Oklahoma is one of many states who has bought into the "corporate reform" movement in education. In this reform movement you see increased student testing, teacher evaluations tied to testing results, state education departments handing out school grades typically in the form of an A-F grade, increased use of charter, private, and virtual schools, holding back 3rd grade students who fail standardized tests, and passage of tests by high school students to earn their diploma. This reform movement has as its backbone three so called success stories to "prove" its successful. those stories are Texas, Florida, and Washington D.C. public schools. All three have seen these shining lights dimmed in the recent years, months and days.
The Texas plan was the basis for NCLB. It started the testing craze. It took this testing craze and model the basis of NCLB by have standardized results and broke down into subcategories. The hope was to have perfect students by 2014. When that wasn't going to happen the federal government backed off and we switched to Race to the Top. Now Texas is reducing the number of test they give. They even had legislation to not fund the testing companies.
The next big success story was Florida. In 1998 Jeb Bush was elected governor. Bush immediately held back 3rd graders who were not successful on state tests to remediate them in reading. What this did is help Florida's 4th grade NAEP tests look amazing and Jeb was the education governor. Trumpeting his system of holding back 3rd graders, being tough on teachers, and giving out grades. What happened later you ask? Well Florida's ACT scores dropped to below 20 to a 19.5. 54% of Florida's high school graduates had to take remediation classes compared to 40% nationally. Now their teacher evaluation system in shambles and is giving grades to teachers for kids that are not even in their school. Bush has since started a private foundation to push his agenda. Which surprisingly backed by testing companies and other companies who make profit of public funds to school. In the last year his foundation has been seen as one who rights model legislation for states, influences state boards, and fattens the pockets of his backers an partners. Emails have tied him to state department of eds all over the country.
Lastly Washington D.C. Michelle Rhee an undeserving appointee to the head position in Washington D.C. also spoke of all these tough measures. She had an assault on public ed teachers. Put immense pressure on principals to raise test scores and even had them sign papers saying the would achieve certain grades or be fired. Recently we have seen how these changes produced results. Cheating!! Rhee handed out bonus after bonus to successful schools. Only those schools cheated. Or a vast majority did. Teachers and administrators erased scores. The average erasure for a test is just under two times per test. These had as many as 29 and averaged in the high teens. Also test were unsecured in the schools and teachers were allowed to get the test and prep students directly from the test they were taking for up to two weeks. Now here is the shocking part. Rhee found out and did nothing. Instead used it to her advantage. Saying that she was a success and her method worked. Well after just two and half years Rhee quit. Starting a private foundation to spread her "success" where she now garners $50,000 per speech to tell groups that teachers making less than she gets an hour are on a "gravy train".
So my point finally is this. Can Oklahoma finally go a different direction? The models we are trying to follow or being forced to follow haven't showed proven results. Each case has been shown as a failure. Can Oklahoma stop the train and get off and start doing what is best for our kids. Can we get legislators, state department heads, and school officials to sit down and finally do our kids justice. We keep chasing the next reform in some other state. Lets stop and be a beacon, not a lost ship wondering out at sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment