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Another Testing Task Farce

11/28/2017

 

3rd time is the harm uh, charm

PictureMeme courtesy of Tennessee Education Reports
State Education Commissioner Candice McQueen (that's Candace spelled with "ice" as in The Ice Queen or in this case The Ice McQueen) has appointed yet another Testing Task Farce, uh Task Force.

Okay, okay okay, we'll stop with the puns and get down to business.

This year's task force is a lot bigger than previous years. The original 17 member group expanded to 21 last year and has now grown to 30. Several statewide organizations are represented. We noticed that TEA, PET, and SCORE have gone from ex-officio members (that means you can listen but you have no rights to vote or speak) to having a real seat at the table this year. SCORE has been included in the task force since its beginnings three years ago but TEA and PET were added just last year.

Markedly absent are any representatives from a statewide parent group. Even Tennessee PTA was left off the task force while statewide teacher groups, Tennessee Organization for School Superintendents, the Tennessee School Board Association, and of course, SCORE were all included. The only PTA representative on the task force comes from Knox County and we are not even sure of her position on the PTA. 

Virginia Babb's tagline says Knox County PTA but when we checked the Knox County Council PTA website, she is not listed as a member of the board. So, we are unsure if she has any current connection to the PTA or any other parent group. But we do know that this is her third year to serve on the testing task force and she is a big time cheerleader for Common Core. We told you all about that in one of our prior blogs. Babb is now showing political aspirations, running for Knox County school board. She posted on Face Book that she is being endorsed by current Knox County school board member, Lynne Fugate. 

The other parent on the task force is also from east Tennessee. Jennifer Frazier is a Morristown mom who currently serves on Candice McQueen's Parent Advisory Council. Take a look below about what she said on being selected for the testing task force:

Frazier said she sees her role on the body as being a mediator for Hamblen County and the state. She said she first joined in two years ago on a state advisory council after being encouraged by Chuck Carter, the superintendent of Career & Technical Education and former principal of Union Heights Elementary School.

She said she received a letter from the commissioner asking her to serve last week and was honored.

“I want to be a voice for Hamblen County,” she said.

Uh, what about the rest of the state? Our kids need advocacy too!!!

We want to know why McQueen chose moms who have little to no connection to statewide parent groups?  

Oh, we know. McQueen is afraid of parent advocates because they just might speak out against her plans to continue spending MILLIONS on tests with serious problems producing reliable data. So, she just picked a couple of sycophants who seem more focused on their own school districts than the wider issue of testing. Well, Commissioner McQueen, you should know that testing is a BIG issue for ALL parents so we would like to see more parent advocates on this task force from all over the state. ​

Less Moms Means More Astro Turf Groups

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McQueen is probably thinking that a shortage of parents at the table means extra spots for the astro turf groups. This year, she added Gini Pupo-Walker from the Tennessee Education Equity Coalition who is also the Senior Director of Education Policy and Programs with Conexion Americas. Unfamiliar with those groups? We'll catch you up.

​Check out the list below of the their Mosaic Fellows.

See any familiar astro turf groups in the list?

We do!!


West Tennessee
Mendell Grinter, executive director, Campaign for School Equity
Keji Kujjo, teacher, Kate Bond Middle School
Natalie McKinney, executive director, Whole Child Strategies, Inc.
Cardell Orrin, Memphis director, Stand for Children
Marcos Villa, community engagement coordinator, Latino Memphis
Bobby White, founder and CEO, Frayser Community Schools
Middle Tennessee
Diarese George, recruiting director, Nashville Teacher Residency
Martel Graham, school director, Knowledge Academies High School
Alicia Hunker, teacher, Valor Collegiate Academy
Vanessa Lazón, director of community inclusion, Mayor Megan Barry’s office of new Americans
Jon Robertson, founding high school director, STEM Prep High School
Peter Tang, Tennessee educator fellowship coordinator, SCORE
East Tennessee
Claudia Caballero, executive director of Centro Hispano de East Tennessee
Cassandra “KC” Curberson-Alvarado, career success coordinator, Hamblen County Schools
Quineka Moten, director of education and youth services, Knoxville Area Urban League
Gladys Pineda-Loher, director of international community outreach, Chattanooga State Community College

The Tennessee Education Equity Coalition was created last year by Conexion Americas. According to this article, these groups and their pet projects receive heavy funding from George Soros and Tennessee's own Gubernatorial candidate, Randy Boyd. And Gini Pupo-Walker seems more entrenched with education deformers than with ELL students. Take a look at her involvement with reform groups such as Bellwether Educational Partners and SCORE.

Joining Pupo-Walker in this year's task force is Lisa Wiltshire, Policy Director for Tennesseans for Quality Early Education. Wiltshire previously served on McQueen's staff at the Tennessee Department of Education as the director of early learning. Oh Dear!!! We hope this isn't a sign that our pre-school babies are now going to be tested. But with the state expansion into pre-schools, we are afraid this could be the case. We're gonna keep an eye on this one. 

Rounding out the task force are five teachers, four principals, a mish-mash of school district administrators, representatives from state organizations, the usual politicians: Dolores Gresham, John Forgety, Harry Brooks, and newly appointed, Mark White; and perennial task force member, Executive Director of the appointed State Board of Education, Sara Heyburn Morrison. 

But before you get too excited about teachers being on the task force, you should know something. Just like the TNReady Hearings this Fall where most of the teachers testifying before the Tennessee House Education Committees were connected to SCORE, the same has happened with this testing task force. Four out of five teachers have connections to SCORE. Take a look:

Jolinea Pegues, a 2016-2017 SCORE Educator Fellow
Josh Rutherford
Stacey Travis, a 2017-2018 SCORE Educator Fellow
​Kim Herring, a 2017-2018 SCORE Educator Fellow 
Cicely Woodard, headed up the SCORE Educator Fellowship program in 2014 

The original testing task force produced a report in 2015. The next year, the task force revamped to learn of the progress on prior recommendations, address items requiring further analysis from the first task force, review and assess tests implemented in the 2015-16 school year, and provide additional recommendations on testing. And here we are in 2017 with the appointment of yet another task force. 

You can see the evolution of the Tennessee Testing Task Force in our spread sheet below and how it has grown from 17 members to 30. 

test_task_force.pdf
File Size: 43 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

It's time to turn this task farce into a force to reckoned with….OPT OUT!!! McQueen has chosen to opt parents out of the decision-making when it comes to testing our children. So, it's time we opt our children out of the testing!! Stop wasting your child's time on tests that have been problematic year after year.

​IT'S TIME FOR THIS FARCE TO END. OPT OUT!!!

More information on the ACT Blunder of 2017​

11/20/2017

 
This was just sent to us from one of our Bearden High Momma Bears:

Bearden High momma bear here!
 
We have some breaking news in Knoxville.
Thank you for sharing our story!!!
 
This is all of the information we have right now and it is certainly not complete or satisfactory.
 
The KCS administration continues working diligently to do whatever they can.
 
The Knox County Schools Director of Assessment, Laurie Driver, attended the press conference Friday, on behalf of the KCS administration. She has been at Bearden for several days, working on this issue and the administration was still investigating the situation on Friday.
 
Information regarding the press conference was sent to Board members around noon that same day and most members may not have seen it in time to be there or to make arrangements to leave work so quickly.
 
Knox County Board of Education members received the following information late Friday:
 (Superfluous information has been left out where not relevant. Quoted information is in quotation marks.)
 
"An Internal Review of the [ACT] situation has been conducted. The process of ordering, monitoring and administering ACT tests involves three entities: ACT, Knox County Schools and TDOE [the Tennessee Department of Education]. While certainly human error could have played a part in this situation, we have full confidence in the process followed and oversight provided by the administration at Bearden High School and our accountability team."
 
Below is a timeline that supports the position that all efforts were made to ensure the ACT retake was handled in accordance with ACT protocols:
 
• "August 21-23 – Correspondence took place between the BHS assistant principal, the KCS assessment specialist and ACT project coordinator to verify the materials order for the ACT test was done correctly. After another review at the request of the assistant principal, the assessment specialist determined the order looked identical to all of the other schools. No one from ACT or TDOE contacted Bearden High School or the district office again to say the order was not completed."
 
• "September 19 – Test materials for the October 17 ACT retake test were delivered to all KCS high schools. This was at odds with previous communication saying the materials would be delivered the week of October 9".
 
• "October 4 – FedEx showed up at five KCS high schools, but NOT Bearden High School, to pick up ACT tests thought to have been completed October 3. However, no KCS high schools were taking the test on that day. All KCS high schools were scheduled to take the ACT retake test on October 17." Logically... "if Bearden High School was given the October 3 ACT test materials, then FedEx would have scheduled a pick-up of the completed tests on October 4 as ACT schedules the pickup and delivery of ACT materials."
 
• "October 18 – The day after the October 17 ACT retake test, FedEx showed up at all KCS high schools, including Bearden High School, to pick up completed tests."
 
• "October 27 – ACT sent notification of the test misadministration; however, this email communication was not sent to the current ACT test coordinator at Bearden High School, but rather, someone who no longer works at the school. This was despite the fact the current ACT test coordinator had previously received multiple correspondence from ACT."
 
"Our main focus continues to be on the students and making sure everything is being done to limit any adverse impact on college entrance and scholarships. We are also working to make sure any student interested is registered for the ACT test in December at no cost. The district has provided and continues to provide additional supports to Bearden High School."


 
Thank you, Bearden High Momma Bear!  Keep letting us know of any more updates to this story.
 
Please note they have updated their hashtags
#ACTGiveUsOurScores   #ACTblunder2017

Calling All Momma Bears

11/20/2017

 

Hey Betsy!! Don't "DeVostate Tennessee Schools!!!

Picture
Betsy DeVos is coming to Nashville!! Momma Bears will joining education advocates from across the state in hosting a RALLY at the Riverfront Park by the Music City Star Train Station. DeVos will be speaking at the National Summit on Education Reform held at the Omni Hotel with ew… hold your nose, Jeb Bush. And we want to make sure Betsy and Jeb get a BIG Momma Bear welcome to Tennessee!! 

We will gather at the Riverfront for a rally. MNEA & TEA are arranging for speakers and performing artists. After the rally, look for a march from Riverfront to the Omni around 6:30 on public sidewalks. Check for further details as more groups get involved. Join parents, teachers and public school supporters as we assemble to ask DeVos to not “DeVostate Tennessee Schools”.

Here is the Facebook Event Link.  https://www.facebook.com/events/940…

If your organization is interested in co-hosting this DeVos action, please email:
rosa@socm.org or michelesheriff@bellsouth.net
​

Interested in some anti-DeVos rally poster art? Click Here.

Thank You to TREE for providing details of the event.

ACT blunder in TN

11/17/2017

 
Momma bears, in case you haven’t heard, we have some serious ACT problems in Knoxville and Jamestown. 
From Wednesday, November 15, in the Knox News:
October ACT tests at Bearden High School won't be scored due to error

Bearden High School has announced the latest round of ACT tests will not be scored due to an error.

ACT told school officials that it "cannot guarantee the validity of" the tests taken by seniors on Oct. 17 because the wrong tests were sent to the school, according to a letter sent to parents and students.

Seniors will be able to take the ACT for free on Dec. 9.

"I understand how disappointing this news is, I personally apologize for this issue," reads the letter from Bearden High School Principal John C. Bartlett.
​

Here's the letter in full:
​

"Dear Bearden Parent and Senior Student,
Due to circumstances beyond our control, the October 17, 2017 ACT will not be scored. ACT has decided that they cannot guarantee the validity of the test given at Bearden High School on this state testing day because the wrong tests were sent to Bearden High School and administered to BHS students. Because of this, ACT is offering senior students vouchers for any ACT National Test Day. To take advantage of these vouchers, the BHS Senior Counselors will have the vouchers available as soon as we receive them from ACT. The counselors will be in the West Mall during lunch next week as soon as we receive the vouchers. Students may still sign up for the ACT test given on December 9, 2017; however, students need to sign up as soon as possible. They will be allowed to use the voucher for this test date without having to pay a late fee.’
Picture
This information came weeks before most college's scholarship deadline.   These kids have worked hard and invested time and their parents invested money into this test and the preparations for it.  This is the final ACT they can take before scholarships deadlines for schools across the country.  This non-scoring of the test is due to a failure by ACT to send the correct test to these two schools.  These kids did nothing wrong and yet they are the ones who will be penalized in missed scholarship deadlines and less money to pay for college.
​
ACT has offered to give them a free test on December 9 but for a lot of schools and scholarships that testing date is too late.
Picture
 

​Momma Bears let’s hear you

We are asking ALL of you (regardless of where you live) to take a second and do the following:

1) Contact ACT and express your support for the release of the Bearden High School and Alvin C. York Agricultural Institutes students' scores from the October 17th test in Knoxville and Jamestown, TN.
ACT CEO: Marten Roorda
ACT Chief Commercial Officer: Suzana Delanghe
Admin assistant: Sandy Serbousek
Direct line: 319-337-1079
Sandy.serbousek@act.org

2) Share the videos linked below regarding the Knox County Council PTA press conference. Tweet them... Facebook them... or whatever else you do socially. Please use the hashtags: #ACTBlunder2017 #GiveUsOurScores
  • http://www.wbir.com/mobile/article/news/local/education/knox-county-council-pta-president-we-want-act-to-reverse-this-decision/51-492754955
  • https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.masur/videos/2085931078087565/?hc_ref=ARSBtMSLaYBLRZoJOPtFErLt6GpVM7QGmpNNfNDzBQ65StSZHQXlRM-k1e5ahESBVFw&fref=nf&pnref=story.unseen-section 
​​     ACT Decision Derails BHS Student/#1 Athlete/Teacher’s Son’s Dream: Give up your dreams to go to the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy or Duke University— or give up your #1 Ranking as best wrestler in the state.... That’s the question facing Kathy McCoy’s son ever since the ACT organization decided not to release the test scores for hundreds of Bearden High School students. Kathy’s also a BHS teacher and says the ACT decision is very impactful and harming her son and the other Bearden seniors. #ACTblunders2017 #GiveUsOurScores
 
3) If you live in Iowa or have any relatives in Iowa (especially if you live in the Iowa City area where ACT is headquartered) express your disappointment over their handling of this situation. That's NOT the Mid-West way!!!
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Stop and think about if YOUR child/niece/nephew/godchild/grandchild/etc studied for MONTHS. Spent money in test preparation. Were committed to raise their ACT scores to get into college, to receive scholarships, or get into specialized programs, and ACT pulled the rug out from under them. Wouldn't you want the world to hear your story?!?

Make your voices heard. 💗
​
#ACTBlunder2017 #GiveUsOurScores

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