Re: [eddra] the Toppo effect

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

I believe the AASA survey results are accurate, and probably reflect 
the increasing numbers of non-educators in top level school district 
bureaucracies (all those former businessmen, military, politicos, 
etc)  Not only does it indicate a narrow, linear focus on achieving 
productivity goals (or "the mission" in military lingo), but also an 
ignorance or disregard for the pedagogical and psychological effects 
of high stakes on children.  After all, isn't that the central 
objective of high stakes accountability, the corporate takeover of 
public education?

Pete Farruggio




At 11:41 AM 1/12/2007, GERALD BRACEY wrote:

> I think if you look closely, the acceptance of NCLB as you go up 
> what Greg called the "feeding chain" might not be due to the wealth 
> or even the distance from the classroom.  Everywhere I've been 
> speaking in the last year or more, I've been hearing about 
> principals accepting test score increases as a condition of 
> employment.  It's built into the contract.
>
> Bruce Hunter at AASA was telling me recently of a survey of 
> superintendents and asst. supts. and one of the findings that this 
> is a group of people who think they can get any job done. You want 
> 100% proficiency, no problem.
>
> JB