There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.8,283 were just 19 years old.
The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.
12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam ..31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football an d basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Th anksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Please pass this on to those who served during this time, and those who DO Care.I've also sent this to those I KNOW do care very much, and I thank you for caring as you do.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Vietnam Painful Statistics - Yes, Norma, I Do Care
Quinn Has Had 586 Days to Fix the Illinois Pension Problem
Credit Marathon Pundit for reminding us that Quinn said "he was put on Earth to fix the pension problem". Has it been fixed? Has Quinn fixed anything?
Monday, November 25, 2013
An Administration of Thieves
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Good Oldies!!
|
For
those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our
history of the 1930's and '40's. Before there were interstates, when everyone
drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the
countryside in farmers' fields.
They
were small red signs with white letters. Five signs,
about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 line of a 4 line couplet......and the obligatory 5th sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.
Here
are more of the actual signs:
DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW OUT SO FAR IT MAY GO HOME IN ANOTHER CAR.BURMA SHAVE TRAINS DON'T WANDER ALL OVER THE MAP 'CAUSE NOBODY SITS IN THE ENGINEER'S LAPBurma Shave SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH BY MISTAKE SHE THOUGHT IT WAS HER HUSBAND JAKEBurma Shave DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD TO GAIN A MINUTE YOU NEED YOUR HEAD YOUR BRAINS ARE IN ITBurma Shave DROVE TOO LONG DRIVER SNOOZING WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS NOT AMUSING Burma Shave BROTHER SPEEDER LET'S REHEARSE ALL TOGETHER GOOD MORNING, NURSE Burma Shave CAUTIOUS RIDER TO HER RECKLESS DEAR LET'S HAVE LESS BULL AND A LITTLE MORE STEERBurma Shave SPEED WAS HIGH WEATHER WAS NOT TIRES WERE THIN X MARKS THE SPOT Burma Shave THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL FOR BEER LED TO A WARMER HEMISPHEREBurma Shave AROUND THE CURVE LICKETY-SPLIT BEAUTIFUL CAR WASN'T IT?Burma Shave NO MATTER THE PRICE NO MATTER HOW NEW THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE IN THE CAR IS YOU Burma Shave A GUY WHO DRIVES A CAR WIDE OPEN IS NOT THINKIN' HE'S JUST HOPIN'Burma Shave AT INTERSECTIONS LOOK EACH WAY A HARP SOUNDS NICE BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY Burma Shave BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL EYES ON THE ROAD THAT'S THE SKILLFUL DRIVER'S CODEBurma Shave THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING DEPENDS ON YOU TO DO HIS THINKINGBurma Shave CAR IN DITCH DRIVER IN TREE THE MOON WAS FULL AND SO WAS HE.Burma Shave PASSING SCHOOL ZONE TAKE IT SLOW LET OUR LITTLE SHAVERS GROW Burma Shave
THE MAN WHO PASSES
ON
HILLS & CURVES
IS
NOT A MAN OF
IRON NERVES
HE'S CRAZY!
Do these bring back any old memories? If not, you're merely a child. If they do - then you're old as dirt... LIKE ME!  |
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Caterpillar - Infrastucture Crumbles as World Leadership Fumbles
Cat statistics as reported in the WSJ: Machinery sales by it's dealers for three month period ended Oct. 31 were down 12%. Sales of power systems, mainly engines down 9%. Both measures deteriorated from the 3 months ended Sept. 30, when dealer sales of machinery declined 9% and power systems were down 2%.
Cat has been suffering from the drop in orders from the mining industry and sales of machinery such as used in commercial building and road construction.
While our infrastructure crumbles for lack of funds not available as our taxes are being spent to pay the interest on our massive loans from foreign companies and massive amounts being spent to socialize this country by his majesty, our emperor to be. And by his cohorts on both sides of the aisle but mainly by those in power, the Democrats (My comments)
Machinery sales fell 26% in the Asian-Pacific region in the latest 3 months, 14% drop in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 8% in Latin America and 2% in North America. Power systems sales dropped 27% in the transportation category and 21% in electric power but climbed 16% in industrial. Power systems for the petroleum industry were unchanged from a year earlier.
Neither my wife or I hold Cat stock at the present.We took our profits in the $84 range. I cannot predict nor can many of the brokerage analysts predict with much accuracy what the future holds for this industrial giant and world leader. I personally believe its stock prices will remain between $81-$85 for the rest of this year. To say this administration and many world leaders are largely responsible for the uncertainty of industrials is to put it mildly.
The impact of supply on demand has seldom been greater.
Surely Cat leadership realizes this is not the time to spend money on a new world headquarters. If and when they do, I do not believe it will be before 2020 nor do I believe it will be in Peoria. If something is built out by the airport, I believe it will be a modifyed version of a typical major world headquarters. What they plan to do with buildings they bought in downtown Peoria remain a mystery to me and perhaps a mystery to most minor holders of Cat stock.
The latest news to me is a possible criminal investigation of a rail parts scam and illegal dumping in the Pacific. Their stock trades in the $82 range and no insider trading has been noted. As I blogged before, Cat is not the $150 stock as some analyst predicted a couple of years ago but since they pay a decent dividend my wife and I plan to buy again when the stock drops to $80. It may drop lower perhaps on info unknown to the ordinary buyer or brokerage. If so, it will be beyond the control of Caterpillar's superior management team.
Who knows these days as the overall market rise almost daily, Cat and Joy Global stock excluded, in overall value? What is known that stock prices that go too high usually come down. Sometimes very fast as Linn Energy did this year. Ordinary investors like myself need to have time to study and watch the market or have very competent brokers. I'll never forget the broker who advised I sell my RLI at $14. What a large mistake I made in not paying closer attention to the people who advised me to buy more, not sell.
But in those days, I was concentrating on helping guide Peoria County to fiscal sanity, living in Arizona.(Yes, I owned a business in Phoenix and bought a home in Sun Lakes, AZ.) and involving myself in social work.
Poor excuses.
Hope that is not true with Taser and Imax. Give your coal stock to your kids or grand kids because someday companies like Arch coal will have buyers interested in buying an improved product from them.
After the Obama reign is over.
If ever.
Cat has been suffering from the drop in orders from the mining industry and sales of machinery such as used in commercial building and road construction.
While our infrastructure crumbles for lack of funds not available as our taxes are being spent to pay the interest on our massive loans from foreign companies and massive amounts being spent to socialize this country by his majesty, our emperor to be. And by his cohorts on both sides of the aisle but mainly by those in power, the Democrats (My comments)
Machinery sales fell 26% in the Asian-Pacific region in the latest 3 months, 14% drop in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 8% in Latin America and 2% in North America. Power systems sales dropped 27% in the transportation category and 21% in electric power but climbed 16% in industrial. Power systems for the petroleum industry were unchanged from a year earlier.
Neither my wife or I hold Cat stock at the present.We took our profits in the $84 range. I cannot predict nor can many of the brokerage analysts predict with much accuracy what the future holds for this industrial giant and world leader. I personally believe its stock prices will remain between $81-$85 for the rest of this year. To say this administration and many world leaders are largely responsible for the uncertainty of industrials is to put it mildly.
The impact of supply on demand has seldom been greater.
Surely Cat leadership realizes this is not the time to spend money on a new world headquarters. If and when they do, I do not believe it will be before 2020 nor do I believe it will be in Peoria. If something is built out by the airport, I believe it will be a modifyed version of a typical major world headquarters. What they plan to do with buildings they bought in downtown Peoria remain a mystery to me and perhaps a mystery to most minor holders of Cat stock.
The latest news to me is a possible criminal investigation of a rail parts scam and illegal dumping in the Pacific. Their stock trades in the $82 range and no insider trading has been noted. As I blogged before, Cat is not the $150 stock as some analyst predicted a couple of years ago but since they pay a decent dividend my wife and I plan to buy again when the stock drops to $80. It may drop lower perhaps on info unknown to the ordinary buyer or brokerage. If so, it will be beyond the control of Caterpillar's superior management team.
Who knows these days as the overall market rise almost daily, Cat and Joy Global stock excluded, in overall value? What is known that stock prices that go too high usually come down. Sometimes very fast as Linn Energy did this year. Ordinary investors like myself need to have time to study and watch the market or have very competent brokers. I'll never forget the broker who advised I sell my RLI at $14. What a large mistake I made in not paying closer attention to the people who advised me to buy more, not sell.
But in those days, I was concentrating on helping guide Peoria County to fiscal sanity, living in Arizona.(Yes, I owned a business in Phoenix and bought a home in Sun Lakes, AZ.) and involving myself in social work.
Poor excuses.
Hope that is not true with Taser and Imax. Give your coal stock to your kids or grand kids because someday companies like Arch coal will have buyers interested in buying an improved product from them.
After the Obama reign is over.
If ever.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Waking Up America Blog Forwarded
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Treasury Forced to Issue $1,000,000,000,000.00 in New Debt in FY14
That's one trillion dollars now over $17 trillion and growing by billions. Many have said that they would vote for Obama again. (A survey taken after Blago was indicted said that 30% surveyed would vote for Blago again) Of course they would. They are worse than Socialists and many of those would like to see a Castro type government here. That's how dependent on the government at least 30% of the adults in the U.S. have become.
Others are complacent. Just like in Germany before Hitler.
So sad.
Others are complacent. Just like in Germany before Hitler.
So sad.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Common Core De-Bunked??
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If you have been a critic of the results delivered by your tax devouring public school systems, you will read this. No, I didn't write it but people very interested in the product produced by our public schools in general are passing their findings on to you.
Merle
From Education Week [American Education's Newspaper of Record],
Saturday, November 16, 2013. See
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/11/common_core_standards_ten_colo.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2
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NOTE: You can see documentation for references and statements at the
website.
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Common Core Standards: Ten Colossal Errors
By Anthony Cody
A recent book described the "Reign of Errors" we have lived through in the
name of education reform. I am afraid that the Common Core continues many of
these errors, and makes some new ones as well.
The Business Roundtable announced last month that its #1 priority is the
full adoption and implementation of the Common Core standards. The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce is likewise making a full-court press to advance the Common Core.
Major corporations have taken out full-page ads to insist that the Common Core
must be adopted. Many leading figures in the Republican party, like Jeb Bush,
have led the charge for Common Core, as have entrepreneurs like Joel Klein. And
the project has become a centerpiece for President Obama's Department of
Education.
Yet in New York, the first large state to implement the tests associated with the new standards, students, parents and principals are expressing grave concerns about the realities of the Common Core. Common Core proponents like Arne Duncan have been quick to ridicule critics as misinformed ideologues or delusional paranoiacs. Defenders of the common standards, like Duncan and Commissioner John King in New York, insist that only members of the Tea Party oppose the Common Core. In spite of this, the opposition is growing, and as more states begin to follow New York's lead, resistance is sure to grow.
With this essay, I want to draw together the central concerns I have about the project. I am not reflexively against any and all standards. Appropriate standards, tied to subject matter, allow flexibility to educators. Teachers ought to be able to tailor their instruction to the needs of their students. Loose standards allow educators to work together, to share strategies and curriculum, and to build common assessments for authentic learning. Such standards are necessary and valuable; they set goals and aspirations and create a common framework so that students do not encounter the same materials in different grades. They are not punitive, nor are they tethered to expectations that yield failure for anyone unable to meet them.
The Common Core website has a section devoted to debunking "myths" about
the Common Core-but many of these supposed myths are quite true. I invite
anyone to provide factual evidence that disproves any of the information that
follows. (And for the sake of transparency, I ask anyone who disputes this
evidence to disclose any payments they or their organization has received for
promoting or implementing the Common Core.)
Here are ten major errors being made by the Common Core project, and why I believe it will do more harm than good.
Error #1: The process by which the Common Core standards were developed and adopted was undemocratic.
At the state level in the past, the process to develop standards has been a public one, led by committees of educators and content experts, who shared their drafts, invited reviews by teachers, and encouraged teachers to try out the new standards with real children in real classrooms, considered the feedback, made alterations where necessary, and held public hearings before final adoption.
The Common Core had a very different origin. When I first learned of the process to write new national standards underway in 2009, it was a challenge to figure out who was doing the writing. I eventually learned that a "confidential" process was under way, involving 27 people on two Work Groups, including a significant number from the testing industry. Here are the affiliations of those 27: ACT (6), the College Board (6), Achieve Inc. (8), Student Achievement Partners (2), America's Choice (2). Only three participants were outside of these five organizations. ONLY ONE classroom teacher WAS involved-on the committee to review the math standards.
This committee was expanded the next year, and additional educators were added to the process. But the process to write the standards remained secret, with few opportunities for input from parents, students and educators. No experts in language acquisition or special education were involved, and no effort was made to see how the standards worked in practice, or whether they were realistic and attainable.
David Coleman is credited publicly as being the "architect" of the process. He, presumably, had a large role in writing the English Language Arts standards; Jason Zimba of Bennington College was the lead author for the math standards. Interestingly, David Coleman and Jason Zimba were also members of Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst original board of directors.
The organizations leading the creation of the Common Core invited public comments on them. We were told that 10,000 comments were submitted, but they were never made public. The summary of public feedback quotes only 24 of the responses, so we are left only with the Common Core sponsors' interpretation of the rest.
The process for adopting the Common Core was remarkably speedy and expedient. Once the standards were finalized and copyrighted, all that was required for states to adopt them were two signatures: the governor and the state superintendent of education. Two individuals made this decision in state after state, largely without public hearings or input. Robert Scott, former state Commissioner of Education in Texas, said that he was asked to approve the standards before there was even a final draft.
The Common Core process could not have been directly paid for by the federal Department of Education, which is prevented by law from enacting or promoting national standards. So Bill Gates footed the bill. The Gates Foundation has, so far, paid $191 million to develop and promote the Common Core. Of that sum, $33 million was earmarked for the development of the Common Core. The remaining $158 million was spent on myriad organizations to buy their active support for the standards-with $19 million awarded just in the past month. Many of the voices in the public arena, including teacher unions, the national PTA, journalistic operations like John Merrow's Learning Matters, and the National Catholic Educational Association, have received grants for such work.
Although specifically prohibited from interfering in the curriculum or instruction in the nation's classrooms, the federal Department of Education has used threats and bribes to coerce states to adopt Common Core. Indeed, the active role of the U.S. Department of Education in supporting, advocating for, and defending the Common Core may be illegal, as may the Department's award of $350 million to develop tests for the Common Core. The Department might reasonably argue that it was appropriate to encourage the development of "better" tests, but in this case the tests were specifically intended to support only one set of standards: the Common Core.
Public Law 103-33, General Education Provisions Act, sec 432, reads as follows:
No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, [or] administration...of any educational institution...or over the selection of library resources, textbooks, or other printed or published instructional materials...
In spite of this prohibition, Race to the Top gave major points to states
that adopted "college and career ready standards" such as Common Core.
Here is what the Memorandum of Understanding that state officers were asked to sign said about federal support:
...the federal government can provide key financial support for this effort in developing a common core of state standards and in moving toward common assessments, such as through the Race to the Top Fund authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Further, the federal government can incentivize this effort through a range of tiered incentives, such as providing states with greater flexibility in the use of existing federal funds, supporting a revised state accountability structure, and offering financial support for states to effectively implement the standards.
When the Department of Education announced Race to the Top there was a
complex application process with a short timeline. The Gates Foundation created
a process where their staff would assist states in applying for RttT grants. In
order to receive this help, state leaders had to fill out a qualifying
questionnaire. The first question on the qualifying criteria questionnaire is,
"Has your state signed the MOA regarding the Common Core Standards currently
being developed by NGA/CCSSO? [Answer must be "yes"]"
Thus, the Gates Foundation worked within the Race to the Top process to apply additional pressure on states to sign on to the Common Core.
Coming at a time when state education budgets were under great pressure, these inducements were significant in overcoming any hesitations on the part of most governors. The pressure continues, as NCLB waivers depend on the adoption of "college and career ready standards," which are most readily provided by the Common Core.
It is also worth noting that alongside the adoption of Common Core standards, both Race to the Top and NCLB waivers being issued by the Department of Education require states to include test scores in the evaluations of teachers and principals. This is a package deal.
Error #2: The Common Core State Standards violate what we know about how children develop and grow.
One of the problems with the blinkered development process described above is that no experts on early childhood were included in the drafting or internal review of the Common Core.
In response to the Common Core, more than 500 experts signed the Joint Statement of Early Childhood Health and Education Professionals on the Common Core Standards Initiative. This statement now seems prophetic in light of what is happening in classrooms. The key concerns they raised were:
1. Such standards will lead to long hours of instruction in literacy and
math.
2. They will lead to inappropriate standardized testing
3. Didactic instruction and testing will crowd out other important areas
of learning.
4. There is little evidence that such standards for young children lead
to later success.
Many states are now developing standards and tests for children in
kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade, to "prepare" them for the Common Core.
Early childhood education experts agree that this is developmentally
inappropriate. Young children do not need to be subjected to standardized tests.
Just recently, the parents of a k-2 school refused to allow their children to be
tested. They were right to do so.
Error #3: The Common Core is inspired by a vision market-driven innovation enabled by standardization of curriculum, tests, and ultimately, our children themselves.
There are two goals here that are intertwined. The first is to create a system where learning outcomes are measurable, and students and their teachers can be efficiently compared and ranked on a statewide and national basis. The second is to use standardization to create a national market for curriculum and tests. The two go together, because the collection of data allows the market to function by providing measurable outcomes. Bill Gates has not spoken too much recently about the Common Core, but in 2009, he was very clear about the project's goals.
He said that
...identifying common standards is just the starting point. We'll only know if this effort has succeeded when the curriculum and tests are aligned to these standards. Secretary Arne Duncan recently announced that $350 million of the stimulus package will be used to create just these kinds of tests - "Next Generation assessments," aligned to the Common Core. When the tests are aligned to the common standards, the curriculum will line up as well. And it will unleash a powerful market of people providing services for better teaching. For the first time, there will be a large, uniform base of customers looking at using products that can help every kid learn, and every teacher get better.
This sentiment was shared by the U.S. Department of Education, as was made
clear when Arne Duncan's Chief of Staff, Joanne Weiss, wrote this in 2011:
The development of common standards and shared assessments radically alters the market for innovation in curriculum development, professional development, and formative assessments. Previously, these markets operated on a state-by-state basis, and often on a district-by-district basis. But the adoption of common standards and shared assessments means that education entrepreneurs will enjoy national markets where the best products can be taken to scale.
In the market-driven system enabled by the Common Core, the "best products"
will be those which yield the highest test scores. As Gates said: "The standards
will tell the teachers what their students are supposed to learn, and the data
will tell them whether they're learning it."
Thus, the overriding goal of the Common Core and the associated tests seems to be to create a national marketplace for products. As an educator, I find this objectionable. The central idea is that innovation and creative change in education will only come from entrepreneurs selling technologically based "learning systems." In my 24 years in high poverty schools in Oakland, the most inspiring and effective innovations were generated by teachers collaborating with one another, motivated not by the desire to get wealthy, but by their dedication to their students.
Error #4: The Common Core creates a rigid set of performance expectations for every grade level, and results in tightly controlled instructional timelines and curriculum.
At the heart of the Common Core is standardization. Every student, without exception, is expected to reach the same benchmarks at every grade level. Early childhood educators know better than this. Children develop at different rates, and we do far more harm than good when we begin labeling them "behind" at an early age.
The Common Core also emphasizes measurement of every aspect of learning, leading to absurdities such as the ranking of the "complexity" of novels according to an arcane index called the Lexile score. This number is derived from an algorithm that looks at sentence length and vocabulary. Publishers submit works of literature to be scored, and we discover that Mr. Popper's Penguins is more "rigorous" than Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Cue the Thomas B. Fordham Institute to moan that teachers are not assigning books of sufficient difficulty, as the Common Core mandates.
This sort of ranking ignores the real complexities within literature, and is emblematic of the reductionist thinking at work when everything must be turned into a number. To be fair, the Common Core English Language Arts standards suggest that qualitative indicators of complexity be used along with quantitative ones. However in these systems, the quantitative measures often seem to trump the qualitative.
Carol Burris recently shared a 1st grade Pearson math test that is aligned to the Common Core standards for that grade level.
Would (or should) a 6 year old understand the question, "Which is a related subtraction sentence?" My nephew's wife, who teaches Calculus, was stumped by that one.
Keep in mind that many New York State first graders are still 5 years old at the beginning of October, when this test was given.
You can review the first grade module for yourself, and imagine any five or
six year olds you might know grappling with this.
The most alarming thing is the explanation Burris offers for how these standards were defined:
If you read Commissioner John King's Powerpoint slide 18, which can be found here, you see that the Common Core standards were "backmapped" from a description of 12th grade college-ready skills. There is no evidence that early childhood experts were consulted to ensure that the standards were appropriate for young learners. Every parent knows that their kids do not develop according to a "back map"--young children develop through a complex interaction of biology and experience that is unique to the child and which cannot be rushed.
Error #5: The Common Core was designed to be implemented through an
expanding regime of high-stakes tests, which will consume an unhealthy amount of
time and money.
It is theoretically possible to separate the Common Core standards from an intensified testing regime, and leaders in California are attempting to do just that. However, as Bill Gates' remarks in 2009 indicate, the project was conceived as a vehicle to expand and rationalize tests on a national basis. The expansion is in the form of ever-more frequent benchmark and "formative" tests, as well as exams in previously untested subjects.
Most estimates of cost focus only on the tests themselves. The Smarter Balanced Common Core tests require the use of relatively new computers. Existing computers are often inadequate and cannot handle the "computer adaptive tests," or the new Common Core aligned curriculum packages. This was one of the reasons given to justify the expenditure of $1 billion of construction bonds on iPads and associated Pearson Common Core aligned curriculum software in Los Angeles. The Pioneer Institute pegs the cost of full implementation of the Common Core at $16 billion nationally - but if others follow the Los Angeles model those costs could go much higher.
The cost in terms of instructional time is even greater, so long as tests remain central to our accountability systems. Common Core comes with a greatly expanded set of tests. In New York City, a typical 5th grade student this year will spend 500 minutes (ten fifty-minute class periods) taking baseline and benchmark tests, plus another 540 minutes on the Common Core tests in the spring. Students at many schools will have to spend an additional 200 minutes on NYC Performance Assessments, being used to evaluate their teachers. Students who are English learners take a four-part ESL test on top of all of the above.
Thus testing under the Common Core in New York will consume at least two weeks worth of instructional time out of the school year. And time not spent taking tests will be dominated by preparing for tests, since everyone's evaluation is based on them.
Error #6: Proficiency rates on the new Common Core tests have been dramatically lower-by design.
Given that we have attached all sorts of consequences to these tests, this could have disastrous consequences for students and teachers. Only 31 percent of students who took Common Core aligned tests in New York last spring were rated proficient. On the English Language Arts test, about 16 percent of African American students were proficient, five percent of students with disabilities, and 3% of English Learners. Last week, the state of North Carolina announced a similar drop in proficiency rates. Thus we have a system that, in the name of "rigor," will deepen the achievement gaps, and condemn more students and schools as failures.
Because of the "rigor," many students-as many as 30 percent-will not get a
high school diploma. What will our society do with the large numbers of students
who were unable to meet the Common Core Standards? Will we have a generation of
hoboes and unemployables? Many of these young people might find trades and jobs
that suit them, but they may never be interviewed due to their lack of a
diploma. This repeats and expands on the error made with high school exit exams,
which have been found to significantly increase levels of incarceration among
the students who do not pass them-while offering no real educational
benefits.
It should be noted that the number of students (or schools) that we label as failures is not some scientifically determined quantity. The number is a result of where the all-important "cut score" is placed. If you want more to pass, you can lower that cut score, as was done in Florida in 2012. The process to determine cut scores in New York was likewise highly political, and officials knew before the tests were even given the outcome they wanted.
Error #7: Common Core relies on a narrow conception of the purpose of K-12 education as "career and college readiness."
When one reads the official rationales for the Common Core there is little question about the utilitarian philosophy at work. Our children must be prepared to "compete in the global economy." This runs against the grain of the historic purpose of public education, which was to prepare citizens for our democracy, with the knowledge and skills to live fruitful lives and improve our society.
A group of 130 Catholic scholars recently sent a letter expressing their opposition to the Common Core. They wrote,
The sad facts about Common Core are most visible in its reduction in the study of classic, narrative fiction in favor of "informational texts." This is a dramatic change. It is contrary to tradition and academic studies on reading and human formation. Proponents of Common Core do not disguise their intention to transform "literacy" into a "critical" skill set, at the expense of sustained and heartfelt encounters with great works of literature.
Error #8: The Common Core is associated with an attempt to collect more
student and teacher data than ever before.
Parents are rightfully alarmed about the massive collection of their children's private data, made possible by the US department of education's decision in 2011 to loosen the regulations of FERPA , so that student data could be collected by third parties without parental consent.
There are legitimate privacy concerns, for both students and teachers, as data, once collected, can be used for all sorts of purposes. The vision that every student's performance could be tracked from preschool through their working lives may be appealing to a technocrat like Bill Gates, but it is a bit frightening to many parents.
This is one aspect of the project that is already in big trouble. The Gates Foundation invested about $100 million to create inBloom, a nonprofit organization that would build a system to store the massive amount of student data their reform project requires. However, as parent concerns over privacy have grown, seven of the nine states that had signed up to use the system have withdrawn. Only Illinois and New York remain involved, and in New York this week a lawsuit was filed to block the project.
Error #9: The Common Core is not based on any external evidence, has no research to support it, has never been tested, and worst of all, has no mechanism for correction.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed by state leaders to opt in to the Common Core allows the states to change a scant 15 percent of the standards they use. There is no process available to revise the standards. They must be adopted as written. As William Mathis (2012) points out,
"As the absence or presence of rigorous or national standards says nothing about equity, educational quality, or the provision of adequate educational services, there is no reason to expect CCSS or any other standards initiative to be an effective educational reform by itself."
Error #10: The biggest problem of American education and American society is the growing number of children living in poverty. As was recently documented by the Southern Education Fund (and reported in the Washington Post) across the American South and West, a majority of our children are now living in poverty.
The Common Core does nothing to address this problem. In fact, it is diverting scarce resources and time into more tests, more technology for the purpose of testing, and into ever more test preparation.
In conclusion: Common standards, if crafted in a democratic process and carefully reviewed by teachers and tested in real classrooms, might well be a good idea. But the Common Core does not meet any of those conditions.
The Common Core has been presented as a paradigmatic shift beyond the test-and-punish policies of NCLB. However, we are seeing the mechanisms for testing, ranking, rewarding and punishing simply refined, and made even more consequential for students, teachers and schools. If we use the critical thinking the Common Core claims to promote, we see this is old wine in a new bottle, and it turned to vinegar long ago.
For all these reasons, I believe any implementation of the Common Core should be halted. The very corporations that are outsourcing good jobs are promoting the Common Core, which deflects attention from their failure to the nation's economy and their failure as good citizens. I do not believe the standards themselves are significantly better than those of most states, and thus they do not offer any real advantages. The process by which they were adopted was undemocratic, and lacking in meaningful input from expert educators. The early results we see from states that are on the leading edge provide evidence of significant damage this project is causing to students already. No Child Left Behind has failed, and we need a genuine shift in our educational paradigm, not the fake-out provided by Common Core.
The frustration evident in recent public hearings in New York is a powerful indicator of a process gone badly awry. The public was not consulted in any meaningful way on decisions to fundamentally alter the substance of teaching and learning in the vast majority of schools in our nation. This process and the content of these standards are deeply flawed, and the means by which student performance is measured continues to damage children.
This did not happen by accident. Powerful people have decided that because they have the money and influence to make things happen, they can do so. But in a democracy, the people ought to have the last word. Decisions such as this ought not be made at secret gatherings of billionaires and their employees. The education of the next generations of Americans is something we all have a stake in.
And so, fellow citizens: Speak Up, Opt Out, Teach On!
What do you think? Is it time to end the reign of Common Core
errors?
Update, 11/18: I have posted
two responses from educators who believe there are positive
aspects to the Common Core, and we should avoid throwing them out entirely,
and my response, explaining how I think defeating the Common Core could
open the door to a better process.
Continue the dialogue with Anthony on Twitter.
***********************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: jbecker@siu.edu
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: jbecker@siu.edu
Maloof Realtors Help In Time of the City of Washington's Greatest Need
Received and email from Jim Kiel withdrawing this community statement. It is hard to believe that Maloof Realtors would not accept donations but sobeit until I learn more. Merle
My longtime friend Jim would be so proud of them. Merle
My longtime friend Jim would be so proud of them. Merle
Donations for storm victims accepted at all Jim
Maloof/Realtor® locations
The tragedy that struck our region on Sunday touched
most residents in one way or another. But when some of our own family lost their
homes in the tornadoes, it hit us especially hard at Jim
Maloof/Realtor®.
It also spurred us to action to help not only those
agents and their families, but everyone in the region affected by the
storms.
Donations to help the victims of Sunday’s tornadoes in
central Illinois can be dropped off at any Jim Maloof/Realtor® office in the
region.
Tornadoes destroyed or severely damaged hundreds of
homes throughout the Peoria area, with the heaviest damage in Washington and
Pekin. Thousands of others are without electricity as a result of the
storms.
Items needed include clothing, household goods,
non-perishable food items, baby formula and infant care items, toiletries,
bottled water, cleaning supplies, flashlights and batteries, hand sanitizer and
pet foods and supplies. Also, work gloves and dust masks.
Donations are being accepted at the corporate
headquarters of Jim Maloof/Realtor® at 803 W. Pioneer
Parkway, and any of our 17 hometown offices.
Our offices in the region are in:
· Bartonville, at 1202 W. Garfield
· Canton, at 418 N. Main St.
· Chillicothe, at 226 N. 4th St., Suite
D
· East Peoria, at Harbor Pointe
· Eureka, at 110 S. Main St.
· Hanna City, at 12131 W. Farmington Road
· Lacon, at 822 5th St.
· Varna (Lake Wildwood) at 974 Wildwood Road
· Metamora, at 119 E. Partridge
· Morton, at 405 N. Morton Ave.
· Pekin, 2990 Court St.
· Peoria, at 803 W. Pioneer Parkway (corporate
office)
· Peoria, at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie
· Roanoke, at 415 Main St.
· Toulon, 127 W. Main
· Washington, 100 N. Main St.
Donations are being accepted during normal office hours
at each location. For more information call the headquarters at (309)
692-3900.
###
Wall Street Journal - Best Newspaper in the U.S.A. For People Who Want the Real News
Today's edition has a "ton" of information about what is going on in the real world. The Peoria Journal Star recently wrote that the editors of the WSJ are a bunch of "Pinkos". So sad that the Peoria Area could have progressed much further than it has if it had the right newspaper.
Area Public Service Warning
Home Repair Fraud Awareness - Steps to Protect Your
Project
Peoria, IL - The Home Builders Association of
Greater Peoria (HBAGP) would like to express its concern to the local
communities impacted by recent storm damage. As our communities begin to work at
healing and rebuilding, there are some important facts to keep in mind to
protect the homeowner.
In any disaster that happens across the country in any given
year, homeowners unwittingly become victims again to fraud. Areas experiencing
natural disasters are often inundated by people outside of the local area who
represent themselves as helpful, knowledgeable contractors. In many instances,
they offer cheap and fast repair work for cash or a low price. The reality of
the time spent in the storm damaged area is that they come to town to make easy
money and then move on. Remember the old adage, "If it seems too good to be
true, it probably is."
Some signs to watch for include contractors who ask for
payment in full before the job starts, or the payment of cash to a salesperson
instead of waiting for payment by check or after insurance settlements are
received by the homeowner. Others offer special low prices only good today, or
insist that they specifically chose your area to help, and your neighbors are
already on board. Homeowners who hand cash to these types of unscrupulous
contractors are often left with an uncompleted job, or shoddy work done, and the
contractor is gone and cannot be found.
How do you protect yourself? Homeowners should always be able
to verify the business address of a contractor through local resources. The
contractor should be able to provide references of previous customers. There
should be a written agreement between the homeowner and contractor that
specifically outlines any initial monies due as a deposit on the work, the final
job price, and the scope of the work to be done for that price. Many times the
agreement will include a time frame for the work as well.
In times of disaster, don't let stressful feelings about the
situation cause you to make an uneducated decision. Most importantly, don't make
impulse decisions on home repair even in the midst of storm destruction.
Professional contractors who are part of the community are at the ready to offer
you the knowledge and resources needed to repair or rebuild your home to your
specific family needs.
Members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Peoria
are residents of the area and have knowledge of local regulations and building
codes. They are established businesses looking to help you rebuild your home or
provide you with the products and services you need to get your home together
again. For a list of local companies that can offer professional contractor
services for home repair, home remodeling or the rebuilding of your home, visit
the Association's web site at www.peoriahba.com
# # #
Social Security a "Benefit" My Ass
Forwarded to me by friends. Merle
Subject: Social Security Have you noticed, the Social Security check is now referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment"? I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you. Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it. The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a Federal Benefit Payment. This isn't a benefit. It is earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too. It totaled 15% of our income before taxes . If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 Invested in Social Security . If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security( $375/month, including both your and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% Interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved! This is your personal investment . Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month . That's almost three times more than today's average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration (Google it - its a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts . Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did. They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot (Knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn't have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them . And they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed . And recently,they've told us that the money won't support us for very much longer . But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they're calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government and find a way to keep Social Security going, for the good of all.. and then call it just what it is. “Personal Earned Retirement Income.†If you agree forward.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
"Goodwill" is a Catchy Name
You give and usually take a tax reduction on your donations. Goodwill takes your freely given donations and sells these freebies for a profit. The buyers pay a sales tax which enriches the cities profits. While Goodwill produces a few low paid jobs, their CEO makes $2.3 million plus generous benefits. They also have a well paid executive staff.
The suggestion is made their are dozens of other charitable places where your donations may better serve a common good.
The suggestion is made their are dozens of other charitable places where your donations may better serve a common good.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Humor at the Expense of Those Who Know Better Than the Sane Ones Among Us
Forwarded to me by a doctor friend. Merle
The Doctor is ready to see you now or maybe not........
Here is the take of the American Medical Association: AMA Insight, No matter which side you are on.
The American Medical Association has weighed in on Obama's new health care package. The Allergists were in favor of scratching it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve. Meanwhile, Obstetricians felt certain everyone was laboring under a misconception, while the Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, grow up!" The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing and the Internists claimed it would indeed be a bitter pill to swallow. The Plastic Surgeons opined that this proposal would "put a whole new face on the matter". The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and those lofty Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.
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