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Arthur Hu's Education Reform Index

M-Z @@Nap z74\clip\2003\10\naptime.txt Schools drop naptime for testing preparation Associated Press 10/3/2003 Gadsden city schools have eliminated naptime for kindergartners so children will have more time to prepare for new, mandated standardized tests. White said states are required to test kindergartners under President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" education initiative @@National Alliance For Restructuring Education Home Page: http://www.ncee.org/OurPrograms/narePage.html Part of Marc Tucker's NCEE that directs states and local districts that want to follow his model for education reform The National Alliance – Support for Comprehensive Standards-Based Reform in States and School Districts In its National Alliance program, the National Center provides assistance to states and districts committed to a comprehensive and systemic approach to standards-based education reform. The Alliance is the right option for states and districts working on all five Alliance "design tasks": Standards and Assessment | Learning Environments | Community Services and Supports | High Performance Management | Public Engagement The members of the National Alliance are committed to making the changes necessary to enable all but the most severely disabled students to meet a standard of accomplishment that is set as high as those the best-performing countries expect of their students. In June of 1992, the Alliance was designated as one of 11 design teams selected by the New American Schools Development Corporation to design and create 'break the mold' schools. In addition to New American Schools, The Pew Charitable Trusts also supports the work of the Alliance. http://www.ecs.org/ECS/2156.htm NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR RESTRUCTURING EDUCATION How does the National Alliance for Restructuring Education describe itself? The National Alliance for Restructuring Education is a partnership of three states, four city school districts and leading national organizations committed to making the changes necessary to enable all but the most severely disabled students to meet high standards of achievement. The hallmark of its effort is the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM), a standard of accomplishment that is set as high as standards the best-performing countries expect of their students at about ***age 16.*** (not hs diploma!) MORE FEATURES OF THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE Locations: As of November 1995, three states (Kentucky, New York, Washington) and five city districts (San Diego, California; Rochester, New York; White Plains, New York; Hershey, Pennsylvania; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) were National Alliance sites. @@NAS National Association of Scholars Malone get response that they don't have a position on Goals 2000. (In other words, they do not oppose high stakes testing) @@National Board for Professional Teaching Standards http://www.nbpts.org/ "In 1986, the Carnegie Corporation's Task Force on Teaching as a Profession released the report A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. The report recommended the establishment of a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. " @@National Council of Churches The National Council of Churches supports "standards-based school reform." http://www.ncccusa.org/about/edpol.html The Churches and the Public Schools at the Close of the Twentieth Century A Policy Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ Adopted November 11, 1999 "support standards-based school reforms, working in districts and states until the country as a whole has reasonable and challenging standards by which to assess students and schools; " z48\clipim\2001\02\ncc.htm @@National Education Goals Panel Board set up to monitor goals 2000 GOALS 2000 NOT MET, NOR LIKELY TO http://www.frc.org/subscribe/docs/ed11l.html --------------------------------------------------------------- GOALS 2000 AND COUNTING What do you get when you cross Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and Goals 2000? Answer: Goals Whenever. In traditional education, students are expected to master certain material in a given amount of time. OBE, on the other hand, removes the time variable. So what should the National Education Goals Panel do if its National Education Goals will not be met by 2000? Simple: change the deadline, according to the panel's chairman. \clip\97\28\assess.txt http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-11/08assess.h11 Education Week October 23, 1991 National Standards/Assessments: Students National Education Goals Panel: Formed by the governors and President Bush in July/990 to monitor progress on achieving the six national education goals announced by the President in January 1990. Released its first national report card in September/991, "The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners." Included Marc Tucker @@Native American SEATTLE INDIANA HERITAGE IS SMALLEST SCHOOL z39\clipim\2000\03\03\indher.efx Indian Heritage School Getting New Home Seattle Times Mar 2, 2000. With only 71 students, it is the smallest program in the Seattle schools. Seattle also as African American Academy. @@Nazi It's very impolite to use the name of Nazis in vain, but some have compared the standards based movement to education nazis, and some say Nazi policies bear some resemblence to some programs in the US. Day care provided for working families, the education provided to the preschoolers promoted Hitler; co-education was permitted under age 4 but not over.

@@Neglect Does not complying with ed reform constitute educational neglect? @@National Institute for School Leadership NISL Vultures of a Feather Flock Together Publication Date: 2002-12-18 By Susan Ohanian Former state superintendents of schools never die; they find new foundations Press Release dated Dec. 16, 2002 from Marc Tucker, president, National Center on Education and the Economy - Joseph Olchefske, Rudy Crew, Sandy Kress, Hornbeck, etc. @@NSF @@National Science Foundation Funds harmful experimental math programs. 04 Jan 1999 Wayne Bishop The NSF funded experiments in math reform, IMP, CPM, Core-Plus, etc. do not get the objective scrutiny that they should get and the data that can be found cannot be believed. The nation would be better off with *no* federal involvement in mathematics education "research" and "reform" (for example the massive SI, Systems Initiative, projects) than it is with that which it currently funds. Wayne Bishop Math & CS Cal State LA @@Natural Learning Whole language and the NCTM standardss Developmentalism: An Obscure but Pervasive Restriction on Educational Improvement http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v4n8.html \clip\97\25\develp.htm E. Stone East Tennessee State University STONEJ@EDUSERV.EAST-TENN-ST.EDU @@Nazi Outcome Based Education \clip\98\16\nazi.htm Kjos on how outcome based education resembles Nazi desired goals and outcomes. ESTABLISH AN OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION SYSTEM Restructure schools and nationalize tests and standards: Affective (feeling-centered, attitudinal), not cognitive, learning earns the graduation certificate: School-to-Work link: "The new movement offered prospects of future employment at a time of massive graduate unemployment." (440) IMPLEMENT MASTERY LEARNING @@NCAA NCAA NIXES PERFORMANCE BASED SELF-PACED REFORM COURSES \clip\98\16\ncaa.txt http://archives.usatoday.com:80/@H7ae4c4c8ea12f7ac233c5ee4c35b3783:kid=400002.30&domain=1998Zb2F10Zb2F27Zb2Fu_623756.html&it=910214334&tid=105886&ip=198.206.247.156&expire=912806326&qty=1&uid=56361&sci_id=66943&ss=env/archives/1998/10/27/u_623756.html NCAA steps out of bounds Tues., Oct. 27, 1998 FINAL EDITION Section: NEWS Page 14A "Principals complain that education-reform efforts in Pennsylvania, Vermont and Minnesota have been stymied because the NCAA refuses to certify students who take new course offerings." "schools were under terrific pressure to initiate reform in secondary education. Many much-needed reforms were made, only to have this arbitrary and ill-informed organization fail to approve the resultant courses." "To have a private organization, the American College Testing Company, shaping curricular decisions in our nation's high schools is an invasion of the rights of states and communities to determine educational policy. " "Minnesota has decided to require all students to demonstrate strong skills and knowledge before they graduate from high school. The NCAA has called this approach ''unacceptable.'' Who gave the NCAA the right to tell a state that our new approach is unacceptable, especially when the new plan is showing increased student achievement? " [these is the state that only puts multiplication by single digits by 10 as a "high standard"] "We wonder about the NCAA's competence. In a letter to one of our public schools, the NCAA wrote, ''the self-paced and performance-based approaches are not acceptable.'' This statement offends us with its judgment. The NCAA constantly rejects courses based on course title without knowing the research used to design the curriculum and teaching methodology." [research hahahahahaha!] NCAA FROWNS ON REFORM-ORIENTED COURSES \doc\web\98\09\ncaarefm.txt last Tuesday's USA Today (11/2/98) and a set of follow-up letters published on Friday Oct. 30. The issue is NCAA eligibility requirements, which tell high schools what kinds of courses are acceptable for college student eligibility for participation in NCAA Division I and II athletics. The NCAA frowns on performance-based courses, social studies courses with significant community service, vocational courses, many interdisciplinary courses, etc. @@NEA National Education Association NEA opposes cuts STW, Goals 2000, head start, bilingual ed, etc. \clip\99\01\nea.txt NEA's Political Agenda: Investor's Business Daily, January 5, 1999 THE NEA'S POLITICAL LESSON PLAN Union's Agenda Pushes Left-Wing Positions Date: 1/5/99 Author: Michael Chapman The National Education Association has big plans. But many have little to do with teaching kids. The nation's largest teachers union wants the U.S. to nationalize health care, start a nuclear freeze, adopt national energy policies and pass more gun-control laws. Yet it doesn't want teachers tested or schools privatized. @@New Age Some have noted the connection between New Age mysticism and the education reform movement. One prominent person works for the state of Washington. E-file Oct2000 on New Age influences starting with Dewey From: "Lynn M Stuter" Oh yes -- we know of at least one -- Shirley McCune. Also, Bergeson has been, in the past, on the board of New Horizons for Learning out of Seattle. This group promotes guided fantasy/guided visualization in schools and has published such people as Beverly Gaylean. Also on the board of New Horizons sits Jean Houston -- the New Age guru and cosmic psycho. Yes, I'm afraid Ms Bergeson is very much involved. @@New American Schools @@NASDC @@NAS NO CLEAR LINKAGE WITH NAS TO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE - IT'S A BUST! z48\clipim\2001\02\09\MR1145.ch6.pdf http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1145/ Rand: 2/2001 Implementation and Performance in New American Schools: Three Years into Scale-Up Cincinatti: Half or fewer of the schools showed better results than the district gains. "Our data do not show any clear linkage between implementation and performance in NAS schools. This was disappointing and runs counter to conventional wisdom. If the theory of action underlying comprehensive school reform is correct and if these models are implemented in a sustained coherent fashion, then higher implementation should be related to improved outcomes." \clip\99\05\brac8\brac8.txt link The Eighth Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education Phi Delta Kappan October 1998 The "weak treatment" effect of schools should be kept in mind when looking at the programs funded by the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC), now known simply as New American Schools (NAS). NAS was introduced with great flourish by President Bush in 1991 and ardently touted by his secretary of education, Lamar Alexander. These were to be "break-the-mold" schools. They would emulate business and show us poor, dumb educationists how to do it. Remember? @@New American High Schools nahs.txt NEW AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS - COMPREHENSIVE WHOLE SCHOOL REFORM New American High Schools (NAHS) is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education that promotes school reform by recognizing and promoting the replication of "exemplary" schools implementing comprehensive whole school reform. Based on NAHS materials and the NAHS web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/nahs, it is clear that it is yet another vehicle, along with school-to-work (STW), Tech Prep, High Schools That Work (HSTW), the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program, and a host of other initiatives, for promoting and implementing school-to-work, outcome-based education (OBE), Goals 2000, national skill standards (originating from the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB)), and the general restructuring of education and labor into a government-driven, centralized system lovingly known by educrats as a "seamless web." @@New Horizons for Learning http://www.icehouse.net/lmstuter/wwwr004.htm z62\clipim\2002\12\08\newh\newh.htm Dee Dickinson, founder and CEO of New Horizons, presents quite a biography, including ... vice-president of the International Accelerative Learning Association, based at the University of Rio de Janeiro; director of the Seattle Creative Activities Center; chair of the educational advisory board of the National Learning Foundation; fellow of the International Corporate Learning Association; sits on the boards of national and international organizations: European Lifespan Learning Initiative, George Lucas Educational Foundation, National Inventive Thinking Association; member of President Bush's (Sr) Task Force on Innovative Education. Bob Hughes is advisor / director @@New Standards NCEE arm that comes up with "new" "higher standards" for education http://www.ncee.org/OurProducts/parents.html For Our Children: A Parent's Guide to New Standards \clip\97\28\pguide\pguide.pdf Performance Standards (3 $39 books) http://www.ncee.org/OurProducts/perfStandards.html Telephone Orders Toll-Free Number (888) 361-6233 @@Neuroscience (also brain) Research Claims that studies of how the mind works are bogus when they try to justify progressive or construtivist educational strategies. %%Books http://www.newhorizons.org/bib_brain.html Brain bibliography bookmark: http://www.arthurhu.com/arthurhu/edreform.htm#braincompatible %%Brain Compatible Learning Hmm, looks like a flakey New Age feel-good way to promote OBE style reforms. Makes me pretty sick. See Integrated Thematic Instruction for a negative review from Oregon. Unfortunately, it looks to have quite a following: Indiana schools have financial support from the state Department of Education to support ITI implementation. Other very active states include South Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina,Florida, California, Texas, Kansas, and Michigan. Districts in over 30 states are currently involved in ITI implementation and the list is growing. As awareness of the significance of the brain research findings grows, trainings are expanding rapidly. To date, educators and support staff in over 250 school districts have participated in learning about the ITI model. "Brain Compatible Learning" as offered by Susan Kovalick and Associates, of Kent, WA. Their approach is called "Integrated Thematic Learning". References mentioned in support include last summer's Time Magazine article on brain stimulation, Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences", and a book "Human Brain and Human Learning", by Leslie Hart, and what seems to be a gross distortion of Paul MacLean's theory of the Triune Brain. Re: brain-compatible learning http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/EDNET-List/1995/09/0003.html Shari Stromberger LAKE ST ELEM (sstrombe@ideanet.doe.state.in.us) Thu, 31 Aug 1995 17:54:17 -0500 (EST) The book I use to set up my brain-compatible classroom is ITI: The Model by Susan Kovalik. It is a practical book for making elementary classroom more condusive to learning by using Integrated Thematic Instruction.Using Gardner's backround on multiple intelligences and Kovalik's research on the brain it has become a very practical "how-to" book for us. Unfortunately it is at school so I can not tell you where to find it. If you would like more information just let me know. From: Steve Goss Organization: Arizona Parents for Traditional Education Just wanted to let you know that Susan Kovalik lives in Oak Creek, Arizona - Just outside the city of SEDONA which is well known as the Cosmic vortex of the world. It is the NEW AGE capitol of the U.S. Sick Sick Sick, http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/edis771/notes/MKNGCNCT/ EDIS 771 Reading in Content Areas *Brain-compatible Learning *Integrated Thematic Instruction Brain-compatible Learning Absence of threat Meaningful content Choices Adequate time Enriched environment Collaboration Immediate feedback Mastery http://www.marywood.edu/www2/itweb/BCE.html Instructional Technology What does Brain-Compatible Mean? given what we know about brain research, the structure of the traditional approach to teaching and learning is, in fact, "brain-antagonistic" and that changes needed to occur to the teaching/learning paradigm before education is truly "brain compatible". In the IT Program, specific reference is made to Leslie Hart's research as incorporated in the Integrated Thematic Instruction model - ITI designed by Susan Kovalik, an internationally known education consultant whose current home base is Kent, Washington. For further information on ITI, contact the SK&A office at SKovalik@oz.net or visit the Kovalik Web Site HOME PAGE http://www.kovalik.com/ Susan Kovalik and Associates Education Consultants 17051 S.E. 272nd Street, Suite 17 Kent, Washington 98042 (253) 631-4400 (253) 631 7500 (Fax) Dr. Jane McGeehan, CEO Analysis revealed that in all areas ITI students scored higher than their peers in other classes, with the difference being statistically significant in social studies. Teachers collected data to describe other changes throughout the year. Classroom Results: - Increased student participation during class - Higher proportion of students earning grades of "A" or "B" - Student articulation of connections across the disciplines - Climate of cooperation - High rates of attendance - Low discipline referrals School-wide Effects: - Adequate time schedule providing 90-minute instructional blocks - Room arrangement and ambiance to facilitate cooperative learning and more inviting spaces for students \doc\web\98\02\itisong.txt ITI SONGBOOK http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6316/ITISONGBOOK.html ITI (Integrated Thematic Instruction) is a dynamic model developed by Susan Kovalik. It is a synthesis of brain research, teaching strategies, and curriculum development which helps teachers orchestrate a brain-compatible environment in which students and teachers together can "shoot for the stars." http://www.kovalik.com/~skovalik/online.html How to subscribe to listserv send an e-mail message To: listserv@ac.marywood.edu (note: there's no E at the end of listserv) You can leave the Subj. line blank (though commercial systems like AOL insist on having something in that box...so, you can put subscribing) Message: Subscribe SKA-L (your name) %%General http://www.nauticom.net/www/cokids/teacher1.html EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS' AND FAMILY WEB CORNER Escondido Union switched to the new math approach when the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommended it in the early 1990s, Assistant Superintendent Jayme Arner said. "The programs were built based on brain research that showed rote learning is not the best way for all students to learn," he said. San Diego Union 1/21/98 A step back for the new math Trustees act to end it at one high school Susan Gembrowski %%Refuted Applications and Misapplications of Cognitive Psychology to Mathematics Education http://act.psy.cmu.edu/ACT/papers/misapplied-abs-ja.html \clip\98\04\misapp.htm As for integrating subject matter, see this article: "Science Classes Tested, Critics say Antioch's Combined Subject Courses Don't Work" http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/01/20/MN5 6470.DTL From: gkcunn01@ulkyvm.louisville.edu Date sent: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 01:14:52 -0500 >You are right. The chasm between scholarship in "education" and >scholarship in cognitive psychology and other academic disciplines is >deep. One terrible example is "Making Connections," a book by Renate >and Geoffrey Caine published by ASCD, which makes all kinds of spurious >claims about the implications of neuroscience for education. Hirsch's >book is an excellent source on why so many ideas in k-12 education are >specious. See also and article by John Bruer in the November 1997 issue of Educational Researcher. This is an excellent article in which he explains why the neurosciences can not be used at the present time to justify specific educational practices. @@New World Order Conspiracy Theorists blame a new world order for ed reform new world order @@New York NYS 1993 Task Force Report on taking over schools and systemic reform New York State STW Summary can be found here: http://stw.ed.gov/states/ecs/NY.htm Education reform in New York has been largely directed by the 1991 Board of Regents document, A New Compact for Learning and a 1992 governor's task force report, Education That Works: Creating Career Pathways for New York State Youth. @@New Zealand \clip\97\29\nzreform.txt New Zealand Press Dec. 1, 1997 'Ideologues' capture NZ education WELLINGTON -- Politically correct ideologues have captured teacher training and provide anti-capitalist, one-sided views of ethnic and gender questions, a report prepared for the Education Forum claims. The report's foreword says adherence to a child-centred, rather than knowledge-centred, approach to education damages children and society. @@News Links Education Consumers Clearinghouse List server Fred Battey's Education Loop Email to join mailing list Eagle Forum Education Reporter (Conservative) Middle School Web News Citizens for Responsible Education Reform News Page Education Week K12 Education Industry news. Arthur Hu's news links Education Briefs We frequently receive news briefs from individuals. If you would like to submit a news brief, we will consider it for publication. Write one long paragraph, including the source citation for anything in the brief. Send it to this e-mail address with a note. Dr. Steven W. Simpson info@edbriefs.com 360.385.4387. Join mailing list too. NCTM/Exxon Education Foundation newsletter Intersection (Reform) Betty Arras' National Monitor of Education @@Noguera \doc\web\98\07\nogu.txt The U.C. ed school professor, Pedro Noguera, quoted in this article is the no- phonics, no content, "social change" man I've discussed quite a few months ago. He plays the race card shamelessly! I've never heard him take an interest in curriculum or research, just race, race, race @@North Carolina Published Tuesday, December 22, 1998 \clip\98\19\edclip08.txt New standards are another reason to boost school funding, study says Charlotte Observer December 22, 1998 By CELESTE SMITH Staff Writer North Carolina must boost public school funding -- particularly for its poor schools -- to prepare students academically for tougher graduation requirements likely to start in 2000-01, a new study says. NORTH CAROLINA STANDARDS LIKE OREGON'S @@One Room Schoolhouse \clip\97\29\oneroom.txt St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday, November 9, 1997, www.stlnet.com/POSTnet Sunday, November 9, 1997 Section: NEWS CHILDREN LIVE OUT THEIR LESSONS IN A NEW ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE By Samuel Autman Of The Post-Dispatch LEWIS COUNTY, MO. @@One World Government All this education standards, lifelong learning, alignment, world class, etc. leads some to believe it is part of a movement towards one world government (also see United Nations). With the ideas and terminology of the ed reform movement looking strikingly similar, you've got to wonder where all this stuff comes from. Arthur, go get the book KEYS OF THIS BLOOD (1992). Read pg. 374+ to find out where this stuff is coming from. You will never guess what our demise consists of. http://205.243.132.23/keys.html The Keys of This Blood The Struggle for World Dominion Between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West by Malachi Martin Martin is truly convincing in his assertion that the Church has been infiltrated by full-fledged Marxists, a point that he examines in his highly controversial 1987 best-seller The Jesuits. This is a must-read for all pious Catholics who worry about the Church's survival." - Carlo2834@aol.com from Boston, Massachusetts @@Open Classroom One of the worst silly 70s education ideas was classroms without walls. JUANITA HIGH SCHOOL WAS OPEN CLASSROOM DISASTER Don Orlich Ed prof at WSU and Sandy Eliot both recall that Lake Washington's Juanita High School Kirkland WA was a total disaster after it was opened on the open classroom model. It was completely redone, with much disruption with walls soon after it opened in the early 1970s. I (A. Hu) also noticed that Lindbergh HS opened in 1972 with many open spaces, when I returned in 1998, every one of these spaces was walled off. \clip\99\05\opened.txt Future Schlock Using Fabricated Data and Politically Correct Platitudes in The Name of Education Reform By Lawrence Baines url: http://www.kiva.net/~pdkintl/kappan/kbain.htm Phi Delta Kappan published in V. 78, No. 7, March 1997, page 492 Today, in the areas of technology, inclusion, multiculturalism, and money, mythologizing data on behalf of education reform has become quite popular, Mr. Baines points out. The evidence in support of education reforms must be scrutinized to ascertain the degree to which those reforms will really benefit students. OPEN CLASSROOMS FROM 70'S STILL FAILING KIDS The Washington Post, Sunday, January 25, 1998; Page B1 "In Classrooms, Good Walls Make Good Neighbors: Educators Reversing 'Open' Design of Many Area Schools Built in 1970s" by Eric L. Wee, Washington Post Staff Writer \clip\98\03\openclas.txt @@Opposition Just about the only sensible name for opposition to progressive reforms is "opposition" %%Liberal http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/koha0001.htm z39\clipim\2000\02\10\goals\goals.htm Phi Delta Kappan "Goals 2000 Revisited" by Susan Ohanian Phi Delta Kappan "Goals 2000 Revisited" by Susan Ohanian Susan credits "right wing whackos" with leading the fight against the same testing/ accoutability beast that the left is fighting against. %%Resources The opposition are parents with day jobs who have to pay for their own copying, internet access and web sites, and phone calls. The establishment has millions in corporate, government, and charitable dollars, publicity and media exposure, free from political spending limits or equal time provisions. From: JOAN BATTEY (joaneb001@aol.com) Address the issues, the specifics of what education critics try to bring before the public, hampered by lack of educators' vast taxpayer-provided resources and limited to after-working hours self-funded copying, self-applied research, self-financed phone calls, etc. It is a very uphill fight to get that information out. @@Oregon Oregon has jumped whole hog into "transformation", school to work, and the Certificate of Mastery, and incorporated the idea into college admissions. As of 1999, it was already being reported that the system based on Marc Tuckers "America's Choice" report was a train wreck. Also see testing %%General STANDARD BASED (OBE V2) ED REFORM A TRAIN WRECK IN OREGON IS WASHINGTON NEXT? From the Willamette Week, May 5, 1999 (Alternative newspaper in Portland, OR) 1. Who still thinks Oregon's school reform is working? A. Vera Katz, architect of the reform B. Kathie Humes, public school advocate C. Ron Norman, Laurelhurst Elementary teacher D. Brandy Steffen, junior at David Douglas High E. None of the Above Key points - nobody not even the advocates say it's working. Conservatives say it was a bad left wing idea at the start. Advocates say it needs more money and time to implement "properly" and it's a communications problems to sell the public on the idea. State dept of education budget is up 9% to 907 million dollars since start. 11 days are spent testing. School days are shorter so that teachers can catch up with "standards based" grading of "work samples" Certificate of Mastery taken straight out of "America's Choice" report by Marc Tucker. The US leads the world in high tech, industry with creativity, something you don't get with one standard fits all. Drop out rates on Portland are up largely to "higher" standards, remedial kids are way up as an "escape route" from standards. WA does not have "work sample" requirements, and has not yet attached CIM to diploma, but many districts are considering similar requirements such as Lake Washington's Performance Based graduation requirements which will require grading based on rubric of work samples to graduate. \clip\97\30\orestw.txt December 29, 1997 edition of the Eugene Register Guard. STUDENTS GET REAL WORK LESSONS School-to-Work: State and Federal reform laws are giving students real experience in the workplace. By Diane Dietz The Register Guard As Oregon's 1991 school reform law takes full effect, high school juniors and seniors will be required to place themselves on one of six career paths, ranging from arts to business. Car sales and restaurant operations, for instance, would fall under the "business and management" path. [Students "shadow" a car salesman, taking time out of school to sell cars???] http://www.american-party.org/dist_2/OBEInfo/FactsAboutOBE.html#HOW LEGAL American Party - OBE as state law \clip\97\29\oreobe\oreobe.htm http://www.pass-osshe.uoregon.edu/ Proficiency Based Admissions standards system. http://pass-osshe.uoregon.edu/stac/contents.html Framework for implementing K-12 School Transformation, timelines, etc. http://www.open.k12.or.us/openc02.htm Oregon School Reform Oregon Standards Certificate of Initial Mastery Certificate of Advanced Mastery Proficiency-based Admission Standards System Student Learning in the Corvallis School District Transforming Oregon Schools: A School Assignment for All Oregonians This is a presentation developed by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to inform parents, and community members about the state standards and expectations for student learning. If you have questions, please call Educational Services at 757-5847. CIM Framework & Resources The OPEN Clearinghouse offers a variety of ressources on K-12 staff development. Take a look at a very nicely done set of CIM Portfolio work samples. Student Learning Framework Certificate of Initial Mastery The following documents are located in the CIM area: Questions and Answers about CIM & CAM Meeting the Needs of Students Current Data on Student Achievement %%Work Samples Oregon is big on "work samples" which turned out to be just too much work for teachers to grade and keep track of, never mind the workload on the students. z39\clip\2000\01\worksamp.txt Teacher Union: Ease Up On Work Samples [Eugene Register Guard, Friday Jan. 20, 2000...page 7B] by The Associated Press PORTLAND -- Oregon's largest teacher's union is recommending that the Department of Education scale back the use of classroom work samples to rate whether students measure up. @@Outcomes Accreditation "Outcomes accreditation" They now have cooperative learning, teachers as facilitators, Everyday Math, multiculturalism, mandated community service, block scheduling, consensus building, etc.... @@OBE-Outcome Based Education @@Outcome Based Education @@Overschool Most jobs don't require higher education, only short term or moderate training and basic skills. We are an overschooled society 74% OF JOBS REQUIRE SHORT TERM TRAINING, HIGHER ED 20% z47\clipim\2000\12\18\whytest.htm http://www.educationnews.org/center_for_the_study_of_jobswhat.htm Center for the Study of Jobs & Education in Wisconsin What is the rationale for a high school graduation test? the great majority of the jobs of the future are the same jobs Wisconsin has had for many years and that they require only short-term (54%) or moderate length training or experience (20%) as shown in Table I for the top 110 jobs in Wisconsin. Higher education, believe it or not, is required for less than 20% of all jobs. In the top 110 there are about 230,000 jobs (12%) that may require a bachelor’s or advanced degree in 2006. A projected 97,650 (42%) are K-12 teachers or administrators. A projected 30,750 (13%) are Systems Analysts, Computer Programmers or Computer Engineers. @@Paradigm Shift Education reform is often painted as a radical paradigm shift - a reform to the very core values and ideas of what education is supposed to be about z41\clipim\2000\05\10\ibd.efx IBD May 9, 2000 Stuck in Factory Age, Public Schools Refuse Reform Amid Paradigm Shift Merril Matthews Jr. Conservative reference to shift away from factory schools, ususally it is progressives. @@Parent The two top enemies of reform are religion and parents. %%Activism MERCER ISLAND LAYS DOWN RULES FOR PUSHY PARENT BEHAVIOR Z52\CLIP\2001\09\PARENT.TXT Seattle Times Company August 31, 2001 Schools spelling out need for parental civility By Colleen Pohlig Seattle Times Eastside bureau Some parents must have missed the universal kindergarten lesson: Treat others as you would like to be treated. ...in her six years of teaching, she has been verbally abused and threatened by an angry parent over a student's grade, and told her lessons were all wrong by another couple — before the school year had even begun. z50\clip\2001\06\pestdad.txt Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 6:51 PM http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/27707.htm SCHOOL EXPELS PESTERING DAD By CARL CAMPANILE June 15, 2001 -- A persistent parent has been booted from his kid's school and threatened with jail for demanding that officials make it safer and better, parent leaders said yesterday. Unlike other parents, Sid Blauner is barred from entering PS 165 in Manhattan Valley without prior authorization. "If you fail to comply, school officials will summon the police and you may be subject to arrest," ARTHUR HU THREATENED WITH LAWSUIT BY TEACHERS UNION IF HE DOESN'T KNOCK OFF ACTIVISM AGAINST REFORM. Image: School restricts actions of local parent activist Eastside Journal (Bellevue WA) Sunday June 20, 1999 p. A3 BW photo by Doug Margeson [says I'm a pain but mention any of my issues, such as why giving kindergarteners and parents 45 min of work every night!] HOW TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT PARENTS The broadly-applicable tactics for "Dealing With Difficult People" came from two quoted sources: The Schoolhouse Administrator, Oct. 1993 and EDCAL, Vol. 25, #33, April 22, 1996, from the ASsoc. of California School Administrators. UH OH, PARENT IN CONTROL From 5/4/2000 National Review: Washington Bulletin: MURRAY'S LAW Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, criticizing Republican education-reform efforts in a Senate floor exchange yesterday: "I am just looking at the language of the bill that says .... It is not directed by the school, it is directed by the parent. I do not know how a school district is going to manage this when . . . frankly, the parent is in control." HOW TO BE A REVOLTING PARENT http://www.csun.edu/~hcbio027/standards/conference.html/ Preparing the Student to Learn, and the Teacher to Teach Welcome Aida Metzenberg, Assistant Professor of Biology, Cal. State Northridge Parents stake their claim to public school policy. Marianne Jennings, Professor of Legal and Ethical Studies, Arizona State University Distinguished panel, moderated by Marianne Jennings: Martha Schwartz, Co-founder, Mathematically Correct http://www.csun.edu/~hcbio027/standards/conference.html/may22/jennings.html \clip\99\15\schwartz.txt Diana Dixon-Davis, Demographic consultant http://www.csun.edu/~hcbio027/standards/conference.html/may22/davis.html \clip\99\15\dixon.txt Veronica Norris, Attorney Jeff Lee, Vice President and Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education Gayle Cloud, Parent Jimmy Kilpatrick, Editor, Education News %%Attendence \clip\99\03\jaillate.txt Seattle Times January 26, 1999 Kids' school absences send parents to court by The Associated Press BALTIMORE - Go to class - or send your parents to jail. That's the harsh lesson this semester at Canton Middle School. Eight parents were hauled into court yesterday after repeatedly failing to get their children to campus on time - and four were found guilty. %%Control Texas proposes to intervene for parents who are not conducive to academic achievement \doc\web\98\10\texpar.txt MINNESOTA LAW REQUIRES PARENTS TO MEET PERFORMANCE STANDARDS z63\doc\web\2003\02\parent.txt Maple River Education Coalition (MREdCo) The real name should be No Child and No Parent Left Behind from Government Control. To receive the grant, the federal government is dictating that the parents and schools must sign a compact telling the school "the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching." %%Grading INTRUSIVE POLICIES. Chicago public schools will begin this year evaluating parents. Yes, you read that correctly. The district will rate parents on how well they fulfil 23 "responsibilities." Schools have the option of targeting all parents, or only selected parents. Parents who don't meet the expectations of the schools will receive home visits every 10 weeks from one of more than 1000 school staff members or counselors. Some of the areas that might put parents on the list: * Parent fails to praise the child often enough * Parent spends insufficient "quality time" with child * Child eats meals or snacks that the school deems unhealthy. * Child dressed in a manner the school considers inappropriate for the weather * Child is tardy or absent from school * Child comes to school inadequately unprepared * Child fails to return completed homework on time @@Parents for Public Schools Uh oh looks like another "front" for the education establishment to promote "higher standards". PPS Chapters @@Paulus, Norma Oregon's OBE Czar * Superintendent of Public Instruction - Oregon State * New Standards Project - Board of Directors * Commission on Student Learning - Board of Directors * Council of Chief State School Officers - Board of Directors * Education Flexibly (Ed Flex) (Federal Law) pushed for passage at National Level - Oregon first ed-flex state (1995) * Work Flexibility (Work Flex) [Federal Law) pushed for passage at National Level * Rhodes Scholar Committee in Oregon - Chair 1982-86 * Participant in a five-woman study of the role of women in German society at the request of the West German Government. * Oregon - First Goals 2000 State @@Peer Effect BLACKS MOST LIKELY TO MAKE FUN OF NERDS http://www.heritage.org/library/cda/cda00-06.html z42\clipim\2000\05\30\peer\peer.htm May 26, 2000 THE PEER EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS KIRK A. JOHNSON, PH.D. My friends make fun of people who try to do well G4 G8 White 17.5 22.9 Black 35.8 23.3 Hisp 28.8 29.4 Other 23.7 28.0 NAEP 1998 Top factors negative G4 -8.6 Race Black -8.5 Friends make fun of those who try to do well -8.2 Race Hispanic -6.1 Free/Reduced Lunch G8 -8.0 Black -4.8 Hispanic -4.6 Male -2.7 Free/Red Lunch -2.7 Friends make fun @@Peer Tutoring Using students as tutors is a bad idea Peer Tutoring / Homogeneous Grouping Make the advanced students help out the slower kids instead of offering advanced classes Spread of Peer Tutoring/STW Pilot Programs Quote from the pilot program at New York City, Community District #9: "ALSO PART OF THE PROJECT AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL IS A PEER TUTORING PROGRAM WHICH IS BEING DEVELOPED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PEER TUTORING RESEARCH LABORATORY AT THE GRADUATE CENTER OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK. This facet of the project centers on the tutor as primary [primary!] beneficiary of the program, as it develops the attributes of personal responsibility, increased self-esteem, and interpersonal skills, as well as academic excellence." @@Pennsylvania Marlene Tobin: OBE IN PA NOT DEAD, IT'S CALLED STANDARDS NOW \doc\web\98\09\obedead.txt OBE RIP IN PENN 1998? \clip\98\16\obedead.txt [November 4, 1998] [Education Week on the Web] Era of OBE Nearing End in Pa. With Approval of New Standards By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo The Pennsylvania school board has taken a [Image] giant step closer to ending the state's outcomes-based-education program, whose detractors partially paralyzed states' standards-setting efforts earlier this decade. \clip\98\04\newscl10.txt 2/16/98 Philadelphia Inquirer Change the way students learn, Penn educator urges Bucks board. (districts must adopt New Standards, based on international standards) \clip\98\04\pennobe.txt 1-31-98 Philadelphia Inquirer "[Pennsylvania] Prepares New Rules on Student Achievement" ["standards are increasingly difficult for each of the four assessment stages -- grades three, five, eight and 11"] " Unlike the controversial current rules known as "outcomes-based education," which have been criticized as vague and didactic, the new proposal spells out specific skills" " The phase-in of outcomes-based education began in September 1994, only to be thrown into disarray four months later when Ridge declared the new standards optional. " http://www.phillynews.com:80/inquirer/98/Jan/31/city/EDUC31.htm (These are the New Standards From Hell where 4th graders are suppposed to submit 4 view schematic of plans for a bike trailer, and read 25 fat books per year) NEW STANDARDS, BOEING MONEY, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BEHIND TUCKER-BASED STANDARDS. \clip\98\04\newstd.txt 1-31-98 Philadelphia Inquirer "Area [Suburban] School Districts to Hold Students to a Global Standard" [using the New Standards Reference Exam as part of a "plan to test a 20 percent sample of his students in the fourth, eighth and 10th grades as an issue of "quality control" on student learning and teacher performance"] "a new assessment, called the New Standards Reference Exam, is now available and is "internationally benchmarked," according to Ted Hershberg, of the Center for Greater Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. " " The standards effort in the 16 districts has received funding from Boeing and other major corporations and foundations, including the Knight Foundation and Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. In addition, 18 Chambers of Commerce have formed the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chambers of Commerce Standards Coalition to support standards-based education reform." http://www.phillynews.com:80/inquirer/98/Jan/31/city/STAN31.htm @@Performance Based Education Similar to Objective Based Education, it is against rote drilling and application of knowledge. Frameworks don't give much in terms of actual skills except gobbly gook like communicates effectively. uses knowledge, information, and technology effectively. solves problems. is creative and original. collaborates with others. determines quality. is a lifelong learner. No mention of charts, graphs, fractions, division etc, criterion based scoring rather than on a curve which makes it possible to flunk everybody. Kent WA Strategic Plan http://www.kent.wednet.edu:80/district/strat_plan/SP_terms.html Performance-based education - A system in which instruction focuses on meeting specific objectives or standards of what students should know. The system also implies continuous progress where educators use a variety of instructional strategies that result in students demonstrating mastery of the identified skills and knowledge. http://www.kent.wednet.edu:80/district/strat_plan/SP_section5.html#section5_performance "Emphasis on performance based education" Idaho statement \clip\97\18\perf.htm 4th grade scoring standard Does performance based education teach "values clarification"? No. What it does is require students to go beyond the memorization of facts and show how to use what they know From: Fred Battey Arthur, as I'm sure you know Performance Based Education is basically OBE under a different name. Welcome to our group. Fred \doc\web\97\08\perfed.txt Johnson City NJ was the first OBE school @@Performance Standards %%Definition \clip\98\16\howgood.htm http://www.summit96.ibm.com/brief/papers/howgood.html#perf Performance standards: How good is good enough? Prepared by: Ann Borthwick and Kate Nolan New Standards Learning Research and Development Center University of Pittsburgh %%Sample NEARLY ALL 8TH GRADERS FAIL SOLAR CAR PROJECT \doc\web\98\10\solcar.txt They handed students a motor, and a solar pannel and told students, "Go to it." The girls had taken shop so they designed, measured, sawed, and put together another solar car. This time, of course, it worked. This assignment was given to all 8th graders--in all 8th grade science class. Only two groups had cars that worked! @@Phi Beta Kappa home page magazine @@Physical Education %%Assessment http://pe.central.vt.edu/assessment/assessment.html PE Central assessment ideas %%Death March %%Mile Run Many schools are forcing first graders to do timed mile runs in their street clothes, boys and girls with no parental notification. People have died from forced marches in the military. 6/30/2000 SINGAPORE STUDENTS ALL GET FITNESS FROM HELL STANDARDS My workmate remarked on seeing my kid's 1 mile run scores that everybody does a 2 km run in Singapore. Every day. In fact, if your kid isn't up to standards, the parents get a note on how to properly feed the kid so that s/he isn't fat. If s/he still can't hack it they have to got to boot camp in the summer to bring the kids up to standard. They also, like every place except in the US, track their kids by test scores. What school you went to counts for everything. 11 min mile to pass basic training From: Michelle Trusty-Murphy April 2000 As far as the mile run in street clothes goes--my son is required to do the same thing. He is in forth grade here in Nevada. Michelle 12 MILE DEATH MARCH FOR 19 YR WOMAN SOLDIER IN KUWAIT \clip\99\13\soldie.txt http://archives.seattletimes.com/web/ (search dobberstein) Tuesday, June 29, 1999 Tacoma soldier dies in Kuwait by Janet Burkitt Seattle Times staff reporter The 12-mile march she started there last week was part of voluntary training to become an expert field medic. When she collapsed about 300 meters from completion of the march, it was just like her to get up again. But after a few more steps, Dobberstein collapsed again...she was pronounced dead last Friday from cardiac arrest, [This is also a women in the military issue] FITNESS DEATH MARCHES TO EXHAUSTION STARTED IN 70S, NOW COMMON "REFORM" deatmar.txt From: Ken Wessels It started in University physical education research during the 1970's. Once measuring athletes performance became a science, complete with medical like Ph.D. degrees, high school teachers upgrading their degrees during summer schools, were taught that this was and advanced way to fine tune the population. In fact these programs were measuring people being pushed to the limits of their endurance and then being allowed to recover. AG Bell 1ST GRADERS ASSESSED ON MILE RUN, PULL UPS. NOT JOKING z48\priv\2001\04\milerun.txt 2001 policy reduced to 1/4 mi for smaller kids, mile for older kids, thanks to my ranting. Nov 09, 2001 Gene Dogen: "The Cardiovascular Endurance assessment of the One-Mile Walk/Run (optional: 1/4 mile ages 6-7 1/2 miles ages 8-9) will be given in April. It is recommended that each child should be preparing .. to reduce possible injuries. z49\clipim\2001\04\20\pe1.gif-pe2 Mar 2001 no mention of reduced mile run pe3.gif grading scale pe4.gif 3rd grade standards - [is this nuts or what???] juggle soccer ball to self, dribble a ball alternating hands / feet through an obstacle course, swing bat demonstrating correct grip, hit ball from tee, hold a hockey stick push/dribble puck, defence: denying space, defensive "ready" position, demonstrate locomotor patterns & combinations in time with steady beat/ music. Inverted balances - frog stands, tripods. Grapevine: step cross in front; step cross in back; step cross alternating front to back. Roll a ball at 3 & 6 pins. Shoot to a 7'-8' basket. Juggle 2 scarves in one hand. Strike a ball repeatedly with a paddle against a wall. pe5.gif pe6.gif nov 2000 - mile run optional reduced Elementary school times assesses first graders on pull ups, sit ups, and mile run/walk. What the !@#$%? Median number of pull ups in G1 is ZERO! See images of actual documents my kid brought home: http://www.arthurhu.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/pe/fit1.gif http://www.arthurhu.com/arthurhu/images/99/06/03/pe/fit2.gif http://www.EducationNews.org April 22, 2000 The Vancouver Sun Overweight girl humiliated in gym class Julie-Anne Vitick says she has been threatened with disciplinary action and humiliated by classmates at Lord Tweedsmuir secondary school in Surrey because she is physically unable to run around the track during gym class. %%President's Challenge ------------------------------------------------- THE PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE Poplars Research Center 400 E. 7th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-3085 Nonprofit funded by government http://www.indiana.edu/~preschal/index.html \clip\99\11\qualify.htm The President's Challenge Youth Fitness Program Presidential Physical Fitness Award: Participants must at least reach the 85th percentile in all 5 events based on the 1985 School Population Fitness Survey. The National Physical Fitness Award = 50th percentile The Health Fitness Award = 50-70th percentile (1 pull-up = 75) http://www.indiana.edu/~preschal/qualifying.html Frequently Asked Questions http://www.indiana.edu/~preschal/frequently.html#anchor140067 \clip\99\11\fitfaq.htm 1-800-258-8146 E-MAIL US AT: President's Challenge preschal@indiana.edu No parental consent No rules against use at K-5 level 25-30 years running. There has never been a complaint that this is inappropriate for elementary school. ------------------------------ President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/ophs/pcpfs.htm Conduct of the school-based President's Challenge Physical Fitness Awards Program, the President's Fitness Awards Program, and the President's Sports Award Program; Ms. Sandra Perlmutter Executive Director 202-690-9000 http://www.aausports.org/programs/pres_challenge.html The President's Challenge National Youth Physical Fitness Program recognizes students age six to 17 who demonstrate exceptional physical achievement in five activities. This program reaches approximately 500,000 young people each year. Contact: Mike Willett (812) 855-2059. http://education.software-directory.com/cdprod1/swhrec/007/095.shtml Fitness Reporter is a physical education software program for compiling and reporting results from the new President's Challenge or your own custom fitness tests. http://teched.vt.edu/ElectronicPortfolios/Palmer.ep/pecentral/fitnesscorner/presidents.html \clip\99\11\presfit.htm The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports The PCPFS developed the President's Physical Fitness Challenge. Participants in the PFC perform a variety of exercises testing cardiovascular capacity, strength and flexibility. students earn awards when a minimum performance standard is met in 5 of the physical tests. Participants must meet the minimum score in at least 5 of the exercises to earn the respective award. The PCPFS recommends fitness testing at least twice each year. %%Dodge ball z47\CLIP\2000\12\dodge.htm http://www.washtimes.com/metro/default-200012821200.htm December 8, 2000 Dodge ball targeted for elimination at schools By Gerald Mzejewski THE WASHINGTON TIMES %%Reform OBE HITS PHYS ED z45\clip\2000\10\qpe.txt Seattle Times Company Health & Science : Sunday, October 08, 2000 'Quality PE' encourages lifetime physical activity By Carol Krucoff Special to The Washington Post http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=phys08&date=20001008 "We now focus on health-related fitness," says Judy Young, executive director of the Reston, Va.-based National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). In 1995, NASPE released national standards for physical education that, for the first time, specified what children should know and be able to do at different levels. "The central notion is that physical education is for all kids, not just the athletically gifted," [SOUNDS LIKE FUZZY ALGEBRA FOR ALL MATH -- OH YEAH, AND WHAT THE HECK IS THE ONE MILE RUN FOR 1ST GRADERS ABOUT??] %%Soccer TOO MUCH SOCCER MAKES JACK A ... z45\clip\2000\10\socchell.txt "More soccer parents fend off early pressure on their kids 10/05/2000 Peter Callaghan; The [Tacoma] News Tribune .. the way parents and coaches are pushing highly competitive programs on children as young as 9 or 10. 10- and 11-year-olds are being asked to commit eight or nine months of the year to soccer. Parents must pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars in fees that often include money to pay coaches. The teams travel to three or four tournaments over the summer (what Schumacher terms "tournamentitis.") Winning becomes paramount. @@Piaget, Jean August 9, 1896 - September 16, 1980 One of the fathers of constructivism. He believed that children "construct" knowledge, and that education should build up creative intelligence rather than just fill children with knowledge. KNOWLEDGE CANNOT BE INSTRUCTED Applications and Misapplications of Cognitive Psychology to Mathematics Education http://act.psy.cmu.edu/ACT/papers/misapplied-abs-ja.html \clip\98\04\misapp.htm One finds frequent reference to Jean Piaget as providing a scientific basis for constructivism. Piaget has had enormous influence on our understanding of cognitive development and indeed was one of the major figures responsible for the emergence of cognitivism from the earlier behaviorist era in psychology. While it is fair to say that many of his specific claims have been seriously questioned, the general influence of his theoretical perspective remains. ... they provide a basis for examining the constructivist's claim that knowledge cannot be instructed. ... However, it is quite wrong to claim that what is learned is not influenced by explicit instruction. http://www.edu.yorku.ca/~tcs/~gcollins/theory.html#piaget \clip\98\04\theory\theory.htm Theories His work continues to influence most teachers, in some ways, today. http://129.7.160.115/INST5931/PIAGET1.html JEAN PIAGET - INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT The focus of this paper is Jean Piaget's theory of intellectual development. \clip\98\04\PIAGET1.html Cognitive Constructivism Jean Piaget is a Swiss psychologist who began to study human development in the 1920s. His proposed a development theory has been widely discussed in both psychology and education fields. To learn, Piaget stressed the holistic approach. A child constructs understanding through many channels: reading, listening, exploring and experiencing his or her environment. (U Houston College of Education) \clip\98\04\piag\piag.htm http://violet.berkeley.edu/~id113-cs/project2.html The Nature of Interactive Learning Jean Piaget defined education as "the opportunity to re-invent" and emphasized the student's role in actively constructing knowledge. Critical of current educational practices, he said: "If the aim of intellectual training is to form the intelligence rather than to stock the memory, and to produce intellectual explorers rather than mere erudition, then traditional education is manifestly guilty of a grave deficiency" (Piaget, 1970). "Piaget suggested that educators provide children with things and ideas to manipulate that will make them conscious of problems and will encourage them to find answers for themselves. http://www.usca.scarolina.edu/AEDC442/Edsoft/Learning.html How Young Children Know As early as 1971, Piaget emphasized the importance of active learning in early childhood: "If we desire to form individuals capable of inventive thought and of helping the society of tomorrow to achieve progress, then it is clear that an education which is an active discovery of reality is superior to one that consists merely in providing the young with ....ready-made truths to know".3 3 Susan Haugland and Daniel Shade, Developmental Evaluations of Software for Young Children, 1990 Edition, (Delmar Publishers, 1990) 2.Quoted from Jean Piaget, The Science of Education and the Psychology of the Child (Viking, 1971) 259 The University of South Carolina - Aiken Comments to smyth@sc.edu URL: http://www.usca.sc.edu/Edsoft/Learning.html Biography The growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children's logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults. \clip\98\04\pbio\pbio.htm Piaget Archives @@Pokemon http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001195134,00.html The Times Educational Supplement Boy found hanged after teacher took Pokémon cards Ten-year-old Jevan Richardson threatened suicide after his Pokémon cards were confiscated. Jevan Richardson was a bright boy who loved to read Harry Potter books, the inquest was told. But he had become increasingly depressed after an argument over confiscated Pokémon cards in April last year. zip38\clip\99\20\pokeevil.txt http://www.execpc.com/~dlbrown/logos/ POKEMAN-INTRODUCTION "But when she learned that a local Christian school had banned them because of their link to the occult, she changed her mind. " POKEMON CRIMES \clip\99\20\pokemad.txt Pokemon craze has dark side While most kids simply trade and obsess over the cards, some cases of Pokemon fascination are leading to serious crimes. By MIKE BRASSFIELD © St. Petersburg Times, published November 24, 1999 POKEMON TEACHES TOY SCALPING zip40\clipim\2000\04\19\poke\poke.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_717000/717948.stm Tuesday, 18 April, 2000, 11:41 GMT 12:41 UK Economics lessons the Pokémon way Kjos warns about Pokemon Kjos warns about Digimon Kjos warns about crazy bones @@Portfolio Portfolios, or collections of writing, is supposed to be more accurate than testing. Complex scoring rubrics replace letter grades. It is considered to be an "authentic" or "performance-based" assessment. The California senate has even passed a bill calling for authentic assessment, including portfolios. But experience has turned up examples of teachers tampering with writing to improve results, and "optimisitically graded" with high inflation. Vermont and Kentucky are finding grading to be almost completely unreliable, and teachers don't agree with experts who construct "benchmark" works who don't agree with each other. Some parents also object to the use of portfolios to keep parents from ever seeing any student work. %%Against Vermont has problems with scoring portfolios from "Teacher Magazine" at EducationWeek Online, http://www.edweek.org/tm/current/06berger.h09 \clip\98\05\newscl03.txt" 2/18/98 Los Angeles Times Commentary 'Leading the Nation'--Where? By PETER N. BERGER Berger is a middle school English teacher in Vermont, which pioneered the use of student "portfolios" to judge how schools are doing. The idea is that packages of essays and math problems completed by fourth- and eighth-graders in their regular classes give a better picture than standardized tests. But finding a consistent way to grade such work has been difficult, and the state recently reintroduced standardized tests to augment portfolios in comparing students' work to statewide standards. Berger wrote this commentary for Education Week. Portfolios were devised to provide "meaningful, useful data." They don't. That's why as assessment tools they should be abandoned. " KIRIS finds portfolio grading to be very unreliable, off by at least one grade 1/5/98 Marlene Tobin: Portfolios are used to keep parents from seeing student work Portfolio Assessment \clip\97\26\portfoli.txt http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/notes/5/portfolio.html San Diego County Office of Education Note from Reasearch Senate Bill 662 Senate Bill 662 calls for authentic performance-based assessment for all students and for individual student scores in reading, writing, mathematics, history-social science, and science (4). Grades are based on portfolios. Also claims "success stories" http://www.kent.wednet.edu:80/district/strat_plan/SP_terms.html Kent WA strategic plan Portfolio - A purposeful collection of student work that tells the story of a student's efforts, progress, or achievement in a given area. This collection must include: a) student participation in selection of portfolio content, b) guidelines for selection, c) criteria for judging merit, d) evidence of student self-reflection, and e) evidence of conferencing between student and teacher. \doc\web\97\07\portfol.txt Parent is concerned that writing portfolios don't reflect what student can actually do after teacher gets done with editing \doc\web\97\09\kentuck.txt Kentucky Reforms No Panacea for Education Reform By Sam Staley The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions Dayton, Ohio 11/7/97 "(in Kentucky reforms) the much vaunted use of student writing samples, or "portfolios," to evaluate student performance has proven unreliable. A 1993 audit of 94 schools found all had inflated grades, forcing auditors to reduce writing index scores by an average of 28%.(7 The State also found numerous examples of fraud and abuse where students have been directly aided by teachers in the classroom.(10)" %%For http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kheb9804.htm Lessons Learned About Student Portfolios By Elizabeth A. Hebert \clip\98\08\lesport.htm @@Poster A popular project is posters @@Play What if education wasn't a game to guarantee that everybody is proficient in what everyone should know and be able to do but just have fun doing all the stuff we won't have fun to do once we get day jobs? Gerald Bracey: Our word, school, comes from the Greek "scoli." It means leisure. In their leisure time, at least in Athens, ancient Greeks would pop over to the agora and listen to some body talking about something, Socrates perhaps. @@Powerpoint z60\clip\2002\11\ppoint.txt Subject: WSJ: 2nd-graders using Microsoft PowerPoint http://online.wsj.com/ Even Second-Graders Use PowerPoint in Classrooms IN Wall Street Journal, 12 November, 2002 By JUNE KRONHOLZ Shelve that book report: PowerPoint has hit the classroom. Fourth-graders at Bolivar Intermediate School in southwestern Missouri, who not long ago would have relied on fat three-ring binders to assemble reports a bout the Show-Me State, are presenting them on PowerPoint this year. @@President My 2000 Ratings --------------------- A - Steve Forbes B - Harry Browne, Keyes C - George W Bush D - Gore, Bradley %%Buchanan \doc\web\99\13\buchan.txt Buchanan Education Platform http://www.gopatgo2000.org/000-c-education.html %%Bush G.W. Leading 2000 presidential candidate, has been criticized for running with Marc Tucker / Clinton education policy, TAAS testing. I rate Bush a C on education, where Gore would be a D or F. z40\clipim\2000\03\bushtest.txt http://www.star-telegram.com/news/doc/1047/1:FRONT33/1:FRONT33100699.html http://www.star-telegram.com/archives/index.htm Updated: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1999 at 01:54 CDT Bush calls for national testing; he differs from party on education issue By Ron Hutcheson Star-Telegram Washington Bureau http://www.georgewbush.com/issues/domestic/education/recordiii.asp z39\clipim\2000\01\27\bush\bush.htm For basics, but also for standards based education = OBE and STW. Karen Holgate It appears that Democrats love George W.’s education policy. And well they should. It is a page straight out of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s plan for education. Passed in 1994, shortly before Republicans took control of Congress, the Clinton plan includes School-to-Work and Goals 2000 %%Harry Browne http://www.harrybrowne2000.org/ Libertarian belives in less government, but no specific education policy other than eliminating all federal programs. That rates a B in my book, to get an A you need to be able to specifically attack STW, OBE, and constructivism. link %%Republican 2000 Rep Presidential Candidates on Ed / Reform @@Press Vermont had agreement to let Dept of Ed review every editorial, and supress any dissent against "reform". @@Private School, Public Funding See private schools Schemes include vouchers, tax credits, and charters to nonprofit, commercial, and religious schools. \clip\99\03\statre.txt ©INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY 1/26/99 THE STATES OF SCHOOL REFORM Vouchers, Tax Credits, Charters All Being Tried By Anna Bray Duff The Arizona Department of Education is pushing a bill that, if passed, would fund scholarships that let some of the state's poorest kids go to private schools. @@Private School, Reform Private and Religious Schools also embrace reform Eileen Spatz @@Progress see @@Progressive Education The original school reform movement lead by Dewey and Piaget. Opposite of "instructivism". The most common name for "reform" education in Britain, now widely acknowledged to be a failure. %%Against The Academic Achievement Challenge Jeanne S. Chall What really works in the classrooms 2000 Guilford Press. Concludes that traditional content based teacher centered education gives better results especially for poor / minorities. Whites / affluent may do OK with progressive approaches %%For PROGRESSIVE TEACHING SHOWS HIGHER TEST SCORE GAINS IN CHICAGO http://www.suntimes.com/pwrsearch/index.html z46\clip\2000\11\oldsty.txt Old-style teaching gets lower scores November 1, 2000 BY ROSALIND ROSSI EDUCATION REPORTER Schools that used more "interactive" techniques had 6 percent higher reading gains and 4 percent higher math gains than the city average, according to a draft report of the study. Schools that used more "didactic" teaching had math and reading gains that were both 3 percent below city averages, the study found. More progressive teaching, emphasizing student discussion and projects, produced higher Chicago test gains than more traditional approaches that stress memorization and multiple-choice tests, a draft study indicated Tuesday. http://www.arthurhu.com/arthurhu/clipim/99/04/proged/Page.html text: \clip\99\06\proged.txt full text: \clip\99\10\proged.txt z45\clipim\2000\09\01\boys\boys.htm City Journal Winter 1999 Progressive Ed's War on Boys Banishing rigid academics and discipline has been a disaster for working class boys. Banishing elite curriculums, grammar schools and age 11 tracking in favor of comprehensive education for all has resulted in fewer, not more outstanding working class children going to the best colleges. \clip\98\11\schcrit.txt http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v6n16.html Criticizing the Schools: Then and Now Benjamin Levin The University of Manitoba (Progressive education and lowered standards was attacked many years ago much as today) Education Policy Analysis Archives Volume 6 Number 16August 20, 1998ISSN 1068-2341 Columbia Teachers College: Developing a New Paradigm for School Reform http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~teachcomm/BRIEF7.HTM The criticisms of current educational reformers -- that our schools provide most children with an education that is too rigid, too passive, and too rote-oriented to produce learners who can think critically, synthesize and transform, experiment and create -- are virtually identical to those of progressive educa tors at the turn of the century, in the 1930s, and again in the 1960s. What John Dewey called the "old education" in 1900, with "its passivity of attitude, its mechanical massing of children, its uniformity of curriculum and method" 74 was to be replaced with a child-centered approach that focuses on the needs and aptitudes of students. http://www.edweek.org/ew/current/21clinch.h17 Who is Out of Step with Whom 2/4/98 Education Week By Evans Clinchy I have a strong hunch that those that will prove to be the fittest and will therefore survive this process of cultural selection will be those progressive schools favored by the professors and scholars. http://www.nauticom.net/www/cokids/teacher1.html Lots of progressive education links %%Research http://www.edweek.org/ew/current/21clinch.h17 Who is Out of Step with Whom 2/4/98 Education Week By Evans Clinchy The evidence assembled by these researchers and practitioners, including such people as Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky, Howard Gardner, Seymour Sarason, Roger Schank, Seymour Papert, James Comer, Robert Sternberg, Robert Slavin, John Dewey, Nel Noddings, Jane Roland Martin, Maxine Greene, the four authors of Women's Ways of Knowing, Theodore Sizer, Linda Darling-Hammond, Deborah Meier, Jonathan Kozol, and occasionally Lauren Resnick, strongly supports the idea that our present system of public education--indeed, our Western system of education throughout most of its history--has been based on a quite incorrect view of human development and learning. @@Projects z45\clip\2000\09\project.txt LOST IN ACTION: Are time-consuming, trivializing activities displacing the cultivation of active minds? by Gilbert T Sewall (Gilbert T Sewall is director of the American Textbook Council and, most recently, the editor of The Eighties: A Reader. He writes frequently on education issues.) AMERICAN EDUCATOR SUMMER 2000 Impossible School Projects Sandi Kahn Shelton Working parents magazine 1999. She writes about being asked to motorize raisins to represent sheep in a diorama in New Haven Conn. school. zip38\clipim\99\10\30\project.efx @@Promotion requirements z75\clip\2003\11\tacprom.txt The News Tribune - Tacoma, WA Monday, November 3, 2003 Promotion policy on hold in schools DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune "some eighth-graders are pleased there's no official promotion policy this year requiring they write a narrative piece, a research report, an opinion paper, complete three math projects, and take a math and literacy test." @@PTA, @@PTSA The PTA was once the shining institution for parental involement, now it's all about fund raising, not being advocates for education consumers. OR, it's a handmaiden of the NEA in advocating radical causes such as the gay-led Safe Schools coalition. It's tax exempt but not tax deductible so it can promote initiatives, but not candidates. They paid for K12-2000 more-money-for-schools initiative in WA 2000. goals of pta The Objects of the PTA ---------------------- * To promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, community, and place of worship. * To raise the standards of home life. * To secure adequate laws for the care and protection of children and youth. * To bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth. * To develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social, and spiritual education. %%Gay Focus on the Family has a booklet on this subject. The problem is that this is nothing new ... yesterday's (1960's) PTA was just as bad as today's. Focus Resource Center - What's Wrong with Today's PTA? by Charlene Haar
Dr. Dobson mentions Washington state and the anti-bully bill with ties to the Safe Schools Coalition and the gay agenda. SEATTLE MAY HAVE FIRST GAY/LESBIAN PTA http://www.seattletimes.com/news/education/html98/ptsa_19990902.html \priv\99\17\gaypta.txt September 2, 1999 Gay, lesbian PTSA forms in Seattle area by Keith Ervin and Lynne K. Varner Seattle Times staff reporters A group of Seattle-area parents and teachers has organized what is believed to be the nation's first PTA chapter created to represent the interests of gay and lesbian parents, students and teachers. %%Politics z42\doc\web\index\ptatax.txt The IRS does not permit this activity if the organization is listed as a 501 (c) 3, but the WA state PTSA has historically had 501(c) 4 standing, which means it is tax exempt, but contributions are not tax deductible. %%Reform PTA 100% BEHIND HARFMUL EDUCATION REFORM LEGISLATION \doc\web\99\13\pta.txt 8/5/99 Washington State PTA: Request for IMMEDIATE ACTION It is the position of the Washington State PTA that all appointees to the Commission must: (a) have demonstrated their support for public education and for education reform as it has developed and evolved in Washington; PTA IRRELEVANT TO REAL PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN ED REFORM \clip\99\11\pta.txt Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 Subject: What next for the PTA? US News & World Report Who speaks for these "education consumers" on such classroom concerns as overcrowding, curriculum decisions, student performance, and teacher accountability? Not, it seems, the country's most venerated parent group–the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, or PTA. Once a pioneer of education reform, the 102-year-old institution is struggling to remain a force in an era of working mothers and dwindling public confidence in the system it supports. http://www.townhall.com/heritage/p_review/summer95/thhaar.html Cutting Class The PTA Plays Hooky from Educational Reform Charlene Haar Policy Review Summer 1995, Number 73 " Parents' most promising forum to agitate for reform and hold their local educators accountable for failure already exists: the venerated National Congress of Parents and Teachers, commonly known as the PTA. Unfortunately, parents cannot count on either their local PTA or its national leadership to advance parental interests or even air diverse viewpoints. As it operates today, the PTA is useless to parents who want to play a meaningful role in educational reform." "Last summer, PTA delegates from 53 states and territories met in Las Vegas for the 98th annual national convention. Convention delegates received two days of workshops to learn how to produce materials that generate positive public reaction to PTA, respond to extremist groups challenging health/sex education curricula, implement the PTA's HIV/AIDS awareness programs, and rebut right-wing groups favoring school choice. Delegates considered resolutions on violence in video games, inhalant abuse, the quality of indoor air in portable classrooms, and the sale, resale, and destruction of confiscated firearms. These are typical of the non-educational, social issues on which PTAs focus their time and money. " @@PTO Non-Liberal PTA alternative PTA Alternative Embodies a Shift In School Activism By David Nakamura Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 28, 1997; Page A01 The Washington Post

@@Public Education

It is assumed that public schools are the best way to educate the nation, but some disagree GATTO: PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR A CLASS OF WORKER DRONES, ELITE GETS PRIVATE z45\clip\2000\08\gatto.txt http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe85-20000814-03.html Could They Really Have Done It On Purpose? by Vin Suprynowicz "We want one class to have a liberal education," Gatto finds Woodrow Wilson telling a group of businessmen shortly before the First World War. "We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks." http://www.schoolchoices.org/ The conclusions presented on this website are grounded in a five year study of school systems from all over the world and from ancient times to the present. That study was recently published as the book: Market Education: The Unknown History. http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/edweek1.htm \clip\99\11\edweek1.txt EDUCATION WEEK "COMMENTARY" APRIL 7TH, 1999 Are Public Schools Hazardous To Public Education? By Andrew J. Coulson One hundred and fifty years ago, a band of dedicated reformers declared that progress toward those ideals was too slow and proposed that a new institution be created to more effectively promote them. Led by Bostonian Horace Mann, the reformers campaigned for a greater state role in education. They argued that a universal, centrally planned system of tax-funded schools would be superior in every respect to the seemingly disorganized market of independent schools that existed at the time @@Public Relations A key feature of the new school reform is the use of modern public relations to sell the new ideas to the public, as mentioned by Marc Tucker's papers, and requests to the Oregon legislature for funds earmarked as such. Massive PR plan for GCEL *Finalize partnerships/alliances/sponsors. *Produce campaign materials. *Finalize advertising and PR budgets. *Plan media. *Launch advertising campaign. *Launch PR campaign. PLANS TO USE ARSENAL OF MODERN MEDIA Infamous 18 page letter from Marc Tucker to Hillary Clinton outlining his plan for national education restructuring - "We plan to use the most effective tools in the arsenal of modern media and the best of community organizing methods to involve the public" GIVE ILLUSION OF PUBLIC INPUT A Report on the Work Toward National Standards, Assessments and Certificates Prepared for the Ohio State Board of Education Researched and compiled by Diana M. Fessler December 10, 1996 http://www2.southwind.net/~educate/fessler.html However, the most ingenious of the tasks that NCEE/The Alliance has appointed for themselves is that of "engaging the public" in discussing how the pre-determined goals should be achieved, thereby appearing to welcome public input, while avoiding the real issues OREGON SAYS NO TO $1 MILLION FOR PR CAMPAIGN From the Eugene Register Guard - November 21, 1997...buried deep in the "B" Salem -- Members of a legislative Emergency Board subcommittee have put on hold a request for a $1 million public relations campaign to promote Oregon'[s education reform act. Joanne Flint, associate superintendent for the state Department of Education, argued that the state's 1991 school reform act is different than routine school events and requires a major educational campaign so parents, businesses and others take reform seriously. @@Pulling Kids from School In the beginning, it was christian homeschool moms who pulled their kids out of school because of outcome based education. Now liberal democrats are pulling their kids out of standards based education! %%Democrats Michelle Trusty Murphy (democrat): I think I am getting really close to taking Connor out of school too. Connor's father wants me to wait until the end of the year, but I am wondering if we can wait that long!! Michelle Liberals have been taking their kids out of school and educating them at home since the 70's. The Christian right homeschool movement didn't start until the 80's. John Holt started publishing "Growing Without Schooling" in 1977. It wasn't until 1988 with the publication of "The Christian Home School" that Gregg Harris started the stampede of the Christian right wing homeschool movement. Thea metta@pacificnet.net @@Qualitative Research If you can't or won't find numbers to support your research, just use hunches and ancedotes. FINN APPLAUDS SCIENTIFIC BASED EDUCATION BILL z45\clip\2000\10\fixstat.txt Education Week September 20, 2000 Fixing Education Research And Statistics (Again) By Chester E. Finn Jr. ... adopted HR 4875, the proposed Scientifically Based Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information Act of 2000. The phrase "scientifically based" recurs frequently. There's a strong push for bona fide experiments, complete with control groups, which are normal in hard science and biomedical research but staunchly resisted by education researchers enamored of what is politely termed "qualitative methods." @@Quotas GORE WANTS OUTCOME QUOTAS OR WITHHOLD FUNDS http://www.EducationNews.org for article links April 29, 2000 Contra Costa Times (California) Gore expands school proposal DALLAS -- Significantly expanding his earlier proposals, Vice President Al Gore urged Friday that Washington withhold federal funds from states that fail to improve student performance and close the gaps between white and minority students. @@Race gap (Performance) see test.htm#gap @@Ranking @@Ravitch, Diane Leading debunker of progressive education reform, conservative. Malone slams Ravitch for leaving out goals 2000 and UN connection to ed reform. AGAINST RAVITCH - WHY HIGH STAKES TESTING, ACADEMICS FOR ALL z45\clip\2000\09\phony.txt What is the rationale for high stakes testing for promotion and graduation? What is the rationale for higher math and science requirements for all? Why doesn't anyone answer these questions? Center for the Study of Jobs and Education in Wisconsin The Phony Intellectualism of Diane Ravitch By Dennis W. Redovich Ravitch’s “Left Back” (2000Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-84417-6. Chapter 11 “In Search of Standards” alone will probably be worth the cost of the book. z39\clip\2000\01\ravitch.txt ED WEEK January 12, 2000 Ravitch Leaves Bush Campaign Over Log Cabin Stance By David J. Hoff She was registered to vote as a Democrat when she came to Washington, but has since declared herself an Independent. Ms. Ravitch, who has championed school choice and other issues favored by Republicans... \clip\98\19\ravitch.txt http://www.edweek.org Ed Week 12/15/98 What if Research Really Mattered? By Diane Ravitch Diane Ravitch is a research professor at New York University in New York City and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. She was the U.S. assistant secretary for educational research from 1991 to 1993. @@Ready to Learn \clip\99\03\edclip01.txt ASSOCIATED PRESS How to get kids ready for school? Published in The Orlando Sentinel, Jan 20 1999 Linda Kleindienst Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE -- Thirty-thousand Florida children [25%] entered public school last year not knowing their colors, shapes or ABCs. What made them different from 120,000 classmates who were ready to begin kindergarten? @@Reason Magazine Excellent conservative / libertarian magazine http://www.nekotech.com/Reason/Scripts/KeyWord.cgi?keyWords=EDUCATION @@Reform - the big picture REFORM THE REFORMERS Blomstrom Book On Serving The Wrong Masters 4/13/94 - On Serving The Wrong Masters Put a moratorium on reform groups. 1st day in 1st grade with new reforms MOST SCHOOL REFORM PROGRAMS SIMPLY DON'T WORK \CLIP\99\12\DONT.TXT http://www.heartland.org/education/jun99/hess.htm Urban School Reforms Don't Improve Education A review by George A. Clowes of Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform Frederick M. Hess Brookings Institution Press, 228 pp., $39.95 "Most reform is not a serious attempt to change teaching and learning in the classroom but is intended to bolster the status of the district policymakers," Hess, an assistant professor of government at the University of Virginia, concludes in Spinning Wheels: @@Religion %%Funding z40\clip\2000\03\pubfund.txt Baltimore Sun March 16, 2000 State funds for private schools OK'd The Maryland Senate approved spending state money to help pay for textbooks at private and parochial schools an average of about $45 for each of the 134,000 nonpublic school students in Maryland, %%General \doc\web\99\01\church.txt Chronology of key education-related, separation of church and state decisions. This was a sidebar to an article on the same subject by Nathan Lewin from the Jan-Feb 99 issue of POLICY REVIEW. %%release link Release students to off campus but permit them to get religious instruction off site @@Remedial College Courses The need for remedial courses in college is held as proof for the need for higher-order-thinking education reform - yet there are only remedial courses for basic math, reading and writing skills. There are NO remedial courses in problem solving or higher order thinking! See Remedial College Courses @@Remedial High School \clip\98\03\edclip4.txt 1/27/98 Chicago Tribune City educators plan remedial high schools By Michael Martinez TRIBUNE EDUCATION WRITER Chicago creates high school to promote 9th graders who do not meet high school admission standards. Tracking for "dumb" kids? But maybe a good idea, that's what Germany and Japan do. @@Research Based Proof? You want proof this stuff actually works???? hhahahahahaha %%Against z48\doc\web\2001\02\keraup47.pdf Innes points out most "research" isn't very rigorous. POETRY TO REPORT RESEARCH??? \clip\99\11\qualrea.txt http://www.investors.com/web_edition/today/welcome.html EXPERIMENTS ON JOHNNY'S BRAIN Experts Doubt Value Of 'Qualitative' Ed Research Date: 4/27/99 Author: Matthew Robinson Tonya Huber is on the cutting edge of qualitative education researchers. After studying race relations and how they affect the school setting, Huber used poetry to present her findings to her colleagues. For America's schools of education, qualitative research isn't new. \clip\98\19\LaTimes2.doc Los Angeles Times Tuesday, July 2, 1996 Ideas: Education An Expert Cautions State to Evaluate Innovations Before Issuing Edicts By RICHARD LEE COLVIN Prior to mandating or promoting any educational innovation, the state ought to evaluate the scientific evidence to make sure it will benefit students. Big deal, right? That's the way things are anyway, aren't they? Well, in fact, the answer is no. And University of Oregon educational psychologist Douglas Carnine is quietly campaigning to see that change. Parents Commission out of Pennsylvania defines research. ONLY 64 OF 500 CURRICULUM PROVIDERS TO KY COULD SHOW THEY WORK \clip\97\28\kyresul.txt EDUCATION WEEK, 11/26/97 KY. TO SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE-LINKED CURRICULA By Millicent Lawton " Kentucky's work is all the more noteworthy because educators nationwide have remarkably little evidence that the materials and methods they use to teach core academic subjects to K-12 students are verifiably effective. Out of about 500 curriculum providers that the Kentucky education department surveyed this summer and fall, only 64 could produce hard evidence of efficacy." Integrated Mathematics, published by McDougal Littell in Boston; Ohio State University's Reading Recovery; Johns Hopkins University's Success for All/Roots and Wings University of Chicago School Mathematics Project University of Hawaii's Developmental Approaches in Science, Health and Technology or DASH. From: "James Kilpatrick" John, They lost my interest when they mentioned Reading Recovey and Chicago Math. Reading Recovery is not a classroom program and independent studies have shown all gains made by first grade are lost by third. What is very interesting is they did not even mention Open Court's Reading Program. Open Court is the only program that has been field tested with large samplies by scientific/medical researchers. The study was replicated and is an on-going part of the NICHD multi-million dollard reading study. Success for All does not address the bottom 20% in reading. I spoke with the developer Dr. Robert Slavin and could not get an answer on what SFA does with these students. Chicago Math has not been shown to produced the gains as the publishers have stated. Most innovations are not tested to make sure they work before teachers try them. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~bgrossen/resprf.htm#Abuse \clip\97\25\rr\resprf.htm %%Quality z56\clip\2002\07\edres.txt http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/072902dnmetedresearch.846ec.html Education research is under the microscope Quality of data crucial as schools base more decisions on studies 07/29/2002 By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News a bill pending in Congress would, for the first time, attempt to set quality standards for government-funded education research. .. "I've seen some colossal missteps in education – things like New Math and 'schools without walls' – that were seemingly never tested before being tried," said Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., chairman of the House education reform subcommittee and author of the pending bill. @@Recess Is this normal for everybody's school now???? Talk about high stakes.... Yes, Arthur, it is "normal" to lose recess for forgetting your homework. And it stinks. Our school board has a policy against it. RECESS CANCELLED IN VIRGINIA BEACH z75\clip\2003\11\recess.txt Reading, Writing, Recess Is jump-rope the answer to the obesity epidemic? By Peg Tyre NEWSWEEK Nov. 3 issue - Shortly after Rebecca Lamphere bought her new house in Virginia Beach, Va., she began to notice that it was quiet-too quiet. Lamphere had expected to hear the shouts of children at recess from the Parkway Elementary School next door. Instead she learned that at Parkway, recess was a thing of the past. WITH PE, ALMOST NO FREE TIME RECESS z75\clip\2003\11\norecess.txt HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Nov. 20, 2003, 1:25AM Parents complain of receding recess Pushing for play at Galveston ISD By KEVIN MORAN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle "unless we add time to each day to do it, we have to make use of our instructional time to make sure our kids are prepared" @@Reconstitution If the kids don't pass the tests, flunk the kids, fire the teachers, and shut down the schools. But what if the kids simply show up as poor learners? 11/15/2000 Daily Telegraph there was an article by John Clare about one of these failing schools; Having already once been shut down and reopened under a 'superhead', who resigned after eighteen months in the job, it is now due to be shut down again in 2002. Reconstitution Gaining New Momentum http://www.edweek.org/ew/current/04recon.h17 Education Week (some studies show reconstitution - firing entire staffs - can raise test scores of students) \clip\97\21\reconst.htm RECONSTITUTED EDISON IN SF FAILS \clip\98\01\recon.txt http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/chronicle/article.cgi? file=MN44392.DTL&directory=/chronicle/archive/1998/01/06 Tuesday, January 6, 1998 · Page A13 ©1998 San Francisco Chronicle Reform -- No Sure Cure S.F. primary school struggles despite radical overhaul Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO @@Report card Schools have discarded the ABC grading scale and are aligning to reform movements. New "cards" are 4 2-sided pages long or more, specific to curriculum and grade level, implemented despite parents protest. %%Old 1920's report card A - excellent B- good C- fair D- @#$ but passing (can't read it) F- failing It's got one line for each teacher, one column for each quarter. Compare that to the 12 page standards based monster laundry lists they need now %%Parents BAD PARENTS IN CHICAGO WILL GET THEIR OWN REPORT CARD z42\clip\2000\06\parrept.txt http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/article/0,2669,CTT-20044063,FF.html School parents will receive reports on own progress By Michael Martinez Chicago Public Schools will issue a "parent report card" for the first time next year, identifying weak parenting skillsand offering parents guidance to improve their children's academic performance, officials said Wednesday. %%punish Boy about to be whipped for bad grades kills himself Seattle Post Intelligencer Oct 24, 1998 p. A3 3rd grader shoots and kills himself in Arkansas, age 8, mother was unhappy with report card from the son and was going out to cut a switch and discripline him. %%reform [[Bellevue BELLEVUE TO ADOPT OBE REPORT CARDS THAT FLUNKED IN FED WAY [so will Lake Washington] zip36\clip\99\16\bellrept.txt Tuesday, August 17, 1999 Bellevue elementary students to get more informative report cards by Tan Vinh Seattle Times Eastside bureau The Bellevue School District is launching a new elementary-school report card that administrators say will give parents more information and clear any confusion over whether students are meeting district standards. While the report card debuting this new school year is similar to the one recently abandoned by the Federal Way School District, Bellevue school officials said yesterday they have enough positive feedback from teachers and parents to support the change. [[Federal Way FEDERAL WAY KILLS AND BURIES OBE/EALR BASED REPORT CARD \clip\99\16\fedrept.txt 'Old' report cards making comeback Seattle Times Aug 10, 1999 p. B2 FEDERAL WAY - Letter grades and shorter report cards will return to Federal Way elementary schools next month, muffling an emotional 8 mongth debate among parents, teachers, and administrators. parent reports on victory 6/1999 cure newsletter: The Federal Way OBE report card has been in the news. The committee established to deal with the parents concerns was disbanded by the superintendent, who replaced their work in progress with his own plan. (He reportedly told the parents that this would have been what they came up with if the committee had been "functional" The district bragged that this revised report card has been REDUCED to only FOUR pages. They have also hired a big gun facilitator to mediate the dispute. FEDERAL WAY HIRES MEDIA TO PATCH UP OBE REPORT CARDS THAT SUCK "Federal Way hires mediator to resolve report-card flap" Seattle Times June 17, 1999 Next meeting is 7-9 next thursday at Saghalie Jr Hi 33914 19th ave SW The school board has hired a professional mediator to be paid $6,500-$8,000 to work to modify [but not get rid of?] a number based report card system loudly protested by parents and teachers who say it is confusing. School officials say they need to keep up with state ed reform [but nothing in the law requires these report cards! - Lake Washington is next in line for a parent revolt if their similar proposal goes through] FEDERAL WAY PARENTS FLUNKING OBE BASED REPORT CARS Seattle Times May 13, 1999 http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/card_19990513.html \clip\99\11\report.txt Federal Way parents give new report cards an F by Lisa Pemberton-Butler Seattle Times South bureau "the highly detailed assessments, which range from four to five pages, have generated considerable anger and confusion instead. "Heated" doesn't even begin to describe the controversy the new report cards have stirred up, said Holly Isaman, president of the School Board. Browse by Date " The highest grade, a "4," means a child is working beyond his grade-level expectations. Many parents say that is unattainable. Federal Way WA school district has called in the "big guns" to facilitate a committee which will be changing the elementary schools report card. Have any of you had the privilege of working with her? Facilitator: Carolyn Gellermann (her resume lists credentials in "Dealing with an Angry Public, and Dealing with Difficult People and situations." [[Ontario Ontario Candada uses Standards Based report cards too [[Lake Washington Lake Washington proposes report card aligned to EALR, show G3-G5 progress 1=start 4=meets standard July 1999 report card overview \clipim\99\07\08\reptcard.htm [[Seattle SEATTLE TEACHERS REVOLT OVER OBE REPORT CARDS z46\clip\2000\11\reptcard.txt http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=card02m&date=20001102&query=report+card+seattle Local News : Thursday, November 02, 2000 Schools to get say on new report cards By Frank Vinluan Seattle Times staff reporter http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=card25m&date=20001025&query=report+card+seattle October 25, 2000 Teachers not happy with Seattle's new report card By Keith Ervin Seattle Times staff reporter Blomstrom: Many teachers are reportedly upset about these "microscopic," time-consuming report cards. There was a staff meeting at my school recently where staff voted to field test the new cards. But did they really have a choice? \zip40\clipim\2000\03\21\searept.efx Seattle 2000 Grade 3 report card - all "proficient" Pretty technical "standards" for science. @@Resisters Interview with Iserbyt All attendees were given a copy of The Change Agent's Guide to Innovations in Education, the bible for bringing about change in our schools and communities, written by Ronald Havelock of the University of Michigan. We were even taught how to identify resisters @@Results @@Proof @@Evidence Most reforms don't show increased test scores, or any reliable evidence of improved learning %%Bad Washington State's schools for the 21st century did not document ANY numerical improvment in test scores, in fact, these districts performed more poorly than average when the WASL came around in 1997. Bardstown KY district shows scores go DOWN despite superintendent signed on to reform organization. %%Good http://www.edweek.org/ew/current/23air.h18 text: \clip\99\06\rate.txt web: \clipim\99\07\reform\reform.htm February 17, 1999 Education Week on the Web Researchers Rate Whole-School Reform Models By Lynn Olson Only three of 24 popular school reform models [Image] have strong evidence that they improve student achievement, according to a report released last week that provides the most comprehensive rating of such programs by an independent research group. MOST SCHOOL REFORM PROGRAMS DON'T WORK, BUT ARE POPULAR ANYWAY \clip\99\06\research.txt Editorial from USA Today, 2/12/99, p14a Lost Homework Thrusday's release of "An Educators Guide to Schoolwide Reform," an attmept to evaluate which schoolwide reforms work and which don't. Conclusion: Many don't, but schools use them anyway. url: http://www.kiva.net/~pdkintl/kappan/ksla9801.htm file: \clip\99\05\refmodl.htm file: \clip\99\05\refmodl.txt Schoolwide Reform Models: What Works? By Olatokunbo S. Fashola and Robert E. Slavin Success for All: for language-minority students, the effects of Success for All have been particularly positive.11 Bilingual schools in Philadelphia found substantial differences between Success for All schools and control schools on scales from the Spanish Woodcock, with an effect size at the end of second grade of +1.81 (almost a full grade-equivalent). Roots and Wings. Roots and Wings is a comprehensive reform design for elementary schools that adds to Success for All innovative programs in mathematics, social studies, and science. Funded by New American Schools, Roots and Wings has recently begun to be disseminated nationally. Evaluations of MathWings in San Antonio and in Miami and Palm Beach County, Florida, have also found strong positive effects Core Knowledge. Core Knowledge is an approach to curriculum and instruction based on the work of E. D. Hirsch, Jr. A study currently in its second year compares six Baltimore Core Knowledge schools to six matched control schools.18 Outcomes are very inconsistent. On the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Core Knowledge first-graders scored slightly better than controls in reading comprehension (ES = +.09), with larger positive differences in math concepts (ES = +.18). Third-graders also scored slightly higher than controls in reading (ES = +.08), but no differently in math. Modern Red Schoolhouse. The Modern Red Schoolhouse is a project of the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank with headquarters in Indianapolis.35 The program is based on the Core Curriculum of E. D. Hirsch, Jr.. Modern Red Schoolhouse design have shown improvement on NCEs in the early grades. National Alliance for Restructuring Education. The National Alliance for Restructuring Education is a partnership of states, school districts, and national organizations that is affiliated with the New Standards Project. In Kentucky, a key National Alliance partner, schools engaged with the National Alliance were much more likely than other Kentucky schools to earn awards for improving their students' performance. ONLY DIRECT INSTRUCTION, SUCCESS FOR ALL, HIGH SCHOOLS THAT WORK ARE PROVEN \doc\web\99\02\proof.txt http://www.nea.org/neatoday/9902/scoop.html>http://www.nea.org/neatoday/99 02/scoop.html Inside Scoop Facts, Not Fads, on Schoolwide Reform Educators have long clamored for a reliable, complete, and easy-to-use reference that pulls together information on "whole-school," "comprehensive," or "schoolwide" reform programs. NEA has co-sponsored a new report, An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform, that provides just that resource. Only three of the approaches examined--Direct Instruction, High Schools That Work, and Success for All--provide strong evidence that they positively impact student achievement. For many of the approaches, surprisingly, there's little evidence one way or another on whether they help students achieve. IF HOOVER IS DOING ALL REFORMS RIGHT, WHY ARE SCORES SO LOW? \doc\web\98\09\hoover.txt In fact, Hoover's rates of post-secondary entry and retention are impressive. Educational Talent Search reports that of 275 low-income 1997 Hoover graduates, 85% are in post-secondary education. (SCANS, portfolios, preformance learning goals, etc) \clip\98\05\newscl05.txt 2/20/ 98 LEARN Report Held Back From Hearing By AMY PYLE, Times Education Writer Using a statistical model that accounted for student poverty, Rasmussen found that LEARN had no significant impact on test scores at the elementary or high school level. At the middle-school level, however, Rasmussen found some correlation between LEARN and better test scores. @@Restructure %%For What is Restructuring? "To restructure means to preserve and build upon what has been successful in educating our children and to rethink and redesign those aspects of the enterprise that have failed," Glenn Harvey and David Crandall (1988) say. %%Against http://www.voicenet.com/~sakossor/platform.html Kosser Newsletter A suggested platform to unite the forces opposed to the "restructuring" of education in America 1. Experimenting on children (educationally, psychologically or both) without the informed consent of their parents is immoral and unethical. Even though the US Department of Education made it LEGAL to conduct such experiments without admitting what they were doing (see the Federal Register, volume 56 page 28012), it's still not right. If you give parents -- no matter WHERE they come from, the opportunity to have their children taught how to read, write and do arithmetic, almost 100% will give their consent. It's only when teachers want to use experimental, unscientific psycho-educational games, tests and activities that responsible parents object (and rightly so). @@Retention @@Grade Retention Standards Based Education holds that social promotion is bad, and grade retention is bad, and tracking is bad. Yet if you do not pass the standards, you must repeat the grade, or use an "individualized learning plan" that amounts to tracking. This is closely linked with assessment which maintain the passing "standard". 5 - 7% of students are retained per year in the US, by 9th grade half have either been retained once or dropped out. Most retention is in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Given students of equal ability, those who were retained were 20-30% more likely to drop out entirely. Cunningham: Ungraded Retention a disaster in KY Study: no justification for retention Report Questions Academic Effectiveness of Grade Retention Retaining a child in the same grade for a second year is neither academically nor economically justified, according to a new report from the University of Maine College of Education & Human Development. The adoption of stricter promotion standards, particularly following the 1983 Nation at Risk report on sub-standard student performance, has resulted in the unintended consequence of higher retention rates rather than increased student motivation or improved school effectiveness, according to the report, "The Impact of Repeating a Grade: A Review of Research in the '90s," from the College's Center for Research and Evaluation. An estimated 5 to 7 percent of public school students are retained in the United States each year, and by ninth grade half of the nation's public school students have either failed a grade or left school Research indicates that such accountability measures tend to increase retention, but not necessarily achievement, she explains. The majority of grade retention in Maine, as nationally, is in kindergarten and first grade. An estimated 40 percent of males and 20 percent of females in the United States have been retained by age 14. b.. A high percent of retained students entered kindergarten or first grade unprepared for school work and were economically and socially disadvantaged. Retention can actually harm academic achievement, according to Lorrie A. Shepard, the interim dean of the education school at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sometimes it works: in a study of inner-city Baltimore students that those who repeated a grade in elementary school saw their grades, test scores, and self-esteem improve. Baltimore: By the students' eighth year of schooling, the Hopkins researchers found, four in 10 students had been retained at least once. of students with equally poor achievement--and controlling for other background characteristics associated with dropping out, such as race, ethnicity, and gender--students who repeated a year were 20 percent to 30 percent more likely to drop out of school. RETAINED STUDENTS NO BETTER, BUT MORE LIKELY TO DROP OUT \doc\web\99\05\retreas.txt According to the analysis by Mr. Holmes of the University of Georgia, only 9 of the 63 controlled studies of the subject showed overall positive results from holding pupils back. Inel15lmost of those cases, he found, the retained students had received extra help through individualized programs and smaller classes, while the promoted students had not. Mr. Fernandez noted that a 1986 study found that 40 percent of the city's students who were retained dropped out before the end of high school, compared with 25 percent of students with comparable reading levels who had not been held back. Many states such as Kentucky adopting "ungraded" primary grades, with promotion test required only into 4th grade Florida reports as many as 30% of students have been held back a grade. Traditionally in a one room schoolhouse, students were only promoted when they demonstrated certain skills, as many as 50% would be held back. This was replaced by social promotion. after adopting a pupil-progression plan based on academic mastery, four times as many Atlanta first graders were retained than previously (Rose and others l983). Pinellas County, Florida doubled or tripled its normal retention rate after implementing a competency-based promotion policy (Eligett and Tocco l983). \clip\99\04\compton.txt Los Angeles Times Monday, February 1, 1999 Schools in Compton Set Reform Pace Education. Students are put into "slow-track" remedial classes instead of main grade, heralded as reform. http://www.kent.wednet.edu:80/district/strat_plan/SP_section5.html#section5_performance Kent WA strategic plan Research indicates that tracking and retention systems do not improve student learning. 1/3 OF STUDENTS ARE FORCED TO REPEAT A GRADE , BUT IT DOESN'T WORK link Educational Leadership Volume 56 Number 1 September 1998 William A. Owings and Susan Magliaro Grade Retention: A History of Failure For almost 50 years, research has shown that grade-level retention provides no academic advantages to students. Yet, the practice is gaining increasing attention as schools face political pressure to demonstrate accountability for student achievement. According to one study (Roderick, 1995), from 1980 to 1992 the national percentage of retained students increased from approximately 20 percent to nearly 32 percent. the Center for Policy Research in Education (1990) reported that by the 9th grade, approximately 50 percent of all U.S. school students have been retained. In California, George (1993) found that retention rates for African Americans and Hispanics are twice the rate for whites \doc\web\98\07\retent.txt10th grader retained in 7th grade class just disrupts class @@Retirement Scam "RETIRED" SUPERINTENDENT ADMINS COLLECT PENSIONS, 100K CONTRACTS z56\doc\web\2002\05\vallas2.txt Substance (Chicago) April 2002 XXVII No. 6 No longer 'ghost payrollers.' After deregulation.. 'Zombie payrollers ' haunt Chicago schools budgets' by Tom Sharp ..Chicago has a new breed of clout heavy and enormously expensieve payrollers haunting the school systems's $4 Billion budget. Thanks to policies begun under the Vallas administration, principals and other administrators with clout can retire, and begin collecting large pensions, meanwhile many remain on the Board of Education, in semi official positions, or as highly paid $100-200,000 consultants.2 ... costing the school system more than $10m per year * Paul Vallas was awarded a consulting contract worth at least $250,000 at the time of his resignation in June 2001. Vallas was @@Gun Guns are banned in schools but sometimes it gets ridiculous Seattle - late 1990s, tiny GI Joe gun got a kid suspended z46\clip\2000\11\papgun.txt http://www.sierratimes.com/arnn110200.htm Paper Gun Costs Newport News Student 2 days at Home Stephanie Barrett Newport Daily Press - Posted: 11.02.00 A 12-year-old Dozier Middle School student will return to school Monday after being suspended for having a paper gun. @@Right Wing Defending Public Education is designed for both in-depth study and quick reference. It gives you the big picture plus a detailed examination of five issues that feature prominently in right-wing campaigns to manipulate public opinion and influence policy on public education, including: Vouchers, Charter schools, Public school privatization, Bilingual education, Parental rights. Right-wing arguments on each issue are summarized, along with a progressive response. The kit also features organizing advice, activist success stories, article reprints, directories of national organizations supporting and opposing public education, bibliographies and more. Here is a link to the page on our site that promotes the kit: http://www.publiceye.org/ark/education/brochure1.htm Jesse Ward Putnam Director of Development and Communications Political Research Associates 617-661-9313 / fax:617-661-0059 http://www.publiceye.org @@Rigor COLLEGE PREP LEVEL CLASSES MORE IMPORTANT THAN GPA FOR COLLEGE GRAD \clip\99\11\rigor.txt The Chronicle of Higher Education From the issue dated June 4, 1999 Study Says Rigor of High-School Course Work Is the Best Predictor of College Graduation By BEN GOSE The study, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment, will be available after June 7 at no charge by calling (877) 433-7827. It will also be posted on the World-Wide Web, at http://ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html [The level of courses, such as pre-college post-algebra math, and science is more predictive than GPA of college graduation success] @@Rote Learning Criticized by education reformers as being boring, unnatural, and leading to "low performance". Problem is that you have to know things, not just think, and what you know does matter as much as how you think. You can't "figure out" calculus, you have to know it! On the other hand, some promote rhyme and music, which is another form of rote learning! %%Against STUDY PURPORTS LOW-LEVEL ROTE WORK ISN'T IS AS GOOD AS "HIGH-QUALITY" z48\clip\2001\02\basicbad.txt <linkHere's the weekly "In The Classroom" from the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin today. How does all this fit with the new edict that everything has to be relevant to the world of work? Not especially the relevancy of the rigorous social studies incorporated in this nonsense. "Music helps us remember." [Can't have plain rote, gotta have music!] "Some of the TAD was modeled on Virginia's standards--standards that have drawn praise for their clarity and precision but scorn from some educators who claim they will encourage "back-to-basics" teaching and rote learning. \clip\97\25\double.txt November/December 1997 Teacher Magazine on the Web Double Standards By Drew Lindsay http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/current/03stand.h09 @@Rubric Empowering Students through Negotiable Contracting by Andi Stix A rubric is a carefully designed ratings chart that is drawn up jointly by teacher and students. Along one side of the rubric are listed the criteria that the teacher and students decide are the most important ideas to be mastered in the lesson. Across the top of the rubric are listed the rankings that will be used to assess how well students understand each of those criterion. The rubric also indicates how much importance should be given to each criterion, based on its importance to the overall lesson. Within each ranking, there also may be numerical gradations, depending on whether a student performs on the higher or lower level of that category. Unlike a traditionally assigned, generalized number or letter grade, the rubric serves as an in-depth "report card" for a lesson, unit, or project. @@Russia Ed reform in russia Parents are totalitarian if they instruct children in any form of 'doctrine' which is an anathma to the educrats who wish to 'educate for democracy' \doc\web\98\04\rusref.txtRussian Ed Reform from a german paper DIRECT INSTRUCTION IS USED IN RUSSIA "I was educated in Russia where everybody (with the exception of severely retarded and emotionally disturbed children) was taught through direct instruction techniques. Reading problems are unheard of in Russia. Everyone reads by age eight." @@Running Start In Washington state, high school students can enroll in college classes if they test high enough. Interestingly, 25% do not pass the WASL state proficiency test. Z75\PRIV\2003\11\RUNSTART.TXT http://www.tdn.com/articles/2003/11/23/readers/readers.txt Nov 23, 2003 Longview Daily News Running Start allows 11th- and 12th-graders to take college-level courses, tuition-free, at Washington's 34 community and technical colleges, earning both high school and college credits. At Lower Columbia College, Running Start students must test into college-level math and English just the same as other students taking college-level courses. They earn an average 2.80 GPA and complete 90 percent of their classes with a "C" or better. @@Scandal %%Criminal @@Principal %%Principal David Blomstrom has spent a lot of time tracking down really bad principals. www.seattletimes.com SEATTLE SCHOOLS SETTLES GATEWOOD PRINCIPAL BARTON HARASSMENT $90K zip55\clip\2002\04\barton.txt Local News: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 Three teachers settle suit for $90,000 Editorials & Opinion: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 Editorial Teachers' settlement a win for both sides By Keith Ervin Seattle Times staff reporter Three teachers who claimed they were sexually harassed by Gatewood Elementary School Principal Dan Barton have settled their suit against the Seattle School District for a $90,000 payment and more aggressive efforts to prevent similar incidents. Principal "Jailhouse Sallye" Gauthier Gone! It only took 10 years, 70 teachers, and one fatality, but the Los Angeles Public School District (LAUSD) FINALLY got rid of one its most notorious principals, Sallye Gauthier. Blomstrom says Seattle knowingly hired principals with criminal records. Barton in Seattle Weekly "Principal problem: Is Dan Barton a take-charge reformer or a boss from hell? Or both?" z39\priv\2000\01\barton.txt Parents in Seattle complain about Dan Barton at gatewood, allegations of improper relations with teachers. z39\clipim\2000\02\16\GATEW1.gif Gatewood letters to Seattle Weekly And read this story about the 7 year principal at Gatewood (West Seattle), what a nightmare. Apparently he gets into screaming matches with PARENTS and employees when he doesn't get his way. Families are pulling their kids out of Gatewood. There are some very interesting letters to editor in the print edition in the next week's issue, but they are not online. Do you guys have fax numbers I could send the letters to? Or I can just send the scanned pages as attachments to e-mail. Principal Barton --- http://www.robinsonnews.com/wshwcn/news/wshnews020200a.htm z39\CLIP\2000\02\gatewood.htm z39\clip\2000\02\gatewood.txt %%Jones, Al Al Jones Seattle schools hires a troubled superintendent as a principal, fired over allgegations of sexual contact with student, among other problems. Blomstrom update Seattle Garfield Principal, David Blomstrom finds out he was fired in past job \doc\web\99\15\geob1014.txt<