Who's Really Behind Education Reform?

Julie Underwood on ALEC & Education
Julie Underwood, the Dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, discusses ALEC's school privatization agenda.

Privatizing Public Education, Higher Ed Policy, and Teachers from ALEC Exposed

• Indiana Rep. Cindy J. Noe (R-87)^[17], ALEC Education Task Force Member, spoke on "Enacting a Comprehensive K-12 Education Reform Agenda" at the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting on August 3, 2011
• Featured speakers have included: Milton Friedman, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, George Allen, Jessie Helms, Pete Coors, Governor Mitch Daniels

I-READ Petition

Indiana Legislators: Tell the IDOE to Scrap IREAD-3
www.change.org

http://www.change.org/petitions/indiana-legislators-tell-the-idoe-to-scrap-iread-3

Why This Is Important

IREAD-3 is a forty-question test that will determine whether public school students in Indiana may advance to fourth grade. It channels education dollars toward redundant assessment, not instruction, and favors retention over remediation; it is therefore a misuse of public funds.

No major decision about a child's future should be made on the basis of a single test score. Retaining students has been shown to increase the risk that they drop out of school and to have a null or negative effect on their academic achievement in the long run.

Like other high-stakes standardized tests, IREAD-3 will disproportionately punish low-income children and families. Indiana students' reading skills are already assessed continually by their teachers as well as through ISTEP+ and NWEA or Acuity. Money allocated for this test directly reduces funds available for remediation. Our tax dollars should go to local schools for literacy programs and teachers rather than to assessment overhead and testing companies.