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Heather Callaghan
Activist Post
Stacie Starr was not just any teacher, however. She was the number one finalist in 2014′s “Live with Kelly and Michael” ‘Top Teacher’ award, a people’s choice and enviable contest of sorts. It’s like the “American Idol” for teacher contestants, and it drove her into the national lime light. This prompted many news segments asking her how it felt to win that kind of recognition. In multiple pieces you can see her getting tearfully choked up at the honor and calling it one of the greatest days of her entire life. Furthermore, she did not simply download information into her learning-disabled, at-risk students – she taught them how to think. That is why she was recognized!
Earlier this month, Starr was merely to provide information at a Lorain County Education Forum about PARCC testing as it relates to special education students. PARCC is the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a coalition of states that is using the test to drive Common Core by assessing students (and teachers) to see how “up to par” they are on the new, fast-paced and nonsensical programming.
What is even more insidious, is that special needs students have been left out of the mix to fall by the wayside. By that I mean, while they are normally allowed to have helps for their disability (like having the test read aloud), they are not allowed any such thing with PARCC. Which means that PARCC is acting outside and above the law with a “survival of the fittest” standard. Starr demonstrates the irony of all the children becoming “left behind” in this new system.
From IJR Review (my emphasis added):
The Chronicle-Telegram report, which comes via PJ Media:
Gasps of disbelief followed the announcement made during an education forum aimed at unraveling for parents the intricacies of the standardized testing system. Starr was at the podium, delivering a talk on how special education students are suffering under the new system based on Common Core standards and more rigorous assessments. She said as a veteran intervention specialist at Elyria High School, she could no longer watch silently from within the confines of a structured school day.
Starr spoke of her reasons for leaving teaching, saying:
“I can’t do it anymore, not in this ‘drill ‘em and kill ‘em’ atmosphere,” adding, “I don’t think anyone understands that in this environment if your child cannot quickly grasp material, study like a robot and pass all of these tests, they will not survive.”
Starr was not alone, though. At the public event where she announced her intention to resign at the end of the school year, other teachers from Elyria High School voiced their skepticism about new teaching standards and the contemplations of resigning.
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Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com and ActivistPost.com. Like at Facebook.
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God bless.