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Monday, January 13, 2014

Ed Commissioner Pam Stewart done lost her mind!

Where to start?

How about From the Bradenton Times by Kathleen McGrory:
When Pam Stewart became state education commissioner in September, lawmakers said they would give her time to untangle the complicated issues facing the education department.
That unspoken grace period came to an end last week as members of the Senate Education Committee grilled Stewart on the future of Florida's public schools.
Lawmakers expressed doubt the education department could tweak the new education standards and roll out a new statewide assessment by the 2014-15 school year, as Stewart has promised.
Education Committee Chairman John Legg, R-Lutz, pointed out companies competing to develop the test might protest the competitive bidding process, delaying an already tight timeline.
"God forbid we do get a protest," Legg said. "What is the timetable to go through that protest, and could we still get the exam in place (on time)?"
Stewart said the education department had done "everything possible" to avoid a bid protest.
The questions didn't end there.
Echoing concerns from parent groups, state Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, asked why the department had opted against field testing the new assessments in select school districts before deploying them statewide. Trial runs, he said, would have given the education department a chance to work out the kinks.
Stewart said field testing was not necessary.
State Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, had separate questions about technology. He feared some school districts would not have the computers and bandwidth required for the tests -- and called on education officials to slow down the rollout.
"What exactly is the rush?" he asked.
Replied Stewart: "We know that we have to have an assessment in 2014-15 that is aligned to what students are being taught."

So lets get this straight, we don’ have a test, field testing is for suckers and who cares if schools have the capability to administer the test that we don’t have yet.  What could go wrong? If you answered A. everything then you are right.

Who is Pam Stewart really working for here? The schools and children of Florida or Jeb Bush’S accountability industrial complex?

To echo senator Bullard’s question, what’s the rush? Shouldn’t getting it right be her number one priority?

1 comment:

  1. I agree, who is she working for? Certainly not for the studen! Field testing is vital to any program to ensure it's working properly, that all have the ability to dol testing PRIOR to actual testing beginning. Not doing so opens the entire program to suspect all results.

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