Peabloggy

EdWeek has a new series of blog posts on what they refer to as NCLB: Act II and they’re already going full steam. The primary blogger is a gentleman named Mark Walsh.

The first of the recent posts is called You’ve been YouTubed and describes the set of 4 questions devoted to K-12 education issues in the recent Democratic candidates’ debate. They’ve linked to video highlights from those questions, and the answers by the candidates.

Personally, I felt CNN embarrassed itself and the candidates by posting questions straight from YouTube. I couldn’t imagine Lincoln and Douglas ever agreeing to subject themselves to silly amateur skits instead of pre-written questions when they engaged in their famous debates in 1858. To me, it was tantamount to permitting participants to rollerskate through the forum in chicken suits while screaming questions at the potential future Presidents.

The second post reflects briefly on Secretary Spellings’ recent foray into the debate on testing.

EdWeek has become a useful source for links to, and opinion pieces on a variety of education-related issues. Take a look at the blog when you get a chance.

-Peter Beddow

This Swedish lady has developed the fastest internet connection in the world. She is able to download a full-length movie in less than 2 seconds - from her house. Of course, the lady for whom she built the connection (her mother) only uses it to read internet newspapers, but it’s a terrific demonstration of what we, being the technologically advanced creatures we are, can already do (but don’t).

In her lightning-fast travels through the world of internet newspapers, I wonder if our lady hero ever heard about this story.

How long will it be until the morning comes when some smart-aleck kid says to his mom, “Sheesh, in all the time it takes me to get up, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, ride the bus to school, and walk down the hall to get to my class, I could be downloading terrabytes of knowledge-laden data directly into my bedroom! School is just a tax on my time as a kid!”

Where is Bill Waterson when you need him?

The new NCLB regulations released in April detail the newest form of alternate assessment. In sum, the government now allows states to report up to 2 percent of their annual Annual Yearly Progress data based on student performance on a modified version of the grade-level assessments in reading and math. By 2011, this will include science as well.

Currently, most states have general assessments (those “bubble tests” we’re all so familiar with) and some form of an alternate assessment for students who are unable, due to significant disabilities of a variety of sorts, to sit for these tests. Alternate assessments generally involve some sort of evidence collection to support a school’s conclusion as to whether a student with a disability is proficient in reading or math when his or her performance is judged against grade-level academic content standards. Based on current law, 1 percent of student AYP data from these alternate assessments may be reported as part of NCLB’s requirements.

As I’ve written about previously, I’ve been involved in a major consortium study, the first aspect of which was an examination of the validity six states’ alternate assessments. The second aspect of the consortium was a study of how to modify existing grade-level test items to increase their accessibility to students for whom the general assessment may not be valid but who are not eligible for the alternate assessment. On July 12-14, the consortium convened in Wyatt for a 3-day working session to modify existing test items. Essentially, the purpose was to create a test that we will look at experimentally. One of the primary questions will be to ask whether our “modified” test items are more accessible for students with disabilities. Additionally, we will plan to examine whether conclusions based on the modified items are as reliable as those drawn from scores on the original items.

This was my first experience leading a group of teachers and education professionals on the seemingly monumental task of changing test items to allow children with disabilities to really “show what they know”. It was, at times, an arduous process, but overall it was a terrific weekend. As always, I’ll keep you all posted on how this and our other related projects progress in the near future.

-Peter Beddow

Previous: Investigating the validity of alternate assessments

The Senate passed their version of the “college cost reduction act” in an overwhelming vote of 78 to 18 early this morning. Read more about the differences between House and Senate versions and the implications for students seeking higher education here.

- Rachel Bowers

On July 11, the House of Representatives passed the “College Cost Reduction Act of 2007,” a bill designed to lessen the burden of college tuition costs for middle- and lower-income students by providing more federal grants and lower interest rates on student loans. Critics say the bill would limit the services lenders can provide to student borrowers, and the White House issued a statement indicating the President would veto the bill on the basis that it does not adequately address the needs of low-income students.

If passed, the bill would reduce interest rates on subsidized loans by half within the next four years. It would expand the Pell Grant program to include more students and offer more extensive assistance, and it would provide additional tuition assistance or loan forgiveness for students entering professions that serve the public good, such as teaching.

Funds currently directed to private loan companies as subsidies for student loans would be reallocated to pay for the provisions of the bill.

In the House, 226 Democrats and 47 Republicans voted in favor while 149 Republicans and no Democrats voted against. The Senate received the bill, but has not yet put it to a vote.

- Rachel Bowers

Conventional wisdom has it that unless NCLB gets marked up and reauthorized soon, preferably before the summer recess, the legislation will likely have to wait until after the elections. Yesterday, Congressional Quarterly suggested that the prospects for that happening are growing fainter.

The top House Republican negotiating a renewal of the landmark 2002 education law said legislation won’t be ready until fall and he won’t support it unless it’s backed by a majority of GOP members.

Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California, the ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said the latest draft he viewed July 12 included Democratic proposals that troubled him.

By demanding that the bill win a majority of the minority, McKeon is setting a threshold that could prevent the White House and Democratic-led Congress from achieving bipartisan success on President Bush’s top domestic policy priority in his final months in office.

Via NCLBlog.

–Kurt Brobeck

Considering the recent landmark Supreme Court ruling regarding school transfer programs in Louisville and Seattle, readers might be interested in taking a look at EdWeek.com’s collection of articles on SCOTUS decisions about race-related issues affecting education.

I predict the following quote will appear in history textbooks within the next 20 years. At the very least, I suspect it will be cited by innumerable teachers of undergraduate and high school law-type classes as the pithy center of the Brown v. Board of Ed of the new millennium. In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote:

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.

I find it surprising, in spite of the near consensus claim of allegiance to Martin Luther King’s ideals and principles across the country, how little agreement there is on this very issue.

–Peter Beddow

Yesterday, Vanderbilt announced the appointment of current provost, Nick Zeppos, as interim chancellor for the university. Read the press release.

Meanwhile, Gordon Gee was officially announced yesterday as president of Ohio State. Video of his remarks in Columbus is available on the OSU Web site.

In its news blog, The Chronicle of Higher Education focuses on Gee’s self depiction as a prodigal son and the fact that he’s apparently taking a pay cut to go “home.” Indeed, at several points during his comments, Gee described his decision as a spiritual one.

–Kurt Brobeck

Reading through the morning papers reveals lots of notices of Chancellor Gordon Gee’s move to OSU (effective August 1) but little new information. More will probably be revealed later today after the OSU board votes on his appointment. Until then he’s not officially hired. In the meantime:

• The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Paul Fain offers perhaps the most comprehensive treatment in
  Gordon Gee Will Become Ohio State U.’s President, Again
• The New York Sun provides the most humorous headline with The Billy Martin of College Chancellors
• Sports fans and bloggers are wondering whether Gee will attempt to do at OSU what he did at Vanderbilt–abolish the position of athletics director and fold athletics in with Student Life. Most are skeptical. Matt Wilson, of Nashville’s City Paper, covers it well.

–Kurt Brobeck

With a little digging, I learned that the following essay was written by a man named Hugh Gallagher, who has insisted that he really sent it to numerous colleges and universities as part of his applications. It wound up being published in Harper’s, and it won first prize in Scholastic’s high school writing contest in 1990. The piece has travelled several hundred thousand times around the world through “viral” e-mail and is available on hundreds of websites.

Not surprisingly, following his graduation from NYU, Mr. Gallagher published a book, Teeth which has met with generally favorable reviews. A website about Hugh can be found here.

Gallagher’s infamous college essay:
—–

QUESTION 3A: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT HAVE HELPED DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing. I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook 30-minute brownies in 20 minutes.

I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello. I was scouted by the Mets. I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire.

I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life, but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.

I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But, I have not yet gone to college.

—–

- Peter Beddow

Hat tip: http://ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-001020.htm