Reader says the single most threatening development in K-12 education is the drastic denuding of our academic curricula of crucial content in favor of a single minded focus and emphasis on “process”.
“Content alone will not make our children successful,” Biedron said. “What will? Critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, collaboration skills and communication skills. Are these skills being taught by Common Core and PARCC? That’s a big question. Education is organic, it’s constantly changing.”
One hates to say this, since he was kind enough to visit Ridgewood, but Mr. Biedron reveals himself to be either a fraud or a pathetic dupe for laying his point out in this way. Who on earth ever suggested or sought to prove that content alone will make our children successful?
His efforts are not in vain, for he has managed to articulate perhaps the mother of all straw man arguments in the field of U.S. K-12 education. A man in his position in the home of a well-educated and savvy Ridgewood resident needs to be pinned down by withering intellectual fire until he concedes that the single most threatening development in K-12 education is the drastic denuding of our academic curricula of crucial content in favor of a single minded focus and emphasis on “process”. This is not even debatable, and the incalculable damage that has already been done to young minds in this country places us so far behind the eight ball in comparison to our global peers (and up until recently, our inferiors) will take two generations to repair, and that only if we reverse course immediately.
State Board of Education president speaks to Ridgewood parents, teachers
March 13, 2015 Last updated: Friday, March 13, 2015, 9:58 AM
By Mark Krulish
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News
New Jersey State Board of Education President Mark Biedron appeared at the Ridgewood home of Marlene Burton to engage a group of concerned parents, some of whom are also teachers, in a dialogue about changes made on the educational landscape in recent years.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, Biedron and a group of approximately 30 people explored topics ranging from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests, Common Core standards, teacher evaluations, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and the narrowing of the curriculum.
Reminding those in attendance that his opinions were his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Education, Biedron spoke candidly about what he believes will help children be successful.
Many decades ago, content was king, Biedron said, as information was much more difficult to find. With all of the information the world has to offer available at the push of the button, he said schools can now additionally focus on other skills and habits that he believes many want their children to have.
“Content alone will not make our children successful,” Biedron said. “What will? Critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, collaboration skills and communication skills. Are these skills being taught by Common Core and PARCC? That’s a big question. Education is organic, it’s constantly changing.”
Reader says Common Core :The most important reason appears to be the intimate connection between federal funding to support state staffing positions for education
Why are school districts so adamant about subjecting our children to this? The most important reason appears to be the intimate connection between federal funding to support state staffing positions for education. For example, in Alaska 43% of the jobs in the department of education are federally funded. An Alaskan legislator also pointed out that two-thirds of their educational administrative costs are federally funded. Concern over this intimate connection creates a culture of silence where teachers and administrators fear losing their jobs. Another reason is school administrators believe they must have 95% participation on the standardized test in order to receive funding for their schools. Local districts also comply with the tests because they have been both pressured by the federal government and conditioned to obey federal mandates (however unconstitutional).
The SBAC and PARCC tests and Common Core are acts of educational tyranny never agreed to, never voted on by parents or legislatures, and never discussed or debated. This system of so-called educational reform is radical, egalitarian, socialist and counterproductive. Should we accept this conversion to nationalized education with unflinching obedience? It is up to us. Will we protect our children from planned failure based on poorly designed schemes? Or will we refuse this poorly disguised federal tyranny? I will refuse. A growing number of parents are joining me. Will you?
Mary Anne Marcella is a parent and public school teacher who wants the best for her children and students. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of others in the education field.
Ridgewood Parents ask Are we smarter than a 5th grader
Ridgewood parents take the PARCC test
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Local parents and residents gathered at the Ridgewood Public Library on Wednesday evening to put themselves in the shoes of students by taking the controversial PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) test.
Ridgewood Cares About Schools, an advocacy group that studies Common Core-driven changes in curriculum and the PARCC assessment itself, hosted the program, which allowed parents the opportunity to step into the role of a student in today’s educational climate.
Many believe that giving parents that experience will lead to better insight into what fears or concerns students may have. With that idea in mind, the adults fired up their laptops or tablets to prepare for testing.
The “pupils” had the ability to choose a test from any grade level in either math or English and language arts (ELA).
FEBRUARY 20, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Whether you like it or not, PARCC testing is coming to Ridgewood. The new state-mandated assessment exams are slated for administration for the first time on March 2.
New Jersey’s new test for third-graders tough even for reporter
FEBRUARY 17, 2015, 9:44 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015, 9:46 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
With two weeks to go before New Jersey schoolchildren face new tests that have sparked outrage and panic in some parents and teachers, it fell to me as The Record’s education reporter to determine if these exams are as tough as they have been made out to be.
As a parent of a third-grader, I had an added incentive for getting an early look at the source of all the angst – both the English and math tests that are going to be given to third-graders.
I talked to experts, educators and parents to get their opinions, and I took the test myself to see how I would do — first with about 50 educators and parents at a forum on taking the test, then at the office, answering multiple-choice questions, typing short answers on a computer and writing an essay.
It wasn’t a cakewalk. The 13 third-grade practice questions in English language arts and the 17 questions in math were challenging, and the answers were almost never obvious. Still, I’m happy to report that all my hair is still intact on my head, I did not dissolve into tears, and I got all but a few answers right. Although to be fair, I’m not in third grade.
The new tests will be given to students in Grades 3-11 beginning in March. They are the result of New Jersey adopting new standards of what students should know at each grade level. The exams are designed to be more rigorous than previous tests, but they will not count against students until 2019, when they become a graduation requirement for 11th-graders.
Ridgewood BOE Updates Procedure in the event a parent refuses to have their child participate in a Statewide assessment
February 12,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blogUpdate on BOE Policy 2622 – Student Assessment
Ridgewood Nj, The New Jersey Department of Education, pursuant to State law and regulations, requires all students to take State assessments as scheduled. There is no provision for a student to opt-out of Statewide assessments. Therefore, the Board requires all students to take Statewide assessments and the Board cannot grant permission to a parent for their child to opt-out of required Statewide assessments.
The procedures outlined below shall be followed in the event a parent refuses to have their child participate in a Statewide assessment.
At its February 9, 2015 meeting, the Board of Education approved, with revisions, Policy 2622 – Student Assessment as a First Draft. Click here to read the draft policy with revisions.The Board also made to revisions to new Procedure 2622. Click here to read the draft procedure with revisions
FEBRUARY 9, 2015, 9:59 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015, 10:02 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A movement to get parents to keep their children from taking new state exams next month — fueled by protests on social media and encouragement from the teachers union — is gaining steam.
New Jersey requires all students to take the tests, but they do not need to sit for the exams to go on to the next grade or graduate.
State Education Commissioner David Hespe has urged school leaders to respond to the growing opt-out movement by explaining to parents the merits of the tests. In meetings, letters and online communications, school leaders say the tests will provide detailed information about what each student knows, better prepare teens for college entrance exams and build critical thinking skills.
But they are also trying to address parents’ complaints that the tests cut into instruction time, hamper creativity and fail to adequately measure learning. Some parents have delivered heartfelt pleas to school officials about the stress their children feel.
“We try to provide a balanced approach and let parents know there are benefits to taking the test. All they hear about is negative,” said Mark Toback, superintendent of Wayne schools.
New Jersey Parents Voice Concerns About Tests Linked to Common Core
JERSEY CITY, N.J.—Parents and educators anxious about new state tests starting in March vented their frustrations Wednesday at a hearing in a middle-school auditorium here.
Speaker after speaker told a state commission at the hearing that the new online tests would eat up too much class time, be too hard, hurt students’ self esteem and waste taxpayer money. The exams in math and language arts will cover public-school students from third to 11th grade. (Brody/PolitickerNJ)
KING OF COMMON CORE PEARSON CLOSES CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AMID LEGAL TROUBLES
Breitbart.com ^ | 21 Dec 2014 | DR. SUSAN BERRY
Posted on 12/21/2014, 8:08:18 PM by dontreadthis
Publishing giant Pearson Inc. is set to rake in billions of dollars in profits related to the implementation of the Common Core standards, but the corporation is now dealing with legal problems exposing some of its suspicious methods that have led to its status as the King of Common Core. snip As Breitbart News reported in December of 2013, the Pearson Foundation agreed to a $7.7 million settlement with the state of New York after accusations by the state’s attorney general that the foundation helped develop Common Core-aligned courses for Pearson, Inc., its corporate parent.
from the spectator.org https://spectator.org/articles/61273/should-jeb-bush-switch-parties
Listening to all the stories about Jeb Bush and his angst over the conservative base of the Republican Party, the question occurred: Why doesn’t Jeb ease his conscience and his donors’ wallets and just switch parties? Go now, become a Democrat — and then form an alliance with the wife of the man the Bushes affectionately call their “brother from another mother.” That being the woman George W. Bush has dubbed as being “like my sister-in-law” — Hillary Clinton.
After all, the Bush/Clinton alliance has already been on display, as I unknowingly noted in this column when Governor Bush presented former-Secretary Clinton with the Constitution Center’s “Liberty Medal” last year. As Breitbart reported at the time:
“‘Former Secretary Clinton has dedicated her life to serving and engaging people across the world in democracy,’ said Bush, the Republican former Governor of Florida, son of a former president and brother of another. ‘These efforts as a citizen, an activist, and a leader have earned Secretary Clinton this year’s Liberty Medal.’
“The news launched the latest rash of Clinton-Bush stories, the current crop focusing on the assumed presidential candidacies of the latest son of former President George H.W. Bush to seek the White House, this time against the wife of former President Bill Clinton. (Both Bush 41 and Bill Clinton, it must be noted, are former chairs of the Constitution Center — the job now held by Jeb Bush.)
“These stories missed the point of what appears to really be going on with the Liberty Medal.”
The point that I went on to make was that the Liberty Medal had become the highest award for service to the Ruling Class. No one identified with the conservative movement has ever received the award and presumably ever will. On the other hand, the 2006 award was presented jointly to George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, with other recipients including Mikhail Gorbachev (2008), Jimmy Carter (1990) and Colin Powell (1992). Ronald Reagan? Margaret Thatcher? William F. Buckley, Jr.? Not on your life.
This added to another column I hadwritten on Jeb Bush’s fixation with re-writing the history of the Reagan-Bush era. Governor Bush was the subject of this 2012 New York Times storyheadlined “Jeb Bush Questions G.O.P.’s Shift to the Right,” which began this way:
Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said his father, George Bush, and Ronald Reagan would find themselves out of step with today’s Republican Party because of its strict adherence to ideology and the intensity of modern partisan warfare.
So there we go. Jeb Bush wants to be on an anti-conservative ticket in 2016. What better way to do that than pair up with the woman who famously took out after “the vast right-wing conspiracy”? A simple Clinton-Bush family conclave to decide who takes second spot and voila! Jeb makes the switch and they’re off and running! Best of all? Goldman Sachs will be so relieved not to have to do everything twice.
NOVEMBER 7, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014, 12:31 AM THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Print
Who should decide education? David and Terry Anzano
To the Editor:
Public education was intended to be locally controlled by parents and taxpayers. Ridgewood is arguably one of the best local, fully-funded districts in the state with some of the finest teachers and administrators working in our classrooms. For example, the wonderful music program showcases one of many areas of Ridgewood’s “Tradition of Excellence.”
We have become increasingly concerned that parental control is being replaced by mandated state and federal requirements which are tied to Stabilization Aid, waivers from No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top money. This funding dictates high-stakes testing, nationalized copy written standards, state longitudinal data systems and teacher evaluations.
So who decides what is best for our students? Is it the parents working with our teachers and administrators setting an educational path best for the individual learner? Or is it the state’s “one size fits all” approach? What role does our superintendent and Board of Education serve in securing our right to control our local education? Indeed our superintendent has stated that he is an agent of the state carrying out mandated directives from Trenton and Washington, D.C.
Reader asks have we received signed assurances that our children would not be tracked?
Why do we have an online system that is a hodgepodge? Multiple signons. Skyward, blackboard, Google groups and that awful system to pay fees.
Do we have any assurance from Google that they will not be tracking our children? Teachers use Google class management. Is Google tracking the student’s grades and progress in school?
In California parents pushed for and received signed assurances that their children would not be tracked. Do we have the same guarantees?
OCTOBER 10, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014, 8:31 AM THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Print
Ridgewood Should Continue Common Core discussions Christina Krauss
to the Editor:
I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt appreciation to Ridgewood Cares About Schools (RCAS) and the League of Women Voters-Ridgewood for putting together a standing-room-only forum last Thursday evening.
The panel assembled was stellar. Educational luminaries Drs. Sandra Stotsky and Christopher Tienken along with Ridgewood’s own Jean McTavish engaged in the first honest discussion on the Common Core State Standards and PARCC testing we have heard in either the district or the state. The president of the NJ State Board of Education, the assistant commissioner of the NJ Department of Education and a spokesperson for the NJ School Boards Association, entities that normally do not “discuss” the policies they issue, were queried by the public. The exchange was riveting and enlightening.
My sincere hope is that our district will become a leader in bringing to its citizens and the surrounding communities continued discussion on Common Core and all its ancillary issues. Data privacy, exhaustive testing/reporting and the harmful effect of CCSS/PARCC on early learners are but a few of the legitimate concerns parents are expressing.
Common Core : Here We Go Again Welcome back to the Math Wars
PARCC testing is supposed to be more about the child’s facility with using a computer than his or her knowledge of the subject matter being tested. This is untested, seat-of-the-pants, thrown-together Obamacare website territory we will be in, and there will be a huge blowback. Fifth graders in particular need to be ready for anything, given that their standardized math scores for this year constitute the first 1/7th part of the rubric that determines whether they are ranked in the top 10 percent of their middle school in math at the end of sixth grade. If they are not so ranked, they will be prevented from taking Algebra in 7th grade and will be exposed to the Constructivist CMP math curriculum during all of 7th and 8th grade. This will stunt their growth at a critical time, and will eventually seriously limit their ability to compete for acceptance to a top notch school of engineering or science upon graduation from high school. CMP math in the middle schools is ‘the one that hot away’ about six years ago during the most recent battle in Ridgewood’s protracted Math War.
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