I had to write this blog after receiving this letter to Superintendents from Georgia Superintendent John D. Barge, Ed.D. I will add the exact link to the letter as soon as I am able to find it, but for now, I am copying the entirety of the letter here below, followed by the letter Janet Barresi sent to Superintendents in Oklahoma.
My thesis; Achieve has figured out Common
Core opponents have a case for federal involvement in testing with the
argument that PARCC received federal funding to create the tests and now
the feds want to 'help' decide what will be on the tests.
What's the best way
to nullify the argument? Have states leave PARCC and 'develop their own
state standards'.
Okay but who will they use for Common Core tests then? McGraw Hill? Pearson?
Both companies are part of the Common Core machine - both SELL Common
Core tests - both are private organizations not having received money
from ARRA but that have massive lobbying efforts across the nation. As I've said before; THIS IS A
SHELL GAME and the American public is being played. When
you look at the letters from TWO SEPARATE state superintendents in TWO SEPARATE states
and they are so similar you can pick out common themes and wording? You
have an orchestrated event, most probably from Achieve - which has an
entire website called the
Future Ready Project to help states 'sell' the
standards. States get pushback on the Core, and instead of governors and/or state superintendents meeting the arguments head on in their own states - locally - they go to Achieve to get propaganda to 'sell' their citizenry on their education 'reform' measures (Common Core/Testing/TLE). The term "state led" is meant to mean "local", but as is obvious, Common Core is not a local phenomena, but a nationally coordinated event geared toward promulgating progressive education and crony capitalism by providing more clients for the private corporations pushing the standards.
Dear Superintendents,
Earlier
today, I, along with Governor Deal and our State Board Chair, Barbara
Hampton, advised the leadership of the PARCC Governing Board that the
state of Georgia is withdrawing from the consortium and as such, we will
not administer the PARCC assessments in 2014-2015. Georgia will be
pursuing other options for developing our own state assessments in
English language arts and math at the elementary, middle and high school
levels. We will continue to work with Georgia educators, as we have in
the past, to reconfigure and/or redevelop our state assessments to
reflect the instructional focus and expectations inherent in our
rigorous state standards in language arts and math. This is not a suspension of the implementation of the CCGPS in language arts and math.
After
talking with district superintendents, administrators, teachers,
parents, lawmakers, and members of many communities, I believe this is
the best decision for Georgia’s students. Relative to assessment, our
paramount goal is to deliver high-quality instruments. It is critical
that these instruments provide key information about student learning
and contribute to the ongoing work of improving the educational
opportunities for each student.
The
Georgia Department of Education estimates that several million dollars
in savings will be realized, annually, by developing our own
assessments. The cost estimates for PARCC will be released later today,
and these costs far exceed what Georgia can afford.
As
we have discussed the technology requirements for PARCC, we have
realized that a majority of our districts are not ready for full-scale,
online assessments across all grades. The state does not currently have
the technology infrastructure or sufficient hardware to handle the test
administration demands of PARCC, which include technology- enhanced
test items.
While
any new test Georgia develops will require greater capacity, allowing
for online administration, we will be in the position to work with
districts to establish the timeline. This is important, as many
districts need greater bandwidth, improved connectivity, and more
devices (i.e., hardware) to handle not only assessment administration
but day to day instructional requirements.
Developing
our own assessments also will allow Georgia to determine the amount of
time our students spend testing. Based on current estimates, PARCC
anticipates up to 10 hours of student engagement, through multiple test
sessions conducted across two testing windows in language arts and
mathematics alone. I am optimistic that Georgia’s tests will require
significantly less time for these two content areas, within a single
window, and still provide high-quality information about student
learning.
Finally,
and arguably the most important consideration, adopting the PARCC
assessment would limit the ability of Georgia to make adjustments or
changes to our standards as we see fit. If Georgia educators determine
that certain standards need to be shifted or revised, we would run the
risk of no longer being aligned with the PARCC assessment. Such
misalignment would put our students at a disadvantage.
As we begin to build new assessments, please note that our Georgia assessments:
· will be aligned to the math and English language arts CCGPS;
· will be of high-quality and rigorous;
· will be developed for students in grades 3 through 8 and high school;
· will be reviewed by Georgia teachers;
· will require significantly less time to administer than the PARCC assessments;
· will be administered within a single testing window;
· will be offered in both computer- and paper-based formats; and
· will include a variety of item types, such as performance-based and multiple-choice items.
I
am confident that Georgia can use the information learned from our
involvement in PARCC as we develop new tests. We are grateful to
Georgia educators who have worked hard to help develop our standards and
assessments. We look forward to continuing to work with them to
develop a new assessment system for our state.
As
we continue to prepare our students to be college and career ready by
the time they graduate from high school, I believe this approach will
benefit them greatly. As the work continues, I will keep you informed.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
John D. Barge, Ed.D.
State School Superintendent
Georgia Department of Education
2066 Twin Towers East
205 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr. SE
Atlanta, GA 30334
Follow us on Twitter: @gadoenews and @drjohnbarge
"Making Education Work for All Georgians"
Now, here is the letter written to Superintendents by Janet Barresi. No, the wording is not exact - let's not split hairs - but please tell me that not only the formatting, but the message are NOT the same.
MEMORANDUM
TO: District Superintendents
FROM: State Superintendent Janet Barresi
DATE: July 1, 2013
RE: Issuing RFP to Develop Oklahoma Assessments in Math and English Language Arts
Last week, I advised the leadership of the PARCC (Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers) Governing Board that the
state of Oklahoma will not be participating in the spring 2015
administration of the PARCC Assessment. Oklahoma will be issuing a
Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop our own state assessments in
English language arts and math for grades 3 through 8. We will work with
our current testing vendor to align high school end-of-instruction
exams to reflect the significant instructional shifts and the new
rigorous state standards in English, math and social studies. I want to
be clear; this is not a suspension of the implementation timeframe for
the Oklahoma Academic Standards that include the Common Core State
Standards for English and math.
After talking with and listening to district superintendents, teachers
and parents, I believe this is the best decision for Oklahoma's
children. Our first priority was to deliver a very high-quality
assessment that would provide the type of information our teachers,
administrators, parents, the legislature and the public need to continue
to support ongoing work in improving educational opportunities for each
child. In addition, developing our own assessments will reduce the
amount of time children are testing, reduce the risk of technology
problems and save money.
The State Department of Education estimates that upwards of $2 million a
year in savings will be realized by developing our own assessments. The
PARCC cost estimates for the exams will be released at a later date.
Those cost estimates will not include formative assessments for teachers
or multiple retakes of high school end-of-instruction exams. The
Oklahoma assessments will include at least two formative assessments
teachers may use on a voluntary basis each year and opportunities for
students to retake the EOIs.
The Office of Instructional Technology conducted a speed test in April
to determine our technology readiness. The study revealed 85 percent of
the districts were not ready for online learning opportunities. The
state does not currently have the technological infrastructure to handle
the amount of time on task for students as well as the enhanced test
items as required by PARCC.
These Oklahoma tests still will require students to fill in the blanks,
drag and drop items, and manipulate objects on the screen, and this
requires a higher level of technology. Many districts still need more
bandwidth to handle these requirements, better connectivity and more
devices for taking the examination. I am continuing to work with the
governor and legislative leadership to find funding and viable options
to increase technological capacity across the state.
The final reason for this decision is the time on task issue. As you
know, the PARCC recommendations will call for up to 10 hours of student
engagement on test items over two testing windows. Our RFP is calling
for about half that amount over one window.
The 2014-2015 Oklahoma assessments:
• Will be aligned to the new math and English language arts Oklahoma Academic Standards that include the Common Core
• Will be reviewed by Oklahoma teachers
• Will require about half of the time on task as the PARCC assessments and will be administered over one testing window.
• Will be developed for students in grades 3 through 12 but only
computerized for grades 6 through 12 as has been in the past
• Will offer paper and pencil tests throughout the duration of
the contract as opposed to PARCC only allowing paper and pencil for one
year
• Will be high-quality and display the same rigor as well as the
same type of test items as the PARCC exams are expected to have
• Will have performance based items as well as some multiple
choice, although fewer multiple choice items than in the past
Lastly, I am pleased the new testing vendor, when chosen, will be able
to use the information we learned from participating in PARCC as we
commission the new Oklahoma tests. We are grateful to the Oklahoma
Educator Leader Cadre that has worked so hard to help prepare educators
for the new standards and assessments. We will continue to work with
them to support the development of the new Oklahoma assessments.
I look forward to going down this new road of developing Oklahoma
assessments for Oklahoma children. As we continue to work to prepare our
children to be college, career and citizen ready by the time they
graduate, these new Oklahoma grown assessments will greatly benefit
them.
As the RFP process continues, I will keep you informed. In the meantime,
if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you.
Janet C. Barresi
