My name is Dana Hanley and I blog at Principled Discovery, a blog for Christian homeschoolers.
In honor of Star Wars' 30th anniversary, the United States Postal Service is unveiling a new commemorative stamp March 29. And my very own Lincoln, Neb., is one of 200 cities nationwide to be selected for a new mailbox to mark the event.
On Thursday, the Fairfax County, Virginia, school board voted to defy the U.S. Department of Education and not test immigrants with the same reading exams as their native English-speaking peers.
One of the many goals of No Child Left Behind is to decrease the "achievement gap" between rich and poor, white and minority. We already know that isn't happening. At the center of the debate is often money. If these schools only had more of it, they could solve all their problems. In fact, the states themselves seem to generally favor NCLB if only they got a larger portion of the taxpayers' income.Much of what No Child Left Behind seeks to accomplish is "contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and subversive of the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded."
I think there is something fundamentally wrong with a society that has become so violent that we must have a show of armed government force to keep order in a public school. If anything should hint to America that school is no longer a safe place for children, the perceived necessity of police force should.
Virginia is planning a pilot program for the state's proposed universal preschool program. The pilot program is to begin next year for 1,000 children and gradually expanded to include all four year olds in the state.
There has been quite a debate raging about the National Animal Identification System among farmers and ranchers. Ostensibly in the interest of disease control, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been pushing for improved tracking of animals.While the program is voluntary for now, the hope is to have all animals registered by 2008 and full implementation by 2009. No chicken, cow or horse shall be left behind.
Research done by Tel Aviv University Professor of Psychology Avner Ziv confirms that students retain more information when humor is used effectively to illustrate important points. Of course, humor is very subjective, but here is a roundup of stories that I have run into recently that are at least worth a smile.
It is possible for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to achieve at levels equal to and even superior to their more economically advantaged peers. The problems inherent in poverty are great, but they are not insurmountable. I know this because I have seen it done, and the children involved are not statistical anomalies.
On Tuesday, school districts in Michigan, Vermont and Texas, together with the National Education Association asked a federal appeals court to revive an old lawsuit, arguing that schools should not have to comply with requirements which aren't funded by the federal government.
Beginning in 2007 all Florida eighth grade students will be required to choose from a list of state-approved "majors." School board member Sandra Richmond thinks the program won't "do too much damage."
Nine year old Tyler Stoken of Central Park Elementary School had always been instructed to write about the first thing that entered his mind on such tests. The first thing he thought of, however, was his principal as a witch. He thought this was mean, so he left the answer blank.Under normal conditions, a student may be encouraged to fill in a blank item or asked why he left it blank. But under the intense pressure of No Child Left Behind's testing component, conditions are not normal.
The state has failed to provide effective oversight of public school children in foster care. Now a candidate for Michigan's state legislature has stated that he intends to give the state the power to destroy the lives of homeschooled children in his state.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings notes that college graduates have an unemployment rate of 2% as compared to an overall unemployment rate of 4.6%. This, I guess, is not tolerable.
Do we want our next generation's philosophy of government based on China's and India's philosophies?
A rash of fatal school shootings has again brought the physical safety of our students to the forefront of education discussions. On Tuesday, President Bush announced plans to form a conference on school violence to see what federal action can be taken to support communities in preventing violence and dealing with its consequences.
Why is it, Secretary Spellings, that we are so graciously praising mediocrity and penalizing success?I want my children to learn so much more than how to answer multiple choice questions based on lower order thinking skills and how to fill in all the bubbles neatly with a number two pencil.
The reforms advocated by the Commission for the Future of Higher Education and reiterated by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings are sweeping and invasive. Through No Child Left Behind, the Department of Education has successfully hindered the progress many schools were making toward greater proficiency. So we are going to extend these same principles to high school, and to colleges and universities which have long been viewed as the best in the world.
One of the greatest hypocrisies of No Child Left Behind since the beginning has been its "fourth pillar" of "local control and flexibility." Federal involvement by its very nature is the antithesis of local control, and every school is being forced to show more concern for following the federal mandates than addressing the concerns of the parents whose children they are responsible to educate or risk losing their funding.An internal review from the Department of Education Office of Inspector General has found mismanagement of funds and a violation of legal and ethical standards.
September 17, Constitution Day, celebrates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 by 55 delegates at the final meeting of the Constitutional Convention. It has served this nation for over 200 years and is the cornerstone of our liberty. How dedicated are we to the basic principles on which it rests? Our students do not even know basic information about our founding documents, let alone the principles upon which they are built.
Is homeschooling such a dangerous threat to the health and safety of children that all homeschools must be regularly monitored by the state, with visits from social workers and medical records kept by school officials?
American self-government is truly unique. Many people mistakenly believe that our self-government is about us choosing our own leaders. This philosophy still places the power of government firmly with the state and makes our officials elected rulers rather than elected representatives. This philosophy is at the heart of political activism, both on the left and the right of the political spectrum. Political activism is not about political activity and necessary political discourse, but about making the will of subgroups of our nation into law.The true nature of American self-government, however, places the source of man's direction, regulation, control and restraint with the conscience and convictions of the individual.
The purpose of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education is to analyze higher education in four areas: access, affordability, quality and accountability. Change "accountability" to "trackability" and we might have a more accurate reflection of one of the main sources of controversy surrounding this document.
Last week, the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education released a report on the future of higher education which details perceived problems in our higher education system and proposed solutions. But the recommendations threaten to damage postsecondary education much as No Child Left Behind damaged K-12.
Abraham Cherrix's family attorneys and social services reached an agreement today to forgo chemotherapy treatment, ending a legal battle which began when Abraham chose to treat his cancer with an alternative therapy.
With current emphasis on tracking every aspect of American life, it is of little wonder that one of the hottest young businesses is nFocus, an Arizona-based software company specializing in developing and marketing tracking software to schools, community organizations and government agencies.Children spend 87% of their time outside the classroom, clearly time that the state cannot so easily monitor or direct. KidTrax helps to fill this gap.
Early America boasted an educational system almost entirely supported by local communities without tax money. And they gave rise to one of the most literate societies of the time, with literacy rates perhaps higher than today. Consder the fact that the Federalist Papers, rarely read today even in universities, were written for and understood by the common man. Today, our focus seems to be minimum competency, measured through minimum competency testing for the purpose of establishing a competitive workforce.
The Ask A Working Woman Survey asks six questions about concerns affecting working women and twelve background/demographic questions. Interestingly, the choices offered all call for more laws and increased regulation to ensure that the labor market "addresses the concerns" of working women.
Over the past several years, Columbus Public Schools have lost 7,000 students to charter schools. More students are expected to leave this fall with the implemenation of school vouchers. This may prove to be a serious issue for Columbus Public Schools. According to a survey by KidsOhio, only 49% of CPS parents with preschool-aged children plan on sending their children to CPS when they reach school age.
Last summer, Abraham Cherrix, 16, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. In the fall, he underwent three months of intense chemotherapy which left him nauseated, weak and debilitated. Abraham turned down further conventional treatment, opting for an alternative treatment known as the Hoxsey therapy. Abraham's parents supported him in his decision. But Social Services asked the court to order Abraham to conventional cancer treatment for his own well-being.
Republican Rep. Bob Bishop has asked lawmakers and education officials in his home state of Utah for input on the No Child Left Behind Act in preparation for debating its reauthorization.But most of those officials want the law repealed entirely.
The National Center for Education Statistics released a study Friday comparing private and public schools and factoring for socio-economic differences between the two populations. The study measured fourth grade and eighth grade reading and math achievement using the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which has been testing children for more than thirty years to provide information to policy makers. In summary, the report concludes that after factoring for population differences, there is little difference in achievement for students in public vs. private education settings.
Perhaps best known as the "guy with the baseball cap," former Silicon Valley heavyweight and current U.S. General Consul to Bermuda Gregory Slayton, who spent years in Asia and Africa studying how to improve the economic situation of the poor in the Third World, has taken a stand on education.
With No Child Left Behind, there is an increasing focus on standardized testing as a means of assessment. This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it unique to the public school system. At every turn, there is a test waiting to be taken, whether for school, college or the workplace.But actual performance is routinely overlooked in favor of test scores in attempting to predict a student's subject mastery, readiness for higher education or ability to perform in the workforce.
Research overwhelmingly shows that parental involvement in education leads to greater student achievement. In fact, in his 1984 review of 29 studies of school-parent programs, Herbert J. Walberg found that the family's involvement in education was "twice as predictive of students' academic success as family socioeconomic status." More intensive programs lead to effects ten times greater than other factors.
The National Education Association approved a plan Monday to aggressively lobby Congress to reform the No Child Left Behind Act. Only three of the 9,000 members argued against the lobbying effort, saying the act was too flawed to reform.America's largest education union, the NEA has been critical of the act but this will be "the most organized effort to date."
A little known provision buried within the No Child Left Behind Act requires schools receiving federal funding to provide military recruiters with student information, including names, telephone numbers and addresses.The Pentagon's database includes birthdates, Social Security numbers, courses and majors, grade point averages, email addresses and ethnicity for high school and college students.
On June 20th, Kareem Elnahal gave his valedictory speech at Mainland Regional High School in Limwood, N.J., quite different from the speech school administrators were expecting. He does not look fondly upon his education, challenging what education has come to mean."Ladies and gentlemen, the spirit of intellectual thought is lost," Elnahal said.
With a growing number of security breaches involving the U.S. government mishandling personal data, it seems one would become increasingly wary of entrusting government entities with any information of a sensitive nature.Unless you are in Virginia and are trying to track sex offenders.
The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President Bush January 8, 2002 includes as one of its measures the standard to staff our public schools with "highly qualified teachers" by June 2007. The main difficulty with this is that school districts are suffering chronic teacher shortages across the nation.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
Gardner Goldsmith explains why claims by politicians that consumers can become "irrational" and why claims by the same politicians that government can help "fix" markets are both false and misleading. He also explains what the terms Praxeology and Epistemology mean, which is key in understanding how to place free markets in their proper place among human history.
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