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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 

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   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 

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Take Action NOW!  Stop Vouchers!!

4/22/2015

 
UPDATE 4/21/15 at 7:54pm:  This bill passed by only 2 votes.  Ugh.  Ow.  Darn.  
Click HERE for an excellent blog that describes what that means for students with disabilities who give up their rights to public education to use these vouchers.


Momma Bears, we need you to take action quickly.  Today.  Like pull over from your carpool in a parking lot, give your kids a sucker to keep them quiet for a minute, and do this right now kinda urgent!  Our friends with TREE (Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence) need our Momma Bear help!


Today, the TN House of Representatives are voting on a limited Special Education IEP voucher bill that would open the door to vouchers in our state.  This is an attempt to legalize vouchers in TN, which will inevitably take money from your public schools.  As Andy Spears wrote, "Similar programs in both Florida and Arizona started small and expanded — Florida’s now costs more than $150 million annually. And the Florida program has been plagued with fraud and abuse."  You can read the details in his blog by clicking HERE when you have more time.

So TN Representatives need to be flooded with emails and phone calls like yesterday, but today will have to do.  Go to the TREE website to send an email.  Click HERE to get to TREE.



Remember that Warrior Mom Voucher Scandal blog we did recently?  Well, here's a video of the "Warrior Mom" testifying to the TN House Education Committee about why she neeeeeeeeds our tax money:

Ravitch review

11/21/2014

 
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Momma Bears, BATs, and TREE are still on cloud 9 after Wednesday night's event with Diane Ravitch.  It was powerful to see so many "just Moms," Dads, grandparents, teachers, administrators, elected school board members, and legislators there to support the PUBLIC education of children.  It was uplifting, it was inspiring, it was definitely something we will do again!

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The highlight of the night, of course, was hearing Diane Ravitch speak.  This was her first time to travel since her knee surgery in April.  At 76 years old, she's got a lot of energy and stamina!  She was also speaking the next morning at a convention of education technology people.  We asked her what on earth she was going to say at such a reformy convention of people eager to cash-in on education dollars.  She said "well, they aren't going to like what I am going to say!"  Diane Ravitch fearlessly speaks the truth.  She is opposed to the profit-driven reform that includes Common Core, excessive testing, and charter schools.  She bases this on facts.  She's got a wealth of wisdom and knowledge in her head, and she's not afraid to use it! 

Words of widsom from Diane Ravitch's speech:
  • Race to the Top... What is the top?  As long as we have 25% of children in poverty, we cannot reach the top.
  • They say that charter schools are for black and Hispanic children so the Democrats will fall for it, but the money goes to the Republicans.
  • Public education is a civic responsibility, not a consumer good.
  • We should reduce poverty and segregation as a matter of public policy.
  • Billionaires love the free market because it worked for them.
  • Reformers want us to think as consumers, and not as citizens. 
  • Education is a basic human right.
  • Charter schools will never take over an entire district. There must always be public schools to dump the struggling students.
  • The biggest hoax of all is that school choice is the civil rights issue of our time.   
  • We are the most over-tested nation on earth.  We are the only nation testing every child every year.
  • Japan has the highest test scores in the world, but a stagnant economy.
  • If we want to raise test scores, we need to reduce the number of 'have-nots'.  
  • There's this crazy idea that if kids can't pass the test, just make the test harder.
  • The Opt-out movement is the biggest way to say 'no' to the testing.  It is growing day by day.
  • Test results don't show student learning, they show who is in the class.
  • The strongest educational systems in the world don't allow amateurs to become state superintendent.
  • Reformers love data more than they love children.
  • Poor kids get computers to teach them, rich kids get teachers. That's not right!
  • Charters today look like the schools of the 19th century (with regards to segregation and rigidity)
  • We are many. They are few.
  • Merit pay  for teachers is like a zombie... It never works and it never dies.
  • Teach For America makes a lot of money renting young people to school districts.  It is destroying the teaching profession.
  • There is no 'Teach for Finland'.  You cannot fire your way to Finland.
  • I think it is very important to interact with children before becoming a teacher. (referring to TFA-like programs)
  • Don't hire amateur teachers, amateur principals, amateur superintendents... or amateur commissioners of education!
  • Poverty is not an excuse.  It is a reality. 
  • There are too many billionaires in America for so many children to be in poverty!
There were so many great things she said.  Even the Q & A at the end was terrific!  Watch the entire event below or click HERE to open it in a new browser:


Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
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Shocking news:  this was NOT a grassroots event.  
No, it was something much more terrifying to reformers... Click HERE to see what we mean.


Every fashionable Momma Bear, BAT, and TREE should have a shirt!  Click HERE to get your very own festive green shirt just in time for the holidays!  You can order and pay online via Paypal.  To get a shirt:
   1. Log into Paypal. 
   2. Click "Pay for goods and services"
   3. Enter April's email:  wawinton@gmail.com
   4. include $15 per shirt + $2.50 shipping for a total of $17.50 per shirt 
   5. In the notes, include your shipping address, shirt size, and contact info (your email or phone).
The proceeds from these shirts will help to make other such events possible in TN.  Thank you!!! 

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    Momma Bears

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

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