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Welcome to the October 20th edition of the HML POST
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Opposition to Common Core standards is growing nationwide, and despite salacious headlines indicating that right-wingers are simply opposed to anything the Obama administration does, much of it is coming from teachers and parents opposed to 

overtesting.Teachers' unions have won some recent battles over their cont

racts, famously in Chicago, less famously in Portland, Oregon and St. Paul, Minnesota. Reformers have taken charge of teachers' unions in Massachusetts and in Los Angeles. Student unions have sprung up across the country and have held "strikes," and shut down streets in protest to the way their schools are being handled.


 

  For more than a decade, teachers, administrators, students, and even parents have criticized the No Child Left Behind Act-and, now, the Obama administration's waivers under that law-for giving too much weight to standardized testing and forcing students to take too many exams.  That critique hasn't gotten very far in Washington. But there are signs that the movement to limit the number of federally mandated tests students take may be gaining momentum-and it could pick up more steam as the Obama administration draws to a close and the 2016 presidential election begins in earnest.


 

 America's Crusade Against Its Public School Children

 by Frank Breslin in the Huffington Post blog

  A specter is haunting America - the privatization of its public schools, and Big Money has entered into an unholy alliance to aid and abet it. Multi-billionaire philanthropists, newspaper moguls, governors, legislators, private investors, hedge fund managers, testing and computer companies are making common cause to hasten the destruction of public schools.

This assault also targets the moral and social vision that inspired the creation of public schools - the belief in a free and inclusive democratic society that unites all of us in a common destiny as we struggle together toward a just society and a better life for ourselves and our children.


announced Wednesday that it is overhauling the SAT, dropping the timed essay and focusing less on fancy vocabulary in order to level the playing field a bit for high school students from a wider range of families. The organization's own data show that wealthier Americans, from more educated families, tend to do far better on the best. As do white and Asian Americans, and those students who had the opportunity to take the PSAT in high school before taking the SAT. Almost certainly, these four findings have common origins in that the SAT benefits families who can provide their kids with a better education and more test prep. But here are four charts that show how the SAT advantages specific demographics.

  Four N.C. schools have hired the same company to run their day-to-day operations. One businessman is cashing in.  In late February, the North Carolina chapter of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation - a group co-founded by the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers - embarked on what it billed as a statewide tour of charter schools, a cornerstone of the group's education agenda. The first - and it turns out, only - stop was Douglass Academy, a new charter school in downtown Wilmington.    Douglass Academy was an unusual choice. A few weeks before, the school had been warned by the state about low enrollment. It had just 35 students, roughly half the state's minimum. 

 As education policies are being reviewed across the country, a recent survey conducted by WalletHub shows us the most educated cities in the U.S. and their not-so-fortunate counterparts. It presents a clear picture of which states and schools districts have been more focused and whose efforts have paid off. The final picture depicts Ann Arbor, home of University of Michigan, to be the winner.

An analysis across 150 large metropolitan areas used varying metrics like quality and size of schools in each area, the percentage of adults with various educational degrees, and the ratio and depth of people working in computer, engineering and science sectors. These are a clear reflection of the regional and academic policies as well as administrative implementations that have led to all-around learning.


 

The New History Wars  by Paul Horton on the Living Dialogue post

   The defense of the standards amounted to a defense of historical "revisionism." Nash, fellow editor Charlotte Crabtree, and dozens of historians argued in dozens of opinion pieces that research on new topics and new aspects of history had uncovered new documents and perspectives that had to be integrated into the then current textbooks to reflect ongoing debates and emerging consensus on dozens of issues. From this perspective, most historians saw the attack on the national standards as politically motivated: a continuation of the 60's "culture wars" that the right used as a political weapon.

 

  States trying to give teeth to the Common Core by tying new tests to graduation requirements are bumping up against resistance.   Forty-three states are currently signed on to the Common Core State Standards, a voluntary system designed to ensure that high school graduates are prepared for college. New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington are among a smaller number starting to link graduation requirements to the new and more challenging Common Core testing systems.   For supporters, the moves are a natural part of the transition from the adoption phase of Common Core to actually implementing the standards in a meaningful way. But an array of critics say the process is moving way too fast.

 

How great leaders inspire action (TED Talk) by Simon Sinek on Youtube.
  Simon Sinek presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers -- and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.
 If you don't know why you do what you do and people respond to why you do what you do; how can you get people to do what you want them to do?   If you hire people for what they do, they work for your money. If you hire people for what they believe they work with their blood, sweat and tears.

What Causes Your Child to Become a Bully?  by Gail Gross in the Huffington Post

What causes a child to become the bully?

While there is no one single profile of a child bully, in my years as a researcher and educator, I have witnessed a few different situations that describe the majority of child bullies:


 

1. Like Parent, Like Child

2. The Powerless Child 

3. The Forgotten Child

4. The Entitled Child

5. Children Who Lack Empathy


 

Common Core Standards: Ten Colossal Errors   by Anthony Cody on the EDWeek blog 

The Business Roundtable announced last month that its #1 priority is the full adoption and implementation of the Common Core standards. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is likewise making a full-court press to advance the Common Core. Major corporations have taken out full-page ads to insist that the Common Core must be adopted. Many leading figures in the Republican party, like Jeb Bush, have led the charge for Common Core, as have entrepreneurs like Joel Klein. And the project has become a centerpiece for President Obama's Department of Education.


 

Standardized tests must measure up  by Arne Duncan in the Washington Post

The standardized tests my kids take are one gauge on the dashboard, but parents and educators know that tests are not the only indicator.

Last week, state education chiefs and district superintendents announced a plan to examine their assessment systems, ensure that assessments are high-quality and cut back testing that doesn't meet that bar or is redundant. I welcome that important step.


 

The Option Game   by Jim Arnold  on the drjimarnold blog


Ban PowerPoint!   by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry  on the This Week website


Note to HML Members:  The HML Post is membership benefit, however you can share future HML Post editions with a colleague.  (We hope that your colleague will find the information worthwhile and join the League.)   Before sending the email address of the colleague, check to make sure that he or she is agreeable to receiving the HML Post each week.  Send the name and email to jmckay@hmleague.org.  Thanks.

 

The Greatest Discovery print 
Greatest Discovery
 The 11 * 18 inch print is available for individual or bulk purchase.  Individual prints are $4.00.  Discount with orders of 50 or more.  
For additional information about this or other prints, please check here.

 

    


 

 

A Gift:  On the Art of Teaching   by Horace Mann

In 1840 Mann wrote On the Art of Teaching. Some of HML members present On the Art of Teaching to new teachers as part of their orientation program.  On the inside cover, some write a personal welcome message to the recipient.  Other HML members present the book to school board members and parental organizations as a token of appreciation for becoming involved in their schools.  The book cover can be designed with the organization's name.  For more information, contact the HML (Jack McKay)
 
  
  

  

 
  

The Horace Mann League website (click here) contains information about the League's projects, activities, past events, galleries, publications, and much more.
 
 The HML Notes -Spring 2014 Edition, click here to download
 
All of the past issues of the HML Posts are available for review and search purposes.
 
Finally, 6 links that may be of interest to you.
Jack's Fishing Expedition in British Columbia - short video

 

 

Reprinted with permission.

 

 

About Us
The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.

 

Officers:
President: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, VA
President-elect: Charles Fowler, Exec. Director, Suburban School Admin. Exter, HN
Vice President: Christine  Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
1st Past President: Joe Hairston, President, Vision Unlimited, Reisterstown, MD
2nd Past President: Mark Edwards, Superintendent, Mooresville Graded Schools, NC

Directors:
Laurie Barron, Supt. of Schools, Evergreen School District, Kalispell , MT
Martha Bruckner, Supt., Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Carol Choye, Instructor, Bank Street College, NY
Brent Clark, Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
Eric King, Superintendent, (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Steven Ladd, Superintendent, Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA 
Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC
Kevin Maxwell, CEO, Prince George's County Schools, Upper Marlboro, MD
Stan Olson, Director, Silverback Learning, Boise, ID
Steven Webb, Supt. of Schools, Vancouver School District, WA

 

Executive Director:
Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
 
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.