Who Does John King Report To?
A recent article in the Times Union reported that New York Commissioner of Education John King...
Featured Article
Infaming the Public, Part IV: Public Self-Consciousness and Assessment for Democratic Renewal
In Parts I-III, I outlined the dangers and significance of the attacks on public education and in particular the anti-public character of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. I outlined a process of infaming the public that included three elements: (1) the imposition of mass failure on public schools via the manipulation of standardized test data and especially “cut scores” as means to discredit the public and render it illegitimate, (2) erasure from public memory the fact that public education was a means for realizing interests and was an achievements of educators within the limits of their...
Opinion
Gagging Teachers, Selling Student Data: Test Secrecy and Privacy Rights Under the Common Core State Standards Regime
What most people don’t know is that with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has instituted a provision to limit the speech of professional educators beyond what I think would normally be considered reasonable or necessary. I wonder if this has occurred in other states. These limitations are broad and indefinite, and govern educator conduct in and out of school. I am...
Theory
Infaming the Public, Part III: The Rise of Anti-Public Education and Arbitrary Assessment Against Knowledge of Direct Experience
In Part I, I argued that the public was being rendered infamous via a decades-long campaign to impose mass failure on public schools via the manipulation of academic tests and the results of testing. A key mechanism of imposed mass failure is the use of “cut scores” as policy mechanisms for governing education — arbitrary designations drawn at points in a score distribution marking boundary...
Research
Protecting Student Privacy Under the CCSSI Regime: Will Proposed Legislation Clash with New York’s PARCC Memorandum of Understanding?
In response to New York State’s plans to turn over massive amounts of personally identifiable student and teacher data to inBloom, Inc., a private company, NYS Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell introduced bill A06059,...
Reviews
Review of “A Measure of Failure: The Political Origins of Standardized Testing”
The February issue of Counseling Today carries a review of my book by Aaron W. Hughey, professor of counseling and student affairs, Western Kentucky University. The essay begins: “True or false: Proponents of standardized testing are, unintentionally or otherwise, pushing an agenda that intrinsically advocates racism and socioeconomic oppression. Intrigued? Then read on. It really is an understatement to claim that standardized testing permeates...
News Blog
News Analysis: Public Agency Against the Common Core Testing Regime
Over the past several weeks, a growing array of reports regarding the opposition to the Common Core and high stakes testing have appeared....
The Dead Ideas of B. F. Skinner Are Driving School “Innovation”
Along with the tenets of “human capital”, “behaviorism” informs the radical restructuring of public education. It drives the demand for the secret...
Website Dedicated to Gathering Responses to the New York State ELA Exam
While NYS/Pearson refuse to recognize the legitimate claims of the public to view and thus evaluate tests used to evaluate public school students and educators, there is little NYSED can do at the moment...
Leonie Haimson: Video and News from Our Explosive Town Hall Meeting on Student Privacy
There is one thing that I believe should be forcefully said: the inBloom database should be destroyed. Even if the “cloud” were safe, and even if parents are allowed to “opt out”,...
Rochester: Parents Lower the Boom on School Testing
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CN) – Parents who think standardized tests are a waste of time filed a federal class action against New York and their son’s school, which punished him for refusing to take...
Buffalo Teachers Federation Council of Delegates Passes Resolution Opposing the Common Core State Standards Initiative
In recent weeks, actions opposing the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) have increased (also see this)....
Anthony Cody: Update on the Political Dynamics of the Common Core and Education “Reform”
From Living in Dialogue: The Republican National Committee resolves to oppose the Core. Eleven states consider “dumping” the Core....
