Comments for Bottom Up Education

Comment on Achievement First is racist. But, who isn’t? by Racism and Corporate Reform | Rhode Island Red Teacher

Racism and Corporate Reform | Rhode Island Red Teacher — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:46:23 +0000

[...] the RIDE hearings on Achievement First last month. Coming out of those hearings, Keith Catone wrote a brilliant piece on Achievement First and racism. I highly recommend you read it immediately, and then come back to [...]

Comment on Tenure Decision Continues a Disturbing Pattern at Harvard by Lois Weiner

Lois Weiner — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:04:40 +0000

HGSE’s rejection of Mark Warren is of a piece with its invitation to Governor Christie, as I explain in my piece for New Politics, http://newpol.org/node/455

Comment on A New Saga: Changing the HS Regs in RI by K Cat

K Cat — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:12:43 +0000

It is true that the NECAP is only one of three graduation requirements, and it has been since the regs were rewritten in 2008. The issue now is that instead of the three requirements–NECAP, coursework, performance based assessment–being looked at together, holistically, they are each treated as discrete requirements. In other words, a student can be denied a diploma on the sole basis of her or his NECAP scores. This change, in my opinion, places undue emphasis on the NECAP as a high stakes test, a function for which it was not designed.

Comment on A New Saga: Changing the HS Regs in RI by MissJDG

MissJDG — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:10:56 +0000

The NECAP test is not the only component of the HS regulations. They are adding the NECAP to the minimums that districts have already set. I think the public is placing too much emphasis on NECAP. High school is not the first place RI students see the NECAP test, which is a summative assessment. RIDE & RI districts have other formative assessments that are used to inform instruction & learning, NOT just the NECAP. Formative assessments inform how students will perform on the summative assessment. However, the timing of the common core standards and assessments that are aligned to those should be of concern to the public because that’s what will tie curriculum, instruction, & assessment in a meaningful way.

And why should a student who achieved completion of AP courses earn the same diploma as a student who took the minimum required courses? That diploma would signal the same message to employers when that is not the case. If course levels are the same, as students learn and achieve to different heights, why shouldn’t their diploma reflect that? With that said, there needs to be a minimum set so that students don’t decide to take the easy way out. Where would that leave them? The economy?

Instead of pulling from research on each individual component of the new HS regulations because educators can run circles around achievement tests/assessments, please look at the research by CEP on High School Exit Exams as well as Tiered Diploma Systems.

Comment on KRS-One, Nas, Jay-Z and Race to the Top! by SeanFelder

SeanFelder — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:52:35 +0000

Listen the hiphop game has changed completely.I remember watching KRS One,Tribe Called Quest,Das EFX,NWA,Eric B and Rakim 20 years ago spitting lyrics.These MC”s today can’t hang plus no diversity or love of the culture.Most of them are garbage and not worth checking out.NYC is and will always be the home of rap music.Even though Atlanta got some legendary MC”s too like Outkast,Ludricous,T.I.

Comment on An RI Story: Understanding Race to the Top (Part 4 of ?) by An RI Story: Understanding Race to the Top (Part 6 of ?) « Bottom Up Education

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:15:42 +0000

[...] celebratory post, I would like to continue logging my criticisms of RTTT. A previous RTTT post (Part 4) outlined the various point values of the initiative’s major priority areas and highlighted [...]

Comment on An RI Story: Understanding Race to the Top (Part 5 of ?) by Tom Hoffman

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:36:51 +0000

Trying to decide what you hope should happen with RttT is a losing proposition — either way there is no reason to think the changes coming to RI are going to be “progressive” either politically or educationally.

Comment on An RI Story: Understanding Race to the Top (Part 5 of ?) by antiarne

antiarne — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:27:54 +0000

Thanks Randall…as long as folks keep telling me they enjoy reading it, then I’ll keep trying to find time to write stuff!

Comment on An RI Story: Understanding Race to the Top (Part 5 of ?) by Randall

Randall — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:22:25 +0000

Had this blog forwarded to me by an HGSE friend of yours…just wanted to say that I think you’re doing an outstanding job with it, and I really enjoy reading your balanced, but critical takes on RttT. Keep up the good work–

Randall

Comment on Central Falls, Statistics, Expectations, and Support by antiarne

antiarne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:58:28 +0000

Thanks for this clarification Tom. When I saw the redistribution of state dollars proposed by the current RIDE funding formula, I noticed that Central Falls would receive less money than they do currently. I thought back to my parenthetical musing in this post, but forgot to correct it. Overall, I think my point still stands though…teachers need to be properly supported (and demand such support) before being held accountable for significant gains in student achievement.