Reforms Fail to Help Disadvantaged Children

The future looks bleak for all of us! For all the youth that teachers still may help to think  critically, there will be an ever growing number of children who will be born into poverty and/or dysfunctional families; usually the result of poverty, but not always. For those children it may very well be too late to ever learn how to think!  It reminds me of what Dr. Bruce Perry said; most mental retardation is caused not by a birth defect, but by neglect of the child's needs in the early years.

I talked to a kindergarten kid last night who looks bright, but who is intellectually disadvantaged because he was born to a mom who used Meth. She stopped using when the boy was born, but she did not become, nor is she now, an attentive mother.

The boy's  11 yr-old brother, is also intellectually stunted. These kids clearly did not get the proper foundation in their early years, and as a result, do not even have the vocabulary (in number of words at least) that my 3 yr-old grandson already has.

These kids will never be able to catch up; certainly not in today's schools with the Common Core being taught, and testing taking priority over actual great, learning experiences!

It breaks my heart, and these two kids are the tip of the iceberg I normally never see, and many others not either! These are the kids that schoolboard members, and other education policy makers, need to meet to understand that what they offer in school to bring these kids up to speed is woefully lacking and even contrary to what such children really need for their brains to  develop further so that they can even begin to think critically!

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Schoolboards Utterly Useless Looking Out for Kids

"What happens when the Commissioner of Education comes to town? Does your local school board become more responsive to parent/teacher concerns, or LESS ? A Wappingers Falls NY mother is prohibited from giving a 20-minute Common Core speech, that she was initially granted by the schoolboard, after Commissioner King's appearance. One board member walked out of the meeting.-- Wappingers Falls, NY. October 15, 2013"

Here you have it; something I have long suspected, namely that it is useless to attend schoolboard meetings. Up until now I thought it was perhaps only my local  schoolboard's stance to ignore public input on important education issues, but it is likely true for most!

Wappinger schoolboard member John Lumia says:

"There are certain things that we cannot , as a schoolboard, change. There are certain things that are mandated to us...our function isn't exctly to evaluate the common core and pass judgment on it. Our job is to execute education and policy and government finances of the district, and we are kind of limited as to what we can do...we're very limited as to what we can do. So, hearing all these opinions is nice, it's great to see engaged members of the community, but there's not much we can actually do to influence the legislature from here. It's just a little far out of our reach here." Watch the segment here.

About his decision not to have a Common Core presentation by a parent he says,

"I wrestled with this issue for a while, and called fellow board members so I would have their opinion. I cannot vote to allow this presentation [because] we have..presentations given to the board, and they are done by administrators and staff, and they are done by experts, sometimes consultants that we hire for various projects, and we look to certain individuals for guidance, mainly experts like I say like consultants or administrators. Although I applaud a parent coming to the board, the appropriate method of addressing the board would be during the public comment session."

In case you missed his point; most schoolboard members do believe that it is the administrators, and consultants (working for the curriculum publishers) who are the experts. That is why they ignore research and statements by the real education and child development experts. It is the reason why schools have become so toxic for kids!

Lumia said:

 "As to whether someone is qualified to provide this information. I frankly think that...only qualified individuals should be given that liberty."

Board president Ved Shravah BOE asked the superintendent if he can stop teaching Common Core in schools, if the board had voted against it. His answer: "We cannot stop it." Watch the segment here.

Ved Shravah:

"It is inconsequential what we say here...You can have 24 hour presentations; it is not going to change the fact that our children will have to learn Common Core Standards, they will have to take the tests. Our teachers have to teach, no matter what their opinion is, no matter what they think. It is mandated, it has to be done, and I don't see why we're having an argument around this issue."  Watch the segment here.

Do You Care About Kids or Data?

Kaydonna Wolfe, a former teacher in Texas where the standardized testing fad began, says "We have let it happen", and by that she means teachers. She is right!

Because teachers are afraid of losing their jobs when they speak out against testing, most parents and community members remain in the dark about what's happening in their children's schools. Parents blindly trust that how their children are taught, must be good for their kids.

They do not expect that teachers condone child abuse and neglect, and yet...what do you call it when kids live in fear of scoring poorly on the test? What do you call it when kids in kindergarten are taught by script that does not allow the teacher to respond to a question or comment? What will it do to the child's psyche to be ignored? What do you call it when kids in kindergarten can no longer play?

Kaydonna says, "We are putting school data which leads to funding, over the needs of children, and this must stop...I'm begging our educators to take a stand....Did you become a teacher for data and funding, or did you become a teachers to do what's best for children? We've got to stop and think about what we're doing to children, and do what's right...The first thing you can do is to tell your story...What we have to do is tell the truth!"

Who's Driving Education Reforms?

Take a look at what Susan Ohanian found regarding education reforms. It's an eye-opener! On her Facebook page she writes: "But it isn't just the Gates funding; it's the thrust of the lessons [See "Gates Foundation Money at Work"]. There's no end to it. I'm frankly getting very tired of screaming in the wilderness."

Here an excerpt of her blog post, If You Lie Down With Dogs. 

"For years, I've documented how money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is used to promote education deform--ranging from galvanic bracelets to the Common Core. I tracked positive comments appearing about the Common Core during just one month--and listed how much money each quoted entity had received from the Gates Foundation. This included everybody from the National Writing Project to the PTA. [My].. article was rejected by the leading progressive press.

At long last, Education Week is bringing the Gates Foundation money out of the dark cellar, though you have to go to an interactive sidebar called Follow the Money to find it. It lists the "beneficiaries" [each] receiving more than $10 Million.

Here is a sampling:



5. The College-Ready Promise: $25,445,998

6. The New Teacher Project, Inc.: $20,500,000

7. Colorado Legacy Foundation: $18,860,602

8. The Teaching Channel: $18,448,561

9. Educational Testing Service: $13,790,205

10. American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation: $11,343,925

11. New Schools Fund dba NewSchools Venture Fund: $11,200,000

12. Teach for America: $11,112,884

There is also an alphabetical list of over 100 entities receiving Gates money.

For example, in 2011, 2011, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) received $276,635 from Gates "to educate and engage its members on efficient state budget approaches to drive greater student outcomes, as well as educate them on beneficial ways to recruit, retain, evaluate and compensate effective teaching based upon merit and achievement."

And see what school districts will be spending lots of money on!!

Pearson Announces Wide Range of Teaching Effectiveness Programs to Get Educators Ready for Common Core State Standards.

Pearson’s Common Core State Standards professional development opportunities include:

• Professional Development for Administrators and Teachers – Pearson’s research-based workshops can be delivered separately or in a series. The continuum of more than 20 offerings focuses on practical application and implementation of the Common Core State Standards...Pearson also offers observational and performance assessment training and tools that help establish a culture of continuous improvement and engagement.

• On-site, Job-embedded Assistance – To further Common Core State Standards implementation, schools can opt to roll out additional on-site, embedded training where Pearson works with educators, coaching and monitoring daily classroom activities.

On a bright note:

Public Opposed Use of Tests Scores in Teacher Reviews Poll Shows

"In a reversal of public opinion, a majority of Americans now oppose using student test scores to evaluate teachers and more believe that increased testing has hurt rather than helped improve public schools, a new survey shows.

Almost two of three Americans have never heard of the Common Core State
Standards, arguably one of the most important education initiatives in decades,
and most of those who say they know about the Common Core neither understand it
nor embrace it."

Last but not least, see here the sort of information that can be collected on any school child for the inBloom data base. Will it be used to sort kids into groups, reminiscent of the  Alphas, Betas, Deltas,  Epsilons, and Gammas in Aldous Huxley's book, Brave New World?

 

Colorado Bill Seeks Waiver for Testing

If you live in Colorado, please support HB 14-1202. Use this form to contact any or all of the legislators listed. It's easy! Here is what I wrote them:

"School reforms should be driven by education and child development experts, with input from parents and community members, not by corporations which profit from the materials they hawk to school districts to 'improve' the 'performance' of students.

It is appalling to see where the reforms are leading! On-line learning inside our schools under the euphemism of "Blended Learning" whereby in some schools kids will spend 50% of their school day behind a screen! 

It is time to put the large sums of money used for testing to better use by bringing true and excellent learning opportunities back into the classroom! Kindergartens without time for play! In our district for eight years already!! That is not what child development experts condone, but their voices are ignored...willfully! Why?

Please have a care for kids and listen to the true experts!"

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