Momma Bears
  • Blog
  • CHOOSE to REFUSE TESTING (OPT OUT)
    • #ChooseToRefuse
    • How to Refuse
    • Resources
    • For Students
    • Advocate!
    • Memes & Graphics
    • FAQ

Alarming info about TNREADY testing bomb

11/22/2015

 
Tick-tick-tick... is your child READY?  Because they are about to bomb a major high-stakes test called TNREADY.  When we say, "bomb," we mean fail. ​
Picture
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?

Picture
Read 2 long passages on the left side. Then write a freaking essay in that tiny box on the right. Do your best!
  • Wasteful of time and mean:  We wasted 5 whole minutes of our lives reading a long, dull passage, but there wasn't even a question about it.  That was the little kid test too!  Just plain mean to do that to elementary aged children.  Will it be that way on the real test?  We'll never know since the test questions are top-secret, even if we ask for them.  Teachers aren't even allowed to see the tests, and if they do and talk about it, they could lose their jobs.  
  • Technology issues:  The mouse was jumpy and the cord got in the way.  This was on a laptop computer that was 1-2 years old.
Picture
Cumbersome mouse gets in the way of the scratch paper
  • ​Slow internet:  This was at a school that was fortunate to have more wireless routers and newer computers than other schools in the district.  It took considerable time for each passage and question to load.  Schools with lots of students testing are prone to overload the system and have slower test connections.  As one principal rightly remarked, “It is wrong to hold teachers accountable for the little spinning wheel while students wait for the test to load.”  ​
Picture
Waiting for the answer choices to load.

  • Number lock button:  How many students know to unlock the number pad for the math test?  It took one mom a few minutes to realize why her numbers weren’t working because her home laptop doesn't have a  number keypad lock key like that laptop did.  Some students might know this keyboard trick, but kids without this same type of computer in their homes or classrooms are at a disadvantage.  Cross your fingers and hope the person before your child didn't push the button down.
  • ​Confusing format:  The “Done” button doesn’t mean “done with the question”… it means done with the whole test, and it exits the entire test if you click it.  You have to click “NEXT” to stay in the test and go to the next question.  How many times did one tech-savvy Momma Bear accidentally exit this 6-question test?  Three times.  Three frustrating times.  Grrrr...  Now multiply that times a classroom of kids.  We see why teachers are concerned.  
Picture
What is that white circle icon?
  • Strange icon buttons at the top of the test:  We never really did understand the purpose of the square button with the circle in it.  It seemed to make portions of the screen black if you clicked it and then dragged on the arrows on the margins.  One teacher told us it was to “isolate” text for students who had trouble focusing.  But teachers aren’t allowed to do it for students, so the student, who has trouble focusing, must focus enough to click that icon, drag it himself to the passage, and must then know how to click the tiny little X at the top corner to exit that tool, otherwise, the child won’t be able to see the rest of the question.  It sounds like more trouble than it is worth.  How many kids will click that button accidentally or on purpose and struggle trying to figure out the test?
Picture
This is what happens when a student clicks the white circle. Teachers may not help students navigate or exit this feature.
  • "Highlight" instructions:  (see pic below) The question clearly says “highlighted” but do you see any highlighted words in the picture below? Nope, they are underlined.  True, the underlined parts turn yellow when you scroll over them, but semantics, people.  Our kids deserve correctness on such an important test.  Think literally like a child.  Even worse, you HAD to scroll over it because in one text, the whole paragraph was underlined but when you scrolled over it, it was really three highlighted sections.  How many 3rd-5th graders are going to count for all 5 spots to answer before clicking the "Next" button?
Picture
No "highlights" in this passage. They are underlined, not highlighted.
  • Couldn't pick the answers we wanted to:  This question below was impossible to answer because of the screen size.  It wouldn’t let you drag and drop this answer choice to the 2nd slot because it wasn’t on the visible part of the screen.  Yes, we could have put it in the 5th slot and then scrolled up and moved it, but then again, we’re tech-savvy and all from years of playing Tetris and packing diaper bags.  Could a 9 year-old child figure this out easily?  
Picture
Students should drag choices from the box at the bottom and put them in number order. Except it won't work.
Picture
Couldn't drag and drop this last box's sentence up to the empty #2 slot because it was not shown on the screen. Savvy students might be able to figure out how to move #5 back down, then scroll up, and then re-arrange. But what a hassle!
  • What the heck did we do?  Ever seen a three-tiered fraction?  Well, we somehow made one on the 3rd-5th grade test.  Not sure how that happened.
Picture
Not sure how we got our fraction answer to look like that on the 3rd-5th grade sample test.
  • Multiple Choice Fakes:  So, the TDOE claims that TNREADY is way better than the A,B,C,D multiple choice TCAP tests were.  But the whole test is filled with the same concept of pick ​one of 4 choices!  (see pic below)
Picture
Multiple choice. Pick A, B, C, or D without actually using letters.
  • Questions for younger grades were way too difficult.  Seriously, these multi-step word problems were like what we remember seeing on the high school ACT college entrance exams.  Except, this was for 3rd-5th grade children!  
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 
Picture
Contact those important people
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...
​
Picture


Brutal, huh?  Did the test questions load quickly for you or did you get the spinny time wheel like we did?  Were you baffled by the MIST testing layout and multi-step questions?  Are you wondering how young children with little or no keyboard training, who have trouble opening a milk carton without spilling milk, are expected to navigate a keyboard and mouse just like a doctoral student?  Remember, teachers’ jobs are on the line for this test.  Your child’s test scores are a major part of their job evaluation scores.  The stakes are high, and your children feel it.  Better hope they are tnREADY.

We've heard from many teachers who said students were upset or cried during the practice tests in class.  Teachers told us that their SPED students tended to lose hope and give up during the tests, so they just randomly click through the questions to get finished.  Teachers confided to us that some of their brightest, most advanced students have tears running down their faces when they try to complete test questions covering material they haven't been taught yet.  Students complain of stomachaches and headaches.  Students have barfed on tests before.  If that happens, don't fret, because there's a handy-dandy testing procedure to follow to save the test.

Parents, we must speak up.  You know too much now.  You know this is wrong.  This testing obsession is harmful to children and wasteful of their time.

Share the sample test questions with your legislators and school board members.  Show them this blog.  Ask them to just try a few questions, and tell them to remember when they or their own children were 8 years old.  Better yet, ask them to proctor a test or try to take the real test.  

Okay, Momma Bears, Poppa Bears, GrannieBears, and GrampaBears, here is YOUR homework:

Contact that bright red list of important people we gave you up above in this blog.  Make some noise!  Be louder than the TNREADY radio advertisements that the Governor’s fake parent group is broadcasting in districts where citizens are speaking against the testing.  Be bolder than their fancy billboards, more compassionate than their overpaid lobbyists, and more convincing than their slick colored pamphlets.  We can do this!  

TNREADY or NOT... HERE WE COME!!!

Update:

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. 


    Momma Bears unofficial survey:

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

Testing the TDOE Bullies

4/20/2015

 
The testing season is upon us.  This month, Tennessee Students in grades 3-8 will take the TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program).  Parents have been well-aware of this for months. Homework is now all TCAP practice.  Field trip participation and carnival rewards are based on participation in test prep.  Classroom walls are either covered with plain paper or stripped bare to prepare for the TCAP, which makes the schools look more like prisons.  Schools are even hosting TCAP pep rallies.  There is little doubt the stakes are high and the anxiety is higher.  It is just “All About that Test”.
PictureRead the entire beautiful REFUSAL LETTER HERE. It might give some Momma and Papa bears some ideas about how to get their kids out of testing. Use it. Share it. Go for 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.

Not to change the subject, but some good things happened today in Nashville!
Today at the Tennessee Legislature, Representative Matthew Hill added a surprise amendment to a bill that would make Opting-Out legal.  This amendment caused the folks at the Governor's astroturf organization, Tennesseans For Student Success, to royally freak out (since their well-funded jobs exist to save Common Core and testing).  It was a beautiful amendment that Representative Hill did, simply stating "parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in an LEA may opt the student out of participating in all state mandated assessments."  Unfortunately, Representative Hill withdrew it because it didn't fit with the caption bill it was attached to, but it did give him the opportunity to speak to the other legislators about Opting Out. There may be another bill coming up that is a better fit and might not be declared unconstitutional to attach it to, but with only two or three days left in the session, it probably will not happen until January.  2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?  Representative Matthew Hill!!!  

Also on that bill, some amendments were attached by Representative Spivey that set in motion the death of Common Core.  The bill passed the House 97 to 0 and is scheduled to be in the Senate tomorrow.  Is it a smoke-and-mirrors attempt at keeping the Common Core?  Perhaps.  Time will tell.  The language is pretty clear that the new standards will be created in a clear and transparent manner, and that the former standards (which are Common Core) will be rescinded.  The Senate has been pretty much in love with all things that harm public education, so we'll see how the vote tomorrow goes.

Okay, now, back to the testing issue...
Refusing testing is a civil protest.  And our lawmakers really need to understand that this is what happens when a government service, managed by the democratic process around tax dollars, is held captive by testing, sold off to privatization, and is manipulated by lobbyists and foundations un-elected by the citizens of this country.  Public school is a public good, for the public.  This manipulation through testing has ZERO to do with our children or education experts. It must stop. Opt-out and/or refusing is our only choice to show this bad policy must stop.  For our kids.

"Parents are getting more and more angry and disobedient. Public officials are really trying to bully them, and never expected this much pushback." - Dr. Sandra Stotsky
Picture

TN's Governor buys Astroturf for the Super Bowl!

1/30/2015

 
After our blog posted yesterday, we were tipped off that there will be ASTROTURF at the SUPER BOWL this year!  Governor Haslam's faux-parent astroturf group we just wrote about, Tennesseeans for Student Success, is footing the bill for the most expensive prime-time commercial spot on Television of the year... a Super Bowl commercial!  

How badly do these education marketplace investors want you to believe their plans for Common Core, charter school "choice," and vouchers are necessary?  Bad enough they will pay a ton of money for a Super Bowl Commercial instead of funding teacher raises and classroom resources.  Crazy, isn't it?

Governor Haslam can certainly afford it.  After all, he was just crowned "The Richest Politician in America" by Forbes.

Wondering what the video will say?  You can see it below.  (Warning: it is rather Stepford Wife-ish.)

But, wait! They're not done spending money!  
The Tennesseeans for Student Success astroturf group is apparently so $ucce$$ful, they just hired another "grassroots" staff person!  Every grassroots advocacy group needs a Coalitions Director, right???  Their new Coalitions Director, Weston Burleson, not only isn't a public school parent, he's apparently not even a Tennesseean.  He's from North Carolina and Georgia where he was a Deputy Political Director for NC Republicans and an Account Executive with Stoneridge Group.  Stoneridge's motto on their website says: "We serve conservatives who want bleeding-edge campaign know-how combined with an avant-garde approach to campaign execution. Our record speaks for itself.  We're story cultivators, with a world-class technical edge."  Yikes.  Bleeding-edge story cultivators for a grassroots parent group?  Stoneridge Group has handled high-profile big-dollar political campaigns including: Speaker Beth Harwell, Americans For Prosperity, and SCORE.  His bio on their website says:
Picture
Over a year ago, one of the Momma Bears blogged about "grassroots" organizations and included a checklist.  This is the perfect time to share that list again (and update it): 
If you see a "grassroots" organization with these:
  • a slick marketing campaign, 
  • professionally-printed signs, 
  • free t-shirts, 
  • glossy pamphlets, 
  • pens with their logo,
  • squishy balls with their logo, 
  • frisbees with their logo, 
  • beer can cooshies with their logo, 
  • billboards with their logo, 
  • television or radio advertisements,  
  • fancy charter busses full of their supporters,
  • glowing newspaper articles from their professionally-written press releases,  
  • copy machines that cost more than your minivan, 
  • staff members that make 6-figure salaries, 
  • a rented office located in an office-park,
  • a lawyer on retainer,
  • if they pay parents $ and give them a free t-shirt to attend school board meetings,
  • if they take charter bus-loads of cute children wearing their free t-shirts to legislative events, and drill those children on exactly what to say to the politicians,
  • if they give campaign contributions to elected officials,
  • if they host fancy luncheons, dinners, or retreats for elected officials,
  • if their organization's members are in your Superintendent's cabinet (despite having little or no experience in education or classrooms)
  • if their organization's members are strangely appointed to positions of authority (despite having little or no experience in education or classrooms),
  • if they only answer emails and calls about their organization during business hours.
  • if they buy a freaking Super Bowl commercial spot!!!

They are definitely NOT grassroots! 

Momma Bears Swat the Fakes and High Five the Real Edu Bloggers!

1/29/2015

 
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:
Picture
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:
Picture
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)

PS - Momma Bears has not received a penny from our blogs.  In fact, we intentionally did not include ads on our website.  We specifically went the cheapskate route with our website (a FREE Weebly site).  Please don't send us any money.  We don't want it or need it.  Your priceless advocacy is all we really want.  Keep it up, Momma Bears!
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.

    Archives

    January 2021
    March 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Momma Bears

    Just some moms who realize their children's public school systems in TN, as well as public schools across the country, have major threats to their survival.  We research, we write, we share, and we advocate.

    Categories

    All
    ASD
    Barber
    BATs
    Broad
    Candice McQueen
    Chamber Of Commerce
    Charter Corruption Series
    Charter Schools
    Common Core
    Consultants
    Cosmos
    Data
    Data Collection
    Documentary
    Duncan
    Education
    Event
    Faux Parents
    Finland
    Fordham Institute
    Gates
    Governor Haslam
    Governor Haslam
    Grassroots
    Gulen
    Huffman
    Inappropriate-book
    Inappropriate-common-core
    Inc.
    Knox County
    Knoxville
    Legislators
    Legislature
    Liar Liar Pants On Fire Series
    Lobbyists
    Mckinsey
    Nashville
    New Momma Bears
    Opting Out
    Parcc
    Pearson
    Petition
    Poppa Bear
    PR Firm
    Ravitch
    Refusing Tests
    Renaissance Learning
    Rocketship
    RTI2
    School Board
    Score
    SPED
    Student Privacy
    Students
    Studentsfirst
    Survey
    Tcap
    Tea
    Teacher Evaluations
    Teachers
    Teacher Survey
    Tennesseeans For Student Success
    Testing
    Textbooks
    Tndoe
    TNREADY
    TREE
    Treeroots
    Tripod
    TVAAS
    Virus
    Vouchers
    Walton

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from mrsdkrebs