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Monday, November 30, 2015

Immediate Attention! Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/NCLB)

ESEA released today, over 1000 pages long; Congress to vote in two days

 

#STOPESEA 

 

Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate education committee and more than a dozen House members voted Thursday (11/25) 39-1 to approve a bicameral, bipartisan compromise measure that would scale back the federal role in education in the underlying Elementary and Secondary Education Act {ESEA) for the first time since the early 1980s.

 


http://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/every_student_succeeds_act_-_conference_report.pdf

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Worst case of fraud in any US government program - Outsourcing to SourceAmerica

At ADA rally, calls to overhaul AbilityOne program for disabled people


The AbilityOne program and the nonprofit agency that manages it, SourceAmerica, are being investigated by the Department of Justice and at least four separate inspectors general offices for allegations of illegal operations, financial fraud and mismanagement, corruption and "contract steering," sources tell CNN. 

disabled-work-program


Business as Usual: Transcript #2, phone, Audio #2.2

Today, 16 November 2015 8:30 am EST, WikiLeaks publishes the 30 hours of secret tapes and transcripts at the heart of the AbilityOne/SourceAmerica scandal.
Thirteen Presidential Appointees (ten Obama, three Bush) are embroiled in a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal being probed by the US Department of Justice and four Inspector Generals. The appointees oversee the federal government's $3billion a year "AbilityOne" program which is meant to pay for the employment of more than 50,000 disabled people--the largest such program in the United States. Most of that money, $2.3 billion a year, is funneled through the non-profit SourceAmerica to more than 1000 other designated partner organizations. This subsidised disabled labour is then placed (for a fee) with government and industry. Most of the labour is pushed to the military sector, including the DoD, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin & Boeing--who are also "patrons" of SourceAmerica. It is alleged that nearly half of the $2.3billion a year does not go to the severely disabled, but is rorted by pushing the money to corruptly favoured placement organisations that recruit the able bodied or the mildly disabled instead of the mandated 75% severely disabled. The result is billions in tax payer funded labour subsidies and increased profits for the placement organizations.
The 26 tapes are recorded conversations between Jean Robinson (Lead Counsel of SourceAmerica) and Ruben Lopez (CEO of Bona Fide Conglomerate Inc., one of the placement organizations) that discuss the alleged corruption.
Read more background information here.


https://wikileaks.org/sourceamerica-tapes/



“Please, he thought, don’t call on me…”

Nate slinked lower in his chair and pulled his hat tight.  “Please, he thought, don’t call on me to read out loud. The other kids already think I am so stupid.”  Nate was in the 6th grade, but reading at a 2nd grade level.  As a result, learning was hard and Nate was miserable.
The school district had been providing many hours a week of special education and related services for Nate since kindergarten, but he had made minimal progress.  School officials said this was to be expected, after all, “Nate has dyslexia.”  
Nate’s parents hated to see their son suffer and decided to call an educational advocate, who recommended a comprehensive reading evaluation.  After the evaluation was complete, Nate’s Individualized Education Program team (IEP team) not only received new recommendations for effective programming, they agreed to place Nate in a specialized school for students with dyslexia.  After just a few short months Nate’s reading level jumped up a grade.  His progress has been remarkable over the past year, and he is finally and quickly closing the gap.   Nate looks forward to school now and he is confidently participating in class.
We are so thankful for you - and for the quality representation and knowledgeable support you provide for students just like Nate all across the country. Support from a member of this unparalleled peer-to-peer network makes a difference and enables students with disabilities to attend school, graduate, and go to college, get a job, and live the American Dream.

Our impact is greater with your support.  Please make a year-end contribution to COPAA today.

Make A Donation Buton 

 

You can make a one-time or recurring donation online.  Please consider encouraging your colleagues and clients to donate to COPAA today.
   



Monday, November 23, 2015

Department of Education - Information Security Review

Department of Education - Information Security Review

43:26 "I want to help clarify this data base center issue? You have 184 information systems? Correct? Correct. You have 120 contractors that house that information? Correct? Correct. So how many data centers do you have? Three, Sir. So, if a contractor is housing information is that not a Department of Education data center?   - Mr. Gaffetz, Department of Education Information Security Review

 

1:16.40 "...[Department of Education] here they are managing a trillion dollars in assets, liability to the United States, it's basically the size of Citibank....almost half the population of the United States of America has their personal information sitting in this data base which is not secure by any standard or score card...."   - Mr. Gaffetz, Department of Education Information Security Review

 

The question is, in the Age of Query, is any information secure? Is the internet not a request for information from a database? "Security is mostly a superstition," Helen Keller said. But we could ask if the 120 or so contractors are outsourcing to countries outside the U.S?


Dept. of Ed - Information Security Review

Friday, November 20, 2015

At-Risk Students and the Study of Foreign Language in School

Back Home

What might the foreign language teacher do to assist students with mild to moderate foreign language learning difficulties?

A systematic multisensory structured language (MSL) approach that benefits students who struggle to learn to read and spell in their native language also benefits students who have difficulties learning a foreign language. The following recommendations are based on the key principles of the multisensory approach:
  • Provide opportunities for students to practice and review a concept frequently (repetitive principle).
  • Teach language concepts in a logical progression and help students to categorize concepts; also organize these language concepts from simple to complex (structured, sequential principles).
  • Build on what students already know, and make the connection between the known and the new information explicit (cumulative principle).
  • Systematically and explicitly teach the phonemes or speech sounds of the foreign language.
  • Directly teach students the sounds of the letters in the foreign language and the letter(s) the sounds represent (alphabetic/phonetic principle).
  • Show students how to think about a language concept to be learned and ask them to explain the concept in their own words; examples include rules for applying word endings, appropriate word order, and subject/verb agreement (metacognitive principle)  Model for students the way to break apart words while reading, especially words with more than one syllable (analysis principle).
  • Model for students the way to put parts of words back together for spelling (synthetic principle).

http://eida.org/at-risk-students-and-the-study-of-foreign-language-in-school/

Including All Children: A Guide for OST (Out of School Time) Programs

All children have a legal right to participate fully in OST programs. Being inclusive is also a beneficial practice for OST programs. Being willing and able to include all children, whatever their disability, helps organizations fully reach their goal of helping young people learn, grow and thrive. Providers can begin by reviewing the information in this booklet about their obligations under the law. A number of organizations can provide advice and support as program leaders address inclusion issues. (See pages 33-35 for a list of such organizations.) 


It is recommended that OST programs take proactive steps to ensure that parents and children understand their rights to take part and feel welcome. The following list of best practices was  developed in consultation with OST experts:

• Ensure that inclusion is fundamental to your business practices and identity.

• Print a statement about the program’s commitment to inclusion on all registration materials.

Designate a staff person to serve as inclusion facilitator and provide a written job description and appropriate training.

• Implement a process for explaining to parents why access to confidential information may be needed, using limited release of information forms that are easily understood by parents and guardians.

• Develop a process for getting copies of confidential materials when needed.

• Have a process for staff to make individualized decisions about the accommodations a youth needs to participate safely and effectively. This process should include collaboration with parents, timelines and designated staff members who have the skills and responsibilities for making such individualized decisions.

• Utilize community partners who can provide technical assistance and support. “Using simple techniques to accommodate individuals with disabilities such as creating and sticking to a schedule, getting additional information from parents and giving clear, concise instructions benefit ALL participants in the out of school time programs.” – Jennene Lausier, Teen & Grant Recreation Coordinator, Howard County Recreation and Parks

• Ensure that staff have skills and knowledge to design accommodations and modifications including adapted materials, training and positive behavior supports, and can estimate the costs.

• For youth who have IEPs or Section 504 Plans, make sure staff understand and use the documents to plan supports.

• Have a process for informing parents and youth in writing about individualized decisions and advising them of their legal protections.

Have staff evaluate their program based on principles of Universal Design for Learning, a set of principles for developing curriculum and materials in a flexible way so that all young people will have access. These principles can apply to materials, schedules, activities, expectations, rules and environments. (For more information about Universal Design for Learning, go to www.udlcenter.org.)


http://www.mdlclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/OST-final-for-website.pdf

Out of School Time (OST) Programs

"An OST program is a program or activity where children participate in academic, athletic, recreational or cultural activities with other young people beyond the school day, before or after the school day or during the summer.  The law requires that almost all OST programs, regardless of size, take steps necessary so that all children can safely and meaningfully participate."

 

Do Section 504 and the ADA Apply to All OST Programs?

Whether Section 504 or the ADA applies depends on how the OST program is funded and operated. Section 504 applies to all programs that receive federal funds. This includes public schools, extracurricular programs or religious programs that receive federal funding. See page 25 for more information about Section 504. The ADA generally applies to all programs that provide services to the public, regardless of whether they receive federal funds. This includes schools, recreational centers and day care providers. There are some exceptions for religious organizations.

Disabilities That May Be Covered by Section 504 and the ADA
The disability must substantially limit a major life activity of the individual.
• ADHD
• Autism
• Diabetes
• Heart and respiratory conditions
• HIV, AIDS, hepatitis
• Intellectual disabilities
• Mental illness
• Neurological disabilities
• Orthopedic disabilities
Specific learning disabilities
• Visual, speech and hearing disabilities

What Must OST Programs Do to Comply With Section 504 and the ADA?*
• Provide equal access and equal opportunity for children with disabilities to participate in
programs or services.
• Make individual determinations about what a child may need to successfully participate in
the program.
• Make reasonable accommodations to enable children with disabilities to participate in all
aspects of the program.
• Meet architectural standards for physical accessibility.
• Avoid eligibility criteria that screen out children with disabilities.
Prohibit retaliation against an individual with disabilities who exercises her/his rights, including the right to file a complaint.



http://www.mdlclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/OST-final-for-website.pdf

5 Facts About Dyslexia and ADA 2015

The original regulations were published in 2010 and then an outside expert committee presented its findings in 2014, but the guidelines in the Technical Assistance report was only approved for release in July 2015.

1. Proof of Past Testing is Generally Sufficient to Support a Request.
2. ADA Protections Exist for for High School, College, Professional and Grad Schools, 
Trade Exams
The Department of Justice document includes the following tests by name: high school (GED, SSAT, ISEE), college (SAT, ACT), professional (LSAT, MCAT), grad school (GRE, GMAT), trade (cosmetology), professional (bar, medical, including clinical assessments).
3. Academic Success Does Not Preclude Test Accommodations
4. Informal Testing Accommodations May Be Sufficient
5. Timely Manner and No Flagging  


 http://www.ada.gov/regs2014/testing_accommodations.html

Saturday, November 14, 2015

In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men.
The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former.
That is why we demand education and knowledge.


Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, 1862

Friday, November 13, 2015

best thing I can ever be

The Problem of Discipline, The School Journal, July 1900

By Gertrude Edmund, Lowell, Mass.

"But to put yourself in his place, sympathetically, scientifically, habitually, is the simplest, hardest, and most important lesson the professional school has to teach, or an intending teacher to learn, and I know of no better means to this end than the training in dramatic art, and the study of childhood and youth."

 The best discipline is that which produces the natural development of the ideal within the nature of the child. Such development depends primarily on the personality of the teacher, and the influence she exerts thru the power of suggestion. Natural aptitude to control and govern; personal magnetism to rivet with links of steel; the power to express the beautiful impulses and noble emotions of a strong, steadfast character — these are fundamental factors. Pedagogy has been defined as the power of translating yourself into your pupil's exact environment, so that you may be able to think with his mind, to experience the thousand and one embarrassments under which his struggling brain labors and to view your own intuitional approaches to him thru his eyes. But to put yourself in his place, sympathetically, scientifically, habitually, is the simplest, hardest, and most important lesson the professional school has to teach, or an intending teacher to learn, and I know of no better means to this end than the training in dramatic art, and the study of childhood and youth.

Our best schools of acting claim that personal magnetism is developed thru practice in reading and reciting such literary productions as require strong emotions for their portrayal. Dramatic art teaches pupils to become keen students of life, and their imaginations are trained to be in sympathy with the joy and pathos, heights and depths of that humanity they are to interpret. Pupils are trained, not only to observe the slightest detail of expression, but to reproduce such expression thru voice, face, and gesture. 0, the power of the human voice! The living agent of the soul, the agent of the imagination and feeling, as well as of thought. To the student of vocal expression every note in nature is alive with suggestions. In every wind that blows, in every thunder peal that rolls, in every laughing, dancing brook, in every storm-tossed wave, there are instructive lessons. But of far more value than the voice, in the discipline of the school, is the power of facial expression. It is with the countenance we supplicate, we threaten, we soothe, we rouse, we rejoice, we mourn, we triumph, we express submission. Thru the eyes are expressed, with the utmost power, joy, grief, anger, love, hatred, affection, pity, contempt, — all the passions — all the emotions of the human heart.

The time is coming when every professional school for the training of teachers, will follow in the footsteps of Col. Parker, and organize a department of dramatic art; when the systematic study of children will constitute a regular part of the normal course of study; when the child's physical and moral well-being will be considered of as much importance as his intellectual progress in passing from grade to grade, and each temperament will be dealt with according to its nature; when the practice departments of our professional schools will be so organized that the teacher will have her own pupils in her own room to manage in her own way without unnecessary interference.

For if you take away the opportunity for testing the teacher's ability to govern a school, she can get no growth in this direction and you have failed to train the teacher in that which is most essential to her success and usefulness, and without knowing it you may turn out upon the public an incompetent teacher.

•Abstract of Address before the N. E. A.

The_School_Journal

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Modern Educayshun

Blend Phonics for FREE DOWNLOAD for Every Teacher in America

Reading Made Easy With Blend Phonics  

by Hazel Loring, 1980, adapted by Don Potter, 2007


The Secret of Reading is to "Look at all the letters the right way, without guessing." Most students who are taught HOW to look at all the letters the right way without guessing and practice that way of reading words, become fluent, confident readers who can then read to learn well. You can test your child's or student's ability to read without guessing with the Miller Word Identification Assessment. Some children can pass some reading tests, and still not know HOW to read except by guessing at letters and whole words.

Why it works (a little theory)

Hazel Loring wrote, "All of my teaching experience has confirmed my belief that directional guidance, inherent in the blend phonics system, is the key to success in teaching reading.” Loring’s method is taught from the chalkboard or overhead. Students learn to blend the sounds of the letters from left to right, one after the other. They do not see the whole word at a glance; therefore, they are required to look at each letter in proper sequence. The blending is done in this order, for example "bat:" b-a, ba, ba-t, bat.” I. A. Beck calls this “sequential or cumulative blending.” After the words is sounded-out, the meaning of each words is illustrated with a sentence create by the student or provide by the teacher to make sure the students keep meaning foremost in their minds.

Why Supplementary Phonics?

Since phonics-first is the foundation of every really good reading, every teacher and tutor should have Blend Phonics available to use as added insurance in case the the adopted method fails some students. In fact Blend Phonics can be used as the main phonics component of any reading program to assure the success of every student.



Reading Made Easy

donpotter

Valuable Reading Programs from the Past

 64 Reading Programs dating back to 1775

 

"I have examined each of these programs for effectiveness - 

and freedom from dyslexia producing attributes."   - Don Potter


47. Lectures on Reading (1775) Thomas Sheridan. An old but extremely important work.

64. The Looking-Glass for the Mind; or Intellectual Mirror: Being an Elegant collections of the Most Delightful Little Stories & Tales: Chiefly Translated from that much-admired Work L'AMI DES ENFANS. (1814) A truly delightful book that will build your child's vocabulary and make them think about the more important things in life.


donpotter/education

Stanford Lecture Collection | Human Behavioral Biology | Robert Sapolsky

Dr. Terrence Moore- Common Core and the Destruction of Literature

Classical Education vs. Common Core

Pioneer Institute: Study Calls for Draft Science and Technology/Engineering Standards to Be Withdrawn


https://whatiscommoncore.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/poli-science.jpg

“Astonishing” gaps in science content too large to be resolved editorially.

BOSTON – Massachusetts’ draft pre-K through introductory high school Science and Technology/Engineering standards contain such startling gaps in science that they should be withdrawn from consideration, according to a new Policy Brief published by Pioneer Institute.
“The proposed science standards have significant, unacceptable gaps in science content,” says Dr. Stan Metzenberg, a professor of biology at California State University and author of “A Critical Review of the Massachusetts Next Generation Science and Technology/Engineering Standards.” “For example, they are stunningly devoid of Mendelian genetics and large parts of cellular biology. This is an astonishing oversight for a state that has notable institutions of higher education and a thriving biotechnology industry.”
At the high school level, the draft standards almost completely exclude Mendelian genetics. These concepts are not easily absorbed before high school, and their exclusion means students won’t be exposed to ideas that revolutionized biology at the beginning of the 20th century.
Their exclusion also makes it impossible to understand modern evolutionary theory and for students to grasp their own risk of carrying inherited disease. Massachusetts’ current science and technology/engineering curriculum frameworks include three Mendelian genetics standards.
The draft standards also exclude large parts of cellular biology, failing to teach high school students about the nucleus, mitochondria or chloroplasts.
Massachusetts currently has a curriculum framework for each of the body’s seven major systems (digestive, circulatory/excretory, respiratory, nervous, muscular/skeletal, reproductive and endocrine). But the draft would include these systems in a single composite standard, reducing students’ understanding and lessening their ability to talk to and understand their own physician and make healthy choices.
The draft standards never mention the name “Charles Darwin” and don’t adequately develop the basis for concepts of natural selection, making it exceedingly difficult to address Darwin’s theory of evolution in later grades.
Finally, the way the draft standards are written is overly complex, using sometimes ambiguous or grammatically incorrect language that fails to clearly communicate what students should know and be able to do. This ambiguity causes difficulty in the later grades.

About the Author
Dr. Stan Metzenberg is Professor of Biology at California State University, Northridge. He has 20 years’ experience teaching biological science at the university level. He was a senior science consultant for the Academic Standards Commission in California (1998) and a state Board of Education appointee to the California Science Project (1999-2003), the California Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission (2003- 2006) and a content review panelist for development of the California Standards Tests (1999-2010). He has recently assisted the ministries of education of Saudi Arabia (2010) and Qatar (2015) in training teacher leaders to use newly adopted science instructional materials.

About Pioneer
Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.


whatiscommoncore

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Colleges That Change Lives: University of Puget Sound, Whitman College, Willamette University, The Evergreen State College, Reed College

For those of us who have struggled to meet our children's educational needs in public schools only to find private schools won't accept them either, college seems all the more an unrealistic opportunity. The non-profit group Colleges That Change Lives offers a less traveled road....but also maybe a higher road.

 ...To find a college that changes lives, look for these distinguishing attributes:

  • Low student-to-faculty ratios that foster collaboration, engaged learning, and personal attention. Classes are taught by professors, not TAs.
  • Faculty are dedicated and passionate about teaching, advising, and mentoring undergraduate students.
  • A commitment to undergraduate education that focuses on the liberal arts and sciences. Opportunities for undergraduate research are prevalent.
  • A living and learning environment that is primarily residential and emphasizes the benefits of community, personal growth, participation, and involvement.
  • Smaller student enrollments that allow students to be known and recognized as individuals.
  • Out-of-classroom learning opportunities that provide students with an added perspective about themselves, their interests, and the global community. Participation in internships, study abroad, service to others, and special interest activities is common and expected.
  • Holistic admission policies including "test-optional" applications for admission. These schools take into consideration everything about an applicant—not just their numbers on an application.
  • Alumni networks that help graduates with professional and career development opportunities as well as foster lifelong friendships based on an involved and engaged undergraduate student experience.
  • An ideal living and learning environment where students can meet and exceed their own expectations for personal intellectual growth.







ctcl

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

5th Circuit Reverses Decision Denying Attorney Fees

In D.G. v. New Caney Indep. Sch. Dist., a victory for children with disabilities, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court decision denying a petition for attorney's fees as untimely. COPAA filed an amicus brief supporting reversal of the decision 
The court of appeals held that the statute of limitations for filing a claim for attorney's fees for a prevailing parent does not begin to run until the school district's time to appeal has expired. Because the statute of limitations did not begin to run until 90 days after the decision in D.G. prevailed, D.G.'s complaint for attorney's fees was timely under even the most restrictive possible statute of limitations, which was 30 days. (The court did not reach the question of which state statute of limitations applied, because even if the shortest one applied, D.G.'s fee complaint was timely.)

Monday, November 9, 2015

“Do not keep the slanderer away, treat him with affection and honor: Body and soul, he scours all clean, babbling about this and that.” ― Kabir

Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox is a 2011 case from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon concerning online defamation

Plaintiffs Obsidian Finance Group and its co-founder Kevin Padrick sued Crystal Cox for maintaining several blogs that accused Obsidian and Padrick of corrupt and fraudulent conduct. The court dismissed most of Cox's blog posts as opinion, but found one single post to be more factual in its assertions and therefore defamatory. For that post, the court awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million in damages. This case is notable for the court's ruling that Cox, as an internet blogger, was not a journalist and was thus not protected by Oregon's media shield laws,[1] although the court later clarified that its ruling did not categorically exclude blogs from being considered media and indicated that its decision was based in part upon Cox offering to remove negative posts for a $2,500 fee.

Cox also asserted that even if the plaintiffs weren't public figures, in order for the plaintiffs to claim damages, they must prove actual malice because she is a "media" outlet. Here, the court again held that Cox did not qualify as "media". In its reasoning, the court cited her lack of a journalism degree, lack of affiliation with traditional media outlets, lack of adherence to journalistic standards such as fact-checking and fair coverage, and the absence of Cox writing any original material rather than assembling the works of others. As such, the plaintiffs could seek damages without any further evidence of actual malice.[6]

Reactions and current status after district court ruling

The holdings in this case re-ignited a public discussion over whether bloggers should be considered journalists and entitled to the same protections.[10] Cox suggested that this case "should matter to everyone who writes on the Internet" and that if she "[doesn't] win [her] appeal, we all lose".[1][11] Padrick responded by saying that "the concept of media [would be] rendered worthless [...] if anyone can self-proclaim themselves to be media". Padrick also pointed out the real damage done to his reputation and business by Cox, and stated his belief that he would have won the case even if Cox had been considered "media".[11][12][13] Subsequently, a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration decision ordered the disputed domain names marcjohnrandazza.com, marcjrandazza.com, marcrandazza.com, marcrandazza.biz, marcrandazza.info and marcrandazza.mobi all to be transferred to Marc J. Randazza.[14]
Cox's motion for a new trial was denied. Currently, Cox is seeking to appeal the judgment, citing First Amendment grounds. Obsidian has filed a motion to seize and sell Cox's right to appeal to help satisfy its $2.5 million judgment, on the grounds that Cox's appeal right is intangible personal property subject to seizure. Cox is attempting to block the seizure to proceed with the appeal.[15][16][17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian_Finance_Group,_LLC_v._Cox

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

“Mass schooling damages children. We don’t need any more of it. And under the guise that it is the same thing as education, it has been picking our pockets just as Socrates predicted it would thousands of years ago. One of the surest ways to recognize real education is by the fact that it doesn’t cost very much, doesn’t depend on expensive toys or gadgets. The experiences that produce it and the self-awareness that propels it are nearly free. It is hard to turn a dollar on education. But schooling is a wonderful hustle, getting sharper all the time.”
John Taylor Gatto

Forbes / Leadership

Bill Gates recently talked with Jason Riley about what his foundation has learned after investing some $5 billion in education philanthropy.
The experience has been sobering. “It’s hard to improve public education,” says Gates. “That’s clear. As Warren Buffett would say, if you’re picking stocks, you wouldn’t pick this one.”


What does work? Gates believes that we don’t know. The foundation is now trying to find out. “I believe in innovation,” says Gates, “and that the way you get innovation is you fund research and you learn the basic facts.”


www.forbes.com

Forbes / Leadership

Wakeup Call For The Gates Foundation: Think Bigger!

 

Isn't Steve Denning (Forbes contributor) education solution equally "eerily echo"Frederick  Taylor Gates ideas?





http://www.forbes.com

Classical Composition

 "What if you could teach your child using the same writing program that produced such masters of the language as John Milton, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin? What if you could have the same basic composition curriculum used by Quintilian, the greatest teacher of ancient rhetoric, and Cicero, the greatest persuasive teacher of all time?"

"The method of Memoria Press' Classical Composition writing program is called progymnasmata, which was an ancient course in pre-rhetoric writing drills.  This method was developed in the 4th century A.D., and was used as early as 100 B.C, and possibly even earlier, in the Golden Age of Greece. It was used for centuries in western civilization."

Jim Selby has blown the dust off of the writing curriculum that was used in schools for over 1,500 years......

memoriapress

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

The Problem of Discipline; The School Journal, July 1900

"But to put yourself in his place, sympathetically, scientifically, habitually, is the simplest, hardest, and most important lesson the professional school has to teach, or an intending teacher to learn, and I know of no better means to this end than the training in dramatic art, and the study of childhood and youth."


By Gertrude Edmund, Lowell, Mass.
The best discipline is that which produces the natural development of the ideal within the nature of the child. Such development depends primarily on the personality of the teacher, and the influence she exerts thru the power of suggestion. Natural aptitude to control and govern; personal magnetism to rivet with links of steel; the power to express the beautiful impulses and noble emotions of a strong, steadfast character — these are fundamental factors. Pedagogy has been defined as the power of translating yourself into your pupil's exact environment, so that you may be able to think with his mind, to experience the thousand and one embarrassments under which his struggling brain labors and to view your own intuitional approaches to him thru his eyes. But to put yourself in his place, sympathetically, scientifically, habitually, is the simplest, hardest, and most important lesson the professional school has to teach, or an intending teacher to learn, and I know of no better means to this end than the training in dramatic art, and the study of childhood and youth.
Our best schools of acting claim that personal magnet ism is developed thru practice in reading and reciting such literary productions as require strong emotions for their portrayal. Dramatic art teaches pupils to become keen students of life, and their imaginations are trained to be in sympathy with the joy and pathos, heights and depths of that humanity they are to interpret. Pupils are trained, not only to observe the slightest detail of expression, but to reproduce such expression thru voice, face, and gesture. 0, the power of the human voice ! The living agent of the soul, the agent of the imagination and feeling, as well as of thought. To the student of vocal expression every note in nature is alive with suggestions. In every wind that blows, in every thunder peal that rolls, in every laughing, dancing brook, in every storm-tossed wave, there are instructive lessons. But of far more value than the voice, in the discipline of the school, is the power of facial expression. It is with the countenance we supplicate, we threaten, we soothe, we rouse, we rejoice, we mourn, we triumph, we express submission. Thru the eyes are expressed, with the utmost power, joy, grief, anger, love, hatred, affection, pity, contempt, — all the passions — all the emotions of the human heart. The time is coming when every professional school for the training of teachers, will follow in the footsteps of Col. Parker, and organize a department of dramatic art; when the systematic study of children will constitute a regular part of the normal course of study ; when the child's physical and moral well-being will be considered of as much importance as his intellectual progress in passing from grade to grade, and each temperament will be dealt with according to its nature ; when the practice departments of our professional schools will be so organized that the teacher will have her own pupils in her own room to manage in her own way without unnecessary interference.
For if you take away the opportunity for testing the teacher's ability to govern a school, she can get no growth in this direction and you have failed to train the teacher in that which is most essential to her success and usefulness, and without knowing it you may turn out upon the public an incompetent teacher.
•Abstract of Address before the N. E. A.


The_School_Journal

Sunday, November 8, 2015

The General Education Board founded in 1902

 The Board was created by John D. Rockefeller and Frederick T. Gates in 1902. Rockefeller gave it $180 million. Its head Frederick Gates envisioned "The Country School of To-Morrow," wherein "young and old will be taught in practicable ways how to make rural life beautiful, intelligent, fruitful, recreative, healthful, and joyous."


“In our dream we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science. We are not to raise up among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply."​

- Rev. Frederick T. Gates, Business Adviser to John D. Rockefeller Sr., 1913 [1]

The Country School of Tomorrow

The current American school system took root around the turn of the century. In 1903, John D. Rockefeller founded the General Education Board, which provided major funding for schools across the country and was especially active in promoting the State-controlled public school movement. The General Education Board was not interested in encouraging critical thinking. Rather, its focus was on organizing children and creating reliable, predictable, obedient citizens. As award-winning former teacher John Gatto puts it, “school was looked upon from the first part of the 20th Century as a branch of industry and a tool of governance.” The Rockefellers, along with other financial elite and their philanthropic organizations (such as the Gates, Carnegies, and Vanderbilts) have been able to mold society by funding and pushing compulsory state schooling for the masses.  


Monday, November 2, 2015

Don't forget to vote













State Laws on Dental “Screening” for School-Aged Children

How are schools obtaining dental information for the CEDS data base?


"According to the Council of State Governments, in 2007 state lawmakers adopted nearly 70 bills on the topic of oral health.iii Included among these measures are state laws that require parents to provide certification of an oral health assessment as a condition of school entry (California) and require evidence of a dental screening prior to elementary school and high school (Iowa). A third state (New York) approved a requirement in 2007 that schools request a dental health certificate upon a student’s entrance into school or upon entry into K, 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 10th grades. In April 2008, Kentucky’s Governor signed legislation to require student dental health certificates. These new laws add to the group of laws adopted by states as far back as 1915 (Kansas) and 1945 (Pennsylvania). More recent laws adopted over the last two decades include those in Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. Overall, about a quarter of the states (12) now [as of 2008] have some requirement for a dental certificate for school-aged children."
CEDS 

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Forum Guide to the Teacher-Student Data Link: A Technical Implementation Resource

"This document is intended to serve as a practical guide for implementing a teacher-student data link (TSDL) that supports a range of uses at the local, regional, and state levels. The guide addresses the considerations for linking teacher and student data from multiple perspectives, including governance, policies, data components, business rules, system requirements, and practices. It provides references to promising practices for high quality data linkages, including TSDL-specific processes such as roster verification and the establishment of the 
Teacher of Record."

• Teacher of Record (TOR)
– TOR is defined as the educator who is accountable for a student’s or group of students’ learning outcomes. However, defining a TOR for an organization such as an SEA or LEA is a policy decision. Many SEAs and LEAs maintain jurisdiction-specific definitions for TOR in order to support policies related to the responsibility and accountability of educators for student outcomes. Different policy questions and operational uses of the TSDL call for the differentiation of teachers with primary accountability for student learning, those teachers partially responsible for student learning, and education professionals that are linked to students for operational purposes. TOR is discussed further in Appendix B.

NECS Forum Guide

Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) Version 5 Data Model Guide

The question is, "Did the implementation of "Standardized Testing" provide the data base necessary for CEDS?

 

"...CEDS focuses on data elements and modeling in the Early Learning, K12, Post Secondary, Career and Technical Education (CTE), Adult Education, and Workforce sectors, and it has data domains for Assessments, Learning Standards, Learning Resources, and Authentication and Authorization. CEDS includes domains, entities, elements, option sets, and related uses."


Naming Conventions and Key Terms

Entity Terms
Entity terms provide the context for an element. For example, in the following data element names, the terms Person, Accountability Report, Dental Insurance Coverage, and Advance Placement are entity terms.
•Person Middle Name
•Accountability Report Title
•Dental Insurance Coverage Type
•Advance Placement Credits Award
 See pg.8

 See also pg. 37, NDS Entity Relationship Diagrams

CEDS

Common Education Data Standards (CEDS)

The Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) is a specified set of the most commonly used education data elements to support the effective exchange of data within and across states, as students transition between educational sectors and levels, and for federal reporting. This common vocabulary will enable more consistent and comparable data to be used throughout all education levels and sectors necessary to support improved student achievement. The standards are being developed by NCES with the assistance of a CEDS Stakeholder Group that includes representatives from states, districts, institutions of higher education, state higher education agencies, early childhood organizations, federal program offices, interoperability standards organizations, and key education associations and non-profit organizations. CEDS is a voluntary effort and will increase data interoperability, portability, and comparability across states, districts, and higher education organizations.

NCES