The MISREPRESENTATIONS That Heads of Education Departments in so many states are making just staggers the mind. For example this week in Alabama, citizens were introduced to damaging documents that shows it again but this time it is so clear that you would either have to be stupid or just willing to go along if you don't call it what it is!
Here are two documents that back up this weeks conclusion...Alabama's Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice knowingly presented a Resolution to the Alabama State School Board which does not take Alabama out of Common Core.
Proof Tommy Bice already knew earlier this year (from a letter dated February 2013) from General Counsel that Memorandum of Agreement was already superseded by the State Board's Adoption of the College and Career Ready Standards.
The Alabama Board of Education has created a byzantine maze surrounding Common Core standards when it should be focusing on common sense.
The board is expected to vote to rescind a 2009 agreement with the National Governors’ Association and the Council for Chief State School Officers with regard to adoption of the controversial Common Core standards. The state Department of Education hopes the action would remove doubt that Alabama’s standards in mathematics and English are state standards and not the national Common Core standards.
Confused yet? State School Superintendent Tommy Bice said his department would continue to work with NGA and CCSSO – the entities with which the school board hopes to end a four-year-old agreement – and would continue to work toward implementing the Alabama version of Common Core.
Confused yet? Betty Peters, District 2’s representative on the state school board, sees the resolution to rescind as a meaningless smokescreen designed to make the federalized standards look like something they’re not.
If you can’t dazzle ‘em, then baffle ‘em. We wonder how all this will help teach the children to read.
Both documents on MOA from Legal Counsel and Alabama's Flexibility Application--together backs up what State School Board Members Betty Peters and Stephanie Bell have warned us. The majority of the Alabama State Board members did go ahead and pass the Resolution (Ruse)Tommy Bice wanted this week.
The Conclusion is Tommy Bice--KNOWINGLY MISREPRESENTED The Truth. The citizens implore the Governor and the Legislators to do their part in removing Tommy Bice.
Here also are food for thought from Elois Zeanah of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women:
Dear Friends,
We have put considerable effort into preserving Alabama's freedom under the Tenth Amendment to decide what children in Alabama will study in school and how it will be taught. We have made a dramatic difference! This freedom is one more freedom that will be lost to Alabamians under the Obama administration if Alabama politicians don't change course and stop Common Core THIS legislative session. Unfortunately, Alabama House and Senate Republican leaders have stated that they will NOT allow their members to vote to repeal Common Core, but would instead work with the State Superintendent of Education to address concerns people have with Common Core. Thursday of this week (November 14), Superintendent Bice will ask Board Members to rescind the 2009 agreement with the NGA/CCSSO to implement Common Core Standards. The problem is this resolution to rescind the Memorandum of Agreement is "a ruse, an attempt to deceive good people and make it appear the board has done something to correct the common core disaster. In reality, the board is reaffirming its commitment to common core ....", according to a press release submitted by Board Members Stephanie Bell and Betty Peters today.
To support their statement, they reference a February memorandum written by the ASDOE General Counsel who stated that "the 2009 Memorandum of Agreement contains no legal obligations and has been superseded in practice at the state level by the state board of education's adoption of AL College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts."
Betty Peters explained that State Superintendent Bice’s proposed resolution to drop an agreement with two private trade organizations does not reverse Alabama's commitments to the federal government to use the federally incentivized standards, the federally funded assessment contractor (ACT), or the largely federally funded curricula aligned with the common core standards. AL’s No Child Left Behind waiver, which further solidified Alabama’s commitment to the Common Core Standards.Initiative, underscores the emptiness of the proposed resolution." This is the second attempt to deceive Alabama voters by the State Superintendent and House and Senate leaders. Last month a resolution was submitted by Dr. Bice to supposedly protect the privacy of students when in fact it took away the privacy protections for students and their parents. Apparently, they either think we are uninformed or stupid.
It's up to US to convince our legislators to do their due diligence under the Alabama Constitution and stop Common Core this legislative session and preserve parent's fundamental rights to decide how their children will be educated. We trust our Republican legislators to do the right thing if they have full information. We have been providing them information and will continue to do so. One way to make our voice heard and retain our state's rights and individual liberties to control education in Alabama is to personally sign a petition to legislators, which explains the issue; and to get our friends and families to do the same. This petition explains what's wrong with what the State Superintendent is doing and how the problems can be resolved.
We've worked so hard to protect our children's education, their privacy, and parents' constitutional rights to determine what their children will learn in school and how it will be taught. Common Core takes this away and gives it to the Obama Administration which is working closely with the two private entities who own and have copyright the Common Core standards. This petition may be the single best tool to repeal Common Core and to ensure that the State Superintendent cannot force private, church and home schools under his oversight as he tried to do in July so that there is little or no competition between what is taught in public schools versus private, church and home schools. Your signature will help convince legislators how widespread support is to restore parental control and state's rights and how we will not be deceived by false promise that are not based in fact but instead are a "ruse".
"For these Superintendent and others who say we've spent so much and we gotta continue--No! If you're feeding poison to your children, you don't want to continue using that poison on supply even if you've invested a lot of money buying it!" Per Professor Sandra Stotsky who was invited to be on the Common Core National Validation Committee.
Most of us realize children are gifts from God and the responsibility to raise them belong to parents. Unfortunately Common Core is a families worst nightmare as it takes away PARENTAL AUTHORITY. Unfortunately like Obamacare which most Americans have seen as a package of lies and destroys so many-this too is the case with Common Core. Common Core gives control of educating your children to Arne Duncan of US Dept. of Ed just like your family's healthcare is now under the control of Kathleen Sebelius and Dept. of Health and Human Services. As many are groaning of the changes in their healthcare coverage so will many families at the changes in educating the childdren. And you will find same in that Common Core was pushed on states with lies and of course fed $$.
Package of Lies:
Developers LIED!!!
Testimony from Texas Commissioner of Ed-Robert Scott --HE was urged to adopt CC before they were written. Final draft came out in June 2010 and yet these standards were already touted as tested, benchmarked and will make our kids college and career ready. (see signature of Alabama signing on in Jan 2010).
The Developers failed to heed the Science-
The Joint Statement of Early Childhood Health and Education--signed by 500 of the most prominent pediatricians, deveopmental psychologists and researchers that warned CC is developmentally inappropriate.
Standards Same For All Common Core States From ESEA Flexibility Application: On November 18, 2010, Alabama joined 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). The adoption by the Alabama State Board of Education (SBOE) incorporated selected Alabama standards with those in the Common Core to create a set of internationally benchmarked college-and career-readiness standards that will prepare students for a future in the ever-expanding global environment. These standards are known as the Alabama College-and Career-Ready Standards (CCRS). http://www2.ed.gov/policy/eseaflex/al.pdf
Tommy Bice --Alabama's State Superintendent LIED!!! These are not Alabama's own standards--they are copyrighted--Alabama can only make a difference on 15% of it which will not be tested. And his Resolutionto get out of CC is "a ruse, an attempt to deceive good people and make it appear the board has done something to correct the common core disaster. In reality, the board is reaffirming its commitment to common core ....", according to a press release submitted by Board Members Stephanie Bell and Betty Peters yesterday. To support their statement, they reference a February memorandum written by the ASDOE General Counsel who stated that "the 2009 Memorandum of Agreement contains no legal obligations and has been superseded in practice at the state level by the state board of education's adoption of AL College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts."
The mindset of the developers needs to be questioned.
When they tout the Bluest Eye which many see as pornographic(I couldn't read it as it dealt with incenst, rape etc).--it is on their Common Core Website as part of a National List--they are so proud ofit they placed it there--you really need to question who are these people and what kind of a moral compass will we have specially when these standards are copyrighted and parents are out of the loop? Dr. Carla Horowitz of the Yale Child Study Center (one of the above signers of Joint Statement) says The Core standards will cause SUFFERING not learning for many, many, young children!!!!
Conclusion: The Horror Stories you hear in NY and others states is coming and for some it is already here...New York got into it earlier but here is NY experience which should move every parent to kick out Common Core!!
Testimony-From a licensed clinical social worker in New York State and have been providing psychotherapy services since 1995 appeared before their NY Assembly:
I am a licensed clinical social worker in New York State and have been providing psychotherapy services since 1995. I work with parents, teachers, and students from all socioeconomic backgrounds representing more than 20 different school districts in Suffolk County. Almost half of my caseload consists of teachers.In the summer of 2012, my elementary school teachers began to report increased anxiety over having to learn two entirely new curricula for Math and ELA. I discovered that school districts across the board were completely dismantling the current curricula and replacing them with something more scripted, emphasizing “one size fits all” and taking any imagination and innovation out of the hands of the teachers.In the fall of 2012, I started to receive an inordinate number of student referrals from several different school districts. A large number of honors students—mostly 8th graders—was streaming into my practice.The kids were self-mutilating—cutting themselves with sharp objects and burning themselves with cigarettes. My phone never stopped ringing.What was prompting this increase in self-mutilating behavior? Why now?The answer I received from every single teenager was the same. “I can’t handle the pressure. It’s too much work.”I also started to receive more calls referring elementary school students who were refusing to go to school. They said they felt “stupid” and school was “too hard.” They were throwing tantrums, begging to stay home, and upset even to the point of vomiting.I was also hearing from parents about kids bringing home homework that the parents didn’t understand and they couldn’t help their children to complete. I was alarmed to hear that in some cases there were no textbooks for the parents to peruse and they had no idea what their children were learning.My teachers were reporting a startling level of anxiety and depression. For the first time, I heard the term “Common Core” and I became awakened to a new set of standards that all schools were to adhere to—standards that we now say “set the bar so high, anyone can walk right under them.”Everyone was talking about “The Tests.” As the school year progressed and “The Tests” loomed, my patients began to report increased self-mutilating behaviors, insomnia, panic attacks, loss of appetite, depressed mood, and in one case, suicidal thoughts that resulted in a 2-week hospital stay for an adolescent.I do not know of any formal studies that connect these symptoms directly to the Common Core, but I do not think we need to sacrifice an entire generation of children just so we can find a correlation.The Common Core and high stakes testing create a hostile working environment for teachers, thus becoming a hostile learning environment for students. The level of anxiety I am seeing in teachers can only trickle down to the students. Everyone I see is describing a palpable level of tension in the schools.The Common Core standards do not account for societal problems. When I first learned about APPR and high stakes testing, my first thought was, “Who is going to rate the parents?”I see children and teenagers who are exhausted, running from activity to activity, living on fast food, then texting, using social media, and playing games well into the wee hours of the morning on school nights.We also have children taking cell phones right into the classrooms, “tweeting” and texting each other throughout the day. We have parents—yes PARENTS—who are sending their children text messages during school hours. Let’s add in the bullying and cyberbullying that torments and preoccupies millions of school children even to the point of suicide. Add to that an interminable drug problem.These are only some of the variables affecting student performance that are outside of the teachers’ control. Yet the SED holds them accountable, substituting innovation and individualism with cookie-cutter standards, believing this will fix our schools.We cannot regulate biology. Young children are simply not wired to engage in the type of critical thinking that the Common Core calls for. That would require a fully developed prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that is not fully functional until early adulthood. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for critical thinking, rational decision-making, and abstract thinking—all things the Common Core demands prematurely.We teach children to succeed then give them pre-assessments on material they have never seen and tell them it’s okay to fail. Children are not equipped to resolve the mixed message this presents.Last spring, a 6-year-old who encountered a multiplication sign on the NWEA first grade math exam asked the teacher what it was. The teacher was not allowed to help him and told him to just do his best to answer.From that point on, the student’s test performance went downhill. Not only couldn’t the student shake off the unfamiliar symbol, he also couldn’t believe his teacher wouldn’t help him.Common Core requires children to read informational texts that are owned by a handful of corporations. Lacking any filter to distinguish good information from bad, children will readily absorb whatever text is put in front of them as gospel. So, for example, when we give children a textbook that explains the second amendment in these terms: "The people have a right to keep and bear arms in a state militia," they will look no further for clarification.We are asking children to write critically, using emotionally charged language to “persuade” rather than inform. Lacking a functional prefrontal cortex, a child will tap into their limbic system, a set of primitive brain structures involved in basic human emotions, fear and anger being foremost. So when we are asking young children to use emotionally charged language, we are actually asking them to fuel their persuasiveness with fear and anger. They are not capable of the judgment required to temper this with reason and logic.So we have abandoned innovative teaching and instead “teach to the tests,” the dreaded exams that had students, parents and teachers in a complete anxiety state last spring. These tests do not measure learning—what they really measure is endurance and resilience. Only a child who can sit and focus for 90 minutes can succeed. The child who can bounce back after one grueling day of testing and do it all over again the next day has an even better chance.A recent Cornell University study revealed that students who were overly stressed while preparing for high stakes exams performed worse than students who experienced less stress during the test preparation period. Their prefrontal cortexes—the same parts of the brain that we are prematurely trying to engage in our youngsters—were under-performing.We are dealing with real people’s lives here. Allow me introduce you to some of them:…an entire third grade class that spent the rest of the day sobbing after just one testing session,…a 2nd grader who witnessed this and is now refusing to attend the 3rd grade—this 7-year-old is now being evaluated for psychotropic medication just to go to school,…a 6-year-old who came home crying because in September of the first grade, she did not know what a vertex was,…two 8-year-olds who opted out of the ELA exam and were publicly denied cookies when the teacher gave them to the rest of her third grade class,…the teacher who, under duress, felt compelled to do such a thing,…a sixth grader who once aspired to be a writer but now hates it because they “do it all day long—even in math,”…a mother who has to leave work because her child is hysterical over his math homework and his CPA grandfather doesn’t even understand it,…and countless other children who dread going to school, feel “stupid" and "like failures," and are now completely turned off to education.I will conclude by adding this thought. Our country became a superpower on the backs of men and women who studied in one-room schoolhouses.I do not think it takes a great deal of technology or corporate and government involvement for kids to succeed. We need to rethink the Common Core and the associated high stakes testing and get back to the business of educating our children in a safe, healthy, and productive manner. - Mary Calamia, LCSW, CASAC--Statement for New York State Assembly Education Forum Bentwood, New York October 10, 2013
Food for thought for those who says Obama admin had nothing to do with Common Core
Obama's plan: Obama's Sec. of Ed Arne Duncan's speech at 2009 Governors Education Symposium June 14, 2009 Cary, North Carolina...He stated the following..."But if all we do is save jobs, we will miss this opportunity – which is why we are also using this recovery money to drive reform" "There has never been this much money on the table and there may never be again" "Once new standards are set and adopted you need to create new tests that measure whether students are meeting those standards. Tonight -- I am announcing that the Obama administration will help pay for the costs of developing those tests."* "Today, perhaps for the first time, we have enough money to really make a difference."
Here are some tips for parents who have found out the truth about common core and would like to speak to their School Board members:
1. Watch this video to help you remember why you can not give up--you are saving children from harm--hear this testimony from clinical social worker on how it is affecting children and teachers.
Complete Hearing--worth watching--thank God for Stop Common Core in NY (stopccssinnys.com)
2. Let school board members realize the writer of Common Core--Achieve and its then Pres. had the demise of the authority of local school boards in mind as they "just get in the way"...
MR. GERSTNER: I’m going to say to the president-elect that the fundamental thing we have to do is change the governance model and accountability and execution model for education in this country. And what I’m going to suggest is that he convene the 50 governors, and the first thing they do is they abolish the 16,000 school districts we have in the United States. Sixteen thousand school districts are what we’re trying to cram this reform through.
Now, when I took over IBM I found I had 81 profit centers. Oh my God: How am I going to create change with 81 profit centers? How’d you like to create change with 16,000 profit centers? These organizations stand in the way of what we want to do. Now, the governors could decide, we’ll keep them as advisory, we can keep them as community support, but they will not be involved in the fundamental direction of public education in America. Second, this group of governors will then select 50 school districts, plus I’d say 20 major cities, so we got 70 school districts. Seventy instead of 16,000.
They will within one year develop a national set of standards for math, science, reading and social studies. Twelve months after that they will develop a national testing regime, so that there’ll be one day in America where every third, sixth, ninth and twelfth grader will take a national test against a national curriculum.
7. Pray and share this with teachers and maybe they will give a testimony at a meeting (even a handwritten testimony would be good.)
8. Ask other concerned parents to contact their local school board members and come together to present your concerns at a school board meeting. Help educate them as most are hearing only one side of the story.
9. Cover actions with lots of prayer and with God all things are possible.
The Common Core or College and Career Readiness System is masquerading as good reform but is in fact, the greatest fraud being perpetrated upon the American people, and is dependent upon data collection for the total implementation of it. In the 2013 Department of Education Report entitled, “Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance”, the federal government recommends the use of data mining techniques that use physical responses from biofeedback devices to measure mood, blood volume, pulses and galvanic skin responses, to examine student frustration, and to gather “smile intensity” scores.Using posture analysis seats, a pressure mouse, wireless skin conductors, schools are encouraged to learn which students might lack “grit, tenacity, and perseverance,” in engaging with, or in believing what is being taught.Welcome to Common Core/Obama Core!
The Alabama State School Board just approved a new resolution which Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice says will protect students’ privacy. It will instead open up a Pandora’s Box, allowing even third parties to have students’ personal family information to use and sell for any reason!
In December 2011, President Obama changed without congressional approval,theFamily Educational Rights and Privacy Act.(FERPA) All Personally Identifiable Information and Records on students and their families taken at the local level may legally be accessed by government and non government agencies .The Longitudinal Data system is capable of tracking student information over multiple years in multiple schools.Federal funding is provided to aid the design and implementation of such systems through the State Longitudinal Data System Grant Program.
Added to the FERPA changes President Obama made is the definition:“Biometric record,” as used in the definition of Personally Identifiable Information.Automated recognition of our children can be obtained through one or more measureable biological or behavioral characteristics, including fingerprints, retina and iris patterns, voice prints, DNA sequence, facial characteristics and handwriting.Personally Identifiable Information includes but is not limited to:students’ and parents’ names, addresses, dates and places of birth, social security and students’ numbers, mothers’ maiden names and biometric records.Is this really for better education?
Alas, Alabama has signed on to Obama Ed, and no meaningless resolution is going to change that.
Here are some suggestions given by a few great counselors and with God's help--miracles happen.
Get to know the basic truths about Common Core and share it--but first listen to this as it's foundational and also find out when tests are being given for your child and find the opt out form to turn in--
I. Study
1. Race to the Top Application--Yes your state applied for it (most states did and even the ones who didn't are finding textbooks being used in their states aligned to Common Core--this is Al example).
2. ESEA Flexibility Application--Most states applied for it and it very clearly shows your under Common Core:
on page 22 (or page 28 of pdf counter) of Alabama's for example
On November 18, 2010, Alabama joined 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). The adoption by the Alabama State Board of Education (SBOE) incorporated selected Alabama standards with those in the Common Core to create a set of internationally benchmarked college-and career-readiness standards that will prepare students for a future in the ever-expanding global environment. These standards are known as the Alabama College-and Career-Ready Standards (CCRS).
Now that you can debunk the claim by our State Superintendent that these are "our" Alabama College and Career Standards and not the Common Core (plus you know that even though we are not a Race to the Top state as he proudly proclaims--it was not because we did not try!)--then it is time to move on.
Listen to this Common Core Collage of interviews from expert and become an expert yourself.
Read this letter from Clinical Social Worker about the dangerous results. Here's an excerpt:
Statement for New York State Assembly Education Forum
Brentwood, New York
October 10, 2013
I am a licensed clinical social worker in New York State and have been providing psychotherapy services since 1995. I work with parents, teachers, and students from all socioeconomic backgrounds representing more than 20 different school districts in Suffolk County. Almost half of my caseload consists of teachers.
In the fall of 2012, I started to receive an inordinate number of student referrals from several different school districts. A large number of honors students—mostly 8th graders—was streaming into my practice.The kids were self-mutilating—cutting themselves with sharp objects and burning themselves with cigarettes. My phone never stopped ringing.
What was prompting this increase in self-mutilating behavior? Why now?
The answer I received from every single teenager was the same. “I can’t handle the pressure. It’s too much work.”
I also started to receive more calls referring elementary school students who were refusing to go to school. They said they felt “stupid” and school was “too hard.” They were throwing tantrums, begging to stay home, and upset even to the point of vomiting.
--------------------------------
Watch the video from the child pscyhologist that verifies they did not have the well-being of the children in mind when they developed this.
The Facts from the mouth of the Math standards developer debunks the "higher Math standards claim".
The interview from best ELA expert debunks the Common Core ELA being better.
If that's enough and you're already convinced Common Core is bad--
1. Ask to visit your legislators in your district. Request an appointment and bring some of your anti-Common Core friends with you. Know your facts and present to him the truth as he/she may not know and find out where they stand...so that you will know whether to support that person or get rid of him/her. WE the People cannot afford lukewarm legislators on this issue. Their time to take a stand is now. Find out and make sure to support your Stop Common Core groups in your state. Look up Stop Common Core on fb for your state and get plugged in on what to do next. Please share this link with teachers and this one with your church friends and pastor.
By the way--here's some pictures of some of the books being considered for adoption in Alabama--is it in your state?
If you had to choose one of your rights in the First Amendment which one would you give up and why?
The Global Issues Series SUPPORTS the National Geographics Mission????
Data Mining/Collection is such a big deal to think about. Who would want to collect tons of data on children and their families. What kind of information do they plan to get--data points? Why would they go to great lengths to data mine or collect? By the way here is a website with help for Opting-Out.
The above are just some of the questions that many parents across America are trying to figure out. We just saw the over-reach of the IRS, NSA, Obamacare and now Obamacore (Common Core). It is as if nothing is sacred or to be protected--not even our children. The more you find out the more questions you have. Specially when you see them say in their guide--Grit Tenacity and Perseverance--
"Recommendation 13: Researchers should investigate systematically the different reasons for demonstrating grit and potential benefits and costs in learning environments with different goal structures. Potential risks should be explored." (xvi)
So, why aren't we listening to experts? Computerization--research shows that it limits creativity, mind body coordination, and the human dimension of school that is so crucial to child development.
Ex. Silicon valley executives and engineers are sending their kids to schools that do not use technology in the classroom but rely on old fashioned methods because they do not believe computers and other technology enhance learning. LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. They have a message: computers and schools don't mix.
Here are some links to do your own investigations on what happens with computerization:
Education is the new goldmine as a $500 Billion industry--it has been found a worthy place to invest by Bill Gates.
Here are some of the reasons for giving his grants (complete list here):
Council of Chief State School Officers (Supposed Owners of the Copyrighted Common Core)
June 2011 to support the Common Core State Standards work $9,388,911
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The Aspen Institute
January 2013 to support the Aspen Institute’s Urban Superintendents Network, develop resources to integrate Common Core State Standards and educator effectiveness policies and practices, and use lessons from the field to inform national policy $3,615,655
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Scholastic, Inc.
November 2011 to support teachers’ implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics $4,463,541
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American Federation Of Teachers Educational Foundation
June 2012 to support the AFT Innovation Fund and work on teacher development and Common Core State Standards $4,400,000
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Khan Academy Inc.
July 2011 to develop the remaining K-12 math exercises to ensure full coverage of the Common Core math standards and form a small team to implement a blended learning model $4,079,361
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Since it is such a goldmine it is not hard to find others partnering in the goldrush with Gates such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's Amplify Education division that develop the database system. They then turn it over to inBloom a non-profit to operate and control the information.
The 2009 Stimulus $$
But if all we do is save jobs, we will miss this opportunity – which is why we are also using this recovery money to drive reform in four core areas. It starts with robust data systems that track student achievement and teacher effectiveness ...(Arne Duncan's speech here is a must read.)
We need to do a much better job of tracking students from Pre-K through college. Teachers need this data to better target instruction to students. Principals need to know which teachers are producing the biggest gains and which may need more help.
We also need to track teachers back to their colleges of education so we can challenge teacher-training programs to raise the bar.
There's a lot of money available in the Recovery Act to help improve our data systems and I want to work with you to put the very best technology at the service of education...
"There has never been this much money on the table and there may never be again"
"Once new standards are set and adopted you need to create new tests that measure whether students are meeting those standards. Tonight -- I am announcing that the Obama administration will help pay for the costs of developing those tests."*
"Today, perhaps for the first time, we have enough money to really make a difference."
So Here They Go With The Data System:
Start the State Longitudinal Data Systems--Feds prohibited legally from gathering student specific data for a "national database", the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) "Stimulus Bill" -- gave money to the states to develop longitudinal data systems to catalog data generated by Common Core aligned tests.
Race to the Top Application--made states comply when this administration used data system development as the key criteria for awarding additional K-12 funds through RTT.
Changing FERPA-- to allow almost anyone access to student record without parental consent.
Where are our legislators on the FERPA changes?--One commenter (see page 7) stated that ARRA was merely an appropriations law and did not suggest any shift in Congressional intent regarding FERPA’s privacy protections, information sharing, or the disclosure of student education records, generally. Great point--please ask your legislator to look into this!!!
The Common Core tests gather student-specific data to be stored by the states in the longitudinal data systems designed to track a student from pre-school through college. This is a must read as to what they may gather.
-An Experiment on America's Children--"Recommendation 13: Researchers should investigate systematically the different reasons for demonstrating grit and potential benefits and costs in learning environments with different goal structures. Potential risks should be explored." (xvi)
Read Emmett McGroarty's (American Principles Project) warning on Dec. 2011:--As of Jan. 3, 2012, interstate and intergovernmental access to your child’s personal information will be practically unlimited. The federal government will have a de facto nationwide database of supposedly confidential student information.
The department says this won’t happen. If the states choose to link their data systems, it says, that’s their business, but “the federal government would not play a role” in operating the resulting megadatabase.
This denial is, to say the least, disingenuous. The department would have access to the data systems of each of the 50 states and would be allowed to share that data with anyone it chooses, as long as it uses the right language to justify the disclosure.
And just as the department used the promise of federal money to coerce the states into developing these systems, it would almost certainly do the same to make them link their systems. The result would be a nationwide student database, whether or not it’s “operated” from an office in Washington.
The loosening of student-privacy protection would greatly increase the risks of unauthorized disclosure of personal data. Even the authorized disclosure would be limited only by the imaginations of federal bureaucrats. "
The future looks too much like Orwell's 1984--let's stop it now and it involves YOU. Hear a Mother's concern about data:
Here's food for thought from Mrs. Lisa Harris--follow it and it will amaze you at what each state is being forced to buy into:
ATTENTION ALABAMA PARENTS BE IN MONTGOMERY TOMORROW IF YOU CAN. THIS IS IMPORTANT INFO!!! This link is to a public statement by MARY SCOTT HUNTER, ALSDE board member in her support of the resolution to be voted on tomorrow regarding student data and privacy.
This resolution is a smoke screen and DOES NOT PROTECT STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
I have broken the resolution down by category and inserted the facts as they apply. This resolution actually confirms the collection and sharing of student data, but because most individuals do not know the legal information, it appears solid.
First, let me say that prior to the release of the Common Core Standards, ALL 50 states agreed to set up SLDS, Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems to collect data and share with the federal government because it is illegal for the Feds to do this themselves. The Obama administration has called for over 400 points of data to be collected on families, very personal information.
THE RESOLUTION begins by stating that ALSDE fully complies with the requirements of FERPA, the federal law which is supposed to protect family privacy in education settings. HOWEVER, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION GUTTED THE LAW IN DECEMBER OF 2011. On January 3, 2012, changes went into effect that allowed for the collection of student data by third parties and that those parties retain ownership of that data and may share it or SELL IT at their discretion.
The Resolution is broken down in categories.
DATA COLLECTION PROCESS This states that ALSDE does not collect data. It is collected at the local level. Of course, that is the direct access to the student, academic records, registration for standards tests, etc. HOWEVER, the resolution goes on to state that this data is reported daily to ALSDE and the USDOE. The resolution claims that students are given an individual unique student identifier and no information is shared that is personally identifiable. This is false on two levels. First IT experts state that because of cross data collection from various sources, including multiple government agencies such as USDOE, HHS, Dept. of labor, USDA, and the IRS, that this unique identifier can within a matter of seconds IDENTIFY the child and family. Secondly, there are many situations where the child's data is collected which requires specific personal information to be collected by name, social security number, etc.
DATA CATEGORIES This is where ALSDE claims that information is only shared using unique student identifiers. Well, because the categories of the types of information shared is so specific, the cross collection easily allows for the breakdown of data privacy here. There are numerous requirements by the Feds and categories by which they collect data. Computer programs have the ability to almost instantaneously sort and match information to be able to isolate individual students.
Data is collected at the federal level from schools to meet requirements of many different federal programs, such as the federal law governing education, ESEA, No Child Left Behind, The ESEA waiver to NCLB, Special Education, Title 1, and various sources of federal funding just to mention a few.
DATA SECURITY IT experts say that even the best security can be easily hacked. But, the information is so easily accessible, hacking is not really necessary.
EXTERNAL DATA REQUESTS ALSDE states that it will give out data to outside entities based on certain criteria and in adherence to FERPA. As I have already stated, FERPA has become basically worthless. So, the criteria is usually loosely categorized as "for educational purposes". That could be surveys by Google or Microsoft (Bill Gates), Textbook companies, testing companies, colleges and universities, etc.
THIRD PART DATA USE The resolution states that data collected will be shared with third parties (who can and will further share it) based on executed agreements and Memorandums of Understanding by third parties (Common Core was adopted in Alabama due to a Memorandum of Understanding). These executed agreements are such as those with ACT, Inc., the company that will provide the Common Core aligned assessments for AL. It is stated in their privacy agreement that they can and will collect student data at their discretion and share it as they see fit. Registration for these tests requires inputting personally identifiable student information,
Furthermore, ACT assessments include components that by a computerized test collect information to be scored using artificial intelligence through psychosocial behavioral assessments to make diagnoses of students' psychological attributes. These components include the ACT Engage component of ACT Aspire, ACT PLAN, and WORKKEYS.
LOCAL SCHOOL/SYSTEM COMPLIANCE As previously stated local data is shared daily with the state. Alabama collects student data with programs from STI of Mobile, AL. The academic and personal information is collected using their INow program which identifies students by name, photo, and other personal family information. In 2010, AL added a medical component called HealthNOW or InformationHealthNow. This can be accessed by school and medical personnel and retains as a part of the record medical information, disciplinary records, mental health records, legal and criminal records.
Additionally, as a part of COMMON CORE data collection, there are data exchange systems being put into place to collect data and share it across states and regions. In the Southeast to include Alabama is SEEDS, the SE data exchange system. To access student data through SEEDS, one has to enter the child's name, age(grade level) and state. A list of students with those shared details appears. So, not only is one specific student accessed but a list of them having common information.
In early 2012, The Quality Data Campaign identified Alabama as having all required components in place for the SLDS.
So, with these facts how much privacy protection do you think this resolution offers? Be at that meeting in Montgomery at the ALSDE board meeting and let your voice be heard.
Here is a link to a collage of interviews (snippets) to help those new to the Common Core debate. It is very informative. Please feel free to download and make copies for everyone that loves children and is concerned with what is going on in education today.
This will be available on Sat 9/28/13 by noon.
Here is list of speakers:
Speakers on CD:
Jackie Virga--Mother of twins from New York on what Common Core did to her child. Professor Jim Milgram (On Nat'l Validation Committee): says homeschool your kids Bio on Professor Milgram and excerpt from a blog with his letter: R. James Milgram is an emeritus professor of mathematics at Stanford University where he has taught since 1970. He is a member of the National Board for Education Sciences - the presidential board that oversees the Institute for Education Research at the U.S. Department of Education - is also a member of the NASA Advisory Council, and is a member of the Achieve Mathematics Advisory Panel. He was one of the members of the Common Grounds Project that included Deborah Ball, Joan Ferrini-Mundy, J. Kilpatrick, Richard Schaar, and Wilfried Schmid. From 2002 to 2005, Professor Milgram headed a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education that identified and described the key mathematics that K-8 teachers need to know. He also helped to direct a project partially funded by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation that evaluated state mathematics assessments. He is one of the four main authors of the California Mathematics Standards, as well as one of the two main authors of the California Mathematics Framework. He is also one of the main authors of the new Michigan and new Georgia mathematics standards. Among other honors, he has held the Gauss Professorship at the University of Goettingen and the Regent’s Professorship at the University of New Mexico. He has published over 100 research papers in mathematics and four books, as well as serving as an editor of many others. His main area of research is algebraic and geometric topology, and he currently works on questions in robotics and protein folding. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He served on the validation committee for the Common Core mathematics. He did not agree to approve the standards. He sent the following letter.
Dear Diane, In your own writings you mention that the biggest issue with Core Standards is the lack of evidence. This is largely true. But at least in math there is significant international evidence that major parts of the standards will not work. For example, the only area we could find that has had success with CCSS-M's method of treating geometry is in Flemish Belgium. But it was tried on a national scale in Russia a number of years back, and was rapidly dropped. Likewise, the extremely limited high school level content is so weak that Jason Zimba, one of the three main writers described it as follows: First, he defined "college readiness" by stating: "We have agreement to the extent that it's a fuzzy definition, that the minimally college-ready student is a student who passed Algebra II." Perhaps this explains why the only math at the high school level, aside from a snippet on trigonometry, is material from Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. Moreover, the Algebra II component does not describe a complete course. Zimba's definition is taken verbatim from his March 23, 2010 testimony before the MA State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Later, in the question period, Sandy Stotsky asked for some clarification. The following is a verbatim transcript: Zimba stated "In my original remarks, I didn't make that point strongly enough or signal the agreement that we have on this - the definition of college readiness. I think it's a fair critique that it's a minimal definition of college readiness." Stotsky asked "For some colleges?" and Zimba responded by stating: "Well, for the colleges most kids go to, but not for the colleges most parents aspire to." Stotsky then asked "Not for STEM, not for international competitiveness?" and Zimba responded "Not only not for STEM, it’s also not for selective colleges. For example, for UC Berkeley, whether you are going to be an engineer or not, you'd better have precalculus to get into UC Berkeley." Stotsky then pointed out: "Right, but we have to think of the engineering colleges and the scientific pathway." Zimba added "That's true, I think the third pathway goes a lot towards that. But your issue is broader than that." Stotsky agreed saying "I'm not just thinking about selective colleges. There's a much broader question here," to which Zimba added "That's right. It's both, I think, in the sense of being clear about what this college readiness does and doesn't get you, and that's the big subject." Stotsky then summarized her objections to this minimalist definition by explaining that a set of standards labeled as making students college-ready when the readiness level applies only to a certain type of college and to a low level of mathematical expertise wouldn’t command much international respect in areas like technology, economics, and business. Zimba appeared to agree as he then said "OK. Thank you." So these are the standards that Sybilla Beckmann recently described by stating that "No standards I know of are better than the CCSS-M." Well, if you believe that then perhaps I can interest you in large bridge in NYC. As to the "third pathway" that Zimba mentioned above, it never actually existed. The version of CCSS-M Zimba was talking about was the March 10 public draft. It had placemarkers for the key calculus standards, but aside from those placemarkers, this version contained about the same material -- only in Geometry, Algebra I, Algebra II and a trig snippet -- as appears in the final version. Moreover, the calculus placemarkers and any hint of a third pathway are gone in the final version. It is also worth noting that Clifford Adelman did an analysis of the odds of completing a college degree based on the highest level math course completed in high school. The odds for Geometry were 16.7%, for Algebra II they were 39.3%, but for Trigonometry they were 60%, 74.6% for Precalculus, and 83.3% for Calculus. So we can estimate that a "minimally college ready student" has a less than 40% chance of completing a college degree. Is this really what the National Governor's Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Gates and Broad Foundations want for our youth? Yours, Jim Milgram
Professor Sandra Stotsky (the one that said we need to stop giving poison no matter how expensive...: Sandra Stotsky is the University of Arkansas Professor Emerita in the Department of Education Reform. She is credited with developing one of the country’s strongest sets of academic standards for K-12 students as well as the strongest academic standards and licensure tests for prospective teachers while serving as Senior Associate Commissioner in the Massachusetts Department of Education from 1999-2003. She is also known nation-wide for her in-depth analyses of the problems in Common Core’s English Language Arts (ELA) standards. She currently serves on the advisory board for Pioneer Institute’s Center for School Reform. She served on the National Validation Committee for the Common Core State Systemic Initiative (2009-2010), and she refused to validate the standards due to their grave inadequacies. Charlotte Iserbyt (the one that warns about there is no school choice and how we must not lose our elected school boards) wrote The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America which is available as a free e-book: She served as the Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education, during the first term of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and staff employee of the U.S. Department of State. She is known for writing the book The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America. The book reveals that changes gradually brought into the American public education system work to eliminate the influences of a child's parents (religion, morals, national patriotism), and mold the child into a member of the proletariat in preparation for a socialist-collectivist world of the future. She says that these changes originated from plans formulated primarily by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education and Rockefeller General Education Board, and details the psychological methods used to implement and effect the changes. She warns people of dangers of charters schools and not to give up local controls in education.
Alice Linahan a leading Texas activist (Women on the Wall) who has been fighting for good education in Texas (exposed CSCOPE)--she spoke with Charlotte Iserbyt about the danger of charter schools.
Becky Gerritson-(the one that actually called Common Core to verify whether or not it could be changed.)Founder and President of Wetumpka Tea Party and was in the news for giving her impassioned testimony against the IRS in trying to defend her freedoms and our nation.
Kenneth Freeman, executive director of the Alliance for Citizens' Rights talked about how state lawmakers (Del Marsh of Al) threw a state's right to get rid of Common Core legislation in the waste bin and did not even care to hear facts from Lindsey Burke of Heritage Foundation on Common Core--just a little glimpse of the antics of pro-common core legislators.
Christel Swasey, a Utah public education teacher see some of her fact filled blogs at http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/christel-swasey-responds-to-brenda-hales/ Here's link to a must see interview with a Clinical Mental Health Therapist: http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/clinical-mental-health-therapist-interviewed/ Latest video from psychologist that confirms the planners of Common Core really didn't think about the appropriateness for children:
Last speaker is Col. John Eidsmoe on the unconstitutionality of Common core--Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has described Eidsmoe as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me", "a wonderful man", and "absolutely brilliant." She worked for him while a law student at Oral Roberts as a research assistant on Christianity and the Constitution. He is an attorney and a professor of constitutional law and related subjects. He has previously taught at the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama, and at the O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University. He served in the US Air Force as a Lt. Colonel and is an Alabama State Defense Force Colonel, Headquarters Judge Advocate, Deputy Chaplain and Training Officer. He earned his J.D. from the University of Iowa, M.A. from Dallas Theological Seminary, and M. Div. from Lutheran Brethren Seminary
Eidsmoe is currently the Senior Counsel and Resident Scholar at the Foundation for Moral Law in Montgomery, AL. Consequences for Children--Please watch this video by Child Psychologist:
Dr. Megan Koschnick presents on Common Core at APP Conference Stress!! Children will be frustrated and may disengage from education. The curriculum includes lessons and strategies to get students to understand concepts that are not developmentally appropriate. Less time for presenting grade appropriate materials, leaving no time for repetition. Teachers may perceive typically developing students as delayed. Parents may be informed that their children are behind delayed, disordered. Please get informed!
Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 11:29AM ;)
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