Category:

Oops. We Changed Our Minds.

4/28/2014

We Momma Bears recently had a chance to climb out of our caves and do some reading in the bright, spring sun. We finally had a chance to read through all those SCORE emails about Common Core--and we are here to announce that we have officially changed our minds:

We now believe that our children will only reach the highest levels of self-actualization if they are exposed to the wonders of these miraculous standards. You may be thinking "What the heck? Seriously? Am I being punked? Is it the end of the world as we know it?" but please hear us out....

Here is our ever-so-insightful reasoning:

1) We have on good authority that Common Core standards are so potent that they will counteract any and all of the negative affects that child poverty may have on learning. Your student didn't sleep last night because he/she was too hungry? Don't worry! Teach them to decompose a number and all will be well.

2) We now understand that the best way to teach a child grit and tenacity--character traits developed by CCSS--is by throwing them into the proverbial pool because they will teach themselves to swim! No typing courses required in the state of Tennessee? No problem. After countless hours of testing on computers, they will eventually train themselves to tearfully hunt and peck their way to a 3-sentence paragraph in kindergarten before they can even read! And they will have developed grit and tenacity. And all will be well... unless they score poorly on the test... because if they score basic or below, they'll sadly finish kindergarten designated one or two years behind grade level. So, the big question is: When will pre-k testing start to better quantify that all kids should learn at the same pace? Better yet, can you start testing them as toddlers? Surely there is a way to rate a toddler's grit and tenacity based on their tantrums.

3) Common Core is going to close the learning gap! Even though the standards were raised and the gap might be wider, inspirational rubrics will overcome closing grade level performance. But, not to worry... your failing scores will put you in the bottom 5% of performing schools and your school can be closed, leaving you all sorts of charter school choices (who all do the same scripted Common Core lessons, give lots of tests, and are staffed by cheap, unqualified, temporary teachers with no experience so it really doesn't matter which one you pick... or which one picks you, because the charter schools can legally kick out the kids they don't want and there is nothing you can do about it).

4) Your child is disabled? Learning English as a second language? Well, finally your child will be tested and be instructed just like all of their peers! No more accommodations for the weaklings! Sink or swim. Hey, it is a dog eat dog world. Kids that can't cut it will be called "factionless" and left to live outside the 4 pillars of our society (just like in the novel & movie, Divergent).

5) Please bring us even more CCSS! Please tell us you haven't forgotten Science and Social Studies! We need some new and harder ways to learn these subjects too. Because right now nobody cares about the untested subjects. Testing can return a focus on the entire educational experience (if tied to teacher evaluations, of course). Everything needs an aligned to a test! Be sure to include art, music, and physical education! Can you please figure out a way to test recess? We bet the government can even figure out some method to test how our kids eat lunch and then use their scores to fire cafeteria workers. Oh, and don't forget Sex Ed! Make it as graphic as possible, we don't even care how young the kids are when they learn it.

6) We want brand new untrained teachers to teach it. We know it is tough trying to squeeze that budget tighter each year and still pay the executive salaries & benefits for the administration at the top of the food chain. Get rid of all those hard-working, stay-in-the-profession-forever types. Who needs them? Bring us the Teach for America robot drones. Five weeks of training is more than enough to prepare new college grads without education degrees how to be the excellent teachers that children deserve. Never mind their classroom management is the pits. Kids will overcome with grit and tenacity. Those Teach for America drones are climbing their career ladders, bless their hearts, and we are happy to let our kids be stepping stones for them as they aspire to greatness as future charter school operators with unlimited salaries, or as well-paid administrators in the TN Department of Education or U.S.Department of Education making decisions for lots and lots of children because a mere 2 year stint as a classroom teacher magically qualifies them for that.

7) Please, give our kids the PARCC test AND the SBAC test. Yes, let's do BOTH of the new Common Core tests in our state! Arne Duncan will be so happy with us that he will wet his pants!!! We know we don't have the money for all this expensive testing, but do it anyway. It will be worth it. Also, force our school systems to buy lots of new Microsoft computers and software for these tests. We'll afford it somehow. You must force these national common standards on our offspring and future generations. Cram it down our throats with expensive advertising through TV commercials and radio ads paid for with our own tax dollars. Would it be too blatant to plan for a Superbowl commercial? You're right, maybe that is too over-the-top. Here's a money-maker idea, advertise to our kids in the tests! Put brand name products in the test questions, we don't mind if you market to our kids because they are future customers in the global economy. Our kids need to know what brand of shoes, beverages, or toys to beg us for.

8) Please spy on our kids through the Common Core tests, benchmark assessments, and surveys. Sneak them in while they are on the computer so parents won't know and it is a big, happy surprise to parents if they find out. Track how frustrated our kids get with questions that are obviously trick questions. Count how many clicks they make with the mouse before they give up. Use the laptop camera and video them to look at their facial expressions. Don't be sneaky about it, go ahead and just blatantly ask our kids personal questions about their lives. Heck, ask them personal questions about OUR lives. We parents just love to spit our milk out at the dinner table when our kids tell us how they were asked non-educational questions that day at school like: who lives with us, how many bedrooms our house has, if our child has a TV or computer in their bedroom, if our child is bullied because of their sexuality, if they have used cigarettes or drugs, if they drink alcohol, and so forth. No question is off-limits when you label it "data." And even though some Americans may say those questions are a violation of privacy or that it is "nunya beeswax," we know that it really means that the government loves us.

9) Be sure to keep track of our children's personal information in a giant database. Transfer and store it on "clouds" because clouds sound safe and happy (like that bonus land in Super Mario where Mario can't get killed, he just jumps around getting coins). Internet safety doesn't worry parents one bit. We don't mind that our bank accounts were hacked through Target and that nothing is ever truly secure on the internet. Hackers wouldn't want innocent kids social security numbers, would they? Why would future employers or colleges or marketing companies want our children's information, anyway? Well, we're positive the government and these corporations that have lucrative contracts with the government will keep our children's personal information safe because they love us and our kids. Besides, if there is a security breach, we'll never know. Ignorance is bliss. Share our kids information with whoever you want without parental consent. We Momma Bears have read the Race to the Top Application to the Federal Government, so we know companies contracted with government are already legally tracking our kids all the way from their "cradle to career." The FERPA law protects the government and those businesses and makes it all perfectly legal to do it without parents even knowing about it. So, go right ahead and stalk our kids. Parents won't think it is creepy. We know you love us.

Please make all of this as hard as possible on everyone. Keep pushing all of these awful reforms on our children despite the many parents and teachers who are freaking out and complaining...
...because if you do, the wheels will continue to come off.

And Momma Bears can continue to get electorate buy-in that TN Governor Haslam's education policies are rotten and based on greed. More immersion in our children's classrooms will convince more voters that Haslam and his appointed Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman, both need to go. More complaints from parents, teachers, and students will open more eyes, and we can get people to the voting booths in November to get the politicians who have voted against our children and our public schools out of office. It could be the best thing politicians & reformers have done for our state. Truly.

Danger: Inappropriate education website for kids

2/28/2014

Momma Bears received this info from a Mom:

My 11 year daughter informed me of a Common Core website that her class has to get on to read an article and take a quiz on afterwards. The assigned articles are harmless however the teacher allowed them to read other articles when they were done testing. She happened upon an article about a transgender boy winning homecoming queen. It explained that he was taking medicine to change his hormones without his parents knowing. I am in the process of talking to the school about this. My fear is that this will become mandatory and the articles tested on will be up to the teachers or worse the government. I try to keep my kids "kids" as long as possible. I am outraged at the whole idea of Common Core. It seems to take our children's childhood away. So much time frustration, testing, and stress. Not to mention the material they see that we as parents don't get the opportunity to read. Is this a slow indoctrination? The website is called: www.newsela.com and, by the way, this article that she read was under the kids section. Crazy huh?

Momma Bears checked it out...
Newsela is a website that has news articles for students grades 3-12. Students can change the Lexile score of each article for different reading level. It is all Common Core aligned, of course. There are even quizzes for students to take about each article after they read it, and the score is sent to their teacher. Students must create a username and password, or students may use their Google Apps for Education login information. You don't have to register to view the articles (the first 4 are free), just to take the quizzes.

Sure enough, that article is right there in the KIDS section if you scroll to the bottom:

And here's another one you might not want your 3rd grade child reading:

And, if that's not bad enough, this article bashes parents:

The NewsELA website tells children to:

Read closely.
Think critically.
Be worldly.

There are plenty of articles about global warming, some about legalizing marijuana, a few others about gay rights, and lots of articles praising President Obama. Momma Bears do not believe issues such as these are appropriate for elementary or middle school children.

How does Newsela choose the articles?
Their website says: "Our editorial team chooses articles that are timely (often breaking news), worldly (we balance domestic US stories with international coverage), and substantial (you won’t find Justin Beiber and his pet monkey in Newsela). We are very deliberate in distributing alignment of articles across a range of Common Core standards."

Did you catch that last sentence??? They are "VERY DELIBERATE in DISTRIBUTING alignment of articles across a range of COMMON CORE standards." Gee, ya think???

And if distributing isn't enough, they QUIZ the kids after they've read it to reinforce the biased, inappropriate material they just read.

So, who is funding this "educational courseware" that is "transforming the way learners access the world through words" and is, of course, aligned with common core?

Go ahead, we'll give you 1 guess...

Bingo! Bill Gates
Newela "won" a $100,000 Literary Coursework Challenge grant. "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is investing $6 million in web-based courseware to support students in mastering the Common Core State Standards for literacy at the 4th–8th grade levels."
(Click HERE to visit the Bill & Melinda Gates website that proudly shows how they're throwing their money at common core, including this company.) Bill Gates isn't the only source of revenue, there are lots of sugar-daddy foundations wanting a piece of this profitable pie.

Momma bears kept digging and turned up this dirt...
Newsela's founder, Matthew Gross, "led the development of EngageNY.org, a web application providing teachers and administrators with resources for implementation of Common Core state standards and teacher and principal evaluations." Congratulations, Matthew Gross, for the worst and most perverted implementation of Common Core in the entire nation! Parents are furious to learn that the www.engageny.org website (a website you developed for the NY Education Department with tax dollars, and which your commissioner John King bragged about for all the high traffic it was getting) contained horribly inappropriate links for students to "quizzes" to find out if they are a "slut," "a se*y b***h," "a freak," or "losers." Who knows how many children innocently clicked on those links and were asked questions we won't even print here. You'll have to click on the link to read them yourself. (That would explain the insanely high website traffic on the State of NY's website.)

WHO IS PROTECTING OUR KIDS???
Certainly not these profit-seeking creeps.

NOTE: Please don't write Momma Bears about gay bashing, global warming, or Obama. We actually are quite open-minded people with friends who are gay. We respect that. As parents, our choice is how we shelter our kids and introduce adult concepts. We don't want our young children exposed to those topics about sexuality at school, especially not in elementary school. These internet-based educational websites are circumventing parents, and THAT is what we have the biggest issue with.

What can you do about it, Momma Bears & Daddy Bears?

Ask your children's teachers if they use the Newsela website. If so, send a polite note to them saying your child is not permitted to use it.
Talk to your school board members to tell them of this inappropriate "educational tool" and make sure it isn't being used in your district.
Contact your legislators. Forward them this blog if you want. Tell them you sure don't like this common core crap. But don't use the word "crap" (even though it is the truth).
Ask your kids what they are doing in school. We're sure this isn't the only biased "educational tool" out there. School districts are pinching pennies to make ends meet, so free or cheap "tools" like Newsela are awfully tempting, especially when everything is required to be aligned with the common core corporate standards.
Be vigilant. Always watching. Pay attention to what your kids are being exposed to. Don't trust that they're safe just because they are at school or that a teacher is monitoring these online websites.

Time to use your PARENT power:
Call and/or email legislators as soon as possible and let them know that you support these bills:

Testing Opt-Out (HB1841/SB2221): “This bill permits parents to opt their children out of participation in high-stakes testing.”
Repeal Common Core (HB 2332/SB 2405) This bill would Repeal Common Core Standards in TN!!!
Postpone Common Core (HB 1825 /SB 1985) requires the state board of education and the department of education to postpone any further implementation of Common Core State Standards beyond those standards implemented as of June 30, 2013, until further implementation is approved by the general assembly.

A Creepy test --- PARCC

2/26/2014

Someone sent this video to Momma Bears and it freaked us out. We transcribed the video for you below.

Feb. 5, 2014 - Dr. Peg Luksik explains how Common Core testing can embed questions that result in behavior change without protest from the children. Poughkeepsie, New York

Question from a Mom in the audience:
"I'm trying to understand because I thought that PARCC and the Smarter Balance, with both, it sounds like as the student is taking it, the test will actually modify itself to how the student is doing? And when the test results comes back, that would be to the benefit of the student? So why is it then that the teachers don't like it if it is self-paced? Wouldn't you think that would be wonderful?"

Dr. Peg Luksik's response (as transcribed by a fast-typing Momma Bear):

"The problem isn't that it is self-paced, the problem is that the test is open to manipulation."

So if I wanted to look like the students are doing poorly, I can adapt it to make the test harder. If I wanted to make it look like the students are doing well, it can be adapted to make the test easier. And you, as parents, or taxpayers, or policy-setters, will never know which way the test was adapted because it is an internal mechanism so it is not a valid assessment, and that is the fundamental problem with it. The test is being manipulated as the test is being taken. In other cases, when you're not in math but some of the other areas, history or where it is more philosophy-driven, you have to comply before you can move on. So the child is put in the position of: "you must agree."

"I don't agree with the global warming." (giving an example) But you have to because the test won't let you move on unless you comply.

So the test-makers can make the test adaptive: we can make it easier... we can make it harder... or we can make it so that we force compliance. You can't take the next step unless you comply with whatever is being taught or presented in the test. So even if you don't agree with it, you are gonna have to write it, you're gonna have to say so.

Perhaps an example that is older will help you... I have a long history in this movement. This is not the first time that the federal government has attempted to take over education. So in the 1990s, it was called "Outcome based education" and then called "School to Work." I was one of the leading national opponents then, too. I got involved because a woman showed me a test. It was given in Pennsylvania and was called the Educational Quality Assessment (EQA). It was originally given back in the 70's and early 80's. The test said "Citizenship" so parents thought they were testing things like George Washington and the Declaration of Independence... but when you looked at the internal documents of the test, which I did, it said "we're not testing objective knowledge," it said "we are testing and SCORING for the child's threshold for behavior change without protest" and that was in the test!

A sample question said: "There's a group called Midnight Marauders and they went out at midnight and did vandalism. I, the child, would join the group IF..."
... "my best friend was in the group."
... "my mother wouldn't find out."
There was no place to say they would NOT join the group. They had to say they would join the group.

Another sample question was, "Your parents just found out that they are moving to outer Mongolia, how much time would you spend on each of the following:"
..."being upset"
..."crying"
..."arguing"
So, how adaptable are you to change?

Based on the results of the EQA, districts were given curriculum packets to modify their curriculum so that the children would do better on the EQA the next time. So they were using the test to get a threshold for behavior and then adapting.

Now that was a paper and pencil test, so to say that it was easy to track is a gross overstatement of the level of difficulty that it was to get the information, but compared to a computer adaptive test... much easier.

And when we were fighting Outcome Based Education, I was in every state but Hawaii. And in one state I was reading the Assessments, it was a Reading Assessment, and it was a story about a child who found a wallet and there was money in the wallet, and what do you do with the money. I'm sitting in the Department of Education, reading it in front of the other Secretary, because they didn't want me to make a copy and take it anywhere, which was fine, and the question was to the child:

"If you found a wallet with money in it, would you take it?"

(pause) Do you read better if you say "yes"? or do you read better if you say "no"?

Or were they testing a child's honesty on a State assessment with their name on it that was computerized? Because, with paper and pencil, I could find it.

What if they put that in a computer test? and if they don't give the right answer, I can change the computer to move them in the next direction.

So, the computer adaptive testing is REALLY dangerous for our children. Because the State can manipulate achievement data by making the test harder if they want, or easier if they want, but you won't know... you'll just get "proficient" results.

Or they can use the test to test for, and then influence, what your child thinks and how your child thinks about a variety of topics. And, again, parents thought that was a Reading test. They didn't know that "honesty" was being tested on a paper and pencil State Assessment with their child's name on it that is now part of their record.

And no child would think to say (raising hand), "Is that a Reading question?" Children just answer the questions in front of them because they're KIDS. They just take the test. THAT is what they are using the test for. Computer Adaptive makes that so much easier, and, therefore, so much more dangerous.
(end transcription, emphasis added by Momma Bears)

The PARCC test will be a State mandated test for Tennessee students in 2014-15. Some unlucky students will get to take the "pilot" PARCC this spring. No, they aren't flying an airplane... it means those students gets to be unpaid guinea pigs for the testing company (Pearson). Parents probably won't be asked permission for their children to take the trial test, so unless they ask, parents won't even know their child is being given this pilot PARCC test. Their children will miss precious class time to take a test that doesn't count for anything (except to help Pearson profit).

Will the PARCC have questions about honesty or character?
We don't know. We will never know. Parents and teachers are never allowed to see the questions. Test security is tougher than Fort Knox. In fact, a teacher in Memphis was fired last year because a high school student snapped a picture of a test question and put it on facebook. So, unless children mention the strange test questions to their parents, we have no clue. That's how Momma Bears found out about the awful Climate Surveys in TN (which, thanks to parents raising heck, have been stopped this year until parents give written consent. Go, Momma Bears!!!) And that's how parents in New York found out that the PARCC included questions with name brand products embedded in them.

Why does the government want to know this stuff about my child?
Admit it, you think Momma Bears are a little cuckoo for thinking that the government is spying on your children's brains and wanting to know their character traits. It does sound like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. But you cannot argue with official government documents. We didn't write it, the government did. So, we give you facts. This document published by the U.S. Department of Education says:

"What will it take to shift educational priorities to promote not only content knowledge, but also grit, tenacity, and perseverance? This is an important and exciting time to stop, take stock, and prepare to move forward. New and emerging trends in research, policy, programs, and technology are providing unprecedented opportunities... new research programs are exploring ways to promote these factors. Several private foundations have recently initiated programs to push the frontiers of theory, measurement, and practice around these and related factors, particularly for at-risk and vulnerable students. In national policy, there is increasing attention on 21st-century competencies (which encompass a range of noncognitive factors, including grit), and persistence is now part of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.(page V)

Take the time to read that government document from the U.S. Department of Education. It is super-creepy!
p.39 has a Character Report Card
p.44 has pictures of the student sensors (facial cameras, pressure monitors, wrist straps, etc.)

And also take time to read the TN Race to the Top Application, Appendix C
(It is also an official government document, but it was written by consultants paid for by Bill Gates). It, too, will freak you out majorly to learn that they are compiling a 360 degree view on every child in public schools in TN, and they will share that information with the Federal Government and 3rd parties.

What if I don't want my child to take the PARCC, SBAC, State Mandated tests, or District tests?
Currently, there is no "Opt-out" law in TN. There is a proposed bill sponsored by the very awesome Knoxville Representative Gloria Johnson (she is also a teacher). If that bill passes the Legislature and becomes Law, parents would have the right to make the decision for their child (Ummm... so the government owns our kids, and parents have to get legal permission to prevent them from taking a test that could be harmful??? Momma Bears disagree with that!). The Pearson testing company sure doesn't want Rep. Johnson's Opt-Out bill to pass, and their 8 well-paid lobbyists are pushing hard to prevent it from passing. Now a half-a-billion dollar fiscal note has been added to the bill, because if students don't take the test, the federal government won't be happy and will want the $500 million back from the Race to the Top grant (which is really our tax dollars in the first place!) Crazy. Our kids in TN have a half-a-billion-dollar testing bounty over their heads. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Use the magic word:
If you want to "opt-out" of testing for your child, be sure to use the word "REFUSE" instead. It seems to work for parents who have used it in TN. If you use the word, "opt-out," you'll be told the Attorney General says you cannot legally opt-out (which is true because TN does not have an Opt-out law. Yet.). Crazy, huh? Refuse is the magic word.

What if I keep my child home on testing days?
Some parents do that and it works. However, the testing windows to administer state mandated tests last a few weeks because there aren't enough computers to test every child at once. Testing must be done in shifts and this takes a long time. Plus, there are make-up test days following the test window weeks. That's a LOT of unexcused absences for a student.
Note: We're not saying you should lie and say your child is sick those days, because lying is dishonest, but your child could possibly be reported for truancy for having that unexcused absences. Crazy, huh?
Another negative: the State mandates that the test count as 15%-25% of the child's grade on his/her final report card. So, depending on your district, your child will be given a zero averaged in with his other grades. In most districts, this means 10% of their English grade will be counted as a zero, and 10% of their math grade will be a zero, averaged in with their semester grades.

Some parents in other states have had success with this method of "opting out":
Withdraw your child from school the day of testing. After the testing window is complete, re-enroll them in school. This method is a big hassle both for the parent and for the school personnel. And you'll need to figure out childcare arrangements since they won't be at school. But it prevents the test from being given to your child, prevents the zero being a part of his/her final grade, and means you won't be reported to DHS for truancy or unexcused absences.

Time to use your Superhero power:
Call and/or email legislators as soon as possible and let them know that you support these bills:

Testing Opt-Out (HB1841/SB2221): “This bill permits parents to opt their children out of participation in high-stakes testing.”
Repeal Common Core (HB 2332/SB 2405) This bill would Repeal Common Core Standards in TN!!!
Postpone Common Core (HB 1825 /SB 1985) requires the state board of education and the department of education to postpone any further implementation of Common Core State Standards beyond those standards implemented as of June 30, 2013, until further implementation is approved by the general assembly.

Attention: Parents

1/30/2014

Has your child been given an inappropriate survey without your consent? or required to join websites that parents are not allowed access to?

If so, Momma Bears wants to hear from you. Please contact us privately through our website's contact form:
http://www.mommabears.org/contact-us.html

A group of parents are considering a class action lawsuit.

Not with my kids, you don't!!!

1/28/2014

Some parents in Tennessee were SHOCKED to hear what their 5th grade children were asked at school. And it wasn't asked by another student. It was asked by the STATE of TENNESSEE!

A furious TN mother tells this story:
My 5th grader took the PARCC practice today. Then she said they logged out of the PARCC writing and opened up a survey that asked if they have ever done drugs. One question we all were puzzled with - and I keep thinking- maybe she remembered wrong... "Have you ever been bullied for being nonsexual?" She did not even know what that meant. It was awful.

Our mouths were wide open as she poured out these grave details at dinner. The kids were all laughing and giggling and the teachers had to keep redirecting them to the survey. One girl was so struck by this question she fell out of her seat and rolled on the floor with giggles. They did not know what it meant. They thought it was funny. Then the questions - did you smoke pot? Do any drugs? Drink? They were all giggling and wondering what would happen if they all answered yes.

My husband and I were horrified.

There were questions my child did not want to answer and tried to skip. But, the computer made them answer something before moving on. This is troubling to me as well.

So WHY were children asked these questions???
Well, the Tennessee Department of Education was awarded a discretionary grant from the U.S. Department of Education to "support district and school measurement of, and targeted programmatic interventions to improve, conditions for learning." (Note: Momma Bears have come to realize that a "Government Grant" ALWAYS has strings attached. It means they will do things that we wouldn't allow them to do without the grant money as bribery, like Racing to the Top, common core, and paying outrageous salaries to "consultants"). Tennessee is one of 11 states that were awarded this grant, but Tennessee is the only state that has developed its own survey to determine conditions for learning and that intend to "connect academic data to the conditions for learning data."

Anyway, this grant awarded by the US Department of Education (that's important to note, file that in the back of your head) paid for a slick website, some people to create invasive surveys to anonymously collect personal information about our children, and staff to run the program. Government wastefulness and invasion of privacy at its finest, ladies and gentlemen! (Click HERE to see the website for yourself)

What were those questions that had students giggling in embarrassment and parents blushing in horror?
Momma Bears found the surveys. There are 2 different surveys (Middle School & High School), each containing 88 personal questions. We couldn't really tell a difference between the 2 surveys, other than the title page.

Asked of 5th graders:
"During this school year, how often has anyone called you an insulting or bad name at school having to do with...
...your sexuality?"  (These are 10 year old children!!!)
...your religion?" (None of the government's business!)
...your weight or physical appearance?" (Are you trying to give the kids an inferiority complex?)
...how much money your family makes?"  (Again, none of your beeswax, government!)

"In the last 30 days, I...
...used or tried tobacco products"
...drank alcohol"
...drank five or more servings of alcohol in a row"
...used or tried maijuana"
...used or tried other drugs or substances to get high"

"I think that...
...students are sometimes distracted in class because they are drunk or high." (some children don't know what "high" means!)
...it makes me uncomfortable when other students bring drugs or alcohol to school or school-sponsored events." (really? well, let's just plant some ideas in their young minds!)

And, in case students don't know what these terms mean, they go ahead and educate them by including all sorts of examples at the top of the survey. If your child didn't know they could sniff products to get high, they sure know now... Thank you, government!

NOTE:  Not every school district in TN is giving these climate surveys (Click HERE to see if your county does) This climate survey is NOT a part of the common core PARCC testing. It just happened that this school gave both the climate survey as the same day as the common core writing assessment.

Click HERE to download the Middle School Climate Survey
Click HERE to download the High School Climate Survey

Did we mention that PARENTS WERE NOT NOTIFIED OR EVEN ASKED FOR CONSENT BEFORE THEIR CHILDREN WERE GIVEN THESE SURVEYS? Sorry, Momma Bears isn't yelling (although, we're pretty steaming mad over this!). That part in capital letters is very important. Because, you see, the State of TN and that school have broken a law.
(Note: The Mom above is unsure if she or her husband gave permission at the beginning of the year with all the registration forms they signed. If they did, they certainly did not understand the types of questions that would be asked of their child.)

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) clearly states that parents must give WRITTEN consent BEFORE any surveys funded by the U.S. Department of Education are given to minor children:

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98) applies to programs that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). PPRA is intended to protect the rights of parents and students in two ways:

It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors make instructional materials available for inspection by parents if those materials will be used in connection with an ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation in which their children participate; and

It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors obtain written parental consent before minor students are required to participate in any ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning:
1. Political affiliations;
2. Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family;
3. Sex behavior and attitudes;
4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
5. Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships;
6. Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers; or
7. Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program).
Parents or students who believe their rights under PPRA may have been violated may file a complaint with ED by writing the Family Policy Compliance Office. Complaints must contain specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of PPRA occurred.

For additional information or technical assistance, you may call (202) 260-3887 (voice). Individuals who use TDD may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Or you may contact us at the following address:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-5920

(click HERE to visit the US Department of Education website where we found that law)

Okay, so some parents may be thinking... "What's the big deal? It is a rough world out there. Those kids will learn about illegal drugs and sex soon enough." Well, some parents have conservative values and we don't want our children exposed to these topics at this age or in this manner. Parents should be the ones doing the educating about those issues, not the government. Parents should be the ones to decide when that time is right for their child.

And some parents may be thinking... "What's the big deal? Those were anonymous surveys so they aren't really collecting personally identifiable data on my child." Someone is collecting that information to use for some purpose. And the time spent taking the 88 question survey is time that our kids could be learning. Anonymous or not, Momma Bears are suspicious of surveys given to our kids. Momma Bears has another personal Demographic Survey that we bet you didn't know about, and this one has each student's name directly tied to their answers:

THE PLAN PRE-TEST ASSESSMENT:
The PLAN PRE-TEST is given to 10th graders in TN to predict how they will do on the all-important ACT college entrance exam. These are definitely NOT anonymous. When students take this PLAN test, they are asked about an hour's worth of demographic questions. Parents aren't allowed to see those questions, but our children told us there are questions about: religious denomination, class schedule, address, GPA, Honors, if your parents are divorced, who do you live with, ethnicity/race, etc. Like the computerized climate surveys above, students could not skip questions they didn't want to answer. Not only are there personal questions, districts can also develop up to 30 local questions to add to the demographic survey part. (Click HERE to read more about the PLAN).

It is important to note that:

A business could never ask those questions of someone applying for a job.
Adults have more protections than students do.
The penalty for breaking the PPRA law is a slap on the wrist.

Where is this information going? Who knows. Is it safe? Nothing is safe these days. Even major retail stores, like Target, and major Banks can't keep personal information secure. In fact, click HERE to see some scary security violations with students' personal information recently here in Tennessee schools! Yes, prisoners had access to private student information.

GAGGLE:
Another thing Momma Bears needs to warn you about is something called "Gaggle." In some districts, students in TN are required to sign up for a Gaggle account. This sounds like a neat program for safe online learning, but it gets a bit suspicious when they won't allow parents to have their child's password to see what is going on. Even creepier, Gaggle has a "Human Monitoring Service." Its website says that Gaggle's HMS team has "uncovered bullying, drug use, threats of school violence, teen depression, suicidal intentions, and abusive domestic situations." So, strangers are snooping on our children's private information, but parents can't see it? Unless a formal Law Enforcement Request is made, HMS data will be released only to the district contacts, and not parents. (Click HERE to find out about Gaggle)

What can you do about it?
Be vigilant, Momma Bears! Send a letter to your child's teacher and principal stating your child is not to be given any surveys or sign up for any online learning programs without your written permission. Ask to see the survey or program before you give permission, and be sure to ask who has access to the information. Before you sign anything, read the fine print.

Momma Bears, protect your babies! It is a scary world out there!!!

Added 1/30/14:

Has your child been given an inappropriate survey without your consent? or required to join websites that parents are not allowed access to? If so, Momma Bears wants to hear from you. Please contact us privately through our website's contact form: http://www.mommabears.org/contact-us.html
A group of TN parents are considering a class action lawsuit.

UPDATE BLOG to this inappropriate Climate Survey blog:
http://www.mommabears.org/blog/update-inappropriate-climate-surveys-in-tn

Is this the best we can do?

12/23/2013

Momma Bears asked teachers:
What do you like and dislike about common core?
Their answers were surprising:

"I like that students must think critically, but I've been doing that all along as any good teacher does."
"I don't like the never-ending testing. It leaves less time to teach!"
"I like teaching math concepts in depth, but it frustrates and confuses some students and their parents."
"I was happy to hear that standards would be deeper and fewer, but that isn't really the truth. There are more standards and they're just all packaged together."
"The writing assessments are way over my students' heads. I've taught many grade levels and I know that these writing prompts would be appropriate for older students, but not the younger ones I'm teaching now."
"I'm having to ignore bad grammar, misspellings, and penmanship to prepare them for the common core writing assessments. That bothers me as an English teacher."
"I like the idea of every child being on the same level, but that's impossible in real life. Students are not all the same and they will never be."
"My students will be tested on the computer for writing assessments, but they don't know how to type. We don't have enough computers for students either."
"I am worried about my SPED students. I heard the new Common Core tests will be brutal for them, and they won't get any accommodations."
"I wish I could teach more literature instead of non-fiction. I've had to cut great literature that my students used to love and give them non-fiction text that they should be learning in Science or Social Studies classes."
"The common core training was confusing. The 2 Common Core leaders contradicted themselves and argued in front of us about what was correct under Common Core."
"I hate that my evaluation is tied to test scores. We haven't transitioned to the Common Core tests yet, so my students are still tested on the old standards. Which should I teach them: the standards they'll be tested on (and will make my evaluation score higher)? or the standards they will need for the future (but will net lower evaluation scores for me)?"
"I'm grateful that we are given freedom to develop our own lessons, but I've heard teachers in other districts are required to follow scripted lessons. They can't go back and review if students aren't solid because they have to move on to the next lesson on the schedule. I sure hope that doesn't happen in my district!"
"Every time I hear the word 'rigor' I feel sick. Rigor is just another word for test, test, test."

With these valid concerns that teachers raise, plus the issues that Momma Bears has already written about regarding the testing and violation of student privacy that are inseparable with common core, Momma Bears wants to know:

Are common core standards really the BEST standards we can give our children?

Sincere thanks to Paul Söderholm for granting us permission to use his artwork. (gnurf.net ~ paul@gnurf.net) Though he is from Finland, he perfectly captured the corporate influence on our American Education system.

Why are we required to keep these imperfect, unchangeable standards? Why are our children required to take expensive, time-consuming, confusing tests on them? Why aren't leaders listening to teachers???

How to get stinking rich in the education industry

12/3/2013

Times are tough, but that doesn't mean you can't make a buck in education right now. No qualifications or experience? No problem! In fact, it is actually works better if you have zero classroom experience (so you won't have any compassion for the hardworking teachers and innocent students you'll be profiting from).

You could pay $1,395 to attend a workshop (like this one) to learn how to get rich in the education industry, but Momma Bears already did the homework and figured it all out. And Momma Bears is all about sharing knowledge with other concerned folks. So, save your money and read about the easy 10-step program to getting rich with other people's money through America's public school system...

10 steps to hitting the jackpot in education:

Step #1: Start a consulting business or organization. It doesn't really matter if it is profit or non-profit. Non-profit organizations will seem more trustworthy and innocent to the public (but don't worry, that doesn't mean you won't get a nice paycheck.)

Step #2: Create a catchy name for your organization. Acronyms work especially well. Don't forget a logo. You cannot go wrong with an apple logo, they are very much in style right now.

Step #3: Make a website with pretty pie charts and lots of catchy buzz-words like these:

achievement gap
data driven benchmarks
human capital
Common Core aligned
education strategies
global citizen
rigorous, relevant, and robust

Step #4: Convince a school district that they are failing. You'll need to cherry-pick and manipulate test score data, make some glitzy charts, and use lots of buzz words. It helps if you can WOW the school board members and Superintendent with free trips or fancy meals, too.

Step #5: Find a Gullible Billionaire. (Bill Gates, Eli Broad, or any of the Walton family love education entrepreneurs, especially if you have a great logo.)

Step #6: Convince that failing school district to apply for a grant from the Gullible Billionaire. Note: the Gullible Billionaire may require a "matching grant" to get his money. Don't fret your pretty little entrepreneurial heart over that little detail! There's money to be squeezed from within that school district (those students don't need money for library, art, or music, do they?) Don't forget to tell the school district to ask for matching grants from that town's Chamber of Commerce and other gullible rich people. Businesses love to donate if you publicize their names; it is well-known that customers especially love businesses that help children. Be sure to check all those potential sources of grant money.

***Disclaimer: the Billionaire will require private student data in exchange for his grant. Don't worry, you won't go to jail. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) law was quietly changed to make it all legal. Parents would be upset if they knew, though, so don't let them find out.

Step #7: Name your price (which is conveniently the same amount as their grant funds plus the money they squeezed from their tight budget). Set a time limit to your involvement with the district, and include in the contract that you get paid no matter what.

Step #8: Pretend to study the data from the district. Visit some of their schools to seem legitimate. Then, convince the elected school board and superintendent to do any or all of the following (it really doesn't matter to you what they do, of course, because you still get paid regardless):

Fire teachers.
Hire unqualified temporary teachers that cost less and don't stay around long enough to get pricey retirement benefits.
Tell teachers they can earn bonuses and/or merit pay for reaching impossible goals.
Spend more money on testing students (but call them "benchmark assessments" to compile even more data, which Gullible Billionaires love).
Suggest they give biased surveys to teachers, parents, & students to convince them that you know what you are doing (these surveys are a great way to gather even more data. In fact, some Gullible Billionaires will often pay 100% for the surveys in addition to the grant!)
Squeeze even more students into classrooms to save their school district money (but don't ever mention how much they are wasting on outside consultants like yourself!)
Close neighborhood schools and give them to charter school investors.

Step #9: Now that you have stirred up a hornet's nest in that school district, it is time to get out of Dodge, cowboy! The citizens are starting to see they've been duped. It is time to go on a nice vacation or buy yourself a yacht with those millions of education dollars filling up your bank account.

Step #10: If you really want to rake in consistent long-term tax-payer money, consider starting charter schools. Charter operators set their own salaries and you don't have to deal with pesky financial audits and laws that apply to public schools. Charter investors get ridiculous tax breaks up to 38%, which will double your money in just 7 years! Yes, sir-ee, just sit back and let some commoners run your charter school empire while you watch your bank account grow.

So there you have it. Ten easy steps to hitting the jackpot in the education industry. What is your next goal in life? Perhaps children of your own? If you decide to brave the parenthood frontier, just make sure you put your own children in nice private schools with small class sizes, rich art programs, qualified teachers, huge endowments, and none of that common core stuff that some other education entrepreneurs came up with to sell textbooks & testing and gather data for Gullible Billionaires. Hey, maybe you'll see their yacht when you're on vacation so you can ask them for private school recommendations???

Don't believe Momma Bears? This kind of profiteering really has happened... maybe even in your school district!
Click these links to see for yourself:

Click HERE to read about grants & consultants in Knox County, TN
Click HERE to read about the enormous profit in Memphis, TN
Click HERE and HERE to see how TN's Governor profits
Click HERE to read how charters & testing companies make millions in TN
Click HERE to read about the scandals in FL, OK, ME, NJ, TN, NM, & LA
Click HERE to read the waste in Denver, CO
Click HERE and HERE to read how this firm profited from chaos in Colorado, New Orleans, New York, & St. Louis
Click HERE to read how a smart teacher does the math on Charter Schools
Click HERE and HERE to heed other's warnings about the Boston Consulting Group
Click HERE to see how Texas is being swindled big-time
Click HERE to see Louisana being taken advantage of
Click HERE for No Consultant Left Behind
Click HERE to see how a billionaire advertised for paid consultants in 15 states through Race to the Top
Click HERE to see how a consultant gets paid $625 an hour in Florida with public tax dollars (even though teachers haven't received raises in 7 years and the school board cut sports and student activities).

Wake Up, Momma!!

10/17/2013

Hibernation is over. Time to wake-up. Our baby bears are venturing out into a whole new data-driven world and they need their Momma Bears to protect them. You know who you are...you're the room mom, the school volunteer, the Girl Scout leader, you are the mom who drives car pool.

But you are not the lunatic who rants about longitudinal data and believes all those scary posts on Facebook.

You trust your child's teacher and your school's principal. If something was really bad for your child, they would have no part of it. So, what's all the fuss about a little survey?

Google: "Data Quality Campaign"

Google search for "Data Quality Campaign"

In March 2011, the Data Quality Campaign partnered with some other organizations to produce a research paper for AT&T. I know, you are busy and don't have time to read the whole thing so here is the Executive Summary verbatim:
"Education is on the road to a transformation into a data-driven enterprise. With better information shared with the appropriate stakeholders, individuals at all levels--teachers and parents, principals and superintendents, business and nonprofit leaders, and policymakers and practitioners--can accelerate their efforts to boost student achievement and to put in place the reforms, policies, and practices that strengthen education for all children. Although the U.S. education system increasingly produces and collects more data, that information often is not shared, or comes too late to prompt appropriate interventions and supports. Moreover, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders such as parents, students, and community partners, lack the training and capacity to use that information to inform their decisionmaking.

Three developments in education data are positive signs that the education sector is in the midst of this transformation into a data-driven enterprise: longitudinal data that connects information about students from the time they start school until they enter their careers; early-warning data that predicts dropping out, such as poor attendance, bad behavior, and course failure, and prompt the appropriate supports; and college- and career-readiness indicators that demonstrate whether students are well prepared to advance their postsecondary education and successfully enter the workplace.

The next frontier is to ensure educators, policymakers, and external stakeholders are maximizing these new tools to improve decisionmaking and student achievement, and there is still much work to be done. First, data must be linked across states, districts, and multiple agencies, and among educational institutions and employers. Second, stakeholders must have access to relevant, timely, appropriate data, consistent with student privacy. Third, the capacity of all stakeholders must be built so they can use longitudinal data to improve decisionmaking and student achievement.

Leaders in business, philanthropy, and education must continue to play a key role in ensuring the success of the remainder of this transition and ensure that technology and data are used efficiently and effectively. These leaders can support the transition from snapshot data to longitudinal data, early-warning systems, and college- and career-ready indicators; support continued efforts to link data across systems; and help build capacity for data use while protecting privacy. With advances in research, technology, and assessments, and with a focused effort, the U.S. education system can lead the world in becoming a data-driven enterprise."

Data Trackers? In Tennessee? Coming After our Kids?
Forget about the scary Facebook posts and the crazy websites. Look at the government's official website and read Tennessee's 2010 Race to the Top Application:

"Tennessee was also one of only 11 states in the nation to have all ten essential elements of statewide data systems as measured by the non-profit Data Quality Campaign – an important external validation of the state’s efforts. Please see Appendix C-1-2 for Tennessee’s report card issued by the Data Quality Campaign."--Page 63 TN Race To The Top Application

"The state’s application to the U.S. Department of Education to expand its statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) in groundbreaking and thoughtful ways will enable Tennessee to collect and report data using methods that are second to none."--Page 66 TN RTTT Application

But it's all anonymous data, right???
Don't be fooled by the camouflage, Momma Bears!! Keep reading the Race to the Top Application, it's all on pages 63 & 64. The trackers have your child in their cross-hairs.

They may not use names, but Element 1 makes it clear, children have been individually identified using "unique student identifier" since 2002. And they are looking for a better rifle scope:

Advancements in the SLDS application: "Tennessee will improve its unique student identifier by creating a master person identifier that will be used to match individuals across data sets where the unique identifiers do not match."--Page 63 & 64 TN RTTT Application

And under Element 8, they are linking your child to their teachers using "a teacher identifier system with the ability to match teachers to students." --See Page 66, RTTT Application

The government will protect your children, right???
Think again. In 2011, the US Department of Education, without Congressional authorization, changed the regulations governing the release of student data to the private sector. Changes were made to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which allows the release of student records for non-academic purposes and undercuts your parental consent. Why did the USDOE weaken the FERPA law to allow entrepreneurs in the private sector to legally get our children's data? The education industry is insanely profitable, with many paid lobbyists.

Hold Tight, Momma!!
After the tracking, comes the capture... The official explanation for matching teachers with student data is that P-12 Longitudinal Data System will be used to capture data on effective teaching and showcase effective teaching techniques statewide.

In the case of the Tripod Survey, that captured data will go into "...a rich, national database." Students in 1,851 schools across the US completed Tripod surveys including every school in Memphis, TN; Pittsburgh, PA; Grand Rapids, MI and Hawaii."

It's a Decoy!
Momma Bears are not fooled by DECOYS which might explain why the Tripod Survey is so secretive about asking children to answer all kinds of nosy demographic questions about our educational levels and the number of bedrooms in our homes.

Tripod Survey Questions

Momma Bears know teacher effectiveness is just a decoy being used to gather demographic data.

Take a look at Element 2 of the Race to the Top Application where the state's goal is to use recent student data and past TVASS scores to create a 20 year retrospective on student demographics: "Merging historic value-added assessment data with more recent Tennessee Department of Education data will yield 20 years of retrospective data on student demographics." --See Page 64, Race to the Top Application.

Old TVASS scores and current student data combined to help teachers be more effective in the future? Hmmm...That's the thing about decoys, they just don't look right and they don't pass the smell test.

Decoy Dynasty...
The Tripod Survey cost Memphis City Schools $185,000 in 2010 and according to the contract, "The Memphis City Schools will allow Ron Ferguson to embed the MCS data into his large national data set, but all teacher and student names will be purged from these data."

By 2011, the cost of the Tripod Survey went up to $475,000. In 2012 when the Memphis City Schools merged with Shelby County Schools, the cost rose again to $867,700. In 2013, the cost is a whopping $945,000! That's a whole lot of money to be spending with education dollars.

Wake up, Momma!!

While you've been sleeping, Momma Bears have been standing watch. We have been ridiculed and demeaned for trying to wake you up. But it's open season on our kids. Time for you to wake up, pay attention to deceptive camouflage & decoys, and protect your children from those who hunt their information.

Opt your children out.
Send a note to your child's teacher and principal saying your child is not to be given any surveys, including the Tripod Survey. (NOTE: Discuss this with your child first so they know why and are not surprised.)

Alternate assignment for your child to do while other students are doing the Tripod:
"Your Mom and Dad have taught you to only say nice things about others. Write as many kind and positive things as you can about your teacher, and then give your great list to your hardworking teacher."

Now, THAT is how a Momma Bear raises her children to respect others!!!

Oops. We Changed Our Minds.

Danger: Inappropriate education website for kids

A Creepy test --- PARCC

Attention: Parents

Not with my kids, you don't!!!

Is this the best we can do?

How to get stinking rich in the education industry

10 steps to hitting the jackpot in education:

Has your school district been duped, too???
Send the info to Momma Bears and we'll post it!

Wake Up, Momma!!

Archives

Momma Bears

Categories

10 steps to hitting the jackpot in education:

Has your school district been duped, too??? Send the info to Momma Bears and we'll post it!

Archives

Momma Bears

Categories

Has your school district been duped, too???
Send the info to Momma Bears and we'll post it!