9486 in the collection
Work on tests means cash for states Education chief explains program
Ohanian Comment: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan came to the Triangle on Sunday with a promise of $350 million for states to work on establishing national standardized tests. And what are WE doing to stop him??
I can't come to grips with how enraged I am.
For starters, I'm contacting the local NPR station(s), asking why they remain so silent on education--except when they are pushing corporate agendas. I am explaining why my donations stop NOW.
I have written the governor and the state commissioner--no answer from either.
I have written my local state legislator--no answer.
I think the next step has to be to camp out in their offices.
And I'm going to write a bunch of op eds.
We are on the verge of having our curriculum handed to us from Achieve and its Business Roundtable partners. Then it's on to the national test. The Democrats are pushing through what the Republicans couldn't manage.
Stay tuned.
By Lynn Bonner
CARY -- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan came to the Triangle on Sunday with a promise of $350 million for states to work on establishing national standardized tests that will allow students from around the country see how they stack up against each other and with their counterparts around the globe.
The states have taken a first step, with 46 states, including North Carolina, agreeing to develop standards in English and mathematics that all high school students should meet to make them ready for college and work. The states will also develop basic grade-by-grade and course-by-course standards.
Duncan spoke at a governors' meeting sponsored by the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.
A new path
If the states adopt national standardized tests, they would be departing significantly from existing practice. For the most part, individual states decide what children within their borders should learn and how much they need to know to earn high school diplomas.
The $350 million will come out of a special $5 billion fund from the federal stimulus package that aims to reward states for educational innovations.
The aim is to ease the financial burden of states that want to move from common standards to common tests.
Variability in curriculum and testing has made it hard for states to know how students across the nation compare to one another, much less how well they are keeping pace with other industrialized nations.
"We have too many standards," said Dane Linn, director of education at the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. "Students are expected to know a little about everything rather than a lot about the most essential knowledge and skills."
The stimulus package Congress approved in January included about $100 billion for education, money for everything from college scholarships and pre-school to keeping teachers employed.
Duncan's office billed his Cary speech as one in a series leading to the states applying for money. North Carolina has a large committee talking about what could go into the state's proposal, said state Superintendent for Public Instruction June Atkinson.
The awards will be based on how states are doing in several categories: recruiting teachers and keeping them on the job; developing a comprehensive system for student information; improving low-performing schools; and developing student standards that can be measured against other nations' requirements.
Preference will go to states that do not limit the number of charter schools they allow or those that will agree to lift their charter school caps.
"In too many places we have a race to the bottom," Duncan said in an interview. "We want to invest heavily in states willing to push the envelope."
— Lynn Bonner
The News & Observer
2008-06-15
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1569275.html
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