Monthly Archives: March 2014

News

Blatant Political Indoctrination in 4th Grade Utah Classroom

6 Comments

politicalpartiesI am protecting the identity of the teacher and school this happened at for the time being in an effort to allow for additional information to hopefully come to light, but I want you to know that this was overheard by an individual who was passing a 4th grade Utah classroom last week. This person is willing to speak with a legislator about this to confirm his/her identity and testify this was very clearly stated. If this is happening in one classroom in this state, you can bet it’s happening in more.

“I personally heard a teacher (or most likely, a substitute) saying “The Democratic Party passes laws that are for the common man. The Republican Party passes laws that are for corporations. WE are the common man.” She said this loud and clear, three times in a row, as though she were drilling it into the students’ heads.”

I want to ask each of you to immediately consider filing for school board positions in your local races, and run to be a delegate in your caucus meetings. You can file for school board at your county seat AND MUST DO SO BY THIS THURSDAY OR YOU WILL BE TOO LATE. Some seats don’t even have candidates and many candidates are running unopposed at this point (come on Orem…). Please get out and file for office.

In leaving this school unidentified, I also hope that each of you will have a conversation about this with your child and learn what’s happening behind your back in the schools.

“Public education has served as a check on the power of parents, and this is another powerful reason for maintaining it.”- John Goodlad, Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pg. 165 (Mr. Goodlad is a nationally prominent educator and has been BYU’s Department of Education consultant since 1983 and is well loved by professors in that department. It’s unknown if they share this view with Mr. Goodlad, but reading what Goodlad write about, and seeing what is going on in schools, should encourage a lot of you to consider homeschooling.)

I also received this email from a reading aide who gave permission to post her name with this. Too many people have fixated on the Common Core standards being indoctrinating in some way. That’s a red herring that we have never espoused. The standards are public, weak, and a convenient strawman for proponents of Common Core to accuse us of having as our focal point. It will always be things that aren’t immediately accessible to the public that push the troubling things, such as this reading aide notes.

“It was part of our SAGE training that our school put on. They were sample questions and I found them to be inappropriate for the grade level they were intended (3rd). Also in my reading endorsement class we were asked to read an article and write a 3-5 paragraph argumentative/persuasive essay for or against the article. We had to include facts out of the article that supported our position. This was a sample of part of the writing test that will be given to 5th grade and up. We asked the teacher how a student was to successfully argue against it without having an article to read showing the opposing side. She said that wasn’t the intent of the test and we had to teach our kids to read informative texts and pull facts from it regardless of how they may feel about what they are reading. I was stunned. The more I look into this the more I am convinced it has nothing to do with critical thinking and all to do with indoctrinating our children.” – Michelle Klaas Boulter, (Reading Aide at George Washington Academy in Saint George)

Last, here’s an email I received last night. This is pure behavioral testing of children. It has nothing to do with getting an education and everything to do with creating a profile of children. In fact, some of the questions could violate Utah law but most parents would never know this. If you didn’t watch the video on this page (https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/why-you-must-opt-your-child-out-of-all-computer-adaptive-tests/), please do so and you’ll understand why this is so critical.

“I’m wondering what you know about a certain test that my kids who are in a virtual charter school (Mountain Heights Academy) were required to take at the beginning of this year. It’s called the Engage Test.  I don’t think there could be a more ABSURD assignment, ever….. I sat with my son, 8th grade, as he began the test and had to witness till the end.  The questions were like, “True or False– I feel anger when others say rude things about me.”  Followed by “When people put me down in front of others I feel: (multiple choice)”.  “True or False– I try my best when I feel support from my parents.” “My teachers are able to help me when I have a question:  All the time, most of the time, sometimes, once in a while, never (choose).”  THIS WENT ON FOR 120 QUESTIONS. Insane.  My son and I were aghast as page after page kept coming and we couldn’t skip to the end, nor could we skip any questions or it would say “enter field”.

At the time, I didn’t know better than to just do the assignment, but now I would just simply ignore it and let the lesson go undone.  Before he did it, we kept getting automated phone called saying it wasn’t done, so I guess it was a big deal to them. If I hadn’t sat down with him, I wouldn’t have known about it.  I wonder how many other parents just don’t know what’s being assigned?”

All that being said, let me share with you a letter from former State Superintendent Patti Harrington which she sent to all House members when HB 223 and 228 were up for votes. Bolding below is Ms. Harrington’s. Red text is mine.

Good morning House Representatives –

Thank you for passing HB223 School Board Elections (J. Nielson) last night!  Utahns deserve to vote directly on the candidates for the State Board – those who set policy for the schools that serve their most precious possessions – their children.  We appreciate legislators who have brought this issue to light during the 2014 Session.

The House may hear today HB228 Utah State Board of Education Elections and Reporting Amendments (B. Greene).  Respecting (as we do) both sponsors, may we offer some reasons from discussions with your local school board members on why State Board elections should remain non-partisan and open?

  • The State Board of Education is a independent board, independent from both the legislative and executive branch, although vitally involved in both.  The State Board is Constitutionally protected in its independence.  Partisan races for seats on the Board may easily erode some of the Board’s independence.
  • Today’s use of internet and social media allows state board candidates to reach nearly all voters in all areas of the state and at reasonable cost; a political party doesn’t have to do that for them or fund their campaigns. 
  • Politics may create instability in schools in terms of changing policies, altered resources, shifting regulations, etc.  Schools operate best when children feel stability and are provided with excellent resources and quality teachers, none of whom have to worry about certain political candidates in the next election who may alter programs or shift resources.
  • Teachers try hard to keep politics out of the classroom, (except as it relates to approved Social Studies core standards).  If the State Board becomes partisan and members take political positions affecting schools, the likelihood of politics being discussed in schools, unfortunately, increases. Let’s leave discussions of political persuasion to parents/guardians in the home, and, for the older student, let’s leave it on the public square, not in the setting of public education.   Students grow to trust and often love their school teachers; let’s not put them at odds with the politics of their homes from increased political influence on schools.
  • Children do not come to school as Republicans or Democrats; neither should their policy leaders.

Thank you for considering this in your work today!  And thank you for all you do to support public education!

Dr. Patti Harrington

Executive Director

Utah School Superintendents Association

Dear Ms. Harrington, you may want to re-evaluate your statements based on what’s really happening in Utah classrooms.

Your five points have issues as well.

1) The state board doesn’t have constitutionally protected independence. By saying such you are demonstrating you don’t understand what “general control and supervision” means in the Utah constitution. It doesn’t create a 4th branch of government which the other 3 can’t touch.

2) Really? You think the internet provides clear and accurate information to voters? Who among the public takes the time to look up who is running for state school board? School board races are the least watched and most critical races in the state. School boards affect the rising generation and the public is totally in the dark about who is running. Not 1 in 100 voters looks up their state school board candidate’s website, and none of those websites indicate the depth of information that should be known about a candidate. They’re full of safe, politically correct statements. The only way to understand a candidate is to grill that person. The public is completely underserved by not having partisan elections where the political philosophy of a candidate is known so that people know how that person will act. Political parties don’t have to fund people’s campaigns and that’s not what partisan elections are about. You should run to become a delegate and see the amount of work that goes into vetting candidates for office. That’s what it’s about. It isn’t just “how Republican” or “Democrat” you are. People ask about qualifications for positions such as involvement in education, understanding their background, what motivated them to run, and many other things that will never be stated on a billboard or yard sign.

3) Prove this. Where have partisan elections created instability in school district boards? If you elected 7 Democrats to a school district, or 7 Republicans, which set is going to shut down the schools? To infer they will is fearmongering. Texas moved to partisan elections a while back and their children aren’t dealing with massive instability in schools. What happened in Texas was conservatives on the state board brought balance to what was being taught in schools. They didn’t gut liberals out of schools. They just made sure BOTH SIDES OF AN ISSUE WERE PRESENTED. (see Michelle’s story above for why this is important)

4) Please refer to the first story at the top of this page. Here’s another story about youth being indoctrinated that communism isn’t that bad. I’ve had plenty more like it over the years. It’s taking place precisely because teachers are of all political persuasions and if they sense they can shape their students, it’s pretty natural to make them question… Then prove the rest of your assertion. Texas has had partisan elections since the 90’s. They aren’t sending political party recruiters into schools to change students beliefs. Not like what just got exposed in Utah above… How many more classrooms is this happening in without the knowledge of parents?

5) You cannot separate personal politics from public action. Partisan elections aren’t to polarize the board by identifying who belongs to what party, but by letting hundreds or thousands of delegates make the best decision they can for the public at large, and then letting the public choose between more clearly defined alternatives who have all been vetted by a smaller number of locally elected representatives, we get the best possible candidates. There is no better system than informed people making a decision for the public at large. That’s a political form called a Republic which we pledge allegiance to and you swore an oath to the Constitution to defend and uphold. Non-partisan elections do not fit that form of government so well. They are more akin to Democracy where people are more easily swayed by big money campaigns.

It’s clearly time for partisan elections in Utah. We need to let the cream rise to the top, and not have a committee of the governor’s appointees filter out candidates based on their views such as asking people, “what do you think of Common Core” and then eliminating them from consideration if they say anything less than how wonderful it is.

Concerns

What hath Common Core wrought?

4 Comments

I received an email the other day from a substitute teacher who travels around and has kept track of the things she’s seen and heard. It’s mind numbing. After her stories, there is a story out of California as well. After reading the stories, check out this article showing even more issues.

Common Core math education intentionally designed to make America’s children mentally ill
http://www.naturalnews.com/044338_Common_Core_math_education_Americas_children.html

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Oak,

Here are the few things I actually documented. There have been so many, but if I don’t write, I don’t remember. Now I wish I had written them ALL down. I promise I will do that from now on, and I’ll send them off to you. I have not included the dates or the schools on any of these, for I know that my assignments can be traced. There have been some days where I was the only sub at that school.

Some math problems I’ve encountered:

6th Grade Class: The math aide was flustered about the lesson she was teaching regarding volume. She kept getting the information wrong, because the lesson gave two separate formulas for volume: B x l x h and b x l x h. In the teacher’s manual, it gave B=base area, and b=the width of the base. However, on the student worksheet, B=width of base. The students had to spend time cutting out a rectangular box and tape or glue it together, measure it, then use it to figure the formula for volume, and the answer for their solid shape. This took up so much time, and most of the kids were confused about what B or b meant, so when they had to write the formula, they were still confused and didn’t understand it.

6th Grade Class: I have 34 candy bars. 29 got stolen. How many do I have left? Correct answer: On the left hand side of the page, draw 34 rectangles, and circle 3 sets of 10 each. There are 4 left over. Draw a line down the middle of the page. On the right side of the page, draw 29 rectangles. Circle 2 sets of 10 each. There are 9 left over. With another colored pencil, circle the 9 and bring it over to the left hand side of the page with an arrow to one of the circled 10. Cross out 9 of the 10 on the left hand side. Now use another colored pencil and circle the one that wasn’t crossed out, along with the 4 not previously circled.

3rd Grade Class: Kya jumped rope 77 times in a row. That was 49 times more than Katara. How many times did Katara jump? Correct answer: Draw 7 lines. Draw 7 little x’s. X out 4 lines. Circle 2 lines. X out the last line. Draw 2 separate x’s and circle them. Draw 8 little lines and circle them…The entire class made this diagram, some with success, some not. But the majority could not calculate the equation by borrowing, or even recognized the clues of “crossing out.” Most students just gave up.

3rd Grade Class: This took the class the entire math period. I had to take them on an array hunt throughout the entire school, both inside and out. Students drew arrays and the dimensions of each array, e.g. a column of 2 by 5 rows. Most students were not participating, and out of control. Duh, like that wouldn’t happen.

At Christmas time, 1st Grade: Students were to color, cut out and paste a witch onto a student-composed letter consisting of 4 things they could tell her that they had done to prove they were good, so she would give them presents on Christmas day. The teacher said she would send these to the good witch La Belfona.

Teachers at lunchtime were expressing their own confused state of mind regarding Common Core math, their compassion for their students–who they said did NOT understand it, and that THEY could not help them. They needed the math aide to come help!

At another school, teachers were saying how badly they felt because their Kindergartners did not have good enough keyboarding skills to even take the computer adaptive tests. Their reason was because they didn’t even know the complete alphabet yet, and yet they were scheduled that day to take the tests! The teachers knew there were going to be tears of frustration and mayhem.

One First grade class had to share mirrors to draw themselves EXACTLY as they saw themselves in the mirror, then label it with their first and last names, PLUS their date of birth. The assignment had to be completed in 15 minutes and turned in. They had to wait their turn, didn’t know their last names or if they knew them, they didn’t know how to spell them, and I didn’t have a list! Most didn’t know their birthDAY, let alone their birthDATE. Hence, they were confused, and out of control.

Regarding cell phone usage and District Policy: Most teachers do NOT abide by the rules and allow cell phones and earbuds during class. This is a TREMENDOUS problem. I caught one student watching a movie on her cell phone, told her to turn it off, or I would confiscate it. Just as the bell rang, she had it out and was watching the movie again! She went out the door before I could catch her.

100% of classes I substitute in where there are laptops, or full desktops, there is an internet abuse problem. About 1/2 the students in these classes are constantly playing games, going on their gmail, OR google images and loitering there. One day, a 4th grade student was looking up images for his power point presentation and on the same page as the image he was looking for, there was a close-up image of some sort of an animal’s vagina! He looked horrified, and told the boy next to him to look and see. This caught my attention, so I went over to see what they were looking at. I told him to get off that page! I had heard that this was not even possible, that there are protections built into the school internet systems. I can tell you from personal experience, that the amount of actual productive work completed on these devices is minimal AT BEST. This is a complete waste of educational time and citizen tax dollars, for computer usage is approaching half the class time.

Students cannot write legibly, from kindergarten through 12th grade. The excuse I hear is that it is taught solely in Kindergarten. The kindergarten handwriting lessons I have viewed and had to teach were pathetic. In one class, during “Centers” (that is the only time they were taught this subject), students had to fold a piece of paper lengthwise and unfold it, then fold it again width-wise, then unfold it. Then cut along a dotted line, then push the paper together, then fold it one way, then another, then fold it like a book. Then the students had to trace the letter “a” and then color it. They had 10 minutes to do this, and were so confused, some were crying. They had no time to practice writing the letter “a” and were not given the opportunity to even do so. THAT was their lesson on HOW to write the letter “a.”

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I think those last two stories should be shared with legislators intent on transforming our classrooms into technology centers. We are losing basic skills. High tech CEO’s send their children to non-tech schools so they learn to think without technology thinking for them. But I digress…

This story is from a California teacher who has served in the highest capacities of their state’s system, but wishes to remain anonymous.

“I spent today watching a 90-minute in class lesson, using real students in a
real high school  geometry class, given by the math content expert for the local
district.

She starts out by passing out a hexagon and asks the kids to find the area.
They could not figure it out. So she passed out a page with rectangles that
had square units marked off and had the kids count the boxes. Eventually
they might have gotten base times width, though I am not sure. The district
version of Common Core means that we don’t give formulas, the kids need to
determine that themselves. Eventually they were to cut the rectangles in
half (three of them) and then the last one cut into three pieces, all of
them triangles. The kids them spent a half hour estimating the area of each
by counting. Never did the formula for area of a triangle come up.

90 minutes after the start of the lesson, the kids were instructed to (as
the bell rang) use their “knowledge”; to determine the area of their regular
hexagon. They had neither the ways or the time to do so. The paper was
their exit ticket. No practice problems, because Common Core doesn’t do
practice problems. I asked later in the debrief what would have been
assigned “if you had more time,” the response was that the kids could write
in their journals how they found the area of something in their houses.

I am not kidding. _______ can confirm this is true.

So 90 minutes was spent on a topic that is a 5th grade standard in the old
California standards, and that any teacher worth anything could have covered
– well – in five or ten.”

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Reference

2014 Caucus Flier

4 Comments

Attending caucus this week? Grab this pdf and make copies for your precinct. There are thousands of precincts around the state and tons of people are attending caucus meetings. This is a great opportunity to educate people about Common Core. This flier is more tuned in to a GOP message than Democrats or other parties, FYI.

http://www.utahdemocrats.org/caucusnight (Tuesday, March 18th)

http://www.utgop.org/utgop.asp (Thursday, March 20th)

http://www.constitutionpartyofutah.com/calendar/ (Thursday, March 27th)

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Caucus Flier 2014 (PDF)

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I received an email from someone who pointed out something inspiring which I’ll share here:

“In short, the fact that there are so many school board seats open in Utah County that are unopposed is completely sad.  For every person who thinks they can’t run, I’m here to beg you to do it anyway.  Call every, single person that you know in those areas and beg them to run.  If you don’t know anyone, then Facebook it.  The reality is the biggest, best, and most effective way for anyone to impact education, even with the centralization that we have, would be to ‘en masse’ get different school board members in, locally.  We have seen the legislature will never act without backing from the local boards.  The State Board has no motivation (and the reality is it is too far away from the people to be accountable with the amount of power it possesses) to change.  But even if no one wins.  Even if the people reject the message of local control, it does move the needle.  It shows that every person needs to be involved and responsible.  At the very least, local school board elections provide a ready-made platform for issues (debate, newspapers, direct mail pieces, websites).  It allows the rest of the people to hear a different perspective other than who loves the kids most.  It allows for an opportunity to speak truth to power, and, if successful, actually change the direction of this state, more than legislation or replacing state school board members.  The rightful power over education lies in the local school boards truly representing the parents of their communities.  Until the people actually want the power back, it will continue to be centralized, concentrated and taken away from parents and local communities.  This is the line in the sand.  This is, as Gandalf says, where “You shall not pass.”  This is the opportunity to speak the truth that PARENTS must be in charge of their kids’ education.  They we can’t abdicate this responsibility to the ‘experts’.  People don’t believe it anymore.  They think their kids must get the education the experts demand.  They may feel uncomfortable with some things and not knowing what’s going on, but we have been conditioned to believe that it isn’t our responsibility.

In my opinion, there is no single issue that is more important in the next 4 days, than finding, preferably in all 41 districts, people to run.  There should be no seat that doesn’t have opposition.  I apologize again, because when I asked and cajoled about this 6 months ago, I didn’t follow up.  I didn’t feel that it was my responsibility.  But I realize that we are all in the same boat: we don’t believe it’s our job.  We hope someone will step up to the plate.

Once upon a time, in this country, public service was seen the way our culture and our religion value religious callings.  You didn’t say no, and you felt it should be shared.  Somehow, we think that running for office is something other people should do; that it takes a particular mindset or temperament; that it shouldn’t be a sacrifice.  It is service.  It’s supposed to be a sacrifice.  To quote Thomas Paine, “it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”  We who choose to live in liberty must bear the pains of supporting it.

There are 11 school board seats up in Utah County alone.  Of those 11, 2 in Provo don’t even have a candidate yet.  All but 2, are currently unopposed.  With all due respect, I can’t believe there are only 3 people in Utah County that feel the need to stand up for something other than the status quo.  We, the people, don’t deserve local control because we don’t show by our actions that we really want it.  The mindset of who should run for office needs to change, and it needs to change quickly.

We have greater potential right now, in the next 96 hours, than we’ve had in the last 2 years, of returning control of education back to the people.

If you know anyone in one of these areas, call them and ask them to run.  Don’t take no for an answer.  Please.”

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News

Please help bring back HB 228 – Partisan School Board Elections

3 Comments

Alisa Ellis sent this great letter to her House Representative and gave permission to post it here.

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My state school board rep is a really nice lady but she doesn’t feel accountable to the people.  I’ve been working on these education issues for 3 years and in that time she’s emailed me back a handful of times but has NEVER met with me.  I’ve asked her to lunch.  We’ve invited her to come to meetings in Heber but she’s declined all invitations or else something has come up. This is in large part because of the way the state board is elected.  THEY DO NOT FEEL ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE.

This is exhausting.  When I first started pushing back against the centralization of powers over education, I tried going to my local board and superintendent.  They told me this was out of their hands and they had to do what the state told them.

Next I tried the state board.  I went up to give a two minute speech and was quickly pulled into a little room where staff members tried to “teach me” about how wrong I was in my analysis. They told me my local school board was implementing this wrong and that I needed to go back to the local board and let them know.

Well, I’d been there and done that so I met the Governor at a candidate night and he agreed to sit down and discuss my concerns.  He told me that his office has nothing to do with this and that I needed to go talk to someone else.

I only had one option left — the legislature.  The legislature has been the most responsive by far of any other government body but they too throw up their hands and tell me there is nothing they can do and send me on my way.  They send me back to the school board.  When I go back to the school board…… THEY BLAME THE LEGISLATORS!!

While each branch of government fights about who is in charge it is us, the people, that are left without a voice.  This bill isn’t about putting politics in education.  It’s about giving the people back their voice and making the state board feel accountable to the people not to the “educrats”.  Please help – Say yes to HB228

Thank you,

Alisa Ellis

 

Essay Contest

Why I Oppose the Common Core Initiative

1 Comment

Another entry in the Essay Contest, this one by Lindsey Ohlin.

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by Lindsey Ohlin

There are hundreds of reasons why I oppose the Common Core initiative, but all of them boil down to my support of the United States Constitution and the Natural Rights of Men. Not only is Common Core unconstitutional, but it also goes against my God-given rights as a parent to raise, guide, and educate my own children in the way I see fit.

The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution established that the power to oversee and control education belonged to the states. Those powers which are not explicitly granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution are reserved to the States and the people. Education is NOT listed as a power granted to the Federal Government, and therefore it is the right of the states and the people to control the educational system at a local level. Not only does the Constitution NOT authorize the federal government to control our education system, but even the law that organized the U.S. Department of Education states that they are not authorized to “exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system […], or over the selection or content of library resources, textbooks, or other instructional materials by any educational institution or school system […].” (Department of Education Organization Act Section 103-b). This information alone is enough to tell me that Common Core overstretches the rights of the federal government and encroaches on our rights as Utahns.

Not only is Common Core unconstitutional and in violation of federal law, but it is also in violation of my beliefs in the Natural Law and the laws of God. As a firm believer in God and a belief that we are all children of our God, I know that I have been entrusted with a sacred stewardship over my children. I am to raise up my children in righteousness and look out for their best interest. In Proverbs, we are commanded as parents to “[t]rain up a child in the way he should go […]”; yet, somehow I missed the part where it commanded the government to take on that responsibility. It is my responsibility as the parent to stand guard over my children and ensure that the things they are being taught are in line with truth and decency. When the control of curriculum is taken away from the local school districts it is also taken away from the parents who have a say in who controls their school districts.

So basically, although I could go on and on about why I oppose the common core agenda, the two all-encompassing components of my reasoning boils down to the fact that without question it is unconstitutional and hinders my responsibility as a parent, entrusted to me by God, to raise and guide my child through this scary world we live in.

Concerns

Math Teacher Malin Williams Speaks Out

7 Comments

I received this email from math teacher and football coach Malin Williams who gave permission to post it with his name.

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My name is Malin Williams.  I teach math at Enterprise High School in the Washington County School District.  This letter is being typed at home on my own computer and on my own time. I did not participate in the essay contest, but have some thoughts that may be useful.  If so, use them.  These thoughts are my own and in no way am I attempting to speak for any official entity, organization, or individual besides myself.

It is difficult to express myself concerning the common core.  There is much “official support” for it.  I fear that teachers who oppose the common core may somehow be punished, but my perception is that most teachers do not really want the common core.  We want to be allowed to use our professional judgement and serve our students the best way we know how.  We welcome professional development which we can use to increase our effectiveness.  We chafe at being told “you must” by people who are not in our classrooms and communities.

I have spent a significant amount of time studying the pros and cons of the common core.  Many of the math standards are very good.  Some are not.  (Does a kindergarten student really need to know what a hexagon is…Does he really need to be able to distinguish between whether a shape is two dimensional or three dimensional?  Will this cause confusion and frustration unnecessarily?)  I am very concerned about Utah losing our ability to control our own educational standards and programs.  I am concerned about struggling students being forced from one failing experience to the next.  I am equally concerned about our best students being slowed down.  I would very much like my own children to be in a school that did not have to worry about federal controls, education standards with inflexible copyrights held by massive cooperatives, data mining, over-emphasizing of coercive testing and compliance, excessive corporate controls, etc.

We are moving ever farther from the small, locally controlled schools that produced our parents, grandparents and great grandparents.  Family friendly schools and policies seem to be decreasing.  The schools and social forces that produced the greatest nation in the world are disappearing.  Will the new experiment work?  The farther we get from what made us great, the farther we seem to fall.  Hope and individual initiative seem to be decreasing.  Can they be successfully replaced by rigid standards and increased bureaucracy?   Must our sons and daughters be placed under more distant and more regimented controls?  Is federal money so necessary and dear to us?  Is parental input so unimportant?

My colleagues can be trusted.  We want to feel trusted and empowered.  We need to return local control and empowerment to Utah students, parents, and teachers by rejecting the common core.  We can do better.

Thank you.

Malin Williams
Head Football Coach
Level 4 Math Teacher
Enterprise High School

Essay Contest

Essay Contest: Indifference to Data Privacy

2 Comments

This essay contest entry by Karen Lee discusses data privacy issues.

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I’m finding that people are indifferent to the problem of data privacy, figuring that they think “the Feds” have all of our information already. They feel helpless and afraid to go against “authority” and traditional educational procedures. This is exactly what “the Feds” want people to think. As people opt out of Common Core testing, Utah should focus more on who AIR is and who is controlling the content of the test items as well as having control of the Standards, the “living work” that will evolve and change over time by those in charge, “the Feds”. What has the federal government done that hasn’t turned into huge bureaucracy and a burden to the people, not to mention indoctrinating or pushing a particular agenda down our throats?

Computer Adaptive Testing WILL drive the curriculum! You should have heard Alpine School District data guy talk about how wonderful the SAGE test is going to be, especially with the interim testing (testing 3 times a year). You are kidding yourself if you don’t think the teachers will change and do whatever they can to get their students to perform well on these tests. It will reflect their ability to teach, thus changing curriculum to conform.

I wish we could be more forthright about it all and compare this process of National takeover of education to Germany and the Communists burning books and controlling what information the people learn or hear.

Have you read the book “Exiled?” It is about John Lothrop back in the early 1600’s dealing with the Church of England and the evil Bishop Laud. They threatened, tortured, mutilated, and killed those who didn’t do exactly as the Church of England dictated. There was no freedom of conscience. People were thrown into horrible prisons if they associated with Separatists or Independents, those who didn’t support the Church of England but instead wanted to study prophecies and follow their conscience relating to Christ.

Have you read it? Probably not. You can’t find this book in the libraries or even online. It is a true story about freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, fighting and sacrificing for what you believe in.

I could go on and on, but as a final thought, do you know what your children are being “forced” to read in their classes at school?

This fight against Common Core is a fight for liberty and freedom to choose. It is worth the fight and we need to help people understand that they CAN do something different than what is being asked of them by the schools. These tests are not critical to a student’s base of knowledge. They are simply a way to control the message and gain their numbers and data desired. Good teachers already know if their students are mastering the concepts taught.

by Karen Lee

News

Granite School District teacher on Common Core Assessments

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Saturday, March 1st, Autumn Cook from the Left/Right Alliance was a guest on Weston Clark’s radio show, The Progress Report, which airs on K-Talk 630 am. Immediately after her interview, a teacher from Granite school district who “supports the idea of a common core” shared these interesting thoughts on the amount of testing students are getting now. In fact, he mentioned that it’s so much, teachers no longer have time to do their own tests because there is so much test prep for the Common Core assessments.

http://youtu.be/maQm0FNqkpY

Reference

Fact-Checking Associate UT Superintendent Judy Park on Nonacademic Data Collection

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Christel Swasey wrote this fact-check post on her site. I have included Judy Park’s full email below for reference, as well as comments from 2 of the 15 parent assessment review panel members which seem to contradict Judy Park’s claims.

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From Christel Swasey

Once again it seems necessary, unfortunately, to provide a fact-checking rebuttal to statements made by Utah’s Associate Superintendent Judy Park about student data privacy.

In a letter given out to parents of children attending a St. George charter school recently, Judy Park was quoted at length.  Park, the Associate Superintendent of Utah, made the following statements that will be scrutinized here with links to opposing evidence.

In that letter, Ms. Park  wrote:

“The advocates of anti-common core are falsely accusing USOE and schools and districts of collecting and storing data that is “behavioral data and non-academic personal information”.  They have no real evidence or examples to support this claim.  The only data that is collected and maintained is the specific data required by state and federal law.”

Here’s evidence to the contrary, Ms. Park.

1.  First, there is a Utah law about Common Core standardized tests.  This law, HB15, created in 2012, requires the collection of behavior indicators.  It calls for “ the use of student behavior indicators in assessing student performance” as part of the testing.   This is Utah’s S.A.G.E. –aka Common Core or A.I.R.– test.

2. There is a company that Utah has paid at least $39 million to write its Common Core-aligned standardized tests:  American Institutes for Research.  Its mission:  “AIR’s mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation…“

Are we to believe that although AIR’s purpose is to test behavioral and social indicators, and although Utah law says that the test must test behavioral indicators, the test still won’t?

3. Utah’s SLDS grant application talks about authorizing de-identification of data for research and says that individuals will be authorized to access personal student information in the various Utah agencies that belong to UDA. (Who are these individuals?  Why does the UDA trust them with information that parents weren’t even told was being gathered on our children?)

Starting at page 87 on that same SLDS federal application, we read how non-cognitive behaviors that have nothing to do with academics, will be collected and studied by school systems.  These include “social comfort and integration, academic conscientiousness, resiliency, etc.” to be evaluated through the psychometric census known as the “Student Strengths Inventory. (SSI)”  That SSI inventory –my child’s psychological information– will be integrated into the system (SLDS).  Nonacademic demographic and other personal information is also captured while administering the test. SSI data will be given to whomever it is assumed, by the so-called leadership, that needs to see it.  (This should be a parental decision but has become a state decision.)

The SLDS grant promises to integrate psychological data into the state database.   “Utah’s Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance programs have substantial Student Education Occupation Plan, (SEOP) data, but they are not well integrated with other student data. With the introduction of UtahFutures and the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI) and its focus on noncognitive data, combining such data with other longitudinal student level data to the USOE Data Warehouse the UDA.”  It also says:

“… psychosocial or noncognitive factors… include, but are not limited to educational commitment, academic engagement and conscientiousness, social comfort and social integration, academic self-efficacy, resiliency…  Until recently, institutions had to rely on standardized cognitive measures to identify student needs. … We propose to census test all current student in grades 11 and 12 and then test students in grade 11 in subsequent years using the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI) – a measure of noncognitive attitudes and behaviors.”  So the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI) is a “psychometric census” to be taken by every 11th and 12th grade student in Utah.  That’s one way they’re gathering the psychological data.

4.  Ms. Park herself is a key player and even a writer for the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) –the organization that co-created and co-copyrighted Common Core.  This makes me fairly confident that you are aware of what the CCSSO stands for and what its goals are.  On the CCSSO website, it states that one of its main goals is “Continued Commitment to Disaggregation” of student data.  Disaggregation means that academic bundles of students’ information will be separated into groups that are increasingly easy to identify individually.

Lastly, there is this issue:  Ms. Park wrote, “The only data that is collected and maintained is the specific data required by state and federal law.”  This is a big problem since the state and the federal requirements do not match anymore.  The state is much more protective of students’ rights.  Federal FERPA regulations have been altered –not by Congress but by the sneaky  Department of Education (DOE).  The DOE changed the definitions of terms.  They reduced from a requirement to only a “best practice” the previously protective rule that parental consent had to be obtained (prior to sharing private student data).  They redefined personally identifiable information.  So, no more parental consent needed and whatever they can con states into sharing, will be shared.  Is this the kind of federal rule that Ms. Park is content to have us obey?

Because Utah agreed in that same SLDS federal grant application to use PESC standards and SIF interoperability frameworks, Utah’s children’s private data can be accessed by other states and federal agencies very easily as long as current Utah policy permits it.

Unless bills like Jake Anderegg’s current HB169 student data privacy bill  and others like it will pass, we have very few protections and a wide open policy of quite promiscuous data sharing here in Utah.

Sad but true.

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Another article on this site which is related to this topic contains this information:

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/is-the-usoe-practicing-psychological-profiling-on-your-child/

The Utah State Office of Education has an official document actively endorsing the collection of behavioral and non-academic data, “Utah’s Model for Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance”

“Perception data: Perception data answer the question, “What do people think they know, believe or can do?” These data measure what students and others observe or perceive, knowledge gained, attitudes and beliefs held and competencies achieved. These data are often collected through pre- and post-surveys, tests or skill demonstration opportunities such as presentations or role play, data, competency achievement, surveys or evaluation forms.” (pgs. 58-59″)

This list of CCGP Student Outcomes (which will be tracked by computers according to the document) is full of non-academic outcomes.

MG:A1 Demonstrate a deep regard for self and others
MG:A2 Demonstrate a Personal Commitment to basic democratic principles
MG:A3 Demonstrate a civil and considerate spirit while participating in society

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Judy Park’s Original Email

The advocates of “anti-common core” are falsely accusing USOE and schools and districts of collecting and storing data that is “behavioral data and non-academic personal information”.  They have no real evidence or examples to support this claim.  The only data that is collected and maintained is the specific data required by state and federal law.  The url below, is a document that provides specific information about data collection and use in Utah.  This document also provides links to other documents that lists each data field that is collected.  It is unfortunate that due to the misinformation that is being freely shared through emails, etc., parents who choose to not have their students participate in the academic testing this year, will not receive the assessment results that can provide good information for students and parents and be used to inform instruction for their classroom next fall. http://schools.utah.gov/assessment/Testing-Director-Resources/StateLong-DataSys-5.aspx

There are also claims that the company, AIR that will be scoring the assessment, will use student data in an inappropriate way.  The original contract with AIR as well as federal law prohibits AIR or any other assessment company from using data for purposes not approved by the entity (state) that holds the contract.  Due to the many concerns, an amendment was made to the contract to strengthen the language.  The url for this amendment is below.

http://schools.utah.gov/assessment/Adaptive-Assessment-System/AIRContractAmendment2DataSecurity.aspx

There are also concerns that the test questions contain inappropriate content of a social or political nature.  Every question on the SAGE assessment has been reviewed by the 15 member parent committee last fall.  Every parent on the panel (including the parents that do not support the common core) agreed that there was nothing in the questions that was inappropriate.  The media did some stories as a follow up to the parent panel.  This information can be found at the url below.

http://sageportal.org/announcements/

As an additional support to parents, USOE/AIR has produced a SAGE brochure for families.  There are three brochures; Policy makers, Educators, Families.  These are brand new and will be placed on the website today.  I have attached them for your use.

I hope these documents and information is helpful to you.  Please let me know if there are other questions, or if I can provide additional information.

Thanks

Judy W. Park, Ed.D.
Utah State Office of Education
Associate Superintendent
Student Services and Federal Programs
801-538-7550

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Comments from 2 members of the 15 parent panel

Quoted from Judy Park: “Every question on the SAGE assessment has been reviewed by the 15 member parent committee last fall. Every parent on the panel (including the parents that do not support the common core) agreed that there was nothing in the questions that was inappropriate.”

I served on that 15 parent committee, and I will tell you that is not true. And if Dr. Park says that, she must have been sleeping during the meeting we had altogether at the end of our week at the USOE office last November (a private meeting, without the media, where everyone there had to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements, which is why I can’t give specific examples). Yes, there were questions flagged for ridiculous reasons like grammatical errors, incorrect answers (seriously? I didn’t realize it was our job to check if the answers were correct!), or malfunctioning technology. But I know I wasn’t the only one to flag items because of subjective, inappropriate, or misleading content. Sometimes it was for individual questions, sometimes it was every question related to a certain passage, because the passage was inappropriate/biased. We were told that everything flagged would be reviewed again, and a decision regarding revision/complete removal/no change would be made between USOE and AIR. As part of the committee, we will not see the end result of those until we reconvene this fall. Everyone in the committee agreed that the majority of the questions seemed fine, however I don’t like it repeated that this equates to approval of the entire test.

Louisa Walker

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“Every parent on the panel (including the parents that do not support the common core) agreed that there was nothing in the questions that was inappropriate.” –Judy Park (above)

I am a parent on the SAGE assessment review panel and this statement is not accurate. There were questions that parents flagged as inappropriate, subjective or biased. We were promised that these test items would be reviewed and addressed and that we would get to see how they were addressed when we convene again this fall. (Which is long after this Spring’s pilot unfortunately, so I can give you no assurance whether those items have been satisfactorily addressed or not.) I participated in this panel in good faith, wanting to be a contributor to making improvements and not just a critic and I feel it is a manipulation of my cooperation to characterize it as unreserved approval of these assessments.

Alyson Williams

Concerns

Feds move to tie Common Core to Federal Funding

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Nobody on this site is shocked by this. We’ve see this coming from 2,100 miles away. The Governor, State Board members, and USOE keep denying it because they were deceived and have become defensive over time. Now they are happy in their delusions of reality. The longer we stay on the Common Core agenda (standards, computer adaptive assessments, data collection, etc…), the more beholden Utah will be to comply with federal mandates and curriculum interference. We need Utah off this whole agenda and back on its own high quality state standards. The feds are tightening the noose.

From the CATO institute: http://www.cato.org/blog/budget-proposal-its-not-just-about-core-coercion-anymore

The big story in the proposal is – or, at least, should be – that the president almost certainly wants to make the Core permanent by attaching annual federal funding to its use, and to performance on related tests. Just as the administration called for in its 2010 NCLB reauthorization proposal, POTUS wants to employ more than a one-time program, or temporary waivers, to impose “college and career-ready standards,” which–thanks to RTTT and waivers–is essentially synonymous with Common Core. In fact, President Obama proposes changing Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – of which NCLB is just the most recent reauthorization – to a program called “College- and Career-Ready Students,” with an annual appropriation of over $14 billion.

This was utterly predictable. Core opponents, who are so often smeared as conspiracy mongers, know full well both what the President has proposed in the past, and how government accumulates power over time. RTTT was the foot in the door, and once most states were using the same standards and tests, there was little question what Washington would eventually say: “Since everyone’s using the same tests and standards anyway, might as well make federal policy based on that.”