What Diane Ravitch Means To Me Am I crazy? That’s what many of us had been wondering before we read Diane Ravitch. As teachers, parents and students, we noticed there was something terribly wrong with our national education policy. The Emperor has no clothes, but no one dared speak up. Until Diane Ravitch. We were told…
Tag: standardized testing
Standardized Tests Have Always Been About Keeping People in Their Place
Standardized Tests Have Always Been About Keeping People in Their Place There are some things that can’t be unseen. America’s history of standardized testing is one of them. Today, critics from all sides of the political spectrum decry the overuse of high stakes tests while paradoxically championing them for accountability purposes – especially for schools serving…
The One Reason Bernie Sanders is the Best Mainstream Candidate for Parents and Teachers
The One Reason Bernie Sanders is the Best Mainstream Candidate for Parents and Teachers It really all comes down to this. You can talk all day about delegates and superdelegates. You can talk about polls and electability. You can talk about political experience, likeability, and authenticity. You can talk about political dynasties, union endorsements and campaign…
Blinded by Pseudoscience: Standardized Testing is Modern Day Eugenics
Blinded by Pseudoscience: Standardized Testing is Modern Day Eugenics Adolph Hitler was a big fan of standardized testing. It helped justify much of the horrors of the Nazi regime. “National Socialism is nothing but applied biology,” he said. In other words, it’s just science, people. Some races are simply inferior to others. Black people, Jews, Gypsies,…
Fewer Resources, Harder Tests: Common Core in the Last Days of Obama
Fewer Resources, Harder Tests: Common Core in the Last Days of Obama The bell hadn’t even rung to begin class yet, but Ce Ce already had enough. She saw the pile of standardized test look-a-like sheets on the front desk and immediately asked if she could go to in-school suspension. I’m not kidding. She’d prefer to…
Fighting for Joy
Editor’s Note: Bryan Sanguinito is the Eastern Regional President of PSEA. I have the great pleasure of teaching a wonderful young lady named Joy. In my nearly 20 years of teaching, rarely have I ever come across a student with as big a heart and as open a mind as Joy. Every day that I…
Their Cheatin’ Souls: Short Circuiting Ethics in America
Their Cheatin’ Souls: Short Circuiting Ethics in America New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says he had nothing to do with having air removed from game balls. The NFL, following an investigation, says he did. It gave him a four game suspension, which he is appealing. That four game suspension could cost him somewhere between $2…
Happy Opt-Out Day PA! Rick Talks with Robin Roberts from Parents United for Public Ed About the Growing Resistance to High Stakes Testing Robin Roberts, Opt out Mom for the second year and a member of Parents United for Public Education…
Community Group Forms to Urge Schools to Highlight Experiences, Not Assessments, in Education
Community Group Forms to Urge Schools to Highlight Experiences, Not Assessments, in Education PRESS RELEASE: MERIT, 4/6/15 Kutztown Area School District’s state standardized tests for grades 3-8, the PSSAs, are scheduled to begin on Monday, April 13. A community organization has formed to share concerns about the negative impact standardized testing has on our educational system….
#PHLEd: Does School District’s PSSA / Opt Out Pamphlet Go Far Enough?
#PHLEd: Does School District’s PSSA / Opt Out Pamphlet Go Far Enough? Yesterday for the Raging Chicken Press, I reported that the Philadelphia School District would take actions when it came to informing parents about the right to opt children out of the PSSAs. In an email with district officials, they stated: Frequently Asked Questions – Information…
Juicy Pumpkin Juice 