This resolution was supported, unanimously, by the Vacaville Teachers Association Representative Council on February 5th, 2013.

THE VACAVILLE TEACHER ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS THE TEACHERS AT GARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE HIGH STAKES STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE OVERUSED AND OVERRATED

THE USE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS IS SPREADING

To fulfill the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation, schools in all 50 states administer standardized tests to students, often beginning in third grade, in reading and math. Now, in response to the demands of Race to the Top and the trend toward greater “accountability” in education, states are developing even more tests for more subjects. Standardized tests, once used primarily to assess student learning, have now become the main instrument for the high-stakes evaluation of teachers, administrators, and even entire schools and school systems.

TESTS CONSUME A GREAT DEAL OF TIME AND MONEY

Standardized testing is consuming an ever-growing proportion of education budgets nationwide. The total price tag may be nearly two billion dollars.  Texas alone spent, last year, $90 million on standardized testing.  These tests are not a one hour or one day affair, but now can swallow up whole weeks of classroom time. In Chicago, some students must complete 13 standardized tests each year.

TESTING HURTS STUDENTS

In the name of “raising standards” the growth of high stakes standardized testing has effectively lowered them. As the stakes for standardized tests are raised higher and higher, administrators and teachers have been forced to spend less time on arts, sciences, social studies, and physical education, and more time on tested subjects. The pressure to prepare students for standardized exams forces teachers to narrow instruction to only that material which will be tested. With the fate of whole schools and school systems at stake, cheating scandals have flourished, exposing many reform “miracles” in the process. Worse, focusing so much energy on testing undermines the intrinsic value of teaching and learning, and makes it more difficult for teachers and students to pursue authentic teaching and learning experiences.

RESEARCH DOES NOT SUPPORT USING TESTS TO EVALUATE TEACHERS 

As a means of assessing student learning, standardized tests are limited. No student’s intellectual process can be reduced to a single number. As a means of assessing teachers, these results are even more problematic. Research suggests that much of the variability in standardized test results is attributable to factors OTHER than the teacher. So-called “value-added” models for teacher evaluation have a large margin of error, and are not reliable measures of teacher performance.

EDUCATORS ARE TAKING A STAND FOR AUTHENTIC TEACHING AND LEARNING

In a nearly unanimous vote, the staff at Garfield High school in Seattle decided to refuse to administer the district’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. Research has shown that this test has no significant impact on reading scores. While serving other low-stakes district purposes in the Seattle Public Schools, it is only used as a high-stakes measure for teachers, even though the test’s developers (the Northwest Evaluation Association) have noted the inappropriateness of using tests for such evaluations. In taking this action, the educators at Garfield High School have struck a blow against the overuse and misuse of standardized tests, and deserve support.

We, the Vacaville Teachers Association, stand with these brave teachers and against the growing standardized testing industrial complex.

By Ernest Kimme/ – TheReporter.Com

I find it so irritating when you know in advance that you will despise a person, yet when you finally meet them, they turn out to be articulate and funny and they make a lot of sense.
Michelle Rhee led the Washington, D.C., schools for three turbulent years. The schools were in bad shape. Only 50 percent of students graduated, most students were at least one grade level behind, and the district was burning through money.
Her job was to turn things around, and she was brutal. She immediately fired 36 poorly performing principals, 120 office staff, and closed 23 schools. She then turned to the teachers: Good teachers (love those standardized tests!) got big bonuses. Poor teachers — 250 of them — were fired.
She got results. Test scores in most subjects improved, graduation rates improved and enrollment increased.
However, people — even if they say they want it — do not like rapid change.
The teachers union was incensed. Parents near the closed schools were frustrated. Community leaders organized protests about her authoritarian style. In 2010, she was fired.
I listened to her as part of the Sacramento Speakers Series (highly recommended). She started by saying that teachers are the most important part of our education system. Then she asked, who speaks for the students in those classes with poor teachers?
She has started StudentsFirst, advocating education reform. She has pushed for weaker tenure laws, to make it easier to get rid of poor teachers. She believes teachers should be evaluated in many ways, including student scores on standardized tests.
Most controversially, she has spoken in favor of vouchers. Why, she asks, should a child be denied a good education, simply because the nearest good school happens to be private? Waiting for poor teachers to improve or mediocre schools to improve simply means, in her view, that those children spend several years getting a sub-par education.
It is hard to disagree with her. She is charming and sensical. She is a mother concerned about her children. She simply wants her children — as do we all — to have the best teachers and the best schools.
The devil is in the details. For example, we know that standardized tests do not paint a complete picture of a student’s learning. Yet Ms. Rhee used those scores to determine good and bad teachers.
So how do you identify good teachers? What are good teaching practices? What do good principals do? How do students really learn? What part do parents have in their student’s education?
There are real, fact-based answers to all of these questions, but we rarely see them. They are too occluded by opinions, half-truths and politics, even from charming and articulate mothers.

Brothers and Sisters:

The Washington Teachers Association in West Sacramento is in a fight for its life! Charter advocate and West Sacramento Mayor, Christopher Cabaldon, and anti-teacher, anti-union advocate, Michelle Rhee, are fielding a candidate (Frank Castillo, Communications Director for Students First) to run for Washington Unified School Board in West Sacramento. This election could give them and their agenda control of the board! It’s currently a 2-2 split between teacher-friendly members and Cabaldon/Rhee advocates.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Ballots go out this week, and we are having a campaign kick-off walk this Saturday. Please join us for the walk and inform your members of the event. We need a flood of teachers and public school advocates on the street. I have included a side-by-side flier we are using in our internal organizing that might be helpful to you.

PLEASE RSVP SO WE HAVE ENOUGH BBQ FOR EVERYBODY
Call WTA PAC Chair, Don Stauffer at (916) 371-0882 to get involved or email at wtateachers@sbcglobal.net!

Would you like to meet school board trustees David McCallum, Sherie Mahlberg, Michael Kitzes and/or Teri Nutt tomorrow? Stop by Blondies Bar and Grill at 555 Main Street (the old Creekside Cafe) to share what’s on your mind. The meeting will follow our rep council, so, building reps, just hang around!

Each member’s January pay warrant should have retroactive pay on it.

Base salaries were cut by 3.26% starting in July for 12-month pay and starting in September for 10-month pay.

With the passage of Proposition 30, our contract reverted back to a single furlough day instead of six.

Therefore, base salaries should only be cut by .55%. You should see a retroactive amount equal to 2.71% of your monthly base salary (multiplied by 6 months for 12-month pay, multiplied by 4 months for 10-month pay) on your pay warrant.

Example:  Step 19, BA+75, $68013 yearly salary

12-month pay:  $68013 divided by 12 multiplied by .0271 multiplied by 6 = $922

10-month pay:  $68013 divided by 10 multiplied by .0271 multiplied by 4 = $737

The calculations for those paid on different Schedules are slightly different because of the different number of workdays for each job.