took the PLAN test as a sophomore, they called me from school to pick him up. They said he had a petit mal seizure! He went through 8 months of scans and tests to determine no seize activity, just completely disoriented due to anxiety! He HAS to take the ACT soon, and I have worked for 18 months to get him to deal with that. Now, it's DEA testing all the time! He's tested out!

I am also a level 5 teacher with 25 years of experience, and the things that I have seen done to SPED kids in the name of testing has been appalling...but I am bound by confidentiality. School systems are listening to testing consortium rather than IEPs. The best interest of the child is lost in favor of doing whatever it takes to score well. What our system is too stupid to see is that this is an impossible task which has been placed before us. Our kids are being set up to fail so that the county will fail, and then the state will take over and farm out much in the same way correctional facilities do now. It just seems that nobody cares! TEA has been neutered, and the media and public are extremely hostile towards teachers. Common Core is being forced down our throat as are DATA walls and testing out the wazoo!

(This was posted anonymously to protect her child and her job. This teacher did not feel safe in publishing her school district, but would say that it is a small, rural district 50 miles outside of Nashville.)

All children have special needs. Excessive testing of students is robbing the joy, time, and funding from their education.

TN parents and teachers are seeing the un-piloted results of reform implementation at the classroom level:

The mismanagement...
the inappropriate and excessive testing...
teaching to the test...
the disconnect between top down mandates and classroom instruction...

...all of these things are disrupting real learning.

The plight of the learning disabled is just one example where parents and teachers should have been brought to the discussion at the beginning of the reform process. The disconnect between reform ideas and real world implementation is a canyon that seems to grow wider each day in our Tennessee public schools.

How can you, as an elected or appointed official, help improve the classroom experience of our disabled students? We are weary of the dismissive attitude of our State Board of Education on these issues. Some are saying that lawsuits are the only option, but we would much rather see the money spent on helping students instead of paying lawyers. Wouldn't you?

Effects of Common Core & excessive testing:

1/3/2014

I am a licensed clinical social worker in New York State, and have been providing psychotherapy services since 1995. I work with parents, teachers, and students from all socio-economic backgrounds representing more than 20 different school districts in Suffolk County. Almost half of my caseload consists of teachers.

In the fall of 2012, I started to receive an inordinate number of student referrals from several different school districts. A large number of honors students—mostly 8th graders—were streaming into my practice. The kids were self-mutilating—cutting themselves with sharp objects and burning themselves with cigarettes. My phone never stopped ringing.

What was prompting this increase in self-mutilating behavior? Why now?

The answer I received from every single teenager was the same. “I can’t handle the pressure. It’s too much work.”

I also started to receive more calls referring elementary school students who were refusing to go to school. They said they felt “stupid” and school was “too hard.” They were throwing tantrums, begging to stay home, and upset even to the point of vomiting.

I was also hearing from parents about kids bringing home homework that the parents didn’t understand and they couldn’t help their children to complete. I was alarmed to hear that in some cases there were no textbooks for the parents to peruse and they had no idea what their children were learning.

My teachers were reporting a startling level of anxiety and depression. For the first time, I heard the term “Common Core” and I became awakened to a new set of standards that all schools were to adhere to—standards that we now say “set the bar so high, anyone can walk right under them.”

Everyone was talking about “The Tests.” As the school year progressed and “The Tests” loomed, my patients began to report increased self-mutilating behaviors, insomnia, panic attacks, loss of appetite, depressed mood, and in one case, suicidal thoughts that resulted in a 2-week hospital stay for an adolescent.

I do not know of any formal studies that connect these symptoms directly to the Common Core, but I do not think we need to sacrifice an entire generation of children just so we can find a correlation.

The Common Core and high stakes testing create a hostile working environment for teachers, thus becoming a hostile learning environment for students. The level of anxiety I am seeing in teachers can only trickle down to the students. Everyone I see is describing a palpable level of tension in the schools.

We cannot regulate biology. Young children are simply not wired to engage in the type of critical thinking that the Common Core calls for. That would require a fully developed prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that is not fully functional until early adulthood. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for critical thinking, rational decision-making, and abstract thinking—all things the Common Core demands prematurely.

We teach children to succeed then give them pre-assessments on material they have never seen and tell them it’s okay to fail. Children are not equipped to resolve the mixed message this presents.

Last spring, a 6-year-old who encountered a multiplication sign on the NWEA first grade math exam asked the teacher what it was. The teacher was not allowed to help him and told him to “just do his best” to answer. From that point on, the student’s test performance went downhill. Not only couldn’t the student shake off the unfamiliar symbol, he also couldn’t believe his teacher wouldn’t help him.

Common Core requires children to read informational texts that are owned by a handful of corporations. Lacking any filter to distinguish good information from bad, children will readily absorb whatever text is put in front of them as gospel. So, for example, when we give children a textbook that explains the second amendment in these terms: "The people have a right to keep and bear arms in a state militia," they will look no further for clarification.

We are asking children to write critically, using emotionally charged language to “persuade” rather than inform. Lacking a functional prefrontal cortex, a child will tap into their limbic system, a set of primitive brain structures involved in basic human emotions, fear and anger being foremost. So when we are asking young children to use emotionally charged language, we are actually asking them to fuel their persuasiveness with fear and anger. They are not capable of the judgment required to temper this with reason and logic.

So we have abandoned innovative teaching and instead “teach to the tests,” the dreaded exams that had students, parents and teachers in a complete anxiety state last spring. These tests do not measure learning—what they really measure is endurance and resilience. Only a child who can sit and focus for 90 minutes can succeed. The child who can bounce back after one grueling day of testing and do it all over again the next day has an even better chance.

We are dealing with real people’s lives here. Allow me introduce you to some of them:

…an entire third grade class that spent the rest of the day sobbing after just one testing session,

…a 2nd grader who witnessed this and is now refusing to attend the 3rd grade—this 7-year-old is now being evaluated for psychotropic medication just to go to school,

…a 6-year-old who came home crying because in September of the first grade, she did not know what a vertex was,

…two 8-year-olds who opted out of the ELA exam and were publicly denied cookies when the teacher gave them to the rest of her third grade class,

…the teacher who, under duress, felt compelled to do such a thing,

…a sixth grader who once aspired to be a writer but now hates it because they “do it all day long — even in math,”

…a mother who has to leave work because her child is hysterical over his math homework and his CPA grandfather doesn’t even understand it,

…and countless other children who dread going to school, feel “stupid" and "like failures," and are now completely turned off to education.

I will conclude by adding this thought. Our country became a superpower on the backs of men and women who studied in one-room schoolhouses. I do not think it takes a great deal of technology or corporate and government involvement for kids to succeed. We need to rethink the Common Core and the associated high stakes testing and get back to the business of educating our children in a safe, healthy, and productive manner.

This was a portion of a speech by Mary Calamia, LCSW, CASAC during a New York State Assembly Education Forum in Brentwood, New York October 10, 2013

New York is one step ahead of TN with Common Core implementation. Their students took the PARCC last year and 70% failed it. Tennessee parents don't like what we see happening. Common Core has many problems, and so far, no solutions have been offered. Common Core is copyrighted and unchangeable. Parents don't have the liberty to even opt our children out of the excessive testing.

Why must we proceed with this race to the top when it is harming children and leaving so many children behind?

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Common sense reforms:

Run schools like a business? See the flaws in that theory

Teachers REFUSE testing for their own children

CRA test is CRAZY

What this student learned:

Practice does NOT make perfect...

Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee?

What are we doing to our children?

Effects of Common Core & excessive testing:

Authors:
real parents & real teachers
from TN

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real parents & real teachers
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