Arthur Hu's Education Deform / Diversity Update Posted 6/5/1999 http://www.leconsulting.com/99/07/eddef05.txt archives and mailing list: www.egroups.com/groups/wa-ed-deform email arthurhu@halcyon.com index www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/edreform.htm "LIFETIME FITNESS" = FIRST GRADE BATANN DEATH MARCH MILE RUN I joked to the principal about comparing excessive homework to making kids run laps. Well, it's no longer a joke. As if higher academic standards were bad enough, my first grader just brought home his fitness report card, complete with percentile rankings, fall and spring. He did 33/17 sit-ups (85/25pct) 1/0 pull-ups (80/30pct) 31/25cm (85/45) sit and reach, shuttle run in 13/14.5 secs (60/15), and the 1 mile-run walk (1 mile???) 14 min = 30th percentile. Children are _required_ to do pull ups even though the chart clearly shows that the MEDIAN number of pull-ups is ZERO, doing even one pull-up puts you at the 75th percentile. That's as far as kids used to have to walk to school! I can't recall doing this sort of stuff until middle high school. 1st grade was playing tether ball, monkey bars and jump rope. This is all in street clothes. At least Junior and High Schools have locker rooms and gym clothes, and tracks. Parents were not informed at all about the fall session, we just got the note back about spring today. There was no permission slip to fill out. The scarier thing is that that is based on the "President's Challenge Physical Fitness Program". Can anybody find out about this? Somebody had to take 1000 first graders and make them run a mile to get this norms chart. The attached letter (I can't mention the name for fear of LWEA lawsuit) from the PE teacher said the main objective was to develop a physical fiteness program to encourage lifetime fitness (= lifetime learning??) for your child. "The results from the assessment will .. provide a baseline to continue developing standards.. promoting a healthy standard of living in children". Are we going to have "performance-based" PE standards requiring 85th percentile performance as what "all students should be able to do", "no excuses, no exceptions"??? Be afraid, be very afraid. See images of actual documents my kid brought home: http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/pe/fit1.gif http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/pe/fit2.gif ASIANS 20-30% OF SILICON VALLEY BUT ONLY 7% OF START UP EXECUTIVES "Running Your Own Show" Asian Week May 27, 1999 p. 15 Asians make up 25 to 30 percent of workers in Silicon Valley hi-tech startups, but of 100 firms that received venture capital funding, only 7 percent were headed by Asians or Asian Americans according a study this year by the San Jose Mercury News. NEWSWEEK SPOTLIGHT SHOWS EVEN AFFLUENT BLACKS IN BEST SCHOOLS LAG WHITES. [I dug this up in my National Review article, not that anybody was paying any attention - in every affluent school district blacks perform either as badly as in urban centers, or no better than state average for whites] \clip\99\11\shaker.txt http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/na/so0423_2.htm Newsweek, June 7, 1999 Trying to Close the Achievement Gap Why, in this upper-middle-class Ohio high school, do blacks perform worse than whites? [in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The affluent suburb of Cleveland has long been hailed as a model of successful integration. By and large, blacks and whites there are equally well off and live harmoniously side by side. The high school consistently ranks as one of the nation's best. There's just one nagging failure: the persistent achievement gap between black and white students. The brightest black students at Shaker are among the country's best, but a study released two years ago turned up a bleak reality. Though blacks make up half the high-school population, they regularly account for less than 10 percent of those at the top of the class and nearly 90 percent of the bottom.] KINDERGARTEN READING COMPANION SERIES - GRADE 1/2 READING / COMPREHENSION Kindergarten half day 4 day / week reading assignment. Read "to fluency" A.G. Bell. Teacher name ommitted to avoid lawsuit from LW teachers union. [Note, there are no pictures on this page] Share sheet Unit 18 The log 1 A log was on the path. 2 Sam said "Here is a big log!" 3 "We have got to cut this log!" 4 "Where is an ax?" said Kim. 5 Sam said, "There is an ax in the shed." 6 The ax was in a box. 7 "We can cut the big log," said Kim and Sam. 8 The ax hit the log and cut it. 9 It was fun to cut the log ---------------------------- [Comprehension questions at k?] Was there a log on the path? [line 1 " a log was on the path"] Where was the ax? [line 6 "in a box"] Do you have an ax? [no, had to ask dad] KINDERGARTEN MATH - My kids got a drawing of Eric Carle's Hungry Caterpillar (good) and they had to estimate how many squares would fit inside (bad) There was no grid to count. INVESTIGATIONS HOMEWORK - SHAPES AROUND THE HOME One of the more innocent "investigations" by Dale Seymour assignments my 1st grader got was to write or draw 5 objects with shapes around the house. Sounds pretty easy, but I the parent still had to explain the problem, point out objects and shapes for him, and help him. The only shapes around most kitches and houses are rectangles and circles. Problem? it takes a lot of time and motion on the part of student and parent and doesn't teach him much vs. a worksheet that tests the student's knowledge of shapes. DRESS CODE FOR 00S Dress Code from an elementary school in Kirkland WA May 1999 In the 60s, we didn't have detailed policies like these, and these things generally weren't a problem: Dress expectations (from our behavior policy) the following will be allowed: 1. Tanks tops if a shirt is worn on top, over it or under it 2. Shorts and skirts will be the length of the tip of the mmiddle finger when the student's arm is placed down at his / her side. (Primary teachers may use their judgement on this) 3. Hemmed or rolled up jean shorts 4. Spandex shorts The following will _not_ be allowed 1. Halter tops, midriff tops, tube tops 2. Inappropriate sayings on clothes 3. T-shirts with alchohol or tobacco logos 4. Holes in pants when hole is above the knee 5. Ripped or large holes in shirts 6. Hats in the building / classroom 7. "Sagging" pants 8. Gang related clothing Also students are expected to keep their pants UP at all times. "Sagging" or showing underwear is not appropriate, and will be treated as requiring disciplinary actions. Behavior expectations: 1. Only school equipment will e used at reccess on the playground. Any equipment from home must stay in the classroom. Electronic equipment including walkmans, radios and walkie talkies are not allowed at school. 2. No hardballs, boomerangs, skates, skateboards, hockey or lacrosse equiepment at school. District policy forbids skateboarding at all schools for liability reasons. 3. Activities such as "pantsing", "mooning", or other behaviors which embarass or humiliate students are in violation of our human dignity policy and will not be allowed. Disciplinary action will be the consequence for these behaviors at school 4. The school bus is considered an extension of the school for safety and disciplinary matters. 5. students may not buy or sell their personal posessions at school. LAKE WASHINGTON DISTRICT HOMEWORK POLICY see http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/homework.gif A.G. BELL RELEASES ELEMENTRARY HOMEWORK SURVEY In response to my complaints about the homework load and level, the principal agreed to distribute a survey to parents asking them what they thought the homework load should be. I believe kindergarteners can get maybe 2 times a month requiring parental supervision, first graders may once a week. Traditional is no homework until they can do it without assistance. They have been returned, but no word on the results. A.G. BELL ELEMENTARY GETS BLUE RIBBON NATIONAL RECOGNITION see http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/bluerib.gif for image. "We are delighted to announce that A.G. Bell has been selected as one of the schools to receive national recognition as a Blue Ribbon School.. began with application by a team of 18 staff members, parents and members of our school community.. site visit in march.. is a great honor.. we will announce a celebration" JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SERVICE REQUIREMENT THREATENS TO FLUNK 9TH GRADER Kimakin Junior High in Kirkland (Lake Washington District) may be one of the only junior high schools in the nation with a community service requirement. It's called capstone with CAP meaning something like Community Action Projet. Active libertarian Rachael Hawkridge raehawkrij@aol.com 425-814-4548 reports that her son is being threatened with failing the 9th grade because he believes that community service requriements violate his freedom. Notes: Arthur Hu is the same parent who was sent a letter from the Lake Washington Education Association (district teachers union) threatening a lawsuit if he did not stop publicly complaining about his kindergarteners getting reading and writing assignment, and his first grader getting math and writing assignments not appropriate for his grade level. Arthur Hu is also investigating a run for Superintent of Public Instruction in 2000 against incumbent Terry Bergeson. He would oppose the dismantling of, and restore a traditional content-based education that works for all students, and work to stop outcome based education, school to work, and progressive education in all its mutant forms before it takes a Train Wreck for the public to notice what has happened to public education. A.G. Bell Elementary office number is 425-822-7450. The principal is Dr. Nancy Wilson. SPEECH ON ROOTS OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS / TRANSF MARXISM Terry Olive recently forwarded to me th web address of an speech by Bill Lind of the Free Congress Foundation. In this speech Lind speaks of the origins of political correctness and the connections men known to be transformational Marxists: Theodor Adorno, Gramsci, Luckasc, Marcuse ... It's well worth the read and can be found at http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a37100ace0b5a.htm . Letter to President's challenge Please address the following problems in your materials and website: 1. Please require children to have parental consent and knowlege before subjecting children to this program. 2. Please require children to be in gym clothes. 3. Please acknowlege activity may not even be appropriate at K-6 grade level since most elmentary shools do not lockers or changing rooms or gym clothing.