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."

Just when you think the madness can't get any more maddening, the TN Department of Education raises the bar: 

1) Children were forced to take TCAPs and End of Course exams soon after their communities were ravaged by storms and tornadoes. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that their scores are not going to truly reflect what these children are capable of doing. 

2) There were errors discovered on the 4th grade math TCAP test and in TCAPpractice booklets. Where there is smoke, there is fire.

3) Several parents have asked the TDOE to see copies of the TCAP tests their children took--all requests have been denied even though we have yet to find a law that prohibits us, as parents, from seeing this test. Transparency anyone? 

But wait....There's more!

4) Just yesterday, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) informed districts that they will not have the TCAP "quick scores" back in time for districts to include them in grade calculations on final report cards! The scores, by law, make up 15-25%of a child's final semester grades and teachers use the percentage of problems correct (i.e., quick scores) on the TCAP to determine the semester grades. 

We have obtained a copy of the letter the TDOE sent to the state's school district directors and, from what we can tell, the TDOE is supposedly conducting a statistical analysis (i.e., "post-equating") on the quick scores and that is why the scores will be delayed. (According to the letter, in the past they they conducted post-equating after the quick scores were released and that is why they were able to get the scores out earlier.) Even though the TDOE suggested that districts delay the release of final grades, some districts are applying for waivers from the TDOE, asking that their student's TCAP scores not be included in their grades. It remains to be seen if the TDOE will honor these requests. 

We have lots of questions for the TDOE:

• When did you decide to make this change?
• Why were districts told at the last minute about this change?
• What about the districts that don't get waivers? Are their teachers supposed to come back to work during summer vacation to complete final grades? 
• What about the districts that do get waivers? Kids all over the state stressed out, to the point of illness, over these tests. And all of a sudden, all of that stress and hard work will have been for naught!   How is this fair to our children? And what about the kids who needed those scores to increase their grades? How is this fair to them? (Don't get us wrong--we despise the requirement that TCAP scores be included in grades, but we despise the additional emotional trauma inflicted on our kids even more.)
• And what about the teachers whose job security is dependent upon these scores? How can we be assured that the scores are not purposefully being manipulated to reflect an agenda that includes undermining traditionally educated teachers (Teach for America, anyone?), closing neighborhood schools, and opening unaccountable, privately-run charter schools? (Transparency is not something the TN DOE is known for.) 
• And last, but not least, would you allow a group of independent, 3rd party statisticians, testing experts, and parents to be a part of the current "post-equating" process so we can be assured that you are not attempting to manipulate the very scores that may affect our children's grades and definitely will affect their teachers' evaluations? 

To the legislators reading this post: 
We appreciate all that you did to help protect our children, their teachers, and their schools this past legislative session. But, as you can tell, there is much more work to be done. Please keep this in mind during this campaign season and, if you are re-elected, during next year's legislative session. We are desperate for your help. We are fighting for our children the best we can, but we are battling a bureaucratic nightmare. Using test scores to judge teachers and our students is clearly wrought with errors at every turn. It's time to find a more effective, and much less emotionally traumatizing, manner of evaluation.  

From a parent in Tennessee:

I received an email from my daughters choir teacher. He has been teaching for 20 years and is an excellent CHOIR TEACHER in Tennessee. He was going to retire this year but had such a great group of 7th and 8th graders, he decided to stay. This is what he was told:

I learned I have been categorized as a “non-re-elect” teacher. The justification for this is my reading, language, math, history and science scores are low after two years of TCAP testing. They don’t show sustained growth, and based on this, I am accused of being a bad teacher. Actually, I don’t recall teaching these subjects.
 
Welcome to the Common Core Initiative which, indeed, does tell teachers how and what to teach.  Here’s the link for music educators to learn how to incorporate Common Core standards.

Common Core is NOT “just standards”.  It is part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative which includes the four assurances contained in the State Fiscal Stabalization Fund given to the states with these strings:

What does increasing teacher effectiveness really mean?  It can mean that teachers who teach English literature must incorporate math standards, math teachers must incorporate ELA standards,  and even music teachers must incorporate ELA standards….in music.  

(The above excerpt was printed with permission from The Missouri Watchdog)

Last week, 4th grade children across Tennessee complained to their parents about a question on their high-stakes TCAP test that was clearly very wrong.  What was wrong?  Well, we can't tell you exactly because we parents are never allowed to see the test, but we have good reason to believe our kids are telling us the truth based on the fact that many different students from different parts of the state, who don't even know each other, told their parents the same story about that question.  Undeniably, where there is smoke, there is fire.  

We asked some 4th grade teachers about it, and they confirmed the error (without using words, of course), but no teacher would let us use her name or even her district for fear of losing her job.  See, the high-stakes TCAP test is so secret that teachers are forbidden from discussing it.  They will lose their job if they do.  Teachers are forbidden to look at the test questions on TCAP.  Administrators know of this error, too, but filing a complaint with the state over the error is a sure-fire way to get their district in hot water for tattling.  

Even though teachers are not supposed to look at the test questions, every single 4th grade teacher in TN saw this particular test question, and in fact was required to see this question, because it was a SAMPLE question for the Math TCAP.  

The way TCAP works:
Before students begin the actual TCAP test, teachers have a script of directions to read aloud.  The teacher reads a sample test question from the test booklet, and students then go through the process of bubbling in the correct answer so they get the hang of the test.  The teacher waits as each student bubbles in an answer to the SAMPLE question, and then the teacher reads aloud the correct answer from the script.  (Last week, some bright students raised their hand and told their teacher the answer was wrong, and their teachers agreed, and told their class to bubble in the correct answer).  After that moment of questioning and confusion for students, the teachers started the timer and told students to begin the real test.  

From several students' memories, the test question was something like this:
It was a multiplication problem. Something like 4x60. The answer choices were:
F) 240
G) 160
H) 260
J) 140
The teacher read from the script that the correct answer was "G". Several kids in his class told the teacher the answer was wrong, the teacher agreed, and they all changed the answer to the correct answer: "F". (Some students also told us that the letter choices did not correspond to the A,B,C,D bubbles on their student answer sheet)

Again, we aren't really sure that our kids remember the exact question and choices after nearly 8 hours of testing last week, but all do clearly remember the teachers realizing that the test booklet, sample question, and scripted answer given were obviously wrong.

This test is high-stakes. It is an albatross around students' necks.  For students as young as 8 years old, the score is mandated by the State of TN to count as 15-25% of their report card grade.  Their score can determine whether they pass to the next grade or not.  Their score can also strangle a teacher's rating, dropping a teacher's 1-5 level through the mysterious TVAAS evaluation formula that nobody can explain.  These test scores are even used to punish and close schools.  "High-stakes" is an understatement!

Are there more errors like this on TCAP?
It is entirely possible.  We will never know if there are because the test security is so tight.  Parents and teachers never get to see the questions or correct answers.

What if there are errors?
Maybe the Pearson Corporation will come clean and tell us.  (If you believe that, TN Parents would like to sell you some stock in our new Gullible Company.)  The fact is, Pearson has had many, many, many problems with its testing in the U.S.A.  It is in the best interest for Pearson to keep their test security tight, to prevent parents from seeing the questions, and to require teachers & administrators to sign gag-orders preventing any discussion over the test.  Teachers have also told TN Parents about the many errors in Pearson's textbooks and test prep workbooks.  For the millions of American tax dollars we pay Pearson, our students should be getting error-free learning products and assessments.  

Wouldn't PARCC test be better?
Um, hello??? Pearson does the PARCC test, too!  That's like buying a different flavor potato chip.  Same company, same potatoes, same quality control, same profit motive for their company.  Besides, the reports from other states that gave the PARCC test this school year are horrendous.  They tell of vague, confusing PARCC questions with no legitimate answer choices... frustrated students, even the brightest, advanced students in the class who weren't able to finish and who shed tears of frustration...  and they mention many questions that contain advertising for brand-name products such as Nike, Apple iPod, Mug Root Beer, LEGO, and IBM.  These tests and test-prep products have become a Common Core Cash Cow for Pearson, with Pearson owning the only ranch in town.

Politicians: many of you insist that we must hold teachers "accountable".  Why don't you hold Pearson "accountable"?  

*The $40-50 million that TN spent on TCAP expenses last year would have given teachers that 2% raise they were promised and deserve.  The $150 million spent on testing in TN could have hired more teachers, which would truly help our children succeed more than any test ever will.

The Elephant/Donkey in the Room:
Why does the British corporation, Pearson, have so much power and control over our American education system and over our children?
ANSWER: $$$ to political campaigns; $$$ to lobbyists; $$$ to faux-student organizations; lavish trips for politicians and education leaders to exotic places such as Brazil, London, Singapore, and Finland; and the best tax attorneys money can buy to keep it all above-the-law.

Dear Gov. Haslam,

I am writing to let you know that my fourth-grader will not be taking the TCAP test. This is unfortunate for her school because she scores in the advanced range every time.
Auria is in fourth grade at Northfield elementary in Murfreesboro, TN. This is our fourth year at this school, and between her and her sister, I have fallen in love with numerous teachers there. Murfreesboro has the best school system in the state (according to Google), and I have been highly impressed with the people and their level of care for my children.

Third grade changed, though. My highly-intelligent, confident kid became a wreck - early in the year - over the pressure associated with the TCAP. I was confused, as I took the TCAP every year as a child and have nothing but fond memories of bubbling in the little circles. I started to notice the growing intensity leading up to the test, and I became a little disgusted. That was last year. This year it was worse. The teachers I have had the pleasure of working with are so wound up that I feel sorry for them. The teachers, the staff, the administration...everybody.

These are obviously brilliant and creative people, and this test has taken over like a life-sucking monster. Teaching isn't an exact science, just like parenting. Every child is different, and this terrible system is stifling all the joy and creativity that is required to really make an impact. 

Now, if I love this school and staff so much, and I know her test scores would attribute to an average boost ($$$), why would I pull her from this?  She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. These teachers are already being grossly underpaid for such an important role.
 "Pearson is America's largest corporate maker of standardized testing. It has a multiyear contract with our Department of Education: For creating and implementing the TCAP and the end-of-course tests for high schoolers, we pay more than $150 million.  (That's three times what it would have cost to give Tennessee teachers a 2 percent raise.)  The deepest cut of all? Teachers aren't able to preview the test. They are neither editor nor author of the single most influential test of the whole year. It's the educational equivalent of a slap in the face." 
- David Cook (Times Free Press)

Auria can already make better decisions than this.

My child's job is to learn. The teacher's job is to teach. But my role as her parent is more complicated. I also have to teach her when standing up for something is necessary. This system is stupid and unfair. She will be accepting a 0 as 15% of her grade for the year. But she will also be standing up for teachers and students all over the state. She will be taking steps toward bettering her future right now, and I think that's better than just a memory of all those bubbles.

Thank you for your time reviewing this matter,

Alicia Maynard
Murfreesboro, TN

The above letter has been shared on Facebook over 1,140 times in the past 48 hours.  Here are some of the many comments on it:

• Amen!
• As a teacher in metro, I love you!
• Wow! Seems I'm not alone about my TCAP feelings! Kuddos to this mom!!!
• The pressure for students, teachers, and parents is so unfair. It makes me so sad.
• This is so beautiful. It's a must read for all parents and students.
• Maybe more parents should jump on this bandwagon!!! I would love to shake her hand and meet her in person!
• Incredible parent and letter! Hope someone listens! Something to think about where we are heading for the future of education for the little ones. Lets put Common Sense back in Education and worry bout the little ones not which pocket is getting thicker!!!!
• How many letters like this will it take to change things?
• Simply the truth. I am forbidden by law from seeing, asking or being told what is on the test my kids take. Ever. We never see the old tests. We cannot challenge bad questions...and trust me, the practice tests have bad questions. Parents can also never see the tests. Just try and ask, even after it is given. I have yet to have a teacher's edition grammar book that did not have a wrong answer or horribly confusing practices. It happens, but now who is double checking? My kids will do well...they always do me proud in a pinch, but this is beyond ridiculous. Pearson controls education in Tennessee. Get over the outrage over the feds/Common Core (for now) and ask why in the Hell a private company gets to determine kids' grades and teachers' fates with ZERO oversight.
• May do this next year. Zac is flipped out about TCAP.
• This sums up my feelings on standardized testing word for word!!!!!!!
• I love how you just stand up for things that are unjust without ANY hesitation and I respect the heck out of that! TCAP tests and the like are the reasons why I did not complete my certification as a secondary educator. It's an unfair system that pigeon-holes children into measurable data. You, Alicia Maynard, are a beautiful soul and a wonderful mother. Thank you for standing up for teachers and for teaching your children to stand up for their generation of learners.
• I applaud this mother and think it would be awesome to boycott this stupid standardized testing

This issue is not going away.  This movement will to continue to grow in TN, as it has in other states as parents realize that their children are being needlessly and expensively over-tested.

Common Core and the inseparable requirements of the Race to the Top contract require even MORE testing, including benchmark tests and probably the PARCC (which is a much more difficult, time-consuming, and stressful test than TCAP is).


Legislators:  Parents need a law that gives us the legal option to protect our children by Opting-Out of standardized tests.  Other states have this law.  Tennessee needs it, too.  Parents should be able to decide what is best for our children.  Private school and home-school students don't have to take these tests, so why are our public school children forced to do them?

School Board members & Superintendents:  Some districts in TN (like Metro Nashville) allow parents to refuse standardized tests for their children without penalizing the child, teacher, or school.  Even though TN does not yet have an Opt-Out law, the state, at this time, allows districts to decide without penalty (See this document and see how the Metro Nashville School District handles parents who wish to refuse testing for their children).  Locally elected school boards have the authority to set policies regarding testing and the rights of parents to refuse these tests for their children.  Please, listen to the parents.  

Parents know what is best for their children.  We know better than the Pearson corporation, better than the government, and better than any standardized test ever created.  We trust our children's teachers to fairly assess our children's progress.  

My son is taking a computer class.  While they are taking tests, he is not able to have class.  They have to use the computers in his classroom to take the writing assessment.  That said, he has not had class this week and looks like next week also.  11th grade writing assessment this week.  9th or 10th next week.  So he could miss three weeks of his computer class.
- A Mom in Shelby County, TN
 
The writing assessment lasted 3 ½ hours and we finished 5 minutes before lunch.   Some kids didn't even get to eat. We had 60 minutes to read each prompt and write an essay on it, and there were two prompts. The first prompt was about 7 pages long and there was way too much information and too many names to remember. I didn't get to finish typing because we were supposed to write about two of the central ideas and explain how the author goes into detail about them. But the entire first prompt was repeating the same thing over and over again. So it was pointless reading most of it. All of our computers froze up at one point so that wasted about 5 minutes. The second prompt had absolutely no information and was very hard to write about and I only finished about three paragraphs on it. After the three and a half hours everybody was brain dead and during lunch most juniors laid their heads down. And because we still had two more class periods that were an hour and a half each, everybody was exhausted and we still had to work. In math something that I could have usually done in thirty minutes took me the entire class and I still have to do it for homework.
- a junior at a Chattanooga High School

I live in TN and tried to opt my son out of the writing assessment test being given to 5th, 8th and 11th graders. He is in the 11th grade.  He called this morning and said that they would make him leave school if he didn't take it. I talked to him and had prayed about it. I told him to take it and to answer honestly and if anything violated his beliefs or convictions then he didn't have to answer or if given the choice to give his opinion. He called back after the test and told me it was horrible. They were supposed to write essays based on some statements and questions. He said one statement said "Explain the futility of happiness." He said that he wrote happiness is not futile. I have happiness. He said I know what you are trying to accomplish. Are you going to retaliate at me and others because we know what you are doing? He said another statement said something to the effect that a person can really only achieve 40% of happiness. He wrote the Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness, not just 40%. He said again I am completely happy. He tried to write down some of the questions but the teacher there said that he'd loose his job if that happened. I told my son to write as many notes as he could remember. He already has information relating to Hitler and how he changed text books and went after the kids through school. He is so upset now. He is putting together a speech for our next school board meeting in March but I want him sharing it everywhere. I told him to send it to state and government Representative, to our Governor and anyone else we can think of.
- a Mom in Sevier County, TN
 

Every day, more and more parents in TN are realizing that our children are being abused with testing.  Please stop this incessant focus on testing!  This is unacceptable.

Note:  Tennessee parents are not opposed to all tests.  We are opposed to the standardized high-stakes testing that are excessive, expensive, and used to hurt our children's teachers.

Click HERE to read a testing Resolution adopted by Shelby County Council PTA and schools in their district.  
  

Huffman admits TCAP is not strong:

On September 20, 2013, during a Senate Education Committee hearing on Common Core, TN Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman made a statement that we believe should have been plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the state:

"But TCAP, I think most educators would say is inherently not a very strong test, not as strong as what we're aspiring to do because, ya know, it's a multiple choice test and, um, it doesn't have significant critical thinking or problem solving..."  (Go to this link and forward to 57:50 to hear this quote for yourself.)

So, let us get this straight:

Children are:

• being denied valuable classroom instruction,
• experiencing undue anxiety and stress,
• and receiving little-if any recess time

so they can prepare to take a test that is "not very strong"?

• and teacher job security and licensure depends upon student performance on this very same test?

A test that, by our Commissioner's own admission, does not contain "significant critical thinking or problem solving."

Parents, teachers, and students have known for years that the TCAP is not a "strong test," nor does it accurately predict a child's ability to think critically or problem solve.  Clearly, Mr. Huffman is aware of the limitations of TCAP as well.  Which begs the questions:

1. Why did Mr. Huffman and the Department of Education, in spite of this knowledge, continue to create and endorse misguided policies based on this test?
2. Why does the DOE state that parents must allow children to take the TCAP when it is clearly is not a "strong test"?
3. And why, now that Mr. Huffman has admitted the weaknesses of this test, are we giving the TCAP this school year - especially since the TCAP does not test the Common Core standards that our children are currently being taught?

California recently axed their state standardized test for this school year.  Let's follow in their footsteps and scrap the TCAP!

(This was reposted from www.StopTnTesting.com, an organized, committed, and growing group of Tennessee parents advocating for their children and against high-stakes standardized testing).
 

Huffman claims that PARCC will be better than TCAP, but New York's experience with PARCC last year tells quite a different story:

The PARCC test was given to students in New York state last school year and 70% of students failed the PARCC and are now required to take double math and English courses instead of band, chorus, art, or elective classes.  Parents in New York are outraged!

... but they are not outraged at their children for failing the PAARCC,

... and they are certainly not outraged at teachers,

Parents are angry at the STATE of New York for giving the inappropriate test.

And they are angry at PEARSON Publishing, too, who was paid millions of their tax dollars for the PARCC test.  Even more outrageous, Pearson included brand name products embedded in the PARCC test questions!

In fact, NY parents are so upset that tens of thousands of them have opted their children out of state testing, even if it hurts their child's grades.  (Click HERE to read about the powerful nationwide opt-out movement). 
 

According to the Truth in American Education website,

These States have pulled out of Common Core testing:

• Utah (Smarter Balanced)
• Oklahoma (PARCC)
• Georgia (PARCC)
• Alabama (Smarter Balanced & PARCC - they were an advisory state)
• Indiana (PARCC)
• Kansas (Smarter Balanced)
• Pennsylvania (Smarter Balanced & PARCC)
• Alaska (Smarter Balanced)

States Actively Considering Withdrawing:

• Michigan (Smarter Balanced)
• Kentucky (PARCC)
• North Carolina (Smarter Balanced)
• Iowa (Smarter Balanced)

States that never joined:

• Virginia
• Texas
• Nebraska
• Minnesota

According to the Hechinger Report, PARCC is even MORE expensive than TCAP: 

                          TCAP cost for TN = $20 million
                  PARCC will cost TN = $21-$25 million

...PLUS the cost of TECHNOLOGY and internet capabilities that our schools do not currently have to administer the tests.

...PLUS the cost to train teachers & administrators on the testing technology and also hire technology specialists to keep district computers updated.

...PLUS we will STILL have to pay for TCAP testing for Science & Social Studies because PARCC only tests English & Math!


Legislators:  Please do not make a mistake forcing an unproven test on our children that is an expensive, unfunded mandate to our districts.  Vote to delay or completely pull out of the PARCC testing for our children, like the smart States listed above have wisely done.