Arne says parents to blame for test stress. Threatens fed intervention if Opt Outs continue. [View all]

[madfloridian]

And so Arne Duncan is asserting his power, showing his ignorance about education, and threatening the states that don't stop the Opt Outs.

He must think someone appointed him God of Education.

As opt-out numbers grow, Arne Duncan says feds may have to step in

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that the federal government is obligated to intervene if states fail to address the rising number of students who are boycotting mandated annual exams.

...He also said the tests are “just not a traumatic event” for his children, who attend public school in Virginia.

“It’s just part of most kids’ education growing up,” he said. “Sometimes the adults make a big deal and that creates some trauma for the kids.”

A federal education department spokeswoman said last week that the agency could withhold funding from states if some of their districts have too few students take the exams, but that it has not yet done so because states have addressed the issue on their own.

There are some interesting posts in the comments section.

iCarly • 5 days ago

Arne says that the tests are not stressful to his children. Well, Arne, they're stressful to mine because since my husband got laid off last year, my teaching job has supported our family. Now with NY teachers' jobs tied so heavily to test grades, I face the possibility of losing my job since I teach very low functioning students. My children are stressed out about having their mother lose her job and our family's income based on the testing whims of other kids. So yes, a-hole, the tests are stressful to children depending on what your perspective is. My kids will be refusing NY's math tests this week in protest of the high stakes attached to them with regard to teachers' job evaluations.


Brruinsgirl . iCarly • 5 days ago
His Kids also do not take the same test we are refusing for our children. His kids do not take the SB or the PARCC.


Avatar
Lance Hamm Brruinsgirl . • 5 days ago

Neither did Cuomo's, neither do Obama's. Neither do any of the elite's children. No one in the 1% is subject to this, and yet the 1% is dictating it.

This post in the comments is really good. I think Arne Duncan has opened a big old can of worms here.

yarissa • 5 days ago

When a public policy begins to crumble, like this one is, the right thing is to sit down and think "what are we doing wrong?" and not "how are we going to beat people into submission?"

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong approach, Arne Duncan!

High stakes standardized testing has been not proven to be an accurate measure of what a student can do and how ready he/she is becoming for adulthood, but it HAS been proven to go against the affective filter hypothesis (among others educational theories and best practices) which states that students do best in a stress-free environment. Students also do well when they are slightly challenged , but it has been shown that CC and these standards and tests are above the Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky), which means they are too far away from where the students are to really respond. 4-5 hours of testing is also completely inappropriate pedagogically and developmentally for children in primary grades.

Take a step back, reassess and come talk to education experts and GET IT RIGHT instead of pushing on and admitting you made a mistake... isn't that what learning is all about? We learn from FAILURES!
Failing leads to improvement, but only if you're brave enough to admit you have failed.

Are you brave enough, Arne Duncan?

(My apologies for any typo, this page on my phone isn't great)

IMO Arne may be starting a battle he can not win. Time for President Obama to rein him in or fire him. He is threatening a war with teachers, parents, students, and states.