tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20659548600836152862024-02-18T19:52:51.729-08:00Common Core FactsCommon Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-90617069829533484512014-10-06T21:33:00.002-07:002014-10-06T21:35:17.503-07:00Liberty is Obedience to God's Law....What is the difference between freedom and liberty???<br />
<iframe height="480" src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVWEdPeDlla1E2WDA/preview" width="1000"></iframe>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-53417376190124359112014-03-07T00:15:00.000-08:002014-03-07T07:55:41.280-08:00No need to fear -- CHOOSE TO BE EMPOWERED!Significant changes in our lives are usually the result of some sort of catalyst moment where we can either choose to act out of fear or take the reigns and control what's happening.<br />
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I remember the first time I realized I was in control at the doctors office, I felt so empowered. <br />
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I have seven children and with my first three deliveries I always felt like I was being told what to do and I lacked the confidence to realize I was the one in charge. It took severe headaches after my third delivery from a complication with the epidural for me to decide I wanted something different.<br />
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With my 4th baby I was determined to be in control and gain the confidence I needed to make sure I was in the driver's seat. It didn't come easy. I spent months researching and studying about various labor and delivery methods and alternative pathways. I made a plan and then shared it with my doctor. Of course I listened to the advice he gave me but in the end I made sure that my plan was followed. With the doctor on my side and me in control I had the best delivery and recovery yet.<br />
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I don't know why I'm so slow to recognize this pattern.<br />
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I already had 6 kids in school before being control of my children's education ever occurred to me. Now don't get me wrong, I was a cookie making, field trip attending, homework checking, centers volunteering type of mom. <br />
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And then came the catalyst with one small note at a parent/ teacher conference in 2011. I started questioning what Common Core was and asked all my children's teachers and all of my friends for their thoughts. It took quite a while but I eventually was able to find the tools to begin finding the answers to the questions I'd been posing.<br />
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In early 2012 I sat with a friend across the table from our superintendent laying out a heart felt plea for him to research and see what we saw and then help stop this education train-wreck before it came off the rails. He threw his hands in the air and told us he was tired and there was nothing he could do. He told us he had no more local control and had to do what the state tells him to do. I looked him in the eye and told him ,"if you won't fight this, then I will and I won't stop until I've talked with every parent, every teacher and anyone who will listen so that they can decide for themselves if this is the path they want for their children and their schools." Little did I know what I was promising at that moment.<br />
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I had a decision to make. <br />
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Would I make good on that promise?<br />
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Would I run and hide or once again pick up the reigns and be in control? I chose the latter. <br />
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As with any life changing moment, you have to prepare yourself and instead of months of study this time around it's been years of daily study. I'm not scared. I don't live in fear and I embrace change. When possible I want to decide what that change is and make sure it's the best thing for my children and our family. This was one of those moments when I got to choose. <br />
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I chose to arm myself with knowledge and take action and I encourage you to do the same. Will it be easy? Most likely not. Will it be worth it? Most definitely!<br />
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Three years later and my life is on a completely different course from what I ever expected to see but I'm in the driver's seat.<br />
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By exposing what is going on in education and the harm that is coming to children and teachers it is not my intention to scare but to empower people. <br />
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We can't just complain that we're losing control over education and not expect to do something to get it back. It takes work. It takes time. It takes sacrifice. We need to pick the reigns up and take control back. <br />
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We need to go to our school board meetings. We need to be on our community councils. We need to pay attention to what laws are passing and how they will affect us, our families and our children.<br />
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I implore you, don't retreat. Choose to be empowered and carry on!<br />
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<br />Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-8903225441950407382014-02-20T01:09:00.002-08:002014-02-20T09:10:56.988-08:00Utah Citizens Rally to Restore Local Control to Education<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIMToot2jLo9_rpnXLHc7CXa6W64Y5E_HKo3_PzMYvCrN5ipM9wI9uuciibhCAfj1EiUUMwuWIyhs3b-P3sFzlikLTHmdnMpA_-e64wVGT_IHXF_fSBlN7d7_ZfRZrYEF-MYZFme7DDuO/s1600/IMG_2741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIMToot2jLo9_rpnXLHc7CXa6W64Y5E_HKo3_PzMYvCrN5ipM9wI9uuciibhCAfj1EiUUMwuWIyhs3b-P3sFzlikLTHmdnMpA_-e64wVGT_IHXF_fSBlN7d7_ZfRZrYEF-MYZFme7DDuO/s1600/IMG_2741.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Citizens, teacher, and lawmakers
filled the Hall of Governors at Utah State Capitol in protest of Common Core. After two years of push back, the numbers are
only growing as if a sleeping giant has awaken.
Many thought this fight would die down but it’s only getting
stronger. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Opponents of Common Core have
previously armed themselves with knowledge and so the purpose of the rally was
to take that knowledge and inspire opponents to action, to help them organize
in their local communities and finally to serve as a warning to lawmakers to take
a stand against Common Core or be voted out of office.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"We expect Utah legislators to take action. We expect
you to listen to the people," said rally organizer and anti-Common Core
advocate Alisa Ellis. "This is an election year. We are taking note of who
is with us and who is not, and we will be making our voices heard in the voting
booth." <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865596813/Common-Core-opponents-warn-lawmakers-to-act-or-be-voted-out.html">http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865596813/Common-Core-opponents-warn-lawmakers-to-act-or-be-voted-out.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Not all
lawmakers are sitting silent. Rally
supporters cheered at the introduction of bills by Representative Green and
Layton that will return control of schools back into the hands of local
communities. Senator Margaret Dayton
reminded audience that “even if the standards were perfect they come from the
wrong source.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Speakers
set the tone of the meeting and turned the momentum back on the people to grab
the reigns and take back control of their schools. Radio show host, Rod Arquette, told an
inspiring story of Seahawk’s quarterback Russell Wilson who followed the lifelong
advice of his dad who asked, “Russ, why not you?” Russ took that advice to heart and inspired
fellow Seahawks to their recent SuperBowl win.
Arquette mirrored these sentiments back on the crowd and asked, “why not
us?” If we don’t stand up and fight who
will? Mental health therapist Joan
Landes pumped up the crowd after laying out a myriad of injustices being placed
upon our children and the crowd joined with her in exclaiming “NOT with my
child you won’t!” <o:p></o:p><br />
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Attorney Ed Flint is taking action. He outlined a lawsuit filed against the largest school district in Utah. </div>
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Several
teachers also spoke out at the rally including teacher and author Sinhue
Noriega who teaches in Utah but chooses to homeschool his own children. When asked what is wrong with Common Core, Mr.
Noriega declared the answer is simple, “it’s not constitutional!” <o:p></o:p></div>
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-8132995458018837252013-11-15T16:32:00.000-08:002013-11-15T18:54:24.447-08:00High school student Ethan Young knocks down Common Core! Powerful testimony opposing Common Core from a high school student in Tennessee. Thank you Ethan Young for inspiring many and giving people across the nation hope in the future of America.<br />
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Read or watch below.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">In a
mere 5 minutes, I hope to provide insightful comments about a variety of
educational topics. I sincerely hope you disprove the research I've compiled.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Here's </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">a history of the Common Core: in 2009, the National Governors' Association and </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Council of Chief State Officers partnered with Achieve, Inc., a nonprofit that </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">received million in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Thus,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">the initiative *seemed* to spring from states, when, in reality, it was </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">contrived by an insular group of educational executives, with only 2 academic </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">content specialists. Neither content specialist approved the final standards,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">and the English consultant, Dr. Sandra Stotsky, publicly stated she felt the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">standards left students with an "empty skill set," lacking literary </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">knowledge. While educators and administrators were later included in the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">validation committee and feedback groups, they did not play a role in the actual </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">drafting of the standards. The product is a "rigorous preparation for </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">career and college," yet many educators agree that "rigorous" is </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">a buzzword. These standards aren't rigorous, just different, designed for an </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">industrial model of school. Nevertheless, Common Core emerged. Keep in mind,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">the specific standards were never voted upon by Congress, the Department of </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Education, state or local governments. Yet, their implementation was approved </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">by 49 states and territories. The president essentially bribed states into </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">implementation via Race to The Top, offering 4.35 billion taxpayer dollars to </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">participating states, $500 million of which went to Tennessee. And, much like </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">No Child Left Behind, the program promises national testing and a </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">one-size-fits-all education because, hey, it worked really well the first time</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">[laughter from audience].</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">While I </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">do admire some aspects of the Core, such as fewer standards and an emphasis on </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">application in writing, it's not going to fix our academic deficit. If nothing </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">else, these standards are a glowing conflict of interest, and they lack the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">research they allegedly received. And most importantly, the standards </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">illustrate a mistrust of teachers, something I believe this county has already </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">felt for a while [cheers and applause]. I've been fortunate enough to have </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">incredible educators that open my eyes to the joy of learning, and I love them </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">like my family; I respect them entirely. Which is why it frustrates me to {I </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">didn't really understand this part, even though I played it over and over.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Maybe it'll sound familiar to you} review the team in Apex Evaluation Systems</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">(???). These subjective anxiety-producers do more to damage a teacher's </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">self-esteem than you realize [cheers, applause]. Erroneous evaluation, coupled </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">with strategic compensation, presents a punitive model that, as a student, is </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">like watching your teacher jump through flaming hoops to earn a score. Have we </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">forgotten the nature of a classroom? A teacher cannot be evaluated without his </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">students, because, as a craft, teaching is an interaction. Thus, how can you </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">expect to gauge a teacher's success with no control for students' participation </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">or interest? I stand before you because I care about education, but also </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">because I want to support my teachers. And just as they fought for my academic </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">achievement, so I want to fight for their ability to teach. This relationship </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">is at the heart of instruction, yet there will never be a system by which it is </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">accurately measured.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">But I </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">want to take a step back. We can argue the details ad infinitum, yet I observe </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">a much broader issue with education today. Standards-based education is ruining </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">the way we teach and learn. Yes, I've already been told by legislators and </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">administrators, "Ethan that's just the way things work." But why? I'm </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">going to answer that question. It's bureaucratic *convenience* [scattered </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">applause]. It works with nuclear reactors, it works with business models, why </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">can't it work with students? I mean, how convenient, calculating exactly who </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">knows what and who needs what. I mean, why don't we just manufacture robots </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">instead of students? They last longer, and they always do what they're told.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">But education is unlike any other institute in our government. The task of </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">learning is *never* quantifiable. If everything I learned in high school was </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">objective, I haven't learned *anything*. I'd like to repeat that. If </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">everything I learned in high school is a quantifiable objective, I haven't </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">learned anything. Creativity, appreciation, inquisitiveness; these are </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">impossible to scale, but they're the purpose of education. Why our teachers </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">teach, why I choose to learn. And today we find ourselves in a nation that </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">produces workers. Everything is career and college preparation. Somewhere our </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Founding Fathers are turning in their graves, pleading, screaming, and trying </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">to say to us that we teach to *free minds*. We teach to inspire. We teach to </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">equip. The careers will come naturally. I know we're just one city in a huge </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">system that excitedly embraces numbers, but ask any of these teachers, ask any </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">of my peers, and ask yourselves, "Haven't we gone too far with data?"</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">[cheers, applause]</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">I attended tonight's meetings to share my critiques, but as Benjamin Franklin </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">quipped, "Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">do." The problems that I cite are very real, and I ask only that you hear </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">them out, investigate them, and do not dismiss them as another fool's </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">criticisms. I'll close with a quote of Jane L. Stanford, that Dr. McIntyre </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">shared in a recent speech: "You have my entire confidence in your ability </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">to do conscientious work to the very best advantage to the students, that they </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">may be considered paramount to all and everything else." We're capable of </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">fixing education, and I commit myself to that task. But you cannot ignore me,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">my teachers, or the truth. We need change, but not Common Core, high-stakes </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">evaluations, or more robots. Thank you.</span></blockquote>
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-29591835637151297052013-10-11T15:57:00.000-07:002013-10-11T15:57:03.851-07:00Tighter Attendance Laws Lead to Unintended Consequences...<div id="fb-root"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/alisa.o.ellis/posts/10201979078538471" data-width="550"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/alisa.o.ellis/posts/10201979078538471">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alisa.o.ellis">Alisa Olsen Ellis</a>.</div></div>
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-6600302811205725422013-10-09T23:38:00.000-07:002013-10-09T23:38:08.301-07:00Illogical Politics: Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core<a href="http://lawdawghall.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-concerns-with-common-core.html?spref=bl">Illogical Politics: Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core</a>: Dear Governor Herbert, Utah State School Board, State Superintendent Menlove, Attorney General Swallow, State Legislators, Local School B...<br />
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Brilliant letter by UT parent about Common Core!<br />
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Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core</h3>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dear Governor Herbert, Utah State School Board, State </span>Superintendent<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Menlove, Attorney General Swallow, State Legislators, Local School Boards, et al.:</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As an involved parent, I am extremely concerned about the work my children are bringing home as a result of the Utah Common Core State Standards (“CCSS”). Below you will find some of my </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">concerns.</span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First, my children are NOT merely bricks in a wall. They are unique and wonderful children! They have different strengths and weaknesses. My daughter - like her lawyer father - is more geared towards language, words, reading and logic. My son - like his college-educated mother - is more gifted in mathematics and science. My third son is a healthy mixture of the two. My daughter prefers to learn through practical examples and illustrations while my six year-old son likes to learn through straightforward facts and numbers. We cannot successfully parent and teach each of them the same way, so how do you propose that CCSS can successfully teach them and their unique classmates in the exact same manner?</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Second, my children are overwhelmed with the amount of busy homework they have to complete when they get home from school. To begin with, the kids are awake from about 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. Of those 13 waking hours they are at school from 9:00 to 4:00. Then when they get home, they read for 25 minutes and take about 27 minutes to complete homework - and they are in 1st and 3rd grade! I’ll make this really simple using the “Lattice Method”: there are 60 minutes in one hour and the kids are awake for 13 hours, so they are awake for 3x0 + 3x6 + 0x1 + 6x1 / / / hours. They spend 0x7 + 7x7 + 0x0 + 7x0 / / / at school. Then, they spend 25 + (27 + 3 = 30) = 45 - 3 = 42 minutes doing homework. That only leaves 780 (+20 to round to 800) minutes minus 420 (subtract 20 to round to 400) minus 42 (subtract 2 to round to 40) minutes to spend with their family and to just be kids and learn on their own. Yeah, that’s 800 - 400 = 400 minus 20 = 380 minus 20 = 360 minus 42 homework minutes (subtract 2 to round to 40) equals 320 minus 2 to get to 318 free minutes. It would be one thing if the homework stimulated their brains or if the work was preparing them for the real world, but it is full of mindless estimations and backward mathematical methods.</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Third [I will give you 30 seconds to read this paragraph. If you do not read it in 30 seconds, you are not up to MY standards], there is an over-utilization of timed reading in the curriculum. When I was in elementary school, I learned to read and comprehend what I was reading. I don’t know how many words I could read in a minute at each level, but I learned to read at a comfortable pace, while absorbing the material I was reading. Is there some time-sensitive aspect of the “global economy” that I don’t understand? I have lived in Southeast Asia and all over the United States, I have completed 20 years of education and have passed a Bar exam; I do not remember ever benefiting from being able to read something at the fastest pace possible with there being no inherent penalties/drawbacks for lack of comprehension. Why is this so important to state standards? You may have read this paragraph in 30 seconds, but did you comprehend it? It matters.</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fourth, as I mentioned above, I have lived in Asia and I have witnessed many of the school systems there. The students are generally sharp, disciplined and dedicated to their work. The work usually requires almost exclusively memorization and regurgitation. I often hear that the Asian education system is so wonderful and America is way behind in education because the kids in Asia score well on tests, but I don’t see a lot of innovation coming from those countries. Sure, they build iPhones and iPads efficiently and they produce many great products, but I don’t recall many breakthroughs coming from Asia. Am I wrong? They are good at following instructions and reproducing results, but I have found a huge inability to think outside the box, to interpret unique data, and to understand context. In my experience, many of them (generally) are followers, but not thinkers. Why would you want to create students like that here in America? It’s almost as if <i>you</i> are trying to create a generation of followers and not thinkers…</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fifth, I have an assignment for <i>you</i>. Assume that the Constitution of the United States is outdated and needs to be changed (that shouldn’t be too hard for some of you). You - a Federal government agency - want to develop a one-size-fits-all education system for the entire Nation, but the Constitution does not specifically grant that right to your agency. What would you add or take away from the Constitution in order to make this new standard system of education constitutional? You will need to prioritize, prune and add text to turn your system into a constitutionally acceptable form of education. Then, propose a plan for how to get States to go along with your education program. Money is not an issue; you can promise them as much money as it takes, but you must get them signed up. Your proposal will be submitted in its final form as a persuasive presentation to the American people. They have been given the important individual charge - by their Creator - to educate their own children and, having partially delegated that responsibility to local school districts, will judge your proposal based on the validity and veracity of your arguments as to whether you have any right and/or ability to educate their children in the manner proposed. Your score will not be shared with you. We will keep your proposal in our database for future reference.</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sixth, suppose you are the Governor of Utah and in your 2012 gubernatorial election you received 624,678 votes, or 68.4%. Further suppose that during the Republican convention, you received 2,253 votes, or 57.67%. Now suppose that since your election your supporters, who oppose Common Core at the federal and state level, discover that you support Common Core at one or both of those levels. Suppose that these supporters are very serious about the education of their children and do not approve of their elected leaders supporting such a massive, radical form of standardized education. If (let’s put our estimation hats on) half of those supporters become former supporters and choose to vote for one of your Republican challengers instead of you, how many people would still support you in the convention and, if you survive the convention, how many Utahans would turn out to vote for you in the next election? The number is not important. The WHY is everything. As long as you understand WHY, maybe, just maybe you will survive in the Utah - not global - economy.</span></span><br /><div style="min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you for your time and attention to our concerns. As parents of OUR children, my wife and I have the ultimate responsibility for educating OUR children and preparing them for the future. We take OUR responsibility very seriously. You, as public “servants,” work for US. If you do not serve the good of OUR children, we will relieve you of your post or we will remove our children from your collective, destructive influence.</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Your Bosses,</span></span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Halls</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Follow link to post comment: http://lawdawghall.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-concerns-with-common-core.html?spref=bl</span></span>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-87690987048872600932013-10-09T13:50:00.003-07:002013-10-09T14:06:51.050-07:00Common Core the "Quiet Revolution"Our children are precious and must be protected.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGYUPJdHN_Ksw6MXvMmEgNabem6l4EryMwtecdatKih72vDGPesoOUBNYDBsofeNwaAEdsIC78ki2LRTVzGbGjXcFKukYkHbD5T_ae5addKRyMNuY1J-8-oSL0NFKjBr8rxncDS7YehMu/s1600/Slide1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGYUPJdHN_Ksw6MXvMmEgNabem6l4EryMwtecdatKih72vDGPesoOUBNYDBsofeNwaAEdsIC78ki2LRTVzGbGjXcFKukYkHbD5T_ae5addKRyMNuY1J-8-oSL0NFKjBr8rxncDS7YehMu/s320/Slide1.JPG" /></a></div>
In 1969 Ezra T. Benson wrote, "From the very beginning of recorded political thought, man has realized the importance of education as a tremendous potential for both good and evil.”<br />
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There is a constant battle for the hearts, minds and souls of our children.<br />
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Nelson Mandela acknowledged that Education “is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”<br />
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But whose vision of the world will we as parents and citizens let stand? <br />
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Who will determine our future?<br />
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Abraham Lincoln is attributed with stating “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UnLiFGQ6zJ3Fm8ghNkMPWeVZinHK1uzX0dvhodJfhbbfaLqFDZ3RHYP__A2ME3p2dCK95pAjshx-wVkkLoybsxV12o5x_Fov5CptYnXBosDxbSKhYTByeJialMf4BU9UQUfcDMZyIi6t/s1600/Slide5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UnLiFGQ6zJ3Fm8ghNkMPWeVZinHK1uzX0dvhodJfhbbfaLqFDZ3RHYP__A2ME3p2dCK95pAjshx-wVkkLoybsxV12o5x_Fov5CptYnXBosDxbSKhYTByeJialMf4BU9UQUfcDMZyIi6t/s320/Slide5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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What philosophy will prevail in America?<br />
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Secretary Arne Duncan said,<br />
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“In March of 2009, President Obama called on the nation’s governors and state school chiefs to “develop standards and assessments …<br />
Virtually everyone thought the President was dreaming.<br />
But today, 37 states and the District of Columbia have already chosen to adopt the new state-crafted Common Core standards in math and English. Not studying it, not thinking about it, not issuing white paper, they have actually done it.” </blockquote>
This <a href="http://unesco.usmission.gov/duncan-remarks.html" target="_blank">speech was given in 2010</a> to UNESCO the United Nations education arm. The number of 37 states has now increased to 47.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqdCDIfQoy6qRKfeGyBZAA2PVNsaDFd9Tha0xTTJKKxkBHsvK3kq7WAuMA0_rML6e-NYc4Q2dQ1pIFKMSK27Gfr6Huqe__SbfoajLUBVptxVbU9CQNmPjgTiWaPzIm3QMByyDhJEywmP4/s1600/Slide7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqdCDIfQoy6qRKfeGyBZAA2PVNsaDFd9Tha0xTTJKKxkBHsvK3kq7WAuMA0_rML6e-NYc4Q2dQ1pIFKMSK27Gfr6Huqe__SbfoajLUBVptxVbU9CQNmPjgTiWaPzIm3QMByyDhJEywmP4/s320/Slide7.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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In this same speech the secretary acknowledges that America is now in the midst of a <b>“quiet revolution”</b> in school reform.<br />
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This is precisely why last year when ACHIEVE surveyed the voting populous 79% of them had heard nothing or not much about the Common Core. We’ve spent the last year and half doing everything in our power to change those figures. This quiet revolution is no longer silent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYoKOyqcpshZHkpc9rAXi7M8S_nnzx9vaNIVKxw_oMjFAk4Vfe9rtcbIcz_fc7Ejpdw5oOBk-6cO_KE5pw4wwOslswMbHbxGiRM2djAxXz5gujr3cAJ5-o_9b5XcS2Fu1epnjL0GyO4jS/s1600/Slide8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYoKOyqcpshZHkpc9rAXi7M8S_nnzx9vaNIVKxw_oMjFAk4Vfe9rtcbIcz_fc7Ejpdw5oOBk-6cO_KE5pw4wwOslswMbHbxGiRM2djAxXz5gujr3cAJ5-o_9b5XcS2Fu1epnjL0GyO4jS/s320/Slide8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is opposition cropping up across the Nation and the momma bears are just getting started. This map shows states where there is significant push-back against these reforms.<br />
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Common core is being sold to us as simply a set of standards in math and ELA but I’m here to tell you that there was indeed a quiet revolution taking place and the standards were just one piece of a much larger education reform that the current administration touts as its “cradle-to-career” reform agenda.<br />
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If you go to <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12" target="_blank">White house.gov and look at the k-12</a> education plan you’ll see the President’s plans for reforming education. He calls this his cradle to career education reform to “fundamentally” transform education in America. Now I’m not saying education doesn’t need help but have we paid attention to who’s telling us we’re failing?<br />
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The international test most often cited is called the PISA. They’re a product of the OECD who is partnered with the United Nation whose stated goal is Universal Education for All. In 2010 they gave the United States a<a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/46623978.pdf" target="_blank"> report </a>where they studied 10 other countries to help America out with our education woes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1F8u-rYdT5_jNYCCh28fJKJGLNq2uc3mZLaWJDzz7aUiRCMf_Ry4NwV770AGo40ZA5bHrD2adyp0WR34UJ_dXsEHO5b2DXGAwMzthCLdqdbnJFTEJ0Qe8Zkzhb77FYgcu7V95zTjrmkA/s1600/Slide11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1F8u-rYdT5_jNYCCh28fJKJGLNq2uc3mZLaWJDzz7aUiRCMf_Ry4NwV770AGo40ZA5bHrD2adyp0WR34UJ_dXsEHO5b2DXGAwMzthCLdqdbnJFTEJ0Qe8Zkzhb77FYgcu7V95zTjrmkA/s320/Slide11.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A red flag popped up when I was looking over Germany’s report. “Germany was jolted into action when PISA 2000 revealed below-average performance and large social disparities in results” As I read the report and saw that after being told they were failing the council of Foreign Ministers got together and decided they needed Common standards and common assessments to align with the standard. Robust data was needed and teacher improvement. These sound eerily similar to what we’re implementing here in America. Germany also agreed to continue with ongoing international tests to determine their countries success.<br />
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It’s not a secret that when you tie high stakes to a test it drives the curriculum. Now remind me, do we want our children to become global citizens or to retain American exceptionalism?<br />
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You may have heard that the Federal Government was not involved and that they hijacked this movement but from the very beginning of 2009 that is not the case. They highly coerced, incentivized and threatened the states to go along with their education reform.<br />
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These same reforms are in every grant and the waiver from No Child Left Behind issued by the Federal Government. There was a plan.<br />
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<a href="http://unesco.usmission.gov/duncan-remarks.html" target="_blank">Secretary Duncan said</a>, “… the Obama administration has an ambitious and unified theory of action that propels our agenda. … It can only be accomplished with a clear, coherent, and coordinated vision of reform.”<br />
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Now I can’t give President Obama all the blame.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u15oS0fC94WK-iEqEfDVGSI5GBFmuccphGQPCD0BFoK84la_CMhcQLK_3pIra_8Nzse6Bl4GqxpeLse9OjvHZuSwfYk-PG_wPMBtzLxbSRgMzIguyhHVwXzGAru67vqVfccBF1_JzVxh/s1600/Slide16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u15oS0fC94WK-iEqEfDVGSI5GBFmuccphGQPCD0BFoK84la_CMhcQLK_3pIra_8Nzse6Bl4GqxpeLse9OjvHZuSwfYk-PG_wPMBtzLxbSRgMzIguyhHVwXzGAru67vqVfccBF1_JzVxh/s320/Slide16.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The plan to centralize education is not new to the Obama administration. In fact, this move toward nationalized standards started long ago and moved further forward under President Bush with No Child Left Behind. It was then propelled forward through massive private money and stimulus funds.<br />
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Once the current President took office things really took off and the majority of states made commitments to the standards BEFORE they were even written because they were rushing to get Race to the Top funds. If the golden carrot wasn’t incentive enough for the states the threat of losing federal $$ to which the states have become addicted was.<br />
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We are coming up against a hard deadline in America.<br />
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How many of you are perfect? Did you realize that under President Bush’s NCLB that schools must show 100% proficiency by 2014 or they risk losing Federal money for education? The states are desperate to get out of a bad law and would do almost anything to get out from under the oppression but what most don’t realize the oppression yet to come will dwarf what was felt under No Child Left Behind. When you put all the pieces of the education reform puzzle together we lose control of education at a local level. The data collected by testing the standards and tied to the teacher’s performance acts as an enforcer to make sure the agenda moves forward.<br />
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In <a href="http://unesco.usmission.gov/duncan-remarks.html" target="_blank">2010 Secretary Duncan</a> said “… our theory of action starts with the four assurances incorporated in last year’s economic stimulus bill, …. The four assurances got their name from the requirement that each governor in the 50 states had to provide an “assurance” they would pursue reforms in these four areas--in exchange for their share of funds from a Recovery Act program …”<br />
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Secretary Duncan is referring here to the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund which had to be approved prior to even being considered for Race to the Top money. UT received roughly $900 million dollars from the stimulus bill in education alone. Did really pay attention to what we were agreeing to?<br />
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Secretary Duncan <a href="http://unesco.usmission.gov/duncan-remarks.html" target="_blank">acknowledged</a> that “Traditionally, the federal government in the U.S. has had a limited role in education policy.”<br />
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“The Obama administration has sought to fundamentally shift the federal role...”<br />
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Ezra Taft Benson said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The best way to prevent a political faction or any small group of people from capturing control of the nation's educational system is to keep it decentralized into small local units, each with its own board of education and superintendent. This may not be as efficient as one giant super educational system but it is far more safe.” </blockquote>
Common Core was initiated by private interest in Washington DC without proper representation from the states. The National Governor’s Association and Council of Chief State school officers may sound like official government organizations but they are not. They are private trade organizations that are not transparent nor held accountable to the people. The Governor’s sit on boards they do not run the show there. In fact, both organizations receive money from the federal government as well as private entities. States pay dues to both the NGA and the CCSSO and then these private organizations turn around and lobby the states to push forth their agenda.<br />
<br />
We all need to take a look at how things are run in our country and decide if we want our government run by a bunch of trade groups or if we want it to continue to be through the voice of the people. We have an ever moving trend towards circumventing the Constitution and our founding principles.<br />
<br />
Common Core was a triumph of branding. There were over a hundred endorsing partners. I mean who wants to be accused of not wanting high learning standards for our children? Who doesn’t want their children to excel?<br />
<br />
The largest funder is the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. This foundation has spent millions and millions of dollars pushing their education reform ideas. To date they have poured over 175 million dollars into this initiative and last week Gates said, he hopes his education goals work but we won’t know for at least a decade. Our children ARE NOT guinea pigs.<br />
<br />
Achieve, who is also a non-governmental agency, partnered these two trade groups to help draft the Common Core state standards.<br />
<br />
One of these is not like the other.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3C2IIXVQ9wgcLZT0k6yUlxZ8NYuS03fN_nFOpnSeo0zCMHeDQbBDAdy_53gXhoixwysJs3FX4NR_NVgf8eRRKUXYrwftjTJzCogAD3DNPqte18CBRX8QRHTsWtoW9gXpwT38AoBGm8LLu/s1600/Slide22.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3C2IIXVQ9wgcLZT0k6yUlxZ8NYuS03fN_nFOpnSeo0zCMHeDQbBDAdy_53gXhoixwysJs3FX4NR_NVgf8eRRKUXYrwftjTJzCogAD3DNPqte18CBRX8QRHTsWtoW9gXpwT38AoBGm8LLu/s320/Slide22.JPG" width="320" /></a>On your left we have what the proper balance of government powers is supposed to look like where 3 branches of government work together but each stand independently creating a system of checks and balances. On your right you’ll see the system which brought us Common Core. The National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers acted as brokers between private interest groups, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal executive branch, namely the appointed Secretary of Education, and the State level executive branch including the Governors and their State Superintendents of education with little to no input from the state’s legislators. This isn’t the way America is supposed to be running.<br />
<br />
What we've got here is private entities colluding with government to push policy. I love the capitalist market but this is not that.<br />
<br />
Bill Gates may very well be a nice man, wouldn't know, haven't met him, but I DIDN'T elect him and neither did you. Just because he made a lot of money doesn't mean he is allowed to buy education in America. This is too much power for one individual. I didn't elect Jeb Bush either and he is also having massive influence in how our schools are running. America wasn't set up to be governed this way. Think about it...<br />
<br />
The Homeschool legal defense reminds us that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“America rose to greatness when education was utterly decentralized and widely considered to be beyond the competence of government. One might reasonably wonder why educational planners do not consider a return to that which has proven successful in the past rather than pursue a trend of their own making. “
“The philosophy of the Common Core is not revealed in the individual standards. Many forms of education would result in the acquisition of similar individual items of knowledge and skill. The philosophy that is antithetical to many is revealed in the broad purposes and the coercive uniformity of the Common Core.”
HSLDA
https://www.hslda.org/commoncore/topic4.aspx </blockquote>
So for us it doesn’t matter whether the standard’s quality is good or bad. The standards experts can have fun debating that until they’re blue in the face. We are not and will not ever be for national standards because it centralizes power whether it’s to the federal government or private entities it doesn’t matter. But in this situation we have both.<br />
<br />
But it’s for the kids. Not true – A monopoly is being built. This monopoly not only brings in big money but it is a monopoly of thought. Where common core is deemed as the savior of the education system in America but really the results of these massive reforms is control and ultimately will help destroy America if we don’t stand up and do something about it. These reforms are creating a single pathway to higher Ed. It isn’t good enough to simply pull our kids out of school. We MUST fight this.<br />
<br />
If we let this stand, we effectively alter the way government is run in America. Working around the representative form of government will become the new norm which effectively wipes out the voice of “We the People”. We can’t let this happen.<br />
<br />
Professor Charles Glenn of Boston University says this about the goals of centralized education…<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
How can the pluralism that we claim to value, the liberty that we prize, be reconciled with a “state pedagogy” designed to serve state purposes? Is there not wisdom in John Stuart Mill's remark that “all that has been said of the importance of individuality of character, and diversity of opinions and modes of conduct, involves, as of the same unspeakable importance diversity of education. A general state education is a mere contrivance for molding people to be exactly like one another…in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind.1
Charles Leslie Glenn, Jr., The Myth of the Common School (Oakland: ICS Press, 2002), 12. </blockquote>
Ezra T. Benson wrote,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“…In a free and open society such as ours, a well-rounded education is an essential for the preservation of freedom against the chicanery and demagoguery of aspiring tyrants who would have us ignorantly vote ourselves into bondage. On the other hand, should the educational system ever fall into the hands of the in-power political faction or into the hands of an obscure but tightly-knit group of professional social reformers, it could be used, not to educate, but to indoctrinate." </blockquote>
We’re seeing examples on social media sites of this daily. I call this a positive consequence of parents waking up and paying attention to what is being taught.<br />
<br />
However, expect to see a lot more curriculum that doesn’t match the values of your local community as the control of education leaves the local community and as Bill Gates says, “a uniform customer base” is created. Anytime you centralize power you remove the voice of the parents and citizens at the local level.<br />
<br />
So why are we doing all of this?<br />
<br />
What is the purpose of these reforms? Is it to make sure our children succeed or that the workforce is fully staffed?<br />
<br />
There has been a push for quite some time to an outcome based approach to education. Last summer <a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/remarks-us-secretary-education-arne-duncan-national-academy-foundation-next-conference" target="_blank">Secretary Duncan shared</a> that “ the President has established a bold goal for our nation…. And to achieve that goal he has proposed $1 billion dollars toward career academies. And to achieve this goal he’s launched a comprehensive cradle-to-career reform agenda.”<br />
<br />
Remember the President called on the governors to help him achieve his plan?<br />
<br />
He also asked the Governors to create a vision 2020 plan and our state of UT gladly accepted the challenge because after all it sounds great to have more children graduating from college and being prepared for their career. As a mother of 7 I want nothing but the best for my children.<br />
<br />
This brought <a href="http://www.utah.gov/governor/news_media/article.html?article=3611" target="_blank">Prosperity 2020 to UT whose stated goal</a> is to align the education training to the workforce demands of the marketplace. This is called central planning and it certainly NOT the America I want for my children.
<br />
<br />
In 2011 I witnessed this first hand when sitting down with my high school son and his counselor. What mother wouldn’t want to hear that her son is brilliant and capable of the highest paying jobs in America? I certainly was proud and trusted the system and so when the counselor told me that clearly my son was not going to be a history professor and so let’s pull him out of AP world history and put him in a class that follows his career path. I gladly agreed until one day I woke up and realized what was happening to America.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjygYPmKCUS597qTx4_XiiwBD_uuzyByxLLv7wWiK8RTifwItSxbqhrOv8acX6PJ43Cdi2kzXwOi7uTrVOJq-hf0Wp3SNFFMFF_0dpr74r7a3Fp54gdg4I-eSi7dUlvUHsDifFRPDt5CN/s1600/Slide34.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjygYPmKCUS597qTx4_XiiwBD_uuzyByxLLv7wWiK8RTifwItSxbqhrOv8acX6PJ43Cdi2kzXwOi7uTrVOJq-hf0Wp3SNFFMFF_0dpr74r7a3Fp54gdg4I-eSi7dUlvUHsDifFRPDt5CN/s320/Slide34.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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When did we decide that it was okay for the government to collude with business and claim such a determining role in the education, attitudes, and career paths of our children?<br />
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We need to all wake up and then study up, speak up and stand up to save our freedom in this great country.<br />
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Let us all remember the wise words of Dallin H. Oaks.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I cannot speak for the welfare of children without implications for the choices being made by citizens, public officials, and workers in private organizations. …
Children are highly vulnerable. They have little or no power to protect or provide for themselves and little influence on so much that is vital to their well-being. Children need others to speak for them, and they need decision makers who put their well-being ahead of selfish adult interests.” </blockquote>
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-61859729182525974782013-04-10T23:13:00.001-07:002013-04-10T23:14:48.909-07:00Glenn Beck responds...With Sources!
<iframe height="480" src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVSW5tam9vWU5EQlk/preview" width="1000"></iframe>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-50317919332001123292013-04-04T23:41:00.002-07:002013-04-04T23:41:27.216-07:00Adding Source DocsDue to the Department of Ed's website being down, I decided to upload the source docs I've saved. Look for a source tab on the right of my postings.
And in the meantime you'll have to put up with a lot of boring posts. ;)Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-7356820548896735092013-04-04T23:28:00.004-07:002013-04-04T23:29:41.710-07:00NGA's Implementation GuideNGA = National Governor's Association
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVZ0pXN251Nm51cG8/preview" width="1000" height="480"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-34292782224279301532013-04-04T23:24:00.003-07:002013-04-04T23:42:09.900-07:00MOU for Common CoreMOU = Memorandum of Understanding
This is Utah specific but is the same for all states.
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVdkU2VHZMaHhHa28/preview" width="1000" height="480"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-81790876541109952402013-04-04T23:11:00.001-07:002013-04-04T23:11:56.252-07:00ACHIEVE's Common Core Implementation GuidePay particular attention to the 15% guideline beginning on page 22.
Further, if you feel like you keep hearing the same talking points every time you speak with a public official, pay attention to the communications and outreach section beginning on page 29.
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVbDlhVEJPQ1MtaGs/preview" width="1000" height="480"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-85422518536579406922013-04-04T22:46:00.001-07:002013-04-04T22:48:08.975-07:00Race to the Top Executive Summary<iframe height="480" src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B745qngYVLvVMElxUUlVYWxPZFk/preview" width="1000"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-51886621718043711812013-03-27T21:48:00.002-07:002013-03-27T21:48:58.130-07:00Glenn Beck on Common Core 3-27-2013If you missed Glenn Beck's show on Common Core earlier today here are the highlights. I am so amazed at the concise description Glenn was able to give. Once again, I am thrilled to see this issue finally getting national attention. Thank you Glenn and Michelle!!
<iframe frameborder="0" height="224" src="http://www.video.theblaze.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25886049&width=400&height=224&property=theblaze" width="400">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="224" src="http://www.video.theblaze.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25886183&width=400&height=224&property=theblaze" width="400">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="224" src="http://www.video.theblaze.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25885781&width=400&height=224&property=theblaze" width="400">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="224" src="http://www.video.theblaze.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25886205&width=400&height=224&property=theblaze" width="400">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe><br />
<br />
Dr. Thompson didn't get to share much of his research. Take a minute to read his important findings about what the schools can collect on your children. <a href="http://commoncorefacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/common-core-mental-health-professional.html">Read now</a>
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-33844663210646633022013-03-27T20:32:00.000-07:002013-03-27T20:32:24.890-07:00What does common standards mean?I've been collecting the definitions off of various government documents relating to the Common Core.<br />
<br />
I thought I'd share them in light of the fact that elected officials are telling citizens that the 15% requirement is gone now that UT is out of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). Unfortunately, they are mistaken because the definition has been put in place across many documents. The most recent document is from the NCLB waiver.<br />
<br />
Our State Office sites a letter from Arne Duncan stating that UT can set our own standards. He's absolutely right we can but this letter was received before UT applied for the NCLB waiver. Further, what constitutes Utah's standards? Is it the 15% that we add in addition to the copyrighted standards? If you look at the State Office of Education's standards page and scroll down to page three of the ELA standards you'll see these are not Utah's standards.<br />
<br />
Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself:<br />
<br />
These are screenshots from "Utah's core" standards a.k.a. Common Core State Standards<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
1. Here is where I went to search for the English Language Art Standards:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjebXzC0s-8bzylKYxQLrPGRG-YTesN0-MXbWL8emSfr1An6o91QgJ-bIKHwhHxPBs8hZrL_0B64xJAWrt0KlpFif3TkNT0fLhB72uj-PTQtVkV0CWjnl5gBvRjnsoM0OgcLkl0YFfZPA/s1600/UT+ELA+standards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjebXzC0s-8bzylKYxQLrPGRG-YTesN0-MXbWL8emSfr1An6o91QgJ-bIKHwhHxPBs8hZrL_0B64xJAWrt0KlpFif3TkNT0fLhB72uj-PTQtVkV0CWjnl5gBvRjnsoM0OgcLkl0YFfZPA/s400/UT+ELA+standards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When I clicked on the link this is what I saw. At first glance these really do look like UT owns them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-t79wxAMzKV1UDmn_LxviSIIsufoGALgWtN-rz5zQHwF57PJrIg32kHLUDEXdo_lte0vp-s8_2hUPHNocXNTYQjoV-7qhwzwIKzrbLKLAovDU9OjYc5ahHJLeVXHtKCsVJKECt2NSbrZZ/s1600/UT+ELA+standards+-+front+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-t79wxAMzKV1UDmn_LxviSIIsufoGALgWtN-rz5zQHwF57PJrIg32kHLUDEXdo_lte0vp-s8_2hUPHNocXNTYQjoV-7qhwzwIKzrbLKLAovDU9OjYc5ahHJLeVXHtKCsVJKECt2NSbrZZ/s400/UT+ELA+standards+-+front+page.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is page two. Same story...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSdullkYKBtRapvasPTmF7GI5t5LwTzqAl-ZCB2xTsgM8ymlEwa-euBMVUC7mxCxJRdLkPOTwAZxOo2ly-TI1k7UcHGg1Cimk8aphIND26Gtq3Q_nMK_e5Aypxl_WBr6GJ2drNRkSdK5J/s1600/UT+ELA+standards+-+page+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSdullkYKBtRapvasPTmF7GI5t5LwTzqAl-ZCB2xTsgM8ymlEwa-euBMVUC7mxCxJRdLkPOTwAZxOo2ly-TI1k7UcHGg1Cimk8aphIND26Gtq3Q_nMK_e5Aypxl_WBr6GJ2drNRkSdK5J/s400/UT+ELA+standards+-+page+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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From page three:</div>
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Notice who owns them. And we had to get permission to modify them.</div>
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I emailed the associate superintendent to ask who we had to get permission from and what exactly we modified. Once again, my email went unanswered.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrw0J4OvhqCI381FklNhKKls8-O3BhpMagfOxAEXSRmps6oXoBQBK8o-vujlHOHX7lefMao3mIoE06I4ser5EUemfWsuzvSUfEYRaCpmApWVn9ZDFZdkjcyvz2-z1uyvRgmTx8dP3lK2CO/s1600/UT+ELA+standards+-+page+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrw0J4OvhqCI381FklNhKKls8-O3BhpMagfOxAEXSRmps6oXoBQBK8o-vujlHOHX7lefMao3mIoE06I4ser5EUemfWsuzvSUfEYRaCpmApWVn9ZDFZdkjcyvz2-z1uyvRgmTx8dP3lK2CO/s400/UT+ELA+standards+-+page+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
I've asked our Governor, State Superintendent and various other officials at the state level if they can write another letter to Secretary Arne Duncan asking if UT can be exempt from the NCLB waiver definition page. My request has gone unanswered...<br />
<br />
Here are the definitions (if you don't want to read them all... please scroll down to the bottom and look at the NCLB waiver definitions - UT is bound to this document):<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Race to the Top Fund Assessment Program</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-04-09/pdf/2010-8176.pdf">http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-04-09/pdf/2010-8176.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<i><u><b>Definitions page 30</b></u></i><br />
<i><u><b>Achievement standard means</b></u></i> the level of student achievement on summative assessments that indicates that (a) for the final high school summative assessments in mathematics or English language arts, a student is college- and career-ready (as defined in this notice); or (b) for summative assessments in mathematics or English language arts at a grade level other than the final high school summative assessments, a student is on track to being college- and career-ready (as defined in this notice). An achievement standard must be determined using empirical evidence over time.<br />
<br />
<i><u><b>College- and career-ready (or readiness) means</b></u></i>, with respect to a student, that the student is prepared for success, without remediation, in credit- bearing entry-level courses in an IHE (as defined in section 101(a) of the HEA), as demonstrated by an assessment score that meets or exceeds the achievement standard (as defined in this notice) for the final high school summative assessment in mathematics or English language arts.<br />
<br />
<i><u><b>Common set of college- and career- ready standards means</b></u></i> a set of academic content standards for grades K–12 that (a) define what a student must know and be able to do at each grade level; (b) if mastered, would ensure that the student is college- and career-ready (as defined in this notice) by the time of high school graduation; and (c) <b>are substantially identical across all States in a consortium</b>. <b>A State may supplement the common set of college- and career-ready standards with additional content standards, provided that the additional standards do not comprise more than 15 percent of the State’s total standards for that content area. </b><br />
<br />
<i><u><b>
On track to being college- and career- ready 13 means</b></u></i>, with respect to a student, that the student is performing at or above grade level such that the student will be college- and career-ready (as defined in this notice) by the time of high school graduation, as demonstrated by an assessment score that meets or exceeds the achievement standard (as defined in this notice) for the student’s grade level on a summative assessment in mathematics or English language arts.<br />
<br />
<i><u><b>Performance level descriptor means</b></u></i> a statement or description of a set of knowledge and skills exemplifying a level of performance associated with a standard.<br />
<br />
<i><u><b>Student achievement data means</b></u></i> data regarding an individual student’s mastery of tested content standards. Student achievement data from summative assessment components must be reported in a way that can be reliably aggregated across multiple students at the subgroup, 14 classroom, school, LEA, and State levels.<br />
<br />
<i><u><b>Student growth data means</b></u></i> data regarding the change in student achievement data (as defined in this notice) between two or more points in time. Student growth data from summative assessment components must be reported in a way that can be reliably aggregated across multiple students at the subgroup, classroom, school, LEA, and State levels and over a full academic year or course.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Race to the Top</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf">http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<b><u><i>Common set of K-12 standards means</i></u></b> a set of content standards that define what students must know and be able to do and that are substantially identical across all States in a consortium. A State may supplement the common standards with additional standards, provided that the additional standards do not exceed 15 percent of the State's total standards for that content area.<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Student achievement means</u></i></b>—<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(a) For tested grades and subjects:<br />(1) a student’s score on the State’s assessments under the ESEA; and, as appropriate,<br />(2) other measures of student learning, such as those described in paragraph<br />(b) of this definition, provided they are rigorous and comparable across classrooms.<br />(b) For non-tested grades and subjects: alternative measures of student learning and performance such as student scores on pre-tests and end-of-course tests; student performance on English language proficiency assessments; and other measures of student achievement that are rigorous and comparable across classrooms. </blockquote>
<br />
<b><u><i>Student growth means</i></u></b> the change in student achievement (as defined in this notice) for an individual student between two or more points in time. A State may also include other measures that are rigorous and comparable across classrooms.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Race to the Top Phase 2</span><br />
<a href="http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2010-2/041410a.pdf" target="_blank">http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2010-2/041410a.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Common set of K–12 standards means</u></i></b> a set of content standards that define what students must know and be able to do and that are substantially identical<br />
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<b><i><u>Highly effective teacher means</u></i></b> a teacher whose students achieve high rates (e.g., one and one-half grade levels in an academic year) of student growth (as defined in this notice). Sates, LEAs, or schools must include multiple measures, provided that teacher effectiveness is evaluated, in significant part, by student growth (as defined in this notice). Supplemental measures may include, for example, multiple observation-based assessments of teacher performance or evidence of leadership roles (which may include mentoring or leading professional learning communities) that increase the effectiveness of other teachers in the school or LEA.<br />
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<b><i><u>America COMPETES Act elements means</u></i></b> (as specified in section
6401(e)(2)(D) of that Act): (1) A unique statewide student identifier that does not permit a student to be individually identified by users of the system; (2) student-level enrollment, demographic, and program participation information; (3) student-level information about the points at which students exit, transfer in, transfer out, drop out, or complete P–16 education programs; (4) the capacity to communicate with higher education data systems; (5) a State data audit system assessing data quality, validity, and reliability; (6) yearly test records of individual students with respect to assessments under section 1111(b) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)); (7) information on students not tested by grade and subject; (8) a teacher identifier system with the ability to match teachers to students; (9) student- level transcript information, including information on courses completed and grades earned; (10) student-level college readiness test scores; (11) information regarding the extent to which students transition successfully from secondary school to postsecondary education, including whether students enroll in remedial coursework; and (12) other information determined necessary to address alignment and adequate preparation for success in postsecondary education<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NCLB Waiver</b></span><br />
<a href="http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility" target="_blank">http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility</a> - in Document entitled ESEA-flexibility – updated June 7, 2012<br />
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1. <b><i><u>College- and Career-Ready Standards: “College- and career-ready standards” are</u></i></b> content standards for kindergarten through 12th grade that build towards college and career readiness by the time of high school graduation. A State’s college- and career-ready standards must be either (1) standards that are common to a significant number of States; or (2) standards that are approved by a State network of institutions of higher education, which must certify that students who meet the standards will not need remedial course work at the postsecondary level<br />
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6.<b><i><u> Standards that are Common to a Significant Number of States</u></i></b>: “Standards that are common to a significant number of States” means standards that are substantially identical across all States in a consortium that includes a significant number of States. A State may supplement such standards with additional standards, provided that the <i><b>additional standards do not exceed 15 percent of the State’s total standards for a content area</b></i>.<br />
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<b><i><u>State Network of Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs):</u></i></b> A “State network of institutions of higher education” means a system of four-year public IHEs that, collectively, enroll at least 50 percent of the students in the State who attend the State’s four-year public IHEs.Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-57379321286316003762013-03-26T08:54:00.001-07:002013-03-27T17:05:46.490-07:00What Can I Do?Renee', Christel, and I have been getting questions daily from people asking what they can do. We decided the easiest way to help others would be to create a video answering this question.
I'm watching this back and realize that we left a lot of points out. We'll do a follow-up soon.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R28wUdZ-50A" width="560"></iframe>
I will post our blogs on this video when I have time to edit but for now tune in and I hope we're at least a little informative.
Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-1235080517428753872013-03-21T16:33:00.003-07:002013-03-21T16:34:35.882-07:00Discussion about Common Core math <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1dXqN3J18v0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-78549562272269673892013-03-21T16:12:00.000-07:002013-03-21T16:13:03.019-07:00Renee', Christel and I discuss Christel's experience on Glenn Beck<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x-Hc5bfwMfA" width="560"></iframe>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-29036430171912896852013-03-20T12:46:00.004-07:002013-03-20T12:48:31.579-07:00Letter to a State School Board member...<br />
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Thanks Dixie ~</div>
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I'll take a look at them. I'm certain that the great things being done can be done without having the common core standards. Great teachers will always find creative ways to teach and help students excel.</div>
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I've never thought that the standards were all bad, because I believe good exists in everything, but as I began researching the privatization and federal over reach far exceed any benefit they have. They could be perfect standards, which they are far from, and I still could not support them due to the loss of freedom and control.</div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">As I've urged others to do, you must study the entire education reform landscape to see what we see. I've never said this is entirely about the standards. You must thoroughly examine the RTTT application (I know we didn't win but we still are moving forward with the changes we agreed to make), the NCLB waiver and all the controls in there, the SLDS, the SIG, the Master Teacher program, the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, the CTE transformation, the call for a German Model of education, and many more. Once you thoroughly study this out you'll be able to see how they all fit together to transform education in America. While the current education system needs a lot of help, everyone needs to look at this overall picture and decide if that is the America they'd like to see. Is this how you want your children taught? There is no empirical evidence proving their success. I do not want my children experimented on. You must agree there are problems or you would never have decided to home-school your grandchildren.</span><br />
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I believe we need to be educating our children with a classical education where they are learning to become great thinkers. I believe by learning how to work hard they will be able to succeed in life. I do not believe education should be used by businesses to create "good workers" to fill jobs and I believe in Capitalism! Businesses working with certain branches of government, circumventing the representative form of government gives the people no voice is NOT capitalism. The push towards preparing for careers is turning us into the second model of creating workers and not thinkers.</div>
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We may never agree and that is fine but I will continue to teach others about the research I've found so that they too can decide for themselves. I'm certain you can value the importance of looking at both sides of an issue and then studying it out in your mind to come up with your own conclusion.</div>
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I recognize that there are many people writing positive articles on Edweek but you must acknowledge that Edweek also produces a lot of articles stating the contrary. There is a very real debate currently going on across the country which should have happened before we adopted them and agreed to these reforms. It is a travesty to the American people and our representative form of Government.</div>
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I've been told that school board members are telling citizens not to listen to us moms because we have an agenda and are a special interest group. Please enlighten me if you know what they think our agenda is. </div>
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My agenda is only to give my children the best education possible, guard against crony capitalism being promoted by Pearson, Microsoft and others in our state, and stop federal over reach into our schools so that we can maintain local control. </div>
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And because one of my local board members sent a letter out stating that citizens in our community should not read any of "those mom's blogs" and only go to the State Office for official information, I feel an obligation to share my research with as many people as I can to shed light on the other side of the debate so that citizens can make an informed decision. </div>
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Please let your colleagues know that name calling has never been an appropriate means of discussing an issues. </div>
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Thank you for your time, </div>
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Alisa Ellis</div>
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Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-75559770193458332022013-03-19T11:30:00.000-07:002013-03-19T11:31:40.068-07:00Common Core: A Mental Health Professional & Parent's Perspective<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Thank you Dr. Thompson ~</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Dear Mrs. Swasey & Mr. Beck:</span><br />
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I am writing this note on behalf of your joint request to address issues surrounding the Common Core State Standards Act (CCSS) that is currently in the process of being implemented in the vast majority of our public school systems in the country.</div>
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By way of background, I’m an African American Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) currently serving as Director of Clinical Training & Community Advocacy at a private child psychology clinic in South Jordan, Utah. I completed undergraduate education at both the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In addition to my personal experiences involving my four children in public schools, I have completed multiple thousands of hours in training/therapy/assessment/legal advocacy work with children in both the private and public school settings in multiple western states. I am also the author of a award winning doctoral project/dissertation which tackled the ago old problem of why many African American school aged children underperform in public schools titled, “<em>Cracking the Da Vince Code of Cognitive Assessment of African American School Aged Children: A Guide for Parents, Clinicians & Educators”</em> (Thompson, G. 2008).</div>
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As a “local clinical community scientist”, I have an ethical obligation to our community at large to provide unbiased opinions regarding issues that affect the education experiences of school-aged children and their respective guardians. The “Common Core States Standards Act” (CCSS) falls uniquely into this category. I have devoted many hours reading commentaries and studies, both pro and con, regarding the overall efficacy of CCSS.</div>
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In a nutshell, the (mostly) progressive public education community speaks highly of CCSS and its stated goal of raising educational standards across the board in a effort to improve the educational process for all students in the country, particularly under performing African American and Latino students nationwide. </div>
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The (mostly) conservative opponents of CCSS claim that involvement in public school education should be primarily a local/statewide process, and that Federal intrusion into public school education is not effective for multiple alleged reasons. In addition, there are disputes involving the CCSS curriculum itself whereas proponents cite multiple sources of research that allegedly support the efficacy of the education content.</div>
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Opponents also cite similar competing references that support their contention that CCSS curriculum stifles’ teachers’ creativity and that the content, especially in math, is not effective for early learners, gifted students, and children with diagnosed learning disabilities. The amount of information available to voters and parents by “experts”, both for and against CCSS, is overwhelming in its length, complexity and emotional intensity. Like the Affordable Care Act, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the vast majority of public schools nationwide, has caused a seemingly unbridgeable divide in many quarters of this country.</div>
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I am not an expert in the development and implementation of core educational curriculum in public schools, so I will not comment on the issue. I am not an expert on the effects of federal government involvement, verses local involvement, in public school education, so I will not comment on the issue. I am not a forensic accountant with expertise in the areas of national and local financial accounting tax monies submitted towards public education, so I will not comment on that issue. I am also not a politician, nor do I represent any special interest groups that could even be remotely tied to the multiple and complex issues surrounding CCSS. I find the political process in this day and age to be ineffective and personally unfulfilling, and will not comment on the efficacy of education platforms set forth by the three main political parties. I am, however, an expert in psychological and educational assessment/testing, as well as privacy acts surrounding the use of these tests in both private and educational settings. My remaining comments will focus on these two issues as they are addressed by the CCSS.</div>
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<span class="fbUnderline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Educational Testing</strong></span></div>
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According to the U.S. Department of Education, CCSS will authorize the use of testing instruments that will measure the <em>“attributes, dispositions, social skills, attitude’s and intra personal resources”</em> of public school students under CCSS (USDOE Feb, 2013 Report). In a nutshell, CCSS simply states that it will develop highly effective assessments that measures….well….almost ”everything.” </div>
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Our clinic performs these comprehensive IEE’s (Individual Education Evaluations) on a daily basis. These test measure “attributes”, “dispositions”, “social skills”, “attitudes” and “intra personal resources” as stated by the USDOE. In addition, we utilized state of the neuro-cognitive tests that measure the informational process functioning of children in school (Cognitive Assessment System, Naglieri 2002). </div>
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A careful, or even a casual review of a “comprehensive evaluation” would clearly show that the level of information provided about a particular child is both <em>highly </em>sensitive and <em>extremely</em> personal in nature. They are also extremely accurate. In a private clinic such as ours, we follow strict privacy guidelines regarding patient privacy (HIPPA) and when dealing with educational institutions, we also make sure that we comply with the FERPA Act (Federal Education Reporting & Privacy Act). </div>
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Bluntly put, if a client’s records somehow get into the hands of anyone besides the parents without written consent from the parents, or a court order, our clinic would be shut down in a heartbeat and the clinician who released unauthorized comprehensive assessments would lose their license. Clinical Psychologists in graduate level classrooms and clinical training sites spend years getting these basic privacy rights pounded into our heads. Failure to articulate and implement strict privacy guidelines issued by the Federal Government, State licensing boards, or the American Psychological Association (APA) would result in immediate dismissal from graduate school academic institutions, as well as any clinical psychology training sites in either Internship or Residency settings. </div>
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The accuracy of psychological testing has grown in the past 10 years to astonishing levels. The same tests used in our clinic for assessments, are used in part by federal law enforcement agencies, the military, local police departments, and the Central Intelligence Agency. (Interesting enough, these agencies are also interested in finding out about alleged terrorist’s, serial killers, or airline pilots “<em>attributes, dispositions, social skills, attitudes and intra personal resources”</em>). When placed in the “right” hands of trained mental health professionals, psychological testing can save lives. Placed in the “wrong” hands, psychological testing can ruin lives as well as cause psychological trauma to people if they have knowledge that their results were used for nefarious purposes. </div>
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Below are issues regarding CCSS “testing” policies that have not been addressed by the Common Core to State’s Governors’, State Superintendents, State School Boards, local school district superintendents, local school boards, to parents of children in public school education:</div>
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<li>Common Core does not address what types of tests will be utilized on our children.</li>
<li>Common Core does not address, specifically, exactly who is developing these tests.</li>
<li>Common Core does not address the fact that these tests have not yet been developed, and are not available for public consumption or private review by clinical psychology researchers and psychometric professionals.</li>
<li>Common Core does not address if the soon to be completed tests will be subjected to the same rigorous peer review process that ALL testing instruments are subjected to prior to being released to mental health professionals for their use in the private sector.</li>
<li>Common Core does not state which public school employees would be administering or interpreting these tests. There is a reason that School Psychologists cannot “practice” outside of their scope in school districts. As hard working and as wonderful as this group is, their training pales in comparison to the average local clinical psychologist.</li>
<li>Common Core does not address the well documented, peer-reviewed fact that both African American and Latino students, due to cultural issues, tend to have skewed testing results when cultural issues are not addressed prior to the initiation of such testing. This should probably be addressed if these results are going to be following a student “from cradle to high school graduation.” </li>
<li>Lastly, once these highly intimate, powerful, and most likely inaccurate testing results are completed, who EXACTLY will have access to all of this data? Common Core DOES address this issue and it is the subject of the next section.</li>
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<strong><span class="fbUnderline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Privacy</span></strong></div>
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I mentioned above that our private clinic is subjected to multiple federal, state, and professional association regulations when it comes to protecting and releasing mental health records. The rationale behind these regulations is obvious in nature both to the professionals, as well as their clients. Records do not leave our clinic unless the guardians of the children instruct us, or unless a District Court judge orders the release of the records. In some cases, we are even ethically obligated to fight court orders that request private mental health records. </div>
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<em>Common Core State Standards radically changes this game. </em></div>
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Prior to CCSS, public school districts were required to adhere to the same rules and regulations regarding private records as our clinic is subjected to. HIPPA tells us how to store records, were to store records, and whom to release them too. FERPA (Federal Education Records Protection Act) is subjected to HIPPA requirements when it comes to protecting sensitive education records. As show herein, educational testing records are highly sensitive and it only makes common sense that this practice of protecting these sensitive records continues. </div>
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<em>Buried in all of the fine print of the CCSS is a provision that allows participating school districts to ignore HIPPA protections. The newly revised FERPA laws grants school districts and states HIPPA privacywaivers. </em></div>
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Department of Health & Human Services Regulation Section 160.103 states, in part,:</div>
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“<em>Protected health information EXCLUDES individually identifiable health information in education records covered by the Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA), as amended 20 U.S.C. 1232 g</em>”.</div>
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CCSS also states that this “information” may be distributed to “<em>organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions to develop, validate, or administer predictive testing.” (CCSS (6)(i). </em></div>
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In summary CCSS allows the following by law:</div>
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<li>Grants school districts a waiver from FERPA in terms of deleting identifying information on their records.</li>
<li>Allows school districts to then give these identifiable records basically to anyone who they deem to have an viable interest with these records.</li>
<li>These organization or individuals chosen by the government to use this data to develop highly accurate predictive tests with no stated ethical procedures, guidelines, or institutional controls. (What are they exactly trying to “predict”?”</li>
<li>All without written parental consent. </li>
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The “<em>Comprehensive Statewide Longitudinal Data System</em>,” employed by CCSS that will hold this sensitive data, per DOE webpage, states, “<em>all States implement state longitudinal data systems that involve elements specified in the “America Competes Act”</em>. I spent two hours pouring over this Act to see if there were any further guidelines to Federal of State officials as such may pertain to privacy issues. None could be found. </div>
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Proponents of the CCSS point to volumes of articles and promises and policies that state that our children’s data will be private and protected by the national and state data systems that will shortly be implemented per CCSS guidelines. I have very little doubt that the computer systems employed by Federal, State and local districts that contain this data will be state of the art computer systems. Others whom are experts in this field may differ strongly). The point however is this: CCSS does not <em>specify</em> who can have access to their records, or for what specific purposes this sensitive data will be utilized. When it comes to addressing privacy issues, the CCSS contains abundant, generalized “legal speak”.</div>
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In terms of privacy issues, below are issues regarding CCSS “privacy” policies that have not been addressed by the Common Core to State’s Governors, State Superintendents, State School Boards, local school district superintendents, local school boards, to the parents of children in public school education:</div>
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<li>Exactly WHO will have access to records obtained by this national/state database? The generic political answer of “Appropriately designated education officials or private research entities” does not “cut the mustard.”</li>
<li>For what EXACT purpose will this sensitive data be utilized? </li>
<li>What organizations will have access to identifiable academic records? Other than generic information regarding race, age, gender and geographic location, why does the Federal database require identifiable information to be accessible? </li>
<li> If the political responses to these questions are “<em>all information contained in the database is unidentifiable and securely stored,”</em> then <em>why </em>were changes made to FERPA to allow an exemption to educational privacy rights when it comes to the implementation of Common Core State Standards?</li>
<li>What type of “predictive tests” are currently being designed and who will have access to results of whatever is being measured?</li>
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<strong><span class="fbUnderline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Conclusion</span></strong></div>
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Like the infamous “No Child Left Behind” laws that on some levels (with the sole exceptions of the 2004 IDEA Act included in NCLB), have set back progress of public school education years, I honestly believe that a few lawmakers with good hearts and intentions honestly wanted to find solutions to our public school systems. I believe also that the Obama Administration wants every child to have a proper and rigorous education and that the implementation of Common Core will bring them closer to that goal.</div>
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I am also, however, a local clinical community scientist. In this role I have several serious questions concerning CCSS noted herein which have yet to be answered to my satisfaction as a scientist, education advocate, and parent. I would implore every Governor, State Superintendent, and State School Board member in the country to honestly and openly explore the issues cited above and provide accurate answers to these issues to the public in “plain speak”.</div>
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<strong><em>Given the gravity of these issues, I cannot professionally endorse the Common Core State Standards as currently written until pointed clarification is provided by politicians and educators from both party’s endorsing CCSS. </em></strong> Nor in good conscience can I enroll my toddler in a public school system that utilizes CCSS until these issues are clarified to my satisfaction. </div>
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<strong><em>The issues involving psychological testing and privacy are issues that should be of concern to every parent with a child enrolled in public school.</em> </strong> The power granted federal and state education administrators via the regulations of CCSS are <strong><em>unprecedented</em></strong> in nature. Some parents will be quite comfortable with CCSS even in light of the issues detailed in this letter. Some parents would be aghast with the same provisions. <strong><em>Regardless, parents deserve to be clearly informed about these and other issues surrounding CCSS in a clear and straightforward manner so that they can make educated choices regarding their children’s educations.</em></strong></div>
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On a final note, I wish to publically show my support to the underpaid and overworked public school teachers nationwide. If I had the power, I would elevate their status to that of a medical doctor in terms of pay and prestige. What they do with the limited resources available, and with the burden of bureaucracy following their every professional move is simply nothing short of amazing. Our clinic employees several public school teachers (One is a former Utah Teacher of the Year), and school psychologist due to their amazing talents and abilities of reaching the hearts and minds of our young and diverse educational psychology clients. </div>
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There <strong><em>are</em></strong> answers to most of the perplexing questions facing public school officials. I believe these answers can be <em>readily</em> found in multiple peer-reviewed journals in neuropsychology, clinical psychology, education and public policy. Answers can also be found by mining the experiences, wants and needs of our hardworking public school teachers on the <strong><em>local and statewide</em></strong> ground level, as well as <em>local </em>parenting organization of various stripes. Once science and cultural based solution are found and implemented, I believe even cynical conservative lawmakers nationwide would be more willing to pony up additional tax payer money when presented with imaginative, science based educational models in pubic school systems. On the other hand, simply adding billions of dollars towards a 150-year old foundational system of education in crisis without implementing massive changes is irresponsible, unimaginative, and most likely politically and monetarily motivated. </div>
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When politics and money are taken out of the public school education policy arena and replaced with common sense and culturally sensitive science, mixed in with local value systems, I believe we, as a nation will make great strides in the goal of educating our children. </div>
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Until that time comes, it is my wish that regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation and political affiliations, our country will join together at the grass roots to amicably reach “common core” grounds of restoring our once proud public education system. </div>
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Best regards,</div>
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Dr. Gary Thompson</div>
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Director of Clinical Training & Community Advocacy Services</div>
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Early Life Child Psychology & Education Center, Inc.</div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlylifepsych.com&h=9AQFX2Mvl&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.earlylifepsych.com</a></div>
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<em>Doctor Thompson can be reached for comment at drgary@earlylifepsych.com</em></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/early-life-child-psychological-educational-services-inc/common-core-a-mental-health-professional-parents-perspective/555418941145364">https://www.facebook.com/notes/early-life-child-psychological-educational-services-inc/common-core-a-mental-health-professional-parents-perspective/555418941145364</a>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-10042189502771044142013-03-19T01:29:00.004-07:002013-03-19T01:31:36.989-07:00Data Collection with Jenni White<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/snT1srbKIv8" width="640"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-61282169111289313482013-03-18T00:45:00.002-07:002013-03-18T00:47:34.156-07:00Common Core's Global AgendaSpeech at Agency Based Education Conference<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QaBdw3Fd5NA" width="640"></iframe>Alisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12616353052721328113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-61345826582704077202013-03-16T03:55:00.000-07:002013-03-16T03:55:01.545-07:00So Grateful...It's the middle of the night and of course I can't sleep. Never-mind, that our County Convention is in the morning and I'm supposed to get up and speak for a resolution effectively rejecting the Common Core State Standards. I should be sleeping... but I can't.<br />
<br />
I am just thinking about how grateful I am that more and more people are taking notice of the concerns that so many have been trying to expose for such a long time. Thank you Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin for thrusting this issue into the National scene. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My husband and children thank you too. <br />
<br />
I'd never heard of Common Core until the spring of 2011 when I was in one of my children's parent/teacher conferences and was handed a pamphlet alerting me to the fact that our school would be adopting the new standards along with 44 other states. What? Where was I when this happened? How did I miss the vote? or discussion? You see, I have 7 children and at that time had 5 in the public school system. I volunteered regularly in the classroom and happily went about serving in my church and in the children's classroom. Surely, I would have heard something. It's not like I was an un-involved parent.<br />
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I asked a few questions and didn't really get any answers that satisfied me because it was apparent the teacher didn't really know anything either. I left and looked over the pamphlet. (Oh ~ how I wish I'd kept that pamphlet. Little did I know my life would shortly be changed forever) [Writing that sentence brings tears to my eyes because of the truthfulness of it - I can never go back to the naive and uninformed citizen I was at that time in my life.]<br />
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When I read the pamphlet, I thought, this is complete socialism. How can you take an entire nation, considering all the many demographics, and put them all on the same page without hurting the top and bottoms students? Anyway, I spent the next 6 months asking all of my friends and teachers about the Common Core. I searched the internet and could only find glowing praises of the standards. How could I be the only one that felt this way?<br />
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One fateful day I ran into an old neighbor at the store, who I knew was political, and asked if she knew anything about these standards. She did AND she had some of the same concerns. FINALLY! I was getting somewhere. She told me she was trying to get someone to come to our town and speak about the Common Core and she would let me know when that was. <br />
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I went home and tried to find some of the information we'd talked about and ran into walls again. I still didn't see anyone else talking about the Common Core on the internet except for singing it's praises. I continued to talk and talk and talk. Nothing from anyone except from a dear friend down the street and former teacher. She listened to my concerns and wanted to find out more too. <br />
<br />
About 4 months later I got a call from the neighbor I'd run into at the store. They were having a meeting! After the meeting I felt like shouting from the rooftops. EVERYONE needed to know this information. I went home and didn't really know what to do. A few weeks later I went to another meeting and finally direction came. <br />
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I had been able to process more information and finally had a starting point. It had been almost a year since I started worrying about this and trying to figure out where to find more information.<br />
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I didn't mean to get up in the middle of the night and type up a long drawn out story. I will skip ahead and get to the heart of the matter. -- WARNING -- I'm gonna get religious on you. <br />
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I went home and started getting direction from above like I've NEVER gotten in my life.<br />
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First, I started reading articles but wasn't satisfied with taking the author's opinion. I looked at their sources and have since spent more time on official Governmental sites than I care to admit.<br />
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I continually felt guided with thoughts and promptings.<br />
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I was awoken in the middle of the night on many, many occasions with promptings of places to go research, finding documents that were new and helped shed light on how my state got into this mess.<br />
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I was awoken one night with the thought to go and check my son's ACT plan tests. I stayed in bed and started researching on my phone but couldn't find anything so I finally got up and went to the computer. I then found all this information showing me that ACT was aligned to the Common Core. The web just kept getting bigger and bigger. <br />
<br />
Three nights in a row, I woke up with the phrase "Connect the dots" running through my head. Shortly after that, I woke up one Sunday morning at 5 AM (I'm sooo not a morning person) with that phrase again and everything I'd been researching started pouring into my mind. I had a legal pad next to the bed and I wrote down pages and pages of information. It was information I had researched but hadn't been able to fit together. <br />
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The promptings continued:<br />
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Crazy things, like the thought, "you need to pull up the Smarter Balanced contract and go talk to the Governor" WHAT? ME? Uh -- no! Who goes up and talks to the Governor and demands a meeting? Certainly not me, miss-stay-clear-of-any-and-all-contention-girl. But next thing I know, I find myself pulling up the contract and walking up to the Governor at a Meet the candidate event and asking him about this contract with his signature. "I didn't sign anything", he said. "Really?" because here it is. Next thing I know I'm sitting in the Governor's office with a binder full of information to hand over to him.<br />
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Or the thought, "you need to get on the agenda at the State School Board meeting". Um - no I am not a speaker and have no desire to go give a speech to the State Board of Education. Where do I find myself? That's right, giving a speech to the school board and then getting pulled into a room with the head of our gifted and talented program and STEM program telling me how wrong I was and how great the Common core is. Then the next week being told by my Superintendent that I'm the mom the "state is watching". Seriously?<br />
<br />
You moms should hold a press conference. You should survey all the candidates to find their position. You should fly in experts and hold a rally. You should hold a lunch for all the legislators to teach them and on and on. I was introduced to many others around the state that were trying to fight this. It was a collaborative effort.<br />
<br />
I've had many other experiences that are too sacred to me to share in this forum, but my point to you is I cannot deny the Spiritual experiences I've had and the direct guidance I've felt. I just can't. There are simply too many of them and I would be denying God's hand in my journey if I did.<br />
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I'm extremely thankful to my Father in Heaven for these very strong feelings and guidance because I couldn't do this without Divine help. The Savior has given me the strength to carry on. Remember, I'm miss-stay-clear-of-any-and-all-contention-girl. This journey has not been easy, I can't lie. The toll it has taken my house (don't even get me started - just imagine laundry piles for 9 people - oh and dishes!), the alienation from friends and neighbors, the marginalization from school officials, being labeled as "sadly mis-informed" and "living in fear" and the time away from my family has been a very real challenge but we have been buoyed up and strengthened and for that I am eternally grateful.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pray for those trying to fight this, pray for the children, pray for this Country! Pray and then <b>stand up and fight</b> for your freedoms. There is no other way to get our Country back on track.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~Alisa</span><br />
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<br />Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-60890702636724824792013-02-26T23:53:00.001-08:002013-02-26T23:53:33.596-08:00Talking Common Core with Rod Arquette<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y66Qh8rCeGw" width="480"></iframe>Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065954860083615286.post-45418382182128059242013-02-25T23:59:00.001-08:002013-02-26T00:05:17.391-08:00Speaking Back to Common Core<div>
I came across an excellent article tonight written by a Thomas Newkirk. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A former teacher of at-risk high school students in Boston, Tom is Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, the former director of its freshman English program, and the director and founder of its New Hampshire Literacy Institutes. He has studied literacy learning at a variety of educational levels—from preschool to college.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1494302061"> </a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.heinemann.com/authors/902.aspx">Heinemann.com</a></span></blockquote>
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The full text to the article can be found here: <span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources%5CE02123%5CNewkirk_Speaking_Back_to_the_Common_Core.pdf" target="_blank">Speaking Back to Common Core</a> </span></span><br />
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You must read but in case you don't follow the link I'll post a few key phrases.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he Common Core initiative is a triumph of branding. The standards are portrayed as so consensual, so universally endorsed, so thoroughly researched and vetted, so self-evidently necessary to economic progress, so broadly representative of beliefs in the educational community—that they cease to be even debatable. They are held in <i>common</i>; they penetrate to the<i> core</i> of our educational aspirations, uniting even those who might usually disagree. We can be freed from noisy disagreement, and should get on with the work of reform.<br />
This deft rollout may account for the absence of vigorous debate about the Common Core State Standards. If they represent a common core—a center—critics are by definition on the fringe or margins, whiners and complainers obstructing progress. And given the fact that states have already adopted them—before they were completely formulated—what is the point in opposition? We should get on with the task of implementation, and, of course, alignment.<br />
But as the great rhetorician Kenneth Burke continually reminds us, all arguments are from a debatable perspective—there is no all-encompassing position, no argument from everywhere. The arguments that hide their controversial edges, their perspective, are the most suspect. “When in Rome act as the Greeks” (1931/1968, 119), he advises us. So in that spirit I would like to raise a series of concerns.</blockquote>
Professor Newkirk lays out 7 arguments against the standards focusing on the English Language Arts.<br />
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1. Conflict of interest.<br />
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<b>It is a fundamental principle of governance that those who establish the guidelines do not benefit financially from those guidelines.</b> We don’t, for example, let representatives of pharmaceutical companies set health guidelines, for fairly obvious reasons. But in the case of the CCSS, the two major college testing agencies, the College Board and ACT, were engaged to write the standards, when it was obvious that they would create products (or had created products) to test them. The College Board, for example, almost immediately claimed that “The SAT demonstrates strong agreement to the Common Core Writing Standards and there is very strong agreement between the skills required on the SAT essay and the Common Core State Standards” (Vasavada et al. 2011, 5). In fact, the College Board claims that there is also a strong alignment between other products, the PSAT/NMSQT and Redistep, which starts in eighth grade. Clearly, there is a conflict of interest here.</blockquote>
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2. Misdiagnosis of the problem.<br />
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A central premise of the CCSS is that students are not reading difficult enough texts and that we need to ramp up the complexity of the texts they encounter. I would argue that the more serious problem is that students cease to read voluntarily, generally around middle school—and fail to develop the stamina for difficult texts (Newkirk 2008).</blockquote>
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3. Developmental inappropriateness.<br />
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It is clear now that the designers of the CCSS took a top-down approach, beginning with expectations for eleventh and twelfth graders and then working down to the earlier grades. The process, it seems to me, is one of downshifting; early college expectations (at least what I do in my college classes) are downshifted to eleventh or twelfth grade, and the process continues right into kindergarten.</blockquote>
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<b>Given the experience with the unrealism of the No Child Left Behind demand for 100 percent proficiency, it seems to me unwise to move to a new set of unrealistic expectations. </b></blockquote>
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4. A sterile view of reading.<br />
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So the model of reading seems to have two stages—first a close reading in which the reader withholds judgment or comparison with other texts, focusing solely on what is happening within “the four corners of the text.” And only then are prior knowledge, personal association, and appraisal allowed in.<br />
This seems to me an inhuman, even impossible, and certainly unwise prescription.</blockquote>
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5. Underplaying role of narrative.<br />
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The CCSS present us with a “map” of writing types that is fundamentally flawed—because it treats “narrative” as a type of discourse, distinguished from “informational” and “argumentative” writing. In doing so (and the CCSS are not alone in this), they fail to acknowledge the central role narrative plays in all writing, indeed in human understanding.</blockquote>
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6. A reform that gives extraordinary power to standardized tests.<br />
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It all comes down to the parable of the drunk and his keys, an old joke that goes like this: A drunk is fumbling along under a streetlight when a policeman comes up and asks him what he doing. The drunk explains he is looking for his keys. “Do you think you lost them there?” the policeman asks.</blockquote>
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“No. But the light is better here.”</blockquote>
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We have here a parable of standardized assessment. There is the learning we hope to evaluate (the keys) and the instruments we have to assess that learning (the streetlight). The central question of assessment is whether our instruments help us see what we should be looking for—or are we like the drunk, simply looking where the light is better?</blockquote>
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7. A bonanza for commercialism.<br />
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We are already seeing at work a process I call “mystification”—taking a practice that was once viewed as within the normal competence of a teacher and making it seem so technical and advanced that a new commercial product (or form of consultation) is necessary.</blockquote>
<span style="color: #990000;">Blogger note: You may be thinking so what? This is Capitalizim at work. Not true - see #1 Conflict of Interest. There are many conflicts involving those that have a product to sell and were in on the development of the standards. When businesses influence government without going through the proper channels, namely the voice of the people, that is not Capitalism.</span><br />
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8. Standards directing instruction.<br />
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The creators of the CCSS were clearly aware of the delicate political situation they were working in—specifically finessing the opposition to any form of national curriculum. That is why they are called “state” standards when they are clearly intended as national standards (another nice branding touch). They are replacing diverse state standards. Another way in which they walk a fine line is the claim that they are not dictating curriculum or teaching methods; promoters claim these decisions should be made at the local level, by teachers and curriculum directors. The mantra is that the standards indicate where students are going but not how they are to get there.</blockquote>
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But can this line hold?</blockquote>
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Can goals be so clearly distinguished from methods? It would seem that this line has already been breached by the writers of the standards, Coleman and Pimentel in particular, when they prescribe percentage of “text dependent” questions that should appear in basal readers. Or when they dictate the proper proportion of nonfiction to fiction texts that should be taught. Although the CCSS don’t dictate particular texts (though they suggest them), these “guidelines” are clearly curricular decisions, pedagogical decisions; they deal with means as well as the goals. As the standards become operational in standardized tests, this line will be even fuzzier; testing strategies will be transformed into classroom tasks. I realize that this may not bother some, who would argue that if the tests are innovative it will be useful to teach toward them. But the claims of pedagogical freedom obscure the invasive role the standards are already playing.</blockquote>
9. Drowning out other conversations.<br />
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In economic theory there is the concept of “opportunity cost”—in any choice, the consumer is foregoing other choices, other opportunities that cannot be pursued. In schools, if all of the discussion is about A, we pay an opportunity cost of not discussing B, C, D, and other topics. </blockquote>
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The principle of opportunity costs prompts us to ask: “What conversations won’t we be having?” Since the CCSS virtually ignore poetry, will we cease to speak about it? What about character education, service learning? What about fiction writing in the upper high school grades? What about the arts that are not amenable to standardized testing? What about collaborative learning, an obvious twenty-first-century skill? We lose opportunities when we cease to discuss these issues and allow the CCSS to completely set the agenda, when the only map is the one it creates. </blockquote>
I don't pretend to be a scholar and my problem with the Standards has to do with the loss of local control and the expansion of centralized government but I found this article to be very interesting and thought provoking. Newkirk closes with the following:<br />
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But I’m left with the question: Who watches the watcher? Who assesses the assessor? That’s our job. We’ve come too far, learned too much, invented too much to diminish our practice by one iota to accommodate the Common Core. When and if we see it impeding our best work, it is not too late to speak up.</blockquote>
Take a minute and read the entire piece. It's only 7 pages...<br />
<a href="http://heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources%5CE02123%5CNewkirk_Speaking_Back_to_the_Common_Core.pdf" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Speaking Back to Common Core</a><br />
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Common Corehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979359249928466171noreply@blogger.com0