Photobucket

Happy News!

by: vox humana

Tue Dec 22, 2009 at 01:00:41 AM EST


You know, once in a while, political action works. The group of parents, students and interested community members are pushing back against the horrific No Child Left Behind and remarkably similar Race to the Top and are slowly forming some coherent strategies. And they do involve online action.
vox humana :: Happy News!
And donkeytale, because I have been thinking a great deal about what you wrote to me recently on this topic: I understand what you are saying about children and their importance to their parents. Of course you are exactly right about that. Nevertheless, the fact remains: today's urge toward bureaucratic, rigid and formalistic education (of a sort unimagined by those who railed against a much milder form forty years ago) will have real ramifications in a few years for those who might not think they have reason to care now. Who do you want caring for you in ten years: someone who can think on her/his own, or someone who has been raised to follow orders and accept authority based on test scores?

The current "educational" trend toward standardized, testable, right/wrong, yes/no, either/or thinking is finally, finally beginning to be questioned... by teachers, of course, but also parents and - most heartening of all - students, who are fed up with being quantified and analyzed... and yearn for the chance to show who they truly are.

The thing is, this movement is actually being organized at a grassroots level, but because it is online, it is national in scope. I don't know that it provides a model for any other issue, because it concerns teenagers at least in part. That means that the technology involved is not the point but the means to the end.

At last in this country one can observe a movement coming from the people and using blogs, social networks and "conventional" websites to build its impetus and information. And I have to say, the skills I learned online at these blogs helped me develop the line of argument I used at a recent school board meeting. My speech had at least some effect on current developments, at least in that one district. Change really is in the air in this one area of authoritarianism.

And for that one thing - even if never for anything else - I am grateful to these blogs.

Oh... and I'm grateful for the meta. Never underestimate the meta! I'm sorry I haven't been jumping in in my customary awkward, poorly-timed and laughable way, but I've been a little busy and excited, as you can tell. I'll try to do better soon.

I knew this medium had potential for more than entertainment!
Tags: (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
Happy News! | 77 comments
Not one of my best efforts (4.50 / 4)
as a diary - but I tell you in all sincerity: this means something to all of us. I am sure of it.

There is potential here - but it must be tied in with the concrete as well as the abstract.

And yea, Mr. keytale, it may require martyrs at some point... but nobody should feel obligated to shoulder that burden at the outset. Otherwise, who would dare to speak up - ever? Please consider the same mindset with work on prison reform and let everyone know how they can help with the same even if they are unwilling to become martyrs for that issue. Wow, do I have thoughts on that issue right now, though. As the threads develop here (if they develop), I hope we can bring that issue up as well. Education reform and prison reform are related.

And with thanks to anyone who has ever engaged me in conversation here or elsewhere... you have taught me so much.  

We have standardized testing in Texas for years (4.00 / 3)
I'm glad you reminded me. My son who is in hi skkkool informs me that his skkkool district has managed to opt out of the standardized testing this year, known as TAAKS, but of course he is more into schticking than providing his father with any useful information so I am going to have to research whether this is in fact true and if so how did it occur?

BTW, I'm not sure there is that much wrong with standardized testing, its just not a panacea and its not very useful especially at the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. Here, the socioeconomic factors are primary and outweigh the educational factors. This is where the martyrs are required to impact social change. But yur wright, educational reform and prison reform are tied at the hip.

I just learned the other day, on the local sports talk station of all places, that one of the Dallas ghetto skkkools, Kimball I think it was, is being shut down by the state for failure to educate its students. Interesting that. I'll get back to you on it.

Your overarching point is an excellent one. Blogging does increase certain skillsets but then these must be taken into the real world in order to affect any real change.

But here again, there is a separation between RL and cyberworld. For instance, you have not shed much specific light. You say this is a national movement. Is it cutting across all races/classes? Is it a working class movement?

Links?

Excellent diary BTW, and a definite meta killer.

Nice work, Vox.

[ Parent ]
Standardized testing has its pros and cons (4.00 / 2)
as with most things in life. Used as a diagnostic tool to determine what needs correction, it can be very useful. The problem comes when the test becomes the sole purpose of the education. That starts to happen when states or regions or the federal government begin to index funding or merit pay to results on standardized tests.

Once that happens, teachers begin to "teach to the test," and these tests are not generally designed to measure creative thinking or nuanced answers. At that point, education becomes drilling and memorization - a return to nineteenth century instruction.

There are some inner-city schools which are being punished for low test scores. The question then becomes whether the scores were a result of poor instruction, circumstances at home, language barriers or some combination of all the above. When it comes to diagnosing the actual problem, standardized tests lose their value.

As far as links, let me put something good together for later today.

[ Parent ]
In my sons district they have an interesting concept. The kids select from (4.00 / 2)
one of three high schools based on their preference: One is science/high tech oriented, another is arts oriented and the third is business/law oriented. I gather that they then follow a track, which mixes the basics, ie teaching to the test, with their preferred "major" line of study, which accounts for the "creative" side. I'm not sure how this is arranged, how easy it is to transfer, etc.

They also have extracurricular stuff like all schools. He doesnt have to take PE, which is odd but he hatez sports. He has orchestra as the one elective arts class. He chose the business/law track, where he's really become interested in the legal process and taking part in mock trials, legal research, going to the courthouse and observing the criminal/civil justice system in action. He tells me he is having more fun this year than he ever dreamed of having in school, which is saying alot because he pretty much hated elementary and middle school. His grades are improved too. From B to A- thus far.

This approach may be SOP in todaze world for all I know but it seems pretty useful if it holds a kidz interest because heretofore his only interest in school was goofing off before/between/after and during class. Like dear old dad in that regard.

I get the overemphasis on the std test issue, but it seems to me that when they are doing both simultaneously it works out OK. I think some of the 19th century rote training is good as long as its balanced with some creativity. I'm guessing the district decided to go with this track schooling as a reaction to overemphasis on the testing forced by the state.

Plus, the internet sort of massages the right side of the brain for lotsa these kidz today anyway.

I still havent figured out how he gets to skip the std test. I'm going to ask him about that as soon as I talk to him later on.

TX has been on this std test kick for awhile. It seems the public schools are better here than most states by comparison although I dont know if they are actually any good or not.

[ Parent ]
I think there is a conspiracy behind standardised testing (3.00 / 1)
I see it tied into wingnut ideology. Your point is good, that standardised testing can help professional teachers, not hacks, diagnosis student needs. Unfortunately, this new emphasis on results seems to be a way to drive students on the edge into dropping out. If they are forced to pass a test to graduate, and their 10th grade results are weak, they are very apt to consider that as an option. Then that creates a pool for chumps to enlist in the military. There is also the problem that teachers are being pressured into teaching to the test. While teachers do have a lot of leeway to present that material to the best of their abilities, it puts a damper on promoting critical thinking skills. I recommend the works of Paulo Freire and Howard Gardner in regards to the philosophy of education. The schools are corrupt. The quality of schools shouldn't be based on property taxes. All schools should be equal, periodicity. Most textbooks are full of propaganda.

This is a good topic, Vox Humana. You done good. The only thing missing is a good video.



http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
hey shadow (2.50 / 2)
the great minds who'll propel society forward, the truly gifted don't need no goddamn syllabus nor any udder goddamn institutionalized education. They will find their way one way or anutter .

regular students, avg. students have the internet to broaden their horizons, and a million udder ways to circumvent any boundaries any limits these horrendous mediocre institutions impose. boot who gives a rats ass about it anyways. most students ain't paying half attention , r out getting stoned, runnin wild as it should b. fuck all you goddamn wannbe do gooders thinkin you got the answers. You ain't got shit. yer mouthin shite rammed down yer institutionalized sore throat, "oh if only them students read Huck fucking Finn." well they do read huck finn. that's still taught right. thas about the only worthwhile thing taught in any gd syllaboos -  kids going down the river unbounded. the rest of it iz shite.

can their be a more unimportant subject than what students get "taught" in goddamn institutions. institutions of all stripes suck. get over it mayn.

+)

[ Parent ]
Agreed, except for the part about the infoboobtubez somehow being freer (3.00 / 1)
and less institutional.

Thats a mirage-like illusion. The infoboobtubez is just more of the same stuff bound up together inside a new institution. The fact that its readily available just proves the donkeytale maxxim: "nonsense also spreads virally."

And I dont think they really do teach Huck Finn in skkkool anymore, do they? In fact, I dont think they ever did teach Huck Finn in skkkool....it was Tom Sawyer that got taught in my day....Huck, you migrated to on yur own. And if you were lucky you found him again when you were all "growed up," and realized it was a completely different book.

But yur wright about it being the Amerikkkan Bible....altho it sorta peters out near the end...which I suppose is like every adventure....and life itslef.

[ Parent ]
Mediocre minds having diarrhea of the mouth (0.00 / 0)
You guys totally missed the points from my post... Fake noom definitely sounded like MattyJack in this last one. Donk, it wouldn't take much for you to ask the real noom to expose this guy. If you don't, that will show you ultimately don't give a shit about the truth.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
I already know the truth, Socrates. (5.00 / 1)
The truth is the true identity of the fake noom doesnt matter to me one iota.

He made a good point here and a not so good one and the truth is I wanted to respond to it.

I spoke my 2 cents in reaction to his post without regard to yur post above his. No relation.

Yu seem to be having a bad hare day dude. Geeetiing all officiously judgmental and into yur typikkkal wantin to bust cointelpros or wtf.

I repeat: yur just being played.

Dude, this is the fake noom. He's already busted. Relax and get back on point or i'm goin out for a smoke and I'm taking your wife with me....

[:o)

[ Parent ]
yo mayn (1.00 / 1)
soundz like you've alreadee given up on this bit o' lameness, eh soc? btw - eye note that you felt the need to step in for DP when she suggested there r udders eye might b besides Jack. why didn't you let her answer for herslef when eye axed who who they might b?

your hillarious reply:

But I guess for kicks, here would be my other candidates. Greenwood, Dumbdog, Sockalicious, hidden comment

eye don't really give a shit if you're shadow anyways bro, I've always liked yer schtick. eye tole ya that yesterday. eye know you have mad skillz. eye apprecisate them. find you amusing.

boot you started the rumble. got all "paranoid". if ya wanna rumble soom more, I'll rumble. I'll rumble like the baddest mofo who eva walked the earth.

+)

if ya wanna call peace joost say eye'm the real noom.

[ Parent ]
coarse tey teach to dey test (0.00 / 0)
all iz bazed ons it.
[ Parent ]
Interesting diary, Vox. (3.00 / 3)
There is, of course, a lot of basic right/wrong material that needs to be mastered in any area, but standardized tests can't measure the ability to think.

I remain convinced that the big problem with the schools is that too many resources are expended on kids who can't or won't learn, and not enough on those who will actually use their education.  It sounds harsh to say it, and I suspect you will disagree, but it can't be the responsibility of the schools to fix the socioeconomic problems of the country.

I rated good point but respectfully disagree (4.00 / 3)
Children are tracked from third grade on. There are many in-built problems with education. Property taxes should not dictate who gets the better schools. Some places I bet you can be the valedictorian and still not get into an Ivy League school. Standardised tests along with budget cuts are leading to many students falling through the cracks. People should check out Howard Gardner's ideas on multiple intelligences. Many of the so-called troublemakers could simply not have had the opportunity to take auto shop, things like that. Poor students could be more a result of bad teaching than anything else. They get tracked early, are made to feel like idiots, and are then shuffled through the patriarchal system in cynical attempts to pad graduation rates while  keeping them out of the juvenile criminal system. It's a complex subject, no doubt. It's good to see this type of thing discussed on a blog.  

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
They should be teaching them hydroponics in Cali (4.33 / 3)
Auto shop?

Why not teach them how to make cars biodiesel friendly, or wtf?

Just kidding. You are correct on all counts. This country puts way too much emphasis on getting a crappy college degree. It is why we end up with a buncha ivy league knuckleheadz promoting each other to the top and being completely straitjackedted by group think in the self reinforcing process.

AND YES I INCLUDE OBAMA IN THIS CRITIQUE of Amerikkkan liberal "education".

I hate to keep bringing up Frau Tale, but in Korea only like ten percent of kidz make university. The rest get a very broadly based education with an emphasis on, y'know, learning how to do stuff, how to build stuff and how stuff works.

My BIL and my wife re-designed and renovated our house including making complicated structural additions, adding walls, ceiling and roof, based entirely on what they learned in hi school back in teh old country. He claimed that complete home building was one of the required courses, in high school.

I'm like what did you do with all the homes you built, tear them down and start over each semester?

He looked at me like I am AMerikkkan Idiot.  

[ Parent ]
Yeah! (4.25 / 4)
Everybody has to be "educated" to sit in a cubicle in front of a God damned computer.  Let 'em find their own "track".
[ Parent ]
Yes, teachers are pushing the internet... (4.00 / 1)
when students should be encouraged to use the library and learn how to paraphrase, footnote, research, and find their own voices. They should be encouraged. They shouldn't be forced to pledge allegiance to a flag or be indoctrinated into thinking everything is about competition. Good teachers should figure out what interests individual students and then let them run with the football.  

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Here's an example of why our educational system stinks (3.00 / 1)
In our colleges, the Professors are propped up as being unapproachable experts. Students are forced to buy their books and the 10 to 15 others that teacher selects for the syllabus.  In Europe, the college students are given a reading list that can include 300 different books. While they are expected to stay within the subject area, they are given much more freedom to come up with their own schtick.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Sad and kinda pathetic (3.67 / 3)
All over the blogosphere last weekend you could find praises for Howard Dean for calling for the health care bill to be killed.  Cries of "Dean 2012" and so on.

By Monday Dean had reversed himself (as I predicted). He backstabbed the left half of the pwoggies in just three days.

I have to agree with the Dean for president bunch -- he would make a very good replacement for Obama.

In related news polyanna pwoggies are trying to get either Bernie Sanders or Al Franken or Russ Feingold or anyone with any lefty cred in the senate to vote against the bill.

NOT A FUCKING CHANCE, LOSERS.

When will these turnip heads get it?

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

Typical Byron off-topic post (2.00 / 1)
Then he also bold printed a sentence just like donkeytale. One of those things that make you go hmmm. Right as (MattyJack?) has arrived to make it seem I am shadowthief again. And who can forget the ridiculous notion being spread that myself and donkeytale are the same person, or how we are also Byron, Noom, Eric S., and shadowthief?

I saw a post by this guy the other day putting down poor people. Yet, right there in his signature he hypocritically has a Helen Keller post. This isn't about health care. This thread is on education. I wouldn't be surprised if Byron is a paid fake. He's a prime candidate. Real progressives are not anti-femminist. Real progressives don't shit on the poor. Real progressives and intellectuals do not try to sidetrack threads like this one.  

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
Naw, it's okay... (3.00 / 2)
It's part of this blog's nature that any diary gradually gets opened up into whatever topics fly.

There are some really good posts above on the original topic, and I'm working on putting up some good links to keep the conversation going. Let DB do what DB does. Health care is crucial, too!

[ Parent ]
Google the DavidByron troll sometime (0.00 / 0)
Good point, I guess. I don't think it's too bad a thing to hijack a thread, especially if there's no malice, and the off-topic banter is interesting and at least tangential. But it takes a certain type of son of a bitch to do it as consistently and boring like he does. You should check out his blogging history someday, when you have some time. It reeks of hidden agendas. He calls for the destruction of Israel. He has that latent homosexual anti-feminism. The other day he said something extremely wingnutty about poor people. He would support Palin over Obama. He's been at this for ten years, and something about him stinks bad.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Socrates, Socrates, Socrates (3.33 / 3)
A dose of wisdom from the wise:

Let DB do what DB does.

I've been around Byron for years, as have many others. We know and understand Byron. We appreciate his viewpoint even when its not same as ours. Remember, PFF??????

Byron is operating consistently within a strain of leftist political ideology that has roots going back to the late 19th- early 20th century. He's looking for revolution, not reform.

Its the fuzzy mushy headed loooosers who are the real problem. These are the ones who dont know they seleves, and who wake up one day with a swastika painted on their foreheads shouting "down with {fill in the blank}!!!!!

db is very clear where he stands on issues, he's eloquent and intelligent. Thought provoking. You dont need to repeat his stance for us at all. If you feel the need to overcome his rhetoric, come up with some of your own, the slams against him are weak. He's unflappably British anyway.

You need to vary yur strategy if success is what you seek. Adapt to the way its done. Read my latest dairy. Adaptability is all. Thread hijacking is not only OK in PFFology going back to Peeder, its highly encouraged. So adapt and go for it. Yur being rigidly dogmatic here, conservative in fact.

Whats next. Calls for banning?

I think we need to get yur wife in here....qwickly!



[ Parent ]
I'm headed back to your new thread (5.00 / 1)
I respectfully disagree with what you wrote above. I'm not calling for him to be banned. That's not gonna happen anyway, since his biggest fan is the (ugly inside) bitch who runs this place. And you're very wrong about him being British. He snot He's not.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Everything throw in together is an old old format (3.75 / 4)
before they had better software for threading and when blogs were actually blogs with many of the diaries being ... well pretty much the sort of stuff I do in my comments.  Expanded thoughts that are bigger than a twitter and with potential for rich media these days.

Anyway on reflection you're probably right about THIS thread.  Though I had a hard time putting my finger on why exactly.  I think it is because there was a good conversation going and numerous comments.  Breaking into that was simply poor taxonomy on my part and I regret it.  Mostly the only thing that gets a lot of consecutive comments like that is you and someone else throwing down smack.

As for calling for a banning you're free to try it.  We love the meta here.  Although you won't succeed at that one you did change peoples' mind on deleting the usernames that were just making fun of existing users.  so you can hardly say your opinion on these matters is ignored when in fact the only time the rules were ever changed was because of you.


"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
Oh i get it now (4.00 / 1)
socrates' gaydar isn't calibrated for the European scene so he confuses "British" and "gay".  Thus he insists I am gay and also insists I am not British.

Socrates, dude!  Don't you know you're Seinfeld?  It's not a handbag, it's European!

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
You're not from England dude (2.00 / 1)
CurmudgetteFace said you aren't, and she has access to the ip's. I don't like or trust her with everything, but I do on that one.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
He's an expatriot, dude. Again, this is old ground you keep wanting to re-excavate. If you have questions why not just run them by me first? (3.00 / 1)
One can be from anywhere but be living in the US when they create a login at MLW cant they?

John was from England but he got his brainz blown out on the steps of the Dakotas, where he was living with Yoko (who was "from" Japan) in NYC.

[:o)

And why does where he come from matter? Why does his identity matter?

Why do you keep going from the sublime to the drudgingly repetitive?

[projection alert]

And why would you ever reference Mudge or Marisacat, two of the most notoriously closeminded drecchs in the whiteysphere?

[ Parent ]
good point but I don't agree (5.00 / 1)
Your proof he is an ex-patriot is as good as the proof used to confirm Tejano held up the puppet show poster.

As for ever linking to marisacat or mudgeface, a reporter once told me that even bad sources can tell the truth once in a while. Maybe that's a variation on the blind squirrel finds an acorn or a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Even the fake noom brought up a good point, that someone named the blaz was one of the people trolling me at MLW, when I deserved a clean slate. SuperGump was the worst, based on how, well, he has been MetaGump throughout the years. He's the best at writing so much with explaining so little.

I already explained why I like marisacat. It's based on her name, and her name alone. Her blog is like a failleft festival [/yawn], I agree, but that name is sweet. Mudge, otoh, evokes memories of a cold shower or thoughts of dead cats. You must have liked Marisa at least a teensy-weensy bit, before she turned on you.

I found a funny coincidence. There is a laura.dailykos and a sabrina.dailykos. Neither made one post nor a diary. I'm not fully understanding how no-names like Laura and MattyJack stepped in to take over the Peeder bus. But I can drop a lot of these things and get out of the mini-meta slump. I think you'll enjoy the Gunderson expose. He's tied to Willis Carto and other disinfo fockers. He deleted his website, and the stuff that is around attacking him is 99% produced by obvious nutjobs. But if you go to archive.org, tedgunderson.com is still there for anyone to peruse and see that he has been as cuckoo bananas as anyone.  

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
yeah man (0.00 / 0)
who the fookery fook iz fake noom!

jesus christ in a hand basket.

eye am the real noom , fake noom iz fake, noom iz fake too, they're both fake nooms!

eye am the real noom!

[ Parent ]
Only way the real noom can prove himself is through MLW (0.00 / 0)
That's all I got for advice. All nooms are considered fake til the one from MLW resolves this.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
wait a minute (0.00 / 0)

fake noom's a fake!

eye'm da real fake noom fer fooks sake!

wtf yo!

[ Parent ]
eye can vouch 4 this dude (3.00 / 1)
heez da real fake noom. eye met him once off line at a party.

totally cool dude

[ Parent ]
hey bro (5.00 / 1)
along with the fact you admitted to being on pff yesterday, you also have an unexplained aversion, a distaste , a loathing for curmudgette, joost like shadow has.

now why the fookery fook woode that b? why woode soombodee who claims to have come froom  the udder side oov the internets loathe curmudgette when ya supposedly have had barely any interactions wit her? eye remember you tried to get on with her in the very beginning, you complimented her on her avatar or wtf she has on her posts, that picture of the woman, wtf....boot then yer uncontrollable emotions got the betta uv you. now you slash her at every available opportunity

eye mean, this has always bin in question. it's the  achilles heal to yer soc act mayn.

[ Parent ]
heerz the post (0.00 / 0)
eye'm referencing where soc compliments curmudgette.

you should have stayed on this track bro, or joost stfu about your crazy dislike of her. too late now tho. the boat has sprung a leak. she b sinkin' yo! glug glug glug

haha!@

http://www.myleftwing.com/show...

Dorothy Parker was cute (4.00 / 3)

As a lurker, I was initially drawn to your comments because of her glow.
Eventually, I came around to appreciate your propensity for fairness and clarity. You're groovy and smart, a nice combination.

rasta don't work for no cia

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by: socrates @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 22:42:04 PM PDT
[ Parent | | Reply |   none0: Total Fucking Douchebaggery/JustPlainBullshit1: I just threw up in my mouth a little2: My sympathies / That sucks, I'm really sorry.3: No / Respectfully, I Disagree4: Food for thought/Point taken5: Thank you6: Yup7: I Am Much Amused8: Off the Freakin' Charts Funny. Seriously.9: Right the Fuck On10: Splenderiferous11: Truly Fucking Superb ]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by: you @ soon
To post this comment click here:  

Otherwise click cancel.

You must enter a subject for your comment

Post a comment: Subject:  
Comment:  

Is Donkeytale Banned from FSZ? | 104 comments | Post A


[ Parent ]
btw (0.00 / 0)
Curmudgette 5
Karmafish 6
theblaz 1

thoze r the ratings 4 yer post

whutz up wit da blaze yo!

s/he don't curm needer apparentlee! wtf?

haha!@

[ Parent ]
Nothing "latent" about my anti-feminism (2.00 / 2)
Smoochies, socrates, dahling!

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
checked in w/ my son today and he sez that its next yr Texas is dropping (4.00 / 1)
TAKS but not standardized testing en toto. They are adopting the.....British system, wtf that means. He sez the current test is too easy and is dumbing the kidz down to the level of barnyard animals. The Brit tests will follow the classroom curriculum more closely, or something like that. TX looked also at the Asian-style testing and found it too rigourous so they went MOR and compromised with the Brits. This means the test will probably tun all of our kids gay.

[;o)

How he knows all this I have no idea altho his mama (my ex, thanks be to gracious and benevloent deity) teaches in the same skkkool district. Plus, he's been know to stretch a few from time to time.

[chip off the ol blockhead alert]

But if what he claims is basically true, then it appears the testing reforms have even reached Texas, which means everywhere, with possible exception of Looosiana, Missssssssisssssssippi and Arkieville.

[ Parent ]
A few links to start... (4.00 / 3)
The wonderful Susan Ohanian has a terrific site that has a treasure-trove of information. This link will take you to a map of the US so that you can check the latest news on standardized testing and education reform.

From Florida, an article that talks about the beginning of elimination of one-size-fits-all standardized state tests.

Not parent-related, this article explains the issues involved with standardized testing.

donkeytale, you may find this article from Science Daily concerning Texas of interest. Particularly note the opening:

A new study by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin finds that Texas' public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), directly contributes to lower graduation rates. Each year Texas public high schools lose at least 135,000 youth prior to graduation -- a disproportionate number of whom are African-American, Latino and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students.

...

"High-stakes, test-based accountability doesn't lead to school improvement or equitable educational possibilities," said Linda McSpadden McNeil, director of the Center for Education at Rice University. "It leads to avoidable losses of students. Inherently the system creates a dilemma for principals: comply or educate. Unfortunately we found that compliance means losing students."


And a few more... (4.00 / 3)
Again from Florida, a group of moms get together to sue the state over its failure to meet its constitutional obligation to provide quality public education.

Another parent initiative from Florida is this website and blog.

Here is news from New York State concerning protests over Regents Exams.

The U.S. should imitate its betters (2.67 / 3)
Northern Europe and East Asia seem to do education extremely well.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep
wows! this guy is in big trouble (3.50 / 2)
The Rev. Tim Jones caused an uproar by telling his congregation that it is sometimes acceptable for desperate people to shoplift -- as long as they do it at large national chain stores, rather than small, family businesses.

Jones' Robin Hood-like sermon drew rebukes Tuesday from fellow clergy, shop owners and police.

From his pulpit at the Church of St. Lawrence in York, about 220 miles (355 kilometers) north of London, Jones said in his sermon Sunday that shoplifting can be justified if a person in real need is not greedy and does not take more than he or she really needs to get by.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin...



The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory
Yes I saw that (3.00 / 2)
A diluted form of what I was suggesting with my "Cheney" strategy for the economy (ie accidentally shoot a rich person in the face with a shotgun).

It's good stuff.  Property rights are subservient to human rights.  It's class warfare rhetoric so good on him.  I do find it hard to imagine a US christian preacher saying something like that.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
Of course you saw it (0.00 / 0)
And of course, you'll comment on it. This is your job. Maybe you can tell people more about how poor people suck, like you said the other day you fake.  

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
No, I said some poor people suck (3.00 / 2)
There is a tendency among the middle class who are on the left to sort of idolize an image of the working class.

Even the late Professor Feynman was not immune as he relates in one of his highly amusing stories in "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman?" where he talks about how he took seriously the claims of a house painter he met that he could make pink paint by mixing white and yellow paint together.

He did it because of his sense that the working class had this sort of karmic "wisdom" of the streets like some sort of Zen thing.  And of course the painter couldn't really do it until he remembered, "Oh right, you need to mix in some red too".  Dumb ass.

It's the same with native Americans.  They get this image of being pro-environment and pro-peace or whatever the hippie image is by the middle class.  From what I've seen the native Americans tend to be more pro-US milirary than even the rest of Americans.

There's no honour in dirt is what I am saying.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
RE: "No, I said some poor people suck" (0.00 / 0)
No need to lie LordByron, when the post can be easily located. At least admit you said most poor people suck. How lefty of you, NOT!!!!!

http://pffugeecamp.com/showCom...

I don't generally like poor people.  They tend to be hopeless and/or assholes.  I have met a few cool poor people though, and on-line of course it's probably hard to tell, but generally poor people seem to be less good at faking it if they happen to be very uninteresting and/or nasty.

Caught in a lie. Caught acting like a wingnut yet again. You may fool others but not me. I generally avoid your blatherings, since figuring out your fake lefty schtick. Regards to Hal and the rest of you working out of the FBI office. [/what it feels like to me, not saying I have the paystub to prove it. Gunderson is a whole other ball of wax. I think I figured that dude out. That will be my next diary.]


http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
"I generally avoid your blatherings" (1.00 / 1)
Really?  I heard you'd just renewed your season tickets.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
Nice try. How's your buddy Hal holding up? (0.00 / 0)
You got busted lying, and there's the proof. Instead of you coming clean, you just burped out yet another boring post, Mr. Agent Provocateur. You ain't fooling me.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Lying? (3.00 / 3)
Alright I'll come clean.  You got me;

I hadn't heard about your season tickets.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
Right above. These are your quotes (2.00 / 1)
I said some poor people suck.

I don't generally like poor people.  They tend to be hopeless and/or assholes.

Add shit like that to your rightwing views on feminism, to go with your inciting of violence, it appears you are a paid troll.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
You remind me of the FDL mods (2.00 / 1)
"Oh we won't let people talk about violence here"

But you can advocate for a war that kills a million people just fine.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
And you support genocide last I read it socrates (1.00 / 1)
The Zionist occupation of Palestine, right?

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
DavidByron is a boring liar not even from England (0.00 / 0)
He's known for putting words in people's mouths. He may have fooled others into thinking He's a smart yet psychotic individual. I don't think he's even that smart. He's a two bit sophist. He hates women and the poor and is anti-semitic. I have seen many mistakes in his writing. But unltimately who cares? This guy is the actual historic troll. He is paid to post.

There's no link to me supporting the Israeli occupation in Palestinian territory. There is a quote of Byron's from a day or two ago suggesting to crazies to aim higher with their violence. Enquiring minds want to know if DavidByron attended the same training seminars as Hal Turner. He's not fooling me. DavidByron, from America, is an agent provocateur. It's quite obvious at this point.


http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
Dude, you're obviously a Zionist (2.00 / 2)
you keep on and on about Israel.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
fuck you ya fuckin (0.00 / 0)
marauding sadistic Brit....ya pasty faced cockroach!
[ Parent ]
sadistic? no (4.00 / 3)
It's well known that the primitive savage feels little pain compared to the civilized white man (with the possible exception of the French and Italians).

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
haha!@ (4.00 / 1)
pritteh foony bro
[ Parent ]
Well I suppose dobie said be nice to you..... (3.00 / 1)


"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
yer slippin (0.00 / 0)
"He's known for putting words in people's mouths. He may have fooled others into thinking He's a smart yet psychotic individual."

You forgot the projection alert here, pal.

"May we live long and die out"

[ Parent ]
Ha, so now Gump is implying I'm Donkeytale (0.00 / 0)
That makes sense, taking into account his stabbing donkster in the back at Booman.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
strong charge (0.00 / 0)
appears you are a paid troll

anys proff?  Or yuz jus pulls tat out yuz arse?

[ Parent ]
deedogg...eh (0.00 / 0)
you're not good at this game! lol

"May we live long and die out"
[ Parent ]
if ya thinks that (0.00 / 0)
beter than ya thinks
[ Parent ]
ok, anyway (4.33 / 3)
when rich people shoplift, they steal Ham on Rye. But not because they're hungry. Ha ha, get it? Rich people seem to not understand the concept of libraries, apparently.

Fiction is the most commonly poached genre at St. Mark's Bookshop in the East Village of Manhattan; the titles that continually disappear are moved to the X-Case, safely ensconced behind the counter. This library of temptation includes books by Martin Amis, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo and Jack Kerouac, among others. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12...


The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory
[ Parent ]
Hubby seems to be in a bit of a snit today (3.00 / 1)
Were you eating crackkkers in bed last nite?
[ Parent ]
yes, and i had a headache. n/t (3.67 / 3)


The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory
[ Parent ]
Well, that it explains it then.... (3.50 / 2)
[:o)
[ Parent ]
Tarot cards have to be stolen (4.00 / 1)
Or maybe they can be received as gifts. I heard they don't work, if the owner exchanged money for them.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Frau Tale likes to play with the Tarot cards (0.00 / 0)
I always pull death and some other equally disastrous cards.

So I stopped playing.

[:o)

[ Parent ]
hey bro (0.00 / 0)
check it yo

Username: fake noom
PersonId: 1313
Created: Wed Dec 23, 2009 at 18:55:08 PM EST

speaking of black magic, wid a number like 1313 eye moost have voodoo magic spellz galore at my disposal! betta lock yo doorz! ask yer nervayna seeking wife aboot the significance ovv double 13's. sheez likely to start howlin yo! she's likely to start tremblin"!!!!!!

how propitious a draw that iz ......

if yer superstitious.

+)

[ Parent ]
There's too much of that 'sainted native peoples' crap (2.00 / 1)
in Avatar. But in sci fi you can pretend that people aren't  brain starved living in a forest with nothing to do but hunt, chant and do crafts. And in sci fi you can pretend that living off the land is not a feast-and-famine up-and-down struggle; most people want to escape that uncertainty, for their kids if not for themselves.

Anyway, happy holidays and all that bullshit DB.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep

[ Parent ]
That was holy of him but irresponsible (3.00 / 1)
What's that movie, something about just wanting a piece of bread? Oliver Twist! That's the ticket. I agree Stealing from Mom and Pop's is immoral. The big problem is the conglomerates. Nonetheless, if one of those congregants gets caught stealing because of a Reverend with diarrhea of the mouth, then that's awful. He was being kind of a Hal Turner, but the crime being incited was benign and actually moral. I agree with that Reverend's thought. I just think he was stupid to mention it in public. He should have just asked all the poor folks to stay after class, if they needed food and clothes. Socialism would solve all this kind of bullshit.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
Oh not at all (4.00 / 2)
the message is to the rich as much as the poor

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.
[ Parent ]
You making shit up again (0.00 / 0)
You're saying the reverend's message to steal was to rich people too? I really don't have the time to keep troll busting you.

The Rev. Tim Jones caused an uproar by telling his congregation that it is sometimes acceptable for desperate people to shoplift -- as long as they do it at large national chain stores, rather than small, family businesses.

Or is this more diarrhea of the mouth from you in order to fulfill a posting quota for the day? You're saying his message was also to rich people to cut slack for desparate thieves? You know what, I don't really have time for you. It seems like you are receiving a paycheck or suffering from asperger's.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
No, dumbass (3.00 / 2)
The message to rich is that people have had enough putting up with their shitty "capitalism" and their shitty "laws" about protecting property but not people, and they better get a grip before stealing becomes something worse.

Do you understand now?

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it", Helen Keller, communist.

[ Parent ]
Have you any names to provide? (0.00 / 0)
You were talking about violence, and how people should aim higher. Any names? Should we report you to the FBI, or maybe you can report yourself and ask for extra training?

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...
[ Parent ]
little red recruiting stations (5.00 / 3)
Photobucket

This is a shot I took in DC the last time I wasted time protesting there. What a sick way to portray what amounts to a huge database and access to millions of kids to send off to be brainwashed into being war criminals or at the very least, making them vulnerable and wide open to constant harassment by aggressive recruiters under pressure to meet/meat strict quotas. This is the true motive behind the no child left behind act.

Policy Guidance - Access to High School Students and Information on Students by Military Recruiters

A.Congress has passed two major pieces of legislation that generally require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)1 to give military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as they provide to postsecondary institutions or to prospective employers. LEAs are also generally required to provide students' names, addresses, and telephone listings to military recruiters, when requested.

I'm sure you're aware of this, Vox. The schools are required to send ONE notice by mail to parents to give them the option of refusing the school permission to release their child's personal information, although, in diseased brained American logic a child's name, address and phone are not considered "private" information.

As on top of things as I had been at the time, I almost missed the deadline to refuse permission because the ONE notification that was sent was sitting in a pile of otherwise innocuous houshold mail, in a school envelope that looked just like any other of tens and tens of letters I/parents get from their school every year. I can't imagine how many less politically aware parents found these letters too late to thwart the onslaught of recruiter phone calls and knocks at the door.

I hope a reversal of this provision of that law will become a focus of the groups you're writing about here.

If not, I think that schools ought to be required to hand out the same information to groups like the Quakers and the like so that they have a better chance of educating all of our too often ignorant kids before the new butcher gets his hooks in them.  

"May we live long and die out"

Eisenhower, Marcuse, and Mills were correct (0.00 / 0)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind...

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

U.S. Military Threatening World Peace and Economic Stability by Me

The Power Elite by C.Wright Mills

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

[ Parent ]
Happy News! | 77 comments
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?

Search




Advanced Search

Cliques ci-dessous
Mondoweiss
NarcoNews
uruknet
Underwater Deli
Lenin
Arabist
Francis L Holland
Angry Arab
Left I
electronic intifada
Weekly Vice
WildWildLeft
Wal-Mart
Gallery Of The Absurd
FreeFuckZone
EuroTrib
reel newz
jewssansfrontieres
AntiWar
Cephaloblog
CounterPunch
Asia Times
World Socialist
Socialist Worker
Chris Jordan
Fafblog
In Gaza

Nothing here is endorsed by the admin, not even her own bullshit. And you'll be lucky if she's even watching yours.
Powered by: SoapBlox