faulker062

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, twenty percent of children  (actually 21%)  have a mental illness of one sort or another. 20% is a big number! Illnesses like post traumatic stress syndrome, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia are serious conditions that cause functional impairments and cognitive deficits. Question: Is it morally acceptable to push children through curricula and assessments centered around data driven instruction and high stakes standardized tests? I sat through a discussion yesterday at the Indianapolis Marion County public library on standardized testing. Derek Redelman, one of the discussion participants and a pusher of high stakes standardized testing for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce had nothing to say on this issue. To her credit Dr. Dena Cushenberry Superintendent of Warren Twp. Schools, mentioned we have to be "concerned"and "mindful" but insisted that stud...

Here is the trailer to "Standardized." A dynamic discussion with members of Parent Power, Black and Latino Policy Institute and Education Community Action Team on high stakes standardized testing.

More evidence on negative affects to physiological and psycho-emotional development caused by standardized high stakes testing. In their own words, elementary students Claire and Liam address the Orange County School Board: "We all have to do the same thing at the same time. The kids all learn like that because of tests." "I wanted you to see that I'm a 3rd grader and me and other kids who are going to take the scary tests for the first time in the Spring, and I won't be Claire to them, I'll just be the girl who got a three, or the girl who got a one, or the girl who threw up because she was so nervous. You guys always teach us about standing up to others. Now it's time for you to stand up to the bullies who are using these tests in the wrong way. Can't you do something?" Liam addresses his school board on the standard error of measurement : "When I took the 3rd grade FCAT, I was a wreck. The pressure on our teacher and our school's succ...

H4QE is funded by a lot of deep pockets outside of Indiana. If this group is advocating for quality education for all Hoosier school children, why have they supported candidates and policies responsible for pressuring teachers and administrators to teach to the test  and cut funding to public schools where approximately 90% of children in Indiana are educated and why did they feature the voucherization of public schools under another PAC  name ? Doug Martin has some insight on this group  here.  I smell big money funding this PAC from out of state corporate donors in Kansas, Arkansas and Michigan.

The Koch's, Bill Gates and Eli Broad are the most powerful funders of  education deform in the World. In the U.S. Arne Duncan is their tool. There is a fourth wheel of government accountable to no one. It is the big, big monied elites. They control   significant numbers of politicians. They influence legislative initiatives. They control the mass media and public information . The Billionaires Club have succeeded in weaving their influence  (Duncan is a former Broad Foundation board member) into your children's public school experience . Corporate education deformers say they want your child to be college and career ready with a rigorous education loaded with grit. What they really intend to do is standardize children's  curriculum and learning experience so countless numbers of lucrative high stakes standardized tests can be administered resulting in the successful preparation of the next generation of compliant worker bees. I have four of the top olig...

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...