Posted on 05/28/2013 9:13:04 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
As parents in several states have stood up against standardized education such as Common Core and CSCOPE, one teacher in the Chicago area (Highland Park) has taken a similar (although not necessarily directly related) stand that is now going viral.
Last week, 15-year teaching veteran Ellie Rubenstein posted a 10-minute YouTube video where she decried the state of test-centric eduction after the district she was working in said it was going to be transferring her and several other teachers– a move she says came because those teachers were vocal about their issues and one she says the district has attributed to concerns over the school’s “poor climate.”
“This is a total kangaroo court, a retaliation against four teachers who are quite vocal in advocating for their children,” Rubenstein said in an interview last week. “We are at the forefront of speaking our minds and at the forefront of advocating for our students. We are all being falsely accused by the administration and some colleagues of doing things we have never done, and saying things we have never said.”
Frustrated and out of options, Rubenstein decided to resign instead of face the transfer — and she did it in a way that has garnered over 350,000 views.
Among her concerns that have now gone viral: •“I have experienced the depressing, gradual downfall and misdirection of education that has slowly eaten away at my love of teaching.” •“The emphasis in eduction has shifted from fostering academic and personal growth in both students and teachers, to demanding uniformity and conformity.” •“Raising students’ test scores on standardized tests is now the only goal, and in order to achieve it the creativity, flexibility and spontaneity … have been eliminated.” •“Everything I loved about teaching is extinct.” •“Curriculum is mandated. … The classroom teacher is no longer trusted or in control of what, when, or how she teaches.” •She says complaint forms and write-ups are being used as tools to target teachers and keep them as “yes men,” instead of being used to get rid of poor educators — and she even takes a shot at the union.
Celebrate Diversity in Education, Implement Centralized Stanardized National Control over all School Planning!!!
Diversity in Everything,
Except Thought!!!!
Nothing says Diversity like demanding all the states do the exact same thing.
It's impossible to get rid of a bad teacher. And students were graduating without even basic skills in math, writing, and reading comprehension.
Rather than taking ownership of the problem and dealing with problem teachers, the teacher's unions used it as a vehicle to get more money -- for the same poor outcome.
Standardized testing is nothing but a last-ditch effort to hold teachers accountable. Until they become accountable on their own, they will have to deal with the tests.
Totally agree with your last point. Teachers don’t seem to want to propose an actual, verifiable, and repeatable method for assessing the quality of their work. Test scores aren’t perfect, but they are a way of measuring what someone knows/doesn’t know. They aren’t perfect, but they are what we have.
That being said, I learned more useful math in an 8th grade class totally geared to smoking the Catholic High School Entrance Test than I learned in the following high school and 2 college math classes I took afterwards.
“Diversity in Everything,
Except Thought!!!!”
...and action.
: /
Brings to mind a favorite G.Washington quote -
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
Dear Lord, give us strength.
Tatt
Nothing like a little pressure to focus the mind....
Well, obviously the described abuses of the school are wrong, if true. But the education system wasn’t working before, either.
I do think schools should have some accountability and that includes testing. Class valedictorians were showing up at 4 year universities unable to write at a high school level - I know because I tutored them to help prepare them for college level English classes. They felt like it was a hoax because they were at the top of their class in high school, straight A’s.
When schools began using graduation exams, cries of racism emerged along with the statistics - fewer Hispanics and African Americans were graduating. Yet when students graduated regardless of whether they could read or write, cries of racism emerged when statistics revealed an obvious difference in economic outcome for school graduates; if they all graduated from high school, why were minorities making less money? Instead of correctly identifying differences in education levels attained, the difference was attributed to racism.
I don’t want schools to abuse teachers. I don’t like Common Core. But the arguments against them are no different from the arguments fielded against any attempts at accountability in decades gone by.
I used to read Education Weekly every week. Every issue featured a “new” education approach on the cover. Then the following week that approach would drop from the radar, never to be heard of again (with the exception of scandal) and a “new” approach to educating students would replace it on the cover. Child centered education (self-esteem focused) wasn’t working. I don’t think testing is the problem; any tool employed by teachers can likewise be abused by administration.
It’s more like “Common Whore” than Common Core.
The problem is trying to get apples from a persimmon tree. Public education is a failed concept. Education is a moral exercise. Once that’s understood you’re left with the question: Whose morals are taught? Public education must either be based on a cacophony of divergent moralities by which nothing can be learned, or based on one neglecting all others. That one moral code is Humanism, but in a republic, the government’s established religion will constantly be under siege. Common Core will end all of that once and for all, and public education will be 100% dedicated to propping up the regime. Once the regime acquires a taste for that, they’ll no longer tolerate any other form of education.
When that happens, borrowing from the sagacious Ted Nugent, I’ll be dead or in prison.
The path ahead....needs to be a simplified tests that a 10th grader can take, and if successful...they are graduated there on the spot, and at sixteen, move onto local community college. We could take ten percent of the kids and move them on easily. Repeat the same situation in the eleventh grade, and thirty percent of them would likely move on. We could then concentrate on the punks who have issues and simply get them to a point of being acceptable to graduate.
these educational establishment NEA - CTA Koolaid types are like beings from another planet--dressed in Karl Marx tee shirts...
Only an idiot or liberal would voluntarily send their child to a public school.
TRANSFER HER TO KONG ISLAND!
I’m always amazed how sincere, dedicated conservatives seek to reform and reform the most Marxist institution in our country’s history instead of demolishing it.
Teachers often like to sound high-minded when it comes to talking about actual results. I don't care if you're "fostering a love of learning" if the kids in your class aren't reading at grade-level. Less "fostering" and more "reading, writing and rithmetic."
“Only an idiot or liberal would voluntarily send their child to a public school.”
Most libs I know, that can afford to, send their kids to private schools.
That’s true, but the rote learning of facts must all be focused on achieving a moral goal. For a Christian, all education must be designed to conform us into the image of Christ. Government schools can’t do that.
For years they have sat on their fat asses spewing Marxism and passing dummies on to the next grade without knowing anything.
After 12 years they hand the illiterates a diploma and go on vacation for 3 months.
I'd fire every public school teacher, outlaw their union, and start from scratch.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.