This year, the state of TN is spending more money than they've ever spent before on a brand new test.  Well, it isn’t actually a new test, but more like a recycled test since TN leased the test questions from Utah’s old SAGE test.  Anyway, they stuck these expensive questions from Utah in a confusing test platform created by a company in North Carolina, and are now rebranding it as homegrown in TN.  This test is called TNREADY.  

Teachers across Tennessee kept alerting Momma Bears to concerns about the new TNREADY test.  They said TNREADY is intentionally confusing for students, way too advanced for each grade level by several years, they said their schools have been and will continue to be disrupted by the testing schedules and lack of adequate technology, the teachers worry that higher numbers of students are predicted to fail it, and they complained that TNREADY requires even more precious class time to prepare for and administer than previous tests. 

​So, some of our Momma Bears bloggers spent a precious Saturday taking the sample TNREADY tests and trying to get answers.  Here is what we observed on the Sample TNREADY computerized tests:

• Difficult to read passages: A tiny 4-inch scroll window to read long passages of text.  This requires good mouse skills and eye tracking. (see pic below)  Students with knowledge of how to expand the reading pane using the little tab in the middle, and collapse it again to get to the test questions, will fare better.  This format isn't like any of the internet sites or reading apps that most children are accustomed to; they will need to be taught how to navigate those tools for the sole purpose of taking this test. 
• Tiny window for the test questions:  It was barely large enough to show all the answer options, and not large enough to show the “RESET/UNDO” buttons at the bottom of the question unless the student scrolled lower.  See the photo below to understand how students are supposed to write an entire essay response in a text box that is about 4" square.  Typing, mind you, which elementary students aren't fluent in doing; their hands aren't even large enough to reach all the keys properly.  So, they will be hunting and pecking letter keys to write an essay in a box the size of a cell phone screen.  
• Distracting numbers on ELA test: Bold paragraph numbers along the left margin of the text passages.  
  4  Quite distracting
  5  if you're trying
  6  to read something.
  7  Isn't it?

WHY???
We question the real reason for this test.  Is it to test what children learned in a grade level?  Or could it be testing children’s grit, frustration levels, and perseverance?  Are they trying to make kids cry?  Will the student give up or keep testing?  Are these online assessments collecting data points to assess character traits?  That’s crazy to consider… but then you read this paper from the Federal Department of Education, and you get a sick feeling in your stomach.  These are children, for goodness sake!  OUR children.  It is not okay to screw with their heads.  It is not okay to frustrate them with a test that is too difficult for them.  It is not okay to label them as failing due to a stinking test that nobody is allowed to see.  Crushing their spirits with mind-numbing, developmentally inappropriate tests and robbing them of the joy of learning is abusive.  

Even worse, the cut scores of these tests are set in secret AFTER the tests are administered.  The cut scores are set so that a certain percentage of students will be in the bottom failing tier no matter what.  No matter what, kids will fail, even if they all magically answer nearly all of the questions correctly.  What is that percentage for Tennessee?  We're willing to bet there's already a number in some ogliarch's head of how many advanced, proficient, and failing kids there will be on the TNREADY.  Don't believe us?  Tennessee did it last year with the TCAP writing test when they only allowed 100 students to have "perfect scores" on their tests.  TN Commissioner of Education, Candice McQueen, is already predicting that scores for TNREADY will fall across the board.  

You know which students will be in that bottom failing percentage category?  Sadly, it is the poorest, most vulnerable students in the state... the ones that don't have parents who can afford tutors... whose parents don't understand this confusing Common Core math to help their children... students in communities with high crime, high poverty, and instability... students who speak little or no English... students with learning disabilities... students who are hungry because they didn't get breakfast that morning or dinner the night before... Those students will fail, their schools will be labeled as "failing," and will be handed over to charter school vultures to profit from.  It is a vicious cycle of failure leading to the pocketbooks of those at the top of the food chain.  These tests serve a purpose.  Once you understand that, it makes you furious to see how students, teachers, principals, districts, and the media play right into their hands like pawns.  

All of this testing madness begs the question…

What are we gonna do about it? 

The TDOE says parents can’t do anything.  Every child (except their own that are in private schools) must take TNREADY.  Districts that allow parents to opt-out/refuse are at risk of losing desperately needed funding from the state.  The state sent out this official memo to districts to bully parents.  It says parents may homeschool or choose private school if they don’t want their children taking state mandated tests.  So, there are your options: homeschool or private school.  Is that okay with you?  A group of APPOINTED people are saying this, by the way…  The TN Board of Education, all appointed by the Governor…  The Commissioner of Education, Candice McQueen, appointed by Governor Haslam…  even the Governor’s family won’t put their kids in public schools.  Why is it okay for the rest of us "commoners" then?

Okay, so back to the million dollar question…

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT???

You can try refusing/opting-out.  You will be told you can’t.  Yes, that’s bull-poo-poo.  They are your children and the Constitution is on your side. Even so, you'll be told you can't.

You can tell your child not to take the test.  This method puts the burden on your child to refuse.  Will they obey their parent... or obey their teacher?  We don’t like this option, but it is better than nothing. This year, refusing the test shouldn’t hurt student report cards because the TDOE won’t even have the scores back to the districts in time for final report cards (NOTE: the test scores will still hurt teacher evaluation scores).  The TNREADY scores are supposed to be sent to districts in October.  That’s way into the next school year!  How helpful is that to parents and teachers?  Not at all.

Okay, so that’s one option.  The other, for those of you that have the means, is to withdraw your child to homeschool during the testing windows.  If you don’t want to go that extreme, you could schedule annual doctor appointments, dentist checkups, etc to get excused absences.  The monstrous problem with that is that the TNREADY testing windows are ghastly long…  Nearly 2 whole months of testing!  We’re not kidding.  Click HERE to see the testing windows for TNREADY set by the TDOE are:
   February 8 - March 4 for Part I of TNREADY
   April 18 - May 13 for Part II of TNREADY
   April 25-May 6 for the Science TCAP (given on paper)

We don’t like that option, either.  Missing school isn’t what is best for students.  Parents in other states have the right to Opt-Out, but Tennessee does not (It's a long story involving expensive lobbyists paid for by the testing companies and generous campaign contributions to politicians...grrrr!).  Other states have massive Opt-Out movements over tests just like the TNREADY.  Other states are demanding change in testing by opting-out/refusing the tests.  In fact, over half-a-million students opted out of state mandated tests last year in the U.S.A.  So you can see that this high-stakes testing problem isn't isolated to Tennessee.

Alas, it looks like our hands are tied, parents.  There's nothing we can do. Better just shut up and pretend this isn't happening, right?  Sorry, Governor Haslam, today is not your lucky day.  Even though our hands are tied, our voices are not.  And parents, your voice is your strongest weapon to protect your child.  You must use it.  You need to call, email, visit, and royally bug the stew out of your elected officials until this mess goes away.  Do the pestering politely, of course. But they need to know that voting parents are very concerned about this.  Legislative session starts in January.  The time to act is now.

Here’s a list of folks to contact:

• school board members for your district
• Superintendent for your district
• Elected House Representative click HERE to find yours
• Elected Senator click HERE to find yours
• Governor Haslam! (gets most of the blame for this because he appointed the people who are making these awful mandates!)
• TN State Board of Education (appointed by the Governor) click click HERE to contact them 

Lest you think this is an over-reacting Momma Bear rant, we give you this alarming fact:

We were told that 70 teachers in one district recently took the practice 3rd grade Social Studies test (you have to have a password to access that practice test).  These were excellent teachers with over 50 of them being Level 5 teachers (the highest rating a teacher can get).  Of these 70 excellent, college-educated teachers, how many of them PASSED the 3rd grade Social Studies practice test?

Take a wild guess.

ONE. 

One single teacher passed the 3rd grade Social Studies practice test out of 70.  One!  If adults can't pass it, third grade children don’t stand a chance!

If that isn’t a huge red warning flag to you, then you must be squeezing your eyes shut and plugging your ears.

Still in doubt?  Go to this link and see the sample TNREADY questions for yourself.  Start with the 3rd-5th grade questions for English or Math.  Or if you’re really fearless, attempt an older grade level’s test questions.  There are only 6 sample questions for each, you have time to do six measly elementary questions, right?  You’re smart enough to read this far in our blog, so you can surely answer half-a-dozen elementary standardized test questions... 

Go on, try it.  We’ll wait right here and hum the Jeopardy theme song while you do it.  Take your time...
​

We heard from parents of SPED children who were extremely concerned about how the new TNReady test will affect them. So, we reached out to some of our most voracious Momma Bears, the SPED advocates and we have a new blog for you. 

Update 11/24/15:  Momma Bears wrote a blog for parents of SPED students with IEPs.  Click HERE to read it.

Around the country the Opt -Out movement is growing.  Dr. Mark Naison, a professor at Fordham University, compiled an excellent list on reasons why parents are rebelling over these tests:

1. There are too many tests.
2. The tests are too long.
3. The tests are poorly designed and poorly written.
4. The tests are surrounded by a level of secrecy usually reserved for a nuclear arsenal.
5. The tests are never returned to students and teachers to inform instruction.
6. The tests are used to rate teachers, schools and whole school districts, purposes for which they were never intended.
7. The tests are made by profit making companies who give huge contributions to legislators and perks to policy making bodies.
8. The tests are used to justify the implementation of a National Curriculum- the Common Core- whose advocates claim it is neither national or a curriculum.
9. The tests are incredibly expensive and take money away from the arts, counseling, and libraries.
10. The tests are discriminatory in the manner they are applied to Special Needs and ELL Students.
11. The high stakes attached to the tests have forced schools in high poverty districts to use recess and gym for test prep.
12. The tests have been used as an excuse for closing thousands of schools and firing tens of thousands of teachers, many of them teachers of color.
    

Tennessee is no exception.  Parents are asking how they can get their child out of testing.  Today UnitedOptOut.com posted a TN refusal letter.  It might help Tennessee parents who wish to refuse the tests for their children.

On the UnitedOptOut website, there is also a link to a Letter to Directors of Schools in Tennessee Regarding Opt Out/Refusal that Momma Bears think is an attempt to bully parents and take away parental rights.  Your kids are data points to them.  The Refusal letter is interesting.  It cites TN code - TCA 49-2-211(a) states that, “Every LEA shall develop a policy setting forth the rights of parents and students as guidelines for teachers and principals with respect to the administration of surveys, analyses or evaluations of students.” Section (b)(1) of this law states that, “[t]he policy shall enable a parent or legal guardian to opt their student out of participating in a survey, analysis, or evaluation.” (Note that there are no definitions of “survey,” “analysis,” or “evaluation” in this statute.)

Momma Bears would love to see this stand up as lawful.  What else could TCAP be besides an evaluation?  Teachers don’t ever see the answers.  There is nothing diagnostic to help a child improve upon what they do not know.  These tests are used to “evaluate teachers and schools” in order to manipulate government policy.  So we’d say they ARE a definitely an evaluation.

Momma Bears also loves the use of the Attorney General's opinion that claimed former Commissioner Huffman was within the law to waive the TCAP for grades.  “While state law requires that TCAP scores make up 15%-25% of a child’s final semester grades, our former Commissioner of Education waived this requirement in 2014.  Despite TCA 49-1-201(d)(1), this was allowed.  The Attorney General opinion dated July 2, 2014 stated that “the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-617…can be waived; they are not statutory requirements related to “federal and state student assessment and accountability” under Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-201(d)(1)(J).”

The ending to the letter says, "Because it appears that I have the legal right to opt my child out of the TCAP evaluation, and the law requiring the use of TCAP scores in grades seems to be subjectively disposable, my child’s TCAP scores (or lack thereof) will not be factored into his/her grades. In summary, I respectfully request that you respond, in writing, confirming that you will abide by my expectations set forth in this letter. You may contact me in writing if you have any questions. ”  Smart!  Get it in writing.  It is a good idea to keep detailed notes and written evidence.  You never know when it might come in handy in court.  Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if the TDOE keeps bullying parents, we may just have to file a lawsuit.

Maybe you have heard their slick, expensive radio spots? They claim they are Tennessee moms.  Hmmm... Why, then, is Haslam's former campaign manager the Executive Director?  LOL!  We have a hunch they were paid voice-over actors reading a script written by their professional PR department.  

Take a look at the rest of the TN Success team and you'll notice that not a single person on their "team" (aka. paid grassroots staff) is actually a real honest-to-goodness parent of a child currently in public schools.  But, hey, at least they didn't forget to include which sports teams they root for because that is what really matters, right?  (Maybe with politicians, at least.)  Here are their biographies as shown on their website:

Momma Bears is proud of our growing parent network across the state of Tennessee.  Our connections with public school activists continue to grow.  And we are always on the look out for more parent groups, teacher groups and parent and teacher bloggers.  They just keep popping up.  We will gladly keep passing great information along.

We can tell you it is wonderful mental therapy to blog and organize activism for your kids, especially when sometimes you just don't know what to do to fight big government money and power.  Blogging and networking help express the many wrong turns we see reform taking in our children's classrooms.  It is even more exciting to read about what parents and teachers DO want in our classrooms. (Hint- it is not more testing or common core.)

We are proud to share a great blog roll and website list of all the authentic parent and teacher groups in TN.  But first, before we share, we feel we must point out the latest AstroTurf attempt at a parent group in Tennessee.

Say "hellno" to plastic networking, just in time for Tennessee's 2015 legislative session:  http://tnsuccess.org/

Yes, Tennessee Success is another bought & paid for mouth piece for the 1%, corporate interests, and Governor Haslam (just like SCORE, StudentsFirst, and Stand For Children).  Tennessee Success is conveniently registered as a 501c4 nonprofit, which means they can give politicians thousands of dollars (and, thereby, influence their vote).  Yep, another check writing pass-through for the governor and corporate interests.  This is dark money being used to influence the public education system in TN.  This organization specifically exists to push charter schools (aka: "choice"), vouchers, testing, and common core in our state. 

Hey Governor, our children's classrooms could use some of that dark money for copy paper.  Kleenex is really low with flu season, too.  But, I suspect they don't want that cash to really raise more than enough to pay for a reading or math specialist, another ELL teacher, or a desperately needed raise for teachers in TN?  No, instead, it will buy radio ads to convince Tennesseans that the Governor's next four years of education policy will be the same as his first.  Disgusting.

So don't be fooled by another Haslam money funnel. Support these real grassroots parent and teacher groups we are about to list for you.  Read & share these blogs.  Because they ARE making a difference and our voices ARE being heard.  Proof: the Governor had to buy his own "team" to combat our advocacy!  Keep it up, parents & teachers!!!

These parents and teachers have the Momma Bear "stamp of approval" as the real deal telling the stories inside the classrooms of public education:

List of GREAT blogs, websites, & facebook groups in TN:

• Dad Gone Wild (a TN Dad's blog about education matters)
• East Nashville Unites (Nashville activists fighting the ASD & charter takeover of their neighborhood schools)
• Mama Thoughts (a Nashville Mom who blogs about the ASD charter takeover of her neighborhood school)
• Nancy E. Bailey (Retired teacher, author, & expert on all things educational.  We LOVE her blog!)
• Rocky Top Politics (sometimes has tidbits regarding education that you won't find in the media)
• Schools Matter (excellent, insightful, well-researched blog by Dr. Jim Horn)
• Screams from the Porch - (witty Knoxville blogger with political insight)
• SPEAK (Knoxville activists who are really making an impact in their school district)
• Stop TN Testing Madness and on Facebook (find allies + answers in fighting standardized testing)
• Teachers Advocating for Children (Facebook group for teachers who support public education)
• Tennessee Against Common Core (fighting against Common Core)
• Tennessee Parents (blog that shares anonymous voices of real TN teachers & parents with elected officials)
• The Dyslexia Spot (a must-read for parents with Dyslexic children)

• TN BadAss Teachers (for teachers who bravely stand up for children and public education)
• TN Education Matters (a great legal blog about education matters in TN)
• TN Education Report (education politics and policy in TN)
• TREE - Tennesseeans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (rooted in fighting for strong, equitable public education and is committed to growing child-centered education policy)
• United Opt Out Tennessee (the info to know to refuse standardized testing for your kids)

Do a search for your city/county on Facebook. There are many parent groups discussing reform and specifics going on at the local level. Some groups are private, some public. There are so many, we can't list them all here.

List of GREAT national blogs, websites, & Facebook groups:

• Cloaking Inequity (blog by Julian Vasquez Heilig, an award-winning researcher, teacher, and professor in California)
• Curmudgucation (witty, insightful blog by Peter Greene, a teacher in Pennsylvania who must not sleep because he writes so much awesome stuff)
• Diane Ravitch (Do we seriously even need to tell you who she is?  She relentlessly shares education news from across the U.S. on her blog.  It is like an encyclopedia of reform-crap.).
• Education Talk New Orleans (because TN's ASD is modeled after Louisiana's Recovery School District)
• Edushyster (Oh, her sarcasm is absurdly wonderful!)
• Gary Rubenstein (a teacher and incredible researcher who writes about TN sometimes)
• Mercedes Schneider (Superpower blogger and teacher in Louisiana) 
• National BATs (50,000+ Badass teachers fighting for public education)
• Network for Public Education (a collaboration of superheroes for public education)
• Parents Across America (Parents fighting for public education)
• The War Report on Public Education (blog & online radio show that focuses on the rising public resistance movement against the corporate war on public education)

• United Opt Out (The encyclopedia of fighting Standardized Tests)
• What is Common Core?  (3 Amazing Moms in Utah)

UPDATE 1/30/15:  Be sure to read our next about how this brand new "astroturf" organization, Tennesseeans For Student Success, bought itself a commercial spot for the 2015 Super Bowl.  Because nothing says "grassroots movement" than the most expensive commercial spot on public television, right?  Click HERE to read it.