All State And Federal Tests Are Cancelled

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has cancelled all standardized tests for this year for grades 3 to 8 and the high school Regents (Its just a matter of time).  In addition, President Trump has cancelled all federally mandated exams.   The question is how will it affect the teacher evaluation system this year?

My guess is that there will be no evaluation for teachers this year due to incomplete observations and no tests to evaluate student growth.  However, I do expect the DOE to at least try to evaluate the teachers but will fail when they agency is threatened with court action by the union and the Mayor and/or the Governor sides with the teachers, knowing the DOE would lose in court.

I also suspect that the schools will not reopen this school year and that also will contribute to the DOE's failure in winning the argument to try to still evaluate teachers. The only item that the DOE might win on is the tenure issue as they might deny tenure to eligible teachers this year due to having no grades and an incomplete year of data.

New York State Will Allow School Districts To Evaluate Teachers

The New York State Board of Regents will no longer require school districts to evaluate teachers, based upon State tests.  Obviously, the 20% statewide opt out rate had greatly influenced the decision.
Moreover, the State gave the school districts the authority to use collective evaluations rather than an individual evaluation for the teachers.

How does that affect New York City teachers is still in question since the DOE has shown no inclination to change the teacher evaluation system. Moreover, will our union demand that Charlotte Danielson be eliminated and a fairer metric be used to evaluate teachers.  Finally, will teachers be collectively evaluated since the State now allows it and most suburban school districts have already implemented it for this school year.

Will the NYC teacher evaluation system change enough to be appropriate for the majority of teachers?  Only time will tell.

Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) had hoped that by eliminating the time limit and to make the high-stakes tests shorter, more students would take the tests.  However, when it came to Long Island, a hotbed of the "opt out" movement, almost half of the students (45%) refused to take the State English Language Arts test.

On Long Island the demographics continues to show that the mainly White, middle class school districts have the highest "opt out" rates, while the majority poor and minority (Blacks and Latinos) school districts have the lowest "opt out" rates.  Interestingly, the high income and East Asian school districts in Nassau County also has relatively low "opt out" rates.  This is probably because East Asian parents support testing and send their children to after-school academic programs and Saturday school.

The table below shows the top school districts with the highest "opt out" rates.

School District............................"Opt Out"  

Comsewoque................................85.8%
Rocky Point...................................79.4%
Shoreham-Wading River................77.0%
Patchogue-Medford.......................75.9%
Bayport-Blupoint..........................73.8% 
Sayville.......................................72.8%
East Islip.....................................71.4% 
Greenport....................................71.4%
Lindenhurst..................................69.6%
Eastport-South Manor...................68.8%
Malverine.....................................68.0% 
Lynnbrook....................................68.0%
Bellmore-Merrick..........................67.1%
Miller Place...................................66.1%
Levittown.....................................63.0%




By contrast, here are the school districts with the lowest "opt out" rates.

 


School District............................"Opt Out"  

Hempstead....................................3.3%
Wyaindanch...................................4.5%
Roosevelt.......................................8.2%
East Hampton.................................9.9% 

Other school districts with low "opt out" rates are  Central Islip and Elmont but did not report their numbers.

My Response To The New York Post Editorial.

In Today's New York Post there is an editorial  that wants to end the teacher evaluation moratorium that links children's test scores with teacher evaluations.  The editorial falsely claims that the moratorium protects lousy teachers rather than the real reason for the moratorium.  That scientific studies have shown that a teacher accounts for only between 1% and 14% of a student's academic growth.

The New York Post editorial also failed to mention the  Sheri Lederman case where the judge found the linkage between teacher evaluations and her students growth was based upon an incorrect algorithm, "junk Science".

Furthermore, the  editorial failed to mention that the moratorium was limited tto grades 3 to 8.  High school teachers were still evaluated based on Regents test scores.

Finally, all teachers are evaluated by their administrators and if the teacher is lousy, they can be terminated. either immediately if they are untenured or, if tenured,  through an administrative hearing by a State appointed arbitrator.

Board Of Regents Recommends No Penalties For School Districts With High "Opt Out" Rates.

In a major retreat by the State to school districts with high "opt out" rates, the Board of Regents has recommended to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) that there should be no financial penalties (Title 1 funds) to those school districts.  This is good news to Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and the Buffalo Region where "opt out" rates were the highest in the State and the nation.

Previously, NYSED gave school districts 4 years to meet the Federal 95% student participation requirement or face penalties.  Now it seems that the continued parent  protest to the high-stakes Common Core tests and Governor Andrew Cuomo's 180 degree turn on the issue has caused the Board of Regents to think twice about implementing the Federal requirements.  You can read Chalkbeat's take Here.

I suspect that the high "opt out" rates will continue in the New York City suburbs and with Common Core tests unsupported from the President on down, look for a more significant change that either eliminates or radically changes the State's high-stakes testing program.  Of course that assumes our Governor doesn't change his mind yet again.

You can see some of the "opt out" rates statewide for 2018. Here.

The Superintendent Of The Patchogue-Medford School Distrtict Supports The "Opt Out" Movement.

The "opt out" movement is alive and well and still going strong despite NYSED claims that fewer students "opted out" last year.   While statistically that's true, still 19% "opted out" statewide last year and 51% on Long Island.  In solidly white, middle class communities on Long Island, the "opt out" rate saw close to 3 out of 4 students "opt out".  By contrast, NYC had a 3% "opt out" rate as both the UFT and the DOE discouraged parents from "opting out".

Now in an opening salvo to NYSED, the Superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford school district  has sent a letter to teachers telling them that the State tests were useless and should be thrown into the garbage.  The school district had a 76% "opt out" rate last year and it may be higher next year in light of the Superintendent's letter.

The student growth scores are based upon  "junk science"  and the State must eliminate this useless metric,  Renumber, "garbage in, garbage out".

For more information about the "opt out" issues and the teacher evaluation system you can read my posts Here, Here, and Here.

The Teacher Evaluation System Should be Eliminated.

I have watched with amusement how our Governor, Andrew Cuomo has made a 180 degree pivot on linking test scores to teacher evaluations.  First, he demanded that at least 20% of a teacher's evaluation should be linked to a student's growth score based upon high stakes Common Core tests.  When the results showed that.only 1% of the teachers were rated "ineffective", he demanded a more onerous evaluation.The Governor pushed the State to make Common Core based high stakes testing to be 50% of a teacher's evaluation , based on student growth.   It seemed that the Governor won the battle but it soon became apparent that he was losing the war in the teacher evaluation system that he was trying to impose.

First, was the parent led "opt out" movement that saw mostly middle class suburban families "opt out" their child from taking the Common Core tests.  On Long Island over 50% of the students opted out and 40% upstate chose not to take the tests.  While some claimed the teacher unions were responsible in convincing parents to "opt out".  The truth is most teacher unions remained silent and when they did recommend that their students should "opt out", the percentage of students opting out skyrocketed to 75% or higher.  The two most powerful teacher unions NYSUT and the UFT had no position on the "opt out" movement, had they supported the parents you would have seen a much higher "opt out" percentage Statewide.

Next. a lawsuit filed by a teacher on the validation of the "growth factor" used in the teacher evaluation system, was successful and the judge ruled the "growth factor" was "junk Science".
This growth algorithm was on trial in the Sheri G. Linderman case and the ruling is the death kneel of linking student growth to a teacher's-evaluation score.

When it came to public opinion, the Governor soon realized that supporting an unpopular teacher evaluation system and the dispersed Common Core tests his approval ratings were sinking and since their was no more federal money from the Obama Administration to bribe the Governor in supporting Obama's education reform goals, Governor Andrew Cuomo made his 180 degree pivot and supported a four year moratorium on linking Common Core tests to the teacher evaluation system.  No longer is the Governor  bashing teachers and their union, instead he now supports them as he wants another term as Governor and looking ahead to run for President.

While teachers no longer need to worry about the use of the high stakes testing being linked to their evaluation, except for the high schools, the other parts of the teacher evaluation system stays in place.  If you get three consecutive "ineffectives" you are automatically sent into a 3020-a termination hearing.  and a school district can send a teacher who receives two consecutive "ineffectives" can also be sent into a 3020-a termination hearing.  While this is not much different from what existed before, the difference is that the "burden of proof" is on the teacher to prove their innocence where the "burden of proof" was on the school district to prove the teacher's guilt.  Moreover, it now takes four years to obtain tenure, not three.  Finally, in NYC the teacher evaluation system requires four observations, using the terrible Danielson rubric, not two like the rest of the State.

Let's get rid of the teacher evaluation system and come up with a fair and teacher approved evaluation system and don't believe what you read by the newspaper's editorial boards.

Veteran Teachers Beware, Administrators Are Using Charlotte Danielson As A Weapon To Terminate You.

It appears to me that school administrators have been told that they must stay within the recession era budgets that the DOE has imposed on its public schools.  Most schools are only receiving 90% of their fair funding and principals are trying various cost saving strategies to stretch their budget.  One of the favorite tactics, especially with the Leadership Academy principals, are to target veteran teachers and either force them to retire or charge them with incompetence or misconduct in their 3020-a hearing.

The weapon of choice is Charlotte Dainelson that allows school administrators to unfairly evaluate teachers based upon 8 components that can be easily manipulated to make the teacher look "ineffective".  A case in point is the saga of teacher, I'll call him Mr, Q, who was terminated, despite the fact he only had one "ineffective " rating.

Mr. Q was a veteran teacher who worked at a transfer school  in Brooklyn.  People familiar with transfer high schools know that it's for over aged students (16 to 21 year old) who have been removed from their previous school(s).  Many of these students just want a minimum passing grade of 65%, while during little or no work.  Passing a Regents is not their priority.  Therefore, transfer high schools do poorly, compared to their State peers, who don't have these transfer schools.  The result is that even the best teachers can only expected a "developing" rating in their MOSL.

Back to Mr. Q, he received a "developing" rating in 2013-14 school year and an "ineffective" rating the following year.  Despite the union's claim that it takes two consecutive "ineffective" ratings to be charged under 3020-a, the truth is otherwise.  In the last year I know of two other veteran teachers who were charged under section 3020-a with only one "ineffective" rating.  Mr. Q's 3020-a arbitrator terminated Mr. Q in part, because he failed to differentiate his lesson to the individual needs of the student.  Moreover, the arbitrator claimed Mr.Q failed to take advantage of the extensive professional development opportunities he was afforded..

While the burden of proof is supposed to be the DOE's with one "ineffective" rating,, in all three cases I know of the veteran teacher was either terminated or was pressured to retire so as not to lose the almost $50,000 in lump sum payments owed to them in the contract

Charlotte Dainelson is not a simple evaluation tool but a weapon to destroy the careers of veteran teachers and that's how I see it.

Long Island "Opt Out" Rates And Demographics.

Its no secret that "opt out" rates are demographically based, with low income, minority communities having low "opt out" rates while middle class and White communities having the highest "opt out" rates.  Statewide the "opt out" rate was 19% or 2% less than in 2016.  However, on Long Island the "opt out" rates were similar to the 2016 percentages.

What's very obvious from the tables below, the highest and lowest "opt out" rates were found in vastly different racial and income based communities.

Highest "opt out" rates

Community................English.............Math
Comsewogue................86%..............82%
Rocky Point...................79%..............77%
Wading River................77%..............66%
Plainedge.....................77%..............67%
Patchogue....................76%..............73%
Bayport........................75%.............70%
Sayville........................74%..............69%
East Islip......................73%.............71%
Bellmore......................72%..............59%


Lowest "opt out" rates

Community.................English.........Math
Wyandanch...................3%..............4%
Hempstead....................5%..............6%
Elmont.........................11%............13%
Central Islip..................12%...........16% 
Roosevelt.....................13%...........16%


In New York City, the 2017 "opt out" rate was 4%.


Interestingly, in heavily East Asian and high income communities,on the North Shore of Nassau County, the "opt out" rates were closer to those in the poor and minority communities the table below shows this. 



High Income "opt out" rates

Community...............English...........Math
Great Neck...................22%............20%
Jericho.........................24%............21%
Syosset.......................29%.............40%
Roslyn.........................24%.............35% 

Since East Asian communities, as well as high income communities emphasis education, including tutors and after school educational opportunities, it makes sense that these high achieving communities will take the State tests rather than "opt out" since they are exposed to test prep courses during the school year...    This shows up in the State test passing rate of between 75% to 85% for these communities.  Compared that to single digits in places like Wyndanch and Hempstead.

The Problem In Some Of Our High Schools In New York City.

Back when I started teaching in the New York City schools, I was told by my Assistant Principal that she was there to support me and have my back.  If that met running interference to protect me from over aggressive parents, complaining students, and even the Principal.  She was true to her word and as I was learning how to master the art of teaching, I was secure in the knowledge that I had administrative support.

Eventually, I acquired tenure and my Assistant Principal would come in once a semester to observe me, forewarning me of her appearance and asking me which class I would like her to observe.  She was highly supportive and believed a teacher should have total authority of the classroom and autonomy on how best to teach his or her students.  There was no "one-size-fits-all" metric and certainly no punitive Danielson rubric that is used as a weapon against teachers.  In the early days of my career, before the Bloomberg and Klein years, it was a real pleasure to be a teacher.

Fast forward to the present and we now have administrative micromanagement, a punitive Danielson rubric, tenure based upon political and not educational factors, and weakened tenure protections that force teachers to prove their innocent rather than the DOE having to prove they're guilty of incompetence.  Is it any wonder that New York City teachers take anxiety drugs and some even suffer from PSTD, as they struggle through the trials and tribulations of the New York City classroom.

While some of the blame can be laid at the feet of the teacher evaluation system, jointly approved by the DOE and UFT and bad school administration that rather foster conflict rather than collaboration.  The majority of the blame lies with the student body and their sense of entitlement and lack of responsibility..

In many unscreened high schools students will come to class late, unprepared without a notebook, pen or pencil, and unfocused.  These students fail to submit assignments, do poorly on tests and assessments, and act up by disrupting the class.  Yet, when  a teacher tries to discipline these students, they are immediately attacked by school administration for potential verbal abuse or even corporal punishment.  These students can curse and threaten a teacher and suffer no consequence.  Moreover, many high school administrators are narrowly focused on the bogus graduation rate and demand that 80% of a teachers roster be passed or be faced with an "ineffective" rating and 3020-a termination charges.  If the teacher is not tenured the pressure to pass failing students is unbearable since they can be discontinued, simply based on a Principal's recommendation.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's ill-fated approval of allowing students to have cellphones in the schools have dire educational effects as they provide a distraction to learning, especially in high poverty schools.  While schools can still ban cellphones if they choose, like Lehman campus in the Bronx, few do.  The result is that teachers are forced to compete with these electronic distractions and the learning process is hurt.  Further, student disrespect has never been higher in many of these schools. The students soon realize that the teacher is afraid to discipline them for their misbehavior or lack of responsibility and they realize that there is no real immediate consequences to their actions.  The result is a classroom in chaos and classroom management is just an illusion.

These schools suffer from high teacher turnover, unstable educational environment, and students who don't follow the civil rules of our society since they see no immediate consequences for their actions.  While zero tolerance may not be the answer, the permissive culture and the restorative justice approaches is not either and until student behaviors change, these schools will remain the dumping ground for struggling students who at best, will end up in low paying, low skilled jobs and at worst in our prison system. 

Homeless Students And The Teacher Evaluation System.

In New York State, thanks to ex-President Barack Obama and his Bill Gates inspired Race to the top program, we have a teacher evaluation system that counts all students as part of the teacher's effectiveness as an instructor.   Even students that aren't theirs!  To account for all different types of students, the State developed a complex mathematical formula that turned out to be "junk Science" and was exposed as a farce by the courts.  That brings me to how student growth of the most disadvantaged students affect the teacher evaluation system and why its not fair. 

While New York City has been on the receiving end of the great economic recovery since the depths of the recession ending in early 2012.  One area that has not recovered and has actually became significantly worse is the number of homeless students in the public school system.  According to the Independent Budget Office (IBO), there has been a 44% increase in homeless students in the Bronx since 2012 and a 15% increase citywide since last year.  In fact, over 40% of all homeless students attend Bronx schools. A more detailed IBO study on the homeless student can be found here.

Interestingly, the dramatic rise in homeless students attending Bronx schools coincided with the closing of the many large comprehensive high schools with their abundant resources to help these academically needy children in the Borough and the opening of the many Bloomberg small schools who lacked many of the resources for these vulnerable students.

Citywide there are 155 schools that have a homeless population of greater than 10%, compared to only 61 in 2012.  That is an increase of 254%!  The latest homeless student numbers show that there are 32,803 in the 2015-16 school year.  The Bronx had the most homeless students with 13,729. followed by Brooklyn, with 9,223.  Th lowest was Staten Island with only 971 kids.

Studies have shown the homeless students are the most vulnerable population and the most difficult to educate, due to their mobility and lack of security outside of the schools.  Is it any wonder that schools resort to academic fraud to jack up graduation rates and encourage social promotion.  I bet the 155 schools are major beneficiaries of lax DOE oversight that allows students to move ahead despite their academic deficiencies.  Remember, homeless students are more likely to:

1. Be absent from school more often.
2. Score poorly on standardized tests.
3. Drop out of school.
4. More likely to repeat a grade.
5. Have developmental difficulties.

For the 155 schools that have an over 10% homeless student population, is it really fair for these teachers to be evaluated on the most difficult to educate, due to their homelessness and lack of security outside the school?  The answer is no!

NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia's "Final Solution" Blunder.

You would think that a person in the top spot of education in New York State would be smart enough not to touch a "third rail" and electrocute herself.  Well, New York State Education Department Commissioner, MaryEllen Elia did just that and she is now damaged her reputation and is in danger of losing her job because of it.

Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, who still thinks "junk Science" should be used to evaluate teachers and students and is against the "opt out" movement, had commented on the controversy that an Oswego high school teacher inappropriately gave to his high schoolstudents that asked them to take sides on the Nazi's "final solution", the extermination of the Jews.  The project and the controversy hit social media big time and here is what our Commissioner first said, when asked to comment on the highly explosive issue:

“I think it’s certainly a question where you want students to think on both sides and analyze … which position a person is taking. That idea of being able to identify the perspective an article has or a writer has is a very important skill.”

That's right, in an assignment that crossed a line that should never have been crossed, the Commissioner, instead of condemning the assignment, thought it was an appropriate "critical thinking" skill for high schoolers to analyze.  Unbelievable!

Well, as you can imagine, the shit hit the fan and many Jewish and parent organizations throughout the State complained about the assignment and her supportive response to the assignment.  In fact one Parent Teacher Association, Hastings on the Hudson, has asked that Ms. Elia to either resign or be removed as Commissioner.

The Commissioner, under intense political pressure and continuous media inquires, retracted her original comment and said the following:

“Since first learning of the assignment, I’ve done my homework to determine the facts in this situation. I spoke with district officials about this serious matter. We agree the assignment should not have been given. The teacher apologized and the assignment will not be used in the future.”

The Commissioner's response was entirely inadequate and instead of apologizing for her insensitive and wrongheaded  comment supporting the assignment, she simply said on further review, the assignment should not have been given.  Maybe she needs to take a course on the Holocaust as a condition for continuing as Commissioner of the New York State Education Department. You can read the entire story Here.

Test Refusals Are As High As Ever On Long Island.

It appears that there were some slight reductions Statewide when it came to the "opt out" rates for the English Language Arts (ELA) high-stake test this year.  However, the same cannot be said for the epicenter of the "opt out" movement, Long Island.  The latest data shows that 50.7% of the students decided to "opt out" of the test, similar to last year's percentage of 51.6% and well above the 42.6% in 2015.

The highest numbers came from the solidly middle class communities of Western and Southern Suffolk County and Eastern Nassau county.  By contrast, the lowest "opt out" numbers came from the lower income and primarily minority communities, mirroring last year's distribution.  Below is a list of the highest and lowest "opt out" numbers by school districts.


District...............................................Opt out 

Comsewogue.......................................87.0%
Rocky Point.........................................82.8%
Patchogue-Medford.............................77.8%
Eastport..............................................77.6%
Islip....................................................77.5%
Shoreham...........................................76.8%
Bayport-Bluepoint..............................76.4%
Plainedge...........................................75.7%
Sayville..............................................74.4%
East Islip............................................73.9%
Connetquot........................................73.9%
Bellmore-Merrick...............................72,9%
West Islip..........................................71.9%
Sachem.............................................71.8%
Levitown...........................................70.7%

All the above school districts are solidly middle class and predominantly White by race.  By contrast the lowest "opt out" rate,s listed below, are all lower income school districts and predominately minority.


District..............................................Opt out

Hempstead...........................................5.8%
East Hampton.......................................8.2%
Elmont................................................10.5%
Roosevelt............................................12.5%
Central Islip........................................12.7%

Note that Wyandanch and Uniondale, two low "opt out" school districts did not report their "opt out" numbers yet and were not included on the list..

Despite minor changes to the high-stakes testing, the statewide "opt out" rates are still high and remained unchanged on Long Island.

To Education Reformers, You Can't Measure Quality With A Ruler

The education reformer obsession of trying to evaluate teachers based upon student test scores has proven to be a failure, time and again.  Starting with Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Eli Broad,  and joined in by the mass media the education reformer holy grail was to link teacher ability with high-stakes testing.  However, the American Statistical Association found that a teacher only accounted for between 1% and 14% of a student's growth score. In fact, in the Sherri Lederman case the judge found the New York State high-stakes test to be "junk Science"!  Combine that with the rushed and faulty roll out of the age inappropriate Common Core standards and it sparked a parent uprising with 22% of the State's students "opting  out" of the test.

The only reason most states have a linking of a teacher's evaluation to a test is because of the 4 billion dollar bribe the Obama Administration dangled at states who were in a recession.  It was called "Race to the top".
To receive the money, New York State received 700 million dollars, the States had to have some sought of linkage between a student's test grade and a teacher's evaluation.  Therefore, to try to meet the federal  requirement and to make the teacher evaluation quantifiable, the State came up with a complicated mathematical equation called "Value Added Method" or VAM for short.  As in most states it was "garbage in, garbage out" and most educators referred to the VAM as "junk Science".  This was clearly exposed in the Lederman lawsuit. Despite the fact that the maximum a teacher's influence on a child's growth was 14%, New York State arbitrarily made it 40% and then raised it to 50% this year when Governor Andrew Cuomo was upset over the lack of "ineffective" teachers under the old rubric.

A severe backlash resulted by educators and with dropping ratings and under pressure from disgruntled parents, Governor Cuomo changed course 180 degrees and there is now a four year moratorium for grades 3 to 8 but not for high schools where Regents scores can still be used to determine a teacher's evaluation, at least until the first teacher gets an "ineffective".  Since  the inappropriate use of test scores in the Lederman case as precedent, I expect all those test-based "ineffective ratings" would be thrown out.   Because as everybody knows you can't measure quality with a ruler or a test score for that matter.

More Students "Opt Out" Of The Inappropriate New York State Common Core Tests.

New York State Education Department finally published the final "opt out" numbers and found that the "opt out" percentage increased by 2% statewide from 20% to 22% of the total student population eligible to take the tests.  The NYSED claimed it as flat but that statewide the almost 2% increase means that an additional 22,000 students refused to take the badly flawed tests.  That means a total of 240,000 students "opted out", up from 218,000 last year and 54,000 (5%) in 2014.

NYSED claimed only 21% actually "opted out" by receiving a parent's written statement but an additional 1% were absent without parental notification.  Last year NYSED did not breakdown the absences and therefore it made it seem that their was only a small increase in the "opt out" rate.

New York City increased their "opt out" rate from 1.5% to 2.4% (or 2% to 3% when absences are included).  The low "opt out" rate in New York City are due to three factors.  A minority and immigrant population, union leadership's non-support of the "opt out" movement, and a hostile DOE response to the "opt out" movement including threats to take disciplinary action against teachers who express support to their students and their parents.  This theme was common in all the major urban cities throughout the State.

By contrast, the mainly white middle class school districts, especially in Long Island were the epicenter of the "opt out" movement is obvious and where 52% of the total student population "opted out".  Listed below are the Long Island school districts with the highest "opt out" rates.

School District...............Percentage

Comsewogue......................83% 
Plainedge...........................79%
Rocky Point........................78%
Eastport Manor...................77%
Sayille...............................76%
Patchogue-Medford............76%
Bellmore-Merirck...............75%
East Islip...........................74%
Middle Country..................74%
Connetquot.......................73%
Sachem............................70%
Farmingdale......................70%
Hauppauge.......................70%


On the other hand, the lowest "opt out" rates were concentrated in low income minority neighborhoods in Long Island and are listed below

School District...............Percentage

Wyandanch..........................4% 
Hempstead...........................5%
Roosevelt.............................8% 
Elmont................................10%
Manhasset..........................12%
Central Islip........................15%


Will the "opt out" movement continue to expand?  Only if the movement can make more inroads in minority and immigrant communities who appear to be either afraid or uninterested in doing what's in the best interest of their child and the Common Core based inappropriate State tests are not in the student's best interest as its not age appropriate and just brings fear and loathing to their child.

Unity's Spin Zone Strikes Once Again. With Lies And Fabrications.

Reading the various opposition blogs, I was surprised that the Unity caucus actually criticized MORE/NAC and Solidarity for their support of the "opt out" movement and falsely claimed that caused the State to remove some schools from the rewards program of up to $75,000 (most got far less and most schools received nothing).  At the Delegate Assembly the Unity caucus distributed a flyer criticizing the opposition for supporting the "opt out" movement and costing reward money to some public schools (8 in all last year).  I would like to remind our disconnected union leadership it was last year's "opt out" by parents and students that caused Governor Andrew Cuomo to see his poll numbers plunge and to change course on his punitive teacher evaluation system.  Not union pressure. Moreover, combined with another year of large "opt out" numbers, the State Education Department and Regents have promised to radically change the teacher evaluation system, especially the secretive testing items.  Finally, with the NYSED loss of the Lederman lawsuit, look for a the Value Added Method to become more realistic, I hope.

Back to the misleading Unity caucus flyer.  An uninformed teacher might actually believe the spin that the Unity leadership was behind the scene in getting Governor Cuomo to change his position and that the "opt out" movement hurts the students and schools, both lies and fabrications. The "opt out" movement was the reason for the four year moratorium on the high stakes State testing for 3-8 grades, not the union pressure.  Remember, Michael Mulgrew threatened to punch you in the face for opposing his Common Core tests, does that sound like someone fighting for our rights or parroting the education deormer policy?  You pick.

For more information on the Unity caucus flyer, read Ed Notes online, NYC Educator, and the ICEUFT blogs for what the Unity spin machine actually states..

The Judge Rules, It's Junk Science!

Since the NYSED has developed a "student growth" algorithm back in 2012 to evaluate teachers, experts have stated that the State algorithm does not accurately represent student growth and should not be used to evaluate teachers.  Despite a ground breaking report showing that only 1% (high schools) to 14% ( K-2 Elementary schools) of a student's growth is affected by any one teacher, the State required 40% of a teacher's evaluation be based upon high-stakes tests.  Unless something changes, a teacher's evaluation will be based upon 50% of these high-stakes tests, starting next year, despite a four year moratorium on the use of the Common Core based high-stakes tests for grades 3-8.

The testing mania is supported by the education deformer organizations, charter schools, the media, Governor Cuomo, and yes, UFT President Michael Mulgrew who will punch you in the face if you oppose his Common Core based tests.  That's correct our own union President supports Common Core based high-stakes testing to evaluate teachers.  Of course, Mikey is not subject to these tests himself.

Fortunately, a Great Neck elementary school teacher decided to sue the NYSED on their growth algorithm and a judge handed down a decision that invalidated the 2013-14 evaluation for the teacher claiming it was "junk science" and not valid to determine a teachers effectiveness.   In fact, the judge called the growth model "arbitrary and capricious" and not based on good science.   The Answer Sheet article about the decision is a must read and can be found Here.  If you want to read the entire Sheri G. Lederman decision you can read it Here.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end in the test crazy education deformer effort to demonize teachers and hopefully we will see the pendulum swing back to teacher autonomy in the classroom and making learning fun again for the students.

The "Opt Out" Movement Continues To Grow On Long Island.

The parents and students of Long Island has resoundingly told the New York State Education Department, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the education reform organizations what they think of the State's Common Core based high-stakes testing by "opting out" of the tests.  Despite some cosmetic changes and a threat that the federal government would withhold funds to school districts, a majority of students on Long Island 52.8%, "opted out" of the Math test.  This is a higher percentage than last year when 46.5% "opted out".  The latest numbers show that 88,000 Long Island students "opted out" of the Math test, compared to 66,000 last year, an increase of 22,000 students who refused to take the high-stakes State Math test,

Just like last year and the English test last week the epicenter of the "opt out" movement is the solidly middle class white suburbs where the "opt out" rates were over 70%.  By contrast, the poor minority school districts saw the lowest "opt out" rates. However, even in the poor minority school districts the "opt out" rates were higher than the year before, strongly suggesting that the "opt out" movement is growing in strength and not confined to a select cohort.

Will the Governor, politicians, and the NYSED finally realize that the Common Core based State tests, which are age inappropriate, are wrong and dump them altogether?.  If not, look for the "opt out" movement to continue to gain strength and make the already invalid data from these high-stakes tests  meaningless in determining student growth.  Failure to heed parent, student, and teacher complaints has resulted in the "opt out" movement and the NYSED must start listening and not dictating to school districts on what's best for their schools if they want the "opt out" movement to disappear.

Listed below are the school districts with the highest "opt out" rates for Math.

District......................................"Opt Out"

Comsewogue...............................86.5%
Rocky Point..................................81.9%
Eastport-South Mano....................78.6%
Sayville.......................................78.5%
Connetquot.................................76.8%
Patchogue-Medford.....................76.3% 
Northport-East Northport.............75.7%
Bellmore-Merrick.........................75.3%

Overall there were 15 school districts in Suffolk and 4 in Nassau with "opt out" rates over 70%.

Long Island's "Opt Out" Numbers Are Higher Than Last Year.

In today's Newsday, the newspaper reported preliminary "opt out" numbers for most of the Long Island school districts and it came out to 51.6% for the English test (last year it was 42.6%) and I suspect that the Math will be even higher, based upon the previous year's numbers.  The same racial/Income disparity that appeared last year in the "opt out" numbers showed up again on Long Island with solidly White middle class school districts having the highest "opt out" rates, while low income minority school districts had the lowest "opt out" numbers.  Again the richest districts were between the two.

The highest "opt out" rates on Long Island.

Comsewogue........................85.6%
Sachem................................80.5%
Rocky Point...........................80.5%
Sayville................................77.0%
Connetquot..........................74.1%
Shoreham............................73.4%
Bellmore-Merrick..................72.5%

The lowest "opt out" rates on Long Island.

Elmont.................................8.8%
Roosevelt............................10.4%
Central Islip.........................11.6%
East Hampton......................14.0%

Note:  Hempstead and Wyandanch did not report their numbers.


The richest school district "opt out" rates.

Cold Spring Harbor.................18.5%
Great Neck.............................19.7%
Jericho..................................22.5%
Roslyn...................................38.7%
Oyster Bay............................43.3%
Syosset.................................47.0% 


 As the rest of New York State reports their "opt out" rates I expect that last year's 20% will be easily broken, especially after the Math tests next week.

DOE Threatens To Discipline Teachers Who Tell Parents That They Support The "Opt Out" Movement.

Once again the DOE has tried to intimidate teachers by threatening them with discipline if they convince parents to "opt out" their children from the Common Core based State tests starting tomorrow that will last for 6 days.  Three days this week for English and three days next week for Math. According to The New York Post , who supports the Common Core high-stakes tests, a DOE official said the following:

"Teachers may be subject to discipline: if they cross the line in prodding parents to opt out".

The DOE was responding to two schools where teachers wrote an email and a letter to their parents about the right to "opt out".  They are PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights and the Earth School. The email from PS 8 can be found in the New York Post article while the Earth School letter can be found on Ednotes online.

As far as I'm concerned, the Common Core based high-stakes state tests are too long (6 hours over three days for each test) and are not age appropriate where only 1 out of 3 are deemed proficient.  Until New York State eliminates or drastically shortens the test to  1 to 2 hours for the tests, I believe "opting out" is an appropriate response for parents concerned about these tests..