Comments on: Duncan Puts Up a Three-Pointer http://www.quickanded.com/2009/02/duncan-shoots-three-pointer.html The Quick and the Ed is an education blog published by Education Sector, an independent think tank in Washington D.C. The Quick and the Ed offers in-depth analysis on the latest in education policy and research. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:12:31 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 hourly 1 By: Anonymous http://www.quickanded.com/2009/02/duncan-shoots-three-pointer.html/comment-page-1#comment-736 Anonymous Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:05:00 +0000 http://www.quickanded.com/wordpress/2009/02/duncan-puts-up-a-three-pointer.html#comment-736 NCLB was a waste of time and money. Even state standards' testing is a waste of time and money. It has gotten us nowhere. We are still in the same dilemma: lack of skills for jobs in the real world. American companies have to seek abroad to fill job positions in our own country.<br/>NCLB and state testing has ruined great teaching that had been in place before emphasis was placed on testing. If you are prepping your students for a test for the majority of your teaching time, you aren't teaching what is important - real learning in all areas, not just rote learning for the test. NCLB was a waste of time and money. Even state standards’ testing is a waste of time and money. It has gotten us nowhere. We are still in the same dilemma: lack of skills for jobs in the real world. American companies have to seek abroad to fill job positions in our own country.
NCLB and state testing has ruined great teaching that had been in place before emphasis was placed on testing. If you are prepping your students for a test for the majority of your teaching time, you aren’t teaching what is important – real learning in all areas, not just rote learning for the test.

]]> By: john thompson http://www.quickanded.com/2009/02/duncan-shoots-three-pointer.html/comment-page-1#comment-735 john thompson Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:24:00 +0000 http://www.quickanded.com/wordpress/2009/02/duncan-puts-up-a-three-pointer.html#comment-735 If the message is so clear, maybe you can clear up his position. I haven't heard his position on the data-driven accountability systems that are now functioning. I support accountability, but the data-driven accountability schemes under discussion are the antithesis of accountability. You know how primitive vlaue added models are, to name just one example.<br/><br/>If Duncan isn't favoring not ready for prime time schemes, then he won't be getting opposition from unions, Dems, and progressive educators. If he simply adopts Diane Ravitch's proposal, he'll get plenty of support across the political spectrum. In fact, I would think that the real proponents of accountability would want him to repudiate existing models. Your work gives plenty of rationale for investing in the future systems - systems that you have described. <br/><br/>I can't see how we can make much progress on real accountability, though, as long as long as we are retaining accountability system that resemble NCLB-type systems. We can say what we want, but as long as accountability models sound like they are comparable to NCLB type systems, we are incentivizing test prep, curriculum narrowing, rote instruction, and the same old failures. I wish it weren't so, but I don't see how Duncan can lead a leap into the 21st century without repudiating the models that gave us a leap back to Taylorism. If the message is so clear, maybe you can clear up his position. I haven’t heard his position on the data-driven accountability systems that are now functioning. I support accountability, but the data-driven accountability schemes under discussion are the antithesis of accountability. You know how primitive vlaue added models are, to name just one example.

If Duncan isn’t favoring not ready for prime time schemes, then he won’t be getting opposition from unions, Dems, and progressive educators. If he simply adopts Diane Ravitch’s proposal, he’ll get plenty of support across the political spectrum. In fact, I would think that the real proponents of accountability would want him to repudiate existing models. Your work gives plenty of rationale for investing in the future systems – systems that you have described.

I can’t see how we can make much progress on real accountability, though, as long as long as we are retaining accountability system that resemble NCLB-type systems. We can say what we want, but as long as accountability models sound like they are comparable to NCLB type systems, we are incentivizing test prep, curriculum narrowing, rote instruction, and the same old failures. I wish it weren’t so, but I don’t see how Duncan can lead a leap into the 21st century without repudiating the models that gave us a leap back to Taylorism.

]]>