Year: 2013

“Higher-Quality Assessments”?

Eduflack accountability, assessment, CCSS, ESEA, high-stakes testing

Lost in the excitement of this week’s NCLB waiver waivers and NCTQ’s teacher prep scorecards was a new report coming out of Stanford University’s Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, or SCOPE.  The report offers up the thought-provoking title, Criteria for Higher-Quality Assessment.

With a tip of the cap to Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Criteria for Higher-Quality Assessment offers up some guidance that “can be used by assessment developers, policymakers, and educators as they work to create and adopt assessments that promote deeper learning of 21st century skills that students need to succeed in today’s knowledge-based economy.”
Obviously not as sexy as the wavier waivers (or the non-waiver of waivers, depending on who you talk to), it is an interesting topic.  And it definitely helps when this guidance is coming from a team of authors who have been or currently are involved in CCSS or the development of Common Core assessments.  The SCOPE report offers a who’s who of authors, including Linda Darling-Hammong, Joan Herman, Eva Baker, P. David Pearson, and Lauren Resnick (all told, the piece boasts 20 “authors”).
And what does the esteemed panel offer up?  Noting that “No single assessment can evaluate all of the kinds of learning we value for students or meet all of the goals held by parents, practitioners, and policymakers,” the authors advocate five criteria that should be applied in the development of assessments moving forward:
  1. New assessments should tap the “higher-level” cognitive skills that allow students to transfer their learning to new situations
  2. Assessments should evaluate the critical abilities articulated in the standards, such as communication (speaking, reading, writing, and listening in multimedia forms), collaboration, modeling, complex problem solving, research, experimentation, and evaluation
  3. Assessments should be as rigorous as those of the leading education countries, in terms of the kinds of tasks they present as well as the level of performance they expect
  4. Assessment tasks should also represent the curriculum content in ways that respond to instruction and have value for guiding and informing teaching
  5. An assessment should represent well the knowledge and skills it intends to measure, be used appropriately for intended purposes, and have positive consequences for instruction and for test-takers, guiding better decisions rather than restricting opportunities
All of these points seem reasonable.  All of these points seem like something the entire education community should strive for.  The big question, then, is whether any of the current testmakers — particularly those who construct and sell the dreaded “high-stakes tests” would say they don’t already adhere to these five criteria and won’t continue to follow as they develop new summative tests aligned to the Common Core.
Anyone, anyone?

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Eduflack Uncategorized

Today is the 150th anniversary of the establishment of West Virginia.  The Mountain State is one of Eduflack’s adopted home states (as this morning demonstrated, though, you can take the boy out of Jersey, but you’ll never take Jersey out of the boy).  I graduated high school from West Virginia (Jefferson County High School in Shenandoah Junction) and I was able to proudly serve the state for several years as a staffer to the legendary Robert C. Byrd.

But my very first job on Capitol Hill was as a staffer for U.S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV.  I interned for Senator Rockefeller 21 years ago in his DC office, and even had the privilege of helping staff him at the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City.  I still remember running around the City That Never Sleeps at 3 in the morning tracking down floor signs that read “Rocky IV” for the crowd to wave during Rockefeller’s speech at Madison Square Garden that summer.
The first thing I “professionally” wrote was a floor statement for Senator Rockefeller to give on June 19, 1992 to celebrate West Virginia’s 129th birthday during the 102nd Congress.  The text, autographed by the Senator, still hangs on my office wall today.  As so many of my fellow Mountaineers celebrate the anniversary (with some refusing, still baring the family scars of The Civil War), it seemed appropriate to offer up those words again, as given by Senator Rockefeller.
Mr. President, today I rise to speak to you in honor of the people of the great State of West Virginia in recognition of our State’s 129th birthday.
On the 20th of June in 1863, the State of West Virginia was born.  The product of a crisis between the States, West Virginia earned its place as the 35th State to join the Union, through incredible bravery and initiative.
This spirit of initiative has remained with our fair State since its inception.  The proud people of West Virginia have consistently served this country through the good times and the bad.  We have fought valiantly for our country, we have provided for our families through hardship and prosperity, and we have worked to establish the greatest community, State, and country that we possibly could.
Mountaineer pride is evident still today, throughout the State.  This pride has attracted hundreds of thousands of vacationers to our fair State.  They have fallen in love with our majestic mountains ideal for skiing, our racing white water rivers, and our beautiful national parks.  One only needs to open any local West Virginia newspaper to see the numerous letters written from vacationers commending the State on both its attractions and its people.
THis feeling has led many people to continue to visit the Mountain State and has brought many more to relocate permanently in our fair State for good.  Thanks to the hospitality and kindness of West Virginia’s native residents, our Mountain State quickly becomes home for her new citizens, and remains a place where pride and hard work thrive.
So, on this, the 129th birthday of our State, I ask you, Mr. President, and my other colleagues, to join me in recognizing this important day for West Virginia, and for all her citizens who have made West Virginia a State that I am proud to represent and call home.

Leadership Lessons, Sopranos Style

Eduflack Media, PR, reform

Last night’s unexpected passing of actor James Gandolfini has many talking The Sopranos this morning.  The HBO series was probably one of the best-witten shows ever to appear on television.  And Eduflack would even say it was better than the beautifully written Aaron Sorkin masterpieces SportsNight and The West Wing.

The Sopranos was as good as it was because the writing told a real story.  It connected with the viewer on an emotional and intellectual level, allowing us to connect with the protagonist (Tony Soprano) in a very personal way.  While few of us knew what it was like to be a Jersey mob boss, many of us could relate to the struggling father and husband, the man with anxiety disorder, the CEO fighting to keep his company together with a team of individuals resisting his efforts and resenting his role of authority.
As we think about successful communications in the education space, there is much we can learn from the writing of The Sopranos and how those words were delivered by Gandolfini and the other members of the fine cast.  It perfected the art of storytelling, truly affecting our hearts and minds.
Today’s New York Daily News has a wonder compilation of some of Gandolfini’s best quotes while performing as Tony.  And some of these provide us an interesting glimpse into some of the needed qualities of leadership, whether one is leading a crime family or a school improvement effort.  Some of the highlights (as culled by Politico):
“All due respect, you got no f****ng idea what it’s like to be Number One.  Every decision you make affects every facet of every other f****ng thing.  It’s too much to deal with almost.  And in the end you’re completely alone with it all.”
“Those who want respect, give respect.”
“A wrong decision is better than indecision.”
“Oh, poor baby.  What do you want, a Whitman’s Sampler?”
“If you can quote the rules, you can obey them.”
“It’s good to be in something from the ground floor.  I came too late for that and I know.  But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end.  The best is over.”
Bada bing, y’all.

Evaluating Teacher Prep Programs, NCTQ Style

Eduflack AFT, Arne Duncan, higher ed, Teacher Education, teachers

At the stroke of midnight last evening, the National Council on Teacher Quality released its Teacher Prep Review 2013 Report.  The long-anticipated report provides a deep look at how more than 1,100 colleges and universities prepare prospective teachers and where our deficiencies may be in teacher preparation for the elementary, middle, and secondary grades.

In addition to the media coverage the report has received, it has also resulted in quite a number of interesting comments on the findings and the ratings that NCTQ provided these institutions of higher education.
Fortunately, NCTQ assembled some of the more interesting nuggets of endorsement for the Teacher Prep Review, including:
“Teachers deserve better support and better training than teachers’ colleges today provide, and school districts should be able to make well-informed hiring choices.” EdSec Arne Duncan in today’s Wall Street Journal.
“I think NCTQ points is that we are probably underequipping teachers going into classrooms.  We did not fare as well on this review.  We need to do a better job of communicating both with our students and NCTQ where our content can be found.  in some cases, we have some work to do.” Southern Methodist University Ed School Dean David Chard in today’s Associated Press piece.
“You just have to have a pulse and you can get into some of these education schools.  If policymakers took this report seriously, they’d be shutting down hundreds of programs.” Fordham Institute’s Michael Petrilli, also in the AP.
“Teacher preparation needs to be reformed from top to bottom.” Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier, in today’s Reuters piece.
“A key part of raising the education profession is related to who we attract the best candidates into teacher preparation programs in the first place.  We look to Singapore and Korea, and 100 percent of their teachers come from the top third of their college graduates.  The equivalent figure in the U.S. is 23 percent. ” Delaware Gov. Jack Markell in Huffington Post.
“It’s widely agreed upon that there’s a problem [with teacher training].  The report points out that California has an acute set of problems.” LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy in the Los Angeles Times.
But one statement that didn’t make the NCTQ highlight reel is that released earlier today by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.  In coming to the defense of teacher prep programs, Weingarten noted (on the AFT platform):
“Best-of and worst-of lists always garner attention, so we understand why NCTQ would use that device.  While its ‘do not enter’ consumer alerts will make the intended splash, it’s hard to see how it will help strengthen teacher preparation programs or elevate the teaching profession.  We need a systemic approach to improving teacher preparation programs and ensuring that every teacher is ready to teach …
While we agree with NCTQ on the need to improve teacher preparation, it would be more productive to focus on developing a consistent, systemic approach to lifting the teaching profession instead of resorting to attention-grabbing consumer alerts based on incomplete standards.”
Game on!
And for those interested in who gained top honors in the NCTQ ratings, four programs (“all secondary”) earned four stars — Furman University (SC), Lipscomb University (TN), Ohio State University (OH), and Vanderbilt University (TN).  Top honors seem to go to The Ohio State University, which also got 3 1/2 stars for its elementary school prep.

Around the Edu-Horn, June 17, 2013

Eduflack Edu-horn

Graduates from low-performing D.C. schools face tough college road via

Arne Duncan Calls Slow School Internet ‘Morally Unacceptable’ – via
RT @sgermeraad OH’s most effective teachers get results by setting high standards for all kids, motivating them & making class fun
RT @KnowledgeAll Spurred By Lawsuit, Fla. Tweaks Teacher-Evaluation Requirements via

I’m back!

Eduflack Uncategorized

Did you miss me?  Earlier this year, Eduflack announced that he was taking a bit of a sabbatical from this blog to focus on some other writing projects and some new ideas.  Well, now I back and ready to relaunch Eduflack in earnest.

I’ve learned a lot over the past five months (more than I ever expected and more than most would ever believe).  And my editorial pursuits have been inspired by two important lessons.  The first is from Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park.  “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  There are few phrases that adequately define the creative writing process, at least for me, like that one.
The second is a long-time favorite of mine from Nelson Mandela.  “It always seems impossible until it is done.”  That quote was an inspiration for me in 2012, and it continues to serve me well as I push on to the next phase of my professional life.
For those who have asked, there are actually two books in the works.  The first is Reforming Education Reform, which I hope will serve as a platform for reframing and refocusing communications in the school improvement debate.
The second is actually a new edition of a book I was honored to be a contributing author many years ago.  In 2006, Roman Littlefield Education published a great volume called Why Kids Can’t Read: Challenging the Status Quo in Education.  Why Kids Can’t Read provides an in-depth look at the scientifically based reading movement from multiple perspectives, with a chapter from me focused on effective communications.  I’m now working with the book’s original editors on a second edition, where I am leading efforts to spotlight Race to the Top, Common Core, and related issues and their impact on proven effective literacy instruction.
While both of these remain works in progress, it is time to pick up the Eduflack pen once again.  So I’m back.  While it may take me a little bit to get back into the full swing of editorializing, opining, reflecting, and criticizing, I’m back in the on-deck circle ready to take my hacks.
Game on!

Gone Fishin’?

Eduflack reform

As many of you have noticed, I haven’t been posting to Eduflack lately. Truth be told, I am taking a bit of a sabbatical from this blog. The reason? I’ve started working on a book on education reform. 

So for now, my meager editorial talents are focused on a first cut of this new manuscript. From time to time, I may post to Eduflack if a pressing topic demands it. Otherwise, I hope to be back up on this site in the spring, after opening pitches have been thrown in ballparks across the country.