“Our Special Test”
A clarification: The superintendent finally stepped down from her spot on the board of directors of NWEA last week after months of protests from parents and other concerned community members who believed that there was a conflict of interest with her serving on the board that was contracted by Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to provide the MAP test.
The superintendent, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson, did not divulge her position on the NWEA board during negotiations with NWEA in acquiring the multi-million dollar license to use the MAP test. That was discovered later and brought to light by a member of the SPS community. She then had to make a statement to the board declaring that she was on the board of directors.
Our school board members didn’t seem to have a problem with it but the public did. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why five of the school board directors were part of a recall attempt last month. It’s probably also one of the reasons that the state audit found our school board members lacking in adequate oversight of the superintendent.
The superintendent is still on the Broad Foundation’s Board of Directors right along with Michelle Rhee so I suppose she can seek solace in that. Is that a conflict of interest? Many of us think that it is absolutely a conflict of interest but the school board doesn’t think so and how could they? They have been having retreats with Broad staff and reading books recommended by the Broad Foundation.
The Alliance for Education has been paying for these school board retreats. And where does the Alliance get its’ money from?— the Gates and the Broads.
That’s why I sometimes refer to the Broad as the borg.
Dora
Update October 18, 2010
I received word last night that Dr. Goodloe-Johnson’s name is no longer listed on the Broad Board of Directors. The last time that her name was viewed on the list was no more than 10 days ago.
We know that she has been on the Board of Directors for at least two years, when we first discovered that information.
There is a lot of speculation as to why this sudden change but at this time we can only guess.
Thoughts?
Seattle Education 
I had heard about the animal sounds. The younger students, those in kindergarten and first grade, like to hear the animal sounds that some of the answers make when you press a certain button so that’s what they do, they keep pressing the button.
Testing kindergarten students up through 2nd grade to me is ludicrous. There is nothing to be gained from that and it only seems like a form of indoctrination into standardized testing.
Also, libraries as at Lowell were closed for almost a month because of the MAP testing and then the make- up testing for those students who missed the first go-round. So what’s more important, testing or reading? I think that we are losing our sense of priorities at this point. Librarians now have to deal with computer glitches during the testing, answer questions and basically give up their library services to proctor a test that is now given three times a year.
Between this and the new WASL, exactly where are the teachers to find the time to teach? After the MAP test, each teacher receives a ream of paperwork on each student with all sorts of statistics and recommendations on how to best provide each student with the individualized preparation to do better on the next test. So then it came become a cycle of testing, teaching to the test and then testing again.
Where is the space to learn, explore, be creative in finding solutions to challenges and an opportunity to develop critical thinking skills?
If this idea of ed-reform continues, the opportunity to think and make connections on a broader scale intellectually will only happen in private schools or in classrooms where teachers are brave enough to ignore the pressure placed on them to have their students perform to a test.
But, if seniority is eliminated from the system, as the ed reformists would like to see happen, then those experienced teachers who know how to teach and know a better way for their students could be easily fired without the safety of a seniority system to protect them from being fired without just cause.
It’s like 1984 has arrived within our public school system.
Dora
those bears have a great rap about the crap MAP test.