Monthly Archives: February 2012

The New York Times, yesterday, released the value-added data on 18,000 New York City teachers collected between 2007 and 2010.  Though teachers are irate and various newspapers, The New York Post, in particular, are gleeful, I have mixed feelings. For … Continue reading →

The big news in New York today is the release of the Teacher Data Reports (TDRs) for some 18,000 teachers.  These were ratings that the city calculated using a value-added model.  The New York Times is going to publish all … Continue reading →

As I’ve looked through the state tests for questions that I considered ‘bad,’ I should mention that there are other things I object to besides ‘bad’ problems that are included on the test.  What I’ve noticed is a lack of … Continue reading →

After critiquing the 3rd grade test, I saw a comment on Twitter that I was someone who had low expectations.  This person said that he could do questions like that when he was in 3rd grade.  I have no doubt … Continue reading →

I don’t know when the first time I took a bubble test was, but I don’t think I was aware of them back when I was in 3rd grade during the 1977-1978 school year.  At the time, though, I was … Continue reading →

Looking over the 7th grade math test, I try to view it through someone else’s eyes — anyone’s eyes who is not a professional math teacher, and when I do, I think, “I forgot almost all this stuff.”  When you … Continue reading →

If schools are going to be closed and teachers fired over state tests, the tests had better be good.  So I downloaded the most recent 8th grade New York State math assessment to see how it was.  Out of 45 … Continue reading →