After Monday's failure to launch the much-publicized, miracle, magical, almighty TNReady test, the TDOE is desperately back-pedaling and kicking the can o' blame to the testing company.

My, oh, my!  
Since Monday's failure, we've never seen so many irate parents and teachers on social media!  Our blog was late posting to the cyber world that night, but hit nearly 2,000 views before midnight.  A teacher in East TN who has a lovely blog called, "Bringing Back Mayberry," wrote about the testing mess she experienced yesterday and we can see there are already over 3,000 facebook likes on it!  We Momma Bears are seeing people who normally don't post on social media posting rants and sharing articles about it.  A journalist in Chattanooga even wrote a nice article about the testing mess and shared our Momma Bears website and blog.  It is a hot topic, and everyone seems to be upset and want out of this mess!

One mom wrote, "Our teachers, coaches, administrators and staff will ultimately have to do the impossible and make this work and will most likely be asked to do so without question or complaint. They are held accountable while our leaders get a free pass. It's time for someone to step up and hold our leaders accountable for their actions and lack of support for our schools and repeated mismanagement of our tax dollars."
​

One clever Dad came up with this funny picture below and wrote, "First and foremost I know ‪#‎TNReady‬ is a fiasco for all involved and I do understand the seriousness of it. I also know a lot of teachers and admins in MNPS personally and they will achieve the impossible when it comes to their students. Let's face it they will be the ones who will have to adapt on the fly as always to these changes. As a father of MNPS students I will always be thankful for that. But with that said, I also believe you have to find humor in situations or you will go mad. ‪#‎TNAintReady‬"

A Craigslist advertisement searching for test scorers for Measurement, Inc. has gone viral, too.  Basically anyone with a Bachelors degree in anything can earn $11.70 per hour for grading student tests.  So, the livelihood of teachers jobs, and the status of students being labeled failures or qualifying for remedial/gifted programs, and the fate of schools who could become one of the deathly bottom 5% and be given to charter operators...  their fate lies in the hands of people who found some part-time, seasonal work on Craigslist.  Job perk: If they have a "secure work station" at home, they can even grade our children's high-stakes tests in their pajamas.  Parents are not amused.

Legislators are upset, too.  Rep. Bo Mitchell of Nashville was quoted in the news for wisely saying, "If they would take those dollars and fully fund our schools instead of trying all of these schemes to put a middle man, to put more money in their pockets, we may improve education in this state.”

​So it is funny when we hear that Commissioner Candice McQueen says that she's only really hearing from frustrated people in Hamilton County, Tennessee:

Because we see fires all over the state!!!  You know what that means, Momma Bears! Time to roar!  Especially if you live in an area other than Hamilton County, you should contact Commissioner McQueen (be sure to contact your legislators, school board members, and superintendent, too!).  

It is also funny to read that Commissioner McQueen "has lost confidence" in the TNReady test vendor.  Because we've lost confidence in her, and we have serious doubts.  Some irate parents even started an online petition to demand her resignation.  Parents want their voices to be heard! {and more than just the 15 hand-picked parents on McQueen's Parent Council that STILL hasn't been revealed, even though the TDOE spokesperson told parents last week in Johnson City, TN at a town hall meeting sponsored by the PTA that the list of Parent Council names were on the TDOE website along with the press release.  Nope, they're not there.  Someone is fibbing.}

So, Momma Bears, you have some polite pestering to do...

Here's Commissioner Candice McQueen's contact info:
[email protected] 
(You should also cc: Governor [email protected] since he gave her the job)
(615) 741-5158
Go ahead, give her an earful (and be sure to tell her where you're from in TN!)


Two points to make to your elected officials:

1. The high-stakes testing is out-of-control!  We want it drastically reduced and transparent.  We do not want teacher evaluations to be connected to our children's test scores. (Okay, sorry, that's more than 1 point.)
2. We sure don't want vouchers!  The TDOE royally screwed up this testing contracting job, and they screwed up last year's TCAP test results, and they are screwing up the state-run ASD schools...  why on Earth would legislators trust them with millions of dollars in voucher dollars flowing to private interests which are unaccountable and nontransparent?!?  Learn from others mistakes:  In other states, the logistics of vouchers have led to mismanagement, fraud, segregation, students falling through cracks, and overall worse student outcomes for students (especially poor kids).  TN doesn't need vouchers; we need fully funded public schools! 

Sorry, that's like a gazillion points. We Momma Bears cannot help but get on a soapbox once we get started.  It makes us so mad! Go get on your own soapbox and politely pester your elected officials.  Your voice is important!  Blast off, parents!

TCAP scores are coming in and we're hearing lots of good reports. But are Tennessee's school children up for the challenge of  the new Tennessee Ready tests next year? 

State Education Commissioner, Candice McQueen showed up this week in Shelby County pledging to personally meet with ten thousand teachers across the state. It was all part of a campaign to win public appeal for next year's "new and improved" TCAP tests called Tennessee Ready. Along with the Tennessee Ready Tour, McQueen has been nailing the inboxes of Tennessee teachers with emails all week long. And she has recently released a  video message (see below) that pounds in the praises for Tennessee Ready standards and standardized tests. 

The video begins with McQueen thanking and congratulating Tennessee teachers for all their dedication and hard work this year. Then, she tells those hard working teachers that she hopes they will spend their summer break "re-charging and re-energizing their efforts." No relaxation for teachers this summer, they have to prepare for the "new possibilities" next year. 

We have a pretty good idea of what kind of possibilities this longtime common core cheerleader has in mind. 

Although, McQueen carefully avoids "common core" in her message, she doesn't fool us. She describes Tennessee Ready using terms like "high standards" and "real world skills." She goes on to say that the new reading, writing, and math tests are "designed to assess what is currently being taught in Tennessee’s classrooms." Yeah, we know what that means---common core assessments. And if plays out like New York, we can expect a huge revolt from parents who are opting their kids out of what they call unfair, political, common core assessments. 

Speaking of common core assessments, we thought Throwback Thursday would be a good time to bring up McQueen's past comments on the topic. She might be a big fan of Tennessee Ready but not too long ago, she was quite adamant that her own children and their classmates at Lipscomb Academy would not be subjected to common core or the assessments that go along with it. 

A few years ago, McQueen left her position in the college of Education at Lipcomb University to head up Lipscomb Academy, a small private school in Nashville located on the college's campus. When she was named senior vice president, immediately, her fellow parents at the school began to express skepticism of her leadership. Concerns were raised that McQueen, who was deeply entrenched in the money making of common core, would sell out Lipscomb Academy. 

McQueen assured parents in a letter that common core would not infiltrate the hallowed halls of Lipscomb Academy. She dismissed any claims of hypocrisy by clarifying that private school students are to be treated differently than public school kids. Evidently, she feels that those children who attend private school are just too blessed to be stressed over common core. "One of the blessings of being in the private schools sector is the opportunity to explore all possibilities within the community and culture in which you find yourself and to thoughtfully choose what fits your vision." 

 An excerpt of McQueen's letter is below:

McQueen also gave assurances that Lipscomb Academy students would not be subjected to any of those public school tests such as PARCC or TCAP. Instead, McQueen's letter (excerpt below) promised that Lipscomb Academy students would continue to be assessed using ERB tests.

So, if private school kids don't have to be TN Ready, what kind of assessments do they take? And how do those assessments compare with the common core tests that will be given to public school children next year?

Take a look below at sample questions at the private school ERB test compared with PARCC and Tennessee Ready. We just pulled some questions at random but you can click the links and see the full sample tests. 

Sample 5th Grade Math Question from the PARCC Assessment: 
NOTE: Grades 3-5: No calculators allowed, except for students with an approved calculator accommodation 

Tennessee Ready Sample Math Question:
NOTE: TNReady will ask students to solve multi-step problems, many without using a calculator, to show what they know.

Sample Question from the ERB Level 4-6 Mathematics Demonstration Test:
NOTE: Calculators are allowed on one section of the multiple-choice achievement tests.