f:\doc\web\2000\11\malone.txt From: gene malone Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 4:47 AM Subject: Testing l.2.3. and Other Observations TESTING l.2.3 and Other Observations 1. Kenosha,Wisconsin school board members (2) said at last week's meeing, "Testing doesn't matter" when confronted with low scores at an elementary school. The teacher-union elected board members obviously haven't been clued in that OBE/STW/Goals2OOO is based on data tyranny, forever. We've spent millions of dollars here for consultants, planning alignments to national/state standards, public relations to raise scores of minority students and more. The classroom teachers have been the last to be informed on the PLAN. It is now becoming clearer to them, they've been had. 2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin- MPS School board expands standardized testing to all grades including kindergarten. Teachers are alarmed in that their instruction will be "dumbed down", schools will be evaluated by the scores and teachers will be held more accountable. Ref: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 11/1/OO. 3. Chicago, Ill.-An entire newspaper insert on all Chicago Schools-testing results in the Chicago Tribune today. The charts/scores can be understood by hardly anyone, I think. Test results can be arranged to say anything, of course. 4. Test Thoughts-Of course the points are, still: Who makes the tests, what do they test, how are they used, are they to be for local or national use, can parents see the test questions to know what their children are learning, is there over testing, are the tests for behavioral alteration , are they fact based on information to be learned considering principles of individual freedom and without political bias or propaganda goals and so forth? Testing students can be done in deceitful ways by those who care about political agendas, for instance. Consider this made up question on a history/English integrated test: Directions: Read the paragraph then in a short paragraph answer the question in your best writing habits. An American myth tells of the boy George Washington cutting down a cherry tree. It is believed he said to his father, "I can not tell a lie, I did it with my hatchet." Write: Should little George Washington have told the truth? Was young George Washington environmentally correct in destroying the young tree? 5. US Sec. of Education Richard Riley (one of the founders of America 2OOO) is campaigning around the country in support of Gore/Lieberman and their education policies. He talked at Univ. of Wisconsin-Parkside (Kenosha) yesterday to only 1OO people-pictures show him wearing a political campaign pin (large)-Gore/Lieberman. This is another problem with using education for national propaganda-nationalized education-its misuse as a propaganda platform and potential for bias in testing/policies. 6. Gov. Tommy Thompson (GOP) is the STW founder in the midwest while always denying it. Articles here say, again, the mega/ego-driven governor wants to be in the newly elected GWBush cabinet. Methinks, Dept. of Education. He's looking for a soft/government job. 7. Papers report that Chelsea Clinton is thinking of extending her lifelong learning to schooling at the infamous Oxford University in England. No one that has attended or graduated from that Fabian school should be permitted to hold any public office in America. 8. Prince Rainier of Monaco has told France to quit meddling in its affairs. "The principality wishes to regain its full sovereignty, he said. Strange, the use of the word "sovereignty". 9. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is establishing Sister-City status with a communist Cuba city on northern Cuba, Nuevitas. The news article notes that opening up full trade with communist Cuba is a goal. 1O. Have you made out your daily goals for tomorrow as we are now in a goal/data culture for ALL? 11. In Oregon they have 26 different referenda on the ballot with an instruction book explaining each. Their are political hazards in the initiative/referendum. Some in Wisconsin are always promoting these two nuances. 12. Chicago, again, some 80% of all their schools are failing the goals established. They are going to work harder. 13. Chicago-The city council is debating .... to initiate the Pledge to the U.S. flag as is done in almost every public meeting in America. It is stalled as a handful of black-Americans feel there is not, "Liberty and Justice for All." Tell that to the preborn,too. There is a black-American that speaks with support of our liberal schoolboard in Kenosha, that when the pledge is given-he keeps his hands in his pockets-but a darling of the board 14. Testing-Why don't the testers just let the students do as they do in class work-share answers, even Open book tests would help raise scores. Actually, local districts have been aligning test taking with state standards often measuring trivia/behavior with the ultimate goal for one state to be the model for NATIONAL TESTing/NATIONAL curriculum. US HR 4875 remember is a bill to be considered setting up a national systems data network which will be the basis for a national curriculum/testing. 15. Some in industry may know of the process called JIT (Just in Time) which is the policy of not having parts/resources available on hand for manufacturing-but can be ordered as needed. In a NEW ECONOMY (word now being used by national/internatinal globalists) with interdependency on standards/resources-a war crisis would leave us helpless in building proper defenses. 16. Politics-The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headlines here, today, Bush 46, Gore 39%. I think the national landslide for Bush is on the way. Gore will probably carry Vermont. 17. Quote: US TOM DELAY (R-Tex)- speaking about Clinton, " You can't deal with people who break their word." Quote: Gore, about Clinton, "One of our greatest presidents" Quote: GWBush, "Help is on the way." Popular Boston ballad in 1774, "We love our cup of tea full well, but love our freedom more." 18. Ironic, the baby death pill-RU-486 is made in Communist China where abortion is part of the culture. At abortion sites-a sign- "Honk if you were born." *****Sorry about the hodgpodge-note well the early notes on testing... submitted by-Gene Malone 19. . LEFT BACK by Diane Ravitch On the loop a few have posted notes to read the good book by Diane Ravitch , "Left Back" about 5OO pages published in 2OOO. So I checked it out and have been reviewing it first, checking out the quality by reviewing carefully the index and probably will not read the whole book as it is rather, to say the least, weak on what is happening today in the government schools. Diane Ravitch, however, has been a common sense, writer on education, as I've noted her essays and writings on the subject in the last few years. But, her omissions are glaring. The three great influences on education today which she omits completely are: l. Corporations partnering with government and the ed establishment in an economic-eduation alliance generally called School to Work/Career which is the basis for a managed economy using education as the base for centalized planning. 2. A data process which is to be national/international using student behavior/"academics" tested data for a constant data flow in a centralized managed society when completed for "continuous learning" through continual data gathering/processing. This is generally known as systems education/process-initially called PPBS/MBO/TQM components/and now OBE/and then.... 3. The United Nations connection in establishing world-wide "dumbed down" control over every nation's reformed/ed systems-generally called Goals 2OOO such as Canada 2OOO, England has the 2OOO/OBE process as does New Zealand, parts of Africa, and English speaking nations elsewher, and of course Goals 2OOO/USA which all set up MEASUREABLE goals more for central contol than quality, obviously. The above 3 present transformation (ugh) processes are not mentioned in a book that is detailing educational changes in our country's history. Nowhere is the US Constitution mentioned (Article X of the U.S. Bill of Rights) as the basis for local, quality, parent-student education priorities. The book details nothing about Ron Edmonds and his authorship of the OBE concept with another name, Effective Schools, even though his time in NYC is noted a bit. It seems to me, the book is written by an insider without the input (ugh) of outsiders (say parents) with a rather bureaucratic style lacking depth in many areas. There was an interesting bit on the Soviet/American alliance in education exchange-but flitted on to something else. It is as if the book stopped in its evaluation of Amerian education in 1965 as it failed to consider the Federal government's heavy involvement in education through the Elementary Secondary Education Act-1965 and each 5 Year Plan (think soviet union) calls for renewal with more fed/control of course. I am puzzled by the several loopers extolling the book while this loop is a vehicle to explain/shout about the present crisis of a centralized-planned society with the use of education as a vehicle for corporations, education establishments (NEA and duped special interests like the PTA et. al.) and government to use education of individuals for their own interests rather than for real education of youngsters to live in a free, learned, creative Republic, under God. Diane does not address the moral decline of the schools since God was expelled without even 4O referrals that most schools give to disruptive youngsters today. Anyway, maybe I missed the scope of the huge book-but as a lifelong reader/researcher-it left me wondering-Why was the book written with the present culture full of education mischief that will be fatal to our Republic. Charlotte Iserbyet's book, 1999 and nearly 7OO pages with appendix details what is really going on today with full documentation-The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America. B.K. Eakman's book in 1998, The Cloning of the American Mind, and Rev. Jaames R. Patrick's comprehensive manual detailing the deceit of many in the demise of American schools, "America 2OOO/Goals2000-Moving the Nation Educationally to a 'New World Order'-1994 and a later addendum is marvelous as well. I know all writers have their own style, purpose, scope-so perhaps my review is a bit harsh, as Diane Ravitch probably hasn't had time to delve into the why's of the decline of learning in the United States in deeper ways. I'd give her book a C- and advise the readers to read the above manuals/books for a more scholarly/contemporary understanding/but regret of the end of learning as you and I, dear looper, once knew. The best way to read a book is to first review its index for things that matter-then read. Note: When I get my book finished/publised on the ED-Mess, you ,too, can review . Remember, you do have the cherished right to agree with me, however. I was a harsh grader as a teacher-quality matters. Gene Malone Freedom 2OOO/USA Box 1124 Kenosha,Wisc. 53141