Saturday, February 6, 2016

Louisiana Educator: White Washing Louisiana Education Statistics

Louisiana Educator: White Washing Louisiana Education Statistics:

White Washing Louisiana Education Statistics

This is a funny spoof on what I call predatory charter schools. When you consider just the most recent open meeting violations,cheating incidents, and bullying of young teachers in Louisiana charter schools you see that the creators of this little two minute video are right on target.

Schneider Exposes White's Muddying the Narrative on ACT Scores

Mercedes Schneider blogged about how the statistics on ACT scores for the RSD schools are constantly being delayed and manipulated by the LDOE. This is typical of constant attempts to cover up embarrassing facts about Louisiana's charters.

How is Louisiana Doing with the Achievement Gap?

Here's another example of data suppression by the LDOE: Federal law requires that each state report each year on relative performance of certain subgroups of students as part of an effort to close the achievement gap between advantaged and at-risk students. In the past when White and his predecessor wanted to emphasize the lack of progress of African American and free/reduced lunch students, the LDOE published test score averages of each such group compared to all students. Now it's like pulling teeth to get these comparisons.

One of the original selling points of the Common Core Standards was a claim by the developers that the new standards would produce a narrowing of the achievement gap. The data from New York state which started Common Core testing a year before Louisiana, demonstrates instead a huge widening of the achievement gap. I wondered how Louisiana was doing in narrowing the achievement gap based on the PARCC-like test Louisiana Educator: White Washing Louisiana Education Statistics:

Peg with Pen: Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum & Technology. This was never about the kids.

Peg with Pen: Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum & Technology. This was never about the kids.:

Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum & Technology. This was never about the kids.

As Obama rolls out coding for everyone, updates his technology plan, his testing action plan, the relaunch of peer review of state assessment plans, and pushes forward all sorts of lovely competency based digital badging via workforce/skills training, daily testing, online curriculum, etc. etc. via ESSA, folks are debating the merits of these particular initiatives. I recall going through this with common core and I seriously wanted to throw my entire set of dishes across the room every time I had to have this conversation and this is why....

First - make no mistake - this is being rolled out not because the corporations and the Dept. of Ed. suddenly sense this absolute urgency to fulfill a child's desperate life long need to learn coding and/or punch away at a computer all day in absolute zombie like glaze-eyed fashion. They would love - absolutely love - for us to spin our wheels debating what we like and don't like while we interact within their test/punish system that continues to drive profit to the .01% while destroying the public school system and the teaching profession and ranking/sorting/ordering our children to keep privilege with the privileged.

Oh and be sure to check out the time for the rollout of all the initiatives along with the passage of ESSA - all in one full swoop - carefully planned and orchestrated within months. Understand one thing clearly - the test/punish system must be destroyed in its entirety if there is any hope whatsoever of shutting down the madness of privatization headed our way via ESSA.

And why all of this so fast????? Because it MAKES MONEY. If this were about children we would see Obama throwing billions into funding for librarians, nurses, counselors, fine arts, Peg with Pen: Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum & Technology. This was never about the kids.:

Thirst for Data Impacts Development of Fluid Intelligence | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn

Thirst for Data Impacts Development of Fluid Intelligence | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn:

Thirst for Data Impacts Development of Fluid Intelligence

Common Core State Standards will not ensure all students are ready for college and careers as long implementation efforts are more focused on measuring cognitive performance than maximizing cognitive development.

Eliminating weeks of meaningful and vigorous learning activities (research projects, work-based learning, field trips, internships, dance, recess, sports, musical performances…) so tests can be administered to measure student growth and achievement is like an overweight person cancelling membership at the gym for 3 weeks in order to get weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol level checked at the doctor’s office each day.

Standardized tests should be administered on a grade-span basis to more accurately identify and measure trends in student learning over a multi-year time Thirst for Data Impacts Development of Fluid Intelligence | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn:

Jersey Jazzman: Reforminess IS The Status Quo

Jersey Jazzman: Reforminess IS The Status Quo:

Reforminess IS The Status Quo

I'm going to put the charters and graphs and scatterplots and citations away for a minute so we can cut right to the heart of the matter.

The 25th Anniversary celebration of Teach For America is only a few hours old, and already I see from following social media that it has become yet another event where reformsters, like a Top 40 radio station, will play the same songs over and over again until they are hopefully fixed into the brains of the American public:

- Charter schools are "beating the odds."

- Teacher quality is the number one "in-school" factor affecting student success. But teacher education programs are not working and should be replaced with "real" teacher training, like TFA and Relay ~~Graduate~~ School.

- "Choice" is bringing equity to urban schools. So is testing. If you question the proliferation either -- even for your own children -- you're pretty much a classist and/or racist.

- Poverty is not destiny; "miracle" schools are proving poverty's effects can be overcome.

And so on. I find that bromides like these have the primary intent of shutting down - See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2016/02/reforminess-is-status-quo.html#sthash.fRm6noQW.dpuf

"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson) - Flint Water Crisis (Michael Moore) - YouTube

"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson) - Flint Water Crisis (Michael Moore) - YouTube:

"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson) - Flint Water Crisis (Michael Moore)

In 2011, the Governor of Michigan took over the city of Flint, a majority-African American city where almost half the population lives below the poverty line. He installed an un-elected "financial manager" to run the city for him.

In 2014, the Governor decided to switch Flint's drinking water system from the Great Lakes to the toxic Flint River.

This is for the 102,000 men, women and children of Flint who are still being poisoned and lied to.

#ArrestGovSnyder
http://michaelmoore.com/ArrestGovSnyder/

Want to Help Flint? Don't Send Bottled Water
http://michaelmoore.com/DontSendBottl...

"10 Things They won't Tell You About Flint"
http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/

"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson) - Flint Water Crisis (Michael Moore) - YouTube:

After Bottling Michigan’s Clean Water, Nestle Comes Under Fire For Ties To Snyder Admin

After Bottling Michigan’s Clean Water, Nestle Comes Under Fire For Ties To Snyder Admin:

After Bottling Michigan’s Clean Water, Nestle Comes Under Fire For Ties To Snyder Admin

Nestle, which bottles 200 gallons of Michigan water per minute and has ties to the Snyder administration, has become a target for activists who don’t want the corporation to profit from the Flint water crisis.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, center, meets with senior staff to begin his first morning as governor, his chief of staff Dennis Muchmore, right. is married to Nestle’s Michigan spokesperson Deb Muchmore. Jan. 3, 2011, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

FLINT, Michigan — As celebrities, corporations and citizens alike donates thousands of gallons of bottled water to the lead-poisoned residents of Flint, Michigan, Nestle, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of bottled water, has come under fire for its ties to the state’s water woes.

The global food and drink giant teamed up with Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi to deliver up to 6.5 million bottles of water to 10,000 school students in Flint. Celebrities including Madonna and Jimmy Fallon have pledged tens of thousands of dollars toward relief efforts.

Although Nestle controls over 70 bottled water brands, some local activists are pushing back against the company’s involvement in relief efforts. On Sunday, New Era Detroit published a warning: “On the behalf of New Era Detroit we ask that you not purchase Nestle’s or Ice Mountain bottle (sic) water which is owned by Nestle.”

Activist, documentary filmmaker and Flint resident Michael Moore elaborated on the connections between Nestle and Michigan’s government in a Feb. 1 report on The Huffington Post:

“[Gov. Rick] Snyder’s chief of staff throughout the two years of Flint’s poisoning, Dennis Muchmore, was intimately involved in all the decisions regarding Flint. His wife is Deb Muchmore, who just happens to be the spokesperson in Michigan for the Nestle Company — the largest owner of private water sources in the State of Michigan.

Nestle has been repeatedly sued in northern Michigan for the 200 gallons of fresh water per minute it sucks from out of the ground and bottles for sale as their Ice Mountain brand of bottled spring water. The Muchmores have a personal interest in seeing to it that Nestles grabs as much of Michigan’s clean water was possible — especially when cities like Flint in the future are going to need that Ice Mountain.”

Nestle’s been embroiled in years of court battles over its water bottling activities in the state. Facing pressure from activist groups, the corporation agreed to reduce — but not eliminate — bottling in the state in 2009.After Bottling Michigan’s Clean Water, Nestle Comes Under Fire For Ties To Snyder Admin:

Setting Children Up to Hate Reading

Setting Children Up to Hate Reading:

Setting Children Up to Hate Reading

Any educator or parent who understands the beauty of reading and the importance of helping a child learn to do it right was appalled to read two recent articles about the subject. Both should make all of us concerned that children are being set up to hate reading. They are being pushed to read earlier than ever before!

Consider the February 1, 2014, headlines of The Oregonian: “Too Many Oregon Students Unready for Kindergarten State Officials Lament.” Seen HERE.

What is the crisis?

“The typical Oregon kindergartner arrived at school last fall knowing only 19 capital and lower-case letters and just seven letter sounds out of at least 100 possible correct answers, the state reported Friday.”
“They also were shown a page with 110 letter sounds on it. The average kindergartner could pronounce just 6.7.”
“Gov. John Kitzhaber, in prepared remarks, called the results ‘sobering’”…
“‘Things have changed in terms of what is expected when students start kindergarten,’ said Jada Rupley, Oregon’s early learning system director. ‘We would hope they would know most of their letters and many of their sounds.’”

Politicians, venture philanthropists, and even the President, make early learning into Setting Children Up to Hate Reading:

BustED Pencils Trending News: TRIPLED; 3 HOURS; BEST? | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: TRIPLED; 3 HOURS; BEST? | BustED Pencils:

TRIPLED; 3 HOURS; BEST? | BustED Pencils

“Teachers Union has tripled the public support of Emanuel” – TRIPLED!!!!!!! WAY TO KEEP BUSTING THOSE PENCILS CTU – clap clap clap

Thousands rally downtown for Chicago Teachers Union

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-teachers-union-rally-0205-20160204-story.html

A 3 HOUR exam and a driving test…

Algebra 1 EOC: Ridiculously High Stakes

No lists of “best” schools in Finland – interesting.

What Happens When Each State Is Renamed According to Its Education Level

http://www.attn.com/stories/5631/us-map-compares-states-to-countries-by-education-level

Get BustED Pencils Trending News to come right to your in-box!

Enter your email under “SUBSCRIBE” on our Home or Trending News page at bustedpencils.com

BustED Pencils Trending News: TRIPLED; 3 HOURS; BEST? | BustED Pencils:

I don’t want to be pushed out. | Fred Klonsky

I don’t want to be pushed out. | Fred Klonsky:

I don’t want to be pushed out.

Annie Tan at Wednesday’s Chicago Teacher Union march through the Loop.

-By Annie Tan. Annie is a CPS teacher who writes on her blog, An Angry Teacher.

It’s been very hard for me to write about teaching as of late. I think most of my friends and family know I’ve had a rough year stemming from work-related issues as well as just life stuff. I changed schools- this is my fourth school in 4.5 years. I moved twice within 7 months. I found out about my Tier II pension plan just a few months ago. And all of it, alongside the current budget crisis in Chicago Public Schools, is making me seriously consider leaving Chicago.

I love teaching. I love my current school. I have a great staff, and wonderful students. We work together not just on academics but so much social-I don’t want to be pushed out. | Fred Klonsky:

An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are Nudged to Acceptable Behavior. – Missouri Education Watchdog

An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are *Nudged* to Acceptable Behavior. – Missouri Education Watchdog:

An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are *Nudged* to Acceptable Behavior.

The real time tracking of your work day. What could go wrong?

Will tracking of workers’ office behaviors in a Canadian consulting firm be coming to your workplace? From How new data-collection technology might change office culture:

Imagine a tiny microphone embedded in the ID badge dangling from the lanyard around your neck.
The mic is gauging the tone of your voice and how frequently you are contributing in meetings. Hidden accelerometers measure your body language and track how often you push away from your desk.
At the end of each day, the badge will have collected roughly four gigabytes worth of data about your office behaviour.
Think this is far-fetched? Well, last winter employees at the consulting firm Deloitte in St. John’s used these very badges, which are being touted as the next frontier in office innovation.

What is the reason for this data tracking?

The information from the badges, which were created by the Boston-based company Humanyze, was gathered anonymously, and workers were given personalized dashboards that benchmarked their performance against that of the group.
“The minute that you get the report that you’re not speaking enough and that you don’t show leadership,
An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are *Nudged* to Acceptable Behavior. – Missouri Education Watchdog:

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Partial Testing Pause

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Partial Testing Pause:
PA: Partial Testing Pause

This week Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the bill that will delay using the Keystone Exams (our version of the Big Standardized Test for high school students) as a graduation requirement. Though we've been giving the test for a few years, it will now not become a grad requirement until 2019 (postponed from 2017). That's certainly not bad news, but there's no reason to put the party hats on just yet.

First, as (unfortunately) always, it's worth noting that this happens against the backdrop of our leaders' absolute inability to fulfill their most basic function- as I type this, Pennsylvania is on its 221st day without a budget. We are right on track to have the governor preparing next year's budget while this year's budget is still not fully adopted. It is entirely possible that Harrisburg is populated entirely by dopes.

Second, the idea is to have officials go back to the drawing board and come up with better ideas for BS Testing. This is akin to feeling great pain because you're hitting yourself in the head with a hammer and saying, "Hmm. Well, maybe if I turn the hammer sideways it won't hurt so much." It's akin to eating a terrible, vomit-inducing meal of liver and pineapple and rotted fish parts covered with chocolate sauce and saying, "Well, maybe if we put the chocolate sauce on first rather than last." This is about re-aranging deck chairs rather than examining the premise.

Third, while high school seniors will not be required by the state to pass the Keystones to graduate, the state still plans to use the Keystones to evaluate schools and teachers. So our professional fates are still tied to a BS Test that students have no reason to take seriously or care about. Great.

Fourth-- well, many DO have a reason to care about the test, because in anticipation of the state's BS Test grad requirement, many school districts have already made passing the Keystone a local CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Partial Testing Pause:

Shake Off Those Charter Chains! - YouTube

Shake Off Those Charter Chains! - YouTube:

Shake Off Those Charter Chains!

Ever wondered about the magic bullet of charter schools? Turns out they may not be the promised educational salvation so many claim. Sure, there are good, community-based charter schools that are built from the ground up, but the rise of huge “Charter Chains” dwarfs them by comparison.

I did this cartoon in collaboration with the good people at The Progressive. This video is a good starting point for learning about a very real threat to public education in the United States. The more you dig into some of these Charter Chains, the more awful they become.

And the hits keep coming. The New York Times recently reported that Success Academy in New York kept a “got to go” list to kick out kids who might drag down its scores. Hillary Clinton weighed in, making news by saying that most charter schools don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, and if they do, they don’t keep them.

Shake Off Those Charter Chains! - YouTube:

With A Brooklyn Accent: Hamilton: Hip Hop and History- A Magical Combination

With A Brooklyn Accent: Hamilton: Hip Hop and History- A Magical Combination:

Hamilton: Hip Hop and History- A Magical Combination

When you come back from a show that makes everyone who saw it laugh, cry and want to run to read the history books upon it was based, how can you not love it?

This show takes a figure in American history often seen as secondary to Washington, Jefferson and Madison and pushes him to the forefront as a revolutionary leader, political thinker and nation builder, all while highlighting his character as an immigrant and an orphan in a way that allows the immigrants and orphans of our day to identify more powerfully with the country and its possibilities.

Doing this is nothing less than re-imagining the social contract through art. Think of it as an arts based " People's History of the United States", an affirmation of the United States as a country for ALL its people, dramatized by a cast of brilliant actors and singers in which people of color predominate

And by choosing hip hop as the major art form to do this with-while highlighting key conflicts and crises of the revolutionary era with startling accuracy, it validates every one of us who has used hiphop in our classrooms as a tool to help young people understand the world around them.

For what is hip hop after all- it is poetry and spoken word over a beat, an art form which,at its best, puts the voice of the disfranchised at the forefront and is the ultimate vehicle of the "striver" demanding recognition.

And Hamilton was the ultimate striver. Someone who came from "nothing" to become someone. And what someone he was. Utterly relentless in his ambition, brutally direct and incredibly With A Brooklyn Accent: Hamilton: Hip Hop and History- A Magical Combination:

Schools Matter: What Would a Progressive Education Policy Look Like?

Schools Matter: What Would a Progressive Education Policy Look Like?:

What Would a Progressive Education Policy Look Like?

In the last presidential debate, Bernie Sanders did progressives no favor by including Barack Obama among those who have earned the right to wear the "progressive" label:

In terms of President Obama, I think if we remember where this country was seven years ago, 800,000 jobs being lost every month, $1.4 trillion dollar deficit. The world’s financial system on the verge of collapse. I think that President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate have done a fantastic job. We are in much better shape than we were seven years ago, although my Republican colleagues seem to have forgotten where we were seven years ago. That’s the fact, but, we still have a very long way to go.

Do I think President Obama is a progressive? Yes, I do. I disagree with him on a number of issues including the trade agreement. But, yes, I think he has done an excellent job.

Really, Bernie?

Never mind that the biggest banks are bigger than they were when the American taxpayer bailed them out 7 years ago.

Never mind that none of the Wall Street criminals who wrecked the economy and stole billions were never charged with the crimes they committed against the country.

Never mind that the NSA and Verizon, etc. are still pawing undeterred through personal phone records and emails and storing the data.

Never mind that neither Obama nor Democratic legislators have mounted any organized effort or public campaign to challenge Citizens United, which has essentially neutered any progressive legislative effort in Washington?

Never mind that U. S. soldiers are still dying in Afghanistan and Iraq after 15 years of war--or that Guantanamo is still in business.

Never mind that Obama shelved a single payer healthcare plan in favor of pushing Obamacare, which gave Big Pharma and the Schools Matter: What Would a Progressive Education Policy Look Like?:

In N.C., a teacher shortage by design | The Charlotte Observer

In N.C., a teacher shortage by design | The Charlotte Observer:

In N.C., a teacher shortage by design

Enrollment in the 15 schools of education in the public university system has dropped – by 30 percent since 2010. Robert Willett [email protected]

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article58602018.html?ref=yfp#storylink=cpy

From an editorial Friday in the (Raleigh) News & Observer:

One would have thought, when Republican lawmakers raised starting teacher pay in North Carolina to $35,000, that they’d marched into classrooms in North Carolina with sacks of gold and silver. Of course, that salary is hardly a king’s ransom, and teachers with more experience didn’t fare so well. The state remains in the bottom half of the country in teacher compensation.

Teachers also are skeptical of these GOP lawmakers, who have so cheated public education at all levels and undermined conventional public schools with a too-rapid expansion of charter schools and public “scholarships” for children in private schools.

So it should come as no surprise that enrollment in the 15 schools of education in the public university system has dropped – by 30 percent since 2010.

This forecasts a deepening teacher shortage in North Carolina, one that will impact tens of thousands of families.

The shortage will have a severe impact in rural areas and in schools with the challenge of having lots of lower-income students and fewer resources.

Most North Carolina teachers could make more money, but most of them stay in the profession because they do indeed want to make a difference. That dedication is why North Carolina has long gotten by on the cheap, excepting the period when former Gov. Jim Hunt drove teacher salaries in the state to the national average.

Republicans are going to reap what they sowed with their lackluster support of public education. Unfortunately, the rest of us are going to reap it, too.In N.C., a teacher shortage by design | The Charlotte Observer:

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article58602018.html?ref=yfp#storylink=cpy

Why Aren’t Public Schools Too Big To Fail? | gadflyonthewallblog

Why Aren’t Public Schools Too Big To Fail? | gadflyonthewallblog:

Why Aren’t Public Schools Too Big To Fail?

There’s a new fad sweeping the nation.

It’s called “Educational Accountability.” Here’s how it works.

If your neighborhood school can’t afford to pay its bills, just close it.

That’s right. Don’t help. Don’t look for ways to save money. Don’t look for new revenue. Just lock the doors.

It’s fun! And everyone in the federal and state government is doing it!
It’s the saggy pants of United States education policy. It’s the virtual pet of pedagogical economics. It’s the cinnamon challenge of learning-centered legislating.

Sorry, poor urban folks. We’re closing your kids’ school. What? Your little tots are entitled to an education!? Fine! Take them to some fly-by-night charter or else they can get stuffed into a larger class at a traditional school miles away. It’s really none of my business.

Meanwhile, as government functionaries pat themselves on the back and give high fives all around, academic outcomes for these children are plummeting.

Moving to another school rarely helps kids learn. They lose all their support systems, social networks, community identity, and self esteem while spreading resources even Why Aren’t Public Schools Too Big To Fail? | gadflyonthewallblog:

‘No child left behind’ catches up | Contemporary Pediatrics

‘No child left behind’ catches up | Contemporary Pediatrics:

‘No child left behind’ catches up

The new 391-page Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; S.1177), the first major rewrite of federal education law in 14 years, has lists of provisions to impact children in myriad ways, including efforts on safe and healthy schools, many different behavioral issues, early childhood education, and homeless children. Signed on December 10, 2015, by President Barack Obama and, in great part, replacing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (H.R.1), the new Act is best known for eliminating some of the “high-stakes” testing requirements and for turning back much of decision-making authority to the states and local agencies.

There is much hope and anxiety about what states will do and how they will be held accountable. Also, there is still a lot of room for the US Department of Education (DoED) to affect the process through the regulations it will write. The DoED has already begun to gather information with public hearings in January.

More: What happens after a child loses their ASD diagnosis

Statistics indicate there is much to be concerned about. For example, the National Center for Educational Statistics says 33% of white high school seniors were proficient in mathematics in 2013. That compared with 12% of Hispanic seniors and 7% of black seniors. The gap was also huge for seniors whose parents were high school graduates versus those whose parents were college graduates: 12% versus 38%, respectively. There also were huge disparities in state performance: 34% of Massachusetts students scored proficient compared with 14% in West Virginia.

State control

It’s in that atmosphere that the new law takes major steps to turn back control to the states. It does away with the federal “adequate yearly progress” testing and reporting system and allows state accountability systems to identify struggling schools. States will submit a plan to the DoED, but the federal agency cannot force changes. It may only ensure the plan is consistent with the law.

States will be allowed to use measures of schools’ performance beyond test scores, including student engagement, advanced placement course work, and school climate and safety. The Business Roundtable, among others, expressed concerned that expansion of measures will allow the focus to move too far away from academics.

States will use state-determined methods to identify schools that need support and improvement. They are supposed to improve learning in at least the lowest-performing 5% of schools, public high schools that fail to graduate one-third or more of their students, and schools in which any group of students (such as by race or ethnic group) consistently underperforms according to the state’s measures.

There still must be statewide annual tests in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and ‘No child left behind’ catches up | Contemporary Pediatrics:

Friday, February 5, 2016

Exposing the Accountability Scam in Education Reform | Western Free Press

Exposing the Accountability Scam in Education Reform | Western Free Press:

Exposing the Accountability Scam in Education Reform

So much ‘accountability,’ so little improvement…

When it comes to education today, the drumbeat is constant: accountability, accountability, accountability.

Private foundations, institutes, and policy centers continually think up “new” ways we can achieve accountability.

Education-based businesses rush to create “new” standards, curricula, assessments, and teacher training programs to facilitate accountability.

Federal and state legislators, governors, and state superintendents and boards of education regularly seek more stringent ways to impose accountability.

Yet, oddly, no amount of increased accountability seems to change a single thing—except to further centralize, standardize, and compromise education.

What’s happening here?

Quite simply, accountability has become part of the crooked word game that is education reform. Standards, testing, rigor, competency, personalized learning, college- and career-ready—these are just a few of myriad words and phrases that reformers in government and private enterprise have quietly redefined in order to circumvent public outcry.

Of the terms assigned new meaning, “accountability” merits special note. In fact, maintaining its deceptive veneer has become crucial to ensuring compliance with an entire program of measures and practices that harm students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers alike.

How does ‘accountability’ deceive the public?

Accountability tends to have positive connotations bound up with responsibility. In fact, most of us make at least four key assumptions when the term is applied to education. While those assumptions are now entirely false, reformers rely on us making them:

Assumption #1: Accountability is local

Today, where it still exists at all, local control—and the local accountability that should accompany it—is increasingly a fiction. In point of fact, centralization and standardization drive the education reform agenda. Federal mandates and initiatives—mirrored and entrenched by state-level policy—have robbed parents and local taxpayers of their proper claim to accountability. Students, teachers, schools, and districts are instead accountable to federal and state governments and preferred partners in private industry.

Assumption #2: Accountability is based on valid measures

The standardized assessments in which federal (and, in turn, state) government roots accountability have zero proven validity. Utah-based clinician Dr. Gary Thompson and others have clearly demonstrated the experimental and potentially damaging nature of Common Core-aligned assessments—though neither the creators nor the administrators of these measures have Exposing the Accountability Scam in Education Reform | Western Free Press:

La. Class of 2015 ACT Scores: State-run RSD New Orleans Drops to 15.6 Average Composite | deutsch29

La. Class of 2015 ACT Scores: State-run RSD New Orleans Drops to 15.6 Average Composite | deutsch29:

La. Class of 2015 ACT Scores: State-run RSD New Orleans Drops to 15.6 Average Composite

As of February 05, 2016, the best place to locate any smatch of consolidated data on Louisiana’s Class of 2015 ACT scores is this July 16, 2015, nola.com article by Jessica Williams, entitled, “ACT Scores Rise for 2nd Straight Year in Louisiana.”

Williams’ title comes from the supposed rise of Louisiana’s Class of 2015 average ACT composite to 19.4 from 19.2 in 2014. Other numbers in Williams’ article are the supposed Recovery School District (RSD) Class of 2015 average ACT composite of 16.6, and the combined RSD-Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) Class of 2015 average ACT composite of 18.8.

Remember these numbers.

In her article, Williams links to her data source, this once-embargoed file from the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), entitled, “2014-15 Louisiana ACT 12th Grade Results.” The file includes ACT average composite scores by district. What is noteworthy is that the file was publicized in July 2015, after the 2014-15 school year had ended.

What is also worth noting is that as of February 05, 2016, this file is not available on the LDOE website.

There is no reason for LDOE to not have produced a comprehensive file of Class of La. Class of 2015 ACT Scores: State-run RSD New Orleans Drops to 15.6 Average Composite | deutsch29:

Gov. Snyder declines invite to testify on Flint water crisis by House Democrats | MLive.com

Gov. Snyder declines invite to testify on Flint water crisis by House Democrats | MLive.com:

Gov. Snyder declines invite to testify on Flint water crisis by House Democrats

FLINT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder has declined an invitation to testify before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

A statement from Anna Heaton, deputy press secretary for Snyder, said he will be presenting his formal fiscal year 2017 budget recommendations in Lansing on the same day and will be unable to attend.

The committee including co-chairs U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. U.S. Rep. Donna F. Edwards, D-Md., and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, had sent a letter to Snyder requesting his appearance at hearing.

"The ongoing Flint water crisis is a terrible tragedy," reads a letter to the governor by the committee members. "As the Governor of the state of Michigan, the families of Flint and all Americans deserve to hear testimony directly from you on how this man-made crisis happened, and what is being done at the state level to make it right."

Snyder said he was not invited to testify before a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Feb. 3 that included Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards and state Department of Environmental Quality director Keith Creigh.

During a Wednesday, Feb. 3 press conference on a request for $30 million to offer water bill credits to Flint residents dating back to April 2014, Snyder said he was not invited to testify but he would "seriously look into" the possibility if Gov. Snyder declines invite to testify on Flint water crisis by House Democrats | MLive.com:

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