Category: Testing

Where do Momma Bears come from? We'll tell you...

4/8/2016

Throughout time, there has been one awkward question that has the power to make people immediately stop and think, "oh, geez, how do I best answer this?" You know the question... THAT question. You naively think you have plenty of time, years perhaps, before your children ask it. Some of you plan ahead what you will say, some use metaphors like "birds and bees," while others go straight to the science of it using grammatically correct terms. It doesn't matter your strategy of explaining the mystery of life, because we all worry if we said the right thing. We all fear scarring our children for life with the awkwardness, right?

So, here's an awkward question we have been asked many times:

Where do Momma Bears come from?

We can't answer that. Well, we could, but we won't.

Why won't we? Because Momma Bears are private to protect our kids. We're not doing this blog for publicity or fame. We want what is best for all students in TN. The truth is we're just busy, informed Tennessee Moms who each noticed a problem with our children's public schools. Fate would have it that we met each other. Venting with each other was therapeutic, but it wasn't enough. So we started this free blog and website in July 2013 not knowing what on earth we were doing, hoping some other parents would read it and join us in the fight to support public education. And you did! Since then, we've had well over a million readers a year. Together, we Momma Bear bloggers are trying to help make the world a better place through our writing and advocacy. It isn't Rocket Science. Just plain common sense and motherly intuition.

It is especially encouraging and empowering when Momma Bears find their voices. Let us tell you about this Momma Bear in Tullahoma, TN...

This Momma Bear writes, "My own daughter took Part 1 of the TNReady test. It was an experience that caused her anxiety and lowered her confidence. She spent over 4 hours testing when she sat for Part 1, which is more time than the ACT or SAT. The second part of TNReady would require her to test for 7 more hours! So an eight year old Tennessee student is being asked to be focused, engaged, and silently seated for well over 11 hours, which is the equivalent of taking the SAT four times in a matter of a few weeks (especially for districts whose tests were delayed). Sadly, after all that invested time, TNReady will not provide Claire with any worthwhile data (since scores will be reported after she is already in her fourth grade year). Claire, along with the rest of the students of Tennessee, have spent more time on this test than it deserved."

And there you have it... the recipe for a Momma Bear:

She noticed her child was suffering.
She found out why.
She researched more on the subject.
She saw that the problem was preventable and fixable.
She wanted to fix it.
She talked to people in authority to see what she could do.
She knew the power of elected officials (because she served as one herself).
She knew the power of her own parent voice and in speaking up.
She did something about it!
She created an online petition!!!

The petition now has over 1000 signatures in just a few days. She knows she is doing the right thing because she says, "the amazing comments under the petition being made by parents, teachers, and even a student that demonstrates the need for the TN DOE to respond." Indeed, the comments from people who have signed the petition are powerful. Roar, Momma Bear, roar!!!

The petition clearly asks for Governor Haslam, Commissioner Candice McQueen, the 33 State Senators, and the 99 House of Representative Members to Stop Part 2 of TNReady. She knows they have the power to stop it, and she gives valid reasons why TNReady should not proceed this year. She even followed up with a message to her signors about Alaska cancelling their state tests last week. This Momma Bear is doing her homework!

We Momma Bear bloggers are proud to share her petition with our readers. Please, help this fellow Momma Bear out by signing and sharing it. She isn't really on social media. She writes, "I have a limited social media presence. I am just a concerned mother. I am reaching out to any and all that can help spread the word. I understand that this petition is just a “statement move”, but thousands of signatures and comments will make a powerful statement. I have to know that I did everything I could possibly do to help my daughter."

Well done, Momma Bear from Tullahoma, Tennessee! Well, done! We have heard your roar across the state, and undoubtedly the elected officials who are getting your petition will hear it, too, since that online petition service sends an email to the "target" each and every time someone signs it. Thank you for your courage and advocacy!

Ready to revolt: #TrashTNReady

3/9/2016

What happens when there are more test questions than there are blanks to fill in on the answer sheet? Nobody told teachers that the first test question on TNReady was a SAMPLE question for students to solve but not write in an answer to. As you can probably guess, students answered the sample question on the test booklet, and then proceeded to finish the rest of the test, realizing at the end that there was not a spot left to answer the last test question. Meaning, the students answered all those questions on the wrong lines.

Teachers didn't know. They aren't allowed to look at the test.

The vague teacher instructions to this never-before given test didn't clearly say for teachers to tell students not to write an answer in the first sample question. It isn't the fault of the teachers or the students.

After the sample question error was caught, the TDOE sent out an email telling test administrators not to have students put an answer for the sample test question. But who knows what happens to the tests that the students already took... Will they have to take it again? Will someone mark their answer sheets fresh? Will those answers all be counted wrong and make their teachers look like they didn't teach their students anything this year? Who knows. That's what you get when you build a plane while it is in the air.

Teachers aren't allowed to look at the test, but some are. They tell us what they are seeing on the TNReady test is infuriating!

The Part I of TNReady was supposed to only cover concepts that had been taught on the TN Curriculum Map/TNReadyBlueprints/Pacing Guide before Part I was administered. Part II of TNReady, which is given in April-May, is supposed to cover the remaining concepts and standards, according to the TDOE's plan. But teachers have confided to us that there are questions on Part I covering concepts that students have not been taught yet. These concepts are clearly questions that would be appropriate for Part II.

Thus, students are baffled and frustrated to be tested on concepts they haven't learned yet. Teachers are worried these will make scores lower and will affect their own evaluation scores and possibly risk their jobs. Teachers, especially the ones who faithfully followed the TDOE's plan, are feeling tricked and sick.

But that's not the only problems we've heard of...

Read aloud accommodations for students with disabilities and IEPs: According to the testing manual, the teachers are only allowed to read the digits to students. So, the number "34" would be pronounced, "three four" instead of "thirty-four". How confusing would this word problem sound to your child with an accommodation?
There were four eight bananas. The monkeys ate three two of them. How many are left?
Calculators: They were supposed to be embedded in the online TNReady test, but now that the test had to be switched to paper tests, districts are scrambling to purchase thousands of dollars worth of TNReady approved calculators. Not just any calculator will do. So, districts are spending yet more scarce money on technology specifically for this dumb test. Dickson County School District spent over $12,000 on calculators. That's $12,000 they didn't have budgeted, that will have to come from somewhere.
Classroom Walls: The TNReady testing manual says things can stay on the walls of the classrooms where tests are given. However, some districts are making teachers remove or cover all classroom decorations and posters, while others are not. So, some students may have helpful info on the walls during the test, and others may have rooms that look as bare as prison cells.
Inappropriate test questions: Teachers are quietly telling us that there are questions on the test that shouldn't be. The questions are on subject material and standards that are not included until future grade levels for students. Children are frustrated, and some are even in tears (especially the "Advanced" students who get all A's on report cards) because they don't know answers to things they haven't been taught yet. Clearly, this test is not aligned with the grade-level standards (which we all know are really the Common Core standards rebranded to be called TNCore).
Disparity in testing administration: Some students in some schools and districts are allowed to read or do alternate activities if they refuse to take the test or when they are finished testing. Other schools are saying absolutely positively NO, even though the TDOE testing manual clearly states on p.14 that students may do so. Are schools/districts in violation for not following the policy?
Errors on the test: Teachers are afraid to say it aloud and risk their jobs, but we've heard teachers say they saw grammar mistakes on the ELA tests. There are confusing questions and vague answer choices. Who knows if this will ever be exposed because nobody is allowed to see the tests.
Tests still haven't arrived to some districts: Some districts are still waiting to get the blasted TNReady paper tests. And, once they receive them, they'll have boxes and boxes of mixed up grade level tests to sort through. Then, teachers and administrators will have to find time to attach student barcodes to the bubble sheets and bubble in demographic information before students ever take the test. Guess who is stuck staying after-school to do this? Yes, our over-worked, stressed-out teachers and principals. Guess which students won't get Art, Music, PE, Library this week because those teachers are pulled to sort and prepare paper test booklets? Yes, our children.

This is a mess
Governor Haslam needs to own this disaster. He appointed the people who got our children into this mess. Haslam needs to take the 8th grade TNReady test, and then he should make his scores public for all to see this test is worthless and a complete waste of taxpayer money. Heck, all legislators need to take the test and see what a mess it is and what an utter waste of time it is for children!

Representative Stewart and his wife held a meeting this week for parents about opting out. (Remember the blog we wrote about them opting their child out?) If legislators and school board members are willing to opt their own children out of the mess, Governor Haslam needs to listen closely and take heed.

The opt-out movement is growing. Many parents have already opted their kids out of this testing flight to nowhere. We literally can't keep up with all the people contacting us wanting to know how. If you want to know how to get your kids off this plane before it falls apart, there is information on our website (look under the "Choose To Refuse" tab). You won't be the first to refuse, and you won't be the last.

There are predictions that this mess is only the beginning of a massive state-wide opt-out movement like other states have experienced. With Round 2 of TNReady in April-May, it may very well happen this spring. Yes, that's right, your child has another week of TNReady testing to endure next month.

If your child tells you about their testing problems, or if you are a teacher/proctor and are willing to speak anonymously, please let us know at our website. You can also put it on social media and use the hashtag #TrashTNReady and be sure to tag legislators with #tnleg

With special thanks to a Papa Bear for this terrific graphic!

The testing is a mess, Governor Haslam needs to hear from you, parents and teachers! Here's how to contact him:
Twitter: @BillHaslam
Email: bill.haslam@tn.gov
Phone: (615) 741-2001
(And click HERE to find your legislators to contact them, too!)

Be sure to follow Momma Bears on Facebook and Twitter:

UPDATE 3/11/16: After this blog posted, teachers contacted us confirming what we wrote and also sharing other major problems they experienced in giving the test to their students. Click HERE to hear what they had to say.

ALARMING: A mom and her friend do the math on state testing

3/7/2016

A couple of smart TN moms did the math to calculate how much time standardized testing is really taking from their children's time at school. The reality is eye-opening. One of the moms was outraged enough to write TN Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen this powerful letter:

Dear Commissioner McQueen,

Amanda Miller and I put together an estimate of standardized testing time for our elementary-age kids this year. We both have 4th graders in public schools in Hamilton County.

As you know, the federal government recommends that no more than 2% of school time be spent on testing. If there are 180 days of school, times 6 hours of instructional time per day (excludes lunch, recess, related arts, PE) this equals 1,080 hours of instructional time in a school year. 2% of those hours = 21.6 hours per year to spend on testing and test prep.

As of Monday, here is where we are at our school:

Actual TN Ready Test Time - 18.9 hours (for grades 3 through 5, the TN Ready test itself is 11.9 hours of testing – that’s just the actual test. In reality, we must factor in 30 minutes on either end of each test for transition, to set up, pass out, get ready and shut down testing. Add an hour per test for activities that must occur before and after a test. This adds 7 hours + the original 11.9 = 18.9, and assumes no problems during testing).
Break the Mist required testing - 6 hours
Universal Screening Testing - 6 hours
30 minutes per week of test prep time since school started, 180 schools days X 6 hours (excludes recess etc.). We think this is an extremely conservative estimate.

The total: 41.9 hours, nearly double the recommended amount... so far.

I am a licensed attorney. I took two standardized tests to become an attorney (LSAT and TN Bar Exam) and those tests totaled about 20 hours.
The larger point: my fourth grader will complete more than DOUBLE the amount of standardized testing hours to finish fourth grade than I did to become a lawyer.

I hope we can have a conversation about how to change this. I would like your response before I speak with our elected and appointed officials about it. Thank you for your time.

Thank you,
Heather DeGaetano

These smart moms were also upset about a local reporter at the Times Free Press who inaccurately reported that testing time has not increased over the last several years. So, Heather DeGaetano didn't stop with just a letter to Commissioner McQueen. She wrote the Times Free Press to set the facts straight, going into further detail about their calculations, the tests, and how the TDOE manipulated "average" test times by not counting high school EOC testing days. This is what the moms told Momma Bears:

We also put this response together to send to a local reporter with the Times Free Press who has been reporting that testing time has NOT gone up over the last several years.

Again, I don't think people understand that the parent guide to TN Ready is misleading (if not actually false).

I wanted to respond to your most recent email sent in regards to the new TN Ready Test. I am passionate about the subject because I believe too much instructional time is being taken away from children.

I contacted my daughter’s Principal and she kindly agreed to meet with me to answer questions about the upcoming TN Ready Test. Other parents in Hamilton County aren’t getting the same response from their school administrators. Most administrative staff and many teachers are fearful of losing their jobs and fearful of informing parents of anything different than what is stated in the TN Ready Parent Guide. The TN Ready Parent guide is full of information about the test; however, the information and numbers in reality are very deceiving.

Let me lay out some numbers and information that my daughter’s Principal shared with me. The Federal Government suggests that total testing time and total test prep time not exceed 2% of a school’s instructional time. If there are 180 days of school times 6 hours of instructional time per day (excludes lunch, recess, related arts, PE) this equals 1,080 hours of instructional time in a school year. 2% of those hours = 21.6 hours a year to spend on testing and test prep.

For grades 3 through 5, the TN Ready test itself is 11.9 hours of testing – that’s just the actual test. In reality schools must factor in 30 minutes on either end of each test for transition, to set up, pass out, get ready and shut down testing. Add an hour per test for activities that must occur before and after a test. This adds 7 hours. This means that total hours spent on testing and test related activities take up 18.9 hours of the school year.

The state also required schools to perform 3 mandated “Break the Mist” days. Students were supposed to test the computer system to see if the platform would perform. All those days proved that the system was not ready, however the state kept moving forward. These test the system days took away roughly 6 hours of classroom time. This makes 24.9 hours of test related time away from educational instruction. This number is conservative. If you add in test prep time, the number would be even higher.

The state requests that schools administer a Universal Screener test 3 times a year in Math and Language Arts. The math portion is roughly 30 minutes per test. Language Arts is 1 hour per test. Total time, before TN Ready, is 4.5 hours of just testing. Add the transition time for each test, which makes a total of 6 hours a year of testing before TN Ready. With all the added test prep, transition times and universal screening tests, roughly 30.9 hours of testing will occur this school year.

21.6 hours would be 2% of the school year. Tennessee is far beyond the federal government suggestion. The TN Ready Parent Handbook is very misleading in its attempt to tell parents that only 1% of the school year is spent on the TN Ready test. In reality, in a classroom setting with transitions and set up, the TN Ready test for 3rd through 5th grades would take 18.9 hours away from classroom instructional time. This is over 1%. They are wrong.

Here are a few other notes to consider when analyzing the TN Ready testing numbers. The state says that “overall testing time” hasn’t changed since 2014, but anyone with a child in school can tell you that testing time has increased. The state has reduced the number of hours allowed for end of course exams in high school from all day to an allotted amount of time. At the same time, they have increased the time the younger students are testing, but this is not really reflected in their numbers. These two scenarios wash to some extent causing the numbers to be skewed. On page 13 of the TN Ready Handbook the state says, (in reference to their 1% calculation) “This calculation is based on an average of hours scheduled for testing among the three grade groups: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and High School.” Please see my attached graph that shows the increase in testing from 2013/14 school year to 2015/16 school year.

Page 12 of TN Ready Handbook also states that the TN Ready tests will be given approximately 12 weeks apart. The paper and pencil test for my daughter’s school begins the week of March 7th, after many delays. The 2nd half of the TN Ready test will be given the week of April 25th. This leaves only 6 weeks between tests. One of those weeks is Hamilton Counties’ Spring Break, leaving 5 instructional weeks between testing. Is there really any reason to measure learning gains over 5 weeks?

If you would like to hear the real story from educators and parents, the boots on the ground, trying to comply with the states every whim, I know that many of our parents and our principal would be happy to speak with you. This is a numbers story that has not yet been told. This is a new perspective on the massive increase in testing that is creating more work for educators and less valuable instruction time for our students who are already behind.

I’d love to see you dig into the reality of how much time testing takes.

Momma Bears salute this mom and her friend for their research and advocacy!

TN State Rep opts his own child out of testing!

1/21/2016

What happens when a TN State Representative opts his own children out of testing? We're about to find out! Check out this beautiful, spectacular opt-out letter from Representative Mike Stewart and his wife:

Please accept this letter as a record of my decision to refuse for (name redacted for privacy) to participate in TN Ready/TnReady TCAP test and pretests at (school name redacted for privacy) for the remaining school year. My refusal to allow (child's name) to participate is because I believe standardized high stakes testing take away time from the instructional experiences my child might otherwise receive. I want more teaching and learning, and less testing! I am aware that there is no “opt out” clause in the state of Tennessee. But the state has yet to provide any legal documentation that my child may not exercise his or her right to refuse the tests.

I understand that it is state and local policy to require all students to are to be evaluated for proficiency in various subject areas at each grade level. However, I believe that testing is not synonymous with standardized testing and request that the school and my child’s teacher(s) evaluate her progress using alternative measures including project-based assignments, teacher-made tests, portfolios, and performance-based assessments.

(Child's name) is prepared to come to school every day during the testing window with alternative meaningful, self-directed learning activities that support the essential curriculum, or is willing to participate in other meaningful activities as determined by the school or her teachers during testing times. Please let me know beforehand what I can expect as far as instructional experiences (child's name) will experience during testing windows. I am happy to develop material for her if the teachers believe this is appropriate. I have a tremendous respect for (child's name)'s teachers and her school. My issue is with frequent high-stakes standardized testing and the harm it does to children, teachers, and our public schools.

Respectfully yours,
Ruth Stewart

Isn't it awesome?!? We especially like the way it says, "I am aware that there is no “opt out” clause in the state of Tennessee. But the state has yet to provide any legal documentation that my child may not exercise his or her right to refuse the tests." Awesomesauce, that part is!

In addition to obviously being an awesome father, Representative Mike Stewart is a lawyer. He was elected to serve part of Davidson County in the TN House of Representatives. And he is exercising his parental right to refuse testing his child, because he is the parent and he knows his rights.

It will be interesting to see how the district and state handles this opt-out. We've had a lot of feedback from parents across the state. Some districts and schools are supportive of opting out, but other districts are being just plain mean to parents and students about it!

In fact, one principal in Shelby County told her teachers in faculty meeting last week that, "it is illegal for parents to opt out" and she instructed her teachers to write children up for discipline referrals if they refused to take the test! OOOOHHHH, we just dare you to punish children for obeying their parents! That's a lawsuit waiting to happen, right there, it sure is! But it goes to show you how far some administrators and districts are willing to push to get children to take that stupid test.

And then we hear that students in magnet/optional schools somehow have a waiver to some or all the test prep. Those students aren't being prepped and prodded on the test like regular public school children are. Schools in affluent areas and magnet/optional schools aren't doing nearly as much test prep as the schools in poorer areas who are desperate to raise test scores. Remind anyone else of separate, but unequal school systems? Testing for the poor kids, and teaching for the rich.

Will this State Representative's child be allowed to opt out, but children in poorer schools won't? Will the State squish this rebellion? Or will parent's voices finally be heard and understood by the Governor and his appointed leaders?

Stay tuned! We'll keep you posted if we hear anything. And, you, dear readers, please keep us posted on your own opt-out experiences in TN, too. We have an easy way you can tell us anonymously on our website (scroll to the survey at the end of the page). Your stories sure are interesting and helpful, and there are a lot of you out there trying to opt-out, from one end of the state to the other! Keep up the great work!

WOW! TN Students Taking Action Against Testing!

1/5/2016

Some students in Tennessee are fed up with testing. They aren't just complaining about it to their friends wishing grown-ups would fix the problem... these students came up with a powerful plan and are taking action!

We found out about these students when someone forwarded their email to Momma Bears. The students sent this email to their teachers and to teachers at other schools:

Dear Teacher:
            As you may have noticed, the quantity and duration of standardized tests have increased astronomically in recent years. We feel that these tests take away from instructional time, waste valuable resources, constrict our curricula, and still fail to provide an accurate measure of progress that would justify the losses they incur. My peers and I have decided to try and change standardized testing policy by creating and supporting a bill to limit the damaging effects of standardized testing. We request that you help us achieve this.
            Attached to this email are a number of relevant documents. First, we have letters for parents and students to help educate them on the situation. Many parents have no idea how all-encompassing testing has become and many students are unaware of what they can do to fix it. Please copy these letters and distribute them to your students. We have written both English and Spanish versions of these letters to ensure that they reach as many people as possible.
            Second, we are providing surveys for teachers, parents, and students. In order to effect any sort of change, we need as much support as possible. Please have your students complete the surveys and bring them home to their parents to fill out. You can send the compiled information from your school to White Station High School either by email or school mail.
            We are also sending petitions to the state representatives of Tennessee asking them to reduce standardized testing. If you think standardized testing is going too far, please add your signature to the petition. Since a more personal approach carries emotional weight, we will also send a contact list for local and state representatives so that you and your students can inform them of your concerns.
            It may seem a bit far-fetched for a group of high school students to try and change government policy, but we are organized, we are prepared, we are united, and we are willing to do everything in our power to reduce standardized testing and reclaim our education.

Sincerely,

Shelby County Students

Pretty brilliant letter, huh? Knowing that there is a large Hispanic population that needs this info, they even translated it into Spanish! They wrote petitions, too, and put them on the internet so they are easily shareable on ipetitions. These kids are serious!

Perhaps these teenagers see the uncanny resemblance to their lives and the teen-fiction movies that have become Box-office hits like Divergent and Hunger Games? They know they are more than a test result.

These students attend White Station High School, a top-ranked public optional school in Memphis. It is an outstanding school. During enrollment season, parents have camped outside the district office to make sure their child gets a spot at this school. The teachers at White Station are known to be outstanding and supportive. In fact, it appears that these students were taught how to advocate in their Civics class through something called "Project Citizen."

Here are the links to their well-reseached and well-thought-out information:

Letter to parents urging action and support to opt-out
Spanish letter to parents urging action and support to opt-out
Petition supporting the OPT-OUT of testing in Tennessee
Petition for a Moratorium against testing
Thorough Spreadsheet of important people to contact including elected officials and media
Their overwhelming district and state testing calendar for Shelby County
Bless these kids! They even know that the state-run Achievement School District is a dismal failure and they wrote a petition against it!
A petition against the time-consuming MAP testing they were forced to take
A parent survey to collect public perception on testing
A student survey to collect student feedback on testing
Signature page for people to print and manually collect signatures

Not only did these students come up with all these documents, they met with elected officials. They want to go to Nashville to speak before Education committees. And they are reaching out to other students across the state!

Momma Bears are inspired by the bold advocacy and determination of this next generation of leaders. Please, help us share this across the state so their spark ignites fires in other students, parents, teachers, and elected officials. These Tennessee students have powerful knowledge of how government works, and they know their voices are powerful if they use them.

Students are going to change the world. They aren't just the future, they are the present.

To find out more about refusing TNReady and other standardized tests in Tennessee,
please visit our website:
http://www.mommabears.org/choose-to-refuse-testing.html

There is even have a special website for students:
http://www.mommabears.org/for-students.html

READY to do something about TNReady?!? For Frustrated Parents and Students:

12/6/2015

The anxiety in Tennessee is reaching a feverous pitch. The undercurrents are sweltering at the dinner table as our children tell us about yet another day of standardized testing or practice testing at school. When talking to other parents, we find out they are upset over all the excessive standardized testing, too. When will this testing madness stop?

The fact is, everyone in TN knows at least one child, if not more, that has been negatively affected by the testing:
…a child who used to love school, but now dreads it because of testing,
…a child who complains of headaches and/or stomach aches because of testing,
…a child who vomited because of the standardized testing.
It is incredibly sad and totally unnecessary.

The fact is, everyone in TN knows at least one teacher, if not more:
…a teacher who quit due to the toxic testing, common core, and not being able to do what she knows is best for students,
...a teacher who is evaluated on Math and English test scores even though they teach subjects like Music, Art, PE, Library, Sports, Science, Social Studies, Mechanics, etc.,
...a teacher who has taught gifted students at the top of the spectrum, but there is little or no room to show growth from last year's perfect or very high scores, so their teacher's evaluation score is low,
...a teacher who teaches SPED students who are meeting milestones and learning life skills, but will likely never reach the impossible proficient benchmarks, so the teacher receives a low evaluation score,
...a teacher of ESL students that don't yet understand our language but are forced to take the same tests as everyone else,
… a teacher whose evaluation score plummeted from 5 to 1, even though she hasn't changed the way she's devotedly taught her students between the years
...every teacher who is forbidden from ever seeing the test questions or answers,
…for the teachers who couldn't help but peek at some of the standardized test questions and had serious doubts about the appropriateness and the correct answers but couldn’t say anything without losing their jobs.

The fact is, everyone knows of at least one family, if not more, in Tennessee:
… who is now homeschooling due to testing and common core,
… who is sacrificing to pay for private school to escape the testing and common core,
… who is seriously considering the above 2 options.

This madness is absurd, and it must stop.

Bless the ones who will step up and say, "No more!!!"

Bless the Knoxville school board members who adopted a Resolution against using TNReady data on teacher evaluations and are asking the state to remove TNReady data from teacher evaluations. They know it is wrong. Bless the other districts who are also adopting the Resolution, too. (Click HERE to see the original Resolution and share it with your school board members).

Bless the teachers who are speaking to parents and elected officials (while praying they aren’t committing career suicide by speaking up) about the harmful policies, excessive tests, and common core. Speaking up is certainly not how one advances on the career ladder or gains job security. So, bless them for risking their careers.

Bless the parents who are saying "not with my children" and refusing to allow their child to take the tests. They do it to protect their children, but also in quiet defiance of a testing system they know is toxic for every child.

Something must be done.

We Momma Bears really don’t want to be the ringleaders. We don’t. We’re not in this for fame or glory, we’re in it for our kids. We’re anonymous for a reason to protect our kids and our sources. Maybe someday you’ll know who we are. Maybe you have already met us and didn’t know it. Maybe you’ll never know who we are. Honestly, if you ever met one of us, we are some of the meekest, mildest, helpful, servant-hearted people who volunteer in our schools and communities. You’d probably never guess that we are rabble rousers. We don’t want to be famous, and we aren’t making a penny at this advocacy, but something is compelling us to keep fighting these injustices. So we research, we blog, we share information. Because something must be done. So, we’re doing it.

As Dr. Seuss so eloquently wrote, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, its not.”

Which brings us to this... Because we are being bombarded, literally, with messages from parents and teachers like this one from a parent:

"So how do we opt out? I'm certain that I want my children to NOT take this test. Now I need to know how I can do it."

and this one from a school board member in TN:

"Good morning momma bears! I am so HAPPY that I found your blog. I am a mother of three daughters that attend a wonderful public elementary school in XXXXXX, TN. I taught for five years before starting my family. Then I decided two years ago to use my classroom experience as a guiding voice on my local school board.
I have become enraged with TNReady! The developmentally inappropriate standards and the resulting high stakes testing that is purposefully setting my daughter up for failure is abusive. I couldn't agree with your most recent post more!
I have asked my superintendent to procure a meeting with Commissioner McQueen. Crickets. No contact from her office. I have made passionate pleas to the other members of my school board to consider further action. My superintendent is appealing to elected officials to have teacher tenure returned to the local decision process (for the teachers in my district this would eliminate the pressure of the test scores impacting their tenure-we could honestly tell them to not worry about test scores).
While I knew this was an important step, I am actually more focused on putting a stop to the TNReady test. The MIST practice test was awful enough for my daughter, and I do not want the (public school) students of Tennessee to suffer anymore!
My superintendent is a fighter and luckily is remarkable supportive in these efforts. Our school system would like to ask the state to grant us a waiver to take another test (preferably the Aspire tests which are aligned with the ACT, because we view the ACT as a fixed test that actually provides real results for our students).
If Comissioner McQueen's own children are not subjected to TNReady, how dare she push this on my child! I could rant for days. I want to simply say that your post made my day. I have been asked to attend a meeting for our district where state education officials are soliciting feedback and I plan on letting it rip. I just wrote a teacher in our system last week, and described my passion in terms of a "momma grizzly bear". I had no idea that you other momma bears had formed a league. I truly see this as one of the most important issues I have ever battled, but I am willingly ready to fight!"

and this alarming message from a Mom who knows this test is set up to fail students, and her child isn't dumb:

"My child is in honors algebra. They took they practice TNReady. They said there were perhaps 4-5 questions out of 30 on TNReady that they felt okay about. The highest scorer in their honors class got less than 1/2 the test items correct."

and quite a few messages from SPED teachers concerned about the TNReady and the new SPED testing mandates. {NOTE: We’re working on a blog about that, too. Just hold your horses, though. That stuff is confusing, and every district is handling it differently, so we’re trying our best to get accurate info so we can publish it for our eager readers.}

Everyone wants to know:

“WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THIS???”

We have the answer, but it isn’t easy.

You’ll have to visit our brand new website pages to find out.

We put it all there for you, in black and white with neat graphics. If you’re a list-lover, you’ll like the step-by-step bulleted lists. If you have a student who wants to be a leader, there’s a page for them. We know you have questions, and we've tried to provide answers.

Go to our website and learn. Take action.

You have more power than you realize, parents and teachers. Be a Momma Bear. Ready, Set, GO!!! Get TN out of TNReady already!!!!!!

Click HERE to visit our website and find out

TNReady for IEP & 504 Accommodations?????

11/24/2015

In our last blog, we told you all about quirky new online TNReady testing platform. So, did you take the sample test? Better hurry if you didn't, links have a way of disappearing. But if you did take it, then you know what we mean about quirks.

Now, imagine a child with learning disabilities taking TN Ready.

Remember how common core requires kids to ground everything in evidence and provide multiple supports for every contention? Well, apparently that line of thought has now made its way into providing accommodations for SPED students while taking TNReady.

Students who are below reading level must now prove that they need "text-to-speech" (aka read-aloud) accommodation. And get this... An IEP or 504 plan may not be considered as sufficient proof. And that concerns Momma Bears!!!

An IEP team is made up of the students, their general education teacher, their special education teacher, a school administrator and their parents. The people who know this student and are in the best position to make decisions about this child's education. But now the state has told the schools that they better have a darn good reason to be giving this accommodation or else!! Or else what????

Or else the TN DOE can take the accommodation away or worse, invalidate the child's test score. This is very upsetting since these kids usually have a lot of test anxiety anyway. It would be a crying shame to put a child through this test for nothing.

So, what's a parent to do?

We reached out to some of the most voracious momma bears ever—the SPED advocates. And this is what they told us.

Parents need to prepare for IEP meetings by learning what criteria must be met in order to get the text-to-speech accommodation. And remember, you don't have to wait until your annual meeting. An IEP meeting can be called anytime. So what is the criteria for text-to-speech accommodation?

Take a look at what's in a TNDOE memo dated October 14, 2015 and let's break down each question.

Does the student have a documented decoding or fluency deficit which precludes access to printed text? If your child has an SLD in reading then the answer is yes.
Does the student have a goal to address deficit listed in the present level of educational performance? Again, if your child has an SLD in reading the answer better be yes. The IEP team should have addressed a goal for fluency and or decoding based on the Present Levels of Performance.
Is the student engaged in intense intervention to address specific deficit? Once again, if your child has an IEP then there should be goals for the reading deficit and in order to reach those goals your child should be in an intense intervention in a special education setting.
Is inability to access printed text included in the impact statement? Now, this one might be the one you need to address but it is easy to do. Check your child’s IEP, does the impact statement say your child struggles with reading but comprehension is high when content is read aloud? You need a statement similar to that.
Does the student need supported reading in core academic instruction? Does your child have read aloud for all of his/her classroom work and tests? Then this would also be a yes.

Got that? Text-to-speech requires a "yes" answer to all the above questions!! As long as the IEP passes the “stranger test” which means anyone can pick up the IEP and know exactly what the IEP is for and has passed all the criteria from above, the school should be good but we as parents need to make sure everything is covered.

Don't let schools say no to the text-to-speech accommodation without actually analyzing the situation. This could have a dramatic impact on your child's grades especially if your child is in high school. We do not want a situation where students reading below grade level are forced to read at grade level, or above on a test that will count up to 25% of their final grade.

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.

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?

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.

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.”

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.

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?

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?

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?

Students should drag choices from the box at the bottom and put them in number order. Except it won't work.

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.

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)

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

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...

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.

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

It is that time of year again...

8/11/2015

Back to school... If you're like most parents, you have lists of things to do: Register kids for school, buy school supplies, get new school clothes, etc. Well, there's one more important thing to add to your list: Your Test Refusal Letter.

Of course, this is a personal decision, and every family's circumstances are unique. But if you do want to refuse testing, you need to put it in writing and let your school know. Standardized testing will start soon, if it hasn't already.

If you had a refusal letter last year, just print out a new copy and send it in to your child's new teacher. If you don't have one, a great place to start is at www.unitedoptout.com where you'll find State Opt-Out Guides, Sample Templates, and even a Get Tough Guide in case you get pushback.

Here are some Opt-Out / Refusal Letters we found on the internet you are welcome to use:

To whom it may concern:

I would like to begin this letter by expressing my gratitude to the staff of _______________________ ______________________________School. They have successfully created a positive and welcoming environment that allows students to learn and thrive. I have been very pleased with all of the efforts made by staff members to create an optimal educational environment.

The purpose of this letter is to officially inform you that I am refusing to have my child(ren), _____________________________________, participate in any and all tests designed by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Next Generation Assessments, Pearson, or any other state or national assessment equivalent in nature for the 2015- 2016 school year.

I feel very strongly that being forced to take these tests will negatively affect my child(ren) emotionally, psychologically, and possibly even physically. I have been advised that my concerns meet the criteria for honoring my request under the 14th amendment of the Constitution, which protects my right to direct the upbringing and education of my child(ren). This right has been broadly protected by the Supreme Court since 1923.

Here are research-based reasons why I do not want my child(ren) to participate in high stakes testing:

Multiple-choice tests & short-answer tests are poor, unfair measures of student achievement, particularly of the ability to understand and use complex material, or of creativity in any field.
Test scores are not reliable. A person’s score may vary from day to day due to testing conditions or the test-taker’s mental or emotional state.
Standardized tests are not objective. Decisions about what to include, how questions are worded, which answers are “correct,” and the uses of results are all made by subjective humans.
High stakes tests cause the curriculum to be narrowed to just what is on the test, and educational quality suffers as subjects like art, music, & phys. ed are reduced or eliminated.
Tests do not reflect current knowledge and research that we have about learning. Tests are based on outdated assumptions that do not match the research we have about how students learn.
Students of color, second-language learners, and students with disabilities have been disproportionately negatively impacted by the high stakes testing culture which has fueled the school-to-prison pipeline, making it more likely that these students will become incarcerated.
There are established and researched ways to evaluate achievement and ability that are MUCH BETTER, such as teacher observation and documentation of student work and performance over time by classroom teachers. (From http://refuseofcuyahogacounty.webstarts.com/ & fairtest.org)

Using student test scores to evaluate teachers and staff is wrong. It is unfair and creates a high-stakes environment.

During the scheduled testing times, I request that my child(ren) be allowed to participate in an academically beneficial alternative activity. I feel that silent reading, art, catching up on class work, or getting ahead on homework would be a positive use of that time. If for some reason this is not possible, I will make other arrangements for my child(ren) during testing.

Please provide a timely written response acknowledging the receipt of this letter, as well as confirmation that blame or consequences will not be placed upon my child(ren) by any staff members in the school or district for not taking these tests.

Thank you for your cooperation and consideration. If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Just kidding! Don't really use this one, or at least change the 4 letter word to "poop" if you do.

There are a TON of opt-out letters on the internet. There is even an Opt-Out Conference in February in Philadelphia. The Opt-Out movement is growing and won't stop until the abusive, excessive, and unnecessary standardized testing that puts profit over children's best interest is stopped. Join the movement and make a difference!

PS - Have you signed and shared the petition calling for Testing Transparency in Tennessee, yet? It is a super-easy to have your voice heard!

Happy parents

8/11/2015

This is a very good and reassuring thing to see:

If you see that bumper sticker or sign, most likely that the teacher or administrator belongs to the Tennessee Education Association. Momma Bears are happy to see that TEA is taking a strong stance against excessive standardizing testing in Tennessee. It will take parents and teachers speaking up to make a difference!

Semantics: how tests are used to fool people

7/2/2015

Are you gullible enough to fall for it? Someone says one thing, but means another. Twisting words and their meanings...That's called semantics.

Definition of Semantics:

the study of meaning.
the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form.

example: Bill Clinton used semantics to wiggle out of hot water by pretending not to understand the meaning of "sexual relations" with an intern. Whether you hate him or love him, it worked.

another example: We bet your kids have tried it. Suuure their room is clean... just as long as you don't look under the bed or at all the stuff they crammed in their closet. Suuure they ate their vegetables... if you count one niblet of corn and half a green bean.

Is it lying? Well, ask yourself the opposite question: Is it truthful?

The Tennessee Department of Education, politicians, and reformers use semantics, too. They deliberately use words to convince people of something that is not truthful. Unfortunately, their scheme is working. How do they do it? They simply say that students aren't proficient. Proficient. That is the key word right there: Proficient.

What does that word, "proficient," mean to the average person? Well, most people think it means that a student has at least a basic level of understanding to pass a test, right? Most people assume that if a student is deemed proficient for a grade level, that student passed and is ready to be promoted to the next grade. This leads people to assume that if a student is not proficient or scores below proficient, then the child has failed and needs to be held back to repeat the grade. When it is applied to standardized testing, people naturally assume things.

For example, when you hear or see a scary statistic from a Tennessee politician or reformer like this:

"Only 43% of 3rd graders scored Proficient or above on the 2015 TCAP test!"

You automatically think: "Oh my goodness only 43% of them passed, which means means that 57% of third graders are failing! That means 57% of 3rd graders can't pass a Reading Test! That means those children can't read!!!" Thus, people are easily convinced that something drastic must be done like: (insert the reform that benefits the politicians or reformers like: Common Core, more standardized testing, computerized intervention replacing teachers, firing teachers, getting rid of teacher unions and teacher associations, giving public schools to private charter operators, legalizing vouchers so that kids can escape these scary low test scores, data mining student's personal information without parental consent to find out why they aren't passing the tests, etc.)

Stop. Just hold your proficiency horses. Let's take a look at those Performance Levels on the TCAP test for grades 3-8. We found this info on the TDOE website, but it is also on the TCAP result sheets that parents are supposed to get in the fall when they eventually receive their child's test results (You can click on the image to see the entire document):

See how there are 4 different Achievement Levels? 4 different levels. That's important to know and something the politicians don't mention. Now the TDOE and testing company admit these performance levels do not correlate to the typical A,B,C,D,F grading scale for school report cards, but since the method of setting cut scores is not transparent, nobody in the public really knows. But let's just look at each level. Note: these descriptions and comparisons are our own:

ADVANCED: (what many would consider an A+) Generally, these are the above average students who are probably in advanced or gifted programs. They are super at taking standardized tests and picking the right answers. The percentage of students that fall into this Advanced category is small as you'll see in the chart below. Again, since the process of setting cut scores is not public, we can only suspect that this cut score is set high so that only a small percentage of students are classified as being in this category. Generally, most kids in this category are affluent and have a strong network of family support.
PROFICIENT: (what many would consider an A or B) Generally, these kids are natural learners, self-motivated, good at taking tests, smart, and/or have parents who make sure they do their homework? As you will see below on the chart, this category is a much larger percentage of students than the advanced category, if not the largest for some. Generally, most students in this Proficient category eat 3 meals a day, get enough sleep each night, and probably have not been chronically hungry or in need.
BASIC: (what many would consider a C) These kids passed. These kids passed! These kids passed!!! See that description in the image above? It clearly says these students are minimally prepared for the next level of study. They didn't fail! They didn't fail!! They didn't fail!!! Generally, students in this category are generally middle-class, borderline poverty, have special needs or disabilities, or are students who just generally don't test well. Generally. This is a large percentage of students compared to the other categories, as you'll see below. Again, these kids didn't fail the test and they are prepared enough, according to the state of Tennessee and the test manufacturer, to advance to the next grade. Sadly, some districts and teachers call these basic students the "bubble children" because they are the ones that need to bubble more correct answers to bump up to the Proficient category to make their district look better.
Below Basic: (what many would consider a D or F) Unfortunately, these students failed. They are not prepared for the next level of study. Notice that like the Advanced category, it is quite a small percentage of students, if not the smallest category on some of the tests. Sadly, generally students in this category may be homeless, may not speak English, may have parents that work multiple jobs or be unemployed, may not have parents and are raised by relatives or in foster care, may have disabilities or special needs, may be dyslexic (or un-diagnosed dyslexic because 1 in 5 are), are victims of violence or dysfunctional homes, or just don't care about the test so they randomly bubble in answers.

Disclaimer: Of course, not every student fits into those categories. We've all known kids, or are raising kids of our own, that somehow aced a test despite never paying attention in class or doing homework. And we've all known super-smart kids who bomb tests. So these descriptions certainly don't reflect any of that. Did you notice how many times we wrote, "generally," in our descriptions? Momma Bears have been preaching for a long time now that children are so much more than test scores, so please don't send us hate mail about how your child doesn't fit into those categories or how we're just bitter because our kids didn't score Advanced (because some of our kids did). Having said that, we will now return you to the original blog about the semantics shenanigans...

Politicians and the TDOE only mention 2 categories to the public (Proficient and Advanced). See this pretty bar graph on a poster they showed to the news media last week when they released TCAP scores?

See underneath the title at the top of the picture in smaller font where it says "Percentage of Students Proficient and Advanced by Subject"? Hmmm... Why didn't they include the Basic kids??? Basic is passing! Basic is okay. Maybe we need a bumper sticker that says, "My kid is Basic and that is ok!"

Why would they be dishonest?
You may be wondering why politicians and/or reformers would do this kind of untruthfulness? To find the answer, you need to follow the money, honey. The politicians and reformers are trying to convince you that our public schools are in "crisis." There is money to be made from a crisis, lots of money, and change happens when there is a crisis. So, they show misleading charts and say scary statistics. They compare our state to other states and claim we are failing and falling behind (but they don't ever mention that the other states have less poverty, they fund their schools better than ours, they don't test every student, and those high-scoring states have strong teachers unions).

That's how we got into the whole Race to the Top mess. Reformers fed politicians untruths using the old "Proficient" category on the national NAEP test where Tennessee ranks low compared to other states. (The NAEP test also has the same 4 categories of scoring as the TCAP). It worked. Legislators were convinced enough to vote that money must be thrown at consultants, Common Core, and even more standardized testing to improve Tennessee's ranking. And legislators were convinced that Tennessee needs drastic measures like charter schools and vouchers to fix this make-believe crisis.

Okay, I believe you, but the failing students category is still not good
Some of you may be thinking, "there are still kids failing and that is not good enough!" You're right. We can do better. Students need smaller class sizes, more support from guidance counselors and specialists actually working in the schools, fully funded public schools, and proven methods of helping students learn instead of experimental computer programs. You must realize, too, that some students may never pass those tests because of disabilities, or not speaking English, or just not caring about a test so they bubble in random answers. Setting a goal of 100% of students passing (like No Child Left Behind mandated) is noble, but it is impossible unless those low-scoring students are kicked out of schools (like charter schools and private schools are allowed to do to inflate their scores).

What if every student passed? Hallelujah!
But what if every student did amazingly well on the standardized test? You know what would happen??? The cut scores would discreetly be moved on the tests before the results were announced, that's what. Because the politicians and reformers can't have a test where every student passes (except in Lake Wobegon, of course.) After all, the tests would be deemed too easy if students were doing so well on them. Don't believe us? Then what happened to the Social Studies TCAP test last year where every student in Tennessee passed? (Click on this link to see the proof that every student in grades 3-8 passed) Did you know that the TCAP Social Studies test wasn't even given this year and that it is being completely changed for next year to make it much, much harder? (weird side question to ponder: How did every 3rd-8th grade student in Tennessee pass the Social Studies TCAP test, but not pass their TCAP Reading/English test???) And what is TN about to spend $108 million dollars on next year? Yep, a brand new harder and more rigorous tests that will have an even higher failure rate for English, Math, and Social Studies. Say "hello" to the all new TNReady test, children.

Kinda like Russian Roulette with tests instead of bullets...
Another thing worth pointing out about cut scores and percentages, if a student (or school or district) improves his/her score to move up a category, then that means another student (or school or district) somewhere in the state gets bumped down a category. These cut scores and percentages are determined in such a secret manner that nobody knows how or why. And nobody ever really questions it. Here is an excellent link to how this monkey-business of tinkering with cut scores really works. In that link, you'll see some eye-opening graphs that explain how these categories, percentages, and cut scores are moved and manipulated, so, you should definitely read it after you finish reading our blog.

Back to the question you're all asking...

So how many students in Tennessee actually passed?

See for yourself on this chart we downloaded from the TDOE and added red ink to:

See? The sky isn't falling! Those are some high numbers for passing rates! Why isn't this a headline on the front of newspapers? Why aren't politicians throwing flowers at teachers, bestowing raises upon them, and kissing teachers' feet for this great news? You know the answer to that... it doesn't fit their agenda.

The public has been duped into believing that a scary high percentage of students are failing, when that is clearly not the case. Even worse this year, the Tennessee Department of Education used fishy math to determine the quick scores for student report cards. The fishy math is called the cubed root formula, and it inflated the low scores big-time. It was a sneaky way to fool parents into thinking the test is great because their own child scored so highly on it, and it also tricks parents into thinking that Common Core must be magically working. It is not truthful.

So now what?
Well, parents, now that we know the truth, what are we gonna do about it? The answer is that we're gonna tell others. Spread the news! Share this blog! Talk to your legislators! Tell them to fix this broken system. Tell them to listen to and trust teachers and parents. Tell them we need Testing Transparency in Tennessee! These tests carry too much weight to be manipulated like this. These tests should never ever be used to evaluate teachers. Some parents may wish to opt their children out of the tests. Tell your legislator to pass a law that will parents the explicit right to refuse/opt-out of tests for their children. Oh, and be sure to sign and share this petition calling for Testing Transparency in Tennessee. The testing system is clearly rigged. We won't fall for their semantics baloney anymore. They have lost our trust!

Public School Advocacy Groups across TN Issue Call for Testing Transparency

6/1/2015

Momma Bears is proud to be a part of a coalition of education advocacy groups who are calling for a change in standardized testing. We believe it is wrong how tests are used as weapons to harm students, teachers, and schools. Momma Bears are opposed to scarce tax dollars being wasted on tests when class sizes are too large, there is not enough support staff in schools, and important things like music, art, sports, and recess have been cut or eliminated due to the increasing cost and time of testing.

Here is the press release about the awesome statement these groups are making:

PRESS RELEASE:

PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCACY GROUPS
ACROSS TENNESSEE ISSUE CALL FOR TESTING TRANSPARENCY
TCAP questions spark call for accountability

(Nashville, TN) – More than a dozen grassroots organizations that support strong public schools across Tennessee are joining together to demand accountability from the Tennessee Department of Education in the wake of confusion created by the latest release of “quick scores” and associated raw “cut scores” from recent TCAP tests.

“The correlation between the quick scores and the raw cut scores is not well understood,” said Lyn Hoyt, President of Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (TREE). “The Department of Education has not communicated well with school systems or the general public. What do these scores mean? How do they determine cut scores? What’s the math involved in pre-equating and post-equating? These are among the questions we believe the DOE should have already answered. We’re calling on Commissioner McQueen to provide clear, direct answers immediately.”

The groups are jointly distributing a petition outlining some basic principles regarding testing going forward. The petition includes the following four principles that all groups believe should guide Tennessee testing policy going forward:

1.     The process for determining cut scores should be clear and cut scores should be set and released before tests are administered.

2.     Tests must be transparent. Questions and answers should be available within a reasonable time after test administration.

3.     Standardized test scores should not be counted as a portion of a student’s final grade.

4.     Standardized test scores should not be used in teacher evaluation.

We believe these principles are fair and represent what parents want: Fair tests used to assess student learning relative to standards. By adopting these principles and the policies they would necessitate, we can return testing to its rightful place as one of many tools used to improve education, instead of the ultimate measure of student and teacher performance.

It’s imperative that we move toward testing transparency – access to the questions and answers on the standardized tests – in order to ensure the tests are reliable and valid assessments of the standards being tested.

We’re calling on the Department of Education to take immediate action to address these concerns.

Groups participating in this network include:
TREE (Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence)
Strong Schools (Sumner County)
Williamson Strong (Williamson County)
SPEAK (Students, Parents, Educators Across Knox County)
SOCM (Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment)
Momma Bears
Gideon's Army, Grassroots Army for Children (Nashville)
Advocates for Change in Education (Hamilton County)
Concerned Parents of Franklin County (Franklin County)
The Dyslexia Spot
Parents of Wilson County, TN, Schools
Friends of Oak Ridge Schools (City of Oak Ridge Schools)
TNBATs (State branch of National BATs)
East Nashville United

###

Momma Bears defend and support children and public schools. Momma Bears believe that quality public education is a right for every child. We strive to protect our children, our public schools, and the teachers who nurture, inspire, and protect our children. www.mommabears.org

TAKE ACTION:

Momma Bears urge you to sign and share this online petition: It is super-easy and only takes a few seconds to sign.
https://www.change.org/p/bill-haslam-candice-mcqueen-tn-department-of-education-institute-fair-testing-policies-for-statewide-testing

Then contact the following leaders and let them know you want testing transparency:

Commissioner McQueen - Commissioner.McQueen@tn.gov
Governor Haslam - bill.haslam@tn.gov

From Magical Test Scores to Magic Math

5/28/2015

Watch me pull a rabbit (or test score) out of my hat...

Remember our last blog on the Magical TCAP scores that were much higher than expected? Well, thanks to the efforts of Tennessee Education Association, we now have a rather magical mathematical explanation from the Tennesse Department of Education for those incredible quick scores.

Here is what TEA is reporting on their Facebook Page:

TCAP Update: Following the state's conference call, we now know that the state did change its methodology for calculating quick scores for students in grades 3-8. It is now using the cubed-root method the state has been using for high school EOCs. This change in methodology resulted in apparent grade inflation, leading parents and educators to believe students had performed better than in previous years. The change resulted in about a 4-point increase in cut scores from the method used in 2014.

Please visit the link below for documents provided by the state in its attempt to explain these changes. TEA still has many, many questions about the reliability of both the quick and cut scores, why these changes were made and how proficiency levels are determined. We will continue our efforts to get more answers from the state and insist that they ‪#‎showthemath‬.

Our Instructional Advocacy and management teams are reading all comments left on our FB posts on this topic to formulate more questions for the state. Please continue to share your thoughts, experiences and even your rants.

Fortunately for those of us who really don't understand the state's explanation or mathematical terms like "cubed root," TEA has promised to continue its efforts to get more answers from the state. In the meantime, Momma Bears would like to express its appreciation for Tennessee Education Association and its willingness to publicly share information with parents.

Nothing Magical about making a Teacher Disappear

We realize that all too often our Tennessee teachers are forced to pay a high price for speaking out against testing. So, we appreciate TEA for speaking out when individual teachers can not. And we are indebted to Christina Graham and all other brave educators who have lost their jobs for daring to speak out and advocate for our children's best interest.

We urge Momma Bears everywhere to protect and defend these teachers for their advocacy because "in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Magical test results in Tennessee

5/22/2015

Reports about the unbelievable TCAP and EOC scores are flooding social media this week as final report cards are sent to parents. Teachers are skeptical that students improved so dramatically. People are wondering if the scores were inflated to make parents happy, and worry the artificially inflated scores will penalize them in their evaluations in future years using the secret mathematical TVAAS formula that tells if a teacher is good or bad using student test scores. The TVAAS formula was originally invented to predict livestock growth, and our state is using it to rate teachers. Crazy. You just can't make this stuff up, people. And that's also a big reason why some parents want to refuse this standardized testing for their children.

Some teachers question how their students earned scores of 97, 98, and 99 on a test with only 55 questions. The one-point difference doesn't make logical sense. Since teachers and parents will never get to see the test questions, answers, or how the tests were scored, it will forever remain a great mystery.

Momma Bears received this insightful comment in response to our blog yesterday about testing. It is from a Tennessee teacher and it raises a lot of questions, including one we hadn't even considered...

I really liked your comment about Candace McQueen's kids not taking TNReady!

I also noticed that you mention the good reports coming out about TCAP. I agree, the reports are great! My fellow teachers and I were amazed by our student's TCAP scores. They were amazing. They were too amazing. Those scores were so inflated it was unreal. I have no idea how they fool with the numbers, but I had students who read on a 3rd grade level who had grades between 80-90% on the cut score. I teach 6th grade. The math teacher had the same concerns. We had students with IEP's who were scoring in the newly elevated advanced category. Now don't get me wrong, We had bright, hardworking kids. We worked hard all year to improve our literacy and numeracy skills, but there's just no way some of my kids improved to that level.

The teachers I work with believe these fluffed scores serve three purposes. First, they enable the state to claim that the "reforms" they have instituted. Second, since TCAP scores factor into exceptional ed eligibility, I believe that these scores will be used to reduce the number of students who are eligible to receive services. Finally, I believe these scores will eventually be used against teachers. Once the new standards are implemented, I believe the scores will drip significantly, making it easier to fire teachers, close schools, and usher in for-profit charters.

I have limited leeway to question these scores. I have an extremely retaliatory administration, and my district has no backbone. I believe the Mommabears have done an excellent job standing up for Tennessee schools and students and I wanted to make you aware of the concerns lots of teachers have with these scores.

Keep up the good fight!

- a Tennessee teacher who wishes to remain anonymous

Could it be...

these test scores are artificially high to prevent parental opt-outs next year for the new TN Ready test?
these TCAP scores will be used to keep children out of SPED who really need it?
students are being set up to fail next year when the new TN Ready test is implemented? (a manufactured crisis to justify the privatization of public education)
that the scores were inflated to make certain politicians look good? and make their agendas (like common core and charter schools) appear that they are magically working?
these inflated scores will show "growth" in the state's ASD district schools which have test score averages lower than they were before when they were originally public schools?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. and Absolutely YES!

This letter below that was sent from Commissioner Candice McQueen to Directors of Schools in Tennessee confirms that these test scores are not consistent or comparable from year to year, and warns against jumping to conclusions about proficiency levels before the TDOE has set them:

Directors,

I want to thank you for your work in finalizing student demographic and teacher claiming information to close this year's TCAP cycle. I know many of you have received your quick scores for student grading and are anxious to understand more about your district's overall performance. Though the department made the decision in 2014 to stop associating TCAP performance levels with quick score results, we do want to provide information as accurately, transparently, and quickly as possible.

To that end, the division of data and research will provide a detailed communication regarding quick score use and interpretation in our May 27 Director Update, followed by a release of preliminary data regarding quick score relationships to raw scores and cut scores to determine proficient (versus non-proficient) on June 1. For now, I caution you to avoid communicating any results regarding proficiency rates based on the 2015 quick scores using performance level relationships that were last calculated and communicated in 2013.

Quick scores are generated for use in student grading only. As such, there will not necessarily be a consistent relationship between quick scores and performance levels for achievement from year to year. Performance levels are determined first by raw score to scale score conversions and then through cut-scores defined by the standards setting process. Over the next couple of months, we will engage our TOSS working group for accountability in further conversation about how we address quick scores during the transition to TNReady. In the meantime, please look for the memo in the May 27 Director Update and the follow-up information on June 1. As a reminder, we will also include this timeline in today’s Director Update.

Best,
Candice

Until we have both transparency with the test questions and transparency with how the cut scores are determined, these tests serve little purpose other than being used as weapons against our public schools.

Mc Queen's children too Blessed to be TN READY

5/21/2015

Tennessee Ready?

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

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

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

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

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

Teachers, we're wishing you a happy summer! Thank you for your incredible work this year. Listen in as Commissioner McQueen shares a closing message and some important updates about preparing for next year.
Posted by Tennessee Department of Education on Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Hey, it's Throwback Thursday

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

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

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

An excerpt of McQueen's letter is below:

"First, the Common Core State Standards have not been adopted by Lipscomb Academy. While the standards have been adopted by the state of Tennessee along with 44 other states, private schools have the freedom to determine if they will use all, some or none of the CCSS. To date, Lipscomb Academy administrators have not adopted the standards...Second, I have also not been in any discussions about formal adoption of the CCSS at Lipscomb Academy. Currently, Lipscomb Academy draws from a variety of quality national and state standards selected by the school leadership and faculty to set a vision for what content, instruction and curriculum will be used at each grade level. This has proven to be effective; thus, I don’t anticipate any changes to this process now or in the future. As is current practice, all standards available will be reviewed at set intervals by leadership and faculty to determine the direction of Lipscomb Academy."

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

[S]ome of you have voiced concerns that the academy will adopt the PARCC test that will soon replace the current Tennessee standardized test or TCAP. Lipscomb Academy uses the ERB test, not the TCAP, and there are no plans to replace the ERB test with PARCC.

Comparing the Assessments: PARCC, Tennessee Ready & ERB

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

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

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

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

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

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”.

Read 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:

There are too many tests.
The tests are too long.
The tests are poorly designed and poorly written.
The tests are surrounded by a level of secrecy usually reserved for a nuclear arsenal.
The tests are never returned to students and teachers to inform instruction.
The tests are used to rate teachers, schools and whole school districts, purposes for which they were never intended.
The tests are made by profit making companies who give huge contributions to legislators and perks to policy making bodies.
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.
The tests are incredibly expensive and take money away from the arts, counseling, and libraries.
The tests are discriminatory in the manner they are applied to Special Needs and ELL Students.
The high stakes attached to the tests have forced schools in high poverty districts to use recess and gym for test prep.
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

The Testing Task Farce of Tennessee

3/18/2015

Last month, the TN Department of Education announced that they are making a new task force to study testing. Interestingly enough, it seems that they have stacked the deck in favor of Common core… Imagine that!!!

Momma Bears have a hunch that this Testing Task Force will proclaim that testing is hunky-dory in Tennessee. They'll say all these Screener Tests and Benchmark Tests that districts are now required to do to implement RTI2 are magical. Also, Common core will be touted as the best thing since sliced bread. Given that there is a massive testing rebellion going on across the country right now, our state leaders are trying to prevent that from happening here with the new TNReady test (which suspiciously has questions purchased from Utah and ties to SBAC). So, to be “ready” for TNReady, they are obviously creating an army of loyal testing and common core-loving people to give the appearance of this being state-led and supported by regular people we can all trust… but can we?

Commissioner McQueen says that they have heard concerns that there is "too much testing" taking place. That is why she has formed this special task force. The press release for this task force said this:

“The new task force includes state legislators, education officials, school administrators, teachers and stakeholders. The task force will meet for the first time in late March and focus on the results of a survey of school districts and their testing. It will issue a report on its findings this summer.”

Then it lists the task force members. Of course, you know Momma Bears did some digging and investigating (because a worried Momma does better research than the FBI). Take a look and weep at the stuff we found:

People hand-picked to be on this testing task farce:

Commissioner Candace McQueen, TDOE
Sara Heyburn, Executive Director, TN State Board of Education
Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, chairman, Senate Education Committee – In the TDOE announcement, Gresham said, "Assessments can be powerful tools in ensuring the work we’re doing in education is effective and that we are gaining a return on our taxpayer investments.” Well, you could say she's getting a pretty good return on her voting record because she has received a boatload of money from Students First and is heavily involved with ALEC (a corporate organization that pushes laws that benefit their donors by privatizing public entities), both test-loving entities. A school board in her district recently passed a Resolution against Common Core, so she’s torn between representing those who elected her versus those who paid big bucks for her campaign. She’s recently flip-flopped on Common Core and everyone sees it as a political maneuver to save her position and to save the common core. Click HERE for the scoop on her flip-flop.
Rep. John Forgety, R-Athens, TN. Chairman of the House Education Instruction and Programs Committee - Click HERE to see his flyer from his election website on education. Nothing much stellar here, but do note there is nothing about repealing common core or any type of testing.
Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, TN. Chairman, House Education Administration and Planning Committee - Thanks to Rocky Top Politics for exposing Harry Brooks and his love of the core. He recently brought Marc Tucker, Common Core over-lord, to TN to testify and spread his common core love to the House education committees.
Mike Winstead, Maryville City Schools director. His hometown newspaper prints that he’s all about the data and testing: “I don’t jump to conclusions. I’m very diligent with my decision making. By nature, I’m very data driven, analytical and deliberate.” For this reason, the administrator is looking forward to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) testing in 2014-15. He goes on to boast, “We’re the best school system in the state, and one of the best in the country. We’re soon going to know for the first time where we actually stack up. I’d imagine that we’ll look very good, but we’re going to see some things that will need improvement. I expect those results will serve as an impetus for future growth. We’re not complacent here, and we’re going to continually work to meet the needs of all students. We’re going to grow them academically, accelerate their growth, and ensure that they’re better prepared graduates — as we’ve done for many years.” So, this guy loves him some tests that generate data.
Wanda Shelton, Lincoln County Schools director - Definitely a testy data lover judging by this horrifying video of a data wall in the hallway which color-codes students and ranks them by their test scores. She talks about how it is great that her students are now so competitive. She puts a LOT of weight and faith on tests.
Mary Reel, Milan Special School District director; signed Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) report supporting common core
Nancy Ashe, Lebanon City Schools assistant director - She was originally hired in another district as a testing coordinator! Nancy's daughter is Asst Principal at Mount Juliet High School, which makes us wonder if that is how the one student (Jasmine Carlisle) got chosen to be on this Test Task Force. Also, Nancy Ashe's husband is principal at Lavergne.
Beth Unfried, Elementary Schools Director, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools. WE SCOREd with this one! She is a SCORE prize winner and we all know where SCORE stands. "CHEERS to Beth Unfried, principal of Norman Smith Elementary, who has been named elementary schools director for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, replacing Priscilla Story, who is retiring. Unfried led Smith Elementary to high honors last year as the school was chosen as the Tennessee SCORE Prize winner and named a state Reward School."
Sharon McNary, Principal, Richland Elementary School, Shelby County Schools. Not much info we could find on her, but she's at a top-rated school in Shelby County/Memphis.
Philip Eller, teacher, Cedar Grove Elementary, Rutherford County Schools; and a common core coach!!!
Becky McBride, teacher, Brighton High School, Tipton County Schools; Teacher of the Year finalist for TDOE 2014-15
Valerie Love, teacher, Dobyns-Bennett High School, Kingsport City Schools; and another SCORE!! This one won a SCORE Educator Fellowship
Susan Lodal, president, Tennessee School Boards Association
Jasmine Carlisle, 11th-grade student, Mt. Juliet High, Wilson County Schools;
Virginia Babb, member representing Knox County Parent Teacher Association. She posted on her Facebook page: “I support the Common Core and the tougher standards. This year we are actually asking my 3 kids to think! Before it was all about bubbling in a test. Sometimes this change has been hard, but learning should have some struggles. Tennessee has smart students and we need teach to their abilities, I think the Common Core is helping to do that.”

Ex officio members:

Kathleen Airhart, Deputy Commissioner of TDOE
Stephen Smith, deputy commissioners, Tennessee Department of Education
Emily Freitag, assistant commissioner for curriculum and instruction, Tennessee Department of Education
Nakia Towns, Assistant Commissioner for Data and Research, TDOE (was formerly with Knox County Schools)
Eva Boster, Teacher Ambassador, TDOE; and
Alyssa Van Camp, Policy Director, SCORE

The process has been very hush-hush. Nobody has seen an application process. Nobody even knew this task force was being created. Surprise! A cadre of hand-picked test lovers to determine the outcome of testing for our kids.

Strangely missing from this list:
There are NO experts from Peabody Education college at Vanderbilt. Nope. None. Zip. Zero. None of the experts from Vanderbilt were invited to be on this TBOE testing focus group. Could it be because they published a shocking survey last year that proved the majority of teachers in TN oppose the Common Core? hmmmm.... The truth hurts, and it obviously gets you excluded from the club.

So, State Board of Education, we give this Testing Task Force an F. We would like a real task force with people from all sides of the table and all opinions, not a task force that we already know the outcome of before the first meeting. Open this process up to the public. Invite a Momma Bear to be on the panel! We promise to be nice, but we will ask questions and will speak up for our children.

We highly suspect this testing task farce has been created to combat the testing rebellion that is going on across the nation right now, or at least prevent it from hitting Tennessee with the much longer and harder TNReady test coming next year. (Click HERE to see a brand new nationwide map from United Opt-Out. Add your pin to it if you're refusing tests for your children!) Other states that have given these Common-Core aligned tests (PARCC and SBAC) are experiencing massive opt-outs and protests. And last week, parents were outraged to learn that testing companies were monitoring students' social media to catch them if they post comments related to their tests.

Tennessee may have gotten out from the PARCC testing contract by the skin of its teeth, but it is undeniable that the company creating TNReady (Measurement Inc) is purchasing test questions from Utah and has contracted with AIR, the creator of the SBAC test. The more parents find out about these tests, the less they like them for their children. For example, did you know Measurement Inc is hiring people to grade the tests on Craigslist? Anyone with a degree in anything can be hired for about $10 per hour to grade our children's tests. This is not okay.

Until these tests are completely transparent (meaning: parents and teachers can see the questions and answers), Momma Bears will not support these tests for our children.

Petition warfare

7/9/2014

Momma Bears are flattered that our petition (Stop Hurting Our Schools: Remove Kevin Huffman as Commissioner of Education) is receiving so many new signatures in the past 48 hours! Apparently, it is now in a little petition popularity contest!

See, Kevin Huffman's fan club (people who wouldn't like him if they weren't getting so rich from his "leadership"... who would surely hate his guts if their own children attended public schools and were forced to do all these standardized tests and crazy common coreishness... or if their spouse worked in a real public school for an honest paycheck and was judged by that mathematical TVAAS cattle-growth formula to show her worth), well, they need to protect their pocketbooks. They know Huffman is in hot water after the whole TCAP mess, his tampering with the TCAP questions and cut scores, his illegally granting waivers to districts, and just last week his harsh announcement that there will be no mercy for SPED students when it comes to testing.

Rumors abound about Huffman's time left in Tennessee, but you gotta admit he's a tough booger for taking the heat for Governor Haslam's awful decisions for so long. (Governor Haslam is only doing what Jeb Bush tells him to do following the step-by-step list on how to ride on coat-tails to the White House.) The word that has trickled down to us common folks that Governor Haslam was so stinking mad at the 15 brave legislators who signed a letter to remove Huffman that Governor Haslam decided to keep Huffman around a little longer just out of spite.

Speculation about who will replace Huffman range from Freddy Krueger to Voldemort. The profitability of either villain bodes well for reformers (both did well in the movie Box Office), so the future looks bleak for public schools under Governor Haslam's leadership. Unless Haslam suddenly grows a heart and puts a real educator with compassion in that position, public education in Tennessee looks bleak.

By the way, we are hearing great things about 2 candidates for Governor! John McKamey (Democrat) and Shaun Crowell (Constitution Party) are both against Common Core and support strong public schools! They don't have nearly the war chest of campaign money that Governor Haslam has, but we Momma Bears believe in miracles, happy endings, and the power of voting parents.

Anyway, read all about the pathetic petition to save Huffman's neck at this link. You can see all the fancy-pants people that signed it who send their own kids to private schools and also about the naive young'uns at TN DOE, ASD, and TFA who are recently out of college and have nice, cushy jobs bossing hardworking teachers around.

Call to action: Blitz Gov. Haslam

5/21/2014

This is it. We have had enough. We have dealt with enough nonsense from Kevin Huffman and the Tennessee Department of Education. He has promoted the excessive testing in our schools (including harmful testing of Kindergarten - 2nd grade children), promoted common core, supported policies that will destroy neighborhood schools, demeaned and disrespected teachers, etc., etc., etc.

We have tried to speak up. We have "liked" and "shared" anti-Huffman Facebook pages, signed petitions, and spoken to our legislators. But the recent mess with the TDOE not having TCAP scores ready in time for final report card grades is the last straw.

It’s time to do this, Momma Bears:

1) Contact your legislators and let them know how you feel about Kevin Huffman and the DOE. (Click here to find the contact information for your legislators.) Be sure to CC it on to Governor Haslam too. (bill.haslam@tn.gov) Feel free to use the following text in your email:

Dear Gov. Haslam, Sen.__________, and Rep. _____________,

I am incredibly disappointed that our appointed Education Commissioner and the DOE did not have TCAP quick scores ready on time to be used in my child’s grades. I am also upset that the DOE did not notify districts until the last minute, and that all of the test anxiety my child experienced meant nothing. This delay and failure to notify districts makes parents speculate if the test results are being manipulated.

Kevin Huffman’s incompetency is an embarrassment to our state and I am requesting that he be immediately removed from his position as commissioner. A qualified educator should be appointed as Tennessee's Commissioner of Education. Our children deserve no less.

Furthermore, we request a full audit of the funds for the state education department... particularly the spending done by Huffman, including who received the funds through no-bid contracts.

Sincerely,
(include your town)

2) Call Governor Haslam’s office at least once a day, if not more, and let them know that you believe that Huffman is incompetent and you want him fired immediately. His phone number is: 615-741-2001

3) Share this with your friends and ask them to do the same thing.

4) Keep calling Haslam’s office until Huffman is fired or resigns.

We must flood Governor Haslam’s office with calls and emails. If we keep speaking up, we will be heard. Don't be afraid to use your Momma Bear voices. You could even use his full birth name, just like you do on your kids so they know Momma means business!

"William Edward Haslam, you know better!"

What can little ol' me do about the big ol' tests?

4/29/2014

Parents, are you frustrated, concerned, or feeling helpless over your child having to take high stakes standardized tests? Does your heart break for your child because your he/she has anxiety, stress, trouble sleeping, strange stomach aches, headaches, or even vomiting around TCAP time?

You are not alone.
And your child isn't the only one.

Standardized testing never used to be this way when we were growing up, did it?
We took the test and then went to out to play at recess and our school day went on as normal. There was no pressure or repercussions if you missed questions. No big deal. The teachers simply said that they wanted to see all you had learned and to do your best. There were no TCAP pep rallies, TCAP songs, TCAP t-shirts, pajama days, candy given as bribes on testing days, or videos made by desperate teachers to inspire kids to Zap the TCAP. Kids took the tests. Life went on.

That changed a few years ago in TN. Big time.
Test scores were put on a pedestal. The test scores of your children now prove the worth of their teacher. Student test scores are a huge percentage of every teacher's evaluation rating in TN, varying by district. Yes, we know it isn't fair. Yes, we know that some teachers don't even teach subjects that are on the standardized test--subjects like music, art, PE, library, electives, etc.. These teachers are unfairly forced to use the school's overall English or Math score for their percentage. Yes, and we know the teachers are incredibly stressed about it, too.

The other big change that happened a few years ago is that it became mandatory in TN that the TCAP count as 15%-25% of each child's report card grade. Yes, we know it isn't fair. Yes, we know teachers and parents never even get to see the tests or the questions on it. Yes, we know these companies are making a fortune selling these tests to our state with our tax dollars. No, we don't know if the TCAP test questions are legitimately fair or even if the answers are correct. We've heard rumors from teachers that even they can't figure out some of the answers because the questions and answer choices are so confusing, but nobody can prove it because nobody is allowed to see the test. In fact, teachers must sign an agreement to not discuss the tests. Teachers have told us Momma Bears that they have been forbidden by their administrators to post any comments relating to the TCAP or PARCC test on Facebook or social media. Things have gotten so bad that even students are told they aren't supposed to talk about the test questions, not even to their parents. (You don't tell kids not to tell their parents. That is WRONG. Unless you're throwing us a surprise party. Then it is okay.)

This is overwhelming... What can an ordinary parent do about it?
Contrary to popular belief, ordinary parents are the most powerful forces on the planet. It is true. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they work together, especially when they are Momma or Poppa or Grandparent Bears! Being a SUPER MOM is really quite easy. Here are the easy-to-follow steps:

Steps to saving the world:

Put on your superhero uniform (cape & tights are optional) and harness the power of your words as a parent.
Take a deep breath and blow off some steam. Let your words flow like Spiderman's web from his hands. You can do this. Write down everything that bothers you and your children about these stupid tests. Use curse words if you feel so inclined. The point is to get it out of your system.
Take a break. Go hug your kids. Peek on them if they are asleep and smell their sweet, sleepy heads. Children are such a blessing, and they're only yours for such a short time before they're grown up. Cherish it.
After you've cooled your jets and your head is clear, sit back down and look at the verbal vomit you spewed. It is probably pretty offensive and you need to clean it up. So, put on your thinking cap and turn those words into magic. You can do it. First, delete the curse words. Then, take out at least half of the exclamation points. There's no need for paragraphs to be written in all capitalized letters. Whittle down your message into a sane, cohesive letter or email. You're going to send this to some people who CAN make a difference, so make it polite and polished. If there are red squiggly lines popping up under words you typed, make sure they are spelled correctly and/or are the correct use of the word. You'll sound much smarter if you fix those errors. The red squiggly line is your friend.
You can't just complain without offering a solution. So, in closing your correspondence, write what you want to see happen with regards to testing. Here are some options:
Eliminate it.
Don't tie it to teacher evaluations.
Don't tie it to student report cards.
Spend the testing money on more teachers instead of tests.
Allow parents to Refuse or Opt-Out of testing for their child without penalizing their child's grade or their teacher.
Get rid of Common Core.
Good idea: Let your letter stew for 24 hours just to make sure you included everything you wanted to say.
Optional: Show it to others to get their feedback.
Read it one more time. If you think to yourself, "It is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing!," then make a wish or say a prayer and then send it!
Wait. Who do you send it to? There are a bunch of important people who need to read it, so Momma Bears suggests sending it to them all. Here is how to find the important people:
Google your school district to find out your Superintendent and School Board member's email addresses. Send your masterpiece to them. They need to know that parents are not happy. (If you're lucky, they will reply to your email in a few days and will probably say it is the State's fault. See #11 for a big fat dose of irony.)
Legislators are very important people who make the laws that got us in to this testing mess. They definitely need to hear from real parents. Click HERE to find your TN legislators that live in your district. Be sure to tell them you are in their district; this matters a lot since they need your vote. (If you're lucky, they will respond to your email in a few days and probably say it is your local School Board's fault. LOL. Notice a big fat problem with finger pointing?)
Gosh, since you've put so much work into it, you might as well send it to all the legislators. It may take you awhile to copy & paste their email addresses, and you may want to do it in small batches (send to no more than 25 email addresses per email) so that your email service doesn't think you are spamming.
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/
The Governor needs to see your masterpiece, too. Who knows... It might be the key that melts his stone-cold heart. His email is: bill.haslam@tn.gov
Who else needs to hear it? Teachers? Principals? Newspapers will publish letters to the editor! Go for it!!!
These are YOUR kids you are advocating for. If EVERY parent spoke up, we could make a huge difference. Don't rely on someone else to do it for you. Don't rely on your elected officials or your school's PTA. YOUR voice is important... Use it!

Your school district won't tell you this, but you also have the right to refuse these tests for your children. They are YOUR children, not the government's. If you want to know more about it, or meet other parents who have bravely gone down this opting out route before you, here are some links to real parents in Tennessee and across the country: Stop the Tennessee Testing Madness website, Stop the TN Testing Madness Facebook page, Stop the TN Testing Madness Facebook group, United Opt Out Website (National group), United Opt Out Facebook group.

(Don't try this at home. Biting your computer is never a good idea)

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