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Hello friends,
Opt-out update Thank you all for writing the state board concerning opt-outs. The language has been changed to reflect that an LEA may consider a statewide required test as one of multiple items of evidence to place a student in an honors course, but may not prohibit a student from enrolling based on the test or because they opted-out of the test. This is a much better policy. Your emails helped this happen. Thank you!
Dr. Duke Pesta’s Presentation on Saturday Saturday morning I attended a special very early morning breakfast conference before the LDS General Conference. :) Dr. Duke Pesta flew out from Wisconsin to speak at this event and gave a great speech on the state of things with Common Core. It was recorded and as soon as it’s posted online I will let everyone know. It’s a must watch speech. Among the things Duke mentioned, one thing I hadn’t really considered so heavily was that the Common Core tests were being created with federal funding in 2009 prior to the standards. This proves that this was a federal takeover scheme from the beginning. The standards were created after the tests so that everyone would be on the same page. David Coleman said you can’t stop a teacher from teaching to the test. He also made the point that we no longer have public schools. We can’t change anything at our public schools like we could decades ago. They aren’t public. They are government schools that children are required to attend. If you have not opted your children out of state tests, it is also not a good idea for your children to randomly guess which bubble to fill in to get through the test quickly. They are being assessed as to when they give up on the test based on how fast they are reasonably answering questions. Do not let them take these tests. Opt them out. https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/action-list/opt-out-forms/
Announcing the 2017 Agency-Based Education Conference Please make plans to attend this year’s ABE conference on November 11th at the Provo Convention Center. This will be an amazing event. With everything happening in education these days, you need to make plans for your family’s education and consider removal from government schools if you haven’t. Aside from an incredible set of speakers and topics, there will also be a special discussion panel and 3 concurrent afternoon workshops. If you don’t know if you should homeschool but think you might, there’s a workshop for you. Are you experienced as a homeschooler or classroom teacher? Take the ABE workshop with Neil Flinders for nuts and bolts training in agency-based education. Are you highly motivated and want to start a school? Another workshop will show you how to set up a private, charter, or home school co-op. Check out the lineup here and sign up today. There is limited seating so sign up now. Also, this conference will be recorded but not all the presentations will be released for free online anymore. Attendance is the best way to get the content and get energized with other like minded people. https://www.agencybasededucation.org/conferences/2017-conference/
Brigham Young DVD contest OK, my good friend Ken Cromar is a video producer and cinematographer. He recently produced a cool video of James Arrington’s one-man show on Brigham Young. If you’ve never seen James perform, he’s a real treat. You may have seen one of his more popular shows called “Farley Family Reunion” and after 40-years and over 300,000 people seeing his shows, he’s doing this final performance as the Pioneer Prophet Brigham Young. Heartwarming, fun, inspiring entertainment for the whole family. Since Ken wanted to get word out about his video, and toss a benefit to those who read my emails :), he is giving away 5 copies to people on this list. To get into the contest, just send an email to Contest@HeresBrotherBrigham.com with Brigham Loves GOOD education! in the Subject line by Tuesday night. Wednesday Ken will do a random drawing to select the winners and he’ll contact you for your mailing address if you win. Here’s a link to a teaser trailer: https://youtu.be/gtufBgS1lXA Thanks Ken!
Oak Norton |
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