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National standards talking points
/1 Comment/in Blog, Blog: Common Core, Blog: Education, Jim Stergios, News, Related Education Blogs /byAcross the country, the NGA and the CCSSO will be using these talking points over and over again. They will say that the proposed national standards are: 1) Aligned with college and career expectations; 2) Internationally benchmarked against high performing nations; 3) Reflective of vital cross-disciplinary skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, logical reasoning, communication, and team work; 4) Fewer in scope and deeper in meaning; and 5) Clearly written and user-friendly to educators. In Massachusetts, be prepared for them to focus on #4. Fewer they are right. Deeper they will claim.
Feel that boot on the neck yet?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byAs the National Governor Association and the Council of Chiefs (CCSSO) roll out the state-led, oops, sorry, national standards, they are distributing a sort of loyalty oath to a number of players in the industry. Remember that this is primarily about money, and the K-12 industry spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year in this country. Much of that is textbooks, and the reason the feds were livid with Texas is that it was a large buyer of textbooks and was uninterested in a centralized, national curriculum. So it decided not to participate. CA is not in yet either. Those are two mighty big prizes. But the NGA and CCSSO can have a big impact, especially with the Gates […]
They're national, not state standards
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byToday, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of state-led education standards, the Common Core State Standards, at Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, GA. The English-language arts and mathematics standards for grades K-12 were developed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including content experts, states, teachers, school administrators and parents. The standards establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work. That’s the first para in today’s NGA and the CCSSO’s press release. Notice the “state-led” language. For the longest time the Common Core standards have been marketed as “state standards.” This the CCSSI, […]
What A Difference 11 Months Makes…
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byDo you remember what the Patrick Administration spent last July doing? Carefully explaining that they would not kill cute, furry, beloved-by-children animals. Yep, it seems like a distant memory but the Administration was pinned down for a healthy chunk of July 2009 by the Franklin Park Zookeeper’s threats to shut down the zoo and let the state decide what animals would…ahem…be victims of cost-cutting.. Now, I’m a big fan of the zookeeper in question, but as a zookeeper not a political mastermind, so it was a curious sight to behold. The contrast with the present day is pretty clear. The GOV has found his political footing and is doing a creditable job of throwing political punches. Time flies in Massachusetts […]
Special Friday (late pm) redirect
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byGreg Sargent of the WaPo‘s Plum Line notes that the White House is floating out there that Bill Clinton was sent to speak to Joe Sestak (who defeated Arlen Specter in the D primary for US Senate) about “other options.” Floating Bill Clinton’s name on Friday morning while saying that they might be saying something else later in a Friday pm… Friday pm on Memorial Day weekend… strikes me as synonymous with: Guys, there is a bad story we are trying to redirect. Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he’d be open to other alternatives, according to sources […]
Protecting Our Inalienable Right to Subsidized Golf
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /bySometimes you wonder what is going on up on Beacon Hill. In the midst of the Senate budget debate, there was a proposal to put certain state assets like golf courses and swimming pools out for operation to private managers. As we’ve noted before, the results of doing this for skating rinks has been an across the board win — continued affordability, greater access, more capital investment, and less burden on the state budget. But Senator Timility has other ideas: I rise in opposition to this amendment…. I’ve played Ponkapoag for years. It’s on the farmland of Henry Pearson. When they donated the land in 1894, they said it would be open and free to the commonwealth forever. Ponkapoag pond, […]
Opponents of Reform: Infinitely Resilient
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe state’s plan to water down the MCAS test teaches us once again that those with an interest in opposing reform are infinitely patient and resourceful. That is why they very often win. We learned this, for example, when the MBTA instituted “management rights” in 1980. A great victory — until 18 years, in 1998, when many of these rights were gutted in a new contract Governor Cellucci approved during his campaign against Scott Harshbarger. I learned this in covering Amtrak for many years. The Clinton administration approved a plan that was to make Amtrak self-sustaining by 2002. The Bush-43 administration implemented some cost-saving measures proposed by the Amtrak Reform Council, and would not approve increased federal funding without state […]
It's official: VA declines to participate in RttT
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byOlympia Meola of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Virginia is quitting the Race to the Top. Why? It does not want to jettison its “Standards of Learning.” In a pointed letter to federal education officials relaying why Virginia will not reapply for the Obama administration’s grant program, Gov. Bob McDonnell said the Obama administration’s strong push for states to adopt common standards as a key part of the Race to the Top competitive program “is overly prescriptive and disregards individual state initiatives and progress.” States, like Virginia, that were not awarded grants in the $4 billion program’s first round could try again by June 1. Virginia sought $350 million the first time. The budget for its second bid is now […]
38 days in, we need a laugh
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /byWhile I am glad that BP has not taken up some home remedies, such as corks and pillows, their response and the government’s to what is an unmitigated disaster are anything but funny. We’ve crossed into millions of gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf and the wholesale destruction of species, estuaries and a way of life. We don’t have any sense as to the full damage caused. If you are the laugh rather than cry type, check out the Australian comedy team Clarke and Dawes as they give their take on an oil spill resulting from the front falling off an oil tanker down under. Some folks actually took this to be a real interview with a real politician.
Nothing to fear but lower student achievement…
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byDid anyone actually think that during a campaign season the MCAS debate would come back in full force? It’s odd, given the strong public support for the test, but it is happening. And in the tradition of the Good Ol’ American Way, money is driving the debate. The feds are promoting national math and English/reading standards for K-12 schools by offering $320 million, perhaps split among two groups, for the development of the standards and the assessments. A Globe editorial entitled Nothing to Fear in Experiment to Improve Testing opines today that Massachusetts has, academically, nothing to lose if it abandons the MCAS because There is a greater likelihood that the exam that measures student achievement in Massachusetts will go […]
Sidewalk Superintendent Series: The Seaport
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /by(An irregular series on public space. Downtown Crossing covered here.) I’ve heard several of Boston’s ‘great and good’ refer to the Seaport District as a success. I beg to differ. Press the arrow on the slide show below and take a look at the slide show of the district that we took in mid-December 2009 between 12:30 and 1 PM. What’s your reaction? My first one was to ask the photographer (Pioneer’s own, redoubtable Peter Begley) if he deliberately left people out of the shots. He said he only delayed a single shot to let one person clear the frame, everything else is candid. My second reaction was: where is everybody? I know its December, but its lunchtime on a […]
Fun Brownie Recipe
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byHow many pages does it take the federal government to address the pivotal issue of brownie ingredients, baking, and storage? 26.
Uncomfortable Juxtaposition
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byFrom Today’s Globe: “Massachusetts education officials are quietly putting together a proposal to scrap the controversial MCAS exams in English and math and replace them with new tests they are developing with about two dozen other states.” From 2006 Globe and State House News accounts (sorry, MA library card req. for access): …Thomas F. Birmingham, a former Senate president and a candidate for governor in 2002, said at a Pioneer Institute breakfast forum Thursday. “In this regard, I’m a bit discomfited that one of the leading candidates for governor is, in my opinion, ambiguous on the issue of even retaining MCAS as a graduation requirement.”… …In an e-mailed statement… Patrick spokeswoman Libby DeVecchi said the campaign has reached out to […]
Stop floating – start swimming
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byMonica Brady-Meyerov has an interesting report on WBUR. Seems the state is thinking about pulling up stakes on its Race to the Top application. The submission deadline of June 1 is coming up fast. It’s Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester who floats the bad news. “We are full speed ahead working toward a submission,” Chester said, “but we are doing a calculus as to whether or not the competition is stacked against Massachusetts or whether or not it’s a level playing field.” Competition stacked? Not a level playing field? Not sure what that means, but there are two things the Ed Commish seems to want movement on: Chester says it’s “maddening” that in the first round of the grant competition the […]
Best (?) of Massachusetts
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byOn Tuesday, The Boston Globe published its annual Best of Massachusetts Business list. This is of the genre of U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings, which is to say more circulation-promotion than journalism. The Globe did explain its methodology and some readers may find something useful in it. What I gleaned is based on a recent conversation with Chris Bertelsen of Aviance Capital Management, a highly respected financial analyst. Chris noted that American companies are currently positioned to do very well. The rub is that opportunity knocks not mainly in the United States in its current economic condition, but in rising economies including (but not confined to) Brazil and India. (He interestingly has doubts about China.) The Globe confined […]