PARCC monitoring student's social media, wants schools to "punish" them

[Anonymous]

Conveniently ignoring that it's career prep?

That's an even bigger problem! You think your kid needs to practice reading graphs and reports in elementary school? What does that even mean? Learn to use technology that will be outdated in 3 years? Learn to work in groups? That would be better done in a curriculum rich in social-emotional learning that teaches kids how to know themselves and solve social problems. Career prep? Is that like learning self-promotion skills? yuck. You know there is a reason people get paid when they have jobs. It's because it ain't always fun. I'd rather save that for after college then introduce "work-skills" starting in K. What part of the world are we living in? How about just plain old developing children's minds for life with a good education. Worry about what skills they need for their career when they start the job. Who knows what kind of job it is.

And do you really want your child learning skills for college in elementary when they could learn them more easily in high school when it's more relevant and their brains are better developed for higher-order thinking?

[Anonymous]

than

[Anonymous]

Yes it absolutely did. There was an expectation of students on graduating from high school in order to get entry into colleges along with meshing with college coursework back then, just as there is now.

They did not start at the top and work down. Big difference. Kids started at the bottom and worked up. Fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Most parents who complain are saying similar things due to experience, not some political ads.

+10000

I have been against NCLB from the beginning. I believe in accountability, but I was a teacher and I could see the problems right away.

I saw the problems from the beginning, and, sadly, it has proven to be true.

Assuming that the set standards are good (and that is an assumption-not a fact), then the test needs to evaluate the child's progress on those standards.

1. These tests do not necessarily evaluate the student's achievement on these standards accurately. From articles I have read, there are serious problems with some of the questions.
2. There are technical problems with the roll out of these tests.
3. The test results are delayed and really not helpful to the teacher.
4. All sorts of factors can affect a child's performance on a test: illness; emotional problems; social issues; hunger; lighting; noise; family issues; etc.etc.
5. Even with computers, tests are not always given evenly across classes.

As far as evaluating schools and comparing achievement:
6. Schools are not on a level playing field.
7. All kids take the grade level test--even when some are not near grade level. This is frustrating to the kids and teachers and gives us no information other than the child is failing the test.
8. Truancy is a big problem in some schools.
9. Mobility (kids moving in and out of schools) is another problem beyond the control of the school. A school could be evaluated on a child who has not attended the school but for a few months.

And, then,
Fraud

If there are problems, then you identify the problems and you FIX THEM. That's what the America of our Founding Fathers up through the Greatest Generation were all about. Not "sweep it under the carpet" and "deny" and "just scrap it all if you don't like some part of it..."

[Anonymous]

If there are problems, then you identify the problems and you FIX THEM. That's what the America of our Founding Fathers up through the Greatest Generation were all about. Not "sweep it under the carpet" and "deny" and "just scrap it all if you don't like some part of it..."

And, you think testing is the way to fix it. Wrong.

Teachers have always tested. They don't need PARCC.

[Anonymous]

They don't need PARCC.

Very expensive experiment that will soon be discarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Conveniently ignoring that it's career prep?

That's an even bigger problem! You think your kid needs to practice reading graphs and reports in elementary school? What does that even mean? Learn to use technology that will be outdated in 3 years? Learn to work in groups? That would be better done in a curriculum rich in social-emotional learning that teaches kids how to know themselves and solve social problems. Career prep? Is that like learning self-promotion skills? yuck. You know there is a reason people get paid when they have jobs. It's because it ain't always fun. I'd rather save that for after college then introduce "work-skills" starting in K. What part of the world are we living in? How about just plain old developing children's minds for life with a good education. Worry about what skills they need for their career when they start the job. Who knows what kind of job it is.

And do you really want your child learning skills for college in elementary when they could learn them more easily in high school when it's more relevant and their brains are better developed for higher-order thinking?

Many careers need ability to read graphs and reports. Especially now that more and more unskilled and semiskilled jobs are being automated. What technology "will be outdated in 3 years?" Computers? "A curriculum rich in social-emotional learning that teaches kids how to know themselves and solve social problems" - think that's somehow forbidden by Common Core? It isn't. Strawman. "learning self-promotion skills?" Sorry, didn't see that one in Common Core, because it;s not there. Yet another strawman. Kids these days more and more need critical core content knowledge and sound analytical, reasoning and rationalization skills, not just "wing it and worry about what skills they need when they turn 18"

What a bunch of BS.

[Anonymous]

^ Exactly. I was that poster and my words have been twisted more than once by this other poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If there are problems, then you identify the problems and you FIX THEM. That's what the America of our Founding Fathers up through the Greatest Generation were all about. Not "sweep it under the carpet" and "deny" and "just scrap it all if you don't like some part of it..."

And, you think testing is the way to fix it. Wrong.

Teachers have always tested. They don't need PARCC.

That's all fine and good if each class is in a vacuum. Each teacher gives his own test. Some teacher's tests are puffballs that don't actually test anything - easy A. Each teacher's test is all over the map. Teacher in grade 4's test in no way relates to anything on teacher in grade 5's test - and so on. There's absolutely no coherency or consistency in test results when everyone does it their own way. That is a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Exactly. I was that poster and my words have been twisted more than once by this other poster.

No, you just fail to THINK about what you are saying, and inadvertently keep contradict yourself in your zeal to fling specious complaints out there.

[Anonymous]

*autocorrect*

^contradicting

[Anonymous]

If only they spent the money spent on testing on resources for schools/students, smaller class sizes, field trips, books, reducing material inequality across schools, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They don't need PARCC.

Very expensive experiment that will soon be discarded.

You must love wasting money. Do you throw cars away when the tires are partly worn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If only they spent the money spent on testing on resources for schools/students, smaller class sizes, field trips, books, reducing material inequality across schools, etc. etc.

We've been over that one again and again and again also. "All that money spent" would only amount to about $12 per teacher and wouldn't do any of those things.

[Anonymous]

That's all fine and good if each class is in a vacuum. Each teacher gives his own test. Some teacher's tests are puffballs that don't actually test anything - easy A. Each teacher's test is all over the map. Teacher in grade 4's test in no way relates to anything on teacher in grade 5's test - and so on. There's absolutely no coherency or consistency in test results when everyone does it their own way. That is a fact

So, you do want every class to be the same. Well, here is a fact for you: every student is not the same.

I taught for a number of years. No two years did I do the same thing. Why? I had kids with different needs and who were on different levels. Even when it was the same grade in the same school. If I had taught the same thing in the same way, I would have had kids who were left behind and some who would not have charged ahead.
Were the achievement levels the same each year? NO. If I were being evaluated on my class from year to year, there would have been years where my scores were upside down. Why? Principal gave me some kids that he thought I could handle because he understood my skills. You have no idea.