Timothy D. Slekar

What does it mean to opt out? The simple answer, in the context of the public school reform movement, is when a parent pulls their child from state mandated high-stakes testing. However, opting out is not limited to this action only. At United Opt Out we talk about...

Value Added Models (VAMs) are highly unreliable. There is nothing new to learn about these models. Look here, here, here, here. VAMs are not ready to use as an evaluative component in looking at teacher quality issues. Also, "Pressure to teach to...

Let's see. Since November we (Michelle and I) naively approached our school district and offered our services to help the schools deal with the kids that opt out of PSSAs (NCLB) this coming March. We were smacked down and told that we were premature to assume more children would opt...

Quick Reality Check! What will happen to all public schools in 2014 under the current NCLB regulations (100% proficiency in math and reading)? Answer: They will be declared failing and will be taken over by the state and sold to educational management organizations (EMOs). The staff and faculty will be...

Dear Ed,

Thanks for exposing the problems being confronted by the Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania. As you have pointed out, this is really an issue that goes much deeper than a school in financial trouble. This is a school that serves the "least among us." The...

"If you oppose state testing, please contact your Senator and Representative... they can change, what we cannot." Superintendent.

Since our district's superintendent has decided to actively fight the opt-out movement I have tried to engage him by sending him articles that document the folly of high stakes testing and writing...

In case you've forgotten, I have been waiting patiently for the superintendent of schools in my district to respond to my email explaining the parent rationale for opting out of PSSA testing. Late last week I got tipped off that our superintendent planned on "educating parents" at the...

In case you have forgotten, last year my wife (Michelle) and I decided to use Pennsylvania's opt out law to pull our son from the PSSAs (NCLB testing). It started with a very contemplative blog concerning the real possibilities of opting my son out of testing...

There is certainly value in assessing the quality of learning and teaching, but that doesn't mean it's always necessary, or even possible, to measure those things -- that is, to turn them into numbers. Alfie Kohn

"How can vouchers improve public schools if the people mobilizing the movement intend to eradicate public education?" Rachel Tabachnick

Reports the Website "Schools Matter":

In recalibrating what information the Feds will require of ed schools, a graying and sallow Arne announced that his Gates and Broad handlers have come up with a scheme to reward and punish teacher preparation programs based on the scores from tests taken...

NBC's Education Nation was and is an absolute disgrace. However, it was a brilliant piece of marketing propaganda. Corporate sponsors and a media blitzkrieg sold the "failing public schools" narrative for an entire week. And what solutions were put forward for the "failed" American public school system? Anything that the...

But if we don't all opt out, then teachers become complicit in their own demise and that of their students and communities-don't think for a moment that if you as a teacher or school "play by their rules" you will be rewarded -- the reformers goal is to sell you...

"I'm not opting my kids out of testing again this year to bring focus to the tests. I'm doing it to take away the data from the advocates of choice and privatization. I'm saying NO! You will not use my kids in your attack on public schools. You will not...

1. When did George Washington cross the Delaware?
2. Why did George Washington cross the Delaware?

Can you guess which of these questions my teacher education students know the answer to? Come on and try it. Give up? Most of them don't know the answer to either of these questions. Why, you...

Dear Mom and Dad,

It's almost back to school time. I've been thinking about the coming year. I know I'm not an expert, but after seven years of going to school, something seems wrong. Don't misunderstand me. I love seeing my friends and I can't wait for football season, but...

Our backs are now against the wall. Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage. -Beastie Boys

After thinking about my last post where I imagined educators consciously "cheating" on state tests as a form of protest, I now believe that teachers and administrators must actively engage in a form...

Really? Are we truly surprised that educators actually "cheated" on high stakes standardized tests? Why? What harm was caused? Well according to a report by Christina Samuels in Education Week, "The result was inflated test scores that led to thousands of children being denied the remedial education they...

"I actually don't want qualified teachers [ones with graduate degrees] in the classroom. I want highly effective teachers [test score manipulators] in the classroom." -- John Deasy, LAUSD Superintendent

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) should stop compensating teachers for completing graduate-level coursework, according to a new report released...

When they were recently asked whether the current administration is seeking to privatize public education, a couple of PA State Senators used the term "selective dismantling" in discussions with school board members and superintendents in Delaware County.