Month: October 2013

Current Educational Policies: A Dad’s Reflection

/ Douglas Wieczorek / Leave a comment

I have many professional and personal connections to the world of education. I am a former social studies teacher, Assistant Principal, an emerging scholar in Teaching and Curriculum, and serve as an administrator in the teacher education unit at a regional university. I am also married to a high school math teacher, and a father of three daughters who are in 2nd grade (the twins) and 7th grade. My perspectives on education, education policy, and the profession at large are interpreted by my multiple identities. Today I write through the lens of a Dad, reflecting on the state of affairs in education as they impact my family on a micro-level, as I am sure they are affecting many children and families across New York.
Our oldest daughter recently took the new Common Core-aligned, New York State standardized tests in Spring 2013. The state education department issued a statement regarding the exam scores, and how they anticipated a significant drop in achievement results. At the end of the statement, the commissioner assured the public that these exams are critical to determining our students’ readiness for college work and subsequent careers. It is from this point at which I engaged in some serious reflection this past weekend, confronted by the over-compartmentalized vision of preparation defined by academic success.
My daughter started running cross-country for her school team this year and participated in an open meet on Saturday afternoon. At the race my family assembled at various points along the course to cheer on the runners. These young athletes left it all on the course, sprinting to the finish- some of them physically sick after the race. Some cried, some laughed, and some gave fist bumps to teammates or opposing runners for a job well-done. There was such a spirit of camaraderie that permeated through all the participants, regardless of what school they represented. What an accomplishment, a celebration!
We arrived home after the race, and I went to check the mailbox. And there it was- an envelope from the school district (which as a parent always generates immediate curiosity). I opened it right there at the end of the driveway. The envelope contained my daughter’s 6th grade New York State standardized test score results in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.
So, do we open this now and review the results and talk about this today? What does this mean? How will my daughter feel about these results? Do we call the school on Monday? Do we care? The school district said not to worry, so should we believe them? It was not until that moment, after that race, that I truly resented the changes which have consumed our school communities.
The arrival of that envelope created such mixed feelings at our house on Saturday. For the better part of the day, we saw an example of one of the best opportunities our public education system has to offer. We witnessed hard-work, determination, teamwork, school spirit, community, growth, success, and failure. After watching and cheering on these young women, there is no doubt in my mind they will be successful, contributing citizens and the leaders of tomorrow. These athletes have something inside them that cannot be found in a curriculum, or measured, and is essential for success in life.

There is so much more to the sport than the completion of the event, the athletes’ times, or what place they came in. At the end of the race, there is a certain, quantitatively measured outcome, but what are the intangibles that are not measured? The significance of the race is not based on the outcomes of the race itself, but the lessons learned along the way. These hard-working, talented, tough, resilient young women are more than a test score- more than a snapshot exam. My daughter came in 68th place in that race, and I assure you that her test scores will not determine her level of college and career readiness — or her success as a person.

Where is SLACE?

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

The SLACE Archive is currently on hiatus while the SLACE Forum Blog is being created.  The SLACE Forum launched this past Monday.  Eventually, the SLACE Archive will resume as a subsidiary to the SLACE Forum.  For those of you who follow this blog, stay tuned. The SLACE Archive will resume in the next few weeks. 

Thank you to those of you who have followed the SLACE Archive. 

Winning the Battle, but not the War? What has the “War on Drugs” really accomplished?

/ Melissa DiRado / Leave a comment

In the recent months, more attention has been allocated to the effects of the “War on Drugs” instituted by the government in the 1970’s. The ACLU released a report in June 2013, highlighting three key areas of the “War on Drugs” that now, statistically, seem to conflict with the aims of curbing drug use, possession, and distribution. The ACLU report, entitled “The War on Marijuana in Black and White” captures the racial bias in the application of the “War on Drugs” in addition to the allocation of money and police officers to fighting this “War.”

On August 12, 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement in front of members of the ABA stating that the federal government is looking to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes as well as implement other measures. Holder noted that it is unclear if there are positive effects coming out of the now 40-year old war on drugs.

Following the Emmy’s on September 22nd, Michael Douglas shared his personal views, derived in part from personal experience, expressing his distaste for the current status quo amongst drug policies.

Has the United States been misguided over the last forty-some years in executing this war on drugs? Were the original intentions justified? Does public perception alone signal that something should be done to change the current practices regarding arrest and conviction of drug offenders?

The ACLU report in its entirety seems to demonstrate that states and the federal government may be spinning their wheels in an effort to substantiate the use of so many resources for, to some, a questionable policy.  Should we be concerned that, according to the ACLU report, “In 2010, there were more than 200,000 people incarcerated on the sole charge of marijuana possession,” and, that African American’s are “3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person”?

It seems pertinent to ask whether the “War on Drugs,” in its current form, is serving the purposes originally intended. For instance, are we as a society so concerned with marijuana possession that it justifies arresting hundreds of thousands of people each year? The ACLU report found that, “Of all marijuana arrests in 2010, 784,021, or 88%, were for possession. Similarly, 88% of all marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010 — 7,295,880 out of 8,244,943 — were for possession.” Should our efforts and resources be allocated to arresting individuals for possession charges? Consider too, the 784,021 individuals arrested in 2010 logically obtained their marijuana from somewhere. Should the police and prosecutorial efforts be focused more on distributors rather than users? Is there a difference in terms of culpability?

 

Revolting Against Standardized Testing

/ Gregory Clark / Leave a comment

For reasons unbeknownst to me, a reputable news source located in Washington, D.C. has removed an article from their website in the past few days; This severely harms the blog post I prepared in response. Despite their removal of the post in question, I wish to discuss the topic. As a substitute, I quickly tracked down a Fox News blurb that gives a similar impression of the topic.

The general idea is as follows: For a variety of reasons, parents and schools are opting out of standardized tests. Parents don’t want their kids to take the tests, and schools are not stopping this from happening.

Some of the reasons parents may do this:

-Prevent child’s stress induced by taking long exams.

-Boycott a system which they believe harms the school system.

-This can be either concerns raised about narrowing curricula, or

-General negative attitudes toward standards-based policies which utilize test results.

-Among other reasons; we could probably identify a host of viable rationale.

Whatever the reasons, this revolt against standardized testing has serious consequences. Here are a few things I suggest thinking about as a response to this ‘news’:

-Do you find the reasons for boycotting valid?

-Is it to protect the children from some harm inherent in the testing administration?

-Can this be interpreted as a new form of school choice?

-Is it a political action where parents are simply using their children as weapons?

 

My largest concern is from a scientific perspective.

-If some kids are not taking the test because parents are voluntarily opting them out, what are the implications for the validity of the results?

-Is it likely that kids with parents who opt out represent a specific subgroup of the population, thus making any results obtained invalid?

-Will their absence from observation impact the integrity of the test results and, by extension, policies based upon the conclusions drawn from them?

Veterans Issues: A Brief Overview

/ Christopher Moritt / Leave a comment

As a veteran of the Marine Corps, I have had the opportunity to do many interesting things that many people do not get to do. I have been to the island of Iwo Jima, the DMZ in Korea, and of course I was also deployed to Iraq to participate in combat operations. After all, that is what Marines do. However, once one chooses to end their active duty service a variety of issues become a factor when trying to make your way in civilian life. This Blog is intended to highlight those issues and discuss current developments as it relates to veterans. Many of those who haven’t served only really see a handful of issue that get highlighted in the media such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), unemployment, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). But with two wars winding down in Iraq and Afghanistan and the older vets of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, getting older the number of people relying on services and support has grown larger. Additionally, the type of issues that affects veterans has become more complex.
One question that comes to my mind is what do we do with everyone? Here are some interesting statics from the Veterans Administration website:

• In fiscal year 2011, 476,515 Veterans with primary or secondary diagnosis of PTSD received treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and clinics.
• Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was implemented on Aug. 1, 2009, VA has provided educational benefits to 773,000 Veterans and their family members, amounting to more than $20 billion in benefits.
• Every year since 2009, VA has completed a record breaking 1 million claims representing over $59 billion in payments to Veterans and their families. VA is building a strong foundation for a paperless, digital disability claims system
• The 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, prepared by HUD, estimates there were 62,619 homeless Veterans on a single night in January in the United States, a 7.2 percent decline since 2011 and a 17.2 percent decline since 2009.

These statics are interesting because of the sheer volume of veterans the VA is processing for its various benefits programs. Also, the money involved is a big issue, between education and disability alone there is nearly 80 billion dollars in spending. These issues will be explored further in later posts but in general it is worth noting what kind of numbers we will be talking about. As a veteran I am of the opinion this is money well spent and it has helped me out a lot in achieving my educational goals. But I also know several veterans that start school on the VA’s dime and never finish or do anything productive. Is this a waste of taxpayer money? A question we will take up in a future entry.
Another issue to think about is the transition from active duty military to regular civilian is difficult even for those who do not have disabilities or PTSD. The military is a very close-knit society that has its own rules and regulations, many of which are markedly different than that of the civilian world. From my own experience I can say it took me years to be able to walk and talk on a cellphone at the same time (its against Marine Corps Orders to do that). While that’s more of a humorous example, a more pointed one is that I was an Infantryman and as such did not work with females in any capacity. I have never had a female boss, nor have I ever had to work with a female on a work project or task. I mention this because the civilian world is very different; women are often in leadership roles, or work place equals and it can be an adjustment, particularly when its something you have never had to do. Granted, I adjusted just fine (or at least I think I did) but that isn’t always the case. What should be done about those that can’t?

Veterans Issues are plentiful and over the coming weeks and months I hope to establish a good foundation for people to understand the breadth and complexity of problems and adjustments that face today’s patriots that have sacrificed to serve our great country.