Laura H. Chapman: Why Ruinous Policies Won’t Go Away
Laura H. Chapman, in a comment on the blog, writes that overly prescriptive standards and overused standardized tests will be locked into place by bipartisan...
Jesse Hagopian: 2014 Was a Great Year for the Anti-Testing Movement
Jesse Hagopian, a leader of the test boycott by teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle, lists the reasons why 2014 was a momentous year...
New York Daily News Endorses Punitive Use of VAM
New York, beware. Governor Cuomo and State Board of Regents Merryl Tisch are both very dissatisfied, having learned that only 1% of the state’s teachers...
“Change the Stakes” Speaks Out Against VAM
This is an excellent letter to the U.S. Department of Education, which patiently explains the harm caused by value-added modeling (VAM). It was submitted by...
Connecticut Teacher: Jumoke Academy Was No Model
A letter from Mary G., a teacher in Connecticut, about the “Jumoke model” promoted by state officials–until it was engulfed by scandals: Many concerned...
A Must-Read: Inside a Chinese Test-Prep Factory
Ever wonder how Chinese students blow the roof off international tests? If you read Yong Zhao’s wonderful book Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Dragon?...
Carol Burris: Néw York Plans to Double the Stakes on VAM
Governor Andrew Cuomo was very disappointed when only 1% of teachers were found “ineffective” in their state ratings. He demanded tougher evaluations, using the “value-added...
Laura H. Chapman: What You Need to Know about Data Mining of Students
A regular commenter on the blog, Laura H. Chapman, shares her research on data mining: Policies on data mining? “The future, like everything else,...
Who Paid for Washington State’s Charter School Initiative?
Wayne Au and Joseph J. Ferrare have published an interesting article in the TC Record about the passage of charter school legislation in Washington State....
Connecticut: State Investigation Finds Rampant Nepotism and Lack of Oversight at Charter Chain
In Connecticut, a formal investigation of Families for Excellent Schools and Jumoke Academy concluded that the growing charter chain–a favorite of top state officials–engaged in...