The 74
“This Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Rebecca Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association. The high-stakes challenge to mandatory union dues could dramatically alter the political reach and financial muscle of public sector unions across the country if Friedrichs and the other plaintiffs prevail.
Here’s what non-lawyers need to know ahead of the arguments.”
The New York Times Editorial Board
“Teachers unions and other critics of federally required standardized tests have behaved in recent years as though killing the testing mandate would magically remedy everything that ails education in the United States. In reality, getting rid of the testing requirement in the early grades would make it impossible for the country to know what if anything children were learning from year to year.”
The Wall Street Journal Opinion
“The latest federal education reform sends more power back to states and local districts, but that poses risks to the extent they are captured by teachers unions. Witness New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo is retreating on teacher accountability.
In a bid to snag Race to the Top funds in 2010, New York adopted Common Core standards and required that 20% of teacher evaluations be based on student scores on state tests and another 20% on local objective measures of student learning. Student scores on the tougher new tests plunged. Proficiency dropped to 31% in reading and math in 2013 from 69% and 82%, respectively, in 2009.”
Times Union
“After the better part of a generation of turmoil in education, America is mostly leaving behind the No Child Left Behind Act. New York state is re-examining Common Core and high stakes tests. Now comes the hard part.
Yes, the battles over educational standards that many parents and educators felt were misguided, heavy-handed and at times counter-productive are, in one sense, over. A huge challenge, though, remains: To come up with an education system fit for the 21st century, and to achieve the consensus that NCLB and Common Core ultimately lacked.”
By Tenicka Boyd | Education Post
“I see Chris everyday.
He comes to our field office to talk about his school experience as a student of color in Brooklyn. Each day, Chris pulls out his fourth grade-level homework. But Chris is not in the fourth grade—he is a high school senior who is working hard to graduate from his New York City public school.
His teachers have decided they would rather give students an A on below grade-level work than give challenging grade-appropriate work that would actually prepare them for college. They would rather Chris’ mom think he’s doing well so that she and other parents won’t storm the school doors. His teachers, who have probably all been deemed ‘effective’ by a watered-down evaluation system, have taken the easy path, but it’s not the one that will help Chris achieve his dreams.”
By Rick Karlin | Times Union
“Educators began to offer up fixes Tuesday after the state Board of Regents voted to dump a widely criticized test-based teacher evaluation system that was pushed through in last spring’s budget.
‘Teachers are not afraid to be evaluated, and they are not afraid of tests,’ said Lisa Meade, principal of Corinth Middle School.
But Meade added that the tests should be meaningful.
She spoke at a Capitol news conference called after the Regents voted Monday to delay use of student test scores in evaluations until at least the 2019-2020 school year.”
By Monica Disare | Chalkbeat NY
“New York is about to have a lot more freedom to craft education policy.
The Every Student Succeeds Act, which President Obama signed last week, won’t change anything right away in New York state. But ESSA, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, hands authority from the federal education department to the states, which could eventually lead to important shifts in how the state tests students and what happens to struggling schools.”
The Washington Post
“NEW YORK Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) wasted no time dismantling the education policies of three-term mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), and his administration claims schools have improved as a result. Well, jettisoning data-driven accountability, transparency and standards certainly makes it easier to claim success. But children measured by low standards and with inflated grades may not be learning, which undermines any chance they will have for success.”
By Dan Weisberg | TNTP Blog
“Last week brought the latest chapter of the Common Core saga in New York, which we’ve been chronicling for more than two years on this blog. It was a disappointing one for those of us who support high standards that will help prepare students for college—a goal that, according to polls, an overwhelming majority of parents have for their children.
Here’s a quick refresher: Governor Andrew Cuomo—the self-appointed ‘lobbyist for the students’—has spent much of the last four years fending off efforts by special interest groups to gin up hysteria about Common Core and the associated annual tests. The criticism reached such heights this year that Cuomo appointed a task force to make recommendations about how the state could implement the standards more effectively.”
By Monica Disare | Chalkbeat NY
“In a dramatic reversal, New York’s Board of Regents voted Monday to suspend the use of state standardized test scores in teacher evaluations for four years.
According to the proposal state officials presented Monday, teachers will receive two annual evaluation ratings beginning next year and lasting through 2019. One rating will include state test results but be used only for advisory purposes. The other, which state officials called a transition rating, will not use state test results and will be the one used for personnel decisions. The same arrangement would also apply to principals during that period.”