With a D- in student achievement, an F in funding, Florida makes Top 10 in nation's schools.

Isn't it?

Education is going downhill but they are doing a great job in standar4dized testing and "aacountability."

This scale lacks validity.

Standards now are pathetic.

And the reformers think they can measure success by their own standards...oh wait...they are doing it. Without opposition from major players.

to identify what constitutes any manifestation of a given standard, in whole or in part, and by how much.

The relationship between curriculum and standards was the subject of my research for my master's thesis, several years ago.

I have watched inexperienced, just regular folks, use 6-trait rubrics to score state writing assessments for a standardized testing corporation. It would have been funny if the consequences weren't so high. The corporation's attempt to ameliorate the situation consisted of reading the name of each trait accompanied by a bullet list of about 5 or 6 aspects of that trait. Scorers used to talk about what they were doing on our breaks. Mostly, it amounted to read the whole piece and then just take a stab at an overall score. It was as though the individual traits, which the students had learned to apply to their writing in class, were meaningless.

And she lacks the authority to grade schools and states. Arne not speaking out, silence is deafening.

Stupid-ass survey if results are not the benchmarks.

Have you seen this story in Ohio?

Religious Charter Schools Gone Wild? Using Students to Demolish Building with Asbestos!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022174109

I think I may have gotten the headline wrong, is this a charter school? I can't imagine people paying to send their kids to a private school like this...

I think it is a private religious school, but in FL they could get voucher money from the state. Everyone else does.

to give state funds to private schools, as well, which is clearly against Alaska's constitution, which specifically forbids such a practice. I think every bill that's been introduced down in Juneau this session is ALEC-based and sadly the R's now have a supermajority since my recently elected state representative just switched her party affiliation to Republican -- AFTER the election. I'm so pissed at her I can't see straight, which really has not much to do with MadFlo's OP here, but somehow I think all this stuff is connected.

Our legislature is nearly all Republican, they are Rick Scott Republicans, and they do not care about the state or its people. They only care about their own ideologies.

That alone doesn't seem to pass the smell test.

This kind of stuff is making it hard for a truly good system of schools to get credit.

People should be angry.

They were actually behind their peers when we moved to New Jersey and had to do a lot of catching up. It was very eye-opening!

may never be able to be fixed. It really saddens me.

do with how well they educate kids.

pretty clear when florida & arizona are at the top of the list.

Another useless report that puts dogma ahead of data.

I would say more, but I live in Texas.

Lots of crooks running things now.

my mother is on the school board here in our small town and just told me there is now ANOTHER layer of testing (that some faceless corporation is going to make billions on) to punish the kids. This is something different than NCLB. Another way to exploit our kids in the name of $.

Readiness for college where? How would I know whether this includes "ready for a diploma mill"?

"Standards, Assessments & Accountability: A "
"Status of K-12 Achievement: D- "
So they test kids a lot, but they don't actually achieve anything with the information drilled into them?

about the new accountability systems in place with the NCLB waiver.

The heavy-duty focus on "achievement" in the form of standardized test scores is NOT an improvement.

My school got the best scores in our district last year. Our teachers, though, are talking about how there is no more joy in learning. It's all high-stakes, high-stress, high-pressure test prep.

Just last week I was reminiscing with a colleague about all the fun projects we used to do; not standards-driven or standards-based, but something students looked forward to; wanted to come to school for; something that created memories that lasted a hell of a lot longer than the drilling and killing test prep. There's a reason why they call it drill and KILL.

We still try to find time for fun, as well. It isn't built into regular lessons, though, because we'll get dinged on our evaluations. We get comments like, "How did _____________ help further your students' progress with that standard?" Even though a lesson is all about the standard. Put something in to lighten the mood, to energize the students, to spark some curiosity or enthusiasm, and we're "wasting instructional time."

Yesterday, my neighbor down the hall was telling me about his wife's school. They just got a new principal. Who, in the very first staff meeting, told the staff that she was "old school" and expected that there would be straight lines and silence in halls...in high school...and that it was the staff's responsibility to create that environment, even when they aren't on duty in the halls. Then she told them that she didn't want any down time. There will be no stopping 3 minutes early so that students can put materials away, etc.. She expects whatever lesson they are doing to last to the bell, with no exceptions. She will be observing for just that.

My colleagues and I agree: learning happens best in a relaxed environment where it is safe to take risks, where students can actually look forward to learning in a positive way, not in an authoritarian, stress-filled, unpleasantly rigid and militaristic culture.

It's too bad the people mandating policy aren't teachers. We'd have a vibrant, thriving, healthy system.

Of course, we wouldn't be "grading" it on the wrong things, for the wrong purposes.

My last principal before I retired was so bad that after one incident the county superintendent called me at home and begged me to file a grievance. I remember telling him that I had to survive another year or so, and I would not do it. I said she should be fired, he said they had tried. She sued them and won.

If I had to do it over again I would have the courage to file that grievance and publicize the harm she had done. I would do it in a heartbeat.