San Francisco privatization funder laments insufficient standardized testing

October 29, 7:56 PMSF Education ExaminerCaroline Grannan

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A note of distress in a press release from the New Schools Venture Fund:

"Today, in many schools, teachers administer standardized tests only a few times each year." 

Oh no!

NSVF, a San Francisco-based funder and promoter of charter/privatization miracle solutions, issued the press release to announce that it's investing $1 million in an outfit that makes technology that will allow teachers to get test results within 72 hours.

The press release continues: "Teachers and leaders need real-time data about student performance to immediately understand student strengths and weaknesses and create interventions that meet key areas of need. However, many schools lack the capacity and necessary structures and processes to use data effectively."

When the fiery Schools Matter blog posted about all this, it got a response worth quoting -- too bad the New Schools Venture Fund doesn't have the common sense this commenter displayed.

"Remember those pop quizzes your teacher used to foist on you? Those count as immediate feedback on student performance.

"You know those spelling tests, and the multiple choice history tests, and all those weekly check-ins? And how about those book reports, or reading comprehension tests? They are all ways teachers can determine, on a regular, ongoing basis, the progress of the students.

"It's called teaching."