Tag Archives: Idaho Education News

Idaho Ed News Publishes Cavener’s Charter Analysis

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Idaho Ed News was kind enough to feature my analysis on charter on Schools earlier in the week.

It sparked a heated debate on the status quo of charter schools here in Idaho, particularly if minority students have an equal shot at being successful in the charter schools.

That debate also resulted Idaho Charter School Network’s Communication Coordinator Amy Russell penning an opposition OpEd to the data I highlighted.

I encourage everyone to peruse both viewpoints.  Also, it’s worthwhile to look at the data to see how minority students fare in your local school district.  The data sent to me from information requests through the State Dept. of Education is embedded below.

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ISDE Chief of Staff–Luci Willits–Response to Rebranding SBAC as “ISAT 2.0”

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luci-willitsRecently Idaho State Department Chief of Staff, Luci Willits, announced in an interview with Idaho Ed News that the state is renaming the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s (SBAC’s) exam as “Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) 2.0”

I wrote Ms. Willits over this issue as I felt the name was inappropriate and misleading.  In my letter I evaluated why I feel the rebranding is a poor decision; namely that the new name conveys that the exam is assessing the old Idaho Content Standards, not the new Common Core Standards, and that the new name perhaps conveys that Idaho has left the Consortium, which isn’t true.

Ms. Willits was kind enough to provide a timely reply to my email today.  Her response, in full, is posted below.   Continue reading →

ISDE: Why the Lost Love Over SBAC?

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ISATRecently Idaho State Department of Education Chief of staff, Luci Willits, declared in an interview with Idaho Ed News that the state is rebranding the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) as the “ISAT 2.0.”

I have a problem with this name-change for a variety of reasons.  I sent a letter laying out my concern about the name change to Ms. Willits.  My letter, in full, is below. Continue reading →

Frankenstein: Idaho’s $42 Million Inept Data Monster

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640px-Frankenstein's_monster_(Boris_Karloff)Idaho could benefit from examining the successful models of several States and hiring a professional grant writer and some technical experts who could better inform the development of a better-conceived application to fund the work that the State so desperately needs.

Such was the scathing critique by the US Department of Education when it rejected Idaho’s $21 million dollar grant request to develop Idaho’s big data longitudinal data collection system (Idaho System of Educational Excellence, or ISEE and its companion Schoolnet). Continue reading →

Education’s “Inside Job”

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By Mary Ollie

MaryToday, we are seeing unparalleled and complex relationships between academia, foundations, corporations, and the media.  Corporations and their non-profit foundations underwrite academic work.  Entire departments or university chairs may be underwritten.  In Idaho, the Albertson Foundation supports Idaho Leads at BSU, Centers for Innovation and Learning at NNU and U of I.  What are the possible consequences of funding researchers and academic institutions?  Could this color opinions? Continue reading →