Ohanian Comment: Priscilla Shannon Gutiérrez invites you to use this commentary as a template and send it--with your name-- to your local paper. The public needs this important information. The testing complex is headed your way. 



I have commented on PARCC's exemplar from Ovid Here's How Common Core Assessments Plan to Certify Workers for the Global Economy, complete with illustration. Here, Priscilla Shannon Gutiérrez ties this to bigger issues that should concern and alarm everyone who cares about the survival of public education.



by Priscilla Shannon Gutiérrez 



Recent NM State Legislature bills proposed teacher compensation based on student performance and the retention of third graders not proficient in reading. However, a closer examination of the testing complex headed New Mexico's way should raise a number of red flags with anyone who has a lick of common sense. 



For starters, a look at the PARCC test samples for the Common Core Standards expects kindergarten students to write topic sentences. Gone are the days when kindergarten meant learning your ABC's, shapes and numbers. Five-year-olds, from those living in rural Ojo Encino to special education students, will now be expected to write full sentences as proof of their college readiness and to measure their teachers' worth. 



The PARCC exemplar, Ovid's Metamorphosis: Daedalus and Icarus will test 10th graders on understanding and responding to text such as "...The unconfined skies remain though Minos may be lord of all the world his scepter is not regnant of the air and by that untried way is our escape." I don't know about you, but the arcane language of Ovid doesn't strike me as critical for college entry or career readiness -- more like college-level material. 



Then the "research simulation" task for 3rd graders expects them to analyze several articles or multimedia stimuli, and write not one, but two analytic essays to prove they can synthesize information from multiple sources. I've successfully taught research skills to 3rd graders, but recognize that asking an 8 year-old to write two analytic essays citing examples from sources is over the top. 



Last week, 50 public officials in Rhode Island took a shortened version of their high school graduation test based on the Common Core. These officials are successful adults, many with college degrees. Test results indicated that 78% did not meet proficiency targets, with 60% of them ineligible for a diploma.Senator Adam Satchell, one of the test-takers commented, "The content is outrageously irrelevant…what is truly irresponsible and morally indefensible is attaching high stakes consequences to a test [like this]." 



Taxpayers may not be aware that all PARCC assessments will be done on a computer, and that most of the districts in this state (as well as the nation) currently do not have the needed infrastructure in place for these tests. Already cash-strapped districts will have to purchase millions of dollars of new technology to comply with PARCC requirements. In fact, the plan is for all future testing to be done online, with "intelligent software" measuring student thinking, virtually shutting teachers out of the assessment process.



Taxpayers likely are also unaware that a majority of the members of the PARCC Assessment Group have ties to ALEC and Jeb Bush's Chiefs for Change. Or that the educational arm of Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, AMPLIFY, just won a $12.5 million contract from the U.S. Department of Ed to develop Common Core materials.Yes, this is the same Murdoch who was at the center of the Newscorp phone-hacking scandal last year.What's more, the head of AMPLIFY, Joel Klein, left his job in disgrace as NY Chancellor of Education when rampant test manipulation under his watch was revealed. How is it that the Dept. of Ed awarded this group with a multi-million dollar contract to "help teachers" with the Common Core? Surprised? The more one investigates "education reform" the more evident the profit-driven corporate takeover of public education becomes. 



Before we rush headlong into tying teacher compensation to test scores, or hold back 3rd graders who aren't "proficient" in reading, we had better ensure that said tests are valid indicators of what our students are capable of, as well as what our dedicated teachers accomplish in the classroom every single day.Perhaps we should insist that NM Legislators, Education Secretary Designee Hanna Skandera, and Governor Martinez follow Rhode Island's example.Before enacting education legislation, require them to take the very tests we expect students to pass in order to graduate, then publish the results... bet it would be a real eye-opener for everyone.


— Priscilla Shannon Gutiérrez

Albuquerque Journal North Santa Fe,

March 27, 2013