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

Mc Queen's children too Blessed to be TN READY

5/21/2015

 

Tennessee Ready?

Picture
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

Picture
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 
Picture

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.
Picture

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

Comments are closed.

    Archives

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

    Momma Bears

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

    Categories

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

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

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