Common Core Blowback

2 Replies to “Common Core Blowback”

1. There are a lot of teachers standing up who are not so confident in the assessment program. The idea that the achievement of the standards needs to be externally assessed every year is one that a lot of us question; and Bellwether’s insiders’ surveys consistently show increasing doubt about the progress being made. Those in charge of the project need to act fast to gain anew the confidence of the education community, for the latter are precisely the people who could prove to be either the test-makers’ most important supporters or their bane if we arrive at a situation where a large number of states are on the verge of withdrawal — and we seem to be getting closer to that point all the time.

2. In New York, it might be hard to get that confidence when the state approaches a 10 year old while he is in the hospital to take the state test of material that he and his classmates weren’t taught so that the state can meet federal guidelines with collecting test data to evaluate teachers.

   BETHLEHEM–A local 4th grader, hooked to medical machines and IV’s, undergoing pre-brain surgery screening was asked to take a New York State test from his hospital bed last week. Joey Furlong is a 4th grader in the Bethlehem School District. He has life-threatening epilepsy and his seizures can only be stopped with medication so his parents are considering brain surgery. In order to get to that point though, Joey needs to go through a series of tests which is what he is doing right now at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center on Long Island. “He is currently in the hospital where they are withdrawing his seizure medications and they have him hooked up to an EEG, so essentially his head is attached to the wall and he has an IV in his hand and he’s wearing a pulse oximeter in case something happens with his oxygen levels,” says Tami Furlong, Joey’s mother. Basically, doctors have to wait until he has another seizure to monitor what is going on in his brain before they can do surgery. “Thursday morning a woman walked into his room with a piece of paper that had his name on it and told my husband that she was a teacher from the New York City School District and that she was there to administer the 4th grade New York State test to my son,” Furlong tells CBS6. The family was shocked.

   Read More at: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/the-real-deal-4th-grader-asked-take-nys-test-hospital-bed-7933.shtml

   Must make the kid take that test to ensure the teachers aren’t slacking off.