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Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
Last night's WTTW segment doesn't inspire much confidence for any side, far as I can tell -- Eddie Arruza must have been mighty frustrated with the crap answers he was getting from his guests. (I wish he's pressed them harder.)
In the segment, Civic Committee report author Eden Martin talks about how the elementary ISAT got easier in 2006 and how much easier the state tests already were than the national (NAEP) ones.-- but then he acts like charters are some sort of miracle cure and suggests that this report isn't all an effort to soften us up for the rollout for Ren-10 2.0.
Catalyst editor Lorraine Forte makes some useful points about resources vs. governance (and the possibility that Chicago students have improved somewhat if just not as much as the ISATs suggest) but she's infuriatingly tentative about answering the basic question of whether the report is fair or not. I hate to say it, but if Catalyst folks can't provide expert analysis and interpretation then shows like WTTW should stop having them on.
Most irksome of all is how Martin tries to suggest that Duncan and Daley aren't themselves vested interests, aren't accountable for the abysmal results that his report decries, and haven't themselves used the hopped-up test scores in promoting their own accomplishments.
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Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
Another guest on the show was Mary McGuire of the CTU who managed to spew plenty of words that meant absolutely nothing, showed she was poorly informed, and showcased her inability to grasp the major concepts and issues of the report and the topic in general. (Had she even read the report?)
I agree, it was a pretty poor showing all around. But that must also include Mr. Arruza whose job it is to ask tough questions and elicit meaningful answers from his guests. He didn't do that.
I agree, it was a pretty poor showing all around. But that must also include Mr. Arruza whose job it is to ask tough questions and elicit meaningful answers from his guests. He didn't do that.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 9:36 AM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
The show was painful to watch. I too found irksome Eden Martin keeping Daley and Duncan off the hook! That says it all! Not surprising since you don't want to bite the hands that feeds their charter school plans. Forte and McGuire were sadly inarticulate. Then again, if you believe like I do that CTU leadership is in the mayor's pocket, then I can see why they would send someone so inarticulate. Another reason to vote the present union leadership out of office.
As mentioned a number of times in prior posts, the magnifying glass was not put on charter schools in the report! Alexander is correct in that the next great myth is being setup by Eden and his ilk. hmmmmm I thought Daley the savior saved the day back when he took over CPS. I guess not according to Eden. Now we need the Civic Club and Charter schools to save the day. Yeah... and I have a bridge I want to sell you!
As mentioned a number of times in prior posts, the magnifying glass was not put on charter schools in the report! Alexander is correct in that the next great myth is being setup by Eden and his ilk. hmmmmm I thought Daley the savior saved the day back when he took over CPS. I guess not according to Eden. Now we need the Civic Club and Charter schools to save the day. Yeah... and I have a bridge I want to sell you!
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
Of the three, Eden likely came off the best. What he said will likely resonate the most with the general public. And his NAEP/ISATPSAT visuals from the report appear to tell a callompelling story.
Lorraine Forte was, yes, sadly quite inarticulate and uninformed. Her evasiveness only gave Eden more credibility.
where is Linda Lenz when you need her? Shame on Catalyst for being so milktoast. Agree or disagree with rhe report, butgive an opinion. The report makes some powerful statements.
And Mary was, sadly, unprepared, unfocused and people likely came away still wondering what the union thought. I continually am amazed that the union cannot find a powerful and articulate speakrer when given the opportunity to debate. Half the teachers on this blog are more informed and more powerful in their arguments than the people the union leadership usually brings out for the media opportunities.
Lorraine Forte was, yes, sadly quite inarticulate and uninformed. Her evasiveness only gave Eden more credibility.
where is Linda Lenz when you need her? Shame on Catalyst for being so milktoast. Agree or disagree with rhe report, butgive an opinion. The report makes some powerful statements.
And Mary was, sadly, unprepared, unfocused and people likely came away still wondering what the union thought. I continually am amazed that the union cannot find a powerful and articulate speakrer when given the opportunity to debate. Half the teachers on this blog are more informed and more powerful in their arguments than the people the union leadership usually brings out for the media opportunities.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
I suppose there are people who may have done a worse job than Mary McGuire at representing the Chicago Teachers Union, and that's the most positive thing I can say about her performance right now.
In her first response--that of whether the improvement in student scores in 2006 were due to genuine improvement or changes in the test itself--she gave a rather contradictory answer.
She believes progress has been made at the elementary school level, but her reasoning didn't follow.
The tests give us a more accurate picture, she says, of student achievement. And why? Her example was that students had additional time to take the test. If you don't know the answer in 5 minutes, you won't know the answer in 10 minutes.
Excuse me, but doesn't her example suggest that additional time on the test is useless? Well, no, her non sequitur conclusion is that it more accurately reflects student progress and student work.
She did a little better in her second response, which was about the charter schools. I give her props for saying that the Commercial Club had "vested interests" in promoting charter schools.
Her flub here is that she basically read from notes. And she didn't even get that right. The report studied 24,000 charter schools? Sorry, Mary, there aren't that many charter schools in the country. Try 2,403. It's a huge difference to be off by a power of ten.
Of course, Eden Martin came right back after her pointing out other things the report said that made charters look good.
Her best response of the segment was her last, and she only had a half-minute to do so. Were the layoffs affecting students and schools? Yes, she answered, in that citywide teachers and professional staff were let go, she gave a response the Union should make on behalf of its members. Unfortunately, she didn't show as much passion about her as the reporter did in asking the question.
As a spokesperson for the Union, she leaves something to be desired.
In her first response--that of whether the improvement in student scores in 2006 were due to genuine improvement or changes in the test itself--she gave a rather contradictory answer.
She believes progress has been made at the elementary school level, but her reasoning didn't follow.
The tests give us a more accurate picture, she says, of student achievement. And why? Her example was that students had additional time to take the test. If you don't know the answer in 5 minutes, you won't know the answer in 10 minutes.
Excuse me, but doesn't her example suggest that additional time on the test is useless? Well, no, her non sequitur conclusion is that it more accurately reflects student progress and student work.
She did a little better in her second response, which was about the charter schools. I give her props for saying that the Commercial Club had "vested interests" in promoting charter schools.
Her flub here is that she basically read from notes. And she didn't even get that right. The report studied 24,000 charter schools? Sorry, Mary, there aren't that many charter schools in the country. Try 2,403. It's a huge difference to be off by a power of ten.
Of course, Eden Martin came right back after her pointing out other things the report said that made charters look good.
Her best response of the segment was her last, and she only had a half-minute to do so. Were the layoffs affecting students and schools? Yes, she answered, in that citywide teachers and professional staff were let go, she gave a response the Union should make on behalf of its members. Unfortunately, she didn't show as much passion about her as the reporter did in asking the question.
As a spokesperson for the Union, she leaves something to be desired.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
It takes more than a sound bite, which seems like all Lorraine Forte had to work with, to assess the fairness of the Civic Committee's report. While it's basic point--that CPS trumpeted inflated elementary school gains--is fair, the fair point is made in the service of a particular agenda that doesn't seem to have conclusive research behind it. The Sun-Times editorial in your news roundup today does a good job of putting the report in the larger context.
By the way, the Consortium's report makes an interesting point the Civic Committee prefers to ignore--that Chicago elementary kids are outperforming demographically similar kids in the suburbs on state tests. Lorraine Forte noted that, it must be said.
By the way, the Consortium's report makes an interesting point the Civic Committee prefers to ignore--that Chicago elementary kids are outperforming demographically similar kids in the suburbs on state tests. Lorraine Forte noted that, it must be said.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
realized his report dissed daley and duncan--he is now making up for it in this interview--I am sure he got a cal like: "Eden, think about what you are doing and saying. You blame the mayor; you will not be able to kiss his ring anymore. You know, those tax breaks you and we business buddies get. And do you really want a minority person to jump on this study and use it against our godfather? Eden, come on...." You could see it in his eyes that he did soemthing wrong and had to cover for it.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
This is almost funny.
Didn't anyone mention that the 2006 ISAT was the "election year" ISAT, designed to provide the results both Rod Blagojevich and Rich Daley needed to prove that they were still working miracles in their governance of the public schools?
Eden Martin has been preaching radical privatization since he hid behind four security staff during the Board of Education at Herzl in April 2002 (when the Board approved the closing of Dodge, Terrell and Williams for "failure" -- later morphed to "underperformance"). That was the last meeting the Board held in Chicago, as opposed to in their Bunker at 125 S. Clark St. I have photographs of both Eden Martin and Michael Scott that night (really strange, because Scott was under a mural of civil rights heroes) with this fearful look in their eyes. More than 1,000 teachers and parents were opposing their school closing and (soon to be) privatization plans.
A year after Herzl he got the millionaires in the Civic Committee to underwrite all those crazed charters in "Left Behind" proving the failure of public education in Chicago.
A year after that, he hosted Mayor Daley (and wrote the script, based on "Left Behind") for the rollout of "Renaissance 2010" at the Civic Committee (press excluded, but editorial boards briefed).
So now he's back. And if you follow the ideology carefully, the strangest (and I really mean strange in its broadest sense) thing about these fundamentalist free market types in this year when the "markets" collapsed (except in their lurid fantasy lives) is that they can even venture out of their caves and try to defend their nonsense. Even Milton Friedman would have called out Eden Martin's Ayn Randist nonsense for what it is.
But WTTW managed to find two ignoramuses to make Eden Martin look well-informed.
As my colleagues Sister Grim says: OIC --
Only in Chicago.
Didn't anyone mention that the 2006 ISAT was the "election year" ISAT, designed to provide the results both Rod Blagojevich and Rich Daley needed to prove that they were still working miracles in their governance of the public schools?
Eden Martin has been preaching radical privatization since he hid behind four security staff during the Board of Education at Herzl in April 2002 (when the Board approved the closing of Dodge, Terrell and Williams for "failure" -- later morphed to "underperformance"). That was the last meeting the Board held in Chicago, as opposed to in their Bunker at 125 S. Clark St. I have photographs of both Eden Martin and Michael Scott that night (really strange, because Scott was under a mural of civil rights heroes) with this fearful look in their eyes. More than 1,000 teachers and parents were opposing their school closing and (soon to be) privatization plans.
A year after Herzl he got the millionaires in the Civic Committee to underwrite all those crazed charters in "Left Behind" proving the failure of public education in Chicago.
A year after that, he hosted Mayor Daley (and wrote the script, based on "Left Behind") for the rollout of "Renaissance 2010" at the Civic Committee (press excluded, but editorial boards briefed).
So now he's back. And if you follow the ideology carefully, the strangest (and I really mean strange in its broadest sense) thing about these fundamentalist free market types in this year when the "markets" collapsed (except in their lurid fantasy lives) is that they can even venture out of their caves and try to defend their nonsense. Even Milton Friedman would have called out Eden Martin's Ayn Randist nonsense for what it is.
But WTTW managed to find two ignoramuses to make Eden Martin look well-informed.
As my colleagues Sister Grim says: OIC --
Only in Chicago.
Fri Jul 3, 2009 at 7:51 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
Still Going Strong
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA.
Sat Jul 4, 2009 at 8:06 AM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
As I pointed out in my earlies post the Civic Committee's information on ISAT and PSAE was known in 2006, at that time they did not discuss it. The section of the charter report fails to discuss several reports that cast a far more critical eye on charter achievement that does the Committee's report.
I know that when I wrote Access Living's report on Ren 2010 and students with disabilities our staff and Board reviewed it carefully. The data is the data, but the context one presents it in is critical. I honestly believe we attempted in our report to provide both sides of the story relating to Ren 2010 and the subgroup of students with IEPs.
For example we did not hide data that was favorable for these schools and we did not hide data that was critical of these schools. In the past week we have met with CPS staff about our findings and they have agreed to a few of our recommendations. Probably that will not fix all the problems we found.
But really the only recommendations the Committee's report makes is to go back to a nationally standardized test and move to a full choice system based on contract schools and charters. One reason that Illinois created the ISAT and mandated it was to have a test that was linked to standards adopted by ISBE. The ITBS was based on a national sampling of curriculum. The problem here is not that Illinois created a test.
The problem is that low income schools are often teaching directly to the test, not the standards. We have all seen the test prep materials, the kids may not know the actual questions, but they are preped for very similar questions and the weight of the questions are also factored in the prep. The problem is also that the norming of the test and various adjustments made to it created very real problems.
As for the Committee proposal to go full scale choice driven schools in Chicago, it is very unrealistic. As charters and contract schools are enrolling more and more very difficult students it is impacting them. We can see this in the different results even within charter networks themselves. As I said before there is no simple solution to educating students coming from very poor homes and violent communities.
Probably what is most disturbing about the WTTW show is that really no one admitted that for all of the millions spent on school reform in Chicago over the last 20 years education comes down to good teaching, reasonable materials for instruction, an orderly learning situation, and students who can be reached. These conditions exist in some schools, including charters and contracts, and not in others. There is no magic solution based on educational models or ideology.
Rod Estvan
I know that when I wrote Access Living's report on Ren 2010 and students with disabilities our staff and Board reviewed it carefully. The data is the data, but the context one presents it in is critical. I honestly believe we attempted in our report to provide both sides of the story relating to Ren 2010 and the subgroup of students with IEPs.
For example we did not hide data that was favorable for these schools and we did not hide data that was critical of these schools. In the past week we have met with CPS staff about our findings and they have agreed to a few of our recommendations. Probably that will not fix all the problems we found.
But really the only recommendations the Committee's report makes is to go back to a nationally standardized test and move to a full choice system based on contract schools and charters. One reason that Illinois created the ISAT and mandated it was to have a test that was linked to standards adopted by ISBE. The ITBS was based on a national sampling of curriculum. The problem here is not that Illinois created a test.
The problem is that low income schools are often teaching directly to the test, not the standards. We have all seen the test prep materials, the kids may not know the actual questions, but they are preped for very similar questions and the weight of the questions are also factored in the prep. The problem is also that the norming of the test and various adjustments made to it created very real problems.
As for the Committee proposal to go full scale choice driven schools in Chicago, it is very unrealistic. As charters and contract schools are enrolling more and more very difficult students it is impacting them. We can see this in the different results even within charter networks themselves. As I said before there is no simple solution to educating students coming from very poor homes and violent communities.
Probably what is most disturbing about the WTTW show is that really no one admitted that for all of the millions spent on school reform in Chicago over the last 20 years education comes down to good teaching, reasonable materials for instruction, an orderly learning situation, and students who can be reached. These conditions exist in some schools, including charters and contracts, and not in others. There is no magic solution based on educational models or ideology.
Rod Estvan
Sat Jul 4, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
there is one solution for chicago education that would work:
it centers around the child but that would mean that the adults trying to run and control education would have to be educators.
In simple terms teachers should be allowed to teach in stable learning environments.
John Kugler
kuglerjohn@comcast.net
it centers around the child but that would mean that the adults trying to run and control education would have to be educators.
In simple terms teachers should be allowed to teach in stable learning environments.
John Kugler
kuglerjohn@comcast.net
Sat Jul 4, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Hidden Agendas & Half-Truths On WTTW
As my colleagues Sister Grim says: OIC --
Only in Chicago.
Sister Grim Rocks!
I have puzzled over the meaning of OIC (Oh, I see) for sixteen years. Thank you.
My guess, by the way, is pianoprincess, but I'm not sure I really want to know.
Only in Chicago.
Sister Grim Rocks!
I have puzzled over the meaning of OIC (Oh, I see) for sixteen years. Thank you.
My guess, by the way, is pianoprincess, but I'm not sure I really want to know.
