[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — March 18, 2015

[Art Snyder]

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 ?March 18, 2015 - In This Issue:
The wave of testing pushback
Opt-out policies, state by state
Common Core's opponents fall short
Less testing is more in New Hampshire
Common Core D-I-Y
Teachers have seen the future, and it is judicial
New teachers decline
Adding fuel to the TFA fire
BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
BRIEFLY NOTED
GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
 The wave of testing pushback
Standardized exams aligned with the Common Core are now in the political cross hairs, reports Elizabeth Harris for The New York Times. In virtually every state, tests will be tougher than before, prompting fears that scores will plummet as happened in New York. In New Jersey and elsewhere, test arrival has been met with organized opposition, television attack ads, and spiraling parental anxiety. Colorado's Board of Education voted in January to allow districts to skip portions of state tests, only to be told by the state's attorney general that it lacked this authority. Almost every state has an "opt-out" movement, but its size nationally is hard to gauge. Facebook, school board meetings, and anti-testing documentaries have been sites of protest and won attention from education officials. Still, vocal groups on social media are diffuse and changeable, making it hard to know how many will actually refuse tests for their children. There are currently few repercussions in states for students who don't take tests, but if more than five percent of a student body at a school or district opts out, districts risk greater monitoring and loss of federal monies. In the end, many skeptics of the standardized tests are likely to have their children take them. More
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Related:
 Opt-out policies, state by state
A new brief from the Education Commission of the States examines the wide variation in opt-out policies from state to state. Utah and California offer explicit, statutory opt-out language, and legislators in New Jersey and North Dakota recently introduced bills allowing parents to opt-out. In several other states, opt-outs aren't statutory but are permitted. For example, Minnesota has explicitly indicated no consequences for students who opt out; completion of state exams is a graduation requirement, but diplomas can't be withheld from students who don't participate. Michigan discourages, but does not prohibit, opting out. Many states offer exemptions for physical disabilities, medical reasons, or emergencies; Oregon and Pennsylvania include religious beliefs. Oregon and Ohio alone give public information about their policies, outlining both the purpose of state assessments and the consequences for not taking them. States that prohibit opting out frequently have policies that require districts to administer state assessments to all students in specified grades, and some also require students to take them. But many states are silent on the issue, with no publicly available communication to district and school leaders or the public. In these cases, district or school leaders adopt their own policies. Colorado and Louisiana are seeking ways to bypass state laws to release districts from testing obligations. More
 Common Core's opponents fall short
Fiery anti-Common Core rhetoric hasn't translated into much success for those who want to repeal the standards, reports Emmanuel Felton for the Education Writers Association. Legislators in 19 states introduced bills to repeal the Common Core this year, but to date, none have succeeded. Only Oklahoma, Indiana, and South Carolina have dropped out overall. Legislators lack votes to repeal the standards because fellow lawmakers are concerned about financial and practical implications. As a result, opponents have shifted to a different target, new Common Core-aligned tests that students will take this spring. Officials are turning attention to who should write the tests aligned with the standards, and how results from these tests should be used in evaluating teachers. In this, they're finding allies across the political spectrum. In the early days of the Common Core, most states were expected to go with one of two testing consortia. At last count, 28 states plus the District of Columbia will use assessments developed by the PARCC (the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) or the Smarter Balanced consortium. Several states, including New York, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina, will now use assessments of their own. More
 Less testing is more in New Hampshire
The U.S. Department of Education has approved a New Hampshire pilot program to reduce standardized testing, reports Holly Ramer for the Associated Press. Under the two-year pilot, students in four districts will take statewide tests in three grades instead of seven -- once in elementary school, once in middle school, and once in high school. In offsetting years, districts will administer locally developed performance assessments, which will ask students to apply what they've learned the past year. The state's Performance Assessment for Competency Education, or PACE, has been in development for five years. New Hampshire Deputy Education Commissioner Paul Leather says that if the pilot's successful, the department hopes to expand it statewide. However, districts must be willing to do the work: "It places more responsibility and accountability in the hands of local educators and gives them a more active role, but they have to be ready-to-go." Anne Hyslop of Bellwether Partners notes that New Hampshire differs from other states that are seeking alternative testing plans in that it's been working on alternative assessments for years, requiring a great deal of state coordination, distinguishing it from efforts of a single district trying to do its own assessments. More
 Common Core D-I-Y
Teachers facing evaluations linked to student test scores are finding traditional sources of curricula fall drastically short in respect to?the Common Core and aligned tests, reports Jonathan Sapers for The Hechinger Report. Educators are scrapping off-the-shelf lessons, writing curricula themselves or using websites where other teachers post home-made lessons. These sites include Betterlesson.com; ShareMylesson.com (developed by the AFT); and Teachers Pay Teachers. The Center on Education Policy reports that in two-thirds of districts in Common Core states, 66 percent of teachers develop their curricular materials in math, and 65 percent in English Language Arts. In 80 percent of districts, at least one source for curriculum materials originates locally, from teachers, the district, or other districts in the state. That said, 90 percent of districts said developing or identifying Common Core curricular materials poses a challenge. William Schmidt of the Center for the Study of Curriculum at Michigan State University contends "It's a rather elaborate and extensive endeavor to write instructional materials for a whole year, and I think that no one should expect teachers have the time or professional background to do that." The Association of American Publishers states that their 150-member PreK-12 Learning Group has tried hard to align curricula with Common Core standards. More
 Teachers have seen the future, and it is judicial
Teachers, through unions, are using the courts to fight for an end to test-based evaluations they say are arbitrary and unfair, reports Emma Brown for The Washington Post. Two of the nation's most contentious battles over teaching have shifted from legislators to judges, who will now potentially decide how teachers are hired, fired, and paid. Value-added scores account for 50 percent of evaluations in some states and a smaller portion in others, yet just a fraction of educators teach subjects and grade levels tested. Art and music, for example, have no tests, but in some states teachers of these disciplines are scored based on how students perform in other subjects, or based on performance of all students in their school. A federal district court judge opined last year that Florida's evaluations were unfair, but also found them legal. The Florida teachers have appealed, and the case is now before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Tennessee teachers filed a similar lawsuit in early February. In other cases in Rochester, Syracuse, Houston, and in Knox County, Tennessee, teachers have attacked the value-added model as arbitrary and unreliable. The latest union complaint, in New Mexico February 13, argued?that evaluations violate teachers' due process rights because they are "based on flawed methodology, erroneous records, and inaccurate data." More
 New teachers decline
New-teacher numbers are way down in states producing many of the nation's teachers, reports Eric Westervelt for NPR. In California, teacher-training enrollment fell 53 percent in the last five years, with similar declines in New York state and Texas. In North Carolina, enrollment fell 20 percent in three years. This may reflect a strengthening U.S. economy, or the sense that teaching's no longer a stable career. Potential teachers know they'll have less control professionally and will work in a politicized environment whose flashpoints include ideological fights over the Common Core, high-stakes testing, and linkage of student test results to teacher evaluations. Also, tenure protections have eroded, and recession-induced budget cuts have eliminated classroom and school resources. "There's a sense now that if I went into this job, which doesn't pay a lot and is hard work, it may be I'd lose it," says Bill McDermott of the School of Education at University of North Carolina. The nation may also be over-producing the teachers districts don't want, and under-producing teachers they do. Shortages vary by specialty, but the highest vacancies are in science, math, and special education. One solution would be more pay for in-demand specialties, but efforts in this direction across the country have stalled or been scrapped. More
 Adding fuel to the TFA fire
A new study from Mathematica finds over 87 percent of Teach For America (TFA) teachers don't plan on remaining teachers throughout their careers, compared with 26.3 percent of non-TFA teachers in the same subjects and grades, reports Akane Otani for Bloomberg Business. A full 25 percent say they'll quit teaching after the current year, compared with 6.7 percent of non-TFA teachers. Of those who plan to quit, 42.9 percent of TFA teachers anticipate leaving education altogether. The numbers point to attrition issues that, while perhaps endemic to teaching as a whole, seem to be hitting TFA teachers?-- who have traditionally been white and from elite colleges --?particularly hard. But turnover in teaching extends beyond TFA. Richard Ingersoll of the University of Pennsylvania estimates 41 percent of teachers leave the classroom within five years -- a higher quit rate than nurses, lawyers, and engineers. Twelve percent of TFA teachers leave after their first year, and TFA teacher leaving is not inconsequential. It costs $51,400 to fund each teachers?for three years, starting from recruitment to the end of a two-year teaching stint, according to TFA data. A rotating cast of teachers has a highly negative impact on children. More
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Report:
 BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
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Reprieve
California will give schools at least one year before they're held accountable for results on new tests aligned to the Common Core. More
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A paltry few
According to the California Department of Education, fewer than 7,400 students declined to take the STAR in 2013 out of 4.7 million students.?More
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Just a tad out-of-date
The content study required to gain the Computer Concept and Application Supplemental Authorization in California hasn't changed in the last 30 years.?More
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Here we go again
California officials have acknowledged they sidetracked a request to be excused from federal accountability mandates, putting the ongoing saga between Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration over assessments back in the spotlight.?More
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Sounds sadly accurate
One in three California middle and high school students reported having been harassed or bullied at least once in the previous year, according to new data from a statewide student survey; this is little change from the last survey.?More
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Half full
California layoffs are up slightly this year from last, but are overwhelmingly lower than during the recession.?More
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Back in black
Los Angeles Unified officials project the district's expenses will be nearly $200 million lower than expected by the end of the current year, but next year's outlook is uncertain.?More

 BRIEFLY NOTED?
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They will survive
Despite a growing number of students refusing to take Common Core-aligned exams this spring, a record number of tests are being completed, according to data from the PARCC. More
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A coming focus
On a press call with Marc Morial of the National Urban League, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlighted how the Title I comparability loophole negatively impacts poor and minority kids. More
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Grim statistic
A new report finds that youths living in rural communities are twice as likely to commit suicide as urban counterparts, a suicide-risk gap that rose nearly 60 percent for males and 93 percent for females from 1996 to 2010, researchers report. More
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Opting everyone out
Florida authorities are investigating cyber attacks that delayed newly computerized standardized testing. More?
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Not on their watch
In a close vote, a Tennessee House subcommittee came out against a bill that would have allowed students to forego the ACT if their parents let them. More
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More exaggerations to come
A NJ Advance Media analysis of 10 years of New Jersey spending data shows that K-12 funding for state districts has actually dropped in the last decade when adjusted for inflation, the opposite of what Gov. Chris Christie claims. More
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Stick a fork in them
The South Carolina Board of Education voted unanimously to replace the Common Core Standards, killing them in the state. More
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Stymied
The Colorado Board of Education has voted to reject proposed cut scores to set proficiency levels on the 12th grade science and social studies tests given last fall, effectively blocking the Department of Education from releasing district, school, and student scores. More
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Plan B underway
Missouri's education department is appealing a ruling that the state's membership to a Common Core-aligned testing consortium is unconstitutional. More
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As California goes, so goes the nation
The battle against teacher tenure in New York City took a step forward after a Staten Island judge allowed opponents' challenge to the city's workplace protections for educators to proceed. More

 
 GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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Grammy Foundation: Music Educator Award
The Grammy Foundation Music Educator Award recognizes music teachers for their extraordinary impact. Maximum award: $10,000. Eligibility: Current educators in the U.S. who teach music in public or private schools, kindergarten through college. Deadline: March 31, 2015. More
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PTO Today: Parent Group of the Year Contest
PTO Today's Parent Group of the Year Contest is an excellent opportunity for parent groups to showcase their hard work while giving their school the chance to win cash and prizes. Maximum award: $3,000. Eligibility: all parent groups -- PTO, PTA, HSA, PTC, etc.; public and private schools; rural, suburban, and urban schools. Deadline: June 1, 2015. More
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MetLife/NASSP: Breakthrough Schools
The National Association of Secondary School Principals and the MetLife Foundation are calling for entries in the search for the nation's top Breakthrough Schools. Applicants should be high-achieving middle or high schools, or schools that are making dramatic improvements in student achievement, whose best practices and outstanding results can inform other schools as they further their own improvement efforts. Honorees will be chosen based upon documented success in implementing strategies aligned with the three core areas of NASSP's Breaking Ranks II publication -- collaborative leadership; personalization; and curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Maximum award: $5,000, plus recognition in the association's monthly magazine Principal Leadership. Eligibility: high-achieving middle and high schools with 40 percent or more students eligible for free and reduced-priced meals. Deadline: June 30, 2015. More


Quote of the Week:?
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"Opt-out is not an anti-testing movement. This is a movement to reclaim and do what's right for kids in public schools. This is a movement to restore real learning." -- Tim Slekar, a leader of the United Opt Out movement in Wisconsin and dean of the school of education at Edgewood College. More

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