According to this news release (which I found thanks to the United Opt Out Facebook group), Rhode Island is (of course) among the 14 states slated to "field test" the Common Core-aligned PARCC test in the spring of this coming academic year. As Jennifer Croslin Smith, who pointed out on Facebook about this happening in Tennessee, wrote, "Field testing basically makes our children unpaid employees of the testing company--Pearson--and provides no useful information for teachers or parents."
Here's a first pass at what I plan to ask Commissioner Gist and/or others at RIDE in order to learn more in order to know what's necessary to consent to our children's participation in an informed way, or to opt out:
How many schools and students will be involved? What are the criteria by which they will be chosen (and by whom/what will they be chosen)?
How does RIDE plan to share information with potential participants?
Will parents have the opportunity to say no to their kids' participation? How do you opt out?
What are the consequences of yet another test being dumped on some our students and their teachers?
How will students be able to make up for instructional time that they missed while participating in this field test?
Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist will hold a community forum Tuesday, June 21, 6:30-8:00pm at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, 91 Fricker Street.
As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't able to be at the Rhode Island Board of Regents hearing on the proposed changes for Rhode Island's high school graduation system. I'm gratified to post a report on the evening from Aaron Regunberg. Aaron, a junior at Brown, is a force for good in politics and education. He recently worked as an organizer on Angel Taveras' campaign and is actively supporting Hope High School students as they fight to maintain the schedules and structures that allowed them favorable conditions for learning. Here's his report:
What I saw at the hearing tonight was at the same time one of the most beautiful and the most frustrating spectacles I've experienced in a long time. On the one hand, it was absolutely inspiring to see so many different Rhode Islanders come together to fight for the type of education system they believed in. The PCTA auditorium was completely packed--there were students, parents, teachers, administrators, concerned citizens, black and white and brown, all protesting with one voice. That in itself should be pretty powerful evidence; one speaker said that he had never seen such a consensus, that he was there fighting next to people he had never agreed with before. And of course, it was particularly powerful to hear so many students committed enough to their education to come out on a freezing night like tonight to speak truth to power.
But as beautiful as the protest was, it was also immensely frustrating, because I had seen it all before. This was the third such hearing, not counting the initial mass protest in Narragansett at the beginning of the month. And none of these outpourings of anger, none of the valid and rationally articulated criticism had seemed to have any effect on any of the decision-makers. I was at the Regents' work session last Thursday, and listened as the Commissioner told the Board that nothing any of these different stakeholders had been saying was valid because it was all based on a belief that minority students are not able to achieve.
This shockingly ignorant statement allows these people to dismiss all of the arguments that students, parents, and educators are making--that tying graduation to a single test is horrifying; that even if it weren't horrifying in general, the NECAP is a horrifyingly bad test to use as it was designed specifically to not be used to test individual achievement; and that creating a tiered diploma system is inequality incarnate.
That's what everyone was saying. I just don't think the Regents particularly heard.
Thanks, Aaron (and happy birthday!).
The other big news story from last night's hearing--the first, as Aaron reported, was the powerful presence of young people, parents, and concerned citizens speaking out--was Providence Public Schools Superintendent Tom Brady's statement opposing the imposition of NECAP partial proficiency as a graduation requirement. Click here for Brady's entire testimony (in PDF form); here's a part:
I would also like to address the proposed proficiency measures for high school graduation and the dire consequences for many Providence students who are currently in their junior year. Our current graduation policy was written to comply with RIDE’s 2008 Regulations Guidance which clearly states “that districts will evaluate the results of the state assessments in those areas in conjunction with the other components of the proficiency...” RIDE staff on more than one occasion made public comments confirming that the NECAP was only one component of this conjunctive system, and that failure to achieve partial proficiency would not result in a failure to graduate. With this mid-stream change from what has been consistently communicated by RIDE, students in the class of 2012 are at-risk of not graduating and would be afforded limited opportunity to improve. While we are already implementing intensive interventions and supports to continually improve student achievement, there is not sufficient time, resources and direction from RIDE to create a comprehensive, personalized support system to ensure the type of growth students will need to graduate. Also of note, is that Rhode Island, unlike other states, can only administer its standardized assessment once per year, affording students only one “re-take.”
The ProJo's story on the hearing, "Students say diploma plan is unfair," is here.
P.S.: So far, there's school in Providence tomorrow. No snow day (yet). As I just said to my kids as I sent them up to bed, "Sorry, kids."
P.P.S.: And now, in news just delivered in a Facebook post from Mayor Angel Taveras, no school tomorrow. Snow day. Sleep in, kids!
Many of you who are dialed in to education in Rhode Island are already closely following and participating in the statewide discussion about the proposal to create a high school graduation system that will use the NECAP (the New England Common Assessment Program, a system of standardized testing shared by Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire) as a gatekeeper starting in 2012. The Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education is considering this proposal now, and if you don't do anything else, please consider attending the Regents' hearing that's being held tomorrow, Tuesday, January 25, 5:00pm at Providence Career & Technical Academy, 91 Fricker Street, to hear what those that are able to be there have to say on the issue. Their voices will be many and mighty. And I will be bummed out, as it looks like circumstances are conspiring to prevent me from being there.
This change, being described as a "three-tier system," will alter graduation regulations passed in 2008--that is, graduation regulations that most current high school students, teachers, administrators, and families have held as their expectations. A significant percentage of all current 11th graders suddenly face the real prospect that they will below the third tier and therefore be denied a diploma if they cannot pass the NECAP's math and English tests with at least partial proficiency. (For an explanation of the factors that determine the three proposed diploma levels, see this ProJo article--there's a good explanation midway through.)
The central concern that many educators and others have voiced at Regents' meetings and hearings held earlier this month is that NECAP wasn't designed for this use. As the Rhode Island Department of Education explains, the NECAP is in place to provide "information to school administrators, teachers, and parents to help them make informed decisions about student instructional needs." The NECAP a significant small slice, and has real meaning, but it was not intended to be a defining measure of graduation.
There's been a huge reaction to the proposal, and I suggest you check out some of what's available to help you think through the issue. Five highlights below:
1. "Future of Rhode Island Students" vividly describes what the proposed changes will mean for many students who, as of now, are successfully on their way toward graduation:
2. Here's a powerful statement from last week's hearing in South Kingston from a Providence teacher identified as Mary (those in the know, please send me more info about Mary so I can properly credit her).
5. And for a useful demonstration on how it's possible to express concern about the hasty implementation of this policy while still expressing support for the overall direction of Rhode Island education under Commissioner Deborah Gist, check out this GoLocalProvidence interview with state rep/House Speaker Gordon Fox.
Please attend tomorrow night's hearing if you can, and please take some time to determine for yourself if you think this is the best move for our state.
One of the ways to have a stake in what happens in our public schools is to show up to learn more and speak up for what you believe in. In that spirit, here is information about an event that--despite any truly abysmal weather that may linger--I hope you consider attend with friends (and kids! who can also be your friends!). It's for parents/family members from all communities in Rhode Island, not just Providence.
Robin Adams is a Providence Public Schools parent and leader of PPSD's Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), a group of representatives from public school PTOs/parent groups that meets monthly. Robin developed questions for Education Commissioner Deborah Gist and has worked with the PAC and PPSD's Office of Family and Community Engagement to create an event on Thursday, January 20, at 6:00pm that will allow parents and family members from Providence and across Rhode Island to talk with Commissioner Gist about the impact of Rhode Island's Race to the Top funds, parent/family involvement, and school reform.
The meeting will take place at the Providence Career & Technical Academy (PCTA), 41 Fricker Street, Providence 02903 (near Classical High School, entrance on Cranston Street across from Citizens Bank. Children’s activities for ages 5-12 will be provided. Spanish language translation services will also be provided.
Please attend! It will be a unique and compelling event; I am interested in meeting connected and curious parents from communities beyond Providence, and grateful that this is an event organized by families, for families. Thanks to Robin, the PPSD PAC leadership, the Office of Family and Community Engagement, and Commissioner Gist for making it happen. Hope to see you there!
Yesterday, with many others, I got myself to Narragansett High School for the Rhode Island Board of Regents meeting. Unfortunately, I then had to get myself back to Providence long before the meeting ended; nearly an hour and a half in, public comments were still happening, most devoted to protesting the Regents' proposed changes in the Rhode Island high school diploma requirements and the proposal to institute a three-tiered diploma system. This new system would go into effect for this year's high school juniors and would, with its over-reliance on NECAP scores to determine diploma status, severely and inequitably penalize students of color and from low-income backgrounds, as well as English language learner and students receiving special education services. More here from ProJo's Jennifer Jordan on the public outcry against the proposed changes and the Regents' decision to move forward into public hearings, which will happen later this month.
Today's ProJo also shared a shocker that happened later during the meeting. Linda Borg reports that the Board of Regents voted to stay Commissioner Deborah Gist's ruling in favor of restoring essential common planning time to Hope High School teachers, a resource that the Providence Public Schools administration removed from the school last year and which students, with the counsel and action of attorney Miriam Weizenbaum, successfully fought. The Regents' approval of Gist's ruling was viewed by many as a foregone conclusion, as it had been endorsed by a Regents' subcommittee and was clearly in good legal standing. I don't know enough to be authoritative, but it sure seems that the Regents' reversal, based (as Borg reports) on changes that may happen in the future, is specious.
This decision is terribly unfair to Hope High School's students, who understand and have fought for what works in their school, and to all students in Providence who can benefit from the innovation and experience that's been a factor in Hope's successes. I don't fathom why the Regents are aligning against proven innovation and effectiveness, and am exceedingly grateful for the students and attorney Weizenbaum for continuing to fight for that which school staff members are legally entitled.
Education Week's State Ed Watch blog reports that Deborah Gist, RI's state education commissioner, has joined with her peers from Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, and Indiana to form "Chiefs for Change" to focus on advocating for policies that support their mutual agendas, namely school choice (decoded: increased charters) and performance-based evaluations for principals and teachers. Here's a bit more from the Ed Watch blog:
Unveiling the new group, "Chiefs for Change," were its founding members: Tony Bennett, of Indiana; Deborah Gist, of Rhode Island; Paul Pastorek, of Louisiana; Gerard Robinson, of Virginia; and Eric Smith, of Florida. They were gathered here in Washington for the national summit of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the reform group headed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The new chiefs group came together in conversation with Gov. Bush, who has agreed to provide it with financial and staffing support.
The five chiefs said that even though they work on important policy issues through the Council of Chief State School Officers, they felt the need to push a subset of policies through a separate group. Pastorek said the five want to "set ourselves apart and pursue a much more aggressive path toward success." It's not a partisan agenda, he said, but a "cutting-edge, pushing-the-envelope way of putting children at the top of all of our decisions." Bennett said the five have "kind of started our own union, a children's union," in which the interests of students trump those of adults.
Leaving aside several temptingly discussable details, I want to focus on this "children's union" notion, a phrase that Indiana's Tony Bennett has used before, as a quick Google search reveals. I wonder if Indiana's commitment toward a children's union has involved any actual children and their families. I am thinking, nope, not so much--though any Indianan reading this, please let me know if, in fact, I am wrong! Such news would be delightful, and I want to know what such meaningful family partnerships and respectful attention to young people's voices looks like.
Now that Rhode Island is a part of this direction, I wish to ask Commissioner Gist to avoid repeating Bennet's "children's union" reference--unless, of course, she intends to work systematically within communities to have children's needs and demands drive the discussion and work toward changing our education policies and practices. That would be a powerful and remarkable effort--but it is clearly not what's happening. What seems to be happening with Chiefs for Change is one more step toward aggressive promotion of charter schools not for the betterment of all schools but for the privatization of our public school systems. Don't attempt to harness the political will of my kids to justify that unless they, and I, demand it.
In Friday's Huffington Post, Sam Chaltain made a similar argument in relation to Michelle Rhee's new Students First venture, which similarly claims to stand for children's interests in the service of particular policies and practices that have a clear political agenda that don't clearly correspond to what students and their families may want. Sam's point:
To this end, Rhee intends to build an army of one million supporters and raise a total of one billion dollars -- in a year. Clearly, this is not someone unwilling to think big and in that sense, all of us need to match her sense of urgency and passion.
The danger, however, is if that urgency, passion and power gets deployed in the service of a myopic set of well-intentioned, misaligned ends. And based on what I can see from the website and gauge from her interviews, Michelle Rhee still believes the current way we're evaluating the success of our students, teachers and schools is sufficient for the brave new world of education she hopes to help usher in.
Adults in education leadership positions need to align their decision-making toward what's best for young people, and because historically, some have not done so, all now need to justify their direction in terms of what's best for kids. That the Michelle Rhee or the Chiefs for Change group are doing so isn't remarkable. But moving from that stance to claiming to directly represent the will of the majority of kids without doing the real work of determining what they want is disturbingly disingenuous, insulting to the very idea of a union, and a manipulative way of promoting dubious policies and positions.
