Exams are almost over. At least for this semester. And in my school the largest obstacles and tallest hurdles dealt with technological issues. Knock out the Ethernet connections to a couple of buildings, have a bad connection in another building, and then some scattered wireless availability in a couple of other buildings, then a school … Continue reading Give Schools and Students The Choice to Take Paper & Pencil State Tests

Below is a list of the standardized tests administered by the state of North Carolina in our public schools. North Carolina End of Grade Exam Math – Grade 3 North Carolina End of Grade Exam English / Language Arts- Grade 3 North Carolina End of Grade Exam Science – Grade 3 North Carolina End of … Continue reading Too Many Standardized Tests For Non-Standardized Students, i.e., Every Student

In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly under the control of the GOP in both chambers for the first time in decades lifted the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. Until that time, the cap was 100. If the State Board of Education approves the 12 submitted for approval by the … Continue reading Put The Cap Back on NC Charter School Growth

This past January, Mark Johnson issued a statement regarding testing in North Carolina. As reported in the News & Observer: The number of questions on the state end-of-grade math exams, science end-of-grade exams and biology end-of-course exams are being reduced, according to Drew Elliot, a DPI spokesman. He said changes in the state’s language arts … Continue reading Dear Mark Johnson, Reducing Number of Questions on Tests Is Not “Test Reform”

The final song on the album Lifes Rich Pageant might be one of the largest collections of the first-person personal pronoun “I” within the limits of a song under three minutes. In fact, it is uttered no fewer than 40 times in a song that has around 170 words in its lyrics. And the protagonist … Continue reading “I Am Superman” Says The “World Leader Pretend”

In January of 2017 it was all about “urgency”. In the first six months of 2017 it was all about a “listening tour.” In all of 2017 into 2018, it was about a legal fight with a state board of education under control of the same political party about who had the most control over … Continue reading Is Mark Johnson Going to Run Again in 2020?

Dear Graduates, This next week, I will be a part of what I believe will be my twenty-second high school graduation as a teacher (student teaching included). And every year, it gets a little different, but for the right reasons. If I do the math correctly, I literally have had thousands of students come through … Continue reading A Thank You Letter to Graduates From a Middle-Aged Public High School Teacher

When a state superintendent has to print up a lot of glossy fliers for students to "invite" them to become teachers in North Carolina, then our state obviously is having a hard time recruiting teachers. There are many reasons why we are losing teachers. Johnson himself should know as he is part of that problem … Continue reading TeachNC.org – $750,000 for Educational Propaganda

This past March Mark Johnson released his budget recommendations for the next two-year cycle for the North Carolina General Assembly to use in their shaky investment in NC’s public schools. He published those recommendations on his website. Here is part of that list. There was a $750K request for TeachNC  described by Kelly Hinchcliffe on WRAL.com as: … Continue reading It’s Here! TeachNC.org – And NC Doesn’t Need It

From the recent Public School Forum of North Carolina’s report on top ten issues in NC education: From Lindsay Mahaffey, Wake County Board of Education – District 8: If NC is the only state that puts more emphasis on proficiency than growth and counts proficiency for 80% for a school performance grade, then NC weighs proficiency … Continue reading Keeping The School Performance Grade Formula At 80/20 Is The NCGA’s Way of Fueling “School Choice”