faulker062

Control and perpetuation of punitive high stakes standardized testing policies and chair of the ISBOE at stake.  Dear Indiana State Board of Education, The roots of cognitive science, the science of mind, brain and learning, have been in existence since Socrates, Plato and Aristotle spoke and wrote on such matters over 2500 years ago.  Research in cognitive science and cognitive neuro-science conducted over the past 60 years, reveal Socrates, Plato and Aristotle had it wrong when they described the mind as a blank slate and disconnected from the body.  We know today, mind, body and spirit are all connected.  It is ironic, 2500 years later, the ISBOE continues to adopt positions and mandate policies that perpetuate a conception of the mind that is as antiquated as those of the ancient Greek philosophers. The human mind, particularly children's minds are complex organic entities, uniquely constructed with innate capacities and competencies.  Policies th...

Molding Minds For Tomorrow! If we could paint a picture of the travesty taking place in American Public Education today, it might look like the above picture. It is Spring Time in America and high stakes standardized tests are on the school menu for millions of American children. There are many reasons to revolt against these tests. The most heinous fact is these tests dictate learning experience.  In the long term, children learn nothing more than to be compliant, worker bees. Think of it. Children are biologically hard wired to be active, playful, imaginative, inquisitive learners. However due to high stakes testing in thousands of schools across the U.S., children are forced to sit at their seats for 6 hours a day and mimic the work of desk clerks. Children have no voice in the learning experiences they engage in and are forced to participate in data-driven radical behaviorist learning activities, which they are told, will prepare them for careers and college. This factory model...

"What the wisest parents want for their children, that must we want for all children." J. Dewey Touting the CCSS version of standardized education with lots of rigor and fidelity as a cure-all for what ails American public education is a  charade!   More and better standardized educational experience (rigor) that will be controlled and measured with high stakes standardized test scores (fidelity)? Really? Standardized educational experience and in particular, CCSS will do nothing to improve children's learning experiences in American classrooms. The elements for improving educational experience for all American children are still not in place: Personal time and attention from teachers through smaller class sizes, stable home lives, reduction of food insecurity, regular experiences in fine arts education and opportunities for student's self determination of educational experience. These factors are critical for improving American education, but alas...what childr...

How much state funding will Indiana public schools and other public entities lose if Mike Pence's corporate property tax cut initiative is ok'd by the Republican dominated Indiana General Assembly? Plenty!  Who does Mike Pence represent? It certainly isn't the Indiana middle class whose 1.1 million children attend Indiana public schools. Only an agent of the opulent minority would consider a funding cut of this magnitude to cash strapped Indiana pubic schools, libraries and municipal government services. The promise of jobs in exchange for tax cuts has done irreparable harm to the middle class and to municipal institutions like public schools and libraries. Time for the Indiana General Assembly to reconsider this governor's plans to further decimate the middle class? Call or write your state legislator here: Indiana General Assembly

I posit that compelling children to sit in crowded classrooms and prepare them to take high stakes standardized tests utilizing Skinnerian based behaviour modification methodology is not an education. It is instruction and training to prepare for standardized tests. From James McKernan: " In the view of R.S. Peters, education involves the development of a cognitive perspective, or mind, whilst instruction hints at information and training lends itself to the development of competence in a limited mode of skills; whilst ‘ education ’ aims at a wider view of knowledge and system of beliefs."

About 400 billion . What does that mean for Indiana public schools and the Indiana middle class? It means program cuts and tax hikes. 

Social engineering occurs when children have limited educational opportunities, are homogenized through a narrow curriculum and motivated by fear, rewards and punishments.