thanks for filling in my brief picture, Helena, by writing:
So it wasn't that Vallas, reflecting on the failure of the tests to produce
miracles, decided to get another job. It was that years of organizing work
resulted in a big win where it counts -- in the union, producing a much more
militant leadership that campaigned on a platform that includes resisting the
testing mania. The change in union leadership resulted in heads rolling at City
Hall. Yes, it was about testing. But it was also about organizing and
organizational structure and process -- and activity systems and "learning by
expanding."
As you say, we'll see what kind of expansion there will be. With two
grandchildren entering Chicago schools, I have a stake in the issues I
didn't have before.
Incidently, on the testing side. Kris Guitterez is distributing a very
interesting paper showing that the hard press on basic skills early does
improve performance, but that the increase is followed by a drastic
drop off when kids have to start reading for meaning. Now there is
a prediction we had in print 20 years ago.
Lets hope that PACT can go beyond saying no to lock-down educational
practices and come up with a unified program that works.
mike
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