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| NCLB Redux: Duncan wants more and more testing. |
Arne Duncan...said Monday that testing U.S. schoolchildren annually in math and reading is critical for measuring their educational progress, setting the stage for what is likely to be a contentious Capitol Hill debate on the federal role in education.
"That means all students need to take annual, statewide assessments that are aligned with their teacher's classroom instruction in reading and math in grades 3-8, and once in high school." -- Star-Tribune
Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust
" Kids who are not tested end up not counting." -- ABC News
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| Lily Eskelsen Garcia |
NEA Pres. Lily Eskelsen García
If he truly wants to build a legacy, Obama ought to drop the testing mandate and lead “us out of the dry, awful desert of No Child Left Untested”. -- Politico
Conservative think-tanker Michael Petrilli
“We don’t really give a damn what the administration thinks. Congress is driving this train.” -- Politco
Photographer/Author Teju Cole
Witch burnings, heresy trials, and the untiring work of the Inquisition shaped Europe, and these ideas extended into American history as well and took on American modes, from the breaking of slaves to the censuring of critics of Operation Iraqi Freedom. -- New Yorker
Duncan's quote is very revealing (not that we didn't already know his thinking anyway). If state-wide tests are supposed to be aligned to what the classroom teacher is teaching, that by definition means that statewide teaching needs to be aligned. No room for variation - just stick to the script.
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs to read today's Diane Ravitch post (click on the blog on Mike's sidebar)
ReplyDelete"Why Did Civil Rights Groups Demand Standardized Testing?" Unbelievable!
Anon,
ReplyDeleteReferring to Haycock's group and the others as "civil rights groups", as if all civil rights groups have a common line on testing, is straight-up racism. Plays right into the hands of right-wing think-takers like Petrilli and others who say, Don't oppose us. It's those blacks and Latinos you have to watch out for."
You nailed it Dienne. Common Core supporters have been arguing with me along that CCSS are "just standards", "not curriculum". With Duncan/Pearson's testing regimen driving things, curriculum is pulled along behind. What's tested is what's taught. What's not (arts, music) isn't. Duncan pretty much called it in his speech today.
ReplyDelete