Jami
EDM310 University of South Alabama

It’s a passionate letter, and I like her “We can’t test this country into excellence” language. The problem is, the “real players” who have pushed for NCLB/RTTT and the continued focus on painting all schools as well as teachers as ‘failures’ aren’t interested in excellence or improving schools. They are not interested in helping our schools communities grapple with and overcome the challenges of poverty. Instead, they are interested in enriching their private corporations by privatizing public schools around the nation. We are in the middle of this morass in Oklahoma today. See my video response to last week’s “Digital Learning Summit” in Oklahoma City hosted by our state department of education. I tried to walk a line in the video calling out some of the positive things which were said and done… but the bottom line (which I emphasize later in the video) is we must reject high stakes testing. I know that is the focus of this letter, but I think we need to identify and call out the motivates of many “education reformers” for what they are, and make an aggressive case for our continuing need for PUBLIC education which is not dominated by private, corporate interests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_flEp4VhfIA

When it gets to the point where Superintendents are arrested and principals are fired and students are denied education just because of a test, then maybe at the district level, we have gone too far.

Thanks for starting the conversation.

I will be posting my comments I have have made to your blog to my blog page. I would love for you to visit it and leave any comments that you may have.
MY BLOG

In the blog you asked for examples of awesome happenings in schools. Unfortunately, many teachers have a hard time finding something awesome to say about their relationship with administrators and school bureaucracy. In order for students to receive effective learning, every professional in the school must engage with colleagues and answer the following three questions that should inspire those within a learning community( Dufour, 2004), What do we want each student to learn? How will we know if each student has learned? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning (Dufour, 2004)? The answers to these questions lies within the minds of community based educators. The only way for students to excel academically, teachers and administrators must devise a plan in building a professional community that consist of faculty, parents teachers and administrators. This community will work together to achieve a collective purpose of life long learners; embracing models such as The Whole Child Approach, which can be implemented into their curriculum, embracing effective professional learning communities providing opportunities for adults to learn and think together, positively affecting teacher practice and school climate (The Whole Child Newsletter, 2011).

In the blog you asked for examples of awesome happenings in schools. Unfortunately, many teachers have a hard time finding something awesome to say about their relationship with administrators and school bureaucracy. In order for students to receive effective learning, every professional in the school must engage with colleagues and answer the following three questions that should inspire those within a learning community( Dufour, 2004), What do we want each student to learn? How will we know if each student has learned? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning (Dufour, 2004)? The answers to these questions lies within the minds of community based educators. The only way for students to excel academically, teachers and administrators must devise a plan in building a professional community that consist of faculty, parents teachers and administrators. This community will work together to achieve a collective purpose of life long learners; embracing models such as The Whole Child Approach, which can be implemented into their curriculum, embracing effective professional learning communities providing opportunities for adults to learn and think together, positively affecting teacher practice and school climate (The Whole Child Newsletter, 2011).

You asked for examples of awesome happenings in schools. Unfortunately, many teachers have a hard time finding something awesome to say about their relationship with administrators and school bureaucracy. In order for students to receive effective learning, every professional in the school must engage with colleagues and answer the following three questions that should inspire those within a learning community( Dufour, 2004), What do we want each student to learn? How will we know if each student has learned? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning (Dufour, 2004)? The answers to these questions lies within the minds of community based educators. The only way for students to excel academically, teachers and administrators must devise a plan in building a professional community that consist of faculty, parents teachers and administrators. This community will work together to achieve a collective purpose of life long learners; embracing models such as The Whole Child Approach, which can be implemented into their curriculum, embracing effective professional learning communities providing opportunities for adults to learn and think together, positively affecting teacher practice and school climate (The Whole Child Newsletter, 2011).