Mike Falick's Blog

Universities and The Teaching Company: "Whenever Learning"

The Houston Chronicle is carrying a story by syndicated columnist Froma Harrop about the transformation of colleges toward "whenever learning" and virtual education.  The article discusses the fact that many professors now offer their lectures online as an MP3 file that can be downloaded to an iPod and listened to anywhere and anytime.

The article also talks about The Teaching Company and its college level lecture series that anyone can buy.  I am a big fan of The Teaching Company.  Driving to and from work, I have taken their courses on, among others, Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition, Ancient Greek Civilization, History of the English Language, Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition, History of Ancient Rome, and Plato, Socrates, and the Dialogues.  What's great about these audio courses is that they can be listened to wherever you want, and the lectures are done by true experts in each topic area.

Peter Drucker predicted the disappearance of the modern university in a matter of decades.  While I am not sure that will happen, it is clear that the direction for education is toward the concept of "whenever learning." 

Interestingly, during Spring Branch's Visioning process this Fall, we have discussed this very topic and its impending impact on K-12 education.  As with The Teaching Company, it is conceivable that one day, a virtual classroom will be taught by the best teacher available, simultaneously engaging students in many locations.  For example, let's say the students are learning about molecular biology and the most highly regarded expert in the field is a professor at Tulane University. The visioning sessions we have held have included significant conversation that the future will include virtual teaching by this type of expert rather than requiring all of our teachers to be educational generalists.

Paper Clips: One of the Most Powerful Documentaries Ever Made

I am watching the amazing movie Paper Clips for what must be the 10th time.  This incredible movie tells the story of a little idea that became a tribute to the Holocaust and its survivors.  As described on their website, Paper Clips tells this story:

Whitwell, TN is a small, rural community of less than two thousand people nestled in the mountains of Tennessee. Its citizens are almost exclusively white and Christian. In 1998, the children of Whitwell Middle School took on an inspiring project, launched out of their principal's desire to help her students open their eyes to the diversity of the world beyond their insulated valley. What happened would change the students, their teachers, their families and the entire town forever… and eventually open hearts and minds around the world.

If you have not seen this documentary, it is playing this month on HBO and can be seen many times during the coming weeks.  I think the most enduring part of this story is that the Whitwell Middle School students and teachers ultimately selected and housed some of the millions of paper clips collected in a rail car used to transport Jews during the Holocaust. 

This incredible story is an important lesson and should be viewed by every age group from the Greatest Generation to today's students.

[Note: My wife's family's roots are deep in this part of Tennessee (since the 1600s).  They were among the families that founded Lenoir City, TN].

Results of Spring Branch Calendar Committee Survey

The results of the Spring Branch Calendar Committee survey are below.  The Committee is scheduled to meet on November 30, and is expected to make a recommendation to Superintendent Klussmann who will make his recommendation to the Board at the January 23rd Board meeting.

SURVEY	Vote for Calendar “A”	Vote for Calendar “B”	Total
Staff Survey Online	407 (25.9%)	1163 (74.1%)	1570
Public Online Survey	887 (52.8%)	793 (47.2%)	1680
Parent Mail Out Survey	708 (47.5%)	781 (52.5%)	1489

Legislative Update Presented at Tonight's Spring Branch ISD Board Meeting

At tonight's Spring Branch ISD Board meeting Dr. Diane Jackson, SBISD's Administrator for Policy and Governmental Affairs, and I gave the Board a Legislative Update.  You can view the outline for the update as well as links for the handouts provided to the Board below:

Legislative Update November 28, 2005

I.          Supreme Court’s Opinion in Shirley Neeley, Texas Commissioner of Education, et. al. (Appellants) v. West Orange Cove Consolidated Independent School District, et. al. (Appellees)

A.         Opinion Summary prepared by the Court staff

B.         Governor Perry's press release

C.         Speaker Tom Craddick's press release

D.         Commissioner Neeley's press release

E.         Attorney General Abbott's press release

F.         School districts' attorneys' press release

G.         Rep. Grusendorf's (Chairman House Public Education Committee) Statement (added 11/29/05)

II.                  The Tax Reform Commission meeting held 11/21

III.                Speaker Craddick's Interim Study Charges for Public Education

IV.                The TEA’s 65% Task Force

A.         Task Force Members

B.         Governor Perry's Executive Order and press release

            V.         Implementation of HB 914

         

A.         TASA question and answer on implementation of HB 914

B.         HB 914 Compliance forms (CIQ and CIS)

VI. Legislative Initiatives

A. Campus visits

B. Legislators Forum -- February 1, 2006 at Memorial High School

C. Possible HD 133 and SD 7 candidate forum

Former FEMA Director Mike Brown Attempts to Perfect the Art of "Failing Up"

In Hollywood when one fails, i.e., has a show cancelled, and then gets promoted, that's called "failing up."  While this may be a frequent happening in Hollywood, it seldom happens anywhere else -- except maybe for former FEMA Director Mike Brown who this week announced that he has formed Michael D. Brown, L.L.C., a consulting firm specializing in....drum roll please...."helping businesses to focus on their needs in case of the unexpected before disaster strikes, and responding correctly once an event occurs."  Wouldn't you like to see the business plan for this L.L.C.?

Wikipedia's posting on Mr. Brown contains the story of his brilliant failure as the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association, (IAHA), from 1989-2001. After numerous lawsuits were filed against the organization over disciplinary action, Brown was forced to resign.

Nevertheless, Mr. Brown's current business would be laughable were it not so ironic.  Remember, this is the former Director of FEMA who, at the height of the Katrina crisis, received the following email from Marty Bahamonde, FEMA's only employee in New Orleans, "Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical...many will die." Brown's reply: "Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" See E-mail.

My prior posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here....show the FEMA related issues Texas has faced since Katrina.

I hope my business is never in a position where we would have to rely on the services of Michael D. Brown, L.L.C. in his latest effort to "fail up."

More Reaction to the Texas Supreme Court's West Orange-Cove Decision

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is carrying a report that several of the attorneys who represented the school districts in the West Orange-Cove lawsuit are calling for possible additional litigation should the Legislature not provide additional funds for public education.  The article quotes attorney George Bramblett as saying "absolutely, positively. Write it down," there will be additional litigation if no additional money is put into the system.  The article further states that school attorney Buck Wood is going to recommend that his clients return to court as early as January.

Based on the language in the Court's opinion, I agree that these attorneys are correct -- if no additional funds are put into the school finance system, it appears that the Court would find in a subsequent lawsuit that funding is inadequate.

Having said that, I feel that calls for additional litigation are premature.  However, the most troubling aspect of the Star-Telegram's report is Rep. Gruesendorf's continued "us" against "them" attitude (i.e., "If it is their intent to keep us in court for an indefinite period of time . . . .").  It is this attitude that has lead to 2 failed regular sessions and 3 failed special sessions in the last 24 months.

Perhaps the more constructive approach would be one that included all stakeholders at the table to devise a reform plan for education finance that is both equitable and adequate and provides long term, stable funds for Texas public education.  Let's hope that that is the direction this discussion takes, rather than additional litigation or a continuation of the "us" against "them" approach.

Wikipedia Presents: Thomas Friedman and The World is Flat

Wikipedia is another of the many web-based resources that have already changed the world.  For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you know I believe strongly that Thomas Friedman's views of education and the future are critical to the success of the United States in Friedman's flat world.  Wikipedia has extremely thorough postings on Mr. Friedman here and The World is Flat here.

Note: Wikipedia's parent, the Wikimedia Foundation has posted over 12,000 free collaborative textbooks. 

_________________________________________

Wikipedia -- As defined by Wikipedia:

Wikipedia is a multilingual Web-based free-content encyclopedia. It is written collaboratively by volunteers, allowing articles to be added or changed by anyone with an internet connection. The project began on January 15, 2001 as a complement to the expert-written Nupedia, and is now operated by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. The English-language version of Wikipedia

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I was going to write something thoughtful about this wonderful holiday, but I read 2 things today that I found truly profound. 

First, if you didn't read Mickey Herskowitz's column today, please do so.  It is a wonderful tribute to his son that will make you hug your loved ones a little longer every time you think about it.  Thank you Mr. Herskowitz for giving us your heart on this day of thanksgiving.

Second, I received this email from my friend, Fort Bend ISD teacher, Kenny Jones.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Want to Learn Physics? Italian Ph.D. Christoph Schiller's Free Online Physics Textbook Can Help

I have previously posted about the Space Foundation's free, online, fully developed K-12 science curriculum complete with lesson plans, and Scirus, the most comprehensive science-specific search engine on the Internet.

Now comes Dr. Christoph Schiller's online Physics textbook. The website's welcome page sets the stage for this tremendous resource (which can be downloaded in its entirety or by chapters):

How do objects and images move? Why do animals move? What is motion? How does a rainbow form? Is levitation possible? Do time machines exist? What does 'quantum' mean? What is the maximum force value found in nature? Is 'empty space' really empty? Is the universe a set? Which problems in physics are still unsolved? This site publishes a free physics textbook that tells the story of how it became possible, after 2500 years of exploration, to answer such questions. The book is written to be entertaining, surprising and challenging on every page. With little mathematics, the text explores the most fascinating parts of mechanics, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, electrodynamics, quantum theory and modern attempts at unification. The essence of these fields is summarized in the most simple terms: it is shown how they are based on the notions of minimum entropy, maximum speed, maximum force, minimum change of charge and minimum action.

The speed of the transformation of the traditional textbook is incredible and an important consideration as Spring Branch ISD continues the Visioning Process.  For a clear example of this transformation, go to the Wikimedia Foundation's website which now contains over 12,000 free collaborative textbooks.  This fact will be an increasingly important consideration for student education, particularly in the area of science education which is so necessary to maintaining US global competitiveness.

More on Today's Texas Supreme Court Ruling

This is a follow-up post to my earlier post about the Texas Supreme Court's surprise mid-week decision in the West Orange-Cove (school finance) lawsuit this morning.  Justice Hecht delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by Chief Justice Jefferson, Justice O'Neill, Justice Wainwright, Justice Medina, Justice Green, and Justice Johnson.  Justice Brister authored the dissenting opinion in which he asserted that the school finance system is not unconstitutional.

For Spring Branch ISD, the news is mixed.  The Court ruled in favor of the West Orange-Cove districts (which includes Spring Branch) and found that the cap on school property taxes constitutes an unconstitutional state property tax.  The Court has given the Texas Legislature until June 1, 2006, to reform the finance system.  The Legislature will therefore either have to eliminate the cap or determine a method of finance that gives local school districts discretion in setting local property taxes.

It is important to note that the Court did not find that the Robin Hood system of redistributing funds from property "rich" districts like Spring Branch to property "poor" districts is unconstitutional.   It is unclear how the Legislature will deal with this issue, although during the past session, there was proposed legislation that would have completely eliminated Robin Hood recapture.  There was also proposed legislation that would have limited recapture to 35% of a district's revenue.  Currently, Spring Branch's payment is approximately 11% of revenue.

The Court ruled against the West Orange-Cove Plaintiffs however on all of the remaining issues in the case and found that the current system is both adequate and equitable. On the plus side, the Court appeared to provide guidance to the Legislature and create a test for future potential litigation in the event the Legislature's actions are insufficient. 

Specifically, the Court found that while the system was not yet inadequate,

"there is substantial evidence . . . that the public education system has reached the point where continued improvement will not be possible absent significant change, whether that change take the form of increased funding, improved efficiencies, or better methods of education . . . . But an impending constitutional violation is not an existing one, and it remains to be seen whether the system's predicted drift toward constitutional inadequacy will be avoided by legislative reaction to widespread calls for changes."

All in all an opinion that will require legislative action, and hopefully legislative action that will create a system that is fair to all taxpayers and provides for long term, stable, adequate financing to enable ever increasing expectations for all of the 4.4 million children in Texas.