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In May, I was interviewed by the American School Board Journal for a story on school board trustees who blog. The article is in the September 2007 issue of the Journal, and can be viewed either by clicking this link or by clicking on the pictures below.
Our Board held a workshop tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.
The Board approved a new policy (FNA (Local)) regarding Student Expression/Religious Viewpoints. This new policy was mandated by the passage of House Bill 3678 in the 80th Legislative Session completed in May. The policy we adopted tracks the language of House Bill 3678 and carries forward the prohibition on speech that would constitute harassment or bullying, as required by State and Federal law.
The majority of the meeting was spent continuing to discuss the recommendations of the Bond Advisory Committee. The Board discussed the following:
Below is a chart that shows, in dollars, the tax impact that a bond in this amount (9.9 cents) would have based on home value. (Click the chart to enlarge).
(As a note of interest, Spring Branch's Robin Hood "contribution," which has totaled $50 million over the past 3 years, equated to over 12 cents of the tax rate last year and will be 8 cents of this year's rate.)
Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle has posted an online article that discusses the meeting. (The article is copied below after the jump).
The Board's next meeting is our regular monthly meeting on August 27, 2007, at 7:00 p.m.
This spreadsheet is slowly circulating around the internet. I don't have any idea who created it, but it is the complete schedule for each of the Division I college teams, complete with each team's helmet shown on the spreadsheet each week the team plays.
Google Street View has added Houston to the list of cities. It's very easy to use, and gives you 360° views of selected major streets in Houston. The picture on the left is the view of the I-10 feeder road at Campbell near the Spring Branch Administration building.
If you haven't used Google Street View, here's an introductory video that shows you how to use it.
The No Child Left Behind Act is up for reauthorization this year. It is anticipated that Congress will take this up early this Fall. Below is an article that quotes a July 30 speech in which Congressman George Miller (D - California), the Chairman of the House Education Committee, details his vision for the "new" No Child Left Behind Act.
The U.S. Department of Education website also contains substantial information on the reauthorization of the Act, including Education Secretary Margaret Spelling's policy proposals.
________________________________________________________________________
Will new NCLB reflect 21st-century skills?
House education committee chairman hopes so, as he outlines his vision for renewing the nation's education law
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports
August 6, 2007
Proponents
of educational technology for years have been saying that schools need
to focus more on teaching so-called "21st-century skills," such as
problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. Now, it appears
that momentum is finally building on Capitol Hill to encourage just
such reforms: The chairman of the House education committee says he
hopes to push legislation renewing the federal No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB) through Congress this fall, and one of the key changes to the
law he plans to propose is incentives for states to develop more
rigorous standards that reflect the needs of 21st-century learners.
"In so many meetings I have had in my district and elsewhere, employers
say that our high school graduates are not ready for the workplace.
Colleges say that our high school graduates are not ready for the
college classroom. This is unacceptable," said Rep. George Miller,
D-Calif., in a July 30 speech outlining his vision for reforming the
nation's education law.
The Associated Press is reporting on a settlement of claims brought by 6 victims of "The Monster Study." I was not familiar with this barbaric "study" that subjected orphans to abuse in order to induce speech impediments.
Here's a website that fully describes the "study", and here is a link to an August 6, 2003, online article that further describes "The Monster Study"
DES MOINES, Iowa - The state has agreed to pay $925,000 to unwitting subjects of an infamous 1930s stuttering experiment — orphans who were badgered and belittled as children by University of Iowa researchers trying to induce speech impediments.
Johnson County District Court Judge Denver Dillard issued an order approving the settlement Friday morning; it still must be ratified by the State Appeal Board, which next meets Sept. 4.
The six plaintiffs, who said the experiment left lifelong psychological and emotional scars, had originally sought $13.5 million.
“We believe this is a fair and appropriate settlement,” Attorney General Tom Miller said in a statement. “For the plaintiffs, we hope and believe it will help provide closure relating to experiences from long ago and to memories going back almost 70 years.”
He said it was a prudent outcome for the state because of the high costs of litigation and the difficulty of finding witnesses to events so long ago. He noted that the settlement provides a resolution for plaintiffs who are now in their 70s and 80s.
Two days ago, I gave welcoming remarks on behalf of the Board to Spring Branch's 270 new teachers at their orientation. With those teachers in mind, I read the following from eSchoolNews.com which describes the New Teacher Hotline website as follows:
Produced by Michael Kelley, a former teacher and author of Rookie Teaching for Dummies, and Glen Moulton, a supervisor of instruction and lifelong teacher trainer, "New Teacher Hotline" is a twice-monthly podcast that tackles the classroom-management challenges facing educators, and new teachers in particular, in an engaging and entertaining way. Each podcast contains helpful strategies and advice and also answers queries submitted by listeners. Sample topics that Kelley and Moulton have covered in the past include preparing for the unexpected by creating back-up lesson plans; dealing with parent phone calls; squelching "ringleaders," or kids that encourage bad behavior; and what it means "not to smile before December."
Yahoo's Tech Page has this very useful and thorough guide to buying a student laptop computer.
Yesterday's London based Financial Times contains an article that went largely unreported by the mainsteam media here in the United States. (A notable exception is today's USA Today).
The article quotes David Walker, the comptroller general of the United State as warning that the United States' current status bears a striking resemblance to the end of the Roman empire.
Today's USA Today includes an article that cites the Financial Times article and includes the entire speech made by Mr. Walker.
__________________________________________________________________
By Jeremy Grant in Washington
Published: August 14 2007 00:06 | Last updated: August 14 2007 00:06
The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.
David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”.
These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.
Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.
“Sound familiar?” Mr Walker said. “In my view, it’s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.”
Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress.
This very creepy New York Times article cites the work of an Oxford University philosopher, to argue that it is a near certainty that we are all living in a Matrix-like computer simulation.
Findings
Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else’s hobby. I hadn’t imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version of a guy who spends his weekends building model railroads or overseeing video-game worlds like the Sims.
But now it seems quite possible. In fact, if you accept a pretty reasonable assumption of Dr. Bostrom’s, it is almost a mathematical certainty that we are living in someone else’s computer simulation.
This simulation would be similar to the one in “The Matrix,” in which most humans don’t realize that their lives and their world are just illusions created in their brains while their bodies are suspended in vats of liquid. But in Dr. Bostrom’s notion of reality, you wouldn’t even have a body made of flesh. Your brain would exist only as a network of computer circuits.
Continue reading "Creepy New York Times Article Argues that We are All Living in the Matrix" »
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