Only problem is, according to the Washington Post, Gist and the letter
criticized Weingarten for something she didn’t say.
How’s this for a trick? Jeb Bush’s “Chiefs for Change,” a group of former and current state education superintendents, have attacked American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for something she didn’t say — without even mentioning her name!
That’s right, a
Washington Post education blogger – a fairly well-credentialed one, at that – says Gist and
Chiefs for Change were being tricky. Valerie Strauss goes on to explain:
Let’s get this
straight: Weingarten didn’t argue (as testing experts do) that using student
standardized test scores to evaluate teachers and principals is wrong because
the results are not reliable. She didn’t call for a permanent ban. She asked
for a moratorium to make sure everyone is ready. Given that teachers are being
evaluated on the student test scores, it seems only fair to give them enough
time to actually learn the standards, develop lessons around the standards, and
give students time to absorb them.
I don’t know if she
was referring to Tom Sgouros specifically when she wrote that TESTING EXPERTS
DO NOT THINK HIGH STAKES TEST RESULTS ARE RELIABLE, but she did give a shout to
to the states that are struggling through the politics of it (emphasis mine):
Students in some
states this spring started taking standardized tests supposedly aligned with the Common Core and there
have been enormous problems reported by teachers and principals.
It’s well worth noting
that Sgouros’ loudest criticism’s of Gist have been that the NECAP test isn’t aligned with Common Core. And like
this Washington Post blogger, he’s alsocalled her out for being disingenuous, too.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of
Rhode Island's Future. Previously, he's worked as a reporter for several
different news organizations both in Rhode Island and across the country.