PLAIN TALK ABOUT SCHOOLS

AN AFRICAN-CENTERED SUCCESS STORY: J.S.Chick Elementary School

2006-06-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Students at Chick elementary play drums during harambee, a weekly event to celebrate student achievements. MARY KNOX MERRILL - STAFF
An African-centered success story
Test scores exceed state averages at J.S. Chick elementary school, where African-American students view themselves as leaders.
By Stacy A. Teicher Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor KANSAS CITY, MO. – Before starting their project, a quartet of fifth-graders at J.S. Chick elementary school decides to make a pledge. They raise their right hands and promise they'll do their best work to honor Malcolm X. Then they busily create a collage and an essay about his life as a civil rights leader, a one-time prisoner, and a Muslim.
"He influenced me to be my best at everything I want to do ... and to set goals in order to achieve," a wide-eyed Mariah Wright declares when asked what she's learned from studying Malcolm X.

'With the African-centered model, we ... look at [slavery] as part of the context of our history and our struggle, but only a small piece.' - Kevin Bullard, who coordinates African-centered education in Kansas City, Mo.

Down the hall, half a dozen fourth-grade boys in the "Tanzania" classroom gather in a line, facing a student leader. They march in place with one arm raised as if holding a shield. Among the chants they offer up, based on an African rite of passage, is an affirmation of unity: "Together we will work. Together we will win."
At Chick, everything from the curriculum to the interactions between teachers and parents is based on the history and culture of Africa and its diaspora. A public magnet school, it welcomes people of all backgrounds, but 99 percent of its 300 students are African-American.
Its success is measured not only by test scores that are above the statewide average, but also by students learning to see themselves as leaders, entrepreneurs, and contributors to the community (see story below). The African-centered approach, like many school-reform efforts focused on various themes, relies largely on family involvement and developing curriculum and teaching skills to bring out students' strengths.
As calls for closing achievement gaps grow louder nationwide, it's a model being tried or getting a closer look in cities with large African-American communities. But it's not easy to replicate. Attempts to expand African-centered education within Kansas City have at times been met with concerns that it is too narrowly focused on one racial group. And if there's instability in leadership or high teacher turnover, it can take a long time to produce academic gains.
How a coalition transformed Chick
Here in Kansas City, Mo., a grass-roots effort among African-American educators and parents transformed Chick into an African-centered school in 1991.
"For many of us who went through the public school system, the way our history was presented to us was from slavery to freedom," says Kevin Bullard, coordinator of African-centered education at several schools in the district. "With the African-centered model, we ... look at that as part of the context of our history and our struggle, but only a small piece." Their timeline includes the intellectual legacy of ancient African civilizations.
"[We] incorporate the cultural traditions and value systems into the curriculum, so if students are sitting in a math class or ... a social studies class, they're seeing themselves within the world of learning.... It becomes very empowering to them, and to parents," Mr. Bullard adds.
Each Monday morning at Chick, the whole school participates in harambee, a Swahili word for "coming together." As students drum and lead self-affirming chants and dances, the room vibrates with the cadences of a community.
Teachers call up students who have earned "rosettes" - awards for attendance, academics, and managing their behavior. It's all part of demonstrating Kujichagulia, or self-determination, one of the seven principles associated with Kwanzaa celebrations.
Family members take time off from work and line the sides of the gym/auditorium, jumping up to snap photos. "She's a hard worker, always has been," says Kevin Wells after seeing his fourth-grade daughter, Aliyah, earn a purple rosette, the highest level. "I feel like I did a good job, and I earned it," Aliyah says, taking a break from a line dance.
Parents routinely talk of their children blossoming here, gaining confidence, and coming home eager to work. While the focus on African and black American historical figures helps spark their interest, they learn broad subject matter and are prepared for a multicultural experience after Chick, says James Adams, father of a third-grade girl.
One premise of African-centered schools is that "black kids are brilliant, and black kids can learn - and those are two things that are seldom a part of the larger society's view of black children," says Lisa Delpit, executive director of the Center for Urban Education & Innovation at Florida International University in Miami. She tells of an African-American middle schooler who asked why she was being taught to multiply, believing black people only add and subtract while white people learn multiplication. "Children internalize the society's views," Ms. Delpit says.
Parents pledge their support
That's one reason Jennifer Gordon, chair of the parents' School Advisory Committee, is so happy with her fourth-grader Johnny's experience. "I'm a single parent, and this school has provided much more in terms of self-esteem than I could ever do at home," she says. "I want him to be a leader in the world. To know who he is. To know that he counts."
Parents learn about the philosophy and the expectations at the school and sign a pledge of support. Staff training helps everyone from custodians to teachers become effective members of "the village." Grandparents help in the classrooms. The community involvement has helped Chick achieve 99 percent attendance and a near-total absence of serious discipline problems.
"We know it is really important that every individual who works here should believe in what we are doing ... and believe that every child is capable and can learn," says Audrey Bullard, the principal who led Chick's transformation into an African-centered school. She's also mother to coordinator Bullard.
"In order for the academics to prove to be successful, as defined by state testing, students need to have a clear sense of what's expected of them," Ms. Bullard says. "So behavior and character development is so important.... If they go in with an attitude of, 'I want to show the world what I know,' then they are more apt to put forth a greater effort."
Since the black-power movement of the 1970s, African-centered education has attracted both criticism and praise.
"The danger is, when [such schools] are in the hands of people who are very ideological ... they teach stereotypes," says Gary Orfield, cofounder of The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. But when it's not ideological or exclusionary, it can be a fine option, like any magnet-school theme, he says. Research suggests that "if you've got a community of teachers who really work together effectively ... and care about the kids - those things are really important."
In general, integrated schools are best, Mr. Orfield maintains, especially now that American society is so multicultural. But many urban districts continue to have a high concentration of minority students. Despite a decades-long desegregation lawsuit that ended in 2003, 70 percent of Kansas City's schoolchildren are African-American and only 13 percent are white.
The court-ordered approach in Kansas City focused on trying to attract white students by creating magnet schools with top-notch facilities and themes ranging from technology to Latin. Meanwhile, African-American teachers and families at Chick, then a neighborhood school, decided to take academic improvement into their own hands. Leaders of the African-centered movement were not pleased with the message they believed had been implied: that in order for black children to do better, they needed to wait for white role models to come sit next to them in school.
When its test scores began to rise dramatically, Chick became a magnet school. Educators have visited from as far away as Japan and Brazil, Mr. Bullard says.
One recent example of how Chick has reversed the oft-cited achievement gap between white and black students: On the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) fourth-grade math test in 2005, 48 percent of Chick students scored at the proficient or advanced level. Statewide, only 24 percent of black students and 36 percent of white students scored that high.
In 1995, the judge overseeing the desegregation case, impressed by Chick's success, agreed with a proposal to implement the African model at another elementary school, Sanford B. Ladd. Ladd went on to be recognized as one of the most improved schools in the state.
A middle school also took on the African theme several years ago, but its leadership has been in flux and it hasn't made strong achievement gains. Bullard says he believes those changes will come on the coattails of improvements in teaching and student behavior, which are under way. All three schools follow state and district curriculum standards.
Making sure that everybody fits in
Bullard and the community-based African Centered Education Task Force recently proposed a new school that would run from Grades 6 to 12, with an "early college" approach for the high school grades. A vote by the school board is expected in the next few months.
As Bullard walks through the schools, he greets teachers and parents with a hug and a call of Jambo, Swahili for "hello."
At the African-centered Clarke middle school, he shares office space with Terri Brown, cultural arts instructor for the three schools. Students take one to three classes a week in African drumming and dance, but more important, cultural arts are integrated throughout the curriculum, she says. A recent focus on dances from the Harlem Renaissance (think Lindy Hop and swing) used a timeline to explore historical events and even to prompt math exercises. As someone who has studied in Africa and under American dance greats such as the late Katherine Dunham, Ms. Brown sums up one of the school's philosophies this way: "The arts are academics."
In a computer class, African-American eighth-grader Dwayne Hathaway says he likes Clarke because "the teachers urge us on to do better in school." His classmate, sixth-grader Lucky Bui, an Asian-American who attended Chick elementary school, smiles and nods when asked if he, too, enjoys the school. "Everybody in the school makes sure everybody fits in," says Dwayne, casting a brotherly look Lucky's way.

CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP: MUSCATINE, IOWA

2006-06-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2006
Few schools match Madison Elementary in Muscatine in closing the achievement gap between white and minority students.It won a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award last fall - recognition that 100 percent of fourth-graders had scored as proficient in math and 97 percent in reading.Other schools should copy Madison's commitment.Outside, the unassuming blond-brick school looks its 50-plus years. Inside, the combination of high expectations and targeted strategies produces results.No excuses are made for poverty or language barriers. More than half of youngsters take free or reduced-price lunch, including some who live in motel rooms. About a third of 236 students are Latino. Thirty-three children are learning English as a second language.
Extra help availableWhat's routine at Madison Elementary is extraordinary compared with approaches at other Iowa schools:- A tutorial class is conducted after school for two hours every Monday. Elena Macias, a teacher associate in the English-as-a-second-language program, volunteers her time.- Every morning before school, a half hour is set aside for practicing reading and math with the SuccessMaker computer program. About 35 students usually are waiting when the school doors open at 7:50 a.m.- Most regular-classroom teachers have taken courses in how to teach English as a second language, so they know strategies to speed learning.- English-language learners study topics a step ahead of the regular classroom, so they're familiar with what they will learn next.- Small groups of children meet monthly with staff mentors to discuss attending school every day, being good citizens and setting academic goals.- Families are encouraged to participate in each child's education. A meeting conducted entirely in Spanish this year made it easier for parents to discuss issues, said Principal Joelle McConnaha.The list is impressive, but the initiatives aren't such big-ticket items that they're out of reach for other Iowa schools."The bottom line is: How do you get high student achievement?" McConnaha asked.That question is being asked around the country.
A focus nationwideLatino students make up about a fifth of public-school enrollment in the United States. As a group, achievement is low. Hispanic fourth-graders are far behind white fourth-graders in math and reading, according to results of the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation's report card.Such poor academic performance will have serious repercussions."Without doing what is right and moral in improving educational opportunities and outcomes for minority children, the long-term prospects for maintaining the economic vitality of the country are doubtful," concluded a 2003 report, "Closing Achievement Gaps, Improving Educational Outcomes for Hispanic Children," issued by the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators and The Tomבs Rivera Policy Institute.Hector Sanchez of the Washington-based Education Trust said there is an essential first step to closing the gap: "We need to make sure we have high expectations for these kids and believe they can learn at high levels."
Teacher training a keyHambrick Middle School in Aldine, Texas, home to many low-income Latino students, has shown what's possible. It was highlighted in a 2004 report by the Education Trust. Seventh- and eighth-graders scored in the top fifth of all Texas middle schools in reading and math over three years.Andrew Cook, assistant principal at Hambrick and a native of Duncombe, Ia., explained the school's success this way:"It really is having high expectations. But then you have to have a culturally diverse staff and culturally diverse texts and materials to get the kids motivated. You just don't sit and lecture. The kids might have projects, and they teach the class one day. You don't just do paper-and-pencil kinds of tests, or go from page one to page 100 of the book."Extensive ongoing training in best methods for teaching math and reading has been a factor, Cook said.
Sustaining the effortHere in Iowa, Madison Elementary's achievements deserve highlighting.The test scores that won the Blue Ribbon Award were from 2003-04, when Barb Hyman was principal. Hyman, principal for nearly a decade, said Madison students' scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills weren't always something to brag about. So, even before the federal No Child Left Behind law, the school took a hard look at itself.New approaches were put in place, but the teachers made the difference, she said.Still, sustaining high achievement requires constant attention.In the school year that just ended, scores dipped slightly but still far exceeded Iowa's average: 97 percent of fourth-graders at Madison were proficient in math, versus 79 percent statewide, and in reading, 88 percent were proficient, versus 78 percent statewide.
Promote what worksThe Iowa Department of Education should do more to showcase Iowa schools like Madison that have been most successful in closing the achievement gap. The State Board of Education presents annual awards to districts that have made significant improvement - five were honored in 2005 - but this information deserves prominent display on its Web site. Training can be developed based on the schools' best practices.Likewise, the Legislature should renew grants it provided for reducing the achievement gap with researched-based strategies. Four grants of $125,000 each were awarded to Des Moines, Carroll, West Liberty and Davenport.A report was made to the State Board last November. But lawmakers did not provide money to continue the program.It's a mistake to think the achievement gap can be closed with uneven efforts.Give educators plenty of home-grown examples of success. Although few Iowa schools match Madison now, many more could.DesMoinesRegister.com

A KIDS' PRINCIPAL

2006-02-02T01:03:00.000-08:00

012606 news1Polkonline.comKevin Cuppett believes in trying new things and overcoming uncomfortable situations as a way to mature and grow.-->
New principal impresses parents
Special programs sprout up at Green Valley Elementary
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006
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by Patrick Dunne
Staff Writer
Click here to enlarge this photo
Graham Cullen⁄Special to The GazetteGreen Valley Elementary School parent Jenny Beiter (front) and targeted reading intervention teacher Nancy Cornelison participate in a discussion with Green Valley Principal Kevin Cuppett Friday morning. Cuppett, who took over principal duties this school year, has made involving parents in the school a top priority.
Kevin Cuppett believes in trying new things and overcoming uncomfortable situations as a way to mature and grow.
The Green Valley Elementary School principal had no trouble doing just that when he rode the school bus to help a nervous first-grader adjust to the new experience.
‘‘He was having separation anxiety or whatever term you want to apply to that,” Cuppett said. ‘‘So I ended up riding the bus with him I think three days in a row, in order to help him overcome that fear.”
Jenny Biter, the boy’s mother, was overwhelmed with her first impression of the new principal.
‘‘He met us at the stop, got onto the bus and threw his car keys out the window,” she said. ‘‘It meant a lot to us that the principal helped a scared first-grader.”
In fact, parents who volunteer for the school’s new kindergarten reading program said that Cuppett has been everywhere in his first several months at the school.
When he first started in August, Cuppett told The Gazette that he wanted to see the school from every possible angle — from the perspective of the students, parents, teachers and staff. It’s a trick he picked up as an assistant principal at South Frederick Elementary School.
Parents noted the enthusiasm since the first day.
‘‘He knew several of the kids’ names when they came to school,” parent Janice Barrett said.
Barett, Biter and other parents volunteer for the new PEAK — Parents Enriching and Accelerating Kids — program. They help kindergarten students improve reading skills for 30 minutes, three times each week. The areas of improvement are outlined by the school’s teachers.
The program started at Myersville Elementary School. Cuppett and other staff members adapted it to fit Green Valley Elementary.
Both former teachers, Barrett and Biter said they appreciated the chance to use their education skills to volunteer for the school.
Eilene Mullen, another parent volunteer, said she appreciated the expression on the students’ faces when they made the connection between words on the page and tangible things.
‘‘We absolutely love [Cuppett], and the kids love him, too,” Mullen said.
Cuppett meets with the group on a regular basis, and he also volunteered for PEAK when one parent couldn’t commit.
The program is one method to involve parents more in the school, one of Cuppett’s primary goals for the year.
Parents are also involved in committees that focus on specific goals outlined by the National PTA.
The ‘‘Goal Two” and ‘‘Goal Four” committees are tasked with creating ways the school’s staff can create a safe environment to foster education, and providing feedback on the programs.
The family involvement and goal committees have expanded to allow more parents to participate in their children’s education.
‘‘We want to be in a constant cycle of improvement,” Cuppett said.
Parent volunteers are the first and easiest way to enhance the school’s programs, he said, as well as provide feedback on classes and activities.
The committees are ways beyond the standard PTA to get involved in the school.
‘‘Parents in this community care very deeply about being involved in their children’s education,” Cuppett said. ‘‘All of this ties into the goal of being able to prepare them for life.”
In the meantime, Cuppett looks forward to challenging himself, the students and staff of Green Valley Elementary to try new things and become involved — even if that means riding the bus to school on occasion.
For information on the parent volunteer opportunities at Green Valley Elementary, call the school at 240-236-3400.
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2005-04-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Rooms by the Sea (Edward Hopper)

SUCCESS STORIES

2005-03-24T01:09:00.000-08:00

Looking at Improvement, Not MiraclesBy MICHAEL WINERIP Published: March 23, 2005 (NEW YORK TIMES)
.S. 105 in Far Rockaway, Queens - where students are so poor, 100 percent get free lunches - is the kind of somewhat hopeful education story that is rarely told.
Thanks to a strong principal who's been there for seven years and an impressive infusion of city money to help develop a talented teaching staff, the number of students proficient in math has increased fivefold since the late 1990's; in English, proficiency has tripled.
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But for people seeking miracles, there is no miracle here. Test scores have hit a plateau and the staff is struggling to make adjustments. P.S. 105 is not as exciting as the "Texas miracle" or the charter school revolution or the No Child Left Behind law, which claims every student can be proficient by 2014.
Poverty has not been defeated here. As impressive as the gains have been, half the students still cannot pass state and city math tests; two-thirds are still not proficient in reading.
No single politician or philanthropist can take credit for P.S. 105's progress, and that, too, may explain why such schools are overlooked by the news media. The generous support it has received over seven years has spanned three chancellors, starting with Rudy Crew, then Harold O. Levy and Joel I. Klein. This has enabled P.S. 105 to reduce class size to as low as 15, pay 15 percent higher salaries to attract better teachers, and hire literacy and math specialists to support teachers.
In the late 1990's P.S. 105 was on the state's failing list. Ten percent of students were proficient in math, 9 percent in reading. Student fights were common; parents roamed the halls. "Kids would be standing on the lunch tables screaming," says Bonnie Petrone, a teacher.
Parents were angry the school was so bad and blamed teachers. "I'd walk by parents," said Iris Heidingsfelder, a veteran teacher, "and hear 'white bitch.' " Teachers were angry and blamed the administration. The union filed two to three grievances a month.
Then in 1998, Laurie Shapiro, who had been a teacher and district administrator for 17 years, was named principal. The change began. "The first year was spent on tone and climate," says Ms. Shapiro. She moved the security guard nearer the front door, so parents couldn't wander in. She instilled discipline; she just raises her hand now and the cafeteria goes silent.
She is first to arrive, last to leave. When teachers call in sick at 7 a.m., a secretary does not answer, Ms. Shapiro does. "It's very intimidating," says Ms. Heidingsfelder. "It makes you not want to call in sick."
"I don't ask anyone to do what I don't do myself," says Ms. Shapiro, who's missed five days in seven years.
Ms. Shapiro has found that people accept toughness if it's evenly distributed. According to Theresa Pepe, P.S. 105's union rep, just one grievance has been filed in Ms. Shapiro's seven years as principal.
Parent involvement grew. The parent association president, Becky Bonilla, volunteers daily at the school. The paid parent coordinator, a position added citywide by Mr. Klein, has been "a big help," says Ms. Pepe.
But tone and climate did not change scores. That began in 1999, when P.S. 105 was placed in the chancellor's special district, created by Dr. Crew for failing schools. "God bless Rudy Crew," says Ms. Heidingsfelder. "We were flooded with resources." A dozen rooms were opened by moving the fifth grade and 10 special ed classes to other schools. Ten new teaching positions were added. Shawnya Johnson went from 28 to 18 first graders. "You could finally give every child time," she says.
The science teacher, Susan Masullo, no longer wheeled supplies from room to room on a cart. She got Room 319 and filled it with skeletons, a bank of computers, an aquarium and bones that turn rubbery in vinegar.
The chancellor's district paid teachers 15 percent extra. In return, teachers started school a week early and worked 3.5 more hours a week, tutoring students after school and being trained in Success for All, a reading program emphasizing phonics and decoding.

Looking at Improvement, Not Miracles Published: March 23, 2005
(Page 2 of 2)
Test scores soared, from 8.8 percent reading at proficiency in 1999 to 28.6 percent in 2001; from 10.2 percent in math in 1999 to 50.7 percent in 2003. This helped P.S. 105 become one of 31 city schools selected to get a new $1 million library (a program started by Mr. Levy and continued by Mr. Klein).
Though P.S. 105 was no longer failing, the extra resources continued under Mr. Levy and Mr. Klein.
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If the story ended there, we'd have the P.S. 105 miracle! But viewed close up, there are few education miracles. The Texas miracle has been punctured by scandals involving falsified dropout rates and cheating on tests. The charter school revolution has been deflated by national studies showing charters' test scores trailing regular public schools'. As for No Child Left Behind, if only the law were as good as its name.
P.S. 105's reading scores leveled off at 28 percent proficiency; math scores dipped from 50.7 proficient to 44.5 percent last year.
Ms. Shapiro has explanations but no answers. Transience is a problem at poor schools; 47 new students have entered P.S. 105 in the last two months, a big influx for a school of 600.
Last year the school added fifth-grade classes; 30 percent of those students were new. While 61 percent of fourth graders passed the math test, only 22 percent of fifth graders passed, lowering the school average. This year there is a new challenge - sixth-grade classes.
No curriculum is perfect. Success for All was great for teaching decoding up to grade two, Ms. Shapiro says, but not for developing reading fluency in older children. And before the school could adjust, Mr. Klein introduced a new curriculum, balanced literacy. "A new curriculum takes a few years for teachers to master," she says. "That affects scores."
As the school grew stronger, special ed classes were added and that lowered scores.
Still, Ms. Shapiro remains hopeful. She spends her Tuesday and Wednesday lunches tutoring two special ed students. She spends Friday lunch playing Scrabble with a group of boys.
Teachers notice. "I love coming to work here," says Ms. Johnson, who recently bought kites for her first graders and has ladybugs stored in her refrigerator for a unit on insects.

KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS!

2005-03-24T00:56:00.000-08:00

"NO ACT OF KINDNESS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, IS EVER WASTED" hung on many a refrigerator in the homes of the children in our elementary school. During the 70's our teachers wanted to acknowledge and encourage daily acts of kindness and created a school KINDNESS IS .....card. Anyone who observed another person in the school doing a kind deed, no matter how small, jotted down a description of the deed on a simple card, available throughout the school, and passed it on to that person, be it teacher, student, bus driver, teacher aide, custodian, principal or even the fire chief--who one glorious spring afternoon gave everyone a surprise break with an unexpected fire drill. I remember passing on the Kindness Card to the fire chief!

In the 90s, "random acts of kindness " gained popularity through the graciousness of Oprah Winfrey and the publication of the collection of Random Acts of Kindness by Daphne Rose Kingma, Conari Press(1993).

In 1995, the RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS FOUNDATION was founded. It contains a comprehensive list of inspirational quotes, many ideas for and by teachers, and is only one click away!

http://www.actsofkindness.org/index.asp

BUMPER STICKER

2005-03-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

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IF YOU CAN READ THIS

THANK A TEACHER!!

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I spotted this bumper sticker on Interstate 95(?) while driving with my wife and children on a summer camping trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the mid-1970s.

How many other teachers would see the same bumper sticker and be struck as I was by its simple message of appreciation? A short "thank you" can certainly travel a long way.

MANY CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND

2005-03-17T04:53:00.000-08:00

This book is a project of the Forum for Education and Democracy with chapters by Deorah Meier, Alfie Kohn, Linda Darling-Hammond, Theodore R. Sizer and George Wood. Subtitled How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools, the authors state their case brilliantly. Those of us who are advocates of all childen need to read and reread this document so those bureaucrats, who believe thay have found the panacea for educating all of our children, won't be able to continue to push endless tests and minimalistic concepts of what education is upon our children, teachers and parents .

Linda Darling-Hammond is so eloquent. In a section entitled "To Test or Invest" (page 9) she states "The biggest problem with the NCLB Act is that it mistakes measuring schools for fixing them." In a few words she has capsulized the whole problem wth NCLB as it is written and as it is being implemented by educators who are caught in a terrible bind.

(In one elementary school I visited in the fall of 2004 in a wealthy suburban school district , I observed a teacher individually administering a state test to a special education child in the hallway while the remainder of the class was taking the test almost unmonitored in the classroom. The teacher stepped into the classroom every 5 or 6 minutes for a few moments, however, while she was in the hallway, kids were whispering to each other within the classroom. One doesn't need to be a former teacher or principal, as I was, to make an educated guess as to what the whispers were related . And this observation was just by coincidence as I had no interest whatsoever in visiting those classrooms which were involved with mandated state testing on that particular day.)

This book is a must for every educator, parent, and citizen who wants to protect our children, their schools and their futures from being chopped up into bits and pieces and thrown into the wind.

If you click on the heading, Many Children Left Behind, you will connect to a link to THE FORUM FOR EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY.

More about BUREAUCRAP in education and in our daily lives on another day.

Testing Continued

2005-03-10T03:23:00.000-08:00

I guess I failed my first test as I was testing out how to do a posting and I mistakenly clicked on the wrong spot and posted the posting before it was ready to be posted. (Luckily it wasn't the SATs)

Anyway, as you may have guessed, I have many concerns regarding the testing craze or craziness that is sweeping America. It isn't too difficult to figure out who will be the biggest beneficiaries as hundreds of millions of dollars are spent yearly on these pieces of paper consuming hours and hours of valuable teaching time and turning our kids into TESTOCRATS from the first grade and America into a thoughtless TESTOCRACY!

I hope my readers, if anyone ever does read this BLOG, will send in their ideas for continuation of my DETESTING TESTS tongue twister on my previous posting.

Need to run to take my 6 year old granddaughter on a little after -school excursion, however, tomorrow I want to post some info regarding Deborah Meier's new book--Many Children Left Behind.

TESTING

2005-03-10T03:15:00.000-08:00

HOW MANY TESTS CAN A TEST TAKER TAKE IF A TEST TAKER DETESTS TESTS?