that came across an open list serv for a school in New York. I had the contents forwarded to me and thought they might be worth sharing more broadly. I checked with the person who sent them to me, and was assured I could feel free to post.
I will note that the 2nd letter forwarded by the parent came across as incomplete. I have asked for a complete version, but decided to post what i have now for those who might be interested.
Everything below the squiggle is the words of others.
Enjoy!
Dear Friends, Fellow Parents, Teachers, Principals, Those of you (whose hearts are) Invested in Education,
As a parent of a 3rd grader at BNS (now for five months,) I receive a weekly letter from our elementary school principal, Anna Allenbrook as well as the middle/high school principal, Alyce Barr. I feel compelled to share this one with their permission. Every letter I receive from them reinforces my belief in the power of public schools, especially when they are structured around "the commitment to academic and personal success for all students; the belief that children are creators of meaning; they are naturally thoughtful and curious, and they work to gain understanding of the world they inhabit. When the adults who care for children foster this effort, children become life-long learners." And they have an "engaging curriculum; active, inquiry-based pedagogy; and a school culture that demands and teaches compassion and good citizenship."
At this moment it seems these values are being systematically undermined while policies and practices are being put in place in the name of putting students first, and accountability is expected from everyone with the exception of these so-called ed reformers and policy makers. I am grateful to know that our principals have the wisdom and strength to stand behind and speak up for their principles. As a parent, I would ask you to read their letters and help build a parent driven response to the release and use of these Teacher Data Reports. Rather than continue to feel paralyzed, I'd rather find a way to respond. I'd appreciate your feedback and ideas on how we might do this (along with the 20 million other things we are doing!)
I encourage you to share this with your principals, teachers and others who might feel inspired as well. While the media and DOE is spinning this for us on a daily basis, maybe we should consider what we actually think and believe and respond accordingly, making the real voices and opinions of parents be heard.
Thanks,
Janine Sopp
Letters Below:
Moderator apologizes!
We write to you today about the Teacher Data Reports.
From Alyce:
I write at a time when we share outrage about the publication of flawed and damaging teacher data reports - another erosion force undoing our work with students, parents, and colleagues. While some may focus their criticism of the TDRs on their inaccuracies, this skirts the main issues:
Using an instrument intended for one measurement (student state tests) to measure another (teacher effectiveness) taints the instrument as an effective tool for either purpose.
Using a single tool (high stakes tests) to measure teacher performance is absurd because it ignores the myriad and nuanced actions of and skills of teaching.
Stating that only certain teachers of certain subjects are accountable for student progress undermines collaboration and devalues school-wide effort.
The metrics used to determine state test scores and yearly progress of students are so complex that only statisticians fully understand them. That such obscure math is used to generate sensational public information keeps the citizenry uninformed about what's really going on in schools and classrooms.
We teach our students to support their opinions with evidence, to find, analyze and evaluate information - and so we must do the same - finding and evaluating the many ways to record, analyze, and report learning.
I could go on - but instead I'm gathering data for our School Quality Review - trying to tell the story of how we know our students, what we do to teach them, to inspire curiosity, analysis, and reflection, and to foster sound habits of work, learning, and being. For this review, we are asked to capture in six enormous binders - all that is BCS - to reduce to data sets and summaries, our daily practice, our vision, our reflection, and our will to do the hard work of teaching and learning, again and better, day after day after day.
I conclude with this excerpt from a blog post by Dr. Mark Naison; the full post can be found at:
http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/...
-The Strange Genesis of "Education Reform"-
How a Crackpot Theory Became National Policy
In future generations, historians are likely to tell the following story. Some time during the early 21St Century, a cross section of the top leadership of American society began to panic. They looked at the growing chasm between the rich and poor, the huge size of the nation’s prison population, the growing gulf in educational achievement between blacks and whites and poor and middle class children and decided something dramatic had to be done to remedy these problems.
But instead of critically examining how these trends reflected twenty years of regressive taxation, a futile “war on drugs,” the deregulation of the financial industry, the breaking of unions and the movement of American companies abroad, America’s leaders decided the primary source of economic inequality could be found in failing schools, bad teachers, and powerful teachers unions.
No serious scholar, looking at the economic and social trends of the previous 20 years, or the major innovations in social policy that unleashed the power of big capital, would have given slightest credence to this analysis of the sources of inequality, but the idea that educational failure was the prime source of all other social deficits took hold with the force of a religious conversion. Corporate leaders, heads of major foundations, civil rights leaders, politicians in both major parties, bought this explanation hook line and sinker and so began one of the strangest social movements in modern American history- the demonization of America’s teachers and the development of strategies to radically transform education by taking power away from them.
I could not do this work if I didn't have unwavering faith in the power of education to transform people. It is the work we do every day that makes it worth staying in this conversation using a clear voice that speaks from experience and for equity, honesty, and open exchange of ideas.
With great respect,
Alyce
From Anna:
We spent our vacation reading the various reports on the release of the teacher data reports and finding ourselves dismayed by the bias of the press. It is hard to know where to begin. To try to explain why these reports are just plain wrong is tricky. We’re not interested in explaining why the formula doesn’t work. We can do that, but don’t want to waste our time. Our goal as educators has never been to increase test scores. It’s a much bigger goal than that. We want our children to love learning. We want our children to learn about the world, to be artists, musicians and athletes.. . .