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Nancy Bailey's Education Website

Revive, Rally and Recover Public Schools

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Guarded Hope and 7 Concerns for Public Education this New Year

January 4, 2021 By Nancy Bailey 12 Comments

We have a new President and a new education secretary and hope for the future of public education. Hope doesn’t come easy because schools face what appear to be insurmountable difficulties due to Covid-19. Also, wealthy individuals and groups who want school privatization are established in the system, mostly in dozens of anti-public school nonprofits, […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, covid-19, School Infrastructure, Social Justice, Students with Disabilities, Teacher Shortage, the arts

Amplify and iReady Claim Kindergarten and First Grade “Reading Loss” to Profit From the Pandemic

December 30, 2020 By Nancy Bailey 6 Comments

Are kindergartners falling behind in reading due to the pandemic? Amplify and iReady want us to think so. But kindergarten teachers should not be forcing children to learn to read during the pandemic. They shouldn’t have been pushing them to read before Covid-19. Nor should kindergartners be forced to read after the coronavirus becomes a […]

Filed Under: Featured, Uncategorized Tagged With: Amplify, assessment, Covid Slide, covid-19, DIBELS, first grade reading, iReady, Kindergarten reading, profiting on reading, Reading Expectations, the Pandemic learning loss

Kindergarten Reading Push: Still Problematic During the Pandemic

August 3, 2020 By Nancy Bailey 10 Comments

Parents and educators, convinced that kindergartners must learn to read, might purchase unproven commercial online reading programs during the pandemic. The best solution for kindergartners currently is for school librarians and teachers to get interesting picture books and reading material into the hands of young children. Standardized testing made pushing children to read in kindergarten […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, books, kindergarten, pandemic, Picture Books, reading

Leaving Childhood Out in the Rain!

January 31, 2019 By Nancy Bailey 7 Comments

Why do corporate CEOs, foundations, and policymakers want kindergartners to learn more advanced material at a faster rate? Why is this important to them? If children are made to grow up quickly, what happens to childhood? Why are they against play and art for children in public schools? Why do they push children to read […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, corporate school reform, Demanding Advanced Work in Kindergarten, kindergarten, kindergarten expectation, Kindergarten rigor, losing childhood, Social Emotional Learning, testing, The Chalkbeat

The Dangers of SEL Assessment Data to Students with LD Social Disabilities and Autism

October 27, 2018 By Nancy Bailey Leave a Comment

Today, I would like to bring attention to the dangers of social-emotional learning assessment to a segment of our student population. The focus on behavior is becoming the new purpose of school, and that alone should raise questions. School boards, PTA’s, and school organizations should be discussing how these curriculum changes impact what and how […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, Autism, autistic spectrum, behavioral assessment, behavioral tier groups, Children, learning disabilities, school, SEL, sel behavioral assessment, social disability, Social Emotional Learning, social intereaction, students with autism

The Dangers of Eliminating Teacher Preparation

June 25, 2016 By Nancy Bailey 11 Comments

Wisconsin is thinking about letting anyone teach. No degree will be required to enter the classroom and work with students. Isn’t it bizarre to encourage young people to go to college but claim their teachers don’t need a college degree? Surely this is quackery. But I thought it would be a good time to do […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, Bibliotherapy, child development, Child Psychology, Classroom Management, counseling, dyslexia, Educational Theory, ELL Teachers, learning disabilities, Librarians, math, Other Subjects, Special Areas, special education, Speech and Language, Teacher Preparation, Technology, the arts

New Kindergarten Testing: Sorry, It’s Not Really Play

October 9, 2014 By Nancy Bailey 1 Comment

Early childhood officials at the U.S. Department of Education, some who should know better, have apparently concluded (as described in this Ed Week article), that they were making little kids do things too over-the-top to be early childhood ready—like giving four-year-olds basic sight word spelling tests and getting them to count to 20 in their […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, kindergarten, play, testing

The Real Meaning Behind the Duncan/Huffman Tough Special Ed. Compliance Talk

June 26, 2014 By Nancy Bailey 27 Comments

What are they really doing? Everyone who cares about students with disabilities is troubled by Arne Duncan’s latest NPR blathering over the Obama administration’s plans to get even tougher on special ed. and to test these students more and include their scores in the National Assessment for Education Progress known as the Nation’s Report Card. […]

Filed Under: Special Education Tagged With: Arne Duncan, assessment, Common Core, Compliancy, Individual Educational Plan, Kevin Huffman, NAEP, parents, special education, Teach for America, teachers

So Now You Can Read the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Tests to Students with Disabilities?

May 28, 2014 By Nancy Bailey 4 Comments

Ed. Week is having a live chat this Thursday afternoon, 3 to 4 ET, to discuss PARCC and Smarter Balanced accommodations for students with disabilities. They say this assessment will “offer the promise of more inclusion and self-sufficiency for students with special needs and English-language learners.” How any assessment is going to do all that […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Accommodations, assessment, PARCC, Smarter-Balanced, Students with Disabilities

Refusing to Kiss the Chimp—Professionals, Crazy Stunts, and High-Stakes Testing

April 25, 2014 By Nancy Bailey 6 Comments

Years ago, back before test motivation had anything to do with calculated stunts, a friend of mine, who did some nice things for our school, brought in an adorable chimpanzee. It was a real hit with the students. At one point I was put on the spot to kiss it. Despite student begging—they drastically wanted […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: assessment, Crazy Stunts, high-stakes testing, Motivation, Principal Stunts, Rewards, Teacher Videos, Test Preparation

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Nancy E. BaileyFollow

Nancy E. Bailey
Retweet on TwitterNancy E. Bailey Retweeted
bledwineEducator for Michelle Wu 🍎@bledwine·
4h

@AngryCorinne @MeganSkerry @MassGovernor @GilletteStadium https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-schools-are-closing-again-on-concerns-they-spread-covid-19-11610805601

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NancyEBailey1Nancy E. Bailey@NancyEBailey1·
6h

Well said, and many teachers agree. "I don't think it's safe for me, my students or any of our families to return now." @TeacherArthurG
http://nyceducator.com/2021/01/no-its-not-time-to-open-schools-full.html

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DianeRavitchDiane Ravitch@DianeRavitch·
8h

Biden team picks a strong supporter of high-stakes testing, Ian Rosenblum, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for K-12. He never was a teacher. https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/contributors/2018/04/04/state-test-results-standards/486814002/
Is Biden breaking his promise to reduce insane testing regime?

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DianeRavitchDiane Ravitch@DianeRavitch·
7h

The strongest supporters of high-stakes testing were never teachers.

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coopmike48Coopmike48@coopmike48·
19 Jan

Chicago teachers continues plea to Chicago Public Schools for safe school reopening plan - Chicago Sun-Times - https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2021/1/18/22237242/ctu-teachers-union-cps-chicago-public-schools-reopening-plan-coronavirus-covid-19#new_tab

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