New York Regents Speak Up on Testing













Embedded image permalink

Comments

ProSleep Mom said…
I'm glad they are speaking up.

I'm speaking up for bell times tomorrow at the Board meeting. There are only 5 people signed up. If you have concerns about bell times, or anything else, you can likely get a speaking spot at the meeting.

Let the Board know what you think!
5/19/15, 5:35 PM
Anonymous said…
Well this NY Regents report is terrific.... BUT will anyone do anything of substance anywhere?

Arne Duncan has denied WA State an NCLB waiver because WA does not use Value Added Measures from testing in the evaluation of teachers.

VAM is completely unreliable but that does not matter.

The first cave-in using VAM occurred in the SPS around 2007 when the SEA approved using VAM in teacher evaluations.

There is so much wrong being mandated by "Leaders" and yet the nonsense keeps coming.

More folks at every level need to speak up. Find out where school board candidates and politicians stand on these issues. Is anyone accountable?

-- Dan Dempsey
5/19/15, 7:13 PM
JJ said…
The hyperbole,

"this experimental drug, this poison"

Aren't they referring the teacher eval process mainly and these regents, half of the total, aren't they just toeing the AFT line?
5/19/15, 9:20 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
JJ, that may be true but it's pretty stunning that they would say this out loud.
5/20/15, 9:06 AM
Anonymous said…
JJ and Melissa,

Do you think this VAM is reliable and/or fair? If not, what do you mean by "toe the AFT" line?

Your words matter.

--enough already
5/20/15, 11:16 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Speaking for myself (and I didn't say "toe the AFT line", JJ did), I think VAM is neither reliable nor fair. And, I think that if it is enacted in any broad way, that we will see that soon enough.

5/20/15, 11:23 AM
Anonymous said…
What about the walkout?

What about evaluating teachers by test scores?

--enough already
5/20/15, 11:28 AM
Anonymous said…
Those particular regents are in the pocket of the teachers union (the AFT are the Teamsters of teacher unions). They can barely articulate their statements, which are not contextual.

It's like commie propaganda on this blog regarding the test. Credibility is fading fast.


Britney Spears
5/20/15, 11:24 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
My credibility is fading fast? You signed your name "Britney Spears." Not going with the most credible moniker there.
5/21/15, 9:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Nepotism in Seattle Schools

Update: Following a scandal at Aki Kurose Middle School, apparently the district has pulled the principal, Caine Lowery who leaves Aki for a promotion to Central Office to support/train/guide principals. Hmm. I also note that former Rainier View Elementary principal Anitra Jones, who was removed from that school, still doesn't show up on the staff roster at Rainier Beach High School where it was stated she would be. Where is she? Who knows?  end of update   This is going to be a difficult post to write because it is sad to see what looks like a norm now at JSCEE. The norm I speak of is largely an occurrence with principals as well as JSCEE senior staff. I also know that this is not going to surprise most who works at JSCEE. The norm I'm referring to is the one where some personnel have personal connections within the district that sees them moving between jobs and even getting promoted based on those relationships. In short, nepotism.  This district is risk-adverse wh...
Read more