High-Stakes Testing

The Progressive Magazine: How a Grassroots Revolt Against Testing May Change Education

March 25, 2016 // 3 Comments

A revolt involving hundreds of thousands of Americans against the federal and state government has been brewing over the past couple of years. What caused this grassroots [...]

School Reform, Passion and Mic Drops

December 16, 2015 // 0 Comments

The definition of “Drop the Mic” from the classic Eminem Hip Hop film 8 mile is… Calling someone out so hard that you just walk away indisputably [...]

.@NAACP Now: Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates?

November 2, 2015 // 2 Comments

I recently wrote an article for the NAACP national office about the 2016 presidential race, high-stakes testing, Common Core and civil rights. I wrote the piece for NAACP [...]

Hispanic Group in Texas Disagrees with National Organization About Standardized Testing

July 28, 2015 // 0 Comments

Originally posted on Diane Ravitch's [...]

Common Core & Chaos in Computerized Testing: Are New Assessments Valid, Reliable, Secure, Accessible, and Fair?

July 3, 2015 // 5 Comments

Guest post by Roxana Marachi, Ph.D. For latest update (as of September 8th, 2015) please see: Open Letter to CA State Board of Education on Release of [False] SBAC Scores [...]

Storified: @NALEO features Clinton, Sanders and Castro et al. on Education #NALEOconf15

June 23, 2015 // 0 Comments

What do you think politicians are telling Latinos about education these days? I recently had the opportunity to hear the thinking of Sec. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie [...]

The Test: Bad News (civil rights facade) and Good News (local accountability)

February 18, 2015 // 1 Comment

So do you want the good news or the bad news first? It’s a question my parents often asked me a child growing up. Which do you want to hear first? I’ll start with [...]

Linda Darling-Hammond Storified: Enough is Known for Action!

October 16, 2014 // 1 Comment

Today in DC, Linda Darling-Hammond discussed what is known about school reform for a group of teachers convened by the NEA Foundation. She argued research, best practice, and [...]

EdWeek Series Beyond Rhetoric: If Not a Bunch of Tests… Then What Instead?

October 10, 2014 // 7 Comments

I am currently writing for the EdWeek column K-12 Schools Beyond the Rhetoric with Jack Schneider. We are covering a bevy of important topics in education policy such as [...]

After Thousand of Years, #China Changing Mind on #Testing ? #edreform

June 19, 2014 // 7 Comments

I leave for China tomorrow. I will be accompanying the Teachers of the Year from several states as an NEA Foundation Global Fellow. We will visit schools in the Middle [...]

Actual Educators on Reforming US Assessment Paradigm

June 30, 2013 // 6 Comments

The politicians and talking heads argue that they have it figured out— assessment=high-stakes testing for student, teachers, schools, districts, states, nations, the world, [...]

Taking tests, to test, to see if students are ready for the test

June 11, 2013 // 6 Comments

Story by Luke Quinton that ran today on KUT NPR about the passage of HB5 in Texas. Listen here. Text of story quoted below. When Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 5 this [...]

The Teat: Is Leadership for Educational Equity getting TFA’s dirty work done?

May 24, 2013 // 4 Comments

In our last segment of the The Teat, we discussed how education reformers have exploded 501(c)3 organizations to push corporate education reform. Now we’ll focus on its [...]

Soiled Legacy: The Birth of No Child Left Behind in Texas

February 17, 2013 // 5 Comments

There have been several articles describing the “Don’t Mess with Texas Revolt” against its own approach to high-stakes testing and accountability that was [...]

High-stakes Testing at Springfield Elementary

January 31, 2013 // 1 Comment

Is that the theme music from the horror film Halloween? [...]

Blackademics: Julian Vasquez Heilig @ KLRU PBS Feb 13, 2013

January 28, 2013 // 0 Comments

Join KLRU for the live taping of Blackademics: Education, Performance and Youth Empowerment Date: Wednesday February 13, 2013 Time: 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) Location: [...]

Kress is Wrong on Tests: Our Accountability System Must Evolve

January 24, 2013 // 9 Comments

Sandy Kress wrote a Sept. 29 column for the Austin American-Statesman entitled “Kress: The Facts on School Accountability.” Sandy Kress is known as a key architect of the [...]

I am giddy!!: Community-Based Accountability

January 4, 2013 // 10 Comments

I am giddy!! I had writer’s block all summer. I owed Professor Rich Milner and two co-authors (Dr. Muhummed Khalifa and Dr. Linda Tillman) my portion of a chapter for [...]

Sitting Bull

3 Comments

Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights….The warrior is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take [...]
Standing up for Ethnic Studies

2 Comments

I was asked by a student on Friday at my Mi Familia Vota lecture at Rice University how Texas is different from California. Or why is California different from any other [...]
Pile of Old Books vs. Citizens as Critical Participants in the Great Education Debates

11 Comments

For a scholar, hiding research behind journal pay walls and subscriptions is safety. As comfortable and warm as cuddling up with a blanket and a book in front a fireplace on [...]