CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS to Educational Courage: Resisting the Ambush of Public
Education
Two distinguished educators from New
York are soliciting personal narratives, poems, analyses, and short stories that
will highlight the dramatic changes in public education since the No Child Left
Behind Act. Sections of the book will include the following:
“Is this what we call ‘education'”?
“I Won’t Be a Part of This”! : Educators, Parents, Students and Community
Members Resist
Resisting by Working in the Cracks: Creating Spaces to Teach
Authentically
“Not My Voice Alone”: Organizing to Reclaim Public Education
Deadline for submission of proposals is Sept. 1, 2008. Deadline for pieces is
November 1, 2008. For more information see
Call for Contributors.
Help document the impact of high stakes tests on students' and others'
lives.
We are looking for teachers, parents,
guidance counselors, school nurses, or anyone else who has firsthand experiences
that can help us document as richly as possible the experience of high stakes
testing in schools.
If you have stories you can share with us, we ask you to participate in a very
short and completely anonymous survey. It should take about ten minutes--perhaps
more if you have a lot to say.
Interested school personnel please go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=351423260023
Interested parents please go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=246153266525
If you know of anyone else who may have pertinent experience to contribute
please direct them to these websites.
Thank you for your help.
Peter Johnston (Professor, State University of New York at Albany)
Kathy Champeau (Reading Specialist,
Wisconsin State Reading Association).
Participate in a Poll
A new poll is up on the FCAR
Forum Yahoo space: "Would you support a well-planned, well-organized statewide
boycott of FCAT in 2008 by parents, students, teachers, and concerned citizens?"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FCARFORUM/polls
Sign a Petition Calling for the
Dismantling of NCLB
http://www.petitiononline.com/1teacher/petition.html
By a unanimous vote, the Board of Directors of the Florida Coalition for
Assessment Reform has signed on as an organizational partner of the Educator
Roundtable.
Request To See Your Child's Scored FCAT Answer Sheet And Test Booklets
In light of the news about the qualifications (or lack thereof) of the temp
workers who score the FCAT essay and short answer items, it's more important
than ever for parents to be able to examine their children's graded tests. A
federal law titled Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA,
recognizes the right of parents to inspect and review "education records," and a
letter from the U.S. Department of Education establishes that such records
include state assessments. Last year the Office of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction on Washington state relied on FERPA in allowing parents access to
state assessments.
FCAR activist Lara McKnight and other parents have made written requests to
the Department if Education, citing FERPA, to examine their children's tests.
The DOE has denied the requests so far, claiming that a Florida appeals court
decision in 2003 makes the requested action illegal--a disingenuous response at
best, since DOE appealed the lower court decision in favor of parental access.
It isn't that the Florida DOE can't allow you to see your children's tests;
rather, they choose to deny you that right.
A Florida Department of Education memo online at
http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3455/k12_05_176memo.pdf
includes the letter from the U.S. Department of Education on page 3.
For your convenience a
sample letter
for making a request to inspect and review your child's scored FCATs is on the
FCAR web site. Of course you're free to customize the letter. We advise that you
send your request by certified mail, with return receipt request (total cost,
$4.64, including stamp).
Click for FCAR's news release of June
26, 2006 in Word®
or PDF formats.
Contact Gloria Pipkin at
gpipkin@knology.net or call her at 850-265-6438 if you have questions -- or
responses to share.
Click here for more about Truth in Testing.
Speak Up For Nebraska
Earlier this summer Nebraska's
innovative state assessment program -- the only one that doesn't reply on a
state-imposed test -- was rejected by the U.S. Department of Education. Below is
Nebraskan Chris Gallagher's response to queries about how we can help.
Colleagues:
Several of you have asked me how you might help as the Nebraska Department of
Education continues to negotiate with the feds over our local assessment system.
Below is a contact list. Even a very short letter from you (or a group you
represent) expressing support for Nebraska's School-based,Teacher-led Assessment
and Reporting System (STARS) and dismay at the feds' decision to label it
"non-approved" would help. Don't be shy about sending correspondence straight to
the feds themselves; perhaps the most important outcome of this exercise is that
they get the message that people are paying attention.
Thanks,
Chris Gallagher
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
USDOE:
Margaret Spellings, Secretary
United States Department of Education
202-401-0048 (fax)
202-205-0310 (fax)
Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov
Ray Simon, Deputy Secretary
United States Department of Education
Ray.Simon@ed.gov
Dr. Henry Johnson, Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education United States Department of
Education
202-260-7764 (fax)
202-205-0310 (fax)
Henry.Johnson@ed.gov
NEBRASKA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION:
amy_tejral@bennelson.senate.gov
(Ben Nelson)
jill_konz@hagel.senate.gov (Chuck Hagel)
jocelyn.bond@mail.house.gov
(Jeff Fortenberry) erin.duncan@mail.house.gov
(Tom Osbourne) caroline.baird@mail.house.gov
(Lee Terry)
GOVERNOR
Dave Heineman, Governor
State of Nebraska
Gov.heineman@gov.ne.gov
NE LEGISLATURE
Senator Ron Raikes, Chair
Education Committee
Nebraska Legislature
rraikes@unicam.state.ne.us
Petition for Effective Education Reform
Print the petition,
and collect signatures of parents, teachers, and other citizens who oppose
mandatory FCAT-based grade retention. We are trying to have as many petitions as
possible before the start of the legislative session. The Florida Legislature
will convene for the 2006 Regular Session on Tuesday, March 7, 2006. Mail completed petitions to FCAR at the
address at the bottom of the petition, or send them to Barbara Barry, 262
Balfour Drive, Winter Park, FL 32792.
A Broward parent petitions Jeb Bush
and the legislature to repeal the FCAT. You can join her:
http://www.petitiononline.com/FailFCAT/petition.html
An Open Letter to Federal and State Legislators
By Marion Brady
Read Marion Brady's letter, and then,
if so moved, sign his petition.
