Ludmila Yakimovich, 22, from Grodno celebrates winning the Miss Belarus 2010 contest in Minsk on April 30, 2010.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The I of the Beholder
May is such a lovely month in Oxford, with the blossom coming out everywhere. But many people remain convinced that it is purely subjective - that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The architect Christopher Alexander developed an empirical test that points in another direction. He calls it the "Mirror of the Self". Subjects who disagree when asked which of two objects are most “beautiful” will suddenly show a remarkable degree of agreement when asked instead, “Which of these two objects would you prefer to spend eternity with?” or “Which would you prefer to offer to God?” or "Which is the best picture of your whole self?" The reason is, surely, that the question causes us to give the object our full attention, so that we start to respond to it as a whole and with our entire selves. When forced to focus in this way, observers quickly come to agree on which object they prefer, on which is the more wholesome and nourishing to their humanity.
What Alexander has proposed is nothing less than an extension of scientific method in which the self is used as a measuring instrument. This escapes the Cartesian paradigm based on the elimination of the self of the observer. What it points towards is that “science of qualities” prophesied by Goethe, based on the accurate observation of inner feeling in relation to the parts of the world. It is complicated by the fact that in order to judge the objective value in things we have at the same time to refine (that is, educate) the instrument with which we measure, the faculty of discernment itself. His test is also a method by which to teach people to discriminate between what they have been taught (by fashion or ideology or habit) to like, and what truly moves, attracts, and inspires them at a deeper level. These are not always, or even usually, the same thing.
"Our apparent liking for fashions, post-modern images, and modernist shapes and fantasies is an aberration, a whimsical and temporary liking at best, which has no permanence and no lasting value. It is wholeness in the structure that we really like in the long run, and that establishes in us a deep sense of calmness and permanent connection."Christopher Alexander’s most influential book was A Pattern Language (1977), but the Mirror of the Self test can be found in The Phenomenon of Life, the first of a four-book series called The Nature of Order.
[Image: Garden in Shoreham, by Samuel Palmer, from Wikimedia Commons.]
The I of the Beholder
May is such a lovely month in Oxford, with the blossom coming out everywhere. But many people remain convinced that it is purely subjective - that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The architect Christopher Alexander developed an empirical test that points in another direction. He calls it the "Mirror of the Self". Subjects who disagree when asked which of two objects are most “beautiful” will suddenly show a remarkable degree of agreement when asked instead, “Which of these two objects would you prefer to spend eternity with?” or “Which would you prefer to offer to God?” or "Which is the best picture of your whole self?" The reason is, surely, that the question causes us to give the object our full attention, so that we start to respond to it as a whole and with our entire selves. When forced to focus in this way, observers quickly come to agree on which object they prefer, on which is the more wholesome and nourishing to their humanity.
What Alexander has proposed is nothing less than an extension of scientific method in which the self is used as a measuring instrument. This escapes the Cartesian paradigm based on the elimination of the self of the observer. What it points towards is that “science of qualities” prophesied by Goethe, based on the accurate observation of inner feeling in relation to the parts of the world. It is complicated by the fact that in order to judge the objective value in things we have at the same time to refine (that is, educate) the instrument with which we measure, the faculty of discernment itself. His test is also a method by which to teach people to discriminate between what they have been taught (by fashion or ideology or habit) to like, and what truly moves, attracts, and inspires them at a deeper level. These are not always, or even usually, the same thing.
"Our apparent liking for fashions, post-modern images, and modernist shapes and fantasies is an aberration, a whimsical and temporary liking at best, which has no permanence and no lasting value. It is wholeness in the structure that we really like in the long run, and that establishes in us a deep sense of calmness and permanent connection."Christopher Alexander’s most influential book was A Pattern Language (1977), but the Mirror of the Self test can be found in The Phenomenon of Life, the first of a four-book series called The Nature of Order.
[Image: Garden in Shoreham, by Samuel Palmer, from Wikimedia Commons.]
Anne Frank sapling coverage on CNN
(CNN) -- This is a story about a girl and her tree -- a tree that helped keep hope alive, even as the world closed in on her.
Three times in Anne Frank's widely read diary, the young Holocaust victim wrote about a tree. She could see it from the attic window of the secret annex where her family hid for two years, before being betrayed.
"From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind," she wrote on February 23, 1944. "As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be." Read more...
***make sure to click on the "Inspiration" tab below Anne's picture
Three times in Anne Frank's widely read diary, the young Holocaust victim wrote about a tree. She could see it from the attic window of the secret annex where her family hid for two years, before being betrayed.
"From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind," she wrote on February 23, 1944. "As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be." Read more...
***make sure to click on the "Inspiration" tab below Anne's picture
The Swedish labor market performed remarkably well during the crisis
In 2006 there was a change in government in Sweden. The new center-right government of Fredrik Reinfeldt carried out dramatic reforms of the labor market, including cuts in unemployment benefits, tightening the rules for sick-leave and cutting taxes for work.
Because Sweden is an export driven country, and because Sweden's industrial mix is historically sensitive to business cycles, Sweden was hit by the crisis much harder than most other countries. It is therefore interesting to compare how Swedish employment fared in the crisis. Did the reforms have any effect of dampening the crisis?
The result are a resounding yes.
My method is quite primitive, and not useful for long term analysis. I compare how much GDP changed compared to how much employment changed. Since my focus is Sweden, I initially look at the absolute employment change and change in real GDP between the 4th quarter of 2006 (when labor market reforms in Sweden started) and the 4th quarter of 2009 (the latest available year). All figures are from the OECD.
Since Sweden and most other advanced OECD countries have low rate population growth, that is not a major bias (although it means the true figures for the U.S are even worse than indicated). The big problem is that employment is a component of GDP growth. What is crucial for this analysis is however that this underestimates how well Sweden performed. We use GDP growth to get at the value of the "crisis shock". If one country had supply side labor market reforms during this period, and if this worked, this dampens the decline in growth. The true shock was likely even higher for Sweden than the decline in GDP suggests.
In terms of GDP decline, only 3 countries were hit more by the crisis. Yet, in employment terms, Sweden did better than 15 OECD countries. The decline in GDP in Sweden was twice the average of the Euro-countries. Despite this, employment increased 4% for Sweden during this period, with virtually zero growth of the EU-countries!
There is a strong link between the performance of GDP and employment. Different countries were hit by the crisis with different severity. If we compare how employment was to be predicted to perform based on GDP growth with how employment actually performed, we get an index of how well the labor market did in the crisis. This measures the distance between the countries and the regression line for all countries (look at the red line for Sweden and the U.S).
By this index, Sweden did second best out of 23 OECD countries, after Germany.
Considering how hard Sweden was hit by the crisis, if Sweden had the same employment performance of the average of 23 OECD countries, employment should have fallen by 2.0%. Instead, employment increased by 2.2%.
The decline in GDP for Sweden, Denmark and Finland (who did not undertake similar reforms) are very similar. Yet, while Denmark and Finland witnessed a decline of employment by 4.3% and 1.3% respectively, Sweden had a growth in employment of 2.2%.
Since the core period of the crisis was the second half of 2008 until now, I do the same analysis with starting period the second quarter of 2008 and the last quarter of 2009 (all my data are seasonally adjusted).
Again Sweden does far better than average, being the 4th best country in handling the crisis in employment terms. Since many of the labor market reforms precede the second half of 2008, this underestimates how well Sweden performed.
Note in both cases how poor the United States, the epicenter of the crisis, performed in labor market terms. One possibility is that the employment wedge for the U.S increased in this period, through for example higher minimum wage, expectations of higher future taxes and extending unemployment insurance.
Something that this method does not capture is the depths of the crisis. Notice that the U.S, Spain, Iceland and Ireland perform the worst between the crash and 4th quarter of 2009 (the latest available period). These countries were hit by a banking and housing market shock, whereas most of the effect on Sweden and other countries was decline in export.
Perhaps firms let workers go in countries where the effect was deep and expected to be prolonged, whereas they kept on to them in countries where the crisis was equally severe but expected to last shorter.
Because Sweden is an export driven country, and because Sweden's industrial mix is historically sensitive to business cycles, Sweden was hit by the crisis much harder than most other countries. It is therefore interesting to compare how Swedish employment fared in the crisis. Did the reforms have any effect of dampening the crisis?
The result are a resounding yes.
My method is quite primitive, and not useful for long term analysis. I compare how much GDP changed compared to how much employment changed. Since my focus is Sweden, I initially look at the absolute employment change and change in real GDP between the 4th quarter of 2006 (when labor market reforms in Sweden started) and the 4th quarter of 2009 (the latest available year). All figures are from the OECD.
Since Sweden and most other advanced OECD countries have low rate population growth, that is not a major bias (although it means the true figures for the U.S are even worse than indicated). The big problem is that employment is a component of GDP growth. What is crucial for this analysis is however that this underestimates how well Sweden performed. We use GDP growth to get at the value of the "crisis shock". If one country had supply side labor market reforms during this period, and if this worked, this dampens the decline in growth. The true shock was likely even higher for Sweden than the decline in GDP suggests.
In terms of GDP decline, only 3 countries were hit more by the crisis. Yet, in employment terms, Sweden did better than 15 OECD countries. The decline in GDP in Sweden was twice the average of the Euro-countries. Despite this, employment increased 4% for Sweden during this period, with virtually zero growth of the EU-countries!
There is a strong link between the performance of GDP and employment. Different countries were hit by the crisis with different severity. If we compare how employment was to be predicted to perform based on GDP growth with how employment actually performed, we get an index of how well the labor market did in the crisis. This measures the distance between the countries and the regression line for all countries (look at the red line for Sweden and the U.S).
By this index, Sweden did second best out of 23 OECD countries, after Germany.
Considering how hard Sweden was hit by the crisis, if Sweden had the same employment performance of the average of 23 OECD countries, employment should have fallen by 2.0%. Instead, employment increased by 2.2%.
The decline in GDP for Sweden, Denmark and Finland (who did not undertake similar reforms) are very similar. Yet, while Denmark and Finland witnessed a decline of employment by 4.3% and 1.3% respectively, Sweden had a growth in employment of 2.2%.
Since the core period of the crisis was the second half of 2008 until now, I do the same analysis with starting period the second quarter of 2008 and the last quarter of 2009 (all my data are seasonally adjusted).
Again Sweden does far better than average, being the 4th best country in handling the crisis in employment terms. Since many of the labor market reforms precede the second half of 2008, this underestimates how well Sweden performed.
Note in both cases how poor the United States, the epicenter of the crisis, performed in labor market terms. One possibility is that the employment wedge for the U.S increased in this period, through for example higher minimum wage, expectations of higher future taxes and extending unemployment insurance.
Something that this method does not capture is the depths of the crisis. Notice that the U.S, Spain, Iceland and Ireland perform the worst between the crash and 4th quarter of 2009 (the latest available period). These countries were hit by a banking and housing market shock, whereas most of the effect on Sweden and other countries was decline in export.
Perhaps firms let workers go in countries where the effect was deep and expected to be prolonged, whereas they kept on to them in countries where the crisis was equally severe but expected to last shorter.
Musical Elective of the Month: April 2010
After seeing a tremendous show in Madison, Wisconsin last Sunday evening with opening act Tift Merritt and headliner Amos Lee, it would be inappropriate not to give both artists kudos by recognizing their status as past Musical Electives.That accomplished, the Musical Elective of the Month (just under the wire!) for April 2010 is Luka Bloom.
One of many in a line of fine Irish troubadours, Luka (née Kevin Barry Moore) is a 55-year-old Irish singer/songwriter. Appropriately categorized as folk, he brings heartfelt lyrics and a rich, grand voice to bear in his music. He was noticed in America and internationally beginning around 1990. Prior to and after that time, he has recorded 15 studio albums, including 1990's Riverside, 1994's Turf, and his latest, Dreams In America, released in 2010.
He also has embraced numerous covers both on his albums and in concert, including U2's "Bad," Hunters & Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me," and Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" (all on 2001's Keeper Of The Flame).
For more, check out Luka's official web site.
For past Musical Electives, please click here.
Arizona Says...
So far in 2010, it appears that the state of Arizona's contribution to public policy is two-fold:(1) First, the Legislature and Governor said: "Show me your papers (unless you look like you'd fit in at a Tea Party rally)" and
(2) Now, the Arizona Department of Education is asking teachers to "say 'toy boat' three times in a row -- or you'll be reassigned."
Am I missing something?
But, lest one gets too depressed, there is plenty of good work happening in Arizona, in places like the Arizona K-12 Center and Expect More Arizona. So, chin up, Arizonans!
Mafia to Fund Education Reform
April 30, 2010 (GBN News): The Mafia announced today that it would join a number of wealthy foundations in matching federal grants to fund innovations in education. A source high up in the Mafia, who spoke to GBN News on condition of anonymity because, as he put it, “It’s none of your f***ing business what my name is”, explained that they wanted to make sure they got “a piece of the action”.Technically, the money would be funneled through the Soprano Foundation, which, like other education funders such as the Walton and Broad Foundations, furthers corporate interests through charitable donations. “There’s money to be made in education”, said the Mafia source. “If an amateur like Eva Moskowitz can make $450,000 a year by muscling out schools to make room for her people, imagine what we can do with our methods.”
Asked what credentials the Mafia has to warrant such substantial influence on education, the source appeared to mock one foundation spokesperson who claimed to have “deep expertise” in education. “We’re the ones with ‘deep expertise’”, he said. “You don’t perform, we send you deep to the bottom of the river”.
NY City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, for one, says he is grateful for all the help he can get in these troubled financial times. “They promised me they’d ‘get rid of the f***ing ATR’s’ within a week”, he told GBN News. “The only condition was that we don’t ask how.”
Schools that Make a Difference: A Look at the League of Democratic Schools
Several years ago, the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University partnered with a local school, the Whatcom Day Academy, to be part of the League of Democratic Schools started by John Goodlad. Our partner school is now featured on the website of the Educational Institute for Democratic Renewal at Woodring, the institute that also houses the Journal of Educational Controversy. While the journal provides a format for a national and international exchange of ideas on important and controversial issues in education, our partnership allows us to put some of these ideas in practice and share them with others across the globe.
Recently, at a regional meeting of the League in Bend, Oregon, I was able to experience another school in the League, the Westside Village Magnet School. It is a wonderful example of a democratic progressive school and provides a model of what our schools can achieve. The first thing you notice when you first arrive at the school is the sense of activity all around you. The children are everywhere, and there is a sense of joy that permeates the building. Without the usual bells and teacher talk, the children just seem to know where they should be, something that they have internalized though the culture that the school has created.
A young boy walks up to me and introduces himself as Paul and shakes my hand as he welcomes me to the school. There is a sign in the library of the rights and responsibilities of the students, but it isn’t just the usual mission statements that one finds in schools. It is internalized in the students. We had arrived around noon and students were walking all around cleaning the school. We learned later that the multi-age school is broken into families that represent every level. For ten minutes each day, each family has an assigned set of chores that each student is responsible for. Other times groups are organized around interests.
CHILDREN DOING CHORES
We arrived too late to see the morning community meetings, but we were told that each day starts with different community meetings that are conducted by the children. Each age group has a chance to conduct the meeting and the students raise the issues that concern them.
There is also a peer mediation council made up of students where conflicts can be worked out. On this particular day, a video crew of volunteers from the community was videotaping the mediation process to show to other schools in the community who had requested more information about it. The children would role play a conflict (they played out an incident in the girl’s restroom today) and then take the conflict to the peer mediation council. The student mediators learn to use active listening, search for feelings as well as facts, paraphrase responses, and ask clarifying questions. The mediators then frame the situation, write up the issues and begin to discuss solutions. All discuss win/win solutions and continue to brainstorm until the conflicting students find a solution that they can both agree on. Both the role playing conflict and the mediation process were videotaped to show other schools how it works.
The school is organized around themes. The theme this year was on global issues. Each hub of multi-age student groups – broken into k-1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-8 or something like this – approach the themes at their own developmental level and in an interdisciplinary way. I visited a room where children were making masks. The criteria for the technical making of masks were posted on the wall along with two other sets of criteria – a Research Mask Criteria and a Mask Museum Display Card Criteria.
The artwork was easily connected with their research projects (the school is very inquiry-based) and the following criteria were used to guide the students with the creation of their masks on two dimensions other than just the technical criteria.
Research Mask Criteria:
1. Create a mask that represents the culture, living beings or environment impacted or affected by the issue.
2. Focus on a critical component /issue/solution from your research.
3. Personify your mask.
4. Exaggerate at least one feature.
5. Create Balance and unity.
6. Sketch your design first.
7. Follow Deb’s mask-making technique.
8. Adorn mask to enhance the message.
The third set of criteria that was posted on the wall dealt with a museum display of their work. Notice that many of their state standards that as a public school the school has to incorporate in its curriculum are easily integrated into this interdisciplinary approach.
Mask Museum Display Card Criteria:
1. Create a museum display card
2. Use a thought-provoking quote to inspire
3. Write a complete paragraph using a topic sentence that explains specific information from your research to support your opinions and conclusions.
4. Capture the reader’s interest.
5. Use descriptive language that includes adjectives, vivid verbs and adverbs.
6. Include a title.
7. Follow the writing process.
Many of the children had been studying the artwork of the Oregon artist, Betty LaDuke. The school places great emphasis on the arts and the creative process. As I wandered around the room watching the children draw and paint, I couldn’t resist asking them some questions. They very competently described their use of colors and patterns that they found in LaDuke’s paintings. The task was to create a painting that incorporated Betty LaDuke’s painting criteria. The assignment asked them to capture the essence of their research topic. They were also asked to share the people the topic mostly impacts, show how a change we might make would make a difference for our earth, capture the essence of the culture, include a theme, include a focal point, use vibrant, strong colors and repeated patterns, line and color (all reminiscent of LaDuke’s paintings), include people in the painting, and use Betty LaDuke’s folk art style. They were later to title it and mount it.
Drawings and paintings were all over the school and classroom walls -- most with a cultural and social theme. In fact, the social consciousness that the students exhibited was seamlessly intertwined with the academics and extracurricular activities.
We had arrived on a Friday which was a day for exploration. There were any number of classes going on from baking bread, repairing bikes, making mosaics, working in and exploring the garden and the streams, creating ceramics, engaging in drama, videotaping, and the Rise up for Nicaragua –sewing quilt. Again the social component was connected with the academic explorations in which the children were engaged. When a child read on the internet about “The Great American Bake Sale” to end childhood hunger in America, she brought the idea to her community meeting. As a result, one of the exploration activities was to learn to bake bread. The school has a huge oven in the garden where some thirty loaves could be made at one time. (It was tasty) The loaves were then donated to the poor and homeless in the community. The school also has its own greenhouse where the children are raising vegetables to give to the poor.
THE SCHOOL GARDEN
THE GREENHOUSE
THE OVEN
THE STREAM
One of the parents was working at the oven in the garden and I had a chance to chat with her. Of course, I asked why she sent her child to this school. At first, she mentioned the focus on individuality, creativity and community and then thought about the freedom from so much trivia she had seen in the two earlier schools that her child had attended – the obsession with gum chewing, wearing tank shirts, etc. Then after a few moments, she said, I guess it really comes down to the fact that this school respects children.
That mutual respect perhaps characterizes the school the best. There was so much more that I witnessed that I might share in a later blog posting. The school has a video on YouTube where you can see more. You can find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNS3GlHvVYM
Of course, the question that many of you probably want to ask is the question about children’s achievement and test scores in this kind of environment. Well, the school is high achieving. It reminds me of something that John Dewey always said – that one does not necessarily hit the goal by directly aiming at it. One of the sad consequences of the current reform and its obsession with a standardized test score is the elimination of everything that makes learning and life worthwhile – the arts, music, dance, drama, physical development, etc. It is one of those unintended consequences of the policies we construct. But as Dewey always reminded us, when our curriculum is embedded in meaningful activities, when it has a function other than achieving a test score, children not only ironically achieve but also learn to love to learn. After all, as Dewey would say, education is life not just a preparation for life.
The next issue of the Journal of Educational Controversy will focus on the theme, “The Education and Schools our Children Deserve,” and we will be featuring articles, ideas, and video from other League schools. Susan Donnelly, the head of the Whatcom Day Academy, the school we partner with in the League, will co-edit the issue. Our hope is to provide a vision of what our schools can be.
The next issue of the Journal of Educational Controversy will focus on the theme, “The Education and Schools our Children Deserve,” and we will be featuring articles, ideas, and video from other League schools. Susan Donnelly, the head of the Whatcom Day Academy, the school we partner with in the League, will co-edit the issue. Our hope is to provide a vision of what our schools can be.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
I AM SHE 2010
Indo-Asian News Service, Mumbai, 29-apr-2010: As many as 30 beautiful women selected through a nationwide hunt have made it to the 'I Am She' contest - the preliminary to the 2010 Miss Universe competition and the winner will represent India at the international pageant. The I Am She platform is part of Sushmita Sen’s production company Tantra Entertainment, which was awarded the India franchise to select participants by the Miss Universe Organisation in December.
"Today, being the India licence holder for holding the preliminary to ‘2010 Miss Universe’ pageant, 16 years after bringing the crown to India, feels like life has come full circle for me," Sushmita Sen said in a press release.
The 30 contestants will undergo three weeks of intensive training in communication, diet, personal grooming, fashion, and fitness in advance of the May 28 finale.
"Today, being the India licence holder for holding the preliminary to ‘2010 Miss Universe’ pageant, 16 years after bringing the crown to India, feels like life has come full circle for me," Sushmita Sen said in a press release.
The 30 contestants will undergo three weeks of intensive training in communication, diet, personal grooming, fashion, and fitness in advance of the May 28 finale.
The NY Times Has Provided Us With A Widget
The CityRoom article begins in the familiar Times style and heralds the arrival of something very important:
"The New York Times has assembled an extensive database of New York education statistics that will help readers put the vast sea of information about schools into better context."
But did they? The paper of record would have us believe that an "extensive database of education statistics" has nothing more than test scores. How about the age of the facility? class size? number of science labs? hours of gym? is art offered? music? an orchestra? credentials of staff? number of sports teams? number of after school clubs? funding per student? special education services? grievances filed? criminal incidents? AP courses? placement record? ....
Sorry, a school's test scores don't constitute a "vast sea" of anything. I suspect the publishers and editors of the Times would consider more than test scores before selecting a school for their children. But they have one idea of education for their children and an entirely different one for ours.
End-of-the-School-Year Checklist for Parents
1. Review your child's IEP document
2. Meet with teacher(s)
3. Get an update on your child's progress
4. Organize records
5. Review information regarding ESY (Extended School Year)
6. Sign up for summer activities
- Is the IEP ready to be "in place" for the start of the next school year? Is it clearly documented and is the District ready to implement it?
- Do you understand the program that will be in place or do you have questions? Now is a good time to ask questions about the program, as there will likely be limited availability of anyone who can answer your questions during the summer.
- Have you signed the IEP to indicate consent and / or provided a written response?
2. Meet with teacher(s)
- Attend parent-teacher conferences or otherwise arrange for communication with your child's current teacher to get an update on your child.
- If possible, and if next year's schedules are already known to the school / district, find out who will be your child's teacher next year. You may be able to communicate with them now more easily than during the summer if you want to speak with them in advance.
3. Get an update on your child's progress
- Make sure you have progress reports by the last reporting period of the school year (i.e. when grades come out). As applicable, obtain both a progress report on IEP goals and a report card with grades. Ask for data sheets if applicable.
- Carefully review report cards, progress reports. Did you child make expected progress? Is he/she meeting his/her IEP objectives / making progress towards annual goals? Are his/her grades or anything on his/her report card a concern?
4. Organize records
- Organize IEPs, assessments, correspondence, report cards, etc into a 3 ring binder so that all documents are easily accessible. (Click here for our tips on organization of school documents)
- The end of the school year is a great time to make sure your child's records are organized. Update your binder or organizational systems with all of the documents from this school year, and go ahead and make a place for next school year's info now so you'll be ready in the fall.
5. Review information regarding ESY (Extended School Year)
- Does the IEP offer ESY and if so, do you fully understand what is offered? (Read here for one school district's view on how ESY determinations are made)
- Make sure you know when, where and what will be provided.
- Are there any forms that you need to submit for enrollment for ESY?
- Make sure you find out whether or not your child will be receiving related services (speech, OT, etc) during the summer, and how those will be scheduled. If you are going to opt out of the classroom / instructional portion of the District's ESY offer, ask whether the services will still be available.
6. Sign up for summer activities
- Don't forget that summer is also about fun and taking a break from school!
- Find out what camps, sport and other activities are available in your community. (www.mysummercamps.com has a directory of summer camp programs for kids, including a listing specific to kids with special needs)
- If your child participates in school-year extra-curricular activities, like sports or clubs, make sure that you are aware of anything that carries over into the summer.
- Research how to sign up for activities so that you can make sure your child will be able to participate. Get copies of any applicable policies and procedures, and find out about the time commitment and schedule.
- Consider whether your child needs reinforcements, behavior support, or other supplementary aids or supports to participate.
Holocaust Survivor, Magda S., Speaks at Seattle University
Holocaust survivor recounts her life during WWII
Magda Shaloum endured Auschwitz and Muhldorf, meeting her husband shortly after
Magda Shaloum endured Auschwitz and Muhldorf, meeting her husband shortly after
Seattle University Spectator By Richard Kaiser
Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Photo: Candace Shankel The Spectator
Magda Shaloum was joined by her son Jack to speak in Pigott auditorium. Shaloum is a member of the Speaker’s Bureau of the Washington State Holocaust Resource Center.
With support from her son and cane, Magda Shaloum makes her way up the stage and the spotlight settles on her. She settles into her seat, she adjusts her sleeve buttons and pulls her skirt closer to her feet. She looks down, then forward to an eager au- dience as she begins to tell her story.
Shaloum is a Holocaust survivor who came to Seattle University on behalf of the university’s Jewish Student Union (JSU) April 21 in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this month. Magda shared her experiences from life in the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Muhldorf, a slave labor camp in Bavaria, Germany... Read full article
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Senator Harkin's office
It's important to give credit where credit is due. For instance, when I received a letter from President Obama, I made a point to applaud his Administration for the response (even though I remain skeptical of many things when it comes to student loan reform and the White House's stance on the student lending crisis). And based upon the fact that the White House receives over 40,000 letters/emails a day, that letter spoke volumes of the Administration's awareness of the indentured educated class (also, if you haven't joined our Facebook Group - the Support Group for the Indentured Educated Class, I urge you to do so now. The Group isn't just about online discussions. Those are fine, however, I am encouraging people to forge relationships with people at the local level and get active with other student loan debtors).
So, I am giving credit again. Late last night in Seoul (mid-morning in D.C.), I called Sen. Harkin's Office and asked to speak to Mr. Luke Swarthout, one of the Senator's Education Staffers, so an important contact for us. He was unavailable, so I left a rather long message, explaining to him why I was calling and who I represented (the lovely indentured educated class!). In less than five minutes, Mr. Swarthout called me back. That's more than impressive, and Sen. Harkin's office deserves praise. The conversation was short, because I really just wanted to introduce myself to him. Despite its brevity, I was encouraged by what he said about SAFRA and issues surrounding higher education reform. It's clear that Mr. Swarthout and I agree on something critical: more works needs to be done for student borrowers.
I look forward to forging a long-term relationship with him, and wanted to provide an update to my readers on the people with whom I've been speaking. I made it clear that I believe the best way to work on the student lending crisis is through open communication - that's how we come up with long-lasting solutions. I more than willing to critique those in power, but I also recognize the importance of these relationships I have with policy analysts on the Hill and elsewhere.
So, I am giving credit again. Late last night in Seoul (mid-morning in D.C.), I called Sen. Harkin's Office and asked to speak to Mr. Luke Swarthout, one of the Senator's Education Staffers, so an important contact for us. He was unavailable, so I left a rather long message, explaining to him why I was calling and who I represented (the lovely indentured educated class!). In less than five minutes, Mr. Swarthout called me back. That's more than impressive, and Sen. Harkin's office deserves praise. The conversation was short, because I really just wanted to introduce myself to him. Despite its brevity, I was encouraged by what he said about SAFRA and issues surrounding higher education reform. It's clear that Mr. Swarthout and I agree on something critical: more works needs to be done for student borrowers.
I look forward to forging a long-term relationship with him, and wanted to provide an update to my readers on the people with whom I've been speaking. I made it clear that I believe the best way to work on the student lending crisis is through open communication - that's how we come up with long-lasting solutions. I more than willing to critique those in power, but I also recognize the importance of these relationships I have with policy analysts on the Hill and elsewhere.
MISS USA 2010 HOSTS
AP, 28-apr-2010, LAS VEGAS — NBC network and Miss Universe pageant officials say celebrity chef Curtis Stone and NBC correspondent Natalie Morales will host the 2010 Miss USA pageant next month in Las Vegas. Officials said Wednesday that the show would also feature performances from country star Trace Adkins and pop-rock band Boys Like Girls. The pageant airs live May 16 from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Stone is a competitor on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" with Donald Trump, who owns the pageant in a joint venture with the NBC network. Morales has been a correspondent and co-host on NBC's "Today" show since 2005. Officials say the broadcast will include Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa as commentators.
Libertarianism A to Z
Harvard students will recognize Jeff as the professor who regularly teaches Ec 1010a, Microeconomic Theory, as well as Ec 1017, A Libertarian Perspective on Economic and Social Policy. You can find his blog here.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Photos from the Holocaust Remembrance Day Program
View photos from the annual Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day program on the Center's Facebook page. Program was sponsored by the Holocaust Center and the Stroum Jewish Community Center. Thanks to the following for additional support: Claims Conference, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and the many volunteers who helped to make the program run smoothly. Thank you also to Leslie Rubenstein at the SJCC for taking many of these photos.
April 2010 -- New Resources
Presser, Dr. Jacob. Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry. Trans. Arnold Pomerans. London: Souvenir Press, 2010. “Beginning in 1940, 110,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands to concentration camps. Of those, fewer than 6,000 returned. Using 15 years of research, Jacob Presser graphically recounts stories of persecution, life in the transit camps and the process of going into hiding.” –from book cover
Florence, Ronald. Emissary of the Doomed: Bargaining for Lives in the Holocaust. NY: Viking, 2010.
Kassow, Samuel. Who Will Write Our History?: Rediscovering a Hidden Archive from the Warsaw Ghetto. NY: Vintage Books, 2007.
In 1940, in the Jewish ghetto of Nazi-occupied Warsaw, a clandestine and scholarly organization called the Oyneg Shabes was established by the Polish historian Emanuel Ringelblum to record the experiences of the ghetto’s inhabitants. For three years, members of the Oyneg Shabes worked in secret to chronicle the lives of hundres of thousands as they suffered starvation, disease, and the deportation by the Nazis. Shortly before the Warsaw ghetto was emptied and razed in 1943, the Oyneg Shabes buried thousands of documents from this massive archive in milk cans and tin boxes, ensuring that the voice and culture of a doomed people would outlast the efforts of their enemies to silence them. – From book cover.
Webber, Jonathan. Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jewish Heritage of Polish Galicia. Photographs by Chris Schwarz. Indianapolis: Oxford Indiana Univ. Press, 2009.
This beautiful book features photographs by Chris Schwarz, an acclaimed British photojournalist. His father’s origins in Lvov and his own interest in the Solidarity movement led him to Poland, where he teamed up with Joanthan Webber to work on the Traces of Memory Project. In 2004 he opened the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow to showcase his photographs as a way of bringing the story of the Jewish heritage in Polish Galicia to Poland and to the world. Schwarz died in 2007. – From book cover.
A Great Sentence
From David Brooks:
The premise of the current financial regulatory reform is that the establishment missed the last bubble and, therefore, more power should be vested in the establishment to foresee and prevent the next one.
Soldier who liberates Buchenwald concentration camp speaks at Madigan Army Medical Center
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World War II Soldier reflects on liberating concentration camp during Holocaust remembrance ceremonyBy Julie Calohan, Madigan Healthcare System Strategic Communication Office
Photo by Bryan Kopp.
MADIGAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Wash. -- For 65 years, Leo Hymas has been haunted by what he witnessed just outside of the German town of Weimar during World War II.
In his short military career of 11 months, Hymas had already lost his best friend in combat and disobeyed orders to kill two German prisoners of war, but discovering the Buchenwald concentration camp was something Hymas wasn't prepared to find.
Engaging in a firefight with German soldiers guarding the camp, Hymas and three other machine-gunners blew through the razor-wire fence with explosives, and captured or killed all of the guards.
Buchenwald became the first concentration camp discovered by American Soldiers, and Hymas, then 19 years old, was dubbed "Leo the Liberator."
But there are images and memories from that day which will never fade from his mind. "Buchenwald concentration camp was a place where people were literally worked to death," Hymas said.
"I've seen the ovens where the bodies were burned and I've seen the thousands of people who were treated so inhumanely." Hymas, now 84, shared his story as part of Madigan Army Medical Center's observance of the Holocaust Days of Remembrance, which takes place from April 11 to 18.
The program also included a traditional folktale by Dr. Julie Kinn, a research psychologist with the National Center for Telehealth and Technology located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and a Prayer for Peace by Dr. Karen Fitzgerald, chief of Madigan's Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics department.
Hymas spoke at Madigan on the 65th anniversary of finding Buchenwald, and brought along mementos of his experience fighting in the European Theater, including an original Nazi party flag, which he seized from Gestapo Headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany.
During the observance's opening remarks, Madigan Commander Col. Jerry Penner III shared his thoughts about the liberation of the concentration camps.
"During World War II, the United States put 10 million men under arms," Penner said. "I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be one of those very select few Soldiers walking into one of these camps in Buchenwald, Dachau and others. It boggles the mind."
The day after Buchenwald was liberated, the war ended.
In the following days, the camp was visited by Gen. Omar Bradley, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. George S. Patton, who, according to Hymas, became physically ill at the sight of the emaciated prisoners and hundreds of dead bodies.
"General Eisenhower issued a statement to the world about what we had found there," Hymas said. "And I got to go home, where there was no one shooting at me."
Hymas, a resident of Whidbey Island, Wash., and a member of the speaker's bureau for the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, shares his wartime experience as a way to come to peace with his memories.
"I was blessed to help free many oppressed people," Hymas said. "What tiny little bit I did to help overcome that terrible, awful wickedness, as difficult as it was, was the best thing I have ever done in my life.
MADIGAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Wash. -- For 65 years, Leo Hymas has been haunted by what he witnessed just outside of the German town of Weimar during World War II.
In his short military career of 11 months, Hymas had already lost his best friend in combat and disobeyed orders to kill two German prisoners of war, but discovering the Buchenwald concentration camp was something Hymas wasn't prepared to find.
Engaging in a firefight with German soldiers guarding the camp, Hymas and three other machine-gunners blew through the razor-wire fence with explosives, and captured or killed all of the guards.
Buchenwald became the first concentration camp discovered by American Soldiers, and Hymas, then 19 years old, was dubbed "Leo the Liberator."
But there are images and memories from that day which will never fade from his mind. "Buchenwald concentration camp was a place where people were literally worked to death," Hymas said.
"I've seen the ovens where the bodies were burned and I've seen the thousands of people who were treated so inhumanely." Hymas, now 84, shared his story as part of Madigan Army Medical Center's observance of the Holocaust Days of Remembrance, which takes place from April 11 to 18.
The program also included a traditional folktale by Dr. Julie Kinn, a research psychologist with the National Center for Telehealth and Technology located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and a Prayer for Peace by Dr. Karen Fitzgerald, chief of Madigan's Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics department.
Hymas spoke at Madigan on the 65th anniversary of finding Buchenwald, and brought along mementos of his experience fighting in the European Theater, including an original Nazi party flag, which he seized from Gestapo Headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany.
During the observance's opening remarks, Madigan Commander Col. Jerry Penner III shared his thoughts about the liberation of the concentration camps.
"During World War II, the United States put 10 million men under arms," Penner said. "I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be one of those very select few Soldiers walking into one of these camps in Buchenwald, Dachau and others. It boggles the mind."
The day after Buchenwald was liberated, the war ended.
In the following days, the camp was visited by Gen. Omar Bradley, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. George S. Patton, who, according to Hymas, became physically ill at the sight of the emaciated prisoners and hundreds of dead bodies.
"General Eisenhower issued a statement to the world about what we had found there," Hymas said. "And I got to go home, where there was no one shooting at me."
Hymas, a resident of Whidbey Island, Wash., and a member of the speaker's bureau for the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, shares his wartime experience as a way to come to peace with his memories.
"I was blessed to help free many oppressed people," Hymas said. "What tiny little bit I did to help overcome that terrible, awful wickedness, as difficult as it was, was the best thing I have ever done in my life.
Watch a short documentary biography of Leo Hymas on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2oNoT0MPlk
Monday, April 26, 2010
Race and Debt
The College Board's Advocacy and Policy Center reports that "too many students are borrowing more than they are likely able to manage" and this is particularly true for black undergraduates. According to researchers, fully 27% of black BA recipients borrow more than $30,000 for college, compared to 16% of white BA recipients. The gap is especially large among independent students (those who are a bit older, are parents, or independent for other reasons)-- more than 1 in 3 black independent students who earn BA's graduate with high levels of debt, compared to less than 1 in 4 white independents. This is a trend we need to know more about. There have been a few articles written about race differences in college financing patterns and receptivity to financial aid, but none have been especially adept at sorting out the underlying reasons for variation by race/ethnicity. Are the patterns attributable to factors which map onto race in this country (e.g. poverty, segregation, school quality, etc) or to factors more closely related to beliefs, expectations, values, etc?
I'm working on this question in the context of a study I co-direct in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study is exploring the impact of need-based financial aid on college outcomes. We've got very rich survey data from students' first two years of college, as we explore it we're beginning to learn a lot. For example, the data (from a sample of more than 2,000 Pell Grant recipients attending 2-year, 4-year, and technical colleges) indicate that black undergraduates are far more likely than white students to know who to contact in their financial aid office and to seek out help, yet at the same time they are less likely to feel comfortable doing so. They are twice as likely as white students to fill out the FAFSA without any help, and almost half as likely to get FAFSA assistance from a parent. In their first year of college alone, they are more than twice as likely to report receiving a private, non-federal loan.
As the College Board report concludes, too much college debt can contribute to future financial insecurity. Many of us hope that increasing rates of educational attainment among students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds will perpetuate a virtuous cycle benefiting all families-- but those prospects will undoubtedly be diminished if debt takes its toll.
Image courtesy of John Fewings
Take Action Now! Memo from TICAS.org
I received this memo from TICAS today (insomnia works wonders when you're an advocate. Ha.).
In any event, I wanted to spread the word ASAP, and I urge all of you to take immediate action. I have been leery about the effectiveness of this bill for discharging student loan debt, precisely because of the quotes I've been seeing from Sallie Mae spokespeople. That means I'll be getting in touch with some Senators' offices first thing Tuesday morning (when I'm done with my own work in Seoul and already home for the night).
Anyway, here's what I received from TICAS:
The House-passed version of the bill would give the new consumer protection entity full oversight over all private student loans. The House bill would also require lenders to confirm with the school that the student is eligible to borrow the requested amount and has been notified of any untapped federal loan eligibility. This gives schools a critical opportunity to counsel students before they take out a private loan.
Please urge your Senators to give the consumer protection bureau full authority over all private student loans to help make sure they are only used as a last resort, when absolutely necessary.
On a final note, many thanks to those of you who have offered testimonials for my proposed book plan on the student lending crisis. I will certainly keep everyone abreast on the forthcoming developments of that . . .
In any event, I wanted to spread the word ASAP, and I urge all of you to take immediate action. I have been leery about the effectiveness of this bill for discharging student loan debt, precisely because of the quotes I've been seeing from Sallie Mae spokespeople. That means I'll be getting in touch with some Senators' offices first thing Tuesday morning (when I'm done with my own work in Seoul and already home for the night).
Anyway, here's what I received from TICAS:
Take Action: No Sallie Mae Oversight in Senate Bill?
The financial reform bill pending in the Senate does not give the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau full authority over all private student loans. In fact, the new bureau may not even have enforcement authority over Sallie Mae, the largest private student lender.The House-passed version of the bill would give the new consumer protection entity full oversight over all private student loans. The House bill would also require lenders to confirm with the school that the student is eligible to borrow the requested amount and has been notified of any untapped federal loan eligibility. This gives schools a critical opportunity to counsel students before they take out a private loan.
Please urge your Senators to give the consumer protection bureau full authority over all private student loans to help make sure they are only used as a last resort, when absolutely necessary.
On a final note, many thanks to those of you who have offered testimonials for my proposed book plan on the student lending crisis. I will certainly keep everyone abreast on the forthcoming developments of that . . .
MISS ITALIA USA 2010
Finalists Ashley Scott, left, and Marissa Gaspari offer each other support as event host Raffaello Zanieri prepares to announce the winner of the 20th Annual Miss Italia USA contest as winners of state competitions battle for the title of Miss Italia USA 2010 at the Palace Theater in Stamford, Connecticut, Sunday afternoon, April 25, 2010. Ashley Scott went on to win the title and will travel to Italy to compete against women from 49 countries for the title of Miss Italia nel Mondo 2010. Photo: Keelin Daly / Stamford Advocate
Times article on Klein's campaign to fire teachers regardless of seniority provokes more questions than it answers
In yesterday’s paper, the NY Times writes about Joel Klein's campaign to have the legislature pass a law that would allow principals to fire teachers, regardless of their seniority.
Excerpt: In 2008, New York City began evaluating about 11,500 teachers based on how much their students had improved on standardized state exams. A Times analysis of the first year of results showed that teachers with 6 to 10 years of experience were more likely to perform well, while teachers with 1 or 2 years’ experience were the least likely.
This article confirms what all research shows, that experience leads to more effective teaching. In fact, there are only two objective, measurable correlatives to effective instruction: smaller classes and more experienced teachers, and yet the administration has done everything it can to prevent either one from taking hold in NYC public schools.
Yet the article glosses over or omits much critical information.
Why does Klein want principals to be able to fire teachers with more seniority? It is not because of their quality, or lack thereof, but because they cost more money.
Why would principals tend to fire more experienced teachers if they get the chance? Not because they are less effective, but because of the “fair student funding” scheme imposed by Klein, principals now have to pay for their higher salaries out of their limited school budgets, meaning they are forced to choose between higher class sizes and experienced teachers.
Why is it that given the similar squeeze on the police and fire budgets, no one in the administration is recommending that either the Commissioner of Police or Fire Department be able to fire staff regardless of seniority? Indeed, there would be huge public outcry if the administration proposed firing senior police officers or firefighters; even though in their cases, there is far less research to show their increased effectiveness.
Of course, no one would dare put into place a system where police captains had total control over the staffing in their precincts, and had to pay for it out a limited budget, regardless of changes in local conditions and/or spikes in crime. Or for all the police officers to be fired in a precinct to be replaced with newbies if the crime rate rose.
No, this is part of the concerted attack on the whole notion of professionalism in the teaching force, and an attempt to destroy anything (read the union) that might interfere with the administration’s free-market, deregulatory, pro-privatization education policies.
One more question: how did the NY Times get a hold of the teacher data reports, based on value-added analysis of student test scores, to allow them to do the analysis mentioned above? Weren’t they supposed to be confidential?
According to an email from Jenny Medina, the reporter on the story, the Times submitted a FOIL request last year and received the teacher data reports on the district level, without names attached. It allowed them to “do some analysis, albeit fairly limited.”
Yet it is astonishing to me that there is a system in place for the last three years, in which these reports (see sample to the right) are distributed to principals and teachers, and now the Times as well, yet no member of the public has been allowed to see or vet the mathematical model on which they are based. This is especially the case, as given the chance, principals will likely refer to these report
s to determine who to lay off.
More than a year ago, in February of 2009, I FOILed for the value-added formula embedded in the teacher data reports; as well as the identity of the supposedly expert (but still secret) panel that had approved of its validity and reliability, and the DOE has still not provided this information.
Every few weeks, I get the same canned response from the DOE, that “due to the volume and complexity” of the requests they receive, as well as the need to determine whether any redactions are needed, additional time is required, and I that should expect a substantive response within a month. And then I get the same exact email a month later. So much for transparency!
What's especially dangerous about all this, of course, is that through the "Race to the Top" fund, Arne Duncan and the US Department of Education is pushing states to adopt similar schemes, with teacher evaluation, pay and tenure based on student test scores, without any independent vetting of the reliability of such systems.
In fact, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report last October, warning that these systems are not ready for prime time, and might do more harm than good if implemented on a broad scale. From their press release:
"Too little research has been done on these methods' validity to base high-stakes decisions about teachers on them. A student's scores may be affected by many factors other than a teacher -- his or her motivation, for example, or the amount of parental support -- and value-added techniques have not yet found a good way to account for these other elements...
From the NAS report itself:
In sum, value-added methodologies should be used only after careful consideration of their appropriateness for the data that are available, and if used, should be subjected to rigorous evaluation. At present, the best use of VAM techniques is in closely studied pilot projects. Even in pilot projects, VAM estimates of teacher effectiveness should not be used as the sole or primary basis for making operational decisions because the extent to which the measures reflect the contribution of teachers themselves, rather than other factors, is not understood. ....such estimates are far too unstable to be considered fair or reliable.
And yet little attention was given these vehement warnings of the nation's top academic experts in testing and statistics; with no mention in the NY Times or other national media, and no acknowledgement by the administration that their efforts to impose these models on the nation's school districts might be off track.
No, the motto of Joel Klein and Arne Duncan as well as their sponsors in the business community and the Gates Foundation continues to be: full speed ahead! And the reckless high-speed train of experimentation that threatens to run over our children's schools hurtles forward, without any end in sight.
Excerpt: In 2008, New York City began evaluating about 11,500 teachers based on how much their students had improved on standardized state exams. A Times analysis of the first year of results showed that teachers with 6 to 10 years of experience were more likely to perform well, while teachers with 1 or 2 years’ experience were the least likely.
This article confirms what all research shows, that experience leads to more effective teaching. In fact, there are only two objective, measurable correlatives to effective instruction: smaller classes and more experienced teachers, and yet the administration has done everything it can to prevent either one from taking hold in NYC public schools.
Yet the article glosses over or omits much critical information.
Why does Klein want principals to be able to fire teachers with more seniority? It is not because of their quality, or lack thereof, but because they cost more money.
Why would principals tend to fire more experienced teachers if they get the chance? Not because they are less effective, but because of the “fair student funding” scheme imposed by Klein, principals now have to pay for their higher salaries out of their limited school budgets, meaning they are forced to choose between higher class sizes and experienced teachers.
Why is it that given the similar squeeze on the police and fire budgets, no one in the administration is recommending that either the Commissioner of Police or Fire Department be able to fire staff regardless of seniority? Indeed, there would be huge public outcry if the administration proposed firing senior police officers or firefighters; even though in their cases, there is far less research to show their increased effectiveness.
Of course, no one would dare put into place a system where police captains had total control over the staffing in their precincts, and had to pay for it out a limited budget, regardless of changes in local conditions and/or spikes in crime. Or for all the police officers to be fired in a precinct to be replaced with newbies if the crime rate rose.
No, this is part of the concerted attack on the whole notion of professionalism in the teaching force, and an attempt to destroy anything (read the union) that might interfere with the administration’s free-market, deregulatory, pro-privatization education policies.
One more question: how did the NY Times get a hold of the teacher data reports, based on value-added analysis of student test scores, to allow them to do the analysis mentioned above? Weren’t they supposed to be confidential?
According to an email from Jenny Medina, the reporter on the story, the Times submitted a FOIL request last year and received the teacher data reports on the district level, without names attached. It allowed them to “do some analysis, albeit fairly limited.”
Yet it is astonishing to me that there is a system in place for the last three years, in which these reports (see sample to the right) are distributed to principals and teachers, and now the Times as well, yet no member of the public has been allowed to see or vet the mathematical model on which they are based. This is especially the case, as given the chance, principals will likely refer to these report
s to determine who to lay off.More than a year ago, in February of 2009, I FOILed for the value-added formula embedded in the teacher data reports; as well as the identity of the supposedly expert (but still secret) panel that had approved of its validity and reliability, and the DOE has still not provided this information.
Every few weeks, I get the same canned response from the DOE, that “due to the volume and complexity” of the requests they receive, as well as the need to determine whether any redactions are needed, additional time is required, and I that should expect a substantive response within a month. And then I get the same exact email a month later. So much for transparency!
What's especially dangerous about all this, of course, is that through the "Race to the Top" fund, Arne Duncan and the US Department of Education is pushing states to adopt similar schemes, with teacher evaluation, pay and tenure based on student test scores, without any independent vetting of the reliability of such systems.
In fact, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report last October, warning that these systems are not ready for prime time, and might do more harm than good if implemented on a broad scale. From their press release:
"Too little research has been done on these methods' validity to base high-stakes decisions about teachers on them. A student's scores may be affected by many factors other than a teacher -- his or her motivation, for example, or the amount of parental support -- and value-added techniques have not yet found a good way to account for these other elements...
From the NAS report itself:
In sum, value-added methodologies should be used only after careful consideration of their appropriateness for the data that are available, and if used, should be subjected to rigorous evaluation. At present, the best use of VAM techniques is in closely studied pilot projects. Even in pilot projects, VAM estimates of teacher effectiveness should not be used as the sole or primary basis for making operational decisions because the extent to which the measures reflect the contribution of teachers themselves, rather than other factors, is not understood. ....such estimates are far too unstable to be considered fair or reliable.
And yet little attention was given these vehement warnings of the nation's top academic experts in testing and statistics; with no mention in the NY Times or other national media, and no acknowledgement by the administration that their efforts to impose these models on the nation's school districts might be off track.
No, the motto of Joel Klein and Arne Duncan as well as their sponsors in the business community and the Gates Foundation continues to be: full speed ahead! And the reckless high-speed train of experimentation that threatens to run over our children's schools hurtles forward, without any end in sight.
Grasping At Straws
Illinois is sure to be disappointed if it continues to move forward with a private voucher program (SB 2494) for Chicago Public Schools. Just ask Wisconsin-- and Milwaukee.Clearly, the Chicago Tribune editorial board ('Liberate the kids'), which is cheering the process on, has not done its homework, not checked its sources, and not looked to its neighbor to the north for guidance. Or it is simply drinking the Kool Aid mixed by Voucher Inc.:
And there's evidence that vouchers improve public schools. A 2009 report by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice examined 17 studies on the impact of voucher programs. Sixteen studies found that vouchers improved student achievement in public schools; one study found they had no positive or negative impact. In other words, competition works.There is also plentiful evidence that vouchers do NOT improve public schools, including the on-going evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program -- the longest-standing voucher program in the country, just a short drive up I-94 from Chicago.
To look to the Friedman Foundation for guidance on this issue is akin to turning to Karl Rove's new book as a definitive history of the George W. Bush administration. From a University of Illinois professor, Dr. Christopher Lubienski, here's a critique of the Friedman report cited in the Tribune editorial:
[T]he report, based on a review of 17 studies, selectively reads the evidence in some of those studies, the majority of which were produced by voucher advocacy organizations. Moreover, the report can’t decide whether or not to acknowledge the impact of factors other than vouchers on public schools. It attempts to show that public school gains were caused by the presence of vouchers alone, but then argues that the lack of overall gains for districts with vouchers should be ignored because too many other factors are at play. In truth, existing research provides little reliable information about the competitive effects of vouchers, and this report does little to help answer the question.Competition does not work. Plus, what evidence exists to suggest that these Chicago-area private schools will do any better a job of educating the students who would be taken out of the public system? I can't wait to see that evidence because I'm fairly certain that it doesn't exist. That raises questions about the Tribune's utter disregard of this issue: "What if student performance doesn't improve in private schools? Simple: Parents will vote with their feet." But if there's no comparable evidence of student performance between public and private schools, how can parents (consumers) make informed judgments about their child's education? In addition, what if there are insufficient openings at private schools for students wanting to go? Will the voucher be sufficient to cover the tuition and associated costs at these schools for low-income students?
What would be preferable to this exercise in grasping at straws would be energy directed toward a more difficult series of conversations about school-based policies like teacher quality, school leadership, teaching and learning conditions and overall school improvement, in addition to community-focused strategies such as early childhood education, after-school programs, quality child care, and school health in the city of Chicago that get to kids' readiness to learn when they come to school.
Vouchers are not the answer, but a major distraction from more efficacious approaches that should be the focus of the Illinois Legislature.
Image courtesy of Laura Lee.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
TormentorSioux needs an Education
TormentorSioux is a frequent poster on Education Matters. Since his/her remarks are usually gratuitous, I don't always bother putting them up. But the recent one on my piece about Sallie Mae warrants a quick remark.
You see, it's a good thing that many of us don't think like TormentorSioux. If we did, this world would be a depressing, ugly place. In fact, it wouldn't even be a world worth living in.
S/he often tells me to get over it. To accept the way things are with regard to the student lending crisis. The last thing S/he wrote was the following: "this is the new world order! when will you get it?"-TormentorSioux
Not only does this strike me as a person who is ill-informed and filled with foolish ideas, but it also makes me think that they are terribly frightened of anything that may change dramatically. Even if that change is good. Here's what I said: I don't buy that, TormentorSioux. For instance, what if Martin Luther King just accepted his own world of injustice and inequality? Or what if women had said, "oh, well, they're right. We do belong in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant." Well, that's not what those people did. They fought for the rights of others, and it's sad that people like you think in such narrow-minded ways.
That's right. I believe in action. And that's just what I intend to continue doing. You can taunt me all you like. You can tell me that I'm not getting anywhere. But I urge you, TormentorSioux, and others like you, to read through Education Matters. You'll find that this work is not just about writing for debtors. It's about action in the real world.
And now I am off to educate some great kids. That type of action is just as important as what I am doing for those who are part of the indentured educated class. What sort of educating and community service do you do, TormentorSioux? You're just a weak avatar, at least that's what I think at this very moment. Show your face. Tell me your name. Tell me who you are. Tell me why you are so dismissive, mean, and seemingly ignorant. Right now I pity you. Perhaps if you actually told me who you are - as I am out in the open online - I'd sympathize with you. Until you do that, I will pity your pathetic posts.
You see, it's a good thing that many of us don't think like TormentorSioux. If we did, this world would be a depressing, ugly place. In fact, it wouldn't even be a world worth living in.
S/he often tells me to get over it. To accept the way things are with regard to the student lending crisis. The last thing S/he wrote was the following: "this is the new world order! when will you get it?"-TormentorSioux
Not only does this strike me as a person who is ill-informed and filled with foolish ideas, but it also makes me think that they are terribly frightened of anything that may change dramatically. Even if that change is good. Here's what I said: I don't buy that, TormentorSioux. For instance, what if Martin Luther King just accepted his own world of injustice and inequality? Or what if women had said, "oh, well, they're right. We do belong in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant." Well, that's not what those people did. They fought for the rights of others, and it's sad that people like you think in such narrow-minded ways.
That's right. I believe in action. And that's just what I intend to continue doing. You can taunt me all you like. You can tell me that I'm not getting anywhere. But I urge you, TormentorSioux, and others like you, to read through Education Matters. You'll find that this work is not just about writing for debtors. It's about action in the real world.
And now I am off to educate some great kids. That type of action is just as important as what I am doing for those who are part of the indentured educated class. What sort of educating and community service do you do, TormentorSioux? You're just a weak avatar, at least that's what I think at this very moment. Show your face. Tell me your name. Tell me who you are. Tell me why you are so dismissive, mean, and seemingly ignorant. Right now I pity you. Perhaps if you actually told me who you are - as I am out in the open online - I'd sympathize with you. Until you do that, I will pity your pathetic posts.
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