Intelligently Designed Boycott

Are you following the whole Kansas School Board thing with ID and science education? I am a biology minor, so this stuff is in my blood, and I originated in KS, so this is deeper in my blood, and I am an educator, so I am supposed to watch all this, but I am fascinated as a learner as well. Read this article then consider some of these questions:

1. If a little boy refuses his ball to the ballgame because he can't pitch, is he acting like a little boy?
2. In a debate, how does one "overemphasize uncertainties"? Isn't a debate centered on two notions, that which is known and that which we theorize or postulate (i.e. feel less certain about, but believe it comes from the known). How do we educate if we cannot question?
3. Is the position of the Associations of "scientists" related at all to any notion of scientific inquiry if we are not allowed to inquire?
4. To quote before I question, "The standoff is a reprise of events in 1999 when the National Academy, the science teachers group, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science withheld copyright permission for materials that Kansas sought to incorporate into science education standards it developed that year. At the time the board had a majority who espoused creationism or intelligent design, beliefs that hold, respectively, that the Earth is only a few thousand years old and that complex life could not have arisen without help from a superintelligent being. Scientific evidence indicates that the Earth is more than 4 billion years old and that evolution can explain all of life's biological complexities." So I can't even quote a view from someone I disagree with without that person claiming copyright infringement because they don't want their words compared with mine? What have I just done?!?

Okay, I think I am done for the moment. And what compelled me to suggest we teach logical reasoning to our students?...

Caesar Meets the Media

Not sure what that title means, but it went through my head when I saw the following. Not sure if others are keeping abreast of the gummit's desire to give vouchers to private schools for helping with displaced Katrina folk, but this fella from People for the American Way was not impressed: Don't subsidize religion If private schools get public money, they need to be held accountable. By Ralph G. Neas Senators about to pass an education package in response to Hurricane Katrina could make a huge mistake by creating what would be the largest private-school vouchers program in the nation's history. Right-wing special interest groups see Katrina as an opportunity to implement an ideological agenda that has little to do with the hurricane itself. One aspect of this opportunism is the insistence that education relief include a vouchers program to send massive federal funding to private schools. Here's what's wrong with this proposal: •First, public money should be used to support public schools that have taken in Katrina evacuees and the rebuilding of schools devastated by the hurricane. Instead, the proposal would funnel hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into private schools' bank accounts. And it could subsidize private education for the wealthiest students. •Second, by allocating federal funds to religious institutions, the vouchers plan would undermine the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The current Senate bill includes no effective oversight that would hold schools accountable for violating bans on the use of taxpayer dollars to support religious indoctrination. •Third, while provisions to protect civil rights have been included in the bill, it is not clear that the bill would prevent the unconstitutional use of federal tax dollars to fund discrimination. In particular, the bill would allow private schools to use federal dollars to discriminate in hiring based on religion. There is an alternative, constitutional way to support students who have relied on services provided by private schools called “equitable participation,” which would clearly and unambiguously hold private schools accountable for the use of public funds, as well as resolve any constitutional questions. We believe some senators with long records of supporting public education are considering support for new voucher provisions because they believe such provisions are the unfortunate cost of winning Senate approval for the urgent relief needed by families and school systems affected by the recent hurricanes. We support that relief, but it should not be held hostage to voucher proponents. Ralph G. Neas is president of People for the American Way.

Can We Talk?

It happens about this time every year. School classrooms take some time off and become conference rooms. Parents come in and see the teachers to find out how Johnny is doing and it all becomes a test of the parent and teacher’s perspiration protection. Why does Mr. and Mrs. Doe come into Mr. Teacher’s room with so much timidity. Why did Mr. Teacher, just before the Doe’s showed up, pop a breath mint and say a prayer of panic? Why are Parent Conferences an object of such stress? I think the answer lies somewhere in the fact that we have lost the ability to converse. Folks have been saying this for years regarding education: we just don’t know how to talk to each other anymore, and it not only affects Mr. Teacher’s literature class discussion, but it hits him in the stomach during the typical conference. When it comes to teacher conferences, we live in a two class society and I wish we would seek the third, or middle class, in this instance. The first class of conference is the “feel good” class. Parents sign up because they feel they need to. Maybe nothing has been said by the teacher about Johnny’s performance, so they should stop in for a little check up. The teacher has not said anything about Johnny because Johnny is doing fine and he is too busy trying to put out the fires elsewhere to say, “good job” very often to Johnny or his parents. The parents arrive, introduce themselves, ask if there is anything they need to know, and get the “no, everything is just fine” speech for five minutes before leaving. This has not lasted much longer than the “hey, how are you?” “Fine,” routine that we all too often shoot through on our way down a hallway. The second class is no better, and perhaps much worse. It lasts longer, but about as much is accomplished. It is the conference about Problem Pete. Petey is not doing well for Mr. Teacher. The grade card goes home, the parents sign up for the conference, and the stage is set for 20 minutes of heavyweight contention. The parents confer the night before: “I’ll say…, and then you will say…, and be sure to bring that test and show him…” The plan is in place. The teacher has his folder of materials. Both sides are armed. And as soon as the pleasantries are over (exactly 30 seconds into the conference), the barrage begins. Whoever fires first often “wins” if winning can be determined. The teacher states all the reasons for Petey’s failure, none of which has anything to do with the school or Mr. Teacher’s teaching. Pete’s parents fire back with this factor, and that assignment, and this unclear grading policy and etc. The list really is impressive, at least to the parents. And the twenty minute bell rings, the participants return to their corners, and Pete is still failing. Let me dream about the third class or alternative to these two vignettes. How about if the parents and teacher both came together to converse? There is a verse and a con in that notion. The verse is definitely words, but words about Pete and his issues, not excuses or justifications. They should be words designed to help both sides see Pete more clearly. And the con there has to do with back and forth. Both sides are able to come together, to converse, to have a conversation about Pete. And as the teacher shares his side of the issue, and the parents explain Pete better to Mr. Teacher, the overriding agreement in the conversation is that Pete is a human, a young one at that, and that like all students he is still growing. And the teacher is a human, and can always grow in his skills. And the parents are not perfect, and welcome any help they can glean. And this very human endeavor of talking it through is reborn in this one little part of our dying culture. And if it is tended and nurtured, it might grow until once again we can have real and fruitful conversations again. And Pete in particular learns how to converse by watching his parents and teacher model it beautifully. God bless us one and all to be conversant.

Time Out of Mind (with apologies to Bob Dylan)

Classically Crazy: Every once in a while I see one of those pieces that make me want to shout for a few minutes, and a blog is a wonderful place to shout, but with care. Time magazine blasted for promoting 'gay teens'Publication doesn't disclose cover story written by homosexual Posted: October 18, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Time magazine's controversial cover story on "gay teens" is being denounced by critics as blatant homosexual propaganda – which is not surprising, since the Time journalist who researched and wrote the story is a homosexual with a long history of advancing "gay" causes, including the promotion of anonymous homosexual orgies. CC: So who am I upset with here, the gay guy writing like a gay guy, or the large "objective" news magazine, Time, who chose to publish his thoughts? Both, I suppose. In its Oct. 10 cover story, "The battle over gay teens," Time fails to disclose that its reporter, John Cloud, is himself homosexual, nor does Cloud mention until near the end of his lengthy report that the key researcher on which the entire story is based is also homosexual. In the article, Cloud positively portrays the phenomenon of ever-younger American children self-identifying as "gay," praises the massive proliferation of Gay Straight Alliance clubs in public schools nationwide, showcases the Point Foundation, which provides scholarships to youngsters who believe they are "gay," and categorically dismisses professional therapeutic and religious attempts to help homosexuals change their orientation. Cloud's key expert throughout the Time cover story is Ritch Savin-Williams, chairman of Cornell University's human development department and author of a new book called "The New Gay Teenager." Not until near the close of the article does Cloud slip in the fact that Savin-Williams is "a 56-year-old gay man with a slightly elfish mien." CC: to go from worse to worst, Cloud has to impugn the good name of elves by making their mien slightly gay! Cloud's piece is particularly derisive of reparative therapy – psychiatric, psychological and religious efforts to help homosexuals change their sexual orientation. "It's important to note," Cloud asserts, "that nearly all mental-health professionals agree that trying to reject one's homosexual impulses will usually be fruitless and depressing." CC: It don't work and we don't like it, so what has Truth got to do with it? You go, girls. But Stephen Bennett, a high-profile ex-gay, says, "This article is filled with tons of misinformation, mocking of Bible-believing Christians, of people who have come out of homosexuality such as myself and who are happily married now." And one of the nation's key professional organizations involved in reparative therapy – NARTH, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, headed by psychologist Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. – isn't surprised Cloud's latest article is biased against it. "In past Time articles," notes NARTH's website, "Cloud has promoted gay political attacks against the Boy Scouts, portrayed transgender activists as a new oppressed minority group; wrote approvingly of anonymous gay sex orgies for an alternative newspaper in Washington, D.C.; and earlier had penned a guide to gay bathhouses in Washington, D.C." CC: And wouldn't we all like to know what current residents of D.C. are in those bathhouses?

Yet more on the move toward the ancient languages...

Thanks to Quiddity for posting this, I am simply adding to the fray... Latin’s RebirthGreek Still May Be Greek To Most, But Students Increasingly Choosing To Do As The Romans DoOctober 16, 2005By WILLIAM WEIR, Courant Staff Writer

Comparing and Contrasting...

Posted on Fri, Oct. 07, 2005 A tool for evaluating schools New Web site offers information for comparing N.C. school districts A tool for evaluating schoolsNew Web site offers information for comparing N.C. school districts From former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt of Raleigh, who serves on the National Advisory Board of Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services: The latest national report card on student achievement shows that North Carolina students are performing above average on national reading and math tests at virtually all grade levels. What's even more impressive is that our schools continue to outperform despite spending less per-student than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Still, our state's schools are far from perfect. Our graduation rates are sub-par, and less than one quarter of our high schoolers go on to earn four-year college degrees. College graduates today have double the earning power of high-school dropouts. The need to turn things around couldn't be clearer. It's not controversial to say that our schools can do better. The real question is how. When I was governor, we launched several new initiatives to improve student performance. We created the primary reading program, reduced class sizes and focused hard on dropout prevention. Gov. Easley and the legislature have expanded many of these programs. I believe strongly that they have benefited our students. But during my time in Raleigh, there was one thing we wanted to do but couldn't: seamlessly share information between schools and districts in an effort to determine which districts are performing better, where attention is most urgently needed and whether the strategies and techniques used in better-performing districts could be adapted for other parts of the state. Our problem was that the key data and analysis had never been assembled in a single location before. Fortunately, that's changing. Several of the nation's leading education reformers have built a Web site that includes vital information about every school district in North Carolina and throughout the nation. Anyone who is interested can visit http://www.schoolmatters.com/ free of charge to find out more about their local education systems and compare schools in their neighborhoods with schools elsewhere. SchoolMatters.com provides many important insights. For example, an analysis of student achievement in economically disadvantaged districts shows a clear link between poverty and low test scores (no surprise there), but it also shows that some exceptional districts are bucking the trend. Their success shows that poverty does not condemn a student to failure. The data also show that high spending doesn't guarantee high achievement. Students and teachers need more resources, but building a successful school takes more than just money. SchoolMatters.com isn't just a tool for educators. Parents can use the site to get more involved in their children's education and inform their advocacy work in local districts. SchoolMatters.com was created by Standard & Poor's and the Council of Chief State School Officers, with funding from The Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Their aim was to help schools and states look objectively at their education systems and develop home-grown solutions to the challenges they face. I believe their work will help our state's education leaders become better informed and better-prepared to make decisions that impact our state's schools and our children's educations. For The Record offers commentaries from various sources. The views are the writer's, and not necessarily those of the Observer editorial board.

If You Have Some Time to Kill Online

A great site on weirdness in modern ed theory and practice: http://www.illinoisloop.org/index.html Anyone want to start one of these for North Carolina? Some really great stuff here.

Have You Hugged a Middleschooler Today?

I have spent most of my adult life with Middle school kids. The following article was fun to help me consider why I keep working with these kids... Mayhem in the Middle How middle schools have failed America—and how to make them work By Cheri Pierson Yecke Foreword by Chester E. Finn, Jr. Link to article: http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/2960_MayhemFINAL.pdf

Just Press the "Dumb" Button

I see so much out on the web and in the news, I just have to post some of it for others to enjoy (I am not sure where I found this, but had to share): One Secret to Better Test Scores: Make State Reading Tests Easier By MICHAEL WINERIP Published: October 5, 2005 PARENTS are delighted when state test scores go up. Obviously, their children are getting smarter and the teachers are doing better. Politicians are ecstatic; their school reforms must be working. Indeed, during his re-election campaign, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has repeatedly cited the rise in the city's 2005 fourth-grade test results (up 10 percentage points in English to 59 percent at grade level, and up 9 points in math to 77 percent) as proof that his school programs are a success. "Amazing results," he said, that "should put a smile on the face of everybody in the city." However, those in the trenches, the teachers and principals, tend to view the scores differently. While they would rather be cheered than booed, they know how much is out of their control. Take Frances Rosenstein, a respected veteran principal of Public School 159 in the Bronx. Ms. Rosenstein has every right to brag about her school's 2005 test scores. The percentage of her fourth graders who were at grade level in English was 40 points higher than in 2004. How did she do it? New teachers? No, same teachers. New curriculum? No, same dual-language curriculum for a student body that is 96 percent Hispanic and poor (100 percent free lunches). New resources? Same. So? "The state test was easier," she said. Ms. Rosenstein, who has been principal 13 years and began teaching in 1974, says the 2005 state English test was unusually easy and the 2004 test unusually hard. "I knew it the minute I opened the test booklets," she said. The first reading excerpt in the 2004 test was 451 words. It was about a family traveling west on the Oregon Trail. There were six characters to keep track of (Levi, Austin, Pa, Mr. Morrison, Miss Amelia, Mr. Ezra Zikes). The story was written in 1850's western vernacular with phrases like "I reckon," "cut out the oxen from the herd," "check over the running gear" for the oxen, "set the stock to graze," "Pa's claim." Ms. Rosenstein said such language was devastating for her urban Hispanic children. "They're talking about a 'train' and they mean wagon train," she said. "Our kids know the subway. I walked into a class and there was a girl crying. I took the test booklet and read it. I thought, 'Oh, my God, we're in trouble.' " In contrast, the first reading in the 2005 test was 188 words about a day in the life of an otter. A typical sentence: "The river otter is a great swimmer." Ms. Rosenstein said: "The otter story was so easy, it gave our kids confidence. It was a great way for them to start the test." She said the pattern continued throughout the two tests. In 2004, on the "hard test," the second passage was about the Netherlands thanking Canada for its support during World War II by sending 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa. The third story was about a photographer, Joel Sartore, who embedded himself in Madidi National Park in Bolivia to get rare nature shots. "These were very sophisticated pieces," Ms. Rosenstein said. "We teach our kids when reading to make a connection to themselves. These stories were foreign to their experience. You didn't have anything like this on the 2005 test." In 2005, on the "easy test," the second passage was about hummingbirds. The third was about a boy who thought he won a real horse, but it was a china horse. The story was told mainly in dialogue that read like the old Dick and Jane primers: " 'What's going on?' asked Beth. 'I just won a horse,' said Jamie." "What a difference from the 2004 test," Ms. Rosenstein said. "I was so happy for the kids - they felt good after they took the 2005 test." In an e-mail message, Jonathan Burman, a state education spokesman, said there was no cultural bias on the 2004 test. He said the 2004 and 2005 tests were extensively field-tested. "We found that the passages could be understood by all students, including urban students," he wrote. He acknowledged that the 2004 test was harder but said the state compensated by using a tougher scale to score the 2005 test. "Students had to answer a few more questions correctly in 2005 and get more raw points in order to get the same scaled score as in 2004," he said. But even if the 2005 test was scaled, scores still soared statewide, with 70.4 percent at grade level, up 8.2 percentage points from 2004 and with several cities - Yonkers, Syracuse, Rochester - posting increases even higher than New York City's. Ms. Rosenstein does not believe the scaling made the two tests equivalent. "If a child can't follow the passages, a few points won't make a difference," she said. "They give up." P.S. 159 has just 242 students from kindergarten to fifth, with 28 fourth graders taking the state test in a typical year. As a result, the performance of a handful of students can cause a big scoring swing. P.S. 159's test results followed the ups and downs statewide; they're just amplified. For example, on the 2004 "hard test," 62.2 percent of students statewide scored at grade level, down 2 points from 2003. At P.S. 159, 17.9 percent were at grade level, down 46 points from 2003. BUT at a small school it's easier to examine the variables at play. For example, all three years, as scores fluctuated, Yehonela Ortiz taught fourth grade. Her principal called her an outstanding teacher, a nine-year veteran who is bilingual. Ms. Ortiz said she could not take credit for the big jump this year nor the blame for last year's big drop. "So many things go into it," she said. "They've had a lot of teachers since pre-K. I feel it's a collaboration of all the many teachers since." A few years ago, 64 percent of her fourth graders scored at grade level in English, her best results. "It wasn't me," she said. It was a class that happened to have a large number of Hispanic parents speaking English at home. "They came to me more academic. I don't think it was anything we did." She said that there were yearly fluctuations, but that test scores would generally rise over time because the state has been using the same format for seven years. "We know the test now," Ms. Ortiz said. "We start preparing them in September. When I go through a lesson, I always connect it to what's in the exam. We know there's always letter-writing, so we give more of that. We know there's nonfiction, so we make sure we do it before the test." When she gives a writing assignment, she now sets a timer for 10 minutes, to simulate testing conditions. Does it mean students are getting smarter and teachers better? "I don't know," said Ms. Ortiz.

Hold Whose Standards How?

In a funk at the moment, and it is my profession of education that is causing it. Keeping in mind that mutation has provided me with several pair of hands, let's see if we can get it all out on the table and bring some semblance of order to my funky thoughts. In the end, I don't really hope in an answer, but the catharsis is still there to be had. On the one hand, we each teach from our own "place." We teach what we know, from the person that we are to the people we perceive our students to be. We know that we are teaching the parents behind our students just as much as we are addressing the cherubs themselves. So a major standard for our teaching is ourselves. We must be true to our own selves or crazy we shall become, and that right quickly. Another hand, and pious one at that, is that we teach according to the standard of Christ and the Scriptures. If we are indeed His disciples, then we are not allowed to divorce our own teaching from His. We set that delightful standard of being as holy with our teaching as He was with His before our eyes continually and then beg for His grace to heal our short fallings. I am not allowed to set aside this discipling standard for any earthly convenience or compromise. Then there is the third hand (cross referencing my mutated appendages) that states that our employer, the school, determines the standards by which we teach. We have to follow the path of the school's curricula, or we are soon pushing cholesterol down at the local Mickey D's. Which means that our standards come from the hodge podge of school board, curriculum committee (if there is one), and adminstrative fiat (I am lucky enough to have the bi-polar convenience of teaching for myself, the headmaster). So let's see, that is three hands so far. Then we do have the standard of student orientation. I mean, do I teach what I teach for me? Or does Christ need my teaching? And would a school of itself need anything I might say? Is not part of my teaching "standard" or the measure of my means found within the needs and tenor of my students? Oops, now I have sliced this fourth hand on the sword of relevance. This is a big no no for many educators. There must be a higher standard than student performance. But what if that high standard is the very cause of low performance by a student unable to rise that high, and therefore bereft of any hope that he can attain or succeed with the given "high" standard? Can that standard, no matter its purity and beautiful height then truly produce any education, if its intended target is missed? But that is the students fault, right? Not my problem. Can a teacher think this way? Very tricky, and it is not yet quite as sticky as the next hand... You see I have yet another hand, and it is most difficult for me. There are these ignorant, paranoid folk who provide me with my students: the parents. And they have standards for their own children that frequently contradict, compromise, or contravene my own ideas of what learning ought to be. And they in many realities pay for my life of learning, leisure, and lecture. And there is no way to teach several students at once without finding that I am too easy for some parents, too demanding for others, proud and haughty in some eyes and a weanie in the eyes of others. So what is a teacher to do? What are my options? How do I keep it all together and string a few days of consistency together in the classroom? It would seem that none of the following are satisfactory, but at the moment it is all that I see possible. Here is the ongoing conversation of sanity for a teacher... A. I can forget all standards but my own. After all, I am the teacher and those coming to me for instruction should trust me to do what is right. Certainly I will temper all my decisions and actions by Scripture, but it is not a teaching text, it is the Word of God. Students are too young to know what they need, and parents are too subjective to offer any help. To thy own self be true. Is this the humility of teaching, or its opposite? It removes a lot of the frustrations, but it does tend to make for a lonesome and somewhat bitter life, if my observations are accurate. B. Take the high road and blame God. God has called me to be a tough teacher and until He tells me different, "here I stand." Very tough to argue with, but I find this argument lacking in Biblical warrant. Yes, I can view many Old Testament passages from this view, and even find some evidence in the NT and Christ's own example that He set the bar high and would not let His disciples off the hook, but then wait a moment and look at just that very example. Ultimately, He let His disciples off the biggest hook of all. He is abandoned by them all, betrayed and denied, and yet there He is in the Upper room, risen and forgiving of all their low performance. Did the standards fall? No. But did he not also meet them where they were and graciously give them far more chances than we tend to think is fair? Yes. So my point is that the high road, whatever it might be in God's eyes, does have both elements of Law and Gospel firmly in the midst of it. C. Take the team approach and hide behind my school. Its not my standards that are lacking, or too high, or faulty in any way, because I am simply doing what my school has asked me to do. It's the curricula. It's my supervisor. It's the weather. In the end, it's your teaching, and you have the choice of being an agent of change in your setting, or a martyr. I don't like to be a martyr because its demand for death is a little tough for me. Sure, plenty of teachers teach in a context of servitude and tight boxes put upon them by their superiors. But either the teacher is seeking to change things, or seeking to change where they are. The living martyr is not impressive. D. Just listen to the students, for they shall lead us to our paradise. This is defeated shortly after we try it. Seventh graders lead us to X-box and mutant amphibians, not to excellence. We are to be leading them, but from a few feet in front, not six miles off in a cloud of shikinah glory. We bring them further up, and further in, but not by bullhorn from the ivory tower. Students are not left out of the equation, but they are not the only denominator either. E. Then we could simply seek to make the most parents possible happy the most often. Deep magic is needed here. I find the same mom calling me blessed one day and evil the next. I find two parents who agree on what a kid should be learning only to discover one has a first grader in my school and the other's youngest is 32. They are not married, nor do they share a child, they just happen to agree on standards for the moment, and quite by coincidence. How many times has Dad and Mom met with me, Mom in tears about the baby and all the pain, and sweat, and agony, and for what, a lousy 86%? It must be that I am demanding too much. Then, as they leave (when I have run out of Kleenex), the Dad stays behind for a minute and gives me the 'ol "you better kick that boy's ass or I'll yank him from your class" routine. The tears of his wife are not dry on my desk and he is adding my sweat to the mix. Make all your parents happy and I guarantee you insanity. In fact, I think that is the only explanation for totally happy parents: the one who perceives them to all be happy is insane. Okay, so all five hands have issues with their solutions. So what is the answer? I don't think there is one. I said that when I started this diatribe. What I do know is that somewhere in this messy business there is learning, and the higher we can lift our standards together, the better our final end will be. Teacher must give room for parents to be parents, and for headmasters to be ignorant, and for students to be, well, students. And Christ teaches us all to be there, on the beach, with the fire going, and fish on the barbie, and the disillusioned, hungry disciples come and sit, and are brought back to the center: "Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep."