We Start
At the start of the school year my son, who is 11 and in the fifth grade at Park Forest Elementary in State College, made a short film about always doing your best for an all school assembly. It was a...
View ArticleThere is a Facebook group called PSSA Testing 2011: What Parents Need to Know Now. Anyone can join. It's not just about the testing Pennsylvania, but everywhere. Anyone who has concerns about these...
View ArticleThis LtoE says it all about our school
An unwelcome move - Your Letters | Centre Daily Times - State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estateAs a parent of two students “assigned” to Park...
View ArticleGarbage in. Garbage out.
The PSSA tests are prepared and scored by a private firm in Minnesota called Data Recognition Corporation.The actual test booklets arrived in boxes last week all over Pennsylvania. Right now they are...
View ArticlePearson Education
The industry leader is Pearson, a multi-national company headquartered in London. It's the largest publisher of educational materials as well as the biggest educational testing company. In our...
View ArticleMarch Madness: 'My name is Luke and I refuse to take your test'
This is a reposting of an article column in the Washington Post yesterday. March Madness: 'My name is Luke and I refuse to take your test'By Valerie StraussThis was written by Timothy D. Slekar, head...
View ArticleTwo options to not take the PSSA
There are two ways to not take the PSSA. One involves parents. The other is for students. Both will work. After reading the information here, please like us on Facebook and help spread the word.Option...
View ArticleFrom the Official PSSA Handbook
Student had a parental request for exclusion from the assessment: Section 4.4 of Chapter 4 provides for the right of any parents or guardians to excuse their child from the state assessment if, upon...
View ArticleArticle 14
March 8, 2011Michael HardyActing SuperintendentState College Area School District131 W. Nittany AveState College, PA 16801Dear Mr. Hardy,After consulting with attorneys at the Southern Poverty Law...
View ArticleOther Letters
Here are some other letters parents have submitted. After reviewing your state mandated standardized test, I am hereby exercising our right to a religious exemption under state education law. Please...
View ArticleBusy weekend
My Op-Ed in the local paper has generated a lot of interest locally, but also online. Parents across the country are fed up with this testing. Even more so, we are all sick and tired of being left out...
View ArticleKids are different. Tests are not.
The people who came up with the plan of testing kids as young as eleven or ten or nine knew nothing about kids. Kids all learn and grow and mature at different rates. I have tried to teach my own...
View ArticlePSSA left behind
So the PSSAs have started here. My kids aren't taking them. For two weeks my kids tried to spread the word about the testing, that kids didn't actually have to take it, that their parents could simply...
View ArticleWhat CNN Left Out
CNN left out the most important parts of the story“What’s your beef with standardized tests?” was the first question Susan Candiotti asked me once the camera started rolling. It’s the wrong question....
View ArticleAnother mother's experience
On our Facebook group, a mom asked about negative repercussions for children who don't take the test. She was worried about these kids being ostracized by their fellow classmates and punished by their...
View ArticleCompetitive Test Taking
We are told that this is our Sputnik moment. That we must out-educate the rest of the world. That we must teach our children to be more competitive than ever. That we are in a race to the top. The top...
View ArticleToo Much Testing
Kids take a lot of tests, and there is a lot of confusion about which tests are which. As parents we oppose high-stakes standardized tests which are used to hold teachers and schools “accountable”...
View ArticleMore Testing is Just Good Business
In a classic example of corporate double speak and political spin, The DoE's spokesman, Justin Hamilton responded to Anthony Cody's column about President Obama's statements that we have too much...
View ArticleChanging the conversation
Parents and teacher must work together. We must start shifting the public conversation on education. We must loudly challenges the myths and downright lies that underlie the corporate reform movement....
View ArticleHow to stop preaching to the choir and get heard.
We need to shift the public narrative from "a broken system dominated by uninformed, uninvolved parents and lazy teachers who complain about being held accountable" to one of active, educated and...
View ArticleMeeting at Sen Casey's office today
In about 90 minutes, Dr. Tim Slekar, Head of the Division of Education and Human Development at Penn State, Altoona, and I will be meeting at Sen. Robert Casey's Bellefonte office. We're going to talk...
View ArticleArticle 0
We saw Race to Nowhere last night at the State Theatre. Chris and Ted were there and both of them were deeply affected by it. Unfortunately, the members of the panel assembled used the opportunity push...
View Article
