Tag Archives: CCSS

Common Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs

Dear Mr. and Mrs Gates: This is what is gong on in every county across the country as students with disabilities are forced to take tests they are not yet ready for and have not learned the content: In about … Continue reading

Posted in Common Core High Stakes Testing, Educational Malpractice, Special Education, Special needs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Five Hours of Gates-led Kindergarten Common Core MAP Tests! #TESTHearingsNow

Dear Bill and Melinda, You are making history, Bill and Melinda.  You have now reached a new level of notoriety.  You two can now be known in history books as the American billionaire couple — with your seat on Air … Continue reading

Posted in Common Core, Congressional Hearings, #TESTHearingsNow, Kindergarten, Kindergarten Testing, NWEA Common Core MAP Tests | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Our Top 10 from 2013, but Bill Gates is Still Not Making Nice with Teachers

Dear Bill and Melinda, As 2013 comes to a close, we thought we would highlight the top 10 posts on Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates that most resonated with teachers and parents this year. Due to your continued silence, we … Continue reading

Posted in Best of 2013, Data | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heavy emphasis on “hard skills” leaves children unprepared for the real “tests” in life.

Mr. Gates, Working with grade 7-12 students for more than two decades, and as a summer youth employment counselor for 10 years, it has been my experience that a lack of soft skills and virtues (perseverance, ambition, responsibility, self-confidence, self-discipline, … Continue reading

Posted in Hard Skills, Soft Skills, Soft Skills vs Hard Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Out, damned spot; out, I say.” — Melinda Gates, we call your power to account.

“What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?” –Lady Macbeth Mrs. Gates: At the National Conference of State Legislatures on July 21st, 2009, your husband spoke about our country’s economic crisis and offered … Continue reading

Posted in Education Nation, Education Week, Lady Macbeth, Melinda Gates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Here’s an idea, what if every school adopted a dual career and college readiness mandate?

Dear Bill, The Common Core’s emphasis on independent mastery of complex informational text puts weaker and learning disabled readers at a severe disadvantage. The Common Core also presumes that the information our students will need to analyze and interpret in … Continue reading

Posted in College and Career Ready, Common Core, Common Core High Stakes Testing, Common Core State Standards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

You can keep WEIGHING the baby all that you want but unless you take the time to feed the baby, the baby will never gain weight.

Dear Mr. Gates; I have been a public education teacher for 17 years. I am a mom to two children, one in public middle school and one in public high school. I am looking to opt my children out of … Continue reading

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Corporate Education Reform, End High Stakes Testing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

If implemented fully, the reforms you promote will have crippling effects on student learning, teacher quality, and public education in general.

Dear Bill and Melinda, I believe your involvement in the current educational “reform” movement began with good intentions.  However, it seems to me that your educational philosophies, particularly your enthusiasm for the use of high-stakes testing, are dangerously misguided.  If … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Education Reform, End High Stakes Testing, Standardized Testing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mr.and Mrs. Gates: This experiment should be put to rest for once and for all…

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gates, For years now, you have joined forces with Michelle Rhee to drive and enact your education reform agenda. The cornerstone of this agenda states that the greatest single factor effecting student achievement is to place a … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Education Reform, High Stakes Testing, NCLB, Race to the Top | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

High stakes lead to a hyper-focus on a narrow set of quantifiable skills…

Dear Bill and Melinda, I oppose high-stakes testing. It leads to a hyper-focus on a narrow set of quantifiable skills at the expense of the greater characteristics of education founded in a broad curriculum. CCSSI High-stakes assessments rely on computer-generated … Continue reading

Posted in Common Core High Stakes Testing, High Stakes Testing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment