Greetings Fellow Hoosier Teachers!
Not feeling the love from the Indiana General Assembly? There is a good reason! If schools and teachers are going to be judged by their standardized test scores, then teachers and schools have no other choice than to teach to the test within a narrowed curricula. Fine Arts classes? Creativity? Rigor is more important! What about children who are not good test takers? No excuses!!! Why is the Indiana General Assembly and other policy makers making life difficult for professional educators? Here is an eye opening perspective from Stephen Krashen.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Common Core: Who Benefits?
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The question Indiana Taxpayers need to ask the Indiana General Assembly's Education Study Committee after the 2013 ISTEP testing debacle is this: Was the 95 million spent on McGraw-Hill and the inordinate amount of time taken away from children's meaningful learning experience in the classroom worth it? Now, the Common Core State Standards are under consideration for adoption and with them, even more intensive high stakes testing, data collection and data driven learning experience.
Since the Stock Market Crash of 2008, standardized high stakes testing of children, data driven learning experience and subsequent test prep activity has increased while school budgets and learning opportunities devoted to creativity has decreased.
Who benefits from the rigor mortis of the Common Core? This effort to further impose a rigid set of narrowed, mechanized, standardized, educational content on children, assessed through high stakes testing will result in teachers acting on behalf of standardized test publishing companies to standardize human potential.
Just what I want my child to have, a common, generalized, anesthetic, short answer learning experience rammed down her throat at the expense of under funded schools and economically depressed communities.
Since 1983 the ginned up premise that public education has been failing, we have seen exorbitant amounts of money spent on high stakes standardized testing with the promise that this would cure the educational and economic ills of America. The reality is something else.
The promise that the top down initiated Common Core is a good thing will make children better educated and college ready is an empty promise. Show me the evidence.
The question Indiana Taxpayers need to ask the Indiana General Assembly's Education Study Committee after the 2013 ISTEP testing debacle is this: Was the 95 million spent on McGraw-Hill and the inordinate amount of time taken away from children's meaningful learning experience in the classroom worth it? Now, the Common Core State Standards are under consideration for adoption and with them, even more intensive high stakes testing, data collection and data driven learning experience.
Since the Stock Market Crash of 2008, standardized high stakes testing of children, data driven learning experience and subsequent test prep activity has increased while school budgets and learning opportunities devoted to creativity has decreased.
Who benefits from the rigor mortis of the Common Core? This effort to further impose a rigid set of narrowed, mechanized, standardized, educational content on children, assessed through high stakes testing will result in teachers acting on behalf of standardized test publishing companies to standardize human potential.
Just what I want my child to have, a common, generalized, anesthetic, short answer learning experience rammed down her throat at the expense of under funded schools and economically depressed communities.
Since 1983 the ginned up premise that public education has been failing, we have seen exorbitant amounts of money spent on high stakes standardized testing with the promise that this would cure the educational and economic ills of America. The reality is something else.
The promise that the top down initiated Common Core is a good thing will make children better educated and college ready is an empty promise. Show me the evidence.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Voucher Bill/House of Cards Dependent On Flawed ISTEP Results
Forcing a narrowed curriculum down the throats of children, teachers compelled to ignore children's interests and passions in the development of learning experience all for this mess of epic proportions.
2013 Hancock County Art Show Is A Huge Advocacy Event
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| Visitors find the marble run blocks. |
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| Sugar Creek Elementary art teacher Mr. Clark Fralick has a word with parents. |
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| More marble run construction artists. |
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| Young engineers and sculpture artists get a boost! |
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| More action from the marble run center. |
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| Learning to work with gravity is FUN! |
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| Mom and Sister admire older brother's drawing. |
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| Proud artist poses next to his drawing. |
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| More marble run and block building action! |
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| Painters pose in front of their art. |
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| Marble run and block building center were busy both nights! |
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| Action drawing artist stands by his work. |
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| Hancock County Art Educators present four scholarships to Hancock County senior artists. |
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| Mr. Fralicks 6th Graders WOWed the crowd with a straw tower direct from the workshop of Monsieur Eiffel. |
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Voucher Bill Passes, Indiana Voters Ignored
If the election of a new Indiana school superintendent was intended to send a message to the Indiana State legislature to take care of their public schools, they didn't get it.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Stop Vouchers: Oppose HB1003 NOW!
Let your Senator and Representative know that using the failed A-F system to give vouchers to 18% of Indiana’s school attendance areas is wrong. It will unfairly impact too many schools that were graded unjustly. They should vote HB 1003 down until a revised A-F system is in place that has validity in the eyes of the public. Friday is the last day, so send your final thoughts now! Thanks Vic Smith!!!
1.1 million Hoosier school children depend on their art and music programs. Vouchers will reduce public school funding and that will lead to the marginalization of many of these programs. Write to your Indiana Legislators and tell them to vote no on HB1003!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
An Education Optimizing Creativity Development Will Never Be Fully Realized Under Current Conditions
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