Tag Archives: SBAC

Ask Dr. Atkinson: Why Has NC Not Withdrawn From The SBAC?

Posted on July 26, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

North Carolina has repealed Common Core from it’s state statutes.
A replacement commission is about to be named and get to work.

Here’s the next question that the Legislature will have to address:
Why is NC still a member of the Common Core tied Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)?

Ask State Superintendent and CCSSO President Elect, Dr. Atkinson, why.
Here’s the responses one citizen received (below). Ask the question. See what kind of answer you get. Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged SBAC | Comments Off

Common Core Aligned: WorkKeys

Posted on June 23, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Common Core is not ‘just a set of standards’. That statement is one of the bigger lies perpetrated by the supporters of the Core. The ultimate goal is to align everything from materials to books, apps to tests and yes, the means of entry into the workforce.
Common Core, arguably, is lends itself to reinforcing the ‘cradle to grave’ tracking and funneling of your child and their potential. As I was thinking about writing this article, I couldn’t help but make a comparison of what is happening with this kind of tracking and a book I’ve recently read, Divergent. Kids are placed in one of five given classes of society based on what a test tells them is their best match. If your text doesn’t given conclusive results, you’re considered Divergent.

[VIDEO CLIP]

Are our children currently being funneled into one career or another based on often poorly designed tests? We have multiple tests for kids across multiple grades, multiple entry tests for colleges as well. How long until it’s pared down to just a few tests? Tests aimed at becoming some kind of workforce sorting mechanism are not a thing of the future. They’re here now. Those of us standing up and pointing it out? Are we Divergent?

WorkKeys

The following article is going to get a bit involved. There is an article I am going to refer back to. It is essential one reads and comprehends this article before reading what I have to add to it. Please read Missouri Education Watchdog’s Public Education as Workforce Training. Is WorkKeys in Your State. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged ACT, PARCC, SBAC | 2 Comments

NC Must Get Out Of The Common Core’s SBAC

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

I’ve written in the past about the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) and its ramifications for keeping North Carolina tied to Common Core even with two bills in our General Assembly attempting to get us out of the standards. For those who have not dug into the SBAC, I encourage you to do so. Start with the Cooperative Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education and the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium.

The Cooperative Agreement in a nutshell is the U.S. Dept. of Education getting around the law barring them from creating national tests and curriculum by farming it out to a private company. It was paid for with your tax dollars via the Obama administration’s Stimulus package, of which a portion of was funneled into the Race To The Top Grants. The purpose statement from the Cooperative Agreement:

The purpose of this agreement is to support the consortium recipient in developing new, common assessment systems that are valid, reliable and fair for their intended purposes and for all student subgroups, and that measure student knowledge and skills against a common set of college- and career-ready standards in mathematics and English language arts. In light of the technical nature of this grant and the fact that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will likely be reauthorized during the course of this project, the Department will provide necessary flexibility to respond to changing circumstances, technology, and laws by working collaboratively with the recipient through this agreement. The objective is to assist the consortium in fulfilling, at minimum, the goals articulated in the consortium’s approved Race to the Top Assessment (RTTA) application, requirements established in the RTTA Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 that was published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2010, and any subsequent additions detailed through this agreement.

The price tag was large:

The estimated cost for the work to be performed under this Agreement is $159,976,843 and $15,872,696 for the supplemental award.

This article will hit some of the bigger reasons why North Carolina needs to get out of the SBAC. However, before going forward, it is worth noting that the SBAC tests were a confirmed “glitch” fiasco and the tests themselves, like PARCC’s, were shrouded in secrecy. Teachers have told me they were not allowed to see the pilot test beforehand in NC nor were they allowed to talk about specifics afterward.

Keep Reading…. Continue reading →