Spending Time on Testing Does Not Improve Academic Perfomance

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 4 Comments

The Council of the Great City Schools, launched a survey to determine how much testing is done in US public schools and how the tests are used. The survey result which was released on Saturday October 24, 2015 found that about 112 mandated tests are given to students in US big cities between prekindergarten and 12th grade.  Advanced Placement and ACT tests are not included in the survey’s count.

The survey also found that spending time on tests did not improve the academic performance of students using the National Assessment of Educational Progress, as a measuring tool.

Obama Administration Acknowledges Testing in Public Schools Has Gone Too Far!

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 8 Comments

The Obama Administration while admitting its part in encouraging the increase in testing, stated today, Saturday October 24, 2015 that tests should be limited to only 2% of instruction in the public schools. Under intense opposition from both the conservatives on the right, and parents, students, and teacher unions on the left, it urged Congress to limit testing in public schools in its reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act according to a report by Kate Zernikeoct in New York Times.

Arne Duncan indicated that there should be a “check” annually to ensure that students are on track and to identify their areas of need. He stated that the Administration will assist states and school districts to solve the over testing in schools.

Randi Weigarten, the president of American Federation of Teachers, claiming victory on the part of teacher unions declared “Parents, students, educators, your voice matters and was heard.”

The Paucity of African-American Teachers is a Cause for Concern!

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 5 Comments

According to a recent study conducted by the Albert Shanker Institute named after Albert Shanker, the late president of American Federation of Teachers, the diversity of the teaching force in the United States is a cause for serious concern.

Teacher diversity which the researchers referred to as an “educational civil rights for students” is critical because research supports that all students would benefit from a diverse teaching force that represents the population of the US. The study looked at nine cities, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. and found that from 2002 to 2012, a ten year period, minority teachers were underrepresented with African American teachers being the most severely underrepresented. The researchers attributed the severe decline of African American teachers to the “working conditions in their schools, lack of collective voice in educational decisions, a lack of professional autonomy in the classroom,” and new teacher hiring practices.

The Albert Shanker Institute, a nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization, is endowed by the American Federation of Teachers. It is “dedicated to three themes—children’s educations, unions as an advocate for quality, and both civic education and freedom of association in the public life of democracies”.ogo okoye-johnson mlk

Education and Pope Francis! Lessons for Leaders in Education!

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 1 Comment

There are many lessons and take-aways for leaders and practitioners in the field of education from Pope Francis, the Holy Father’s address to the US Congress today.

Social responsibility and justice, raising people out of extreme poverty, creation and distribution of wealth evenly, creating opportunities for everyone to succeed, and the essence of the Golden Rule where you treat people the same way you want to be treated are all the qualities which we want our students to gain in addition to being college and career ready!

How are we as educators in this environment of testing accountability ensuring that our students leave us at each level of education with these qualities which not only would make them humane individuals, but also make certain that they maintain a society that is sustainable for themselves and for future generations!

Pope Francis said, “We do not fear foreigners because we were once foreigners!” Today’s foreigners are tomorrow’s citizens and leaders! We are to take care of all our children on all spectrum by providing equal opportunities and access to rigorous educational programs!

How do we as educational leaders ensure that we are inclusive and not exclusive of all people -all children?

Hence in Pope Francis’s own words, we need to ensure that “young people can inherit a land where they can dream!” A very powerful speech indeed!

Let’s take heed!

ogo okoye-johnson pope at congress            ogo okoye johnson mlk

Dyett High School Hunger Strike Comes To An End

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 6 Comments

After 34 days of a hunger strike protesting the closing of Dyett High School by some residents of the school’s community, the strikers claimed what they call a partial victory as they ended their strike due to the physical body’s limitations according to Juan Perez Jr. of Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Public Schools agreed to reopen the former Dyett High School on the city’s Southeast Side next Fall as a neighborhood arts focused school instead of a high school focused on green technology demanded by the strikers.

“Your body starts to deteriorate,”  Jeanette Taylor-Ramann, a member of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization and one of the leaders of the strike said who helped lead the 34-day hunger strike.

What Is the Value of the SAT and ACT?

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / Leave a comment

Parents who are the financial consumers of SAT and ACT and their accompanying products/services should be informed of such studies so that they can advocate for their children effectively!

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

The original purpose of the SAT was to sort students for the “right” college. Their scores on the tests would show whether they could succeed in an selective college. The designer of the SAT was Carl Brigham, a psychologist who had been a pioneer in developing IQ tests. Brigham wrote a book about intelligence expressing the then-common belief that IQ was fixed, innate, measurable, and inherited. Brigham also believed that different races and ethnic groups could be ranked by IQ. Since he believed that IQ was fixed and that it was tied to one’s race and ethnicity, there was little that schools could do to raise up children’s intelligence other than to identify it and place them in the right track. Brigham was the chief scientist who developed the Scholastic Aptitude Test, as it was then called. Today it is simply the SAT, standing for nothing in particular. It replaced…

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What Improves Student Learning?

/ Ogo Okoye-johnson / 2 Comments

Continuous and sustained improvement to Teaching and Learning should be the focus in all educational institutions!

Ogo Okoye-johnson's avatarOgo Okoye-Johnson

Effective student learning occurs with frequent teacher feedback to students that encourages self-reflection on the part of students followed by the reteaching of concepts necessary to ensure student mastery of concepts taught.

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