How to tell if they really “Stand for Children”

Here is a hint: Follow the money.

How to spot a fake ‘grassroots’ education reform group

And

Stand For Children Doesn’t

The Glossary of Education Reform – This is the actual title of the website

http://edglossary.org/

Interesting reading. The glossary gives a multitude of terms and links them with the reform agenda.

It will not allow me to copy and paste, so you will have to open the link. Check out “rigor” and “high stakes”. Those are the two that I just finished reading. I am sure there are plenty more of interest.

Herb Bassett: Why Louisiana’s Teacher Evaluation Is Invalid

Diane Ravitch's blog

Herb Bassett is a teacher in Louisiana. He teaches music, but like Jersey Jazzman, has the ability to understand statistics and how they work in real classrooms.

This is a letter that he wrote about Louisiana’s new teacher evaluation system, which is as incoherent as teacher evaluation systems in other states:

 

State Superintendent John White showed his true colors when he recently praised four FirstLine charter schools that “fell in the top 10 percent of Louisiana schools in terms of improving test scores, yet ranked fewer than 10 percent of their teachers highly effective.

 

‘Amazing results,’ he wrote.”

 

He did not mention that one of the four schools, while ranked in the 99th percentile of improvement, declared 68 percent of its teachers Ineffective. Most of its teachers are now on a fast track to dismissal.

 

In each of the other three schools, at least 69 percent…

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Principal in Louisiana: They Force Us to Help Them Destroy Public Education

Diane Ravitch's blog

Bridget, a frequent commenter, added this thoughtful note. She reminded me of how often I have wondered whether President Obama or Secretary Duncan care about public schools and whether they are determined to standardize children and call it “reform”:

 

Part of this problem, as I have stated before, is that we as educators are being forced by legislators to participate in this demise of public education in our nation. We are participating in our own demise because we are rule followers who do as we are told. By removing the historical local decision making from local communities we have allowed corporate interests to take over. Our political environment has been sold to the highest bidder. We as voters have lost our voice because corporations are now considered people. As long as we continue to allow our legislators to make decisions that are in the best interest of corporations, at…

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