Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Did You See This?

34 comments:

  1. I saw this last night on the news. Evidently the rumor about 70 teachers being called to the Ed Center is true. Any idea what was said to these teachers?

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  2. We would have never known about this issue if this blog didn't exist. Thanks IPS-BS.

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  3. desperate times call for desperate measures

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  4. Where is the "Big Meanie" with her snide remarks, "about facts or details". The broad needs to the look up the meaning of blog before she types one more remark. I am one of the 72 who was called into the office, they can't prove anything. Some of us have worked in the private sector and for high ranking state officials, we know "how to take care of business". I am looking at a huge raise this year, everyone of my students have passed. If this is what Mitch wants, then this is what he gets, top scoring students.

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  5. To the poster above.... Are you saying you gave your students the answers or changed them yourself? Is that why you "think" you are getting a big fat raise this year? If so then you should be ashamed of what you did and you are the reason some of the teachers look bad. Just remember when it comes to your raise..... Don't count your chickens before your eggs hatch!

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  6. Based on what was presented by the district and shared in faculty meetings, some schools/teachers not just changed some student answers, but were rather dumb in the way they did it! Ironically, the vast majority of results in question came from grades 3, 4 and 5. Wonder why the kids seemed smart in elementary school, then their brains mysteriously fell out by grade 7?

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  7. We hate most in others what we dislike in ourselves.

    "Narcissus in Chains"

    ...The Blue Meanie

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  8. This is what happens when high stakes testing is the ONLY thing a school gets credit or discredited for. Desperate measures. Glad to know my hard-earned tax dollars are being given to McGraw- Hill to construct a test to show that rich kids are better prepared than poor kids or non-English speaking kids when it comes to a one-size fits all measurement. Now we spend tax dollars going over erasure marks..it's only getting more insane!

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  9. Although I am not a teacher that has been called, I tell my students to check and re-check their answers during ISTEP prep. My students erase alot on their own. I don't think that teachers would give kids the answers. Our scores are failing everywhere, not just ISTEP but benchmarks as well.

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  10. Not to change the subject but I love how with the NEW Indiana education reform laws we are giving government money to schools who are going to teach that the world is ONLY 6,000 years old.

    What next?? Jesus rode a dinosaur?

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  11. The poster above is not one of the teachers called downtown. She is trying to make people believe that accountability will make otherwise good and honest teachers begin cheating. It's laughable and stupid. She posts the same moronic stuff on the Indy Star forums.

    As the video clearly states, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing and the results from next years' tests will help clarify if this was anything more than coincidentally indecisive students causing the erasures. (If the same teachers have problems, if the students who scored well this year don't score well next year, etc.)

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  12. That's actually very unlikely. The schools that teach creation aren't accredited by the state. The private schools that are accredited by the state don't teach the earth is 6,000 years old.

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  13. http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/educational-testing-just-another-job/Content?oid=1982985

    Interesting article about the scorers/scoring of these tests. As a former scorer myself, I've had many doubts about the testing process.

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  14. Yeah, I signed in to document my viewing of the "Big Brother is Watching You" PowerPoint. That's SOOOOOO 1984!

    The rich kids simply have better erasers. Hey, Gene, an easier way to track those oafs who changed answers would be to check Supply Reimbursement forms. Lots of erasers purchased = lots of answers changed.

    Actually, if one correctly "proctors" his or her students, erasures should be nearly nonexistent. Just tell the kids to write VERY LIGHTLY on the multiple guess answer sheet. That would make it far simpler to erase the traces of graphite on the wrong answers while filling in the correct bubbles.

    "Wonder why the kids seemed smart in elementary school, then their brains mysteriously fell out by grade 7?" And the 8th grade Wrong to Right changes fell to ONE. Looks like the teachers didn't care, either, or they are simply tired of being publicly whipped for their students' decline in achievement.

    Another question for discussion....what happened to the Dumpster Diving teacher from the front page of the Star last fall? I hear she's no longer employed by IPS.

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  15. She resigned and is pursuing a new career. IPS lost an awesome teacher.

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  16. Bummer. Now who will be our raccoon?

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  17. Awesome teacher? Having your boyfriend come into your room to play love songs on his guitar during the school day does not qualify you as an awesome teacher.

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  18. May I also add that her boyfriend was coming in while she was still married.

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  19. Awesome teacher according to whom? This is the 2nd time she has given up on teaching. We and our students are better off without her.

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  20. Back to the topic at hand: has it occurred to anyone that cheating wouldn't be an issue if testing were set up so that teachers didn't test their own students? Better yet, don't use teachers to proctor tests at all: instead hire outside proctors or have all testing done on a school wide basis with administrators from downtown, school level administrators, counselors etc proctoring the tests. This is so easy to fix!

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  21. Ooooh my... Dumpster Diver was wanting to become famous for her articles and her endless classroom parties. She was the worst teacher that many of us have ever seen. Her students didn't have to follow the dress code, they played with toys (trains, transformers, stuffed animals, etc.) all day, they had parties for St. Patty's day, Easter, Thanksgiving...you name it, they had a party to celebrate. She had a temp. contract one year (2nd grade) and then another the following year in 3rd grade. She 'looped' with her 2nd/3rd graders - those kids are in 4th grade now and are extremely behind. The list goes on and on...her 'trainer' coming to visit during work hours, constant lying to glorify herself, and talking on her cell phone all day. Geeesh! So much more to post regarding her...there isn't enough time in the day.

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  22. Why don't we just test kids the day they walk into school from summer break, then use that data for remediation throughout the school year? Those test would target areas of need without all the stupid cramming that is done just prior to the test's administration. Then, in January, they'd be handed a test the first day back from winter break, and second semester instruction would be guided through the results. Immediate feedback has been available for decades through the use of the old Scantron (or Scranton LOL) answer sheets.

    Wait. This is logical, so will never be implemented. Just sayin'.

    Welcome, newbies!

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  23. Doctors vs. educators
    3:52 PM, Jan. 04, 2011
    IndyStar Opinion Page.

    Written by Michael Copper, retired Superintendent, Lawrence Township Schools

    Schools and hospitals appear to be similar institutions. Both serve basic needs — education and health. They reside in both public and private systems. In one form or another, a majority of our tax dollars are assigned to these two areas.

    To work as a key employee in these industries takes at least a bachelor’s degree and more if you wish to advance. The public can enter either system with or without socioeconomic resources, citizenship or residency. Education and health care are basic necessities delivered through schools and hospitals.

    But when it comes to expectations and performance, we think about the outcomes, learning and wellness, quite differently.
    No hospital is blamed for an 8-year-old who enters severely sick, while schools are eventually blamed for 8-year-olds who enter with severe learning issues.

    Hospitals with more sick kids are not considered poorer and assigned a lower grade. They simply have more work to do and use more resources.
    Hospitals deliver triage and emergency and crisis responses to those most in need, while schools don’t. Resources often go to the healthiest in schools.

    Parents or guardians in hospitals must sign off on health treatments and services and even release of information. Most parents never show up to check on their child’s education after early elementary school.

    Judging wellness appears to be simpler at a given moment than learning, which is never-ending.

    Evaluating nurses and doctors is seldom questioned even when illness is unfortunately incurable. Evaluating educators may soon be based mostly on student outcomes each year.
    Though the expectation for both systems is to be 100 percent successful, health-care professionals and hospitals seldom seem to be blamed for failures, while educators and schools seem seldom forgiven and always blamed.

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  24. Hey, Dumpster Diver....are ya hungry? You don't have to dive for this one!

    free frozen chicken (southside)

    Date: 2011-01-06, 1:24PM EST
    Reply to: sale-dafga-2146845309@craigslist

    a big bag of frozen chicken and other free items are on our porch for pick up. some one gave us the chicken but we don't eat chicken. get it off the porch 105 jonquil dr 46227. thanks

    Location: southside
    it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
    PostingID: 2146845309

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  25. tests. Sorry.

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  26. My pregnancy was high-risk, so my family doctor transferred me to a specialist. The specialist wanted me to schedule a c-section nearly 4 months in advance. I changed specialists to one who shared my more conservative approach. I went on to have a flawless (natural) delivery.
    How fortunate that we have so much patient choice in healthcare. It would be a blessing if we had that much choice in education.

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  27. Great letter! Why can't we have a super like that?

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  28. Also from the star:

    You have left out two very important things in your analogy. One, if certain hospitals, physicians, or nurses had significantly less success (cure, length of stay, complications, mortality, etc.) than other hospitals, physicians, or nurses when comparing the SAME patient demographics and the SAME illnesses, we most certainly would take notice and want to make changes. That is what is being proposed, not the equivalent of blaming hospitals for kids who enter sick. Second, if I don't trust a certain hospital, doctor, or nurse with my healthcare, I can go to another hospital, doctor, or nurse. Even if my healthcare is publicly funded, there is no instance in which I have only one choice for my medical provider or healthcare facility.

    I can't believe I left off a third major difference. In the healthcare system, I can use public funds to go to private healthcare facilities. If I'm receiving public funding for my healthcare, I can choose from any participating healthcare facility or provider, public or private, religious or secular.

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  29. I had to laugh at Broad Ripple High School being taken over by Edison Corp (DOE). Now the 40 pecent of teachers who are allowed to stay will work at reduced wages with the State Health Benefits, and only a 401K. No Teacher's Retirement Fund payments, no senority. Linda and Stan will be walking the streets looking for new homes? Students will have to have a c+, missed only four days, no behavioral problems, and only the special needs - LD will be placed in a inclusion class. Thanks, Mitch I now know education is headed in the right direction.

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  30. Stop, hey what's that sound? Dynasties are crashing to the ground.

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  31. Paddle faster. I hear banjos.

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  32. Here's an article about the Edison Schools. They don't seem to be too spectacular, but they do advance the agenda of eliminating public funds for education and replacing them with private $$. This is the real reason for school reform. It's all about the money.

    http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=875

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  33. Edison runs the magnet schools in Perry township. I thought you were okay with magnet schools? Did that change? Or are they okay if a they run magnet schools but evil if they run boundary schools?

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  34. The article in the link above is from October 2000. Please cite something more recent if you want us to listen to your opinion.

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