Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has barred Philadelphia teachers from administering the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test to their own students. The PSSA is a series of tests given to students in grades three through eight and grade 11. The assessments are in math, reading, writing, and science.

This development of teacher exclusion surfaced after an ongoing statewide investigation of cheating on the PSSA. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer the scandal involves 53 Philadelphia public schools and three city charter schools. In a recent Philadelphia Notebook article, PDE spokesman Tim Eller said that even though hundreds of schools in Philadelphia have not been flagged for any suspected testing irregularities, "The Department believes it is necessary to apply the policy districtwide."

I don’t believe that makes sense at all. I never understood the concept of spreading the consequence amongst all. Cheating wasn’t found district-wide so there is no reason to affect all for the actions of some. Once again, band-aid solutions prevail whilst overlooking the root of the problem.

Cheating wouldn’t be a problem if this kind of testing wasn’t so high stakes. Students and teachers spend lots of time preparing for tests that have serious implications if scores are low. When schools get low scores they don’t make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a measurement to determine how every public school and school district in the country is performing academically according to standardized test results. When this happens consistently, the consequence can be devastating. Low scores can put schools in a position where closure and other interventions look like better alternatives to continued poor performance. The amount of stress on both teachers and students is an unnecessary burden. Teachers and students have to worry about how test scores may hurt the existence of their school. The reality of losing their school, their job, and their students is exactly what drives teachers to cheat. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer article “extraordinary security measures have been imposed on city schools, including requiring teachers administering the tests to sign statements acknowledging that criminal penalties may be sought if wrongdoing is found.” The real criminal act is that standardized tests shortchange the educational opportunities of both students and their instructors.

Teachers and students spend far too much time preparing for a test which will essentially make or break the foundation of a school community. Furthermore, passing a standardized test doesn't show any applicable skill-set other than you can do well on a test. It doesn't require a critical mind to complete. It doesn't show what knowledge students possess. Its all about filling in bubbles and giving responses. I can only ponder what real knowledge our students take into the future if all they know is test taking. The exclusion of teachers that students have been preparing for the PSSA with really isn’t the solution to the issue at hand. Students and teachers will still feel the pressure to get high scores.

With a five year plan and billions of dollars invested by the Obama administration to turnaround 5,000 of the nations lowest performing schools, there are quite a few red flags on the field.

In this policy, there are four models of school turnaround: turnaround, restart, transformation and closure.  Turnaround replaces a schools principal and no less than 50 percent of its staff and in addition increases learning time along with other reforms. Restart ultimately results in a school becoming charter school. Transformation also replaces the principal and increases learning time along with instructional reforms but doesn’t require the schools to replace 50 percent of its staff and lastly closure shuts a school down and sends students elsewhere to learn.

Any of the four methods of school turnaround could easily become the new one size fits all answer to fixing our lowest performing schools. However after the failures of No Child Left Behind are we ready to try on this newest ensemble? The push around school turnaround is going to foster the same tired thinking that, if it works well in some places then it’s bound to work all over.

When are the policymakers going to wake up and allow students, parents, and teachers; the real experts on education to create and implement our own turnaround? We recognize that the conversation is too centered around who manages the turnaround process instead of what the actual teaching and learning looks like. Turnaround should be centered around the quality of students education rather than test scores and graduation rates.

Turnaround feels more like a corporate matter than an educational process because in an educational process teachers, parents and students are the focus not the folks that manage the institution. The top down strategy seems more appropriate for turnarounds in corporations and other businesses. Schools are not like businesses and shouldn't be managed like one. The bottom-line should be quality education for our students not statistics.

For more information on school turnaround click here.

Education has been burdened by the weight of the No Child Left Behind law for far too long. Under the umbrella of NCLB the very point of education was not to enrich our students but rather to mold us into effective test takers. We were not taught a curriculum that made us into leaders or great thinkers and what was worse is the very people that actually administer our learning had their hands bound by the curriculum as well.

Finally after many long years there are developments in NCLB law. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have proposed a groundbreaking amendment to the original NCLB law. States can now apply for a waiver which allows states a break from some of NCLB’s intense mandates.

The previous overreaching goal to have all students nationwide to be proficient in Math and Reading by 2014 will no longer be in effect should states request so. States then have the ability to set their own realistic goals regarding proficiency. States will also have the ability to tailor their own solutions unique to the needs the schools, districts, and students that have the largest achievement gaps.

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