TAKS ....EOC.....INSANITY..... DIRE TIMES AHEAD

Once again we enter that most ugly of times.....the TAKS Season. A few musings from a wandering mindset are offered below.

WISHLIST:

• See any member of state government pass the Social Studies test.
• See any member of state government make above 50 on the ELA test.
• See any member of state government make above 50 no 40 on the math test
• See any member of state government make above 20% on the science test.

MORE REASONABLE WISHLIST

• Accomplish any of the above.....on the middle version of said test.

JOBS EXPORTED

• How many New jersey or was it Ohio people that are employed creating these wonderful instruments of educational disaster?
  
• (TIME TO SHOP TEXAS FIRST)
  

End Of Course....
oh yes - as the circus says send in the clowns...

First draft - this was 12 tests to be passed with a cumulative average of a 70....
Sounds good till someone figured out that passing all 3 English and all 3 Social Studies and making at least a 50 in the math and Science - could still work out to a 70.

Second Draft - this was to be all 3 tests within one subject with a cumulative average of a 70.
Smart kids figure out that an 80 on Algebra 1 and a 90 on Geometry lets you flunk Algebra II and still earn a 70.

Third Draft ...who knows what will pop out next....
(After all budget shows most of the legislature lacks basic understanding of algebra like what negative numbers mean)

DEJA VU: (INSANITY REVISITED)

One has only to return to the much beloved End Of Course Algebra test to fully grasp just how this wonderful state board can screw up and the $$ wasted on what has to be the worst produced test in the country. With a mainstream passing rate of somewhere around 15-35%....this test was not even passed by more than 60% state wide when dealing only with the elite students - the 8th grade honors algebra students ....students who are among the top 3-10% of the student body. 9th Grade honors algebra students faired slightly less better than their 8th grade counterparts.

Ok - a State wide EOC test - run for what was it - 5 years and never got to 50% state wide.

And guess who wrote that one.....yea - the wonderful New Jersey or was it the Ohio test people ...

Now we want to plan on giving them 12 EOC tests to create....by what geometric progression will the number of bad ideas coming out of Austin expand by.

And for the freshmen - who are often so culture shocked at high school who flunk 2 or 3 of the 4 tests their first time have to look forward to ? 6 or 7 tests the next year - or just 4 and the knowledge that they have to score even higher to make up for past mistakes?

When it gets to 6 or 7 tests that must all be passed to return to being on target for graduation...how long will it be before the weaker students throw up their hands and give up.
And when that happens - unacceptable will become a common rating statewide and the moron squads like Obama's Money Tree (if you tie scores to teacher ratings).....will be out again proclaiming how teachers must be the problem. And there will come that line in the sand where the better teachers will leave for private schools - affluent schools ...or college or just leave the profession cause all the blame and finger pointing will convince them it time to quit.

Personal Note - this is why I am telling my child to pursue a Masters if they wish to teach - and stay out of K-12. Sad coming from someone whose extended family includes 20+ K-12 teachers.

So yes - once more thank you Austin for all you do on Teachers and Students behalf.

The Dumbing Down of Texas Education

Well the governor despite letters - emails - phone calls from across the state chose to sign HB3 into law on Friday June 19th. Health and freshman speech teachers will have to work to keep their jobs as their is no longer a requirement to teach either.

Now a student has to understand and choose to take the college prep route. Students can completely fill a schedule with music art and drama while preparing little for college. Vocational programs benefit from the CTE parts of the bill but still fall short of funding or enough teachers to go around.

In a rush to give the students free choice...catering to desires instead of needs, we will have students graduating into a technology driven workplace that have never been required to work with technology or take a technology class regardless of whether was Microsoft Office training , basic Web Design, Animation, Video Production, Desktop Publishing or even Computer Programming.

Couple this with the number of middle schools eliminating GT math and science classes and the result is college prep students who milk their schedule will still be anywhere from 6 to 9 hours less college credit upon high school graduation than the seniors were 5 years ago.

Lets see - less credits earned- Yes- this qualifies as dumbing down even the GT kids.

Yes you read it right - there are multiple middle schools across the state dumbing down and eliminating any type of advance /honors/Gt classes in grades 6-8. This is not what is coming - this is what has already happened. To protect sources, I will simply say I know of multiple schools where GT in the middle school is GONE. Administrators not wanting to have to work out a schedule - have turned back to all core subject classes being a one size fits all. Not a great idea when you are preparing students for high school and are lowering the standards to the lower students when there is a fast approaching spell of state mandated subject level tests. In some middle schools - the word is lower the expectations across the board and get as many of them through as possible to High School. (pass the buck)

Some of these same middle schools have administrations telling them to take the technology classes and let the kids have fun - treat it like PE - if they show up give them 100. Yea - I am sure that is what the TEKS say. And they wonder why freshman struggle at the high school level.

Well lets see- they have dumbed down the material making the GT kids restless. Now those kids enter high school expecting to cruise through classes like they did in middle school - and when they hit a GT English or Math class - well - its like running their train into a brick wall. Then the entire group of freshman are in a situation where they may sign up for high school computer classes and then are upset when it is not a time for fun and games and playing on the internet.

Sounds to me like not only a lower level of education - but a higher risk of frustration, acting out , behavior problems and more.

Also leads to teachers leaving the profession as I witnessed directly when a medium size school lost an experience teacher in a core subject. The teacher did not get the support they deserved and a group of 10 or 11 students were allowed to run wild to the point the teacher left the profession. No administrator thought it through about breaking that core of 10 or 11 kids and holding the STUDENT accountable. No - the administrators saw this as a failure on the teacher's part despite her previous years record of a very high percentage of her students passing the state mandated test. Anyone who spent time with this teacher knew of their passion for teaching as well as their success at both high school and junior college level. Sadly that is a teacher lost now- in a critical subject area. The school lost out as well as the students who face that state test each year to come.

I know this - Austin needs someone to shake the stupidity out of the legislature. In 2010 - I intend to help vote some of it out of office - including the governor. Maybe a turnover in large numbers will remind those people.... They work for us.... Time to quit working against us.

So be prepared Austin - teachers are not going to go quietly into the night. Parents should read up and be aware of how education is going the wrong direction.

STILL TIME - GOVERNOR HAS NOT MOVED

STILL TIME TO CALL - GET INVOLVED

CALL THE GOVERNORS OFFICE - VETO HB3

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Texas Legislature Sends Education Backwards

Welcome !

This blog is designed to combat the backwards move of public education in the United States with a focus on Texas.

The incredibly arrogant...misguided Texas legislature just sent the governor a bill (HB3) to sign..

Letter below is addressed to the entire Texas legislature who passed this bill unanimously.

In a technology driven society, you voted in favor of a bill that leaves the burden on schools to teach technology classes yet removes the requirement that even 1 student must take the class to graduate. As a technology teacher this decision makes me want to scream. I have former students whose skills learned in high school tech classes helped them get jobs to play for their college education. These former students are everything from elementary teachers to engineers.

Colleges are wanting students that take more technology classes and you just set that back with your vote of YES on HB3.

Texas has a pregnancy rate that is exploding. Your vote for HB3 - removed the required health class in public high schools. Please explain the reasoning for this.

In the 2 years since your election - Public Education funding is still a joke as you steal from those with money to lower us all.

Currently the United States trails the world in college graduates in the areas of Computer Science and Software Engineering. Forecasts are a shortage at the least...of 1 MILLION jobs that will be outsourced in order to be filled.

Most graduates in these areas in US universities are students who were exposed to some technology classes in their high school education.

And what does Texas do - votes that NO students need to take a technology class in high school.

And the insult to public schools - you are required to teach these classes- buy this equipment - hire these teachers- but NO sutdents are required to take the classes.

STAND UP TEXAS - TELL GOVERNOR PERRY TO VETO THIS BILL!!!

CALL THE GOVERNOR - 512-463-2000