If School Buildings Could Talk…A Must Read

An open letter from a parent expressing the feelings of so many of us. From the Chillico the Gazette: Dear Public School, I’m sorry for what you’ve been turned into. I’m sure if you could speak, you would talk about the good old days — days when kids were allowed to learn and teachers were…

George Will Writes About the Common Core

Doubts over Common Core From the Washington Post By George F. Will, Published: January 15 E-mail the writer Viewed from Washington, which often is the last to learn about important developments, opposition to the Common Core State Standards Initiative still seems as small as thebiblical cloud that ariseth out of the sea, no larger than a man’s hand. Soon, however, this education…

Senate Bill 62 Would Create Common Core Standards Evaluation Council and Public Hearings

SB 62 is a bill that would create and fund with $100,000, the South Dakota Common Core State Standards Evaluation Council. The council would evaluate the following topics regarding the common core state standards (1) Comparison of the substance of previous South Dakota math and English language arts content standards to the Common Core State Standards; (2) Comparison…

Assessment Opt Out Information

There are many reasons to opt your child out of the Smarter Balanced Assessments. We now know that the children of South Dakota are not being assessed on their academic progress,  but instead, are being used to serve the needs of a private consortium. It seems to me that parents have every right to opt…

South Dakota Children Being Used to Write SBAC Assessments

With the announcement from the Sioux Falls Catholic School system that they are withdrawing from the SBAC Assessments, I learned that South Dakota children are being used to help write the SBAC assessment.  From the SFCS announcement: • The Smarter Balanced Assessment is a field test where students will be exposed to thousands of test items…