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Taking Action Against Using TNReady Data for Teacher Evals

11/30/2015

 
Knoxville School Board is working on the following Resolution against using TNReady Data for teacher evaluations.  Other school board members across the state have heard through the grapevine about this Resolution and are bringing it before their local boards to adopt it, too.  TN Parents are happy to continue passing this information along the grapevine with the hopes that it may bear fruit and light a fire under the pants of elected officials.

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Parents & Teachers:  Please send this to the school board members in your district and push them to adopt it.  

School board members: Please consider adopting this powerful Resolution, as it will send a clear message to the Capitol that legislators must fix the problem they created by passing laws to mandate testing and forcing districts to use student test scores to evaluate teacher evaluations.

Legislators: Please revoke the awful law that forces districts to evaluate teachers using student test scores.  It has created a toxic high-stakes test-driven environment that is not healthy for students and has driven quality educators out of our children's classrooms.


Click HERE for a printable pdf of the Resolution.
Click HERE for the documentation to support the Resolution.

TCAP Problems

5/7/2015

 
After turning in my booklets, AP says come here, I need you to sit with her while she finishes. Who, you say? Goes and gets little 3rd grader on the bed in the clinic because she had to leave her class to puke her guts out with fever and crying, puts us in a tiny closet-sized room, scoots a trash can over and says here in case you get sick again, tells her to finish up so she can go home. She wept all doubled over the whole time crying and snotting on everything. Poor baby.

- A public school teacher in Shelby County, TN 4/30/15

T came to my class after he had been kicked out of every other class in his grade. He told me that he used to love school in 3rd grade but then his teachers stopped doing history, his favorite subject, in favor of math and reading skills for TCAP. He told me he was acting out because "I'm a no-good piece of crud who can't pass TCAP". This is T now, who I have arranged to be my historian intern, doing independent research on primary sources on a segregation-era private park for African Americans that once occuppied the land where our school now stands. College and career ready DESPITE TCAP.

- from a teacher in Metro Nashville School District, 2015
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When I think of the TCAP test I gave this week, it makes me angry all over again. I tested several ELL students, two of whom I either had to mime what to do or have another student translate directions for me. God bless them! Those two didn't have to do the reading/language arts portion, but they did have to do science and math and will have to do social studies online next week. I read aloud the science and math but not the ELA portion, because, you know, we want to make them feel totally inadequate (my opinion). If they can't read well enough to do ELA, what makes us think they can read enough to do math and science, even with a teacher reading aloud?

I had to report an irregularity because one boy, new to us from Myanmar, kept going to the next math section when he wasn't supposed to because he saw the other students checking over their work and thought he was supposed to keep working, too. At least that's what I think he must have thought.

Can you imagine sitting down to take a test on what you know, but the test is written in Russian? Then being told you scored very low and must work hard to catch up? You're not stupid, but you're not Russian, either.

My other ELL students in the room worked very hard, but they also had problems that I, of course, could do nothing about. I'll give you an example. One boy, from Kurdistan, called me over during the ELA portion and asked if there was a mistake on his test. I looked at it. The word was 's'mores.' What the heck? I'm pretty sure they don't have s'mores in Kurdistan. Plus, since he's been here, we've been telling him that we put apostrophe 's' AFTER a word. Of course he was confused. And I couldn't help him other than to say it wasn't a mistake. I'm still furious about it. This was the ELSA test, *designed* for ELL students. How out of touch are we?

Sorry for the rant. It just really works my last nerve that we, as teachers, work so hard all year to help our students, and then they are misled and made to feel inadequate after making so much real life progress simply because one test is unfair and unrealistic. It is wrong and it needs to be fixed.

When you consider our standardized test scores, it's important to remember that Nashville- with a thriving immigrant and refugee population- serves the largest percentage of English Language Learners in the state. What are we doing to these poor children?


- a teacher in Metro Nashville, 2015

If you haven't seen this, you should:
American students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap, how often kids are expected to throw up.

High-stakes tests have created high-stakes classrooms in Tennessee. Evaluating teachers using the high-stakes standardized testing of human children is a wrong that needs to be stopped.  Please, speak up and stop this madness!

Invitation to the Testing Insanity

4/28/2015

 
TN Parents invite all lawmakers, those involved in making public school policy, and all supporters of public education to participate in the TCAP testing season by volunteering as testing proctors at their local schools.

You should participate in the education laws and policies put in place for the public school students in the state of Tennessee. TN Parents feel being in a classroom during testing can help you better understand how testing takes place and how children participate in the process. Come see your laws in action. 
 
Right now your local schools are looking for TCAP proctors. Many parent and community volunteers are needed for our schools during TCAP assessments which will take place this week. During this time proctors are needed to help teachers monitor student test taking during the day. As a TCAP volunteer you will be asked to watch the children while they are being tested. A classroom teacher will also be in the room.

Volunteers will be asked to be available for monitoring over a 2 1/2 hour period which will include a required power point online training prior to the testing. Monitors are asked to be there when the schools open. The opening time for each school varies. Please feel free to volunteer for one day or several days. Your commitment and support is greatly appreciated! This week is what is known as crunch time for teachers and students.  After at least a month of test prep, and an entire school year of practice tests, it is time for students to take the real test.

We would appreciate your participation.


Words from a Metro Nashville School Mom who volunteers in her children's schools:
I just proctored an English-Language Arts TCAP test for some special education, middle school students. A teacher read the test to the children. The test was almost 3 1/2 hours long--with a short 10 minute break. I saw children who were panicked, confused, detached, exhausted, and disheartened. I can guarantee that these children were not able to demonstrate their knowledge on this test. Those who support the use of TCAP to assess student learning and teacher effectiveness are either unaware or lacking in human emotion. There is nothing I can do to change those who lack empathy. But I can work on changing the opinions of those who are naive. I am Facebook friends with several elected officials. I want to ask each of you to go to one of your neighborhood schools tomorrow or Thursday and proctor the TCAP for special education or EL students. Please take a bit of your time to witness what our state is inflicting on our most vulnerable children.

Actual image from TCAP proctor training:
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One teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her job, wrote this on a state survey and posted it to a closed website of teachers.  With her permission, we are sharing it with our readers because this message needs to be heard:
Standardized testing prep has monopolized the majority of my classroom instructional time.This has not just been in the past couple of months. This is since August. Whether it be Discovery Assessments or state end of the year testing, we are constantly looking at some sort of test data, preparing for the next test, or actually taking the test. The students are over tested and by the time the "real" state test comes they are simply too tired, they don't care anymore, or they're too terrified to perform.

We as educators are cramming information into our students' little heads because test scores are our livelihood and now will be our PAYCHECK. Teachers are beginning not to care whether or not the children retain the information, as long as they know it for the test. This is not what school is. This is not what learning is supposed to be. We have lost our way in education and we are not performing with the rest of the world. However, if you look at the rest of the world in comparison with what we are doing; they are POLAR OPPOSITE. The over-testing has got to stop.

Come to a school and ask students the last time they had recess, painted a picture, made a sculpture, created a diorama, did a silly dance, or giggled with their friends while socializing in the cafeteria. Our children are growing up to become violent criminals who don't care about society or its consequences. Perhaps if we transform school back to what it used to be (a caring, loving environment that encourages students to dream and think and love school), these kids will think before they act. They will have learned something from their teachers other than how to bubble in an answer choice and use process of elimination. Please, help! It's not too late to fix this. Thank you.

Why TN Parents think it is important that you Proctor:

Desperate for higher scores, some schools are offering bribes for students to do well on the TCAP...  The top scoring students can win bicycles, DVD players, ipods, ice cream, and fast food lunches.  At least one school in TN is giving away $200 cash to the top score in the school.  A  charter school in the state even shames students by making them wear different colored shirts based on their test scores.

This is sad.  This is wrong.  Please, stop this testing insanity!

TDOE says only 100 students are "perfect"

3/18/2015

 
Have you heard of a student in your district that was one of the 100 students who scored a perfect score on the 2013-14 TCAP Writing Assessment?  Local papers have covered the feel-good stories of these perfect-scoring children.  Click HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE to see some of the publicity.

Not to discredit the 100 students, but why are there only 100?

Why not 99? or 101?  or 297?  or 5,999?

Out of the thousands and thousands of students across the state that took this test, only 100 were rated "perfect."

Only 100.  That number is just too "perfect" to be an accident.

There is a rubric for scoring these tests (which are scored by people found on Craigslist, which is a whole different problem that needs to be addressed).  Nowhere in this document does it say there will only be 100 perfect scores. 

By thinking critically, one might think the TDOE intentionally manipulated the scores on the TCAP Writing Test so that a nice, round 100 would receive the top rating.  Could it be?

At any rate, the TDOE is using these 100 "perfect" students as their living advertisements to convince the public that these tests are worthwhile.  Each "perfect" student receives a special certificate signed by Governor Haslam and Commissioner Candice McQueen (who was not Commissioner when these children actually took the test in February 2014).  

It is brilliant marketing... Creating an elite 100 encourages local newspapers and school districts to proudly show their "perfect" student they produced.  It gives power to this test, too.   

Not only that, those 100 students are now using their perfect writing skills to write essays for TDOE to be used on the TDOE Classroom Chronicles blog (Click HERE and HERE to read some of those perfect students' blogs.)

This manipulation is wrong on many levels.

First, if there are only to be 100 perfect scores, then it really doesn't matter if every student in the state writes an essay worthy of a Nobel Laureate award because only 100 will get the top score. 

Second, is it acceptable for the state to use children to promote a test created by a private company?


The TDOE website says, "The rubrics used to score the 2015 test will remain the same as the 2014 TCAP Writing Assessment."  Does that mean there will be 100 perfect scores next year, too?

How can we possibly be "fastest improving state in the nation" if only 100 can make it to the top?

Teachers and parents are realizing this TCAP writing test has major problems, including:
  • technology glitches, slow internet, lost essays, etc.
  • a confusing MIST platform students must use to write an essay in a tiny little text box the size of a cell phone screen while tabbing between two different articles they must read
  • a significant amount of time must be spent training students on how to use this cumbersome MIST format that they will never use for any other purpose.  It is not like Microsoft Word for PCs, Pages for Apple, or Open Office word processing.
  • the amount of money wasted on this test that could be spent on other needed things for schools.
  • Last year, this test was called the "PARCC Writing Assessment".  This year it is called the "TCAP Writing Assessment".  Very little has changed except for the name.  Wait, didn't the TN Legislature vote to get out of PARCC last year?  Then why are our children still taking this test?
  • This test was administered over the entire month of February.  This tied up computer labs that should be used for technology classes, as well as disrupted class schedules for students.
  • Children are required to type to complete the test.  There is little, if any, formal typing instruction in elementary or middle school.  How are test results not going to be skewed based on typing skills?  How is it really a measure of academic ability?
  • Kids in homes without internet access or computers do not get the exposure to technology to be able to practice typing.  How does this writing (typing) test not add to the performance gap due to lack of access to technology for those students in poverty?

TN Parents question the validity of this test and all state tests.  We wonder if the scores are intentionally manipulated like this for the other tests, too?  Since last year's TCAP results were delayed because the TDOE manipulated the cut scores and aligned test questions, we have reason to believe that the scores set up a predetermined number of students to be advanced, proficient, and failures. 

We may not have millions of dollars like the Chamber of Commerce to issue a fancy report from a biased think tank, but TN Parents give the TDOE a 
big fat F for "Truth in Advertising." 

Wake up!  Federal Secretary of Education to "phase out the authority of the States"

11/25/2014

 
The heavy-handedness of the Federal Government to control States and take away the constitutional authority of the States is getting worse.  Through waivers for No Child Left Behind (which some affectionately call "No Testing Company Left Behind") and Race To The Top (that states were bribed into agreeing to for money that is long gone), the Federal Government is clearly bullying the States, especially Tennessee.  

But it is about to get worse.  The Federal Department of Education doesn't even pretend to hide the fact any longer.  Take a look at this new rule from Arne Duncan, the appointed U.S. Secretary of Education.  It specifically says their intention is to "phase out the authority of States" in regards to modifying the standards and the testing of disadvantaged students.  For a limited period of time, they will graciously allow certain States to have a transition period to comply with their new mandate.  

How can this be legal?  The General Education Provisions Act, the Department of Education Organization Act, the 10th Amendment, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act, ban the Federal Department of Education from directing, supervising, or controlling elementary and secondary school curriculum, programs of instruction, and instructional materials.  But they are doing it anyway...

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Arne Duncan has not been quiet about the fact that he intends to force every child to take the same standardized tests, regardless if those children have disabilities, handicaps, are developmentally delayed, sick, dying, or whether their parent wants to refuse testing for their child or not.  Arne Duncan is very loyal and devoted to the tests (and testing companies).  

Without exception, all children will suffer under hours and hours of standardized tests.  These tests are not diagnostic, even though they cost a LOT of money.  Parents and teachers never see the test questions or actual results.  The scores aren't returned until the following school year.  These scores are statistically manipulated to push a PR agenda that is used to control education policy.  And, now, states will have even less control over these tests.  Testing is no longer a tool for teachers to use, it is a tool for those in power to manipulate our public education system.  Testing has become a weapon. 

This should make parents in every state boiling mad!  This should make homeschooling parents fearful.  This should make local school board members furious!  This should make our elected State legislators livid!  We must demand a stop to this top-down bullying and control!  Arne Duncan does not know what is best for our children in Tennessee.  Tennessee's authority over educating our children is being stolen from us.

12,000 young students saved from unnecessary test in Knox County

11/4/2014

 
The Knox County school board voted on Monday night to discontinue giving the state's SAT-10 test to their Kindergarten through 2nd graders.  This test is not a mandated test, even though the cost of it is paid for by the state (yes, it is still our tax dollars paying for it).

Over-testing is an issue that parents and teachers are deeply concerned about for many reasons:
  • The TIME spent testing takes away from meaningful learning time.  
  • The COST of these tests mean other important things are cut like staff, extra-curricular sports, music, art, etc.  (Did you know that Chattanooga schools do not even have Art teachers?  Their parent organizations must raise funds every year to hire real Art teachers and purchase art supplies!)
  • The INAPPROPRIATENESS of these tests, especially for young children.  Developmentally, children younger than 3rd grade should not be standardized tested.  
    • According to the National Association for the Education of Young Child, the odds that a test at the kindergarten level will give inaccurate results are about 50/50 — the same odds as flipping a coin. 
    • Relying on standardized tests to make important decisions about a young child’s education violates professional standards and National Academy of Sciences recommendations.
    • Academic pressure in kindergarten has not produced better results. On the contrary, experts believe it contributes to failure, retention, and behavior problems. (Sources: Alliance for Childhood, NAEYC)
  • The SAT-10 test is NOT ALIGNED with the curriculum or standards in Tennessee, according to Dr. Kathleen Airhart, TN's Deputy Commissioner of Education.  In fact, the SAT-10 test has only a 75% alignment with the curriculum as presented in a presentation to the Knox County Board of Education.  As a parent logically points out:
    • "Would 75% alignment with curriculum be acceptable for End-of-Course (EOC) assessments and Advanced Placement (AP) exams? Those criterion-referenced tests currently in use were written with course content in mind. What would be the reaction from high school students (and their parents) if those tests were replaced by assessments that were only generally aligned to the curriculum? Would they be willing to risk grade-point averages and scores for college applications on assessments that were only aligned to 3/4 of the curriculum studied? If such jeopardy is unacceptable in high school, what makes it more acceptable in the primary grades, especially when the main purpose is to evaluate teacher effectiveness?"
  • Testing is used to HURT our children's teachers on their evaluations. Low scoring children who are having a bad day, sick, upset about their lost puppy, who didn't eat breakfast, whose parents were fighting into the night, who got lucky last year and scored unusually high... all of those factors are out of the teacher's control, but she is unfairly judged by them.  This is not fair and it is wrong.  That burden should never be on our children's shoulders.
  • Testing is used to HURT our public schools, by using the low-scoring schools in high-poverty areas as an excuse for charter chains to take over public schools.  This is wrong.  Public schools belong to the public.  Citizens elect school board members to govern their community's schools.  This sacred trust should not be given to profit-seeking investors.

What is the SAT-10 used for?  
A parent who spoke during public comments at the Knox County School asked that very valid question.  She was told that it gives the schools and the district "summative, systemic data."  But the parent then questioned what the SAT-10 gives the schools that the STAR and AIMSweb assessments don’t. One of the answers she received was that it gives a "summative look at the curriculum."  But she then asked, "Why don’t we just ask our teachers how the curriculum is?  Wouldn’t they know the answer to that?  Wouldn’t a teacher be able to see what isn’t working in their classrooms?"  Her logic continued, "Our universal screeners that we are required to do by the state (which are STAR and AIMSweb in Knox County) are given three times a year, and these screeners are more summative than the SAT-10 given once a year, I just need to ask, WHY???"



WHY are districts giving this test???  Use your critical thinking skills.  TN Parents wonder whose bread is getting buttered to get the lucrative state contract for this unnecessary test.

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

 

"No, thank you, Mr. Haslam" - TN teachers aren't fooled

8/26/2014

 
The following was originally published at www.tnedreport.com.  Reprinted and shared with the kind permission of its author.  

NO THANK YOU, MR. HASLAM
by Andy Spears

On August 14th, Governor Bill Haslam sent a “Welcome Back” letter to teachers across the state. In the letter, he thanked teachers for their hard work in helping Tennessee improve its student achievement scores. He said he appreciated what they did for Tennessee students every day.

Apparently, some teachers haven’t forgotten that this is the same Bill Haslam who promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in the nation in teacher pay in October of 2013 and included a teacher pay raise in his 2014 budget address … only to break that promise in April.

Some teachers sent responses directly back to Haslam. And some of those same teachers sent their responses to TN Ed Report under the condition we keep their names anonymous.  Here are some of the responses we received:

Teacher Response #1:

I appreciate your attempt to understand the inner workings of a classroom and appreciate your words of appreciation for those of us who chose to serve others through teaching. However, I am highly disappointed at the turn of events in which you announced that teachers would not receive pay raises. We already make much less than other TN State employees and much less than teachers of other states.

It is easy to make promises and to break them:
http://tnreport.com/2013/10/04/raising-teacher-pay-a-top-budget-concern-for-haslam-administration/   

I am personally insulted in your lack of support for the teaching profession. My colleagues and I work hard for the families we serve. A normal day for most of us is  7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Though we are only paid to work 8:00 until 3:15, our jobs cannot be completed in those hours. Many times we take student work home with us and are constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching on our own time.

Teachers are generally told “no one teaches for the money”. TRUE, but teachers never expected to be put on the “budget cutting” chopping block each time raises are considered. We feel betrayed with popular campaign promises and rhetoric.

In closing, make no mistake that our hard work is not completed for you or any elected official. Our hard work is for the children we PROMISED to educate when we accepted our jobs. Your letter of appreciation proves that WE have not failed those who have put their trust
in us, including you.



Teacher Response #2

Please tell the PR firm that suggested you send these letters that we teachers are well educated and therefore insulted that they would believe a letter full of empty words could ever make up for what you and your administration have done and are doing to ensure the destruction of public education in Tennessee.

Teaching is more than a job to me. Teaching is my calling. I sincerely love all of my students and work tirelessly for them. I most often work six full days a week to ensure that they have exactly what they need to succeed. I spend hundreds sometimes more than a thousand dollars of my own limited income every year to make sure that their needs are met. I was always proud to be a teacher but, not so much these days. Mostly these days my heart aches for my children. I spend many hours crying for them. Your administration has stripped our classrooms of all joy. Teacher morale is low because we are working in hostile conditions.

Finally, please keep your empty words. This letter is too little, too late.



Teacher Response #3

I am in receipt of your letter of August 14, 2014.
 
I appreciate the welcome back to school. And it is nice to hear the words “thank you.”
 
In your letter, you note that Tennessee is the fastest improving state in the nation in terms of student achievement. You attribute this success directly to teachers.
 
I seem to remember that in October of 2013, you also promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in teacher pay — an acknowledgement of the hard work so many Tennessee teachers are doing every single day.
 
Your budget, proposed in early 2014, also indicated at least a nominal raise for teachers was forthcoming.
 
Then, in April, you abandoned that promise.  When the state revenue picture changed, the budget was balanced on the backs of teachers. Not only did your new budget take away promised raises for teachers, but it also reduced BEP funding coming to school districts. Now, teachers are being asked to do more with less.  And students suffer.
 
Your words ring hollow when your actions make it clear that teachers don’t matter. That our schools can wait just one more year for the resources students need to succeed.
 
As for your “thank you” for the work I do, I’d note that I can’t send it to the bank to pay my mortgage. A thank you isn’t going to fix my car when it needs repair. When the price of groceries goes up, I can’t simply use your thank you letter to cover the increase. And when my health insurance premium inevitably rises in January, your letter won’t put money back in my paycheck to cover the cost.
 
The raise you promised but failed to deliver would have helped with all of these things. But your letter does nothing but remind me that you say nice words and shortchange our schools.
 
In my classroom, I place a high value on integrity. That means doing what you say you’re going to do. On that scale, sir, you rate an F.



We received copies of other responses that mentioned the poor communication style of Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman and the loss of collective bargaining rights. While teachers may not have a viable alternative to Haslam on the ballot in November, those sending us copies of their responses made it clear they won’t be supporting Haslam.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow@TNEdReport

TN Parents thought legislators, Superintendents, School Board members, parents, and the Governor should read these important letters.  We are grateful to TN Education Report for allowing us to share it with our followers.

Teachers' working conditions are children's learning conditions. We want happy, respected, and fairly compensated teachers for our children. Teachers deserve better than this.  


Why did Commissioner Huffman embargo TCAP results? 

7/17/2014

 
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.
 Why?  
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.
 

TVAAS Quandary: What's an excellent teacher to do?

7/3/2014

 
from a TN teacher:

Some TVAAS information I feel compelled to share follows. But first, repeat after me: "I love my students, I love teaching, and I'm good at it." We have to keep focused on the important things during these crazy times in education!

Last summer I did quite a bit of research about TVAAS, & here's what I learned:

I teach 4th & 5th pull-out ESL, so I share Reading instructional time when TVAAS matching rolls around in the Spring. Students are pulled out of their regular classes to attend ESL for about an hour a day. Since my students are pulled out at various times, the percentage of instructional time I claim for each student varies. For example, if a student attends one hour of daily Reading time in his/her classroom and one hour Reading time with me, the classroom teacher and I split instructional percentage & we each claim 50%.

In order for a teacher to have an individual TVAAS score (I'm talking about 4th & 5th grade now) the teacher must have the equivalent of 6 full-time students in the subject they teach in the same grade for a minimum of 150 instructional days. So if I have 20 4th graders and I claim 50% of their Reading instructional time I multiply 20 students times 50% which equals 10 students. I met the minimum of 6 students in the same grade, same subject, so now I have an individual TVAAS score. But remember, only if I claim at least 150 instructional days. I found this out because I claimed this wrong when I was on maternity leave, which is what led me to my research.

Here's where it gets interesting: If you have a student who performs significantly better than the state predicted, that student could be considered a "statistical outlier" & that student's score could be removed. I have had this happen more than once. I spoke to someone in testing who confirmed this. So basically, if a student does much better than expected, the state thinks something fishy was going on. In theory, students who perform significantly lower than expected could have their scores tossed out as well, although ironically, I've never seen this happen on my report. If you teach 120 students, tossing out a couple of scores probably won't make a big impact, but if you only have 20 students or less, it could definitely impact your growth score.

And the most interesting part of all...the state can and will throw out a score from the previous school year. So if Johnny does well in my class and terrible next year, Johnny's score could be thrown out from my previous year's score. And no one will tell you it's been thrown out.

Print your reports more than once a semester, and pay attention to the list of students whose scores were included.

And remember, you love your students, you love teaching, and you're good at it!


Tennessee parents do not want our children's teachers evaluated based on our children's test scores.  This system is unfair to both the teacher and the student.  

Tennessee parents demand testing transparency.


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