Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s latest Common Core commission could report its recommendations this week — in time to hand them off to the state Board of Regents meeting before its next meeting, Dec. 14.
One of the key questions is whether Cuomo will favor reducing or even eliminating the link between teachers’ evaluations and students’ scores on standardized tests.
The Democrat has changed the evaluation system twice during his tenure. Earlier this year, Cuomo pushed for test scores to account for as much as 50 percent of a teacher’s assessment. Meanwhile, the number of students boycotting the tests has continued to climb, to more than 200,000 last spring.
I maintain that they'll do something that looks like substantive change from afar but, when you get up really close to it, isn't so substantive after all.
Tweaks to Common Core, perhaps a renaming (Cuomo Core?), a moratorium on using test scores in teacher evaluations, an extension of the moratorium on test scores for students (which Cuomo himself called "meaningless") - that's what I expect coming out of this.
And make no mistake, life will go on in schools pretty much as it does now, with students reading little fiction, writing argumentative essays in every class, doing the EngageNY curriculum (drill and kill, drill and kill) and doing their incomprehensible math homework and crying at the table over it while teachers have more and more pressure put on them via the Danielson drive-by to "Always Be Assessing!"
New in 2015, scripted curriculum units for social studies. Six units...six weeks...and the sad thing is that my girls are in my school being fed this shit. I'll send the link so others may see why after 20 years, I'd rather work for über.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of ELA and math teachers - the DisEnagageNY world.
DeleteNo one can make a teacher use a POS scripted program. Only the teacher decides to do what wrong.
DeleteReally anonymous? I do not want a supervisor breathing down my neck, looking for a gotcha moment to write me up. I recall back when we were doing TC. I had the timerity to design my own writing sheets. No big deal, just a little more child oriented. The principal stood over the stack of sheets flipping through the pages to see if I was used the official TC pages. Why?
DeleteBecause she is a bully and a very very dumb one.
This is what we've got these days.
You would be appalled to learn who is running the show at NYSED and where the funding that pays them springs from.
yEAH, ONE UNIT = 6 DAYS...IMPOSSIBLE. also, the units contain a sh*tload of errors. Nice going, DisEngageNY.
DeleteThis is all about politics. Cuomo lost Suffolk County in November 2014. Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan is from Suffolk County. Suffolk had a massive number of opt outs last spring. People are extremely angry about the obsession with testing, federal and state meddling in local districts, endless teacher evaluation changes, etc. The politicians kiss the ass of the charter school movement because of campaign contributions and for little other reason. Charters enroll less than 5% of all students across the state. There is going to be an election in November 2016. The Senate GOP majority is based in the suburbs and those same suburbs are where the opt out movement is strongest. Any teacher evaluation law changes will be due to the politicians being scared.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Nothing more than expediency. And of course, the winds behind expediency can change direction at any time...
DeleteTwo big questions about the changes: 1)Will there still only be two observations? 2)Will the outside evaluator still be doing one of these observations?
ReplyDeleteGood point, we keep losing site of the outside evaluator.
DeleteI suspect whatever is in place now will remain. But we'll see.
ReplyDeleteCuomo will de-couple the use of test scores in our APPR evaluations. This will be a change for the better. They were the root of the angst, and the threats, and the fear. No, classroom environments will not remain the same. Next to go are the Danielson/Marzano rubrics.
ReplyDeleteWe all have to admit one thing for sure. Donald Trump said he could not believe how dishonest the media is!!! I guess we as educators truly do agree with Trump in the fact of how dishonest the press is today. i mean we now have a press that is more corrupt than society so the news now is really how corrupt the media news is...strange but evil people in the press these days. The one comforting thing to watch however is how frustrated the press is with Trump because the press continues to try and write crazy off the wall stories trying to rid Trump but every story they put out backfires as Trump continues to go up in the polls...Screw you bull crap media lying bastards...you met you match with mr trump and next you will be listening to his new rules ....got it....put a spin on that.
ReplyDeleteJust was at a meeting with Regent Tilles... tests/ eval moratorium sounds like a done deal.
ReplyDelete5:45
ReplyDeleteFrom all of it or just the 50% part?
6:27
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like evaluations would be negotiated but not include state tests. Slo tests will remain.