Money Talks

Mr. Sirota is right to highlight a conclusion of the Stanford University study that, "a family's economic situation is a bigger determinative force in a child's academic performance than any other major demographic factor." I taught for ten years at a single school in a local school district where perhaps 2/3 of the students met or exceeded state standards. Then I was transferred to another school in the same district where it was guaranteed that nearly 100% of the students in my classroom and in the entire school would meet or exceed state standards. The difference? Family income was significantly higher in the latter school than in the former.


U.S. education: Money remains the deciding factor

Ah, the Good (?) Old Days

A retired teacher volunteers at the front desk of the school where I am working temporarily. She told me how her mother, also a teacher, was once paid with "warrants". I asked her what the meant. Essentially, a warrant was an IOU. When the school district did not have sufficient funds to cover payroll it issued warrants. Warrants were paid off in the order that they were issued as funds became available. How can you live with an IOU? You don't. You sell the warrant/IOU to a bank or other philanthropist for $.50 to the dollar who later redeems the warrant at full value.

I imagine that  the retired teacher's mother was not represented by a union. Unions and collective bargaining rights are essential and necessary to ensure that no teacher is ever compensated by warrant again ... Do you think warrant-like payments couldn't happen again? I'm not willing to find out.

Seeking Submission! Er ... Submissions!

Ambrose Bierce published The Cynic's Word Book in 1906 later giving it the title The Devil's Dictionary in 1911. I propose the creation of "A Devil's Dictionary for Educators." The purpose is to define terms common to educational discourse in the spirit of Bierce or to create new terms in the same spirit. I offer two examples of my own creation:

     reforms - poorly conceived initiatives by those who know little or nothing about education to coerce experienced and competent education professionals to do more work with fewer resources while demanding increased student performance

     AYParatchick - 1. local, state, or federal education employee charged with the task of ensuring compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 2. Refugee bureaucrat from the states of the former Soviet Union apparently now working in the federal Department of Education, state departments of education, and local school district

You can do better than I! Send in your submissions. I will post the one's that I like best on the A Devil's Dictionary for Educators page of this blog.

St. Helens School Board Observer/Inquirer

Some of my observations about the most recent meeting of the St. Helens School Board: http://patrickspub-pjpb.blogspot.com/p/st-helens-school-board-observerinquirer.html

Falling Short?

Here is a link to an The Oregonian op-ed piece from August 4 and my response:

Falling Short in Math and Reading



I agree with Jordy88 that, "There will never be 100% of the students passing these tests." On the other hand, 100% of students can demonstrate growth in knowledge and skills. Overreliance on standardized testing that varies from state to state is a significant flaw with NCLB. A significant flaw in US education in general is adherence to grade level standards and the delivery of instruction to children warehoused in classrooms in larger buildings merely because their birthdays fall within the same time span. Every child needs to have an individual learning plan and instruction tailored to help the child achieve the goals of that plan. That cannot happen in the current system. The major reason for this is that the public is not willing to pay the cost. Therefore, I believe that public education is about as good as it is ever going to get. The conversations that we're having now are the same ones that we'll be having in ten years, twenty years ...

A Devil's Dictionary for Educators

Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary (first published as The Cynic's Word Book) contains satirical and witty definitions like this one: "DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work." I think that it is time to compose a Devil's Dictionary for Educators as a way to help each other get through this dispiriting time of crisis for public education.

What do you offer for the term education? This is what Bierce composed: "EDUCATION, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.