Ritz Finds Flaws With Bennett's Ed. Programs
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Ritz stopped in Warsaw on her way from Fort Wayne to South Bend.
The stakes for the accountability system are so high, she said, and incumbent State Superintendent Dr. Tony Bennett (R) will look to tie in school funding to the system if he is re-elected, that it will hurt public schools. Under her watch, Ritz said she would work to make sure that all schools succeed.
Among her talking points, she said there was less than a 1 percent statewide increase in ISTEP, but yet there are swings in accountability grades among 1,338 schools of one, two, three and four letter grades up or down. That brings into question the whole validity of the system, she said.
She emphasized that under Bennett, there is no transparency to the artifical growth model placed on top of the pass/fail ISTEP test, of which a school can lose or gain an entire grade.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to it,” Ritz said.
Among many of the flaws of the system, she said, schools that serve kindergarten to second-grade students only, that have no state assessments and no state data, have been assigned the same grade as the school in which the students filter into.
Ritz is calling for an independent audit of the data to validate each school’s grade, and is calling for the replacement of the entire system. She said she and many others were opposed to the system Bennett put in place from the start, but it was done nevertheless.
With student assessments, schools can know their students’ true levels of learning. Once those are in place, Ritz said they can begin talking about an accountability system as required by the federal government. However, Indiana does not need the A-F system. When the state labels a school A-F, it’s not just labeling the schools but its students and community as well. That could be damaging.
Because of the many changes implemented by Bennett over the past four years, Ritz said teacher morale is at the lowest she’s ever seen it and she’s been an educator for 30 years. Teachers are not being treated well or like professionals.
“I think we will see a morale change when I am elected Nov. 6,” she said.
Another change implemented by the Department of Education is the IREAD-3 test. It requires all third-graders to pass a test before they can move on to the fourth grade.
The IREAD-3 is the reason Ritz got into the race, she said. She said a pass/fail test will not lead to success.
If a student does not attend preschool or kindergarten, and begins school at age 7, they are placed into kindergarten. If they fail the IREAD-3 in third grade, that’s like being held back again. An 18-year-old in high school as a sophomore likely will mean the student will not graduate.
During this school year, all teachers and administrators must be evaluated. The state law gives school corporations perameters to approve an evaluation tool, but Ritz said Bennett has steered schools toward his preference – the RISE evaluation system. Ritz said it’s just “undoable.” While Indiana schools need a high, rigorous school evaluation system, Bennett’s plan is flawed. Even if an administrator’s evaluation says a teacher should get a pay raise, ISTEP results could keep the teacher from it.
Ritz said it’s all about a loss of local control. Bennett is leading the state away from public education to charter and private schools. She said public money should stay in the public domain, and not go to private schools.
Despite the low morale and burdens placed on educators, Ritz said a lot of teachers are still doing the best they can. That’s being stiffled by having to teach to the test, but they are doing their best.
For more information about Ritz, her platforms and issues, visit her website at Ritz4edu.com
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Ritz stopped in Warsaw on her way from Fort Wayne to South Bend.
The stakes for the accountability system are so high, she said, and incumbent State Superintendent Dr. Tony Bennett (R) will look to tie in school funding to the system if he is re-elected, that it will hurt public schools. Under her watch, Ritz said she would work to make sure that all schools succeed.
Among her talking points, she said there was less than a 1 percent statewide increase in ISTEP, but yet there are swings in accountability grades among 1,338 schools of one, two, three and four letter grades up or down. That brings into question the whole validity of the system, she said.
She emphasized that under Bennett, there is no transparency to the artifical growth model placed on top of the pass/fail ISTEP test, of which a school can lose or gain an entire grade.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to it,” Ritz said.
Among many of the flaws of the system, she said, schools that serve kindergarten to second-grade students only, that have no state assessments and no state data, have been assigned the same grade as the school in which the students filter into.
Ritz is calling for an independent audit of the data to validate each school’s grade, and is calling for the replacement of the entire system. She said she and many others were opposed to the system Bennett put in place from the start, but it was done nevertheless.
With student assessments, schools can know their students’ true levels of learning. Once those are in place, Ritz said they can begin talking about an accountability system as required by the federal government. However, Indiana does not need the A-F system. When the state labels a school A-F, it’s not just labeling the schools but its students and community as well. That could be damaging.
Because of the many changes implemented by Bennett over the past four years, Ritz said teacher morale is at the lowest she’s ever seen it and she’s been an educator for 30 years. Teachers are not being treated well or like professionals.
“I think we will see a morale change when I am elected Nov. 6,” she said.
Another change implemented by the Department of Education is the IREAD-3 test. It requires all third-graders to pass a test before they can move on to the fourth grade.
The IREAD-3 is the reason Ritz got into the race, she said. She said a pass/fail test will not lead to success.
If a student does not attend preschool or kindergarten, and begins school at age 7, they are placed into kindergarten. If they fail the IREAD-3 in third grade, that’s like being held back again. An 18-year-old in high school as a sophomore likely will mean the student will not graduate.
During this school year, all teachers and administrators must be evaluated. The state law gives school corporations perameters to approve an evaluation tool, but Ritz said Bennett has steered schools toward his preference – the RISE evaluation system. Ritz said it’s just “undoable.” While Indiana schools need a high, rigorous school evaluation system, Bennett’s plan is flawed. Even if an administrator’s evaluation says a teacher should get a pay raise, ISTEP results could keep the teacher from it.
Ritz said it’s all about a loss of local control. Bennett is leading the state away from public education to charter and private schools. She said public money should stay in the public domain, and not go to private schools.
Despite the low morale and burdens placed on educators, Ritz said a lot of teachers are still doing the best they can. That’s being stiffled by having to teach to the test, but they are doing their best.
For more information about Ritz, her platforms and issues, visit her website at Ritz4edu.com
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