NY prepares to impose "work readiness" tests

[Moses]

January 29, 2005

New York Plans Test to Affirm Fitness for Jobs
By SUSAN SAULNY

Under mounting pressure from business and labor groups [which also supported the war in Iraq] , New York is expected to become the first state in the nation to issue a "work readiness" credential to high school students who pass a voluntary test measuring their ability to succeed in entry-level jobs, state officials say.

Employers have complained for years that too many students leave high school without such basic skills, despite the battery of exams - considered among the most stringent in the nation - that New York requires for graduation. [What does this tell you, edu-morons? Testing is detrimental. The states that did best in math had no tests] The work-readiness credential, employers say, will make hiring decisions easier and cut employee turnover. [Education is NOT ABOUT WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT!!!!!!!]

The test would cover so-called soft skills in 10 broad areas, including the ability to communicate, follow directions, negotiate and make basic decisions. It will be tried out in pilot programs this spring and could be ready as early as the fall, officials said. The test, given by computer, would include one section on speaking skills, with oral answers to be recorded and then analyzed by examiners.

James C. Dawson, a Regent who represents several upstate counties, said that many details of the proposal had yet to be worked out, but that he had little doubt the Board of Regents, which controls education policy, would endorse some form of the new credential.

"It is going to be an interesting discussion," he said. "But the bottom line is to do something that will help students who are inclined to go into the work force at an early age."

Other states including Florida, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Washington are part of a national plan by the United States Chamber of Commerce to create a work-readiness credential that would be recognized across the states, a project that is supported by the New York State Departments of Education and Labor.

The Board of Regents is expected to take up the proposal next month. State officials say the Regents are likely to adopt the idea because of the state's role in the national initiative, and because the commissioner of education, Richard P. Mills, is a member of a quasi-governmental state group, the Workforce Investment Board, that has been one of the credential's main proponents.

"This is something that business has wanted for a long time," said Harry Phillips, a Regent from Hartsdale, N.Y. "The Regents had an original reaction that maybe it would dilute the diploma. But I hope that we have come around to feel that it is not that, and is something we should support."

Officials still have not determined whether students who do not earn a diploma, either because they fail the Regents exams or do not take them, would be eligible for the work-readiness credential. Some Regents are expected to insist that the credential be tied to the diploma, so it does not become an incentive for dropping out of school.

Critics of the proposed credential question the need for yet another high school assessment in New York, which is already among the most aggressive states in requiring testing. Further, they question whether schools have the time and resources to put in place the new courses required to prepare students for the work-readiness test. [How about criticizing the very premise that public education are factories training children for the “workforce”?! Are our children just economic entities, to them?! ]

Still others ask a more basic question: How is it that students can graduate from high school without the basic skills necessary for entry-level work?

"If the diploma now provided after a student takes five Regents exams - if that is not enough for a student to be ready for the rigors of life, then one has to question the worth of that assessment," said Assemblyman Steven Sanders, chairman of the Assembly Education Committee. "Here we have the highest-stakes examinations of any state in the country, and the business leaders are saying there's something missing here. That means there's something wrong with this approach. The Regents have a problem here."

Eva S. Moskowitz, the chairwoman of the New York City Council's Education Committee, had similar thoughts.

"I'm glad that the business community has piped up about its needs, and I hope it will continue to be vocal about its expectations for high school graduates," she said. "I don't believe, though, that the credential as I understand it will actually improve students' ability to be successful in the workplace. Kids should be practicing public speaking in social studies, for example. A good education, college preparatory or vocational, would guarantee that students have mastered these skills." [Not everyone is suited for public speaking!! Surely our society needs all talents in all their variability?-- they are going to lose ALOT with this approach-- esp. technical talent, which actually coincides w/ inability to speak well, due to the brain’s favoring picturing solutions to problems -- not to mention those for whom English is a second language]

In a report about the proposed credential addressed to the Regents, Commissioner Mills noted that statewide learning standards already included "foundation skills" that were similar to what businesses were calling for. State education officials have also said that the Regents exams already judge foundation skills.

But business leaders have been clear that the current system is not measuring up. "Right now, most work development programs tend to be fragmented," said Margarita Mayo, director of education and training at the Business Council of New York State. "Having people be able to get this credential and pass an assessment that is recognized nationally, that would really help students in having something to present to employers that is valid."

In his report, Mr. Mills did not take a position on the credential. Nonetheless, he told the Regents, "We must redouble our efforts to guarantee to students, parents and the employer community that the diploma means 'ready to work.' "

Daniel E. Richardson, the director of finance and planning at Latta Road Nursing Home, a facility in Rochester, and a member of the Workforce Investment Board, said, "We owe it to ourselves and our society to come up with a metric, much like the Regents did 10 years ago for academic standards." [Right, we need public speakers to empty bedpans. And that is what the economists have in mind for our job prospects, too]

[Moses]

Marylanders---
 <br>....  "Goals 2000" is raising its ugly head in a big way in New York.  Now, in addition to having to pass the NY Regents to get a diploma-- NY students will be put through a dehumanizing examination drill that is supposed to sort and rank them for future employers.   According to the NY Times article, "The test would cover so-called soft skills in 10 broad areas, including   the ability to communicate, follow directions, negotiate and make basic decisions. It will be tried out in pilot programs this spring and could be ready as early as the fall, officials said. The test, given by computer, would include one section on speaking skills, with oral answers to be recorded and then analyzed by examiners." <br> <br>Can you just imagine this test?  A standardized test on speaking and negotiating skills?  Who gets to sit there and decide if your kid has good speaking skills from a one time answer he or she has to give under extreme pressure to a computer!?   And for the rest of every NY kids' work career he or she will bear the brand of this absolutely ridiculous "work-readiness" score emblazoned on the high school transcript. 
 <br>What does this insane development in NY have to do with MD you ask?   Plenty.  This piece raised the ire of Goals 2000 experts everywhere.  Goals 2000 was the old Clinton education scheme - that was supposed to be taken out to the garbage heap when No Child Left Behind replaced it.  Our High School Assessments are a relic of Goals 2000.  These were the 10th grade level tests which were supposed to sort kids as being on the college track or on the school-to-work track - all playing into the grand "planned economy" design promoted by Clinton and corporate leaders. <br> <br>At this point, the High School Assessments have nothing whatsoever to do with No Child Left Behind requirements.  Ever wonder why the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education www.mbrt.org is fighting tooth and nail to make sure that the HSA program is not tossed out with other antiques from the Clinton era?  Ever wonder why they don't just concentrate on helping us meet the goals of NCLB?   Do they want high stakes testing in MD because corporate CEO's really stay awake nights worrying about our children's futures?   No - they do it because its good for business.   Once we accept high stakes in MD, they can control what's on the tests, what ends up on the transcripts, etc. 
 <br>First I have commentary for you from Susan Ohanian and Zalee Harris about the piece.  Whenever Goals 2000 comes up, I respectfully and humbly refer my fellow Marylanders to Zalee -- as she knows Goals 2000 inside and out.  She gives an hour long presentation on Goals 2000 and why it is still infecting MD education today.  She will come and deliver her pitch for free to any group that can get a few people together in a room.  Her link below. <br> <br>Susan Ohanian mentions Marc "Goals 2000" Tucker in her thoughts on the piece.  For a quick primer on what Goals 2000 is all about - the famous "Dear Hillary Letter" is a great place to start.  This is a letter from Marc Tucker to Hillary Clinton that set all the groundwork for Goals 2000.  A summary and link to the letter are below. <br> <br>Finally, the NY Times piece.  I think it will disgust you as much as it did me.  Remember - if we roll over and play dead on the High School Assessments, could a workforce readiness piece be far behind?  Don't these public schools that we are paying for with our tax dollars, these schools which we volunteer in, don't they belong to the people of Maryland?  Should we let big business CEO's, who send their own kids to private schools, call all the shots?  Are we sending our kids to school only to be treated as if they were indentured servants to big business?   Is this the brand of democracy that we want to hold up to the rest of the world to emulate?[/b]
 <br>This is a lot to digest.  Take your time.  Make sure you click on the link for the full Dear Hillary Letter to get the full impact of this outrageous assault on democracy.  I'll finish up with great quote from my good pal Juanita Doyon (Washington State founder of Mothers Against WASL and "homeroom mother of the resistance") from our endorsements page: <br> <br>"Way to go Maryland!  I fully agree with your stand for our children and against high-stakes testing.  To the corporate test-em-to-death standardistas, who shout "Accountability Now!" at our children, teachers and parents, it's time to shout back.... Education is the BUSINESS of parents and teachers!"

---

Stay informed with Marylanders Against High Stakes Testing www.geocities.com/stophsa

 <br>

[Moses]

Ohanian Comment (Source - Susan Ohanian Speaks Out - www.susanohanian.org ) :  "Marc Tucker's plan is coming to fruition: The work readiness credential, schools as the place to "make [corporate] hiring decisions easier."  Tucker's outfit, The National Center on Education and the Economy, billing itself as "the nation's leader in standards-based education," laid out School to Work, whose goal was embedded in the infamous "Dear Hillary" letter. The introduction to this letter on the Eagle Forum makes for interesting reading in face of No Child Left Behind. Let's give conservatives credit for recognizing a mangy cur when they spotted it."

[Moses]

Zalee Harris Comment (Zalee Harris is the founder of Education Doctors members.aol.com/eddocweekly/4U.html ):  <br> <br>"Okay folks, we have been waiting for this... how long will it be before MD is connected?
 <br>HSA's do not become mandatory until 2009... then is it safe to say that a pilot program could be just around the corner for Maryland schools. We would probably only need a year; that would give NY time to work out the bugs in this plan.
 <br>Notice how the article reads: Under pressure from unions and labor employees... NY will begin linking High School Assessment scores (a so called voluntary test) to job readiness. WOW!  This is School-to-Work - Zip code profiling system that eliminates choice!
 <br>It kills me for these state's to claim they came up with this idea when the play book is outlined in the education laws that Clinton gave us in 1994... and they want to blame No Child Left Behind for this mess."

[Moses]

Summary of the "Dear Hillary" - Source www.eagleforum.org
 <br>On Sept. 25, 1998, Rep. Bob Schaffer placed in the Congressional Record an 18-page letter that has become famous as Marc Tucker's "Dear Hillary" letter. It lays out the master plan of the Clinton Administration to take over the entire U.S. educational system so that it can serve national economic planning of the workforce.

....The "Dear Hillary" letter, written on Nov. 11, 1992 by Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), lays out a plan "to remold the entire American system" into "a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone," coordinated by "a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal levels" where curriculum and "job matching" will be handled by counselors "accessing the integrated computer-based program."

Tucker's plan would change the mission of the schools from teaching children academic basics and knowledge to training them to serve the global economy in jobs selected by workforce boards. Nothing in this comprehensive plan has anything to do with teaching schoolchildren how to read, write, or calculate.

Tucker's ambitious plan was implemented in three laws passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1994: the Goals 2000 Act, the School-to-Work Act, and the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act. These laws establish the following mechanisms to restructure the public schools:



1. Bypass all elected officials on school boards and in state legislatures by making federal funds flow to the Governor and his appointees on workforce development boards.



2. Use a computer database, a.k.a. "a labor market information system," into which school personnel would scan all information about every schoolchild and his family, identified by the child's social security number: academic, medical, mental, psychological, behavioral, and interrogations by counselors. The computerized data would be available to the school, the government, and future employers.



3. Use "national standards" and "national testing" to cement national control of tests, assessments, school honors and rewards, financial aid, and the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM), which is designed to replace the high school diploma.

Designed on the German system, the Tucker plan is to train children in specific jobs to serve the workforce and the global economy instead of to educate them so they can make their own life choices.

The original Tucker letter was typed on the letterhead shown below.

The text of the letter as inserted into the Congressional Record is available at this link www.eagleforum.org/educate/marc_tucker/marc_tucker_letter.html :<br>

[karpomrx]

To me, the premise is simply that economic purchasing power is the same as "freedom". Who dares to question that american liberty is the ability to purchase mountains of worthless cr*p?
Education? Another "quaint" notion that does not fit in with the desires of corporate McAmerica.

[Moses]

We need to pass a law that bans social engineers and armchair empirists from having anything to do whatsoever w/ public education policy.