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Domestic Policies Education New Jersey News Politics teacher evaluation

Damn the Teachers, Full Testing Ahead!

So let’s see where we stand at this moment with the brand spanking new teacher evaluation system in New Jersey. This is the law that is going to revolutionize teaching and learning by making sure that students are mastering content and skills and teachers are doing their jobs to ensure learning in the classroom. For those of us not covered by a standardized assessment, the key is the SGO, or Student Growth Objectives, that is supposed to measure student growth (duh).

How are we doing this? By taking the measure of our students at the beginning of the year. Then we’ll evaluate them again in a few months to see how much they’ve learned. In other words, welcome to testing-mania.

The overwhelming majority of teachers in New Jersey have already given an assessment to their students, usually in the form of a test. Most of these tests ask for knowledge and skills that students haven’t been taught yet. The assumption, then, is that when we re-give these tests again in February or March, the students will have learned the information because they’ve been, well, taught it. Students learn, teachers have done their jobs, numbers go up, salaries are paid.

So what’s the problem? Plenty. Most of these tests are low stakes and mean virtually nothing to the students, while meaning everything for the teachers. In addition, there is no measurable data that says that this is a viable method for objectively evaluating teachers. And districts are getting mucho creative with SGOs in ways that even the Christie Administration didn’t envision.

For example, many teachers who plan on taking leaves for maternity or other family concerns, have been told to administer both a pre-and post-assessment in as little as 6 weeks, so the district has a record of their progress. This flies in the face of everything we know about education and assessment, and is using time as the relevant factor and not learning. Why don’t I just do a Monday-Friday assessment cycle and be done with it. I can teach anyone how to write an effective thesis in a week if that’s all I’m going to measure.

It’s also becoming clear, as I speak to colleagues and monitor the news, that administrators and school boards are tying bonuses to the percentage of staff that has an SGO. The law says that classroom teachers must have them, but leaves it up to the district as to whether nurses, guidance counselors and other support staff must have them. Tying SGOs to a bonus virtually guarantees that all staff will be responsible for an SGO, and it’s up to the district to develop one.

Are we connecting student health rates to nurses? How many students come to see them over a three month period? Do we want more students to visit the nurse or fewer? What’s the difference between taking blood pressure and earning a 4 under the Danielson model and earning a 3?

For guidance counselors, are we tying failure rates to counselors? College acceptances? If a child is crying on the way in to the counselor’s office but smiling on the way out, is that an effective SGO?

The dirty truth is that there’s really no way to know. It’s the same for teachers. Once we administer the test/evaluation, then that becomes the default assessment that we’re going to focus on for three months. The tests rule. And it will get even worse come the spring when teachers covered by a state test enter the maelstrom and sweat out their number through the summer.

This evaluation system is taking money, time and resources away from education. It’s not scientifically valid. It wastes time. It’s a step backwards, and it insults teachers everywhere by assuming that they are not effective.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Education News Politics

Governor Disaster: Why Christie Could Lose Now and Will Lose in 2016

In case you missed it, there’s a terrific piece on Governor Christie in the New Jersey media. Written by columnist Tom Moran, it lays bare the basic fact that although Christie has benefited from disaster, he’s actually been a disaster as governor.

The basics:

Essentially, New Jersey has experienced failure at almost every level by which a politician is measured. And the one area where Christie got help from Democrats, on  a pension and benefits bill that weakened collective bargaining and will eventually force public workers from their jobs, the economic effects will be devastating. In fact, many teachers will be bringing home less money three years from now than they are today. I’ve done the calculations: My take-home income will be going down over the next three years despite my actually getting a small raise. If you’re a teacher and you want very bad news, input your salary and insurance premiums on this site. Do not have anything breakable nearby when you do.

But the issues go beyond the eventual devastation of a few hundred thousand people. There are millions of people in this state who cannot find jobs because of the governor’s lack of leadership and the property taxes he promised to lower have actually gone up. Why? In the leafy suburbs where I live and work (for now), the governor slashed aid to schools and municipalities. More money has come from Trenton in the past two years, but the rest of the missing money had to be made up by a rise in local property taxes. For this past year, the district in which I work received one dollar ($1) more in state aid than last year. Meanwhile, salaries, supplies, state mandated testing, public safety and public accommodations still had to be paid for, not to mention basic municipal services.

The net effect of all of this is that people are making less money, costs are rising, jobs are not forthcoming and the governor is against common sense items such as raising the minimum wage, recognizing marriage equality, but he is in favor of protecting the wealthy by not asking them to contribute a little more to alleviate the pain.

And for this, Christie has a 20 point lead in the polls.

That’s because many Democrats in New Jersey have sold their souls for the primary reason that they see Christie as their gravy train. Not for state money, mind you, but for personal gain and power. How else to measure the utter lack of support for Democratic candidate, Senator Barbara Buono?

Here is a terrific, personable, dynamic, focused, humanistic candidate who is on the right side of the issues that New Jersey cares about. She stands up for women’s health in the face of Christie’s cuts to Planned Parenthood, supports marriage equality and has a plan to get the economy moving again. I saw Buono and her running mate, Milly Silva, speak at an event last week and I can say from personal experience that these are two highly intelligent, articulate people who act the opposite of the volatile, bullying, inappropriate antics of the present occupant in Trenton.

But the Democrats are split and President Obama is nowhere to be found. Still, Christie is only polling at 50%. Yes, he’s ahead, but if the left can get its act together and highlight what Moran has written, this race could get closer.

Which then brings us to Christie’s dream of a 2016 presidential run. If he wins with  close to 50% of the vote, he can’t claim a mandate as a crossover candidate. Further, he won’t get much anything else done with a Democratic legislature. Where does that leave him? To bloviate and fuss about what he would do if he had the means, and that will force him to move farther to the right. The problem is that any right-wing opponent will only have to play the video of Obama and Christie at the shore after Sandy and the magic will seep out of his campaign. Along the way, he’ll also hurt himself by saying things that sound great to his supporters when you see them on YouTube, but will not play well at all with those who want a responsible adult as their leader.

Mark my words: Chris Christie will never be President of the United States. Let’s also try to make sure he isn’t reelected. We can’t afford even two more years of his misrule.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Education Food And Recipes

Shocking Facts about Sugar

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Education teaching

The High Schoolization Of College

Last week, President Obama made a series of speeches about making higher education affordable, which of course would be a great idea if we really had a socialist system and the government could tell schools what to charge. The problem is that we have a quasi-meritocracy with a bit of market capitalism mixed in, and that’s created the idea that expensive colleges must be good and really expensive colleges must be terrific. Meanwhile, the competitive and not-so-competitive schools that scoop up most American teenagers are considered second-tier and many of the students who attend don’t have the financial wherewithal or the intellectual stamina to stay in them.

Of course, this is not going to change any time soon because the Republicans in Congress won’t approve anything Obama wants and there isn’t enough money for the federal Government to get more involved in college financing. What’s really needed is a radical restructuring of higher education where all truly gifted students can attend schools that will challenge them and all other students who want to go to college can find affordable financing to do so. College is still a great investment, but the division between the have and have-nots is beginning to mirror larger society, which will in turn solidify the status quo.

But the president didn’t stop there. He is also proposing a rating system to rank colleges and universities by…wait for it…quantitative data that will separate schools by how much money their graduates make and how successful the schools are at making their students employable, cost and the advanced degrees graduates earn.

Let’s see…where have I heard of a system that attempts to use quantifiable data like, for example, test scores, to rank school and educators. Oh yeah; the public K-12 schools. It’s a terrible idea for them and it’s a terrible idea for colleges.

The reason it’s so bad is that the president’s proposal, and the philosophy behind it, succumbs to the erroneous idea that the purpose of attending college is to find a job. If you accept that, then measuring college’s performance by how many employable graduates it turns out makes sense. But that’s not the purpose of college and it’s a mistake to believe that it is.

A university education is an exercise in academic exploration, of ideas, of research, of trying to find truth and beauty and a sense of who you are. It is available so that a young person can have access to people who have studied a topic or subject so thoroughly that they have something nuanced to say about it and can analyze it at a deep level. It’s there so you can take a course in something that you want to learn about, rather than what you think you have to learn. It’s an exploration. It’s difficult. Unsettling. Motivating.

But it’s not job training. There’s no such thing as a readily employable English, Philosophy, Communications or Media Ecology major. You need to apply your knowledge. And to be considered an educated person, you really do need to know about more than just finance or accounting or marine biology, though they might get you a high paying job down the road. I’ll concede that an engineering or acting student has employable knowledge and skills, but even they will need to learn a great deal on the job. So when the president wants to tie all of this data to how successful a college is, I see that as bunk. What a job pays is in many ways out of a graduate’s hands. Many people would like an advanced degree but can’t afford the money, time or both.

And what of students who don’t belong in college? The default attitude now is that everyone should go, but that’s also bunk. We’ve dismantled the system we used to have that recognized that some jobs do not require a college education. We’ve even begun this in high school, where many districts have stopped offering actual job training classes because they don’t feed the everyone-goes-to-college beast. Then when the students who would benefit from those programs find that college isn’t for them and they have no discernible job skills, society suffers.

The president should find other means to boost education and job skills without turning universities into glorified high schools, where students ad parents have unreasonable expectations of what they’re paying for.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Education Health

With Loss of Fat comes Amazing Health Benefits

Have you ever wondered why, exactly, it is so detrimental to your health to be carrying around 50 extra pounds? Or more? With loss of fat comes amazing health benefits, including, but not limited to, improvement of sleep apnea, improvement of asthma symptoms, venous health, improvement of PCOS symptoms, and so many more. Check out this poster for some facts and figures, on improving your figure:

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Education

18 Everyday Products You’ve Been Using Wrong

1. You’ve probably been ignoring this feature.

Most aluminum foil boxes have press-in tabs that secure the roll in place, so you don’t have worry about it flying out every time you rip off a sheet.

2. You’ve been dispensing Tic Tacs the hard way.

You know how when you violently shake a container of Tic Tacs into your palm it seems as though you always end up with zero or seven? Avoid that altogether by letting a mint gently glide into the tiny lid crevice.

3. Forget to pack a spoon with that applesauce? No problem.

Ever find yourself with an individual cup of applesauce or yogurt and no spoon? Instead of slurping and probably getting half of your snack on your shirt, turn the foil lid into a makeshift spoon.

Obviously, don’t try this if you’ve got a mouth full of metal fillings.

4. You’ve been storing peanut butter the wrong way.

Never arm wrestle with a jar of peanut butter, just to make sure it’s not oily on top and crumby on the bottom, again. Store it upside down, so the oils distribute evenly.

5. You haven’t been using ketchup cups to their full potential.

Instead of grabbing multiple cups of ketchup, simply pull apart at the edges for twice the space.

6. You’re probably using the wrong plunger.

This is easily the most recognizable plunger. Chances are you have one lying around the house. BUT, did you know it’s only meant to be used on clogged sinks?

To unclog a toilet, you need a flange plunger, which doesn’t have a flat bottom.

7. Chinese takeout containers are actually made to fold out into plates.

The containers actually are meant to unfold into a makeshift plate, which you can easily reassemble into a box for storing leftovers.

More info here.

8. You’re brushing with too much toothpaste.

You only need to use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste for effective cleaning. Most ads feature globs of toothpaste the size of the brush because a.) it looks nice and b.) it makes you use up more toothpaste.

9. Greek yogurt containers are meant to be folded in half.

Chances are you’ve been scooping the toppings with your spoon onto the yogurt.

But, have you realized, the topping holder folds over, so you can pour the toppings DIRECTLY ON TOP?

10. You’ve probably been placing toilet seat covers in the wrong direction.

The flap is meant to be placed toward the front. This prevents the agony of sitting down on a toilet seat, only to realize you’ve dragged the cover down into the bowl.

11. Soda tabs double as straw holders.

Turn the tab around so that it acts as holder that can stop the straw from raising out of the can as the soda fizzes.

12. There’s a foolproof way to keep your extension cords from coming undone.

Plug the cords into a loop to avoid disconnection.

13. Pipe cleaners can be used to clean..ACTUAL PIPES.

OK, sure, you can use them to make mess free crafts with your kids, but did you know you can also use them…

…for this.

Instructions here.

14. You’ve been serving juice boxes the wrong way.

Pull the sides out so you child has something to grasp onto, stopping them from spilling.

15. Never break off more chocolate than you can chew again.

To easily break off a single piece of Toblerone, pull toward the bar, not away from it.

16. You probably don’t realize it, but your pots come with built-in spoon rests.

That hanging hole doubles as a spoon rest, in a pinch.

17. There’s a much easier way to floss.

Tie floss into a loop and never strangle your fingers again.

18. Soft-drink lids can double as coasters.

Take the lid from the top of cup (or grab an extra) and use it as a perfectly sized coaster.

Categories
Education News

NYC Engineer wants to Help Homeless Man with Software Coding Classes


Good Morning America – NYC Engineer Wants to Help Homeless Man With Software Coding Classes (ABC News)

Patrick McConlogue is a lot like the many others working in the New York tech scene. Every morning, he walks to work, passing a few homeless people on the streets, and then spends the rest of his day at a computer, writing software code for a 35-person startup.

But the 23-year-old engineer didn’t think those two parts of his day had to stay separate. Earlier this week, he made an offer to one of those homeless men.

“I walk by a homeless guy every day on the way to work and I get this feeling every day that he is a smart guy — he has books and he writes,” McConlogue told ABC News. “I was trying to think of a way to engage him and help him.”

McConlogue approached Leo, a 36-year man who lives on the streets of lower Manhattan, on Thursday and gave him two options.

The first was $100 in cash.

“I figured that was enough for a ticket some place or a few meals, if that’s what he wanted,” McConlogue said.

The second option on the table was a laptop, three JavaScript books and two months of coding instruction from McConlogue.

After hearing the offer, Leo, who McConlogue described as very articulate and gifted, especially in on the topic of environmental issues, decided to take the coding option.
“I want to spread knowledge and information about climate change and global warming,” Leo told ABC News in a phone interview facilitated by McConlogue.

Soon, McConlogue will deliver him a Samsung Chromebook with 3G connectivity, three JavaScript books, a solar charger for the laptop and something to conceal the laptop in. He will spend an hour before work every morning teaching him the basics of software coding.

McConlogue began documenting his plans to help Leo on the blogging platform Medium earlier this week and has seen a mix of reactions.

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Education News

Great Lakes Teen Soon to Receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at 14

Thessalonika Arzu-Embry and her mother, Wonder Embry, get up at 5 in the morning most weekdays to go to school together.

Unlike most 14-year-olds, however, Thessalonika isn’t off early in the morning to the local high school. She’s going to Chicago State University.

Thessalonika is putting the finishing touches on a college career that started three years ago at College of Lake County and will end next month with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chicago State.

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Education News

Atlanta School Hero Reveals She Told Shooter She Loved Him

Arrested: Michael Brandon Hill, 20, is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The crazed gunman who stormed a suburban Atlanta elementary school and threatened to shoot everyone has a ‘long history of mental problems’ and was ‘bound to do something stupid’ his brother said today.

Michael Hill, 20, was arrested yesterday without killing or even injuring a single person at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur after a brave and unarmed school secretary managed to talk him into surrendering.

Antoinette Tuff revealed last night that Hill told her he had no reason to live because no one loved him.

Antoinette Tuff said: ‘And I just explained to him that I loved him. I didn’t know much about him. I didn’t know his name but I did love him and it was scary because I knew at that moment he was ready to take my life along with his’
Hero: Secretary Antoinette Tuff is seen here in her office at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, where she convinced a gunman to surrender and not harm the child of her school

 

Holding tight: Panicked parents rushed to Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy to collected their children after hearing reports of a gunman at the school

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2398664/Michael-Brandon-Hill-Atlanta-Georgia-school-shooter-stopped-secretary-Antoinette-Tuff.html#ixzz2cfDQ529R
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Education

Thanks To Republicans, 57,000 Children Cut From Head Start Program

Just the way the Republicans planned it.

Head Start programs across the country eliminated services for 57,000 children in the coming school year to balance budgets diminished by the federal sequester, cutting 1.3 million days from Head Start center calendars and laying off or reducing pay for more than 18,000 employees, according to federal government data scheduled for release Monday.The latest numbers, based on the results of “reduction plans” Head Start grantees submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services, fall short of earlier predictions by the Obama administration that 70,000 children would lose access to preschool because of the mandatory 5 percent cuts. But the cuts will still affect tens of thousands of poor families across the country who rely on Head Start for early learning programs, day care and a network of social services and medical care.

The numbers aren’t as bad as some early projections; Virginia, Maryland and D.C. lost about 1,700 spots total.

The initial administration projection was based on “a worst-case scenario” in which all reductions would focus on children’s access to Head Start, said a senior administration official who was unauthorized to publicly discuss the matter, because the information had not yet been released. In reality, grantees had some flexibility in how they cut their budgets as long as they maintained quality and prioritized children’s health and safety.Some Head Start centers focused on cutting administrative and support services, such as transportation. Others chose to shorten the school year or the school day. The latest figures show that 18,000 program hours will be cut next year by centers that will start later in the day or end earlier.
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Education

The Common Core Follies

You know it’s late August because the school stories are coming fast and furious. And speaking of furious, how about the reaction to the Common Core standards that are supposed to prepare our schoolchildren for work and college? In New York, where the scores declined in the debut year for the standards, the knives came out to excise the Common Core and implement…well, that wasn’t clear. Teachers, parents and administrators from both sides of the political spectrum were worried about what the test score said about what students learned, and a few were so angry that they threatened charges.

This points to the problem inherent in using test scores to evaluate…anybody. Teachers didn’t have the time, or the training, to fully implement the standards into their lessons. Students didn’t have time to learn the material and were tested on material they didn’t learn in a format that was alien to many of them. It was also the first year of the tests, and in most first years, scores drop.

The assumption, though, is that the Common Core standards are testable, or at least worthy of teaching. Why is it that every student has to go to college, or be college-ready? Clearly, and it is crystal clear to educators, not all students will go to college, and many who are there won’t finish because higher education is not for them. I understand that this is educational heresy and that I am swimming in dangerous waters. After all, the classes that I teach are considered college preparatory. My standards are based on the assumption that students should be analytical learners who can write coherently and synthesize what they’ve learned. In that sense, the Common Core has caught up to me. But unlike the Core, I understand that not all students will reach readiness by the time they graduate from high school and that many of them will not succeed in an institution of higher learning. So, in a sense, I am preparing them for something they will not use. That’s a waste of time and resources.

In addition, the tests will be administered on computers and only computers, the assumption being that all students have the same competency with technology. What of students who don’t (and I know of plenty of them)? What happens when it is the technology itself, and not the student’s knowledge, that is the problem? And what happens when it is the school district’s inability to purchase technology equipment or schedule adequate rooms or provide quiet places for testing that is part of the problem? These concerns have been waved off by some states, including New Jersey where I have been the wavee. How does that help evaluate students and teachers.

The Common Core Standards, like other previous attempts at measuring student growth, are devoted to the essential education problem: that of trying to have every student master the same material by the same date and to be evaluated in the same way at the same time. When are we going to realize that this has not worked and will not work adequately in the future? It’s even more vital that we get this right now, because teachers’ jobs are on the line. Politicians don’t understand this. Teachers do, but unfortunately, we are being shut out of the system for reasons that have nothing to do with pedagogy and everything to do with union politics and the unending search for those terrible teachers we keep hearing about.

There will be more about the Common Core in the school year to come, but keep in mind that any lockstep program is going to have problems. We are experience the latest one.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Education News

Uncle Sam Wants YOU to Report Deceptive Debt Collectors

American consumers now have not one, but two federal agencies they can call upon for help dealing with abusive debt collectors.

The Federal Trade Commission has brought several cases against problem debt collectors over the past couple of years. And the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started publishing rules debt collectors have to follow to conduct business fairly.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was set up to be the first federal agency solely focused on making consumers get a fair shake from financial firms. The agency has pulled many non-traditional financial providers into its purview, such as debt collectors. Recently the CFPB created five form letters consumers can use when dealing with debt collectors to make sure they are treated fairly.

 Click here to read about the CFPB’s jurisdiction over debt collectors.

 Click here to submit a debt collector complaint to the CFPB.

 Click here for downloadable form letters that help you instruct a debt collector not to contact you anymore, to request proof that a debt is really yours and more.

h/t – abcnews

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