December Board of Ed: Teacher Leadership

The backup on this is here.
Riley: focused this year on teaching
bringing up panels...

Center for Instructional Support talking about three initiatives: revising the arts curriculum, STEM ambassadors, and curriculum ratings

Oh, Boston Globe (regarding PARCC)

Because the Board of Ed meets tonight and tomorrow and PARCC is on the agenda, the Globe editorial board apparently felt that it couldn't put off deciding any longer, and came out in support of PARCC. The Pioneer Institute could not, of course, let that go unchallenged, and Joanna Weiss doesn't understand this very specific math problem.
Oh, Boston Globe (sigh)...
The survey the Globe is citing (72% of teachers support) is this Teach Plus survey of teachers who attended a Teach Plus PARCC conference. Yes, it was a self-selected group, and they offer no evidence that, as they say, "The views of Massachusetts teachers who attended the “Testing the Test” events are similar to the views of the teachers across the sites." It was a survey that included 351 teachers. So all that we can conclude is that 252 teachers think it's better. That's about 1/3 of 1% of Massachusetts teachers. Note that their only support for "great teaching" is also from a Teach Plus fellow (which Board member Margaret McKenna pointed out at a previous meeting is a group that comes to this with a certain agenda).
The column by Jim Stergios, writing for the Pioneer Institute, is replete with myths and errors: PARCC will take more time (no, particularly now that they rolled both parts into one); kids will delay entering algebra at all (no) and kids will end math with Algebra II (no); oh, and this:

That demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of standards-based reform. PARCC tests the elements of Common Core shared by all states, not the supplemental math or higher-level reading individual states may add. Given that over time what isn’t tested isn’t taught, PARCC represents a race to the middle for Massachusetts.

Well, throw out calculus and AP physics, then, folks!
 The column by Joanna Weiss is a more measured version of the hysterical forwards replete on social media around Common Core math homework, which more-or-less boil down to "I didn't learn it this way; why should anyone?"
Because we can do better. Because kids who actually understand how math works rather than just memorizing formulas actually are better at mathmatics, long term, no matter what they do in the rest of their lives.

Please understand: I post all of the above not because I am a PARCC apologist. I made my own position clear--neither--back in July when I testified before the Board of Ed. There are other options out there. If we are going to have this conversation about testing, though, let's please at least attempt to do without making things up, misleading the public, repeating things that are wrong, and otherwise trying to cloud the issue.
What if we debate this on its relative merits?

Public comment before the Board of Ed

Public comment
Educator survey results:
a Teach Plus fellow and teacher at Salem Academy Charter School, Carli Fleming
recommendation regarding PARCC assessment: that it be adopted
"support my students in their mastery of the challenging Common Core standards"
"I need a test I can use as a tool"
Teach Plus hosted an event to review PARCC sample items and completed surveys about their views
those who did felt it was a higher quality assessment
continuous review of questions
"we know that this will be a hard transition to a new test..."
Teach Plus is releasing the results of their survey today

Barbara Madeloni, MTA president, speaking on Holyoke
reviewed state report from DESE
"undercuts the foundation of public education...our schools represent and are governed" by democracy
"find it astonishing that it does not include a picture of lives of Holyoke students"
or wide disparities in resources between Holyoke and other schools
"a long way to go before our children's education are not determined by the color of their skin, their first language, or the size of their parents' bank accounts"
Holyoke teachers' union holding public forums with parents
any plan must take into account needs of community
early childhood education
reduce class sizes
stop endless paperwork, time to teacher
addressing children's social and emotional needs
urge Board meeting in April to be held in Holyoke
"educators and parents deserve no less"
to a round of applause at which Sagan says that he'd like comments to be make "without editorializing" at the end

Dorothy Albrecht: high school teacher from Holyoke
"askinng you allow us to retain some piece of our democracy in Holyoke"
parent as well as teacher
child was more than ready: "graduates with honors in May before heading off to medical school"
"would be a travesty to see our schools taken away"
students getting into top colleges
"the taking of public schools in cities that struggle with poverty is anti-American"
note that Lexington and Concord's schools will not be taken over
father became president of the school board without a college education

Linda Cahill: LBGTQ recommendations:
parent and nursing supervisor
whose transgendered son commited suicide as a college sophomore
"I consider myself a well-educated individual, but I did not see this coming"
vowed to myself that I would stand up for these children and suicidde prevention
urge you to pass these principles

statewide charter school collaborative: from Mass Charter School Association
has been awarded a $2.1M grant for a statewide charter school collaborative
"to serve all students better"
"our schools have particular challenges in serving special education students because they are small"

Odd that there's a discussion here about if others were denied time to speak due to the number of people who had signed up. This isn't many.