What may be the problem...modern education

Discounted State University Tuition For Illegal Immigrants In Massachusetts

Massachusetts politicians are arguing whether to let the children of "illegal immigrants" residing in Massachusetts go to state Universities with resident discounts. This will just draw more illegal residents to Massacusetts for discounted tuition for their children.

Let's throw them out of our state rather than invite them in with open arms.
We should all support Romney and Healey in Massachusetts with regard to this issue.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...illy_romney_spar_over_immigrant_tuition_bill/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/11/02/healey_tuition_remarks_draw_outrage/

 

sammy, this may just be the smartest thing you have come up with in any of your posts. I believe you should follow through with this thought and do exactly that.
Of course you will have to overcome two very serious problems; that is the general public will not believe it's the smart thing to do when they appoint the Fox to guard the Hen house.
And as important, you will have to convince your current associates that you won't use the knowledge about their activities, or lack of activies, against them once you are on the board.
I will guarantee you one thing and that is "Your attitude and thinking will take a 180% turn from what it is now.
So if your not all talk, go ahead and run for the board.

 

When it comes right down to it, I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can attend college, open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

To prove what you said, juat look at what has happened in California!
Enough said.

 

Sam school board is mucho work. No time to grade those papers. BTW what makes a good administrator anyway?

 

Actually the biggest thing I'd have to overcome is that I'm... shall we say... a minority in the district. I'd never win.

If that weren't the case however, I assure you that my "current associates" wouldn't have to worry about me using "the knowledge about their activities, or lack of activies against them." Maybe it's done differently by you.

I don't want to be an administrator. I've been asked to go that route by several people, I don't want to. It's not what nor why I got into education for. It's not where I want to be. I may complain about how things are run, but bottom line is that I'm very much interested in being in the classroom (for better or worse), and continuing to research better ways of doing what I do. I've already done the boring, late night meetings with people I can't stand, discussing (I'll say that loosely) and arguing about things which make you want to throw your hands in the air and smack people.

If every board is even a quarter as dysfunctional, agressive, corrupt, and void of common sense, then it doesn't surprise me that we're in a sorry state. It can't be as bad as it is here everywhere. This is my last year in this district, though I really like the population of the children, it just isn't going to change here.

Without going into it too much, the leaders of the community have let the city crumble, and these leaders have their buddies in the district (everyone knows someone) and it's just impossible to break up all of this. It is just a cycle that won't be broken for some time, even though the majority of the city is now Hispanic. The leaders of the past population are here to stay.

I almost moved to NY and got a job here: http://bronxarts.net/

That would have been quite a change. I'm pretty situated here though and decided against moving back East, for now.

 

Illegal Aliens in Massachusetts will qualify for the same benefits automatically as full fledged Massachesetts residents. Plain and simple, I don't want my tax dollars going towards illegal immigrants going to my state institutions. If they are here legally, fine. But if not, my tax dollars can be better spent.

 

Written By: Lance T. Izumi, director of education studies and senior fellow in California studies at the Pacific Research Institute.
Published In: School Reform News

According to a Pacific Research Institute study of California's teacher tenure system, a tenured teacher "cannot be dismissed solely for failing to improve student achievement."

In addition, the study reported, "if students consistently fail to advance under one teacher, there is no explicit provision that allows districts to commence the dismissal process." An educational system that rewards and protects a bad teacher at the expense of a child is wrong.

In The Worm in the Apple (2003), an exposé of teacher unions, former Forbes editor Peter Brimelow quoted an attorney who said teacher termination hearings in California are "as detailed, as voluminous and painstaking as the O. J. [Simpson] trial."

Brimelow's book recounts the case of Juliet Ellery, a San Diego-area high school teacher who refused to answer students' questions, demeaned and insulted students, and refused to adhere to lesson plans. Frustrated students circulated a petition to have her dismissed.

The district then spent eight years and $300,000 trying to fire Ellery. Although her teaching credential was eventually suspended for one year, Ellery returned to teaching after the suspension.

According to the state Office of Administrative Hearings, in the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1990 to 1999, only 13 dismissal panels were convened and just one tenured teacher's case went through the dismissal process from beginning to end.


Additional Reform Efforts

An education reform organization, the Teaching Commission, chaired by former IBM head Louis Gerstner, recently recommended teachers' pay be based on performance as measured by frequent individual teacher evaluations that include assessments of student achievement and teacher skills.

The commission recommended a value-added assessment system that looks at annual improvements in student performance as measured by state tests.

That system would then estimate how much a teacher has contributed to a student's gains, factoring in projections based on past performance. A teacher who raised students' scores significantly would be deemed effective.

In a June 2004 report, "Putting Education to the Test: A Value-Added Model for California," the Pacific Research Institute proposed a value-added assessment model for California that includes many of the elements recommended by the commission, only to be apposed by the National Education Association’s local chapter.

 

An educational system that rewards teachers based soley on a week long standardized test score is wrong. There is more to teaching than one test. Does underlining things help you understand? It sure helps me.

Golly gee, if an education reform organization chaired by former IBM head Louis Gerstner recommended teachers' pay be based on performance as measured by frequent individual teacher evaluations that include assessments of student achievement and teacher skills, then let's ignore all the reasons it's a terrible idea and just do it!

Because that's the only way to measure students. Give them a one week, multiple choice test in April, design it however you like, and pay teachers based on the results. Great idea.

Let's ignore any other factor that could contribute to a student's success or failure. Problems at home? Teacher's fault. All this despite the fact that some districts don't provide current curriculum (some not at all), or even paper and pencils for students (teacher's fault, teacher's responsibility), not to mention the current NCLB mind-set that anyone and everyone can be placed in any class (which surely doesn't affect anything), that behavior and attendance may not be dealt with by administration or home, and that there are about 1,000 others.

A teacher who raised students' scores significantly... Would that be "exactly significantly," or is this a gray area, or is this still open for discussion? I propose a minimum of two grade levels of advancement.

Ignore all of that.

Ohh that's right, the NEA doesn't ignore all of that and is a group of educators who understand this.

There is already too much emphasis placed upon preparing students for standardized tests. Tell me why, if I am paid solely on how my students score on stardardized tests, why why why should I prepare them to do anything more then perform well on standardized tests? Tell me why I should have them write sentences and papers and respond orally to questions? They are not required to respond orally on standardized tests. They are not required to write sentences on standardized tests. They are not required to write paragraphs and write papers on standardized tests? Why should I waste my time and theirs?

I will teach them how to proofread (which is what stardardized tests test in most areas of language arts, not actual skills and understanding). They only need to be able to identify which sentence out of three is missing the comma, and choose the correct letter, they need not be able to actually write it themselves. If they connect that, great. If not, doesn't matter, it's not tested, why waste time on it? Why learn how to spell words when all ones needs to be able to do is identify misspelled words and choose the correct bubble?

We shall concentrate on test taking strategies. Shortcuts, managing time. We will practice it every day. They will be ready for the test. Their placement depends on it. My pay depends on it. I cannot afford to make less, nor will I make less. In fact, the better they do, the more I make. They will do well. They will understand that they will do well. They will understand this objective from day one. They will satisfy the objective and succeed.

If all you want is higher test scores, I will give you higher test scores. There will be no music, singing, music programs. It is not tested. There will be no art, coloring, or any such creative things remotely related. It is not tested. There will be no PE. It is not tested. In 2nd grade, science is not tested. there will be no science. Social Studies is not tested, there will be no Social Studies. We will focus on what is tested, and only on what is tested.

It will be black and white. It will be mulitple choice. They will succeed. Everyone will be happy.

 

What I find is someone who’s world begins and ends with the lower grades, and what can NOT be accomplished for any number of reasons. Moen, you and your left wing union (NEA) will not give anything a chance to work, unless it is thought up and controlled by only the professionals such as yourself. After all, you said you are the only one who knows what is good and all the rest of us are only gussing and have no clue. (your statement) It is also my belief that you will go on complaining and finding reasons for not changing a dead or dying institution. Not because you don’t care, but because you have no answers and refuse to accept them from anyone else, unless they be a teacher with a masters degree and seven years of experience. These seem to be the only peers you recognize. What a shame because it will result in your becomming just another burnt out piece of what ever, sitting around complaining, turning out brain dead students and wishing someone would come up with a solution. This concludes my answering any more of your “crafty” come-backs, as it is like standing and talking to a ‘snubbing” post. Goodby and good luck, you will need it!

 

I do not have all the answers. That's an honest statement. I probably never will. I do know a few things however, and one of them is that too much emphasis is placed on a black and white, multiple choice test that comes before the end of the year. Whether one thinks the test is "fair" is up for debate.

I also know that the amount of standards is overwhelming for students and teachers and I feel that reducing the number of standards to a core amount would be beneficial. Once this is done, buy/develop curriculum which will actually teach these standards so that students will master them. What you have now is the "jack of all trades, master of none" approach.

I'm actually more than willing to give anything a chance to work, but I am not willing to give blatantly obviously wrong things a chance. What I want is what is often lacking, and that is common sense. OK, you have too many standards (everyone knows it), reduce to a core, have curriculum that will help students master them. To me, it's not difficult.

Our math program is a prime example of how not to do it. It teaches math, chapter by chapter (geometry, time, money, addition, subtraction, etc.) and barely or not at all reviews the concepts after that chapter. There was very little deveopment time to ramp up into harder concepts (today we'll cover place value up to 100, tomorrow up to 1,000, the next day up to 10,000). We actually adopted a math program that really seemed like it was onto something called Saxon. It went too slow though and I'm guessing the smaller Saxon people didn't pay off the school board as much as the gigantic Hugh-Miff did, and we ended up with this crap.

I know what is wrong, and I won't just support any jackass proposal by someone who is out of the classroom and who thinks they know how to do it. Fine, come to my class and show me. 41 years on the board, come on. Come to my class, use the mandated curriculum and pacing, and you show me how to get those test scores up. Talk about 180 degrees. Then I'll run for the board.

So sorry if I sould just a tad bit, ummm, what's the phrase... don't give a **** -but I also know that people like you don't have the answers, but you do like to post a lot about what's wrong, post articles, tell others what a crappy job they are doing, etc. Pardon my yawns but I'm rather unimpressed by your degree from Columbia, your posts, and your thoughts (in general) on the subject, not to mention your replies.

I think it's better you toodle off and leave this to people who know more than you, and who have to deal with it every day. Maybe you had some good ideas 60 years ago, but it's over my friend. Maybe the post office needs some help and has some problems you could solve? Eduction might have some problems (some major ones) but it's far from "dead or dying." That would be you, and one day me. Education will go on.

 

I must say that teaching to the multiple choice test is about the dumbest thing we have done in education. Does anyone remember the days when a great teacher would inspire a student with involved lessons that might include re-enacting the debates that led up to the Civil War, or serious science experiments that were cool and fun. Those days are LONG gone because those are not the type of things that fit the standard cookie cutter. If we inspire students they will do the work needed to learn (as all education is self education).

 

SamJimmy, if that's your name. You've bought into the toleration junk and the "everyone must be equal" trash. If we follow what you say, we'll probably end up with a president who can't read, is retarded, doesn't even know what numbers are, and can't even talk. Oh, wait, we already do.

CraigG

Answer: 1.
Question: How many psychics does it take to change a lightbulb?

 

You are an educator? ulls all eight of his kids out and enrolls them in private Internet schools: I sure don't want you teaching my kids if this is what you believe. You'd probably tell them not to tell me all of the things that happened at school. That is just disgusting and immoral.

CraigG

Answer: 1.
Question: How many psychics does it take to change a lightbulb?

 

Yeah, my name is SamJimmy. Seems odd, doesn't it? Or maybe it's not my name. I'll let it be a huge mystery.

I'll save myself the agony from trying to figure out what "the toleration junk and the everyone must be equal trash" means, and just agree.

:: uhh huh ::

You quoted the part where I said I was. I honestly don't feel that the statement was too confusing. I'm an educator.

:: tries the underlining technique ::

I'm guessing "if this is what you believe" refers to "the toleration junk and the everyone must be equal trash" but it could be anything.

I probably do that, you're right. It is just disgusting and immoral.

I agree, however I feel that if you're going to do it, at least do it right. There's nothing wrong with assessing students, some crazy people might even say it's helpful to the whole teaching process and helps drive instruction. It's too bad that's not how it's being used. I won't go into it here (as it seems few really want to discuss the topic), but in short, I can use a multiple choice comprehension test to teach comprehension skills and strategies (such as inferring, visualizing, etc.) and test taking strategies (such as finding the answer in the text). Unfortunately, they want to use the practice tests to assess students.

I remember the days. At top-ranked schools in the area, they cut PE, science, and social studies because it wasn't tested. We are just getting a science program (parts of it have come in, not sure when it all will come). The last time was in the 80's sometime. I've heard it will be tested soon, as will social studies.

That involved, inspired, magical discovery of history and science cannot be tested though, and the children will probably score poorly on these sections as well.

Tomorrow I'll post a great example of what can't be tested (a great experience I had with a student today). Meanwhile report cards are due Monday. Kids today get A's through F's even in Kindergarden (when they should get "below grade level, at grade level, above grade level" -even though "grade level" is pretty subjective (meaning, who decided what "at grade level" exactly is?), but at least it's better than giving a 6 year old an "F"

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare my lesson on telling the students not to tell their parents all of the things that happened at school.

 

My my, Mr. Jimmy, you certainly can be sarcastic. Rather amusing, actually. "If you're going to do it, do it right". So if you know I'm going to kill someone, and you know you can't make me change my mind, you would advise me on how to do it? Ha! I love this guy.

Regards,
CraigG

Answer: 1.
Question: How many psychics does it take to change a light bulb.