Yay!! Yay!! CD's and PM families are ok...can't believe that a 3hr trip took *27* hours. Omigosh. That is beyond unreal and so scary. Poor PM's dad and rels...and soon they'll have to turn around and go home--but of course the good news is they have homes to come back to :)

Great news, cd! Thanks for letting us know. Thank God the damage doesn't seem to be as bad as feared.

First off, a bit off a rave that Rita wasn't as bad as it could of been. Hopefully it won't stall too long and dump a ton of rain.
Watching those people stuck in traffic yesterday was very scary. It's a wake up call to know that if you did have to evacuate via our nations highways how quickly they can become almost useless.

Now about NCLB! What a lasting disaster on our nation this will be.
I work in a school district that is 70% English learners. Most of that 70% come from migrant farm working families. Some of these kids only spend April through October in our area, than they might go to Texas or Arizona or they might go to Mexico for the winter.
Anyone with half a brain would know that this population is not going to do as well on the standards test as kids with English as a first language and don't move around through out the year with their family.
Guess who pays the price when these kids do poorly on the tests? Our schools and our teachers.
I think if most people knew how NCLB works they would be amazed.

"I think if most people knew how NCLB works they would be amazed." So true, viamar! Except I'd be more inclined to say "...if most people knew how NCLB *doesn't* work..."!

CAPH- so sorry, you are correct, *doesn't* is the right word.

viamar, just want to be sure you know my point was for emphasis, not to correct you! After all the talk on other threads about rudeness, flaming, etc., I'm a little nervous about coming across the wrong way!

another rave: I got a check today for $120 from a class-action suit filed against tobacco companies! I sure was not expecting it. The letter was from my health insurance provider and said my check was part of a multi-billion dollar suit and most of the money will be used to provide health care and research. Have any of you recieved a check like this?

No worries CAPH, I knew we were on the same page. Enjoy your weekend.

I'm glad cd's family is OK. What a relief.

jorr, I once got a letter saying there had been a class action suit against my mortgage company and the plaintiff won. They sent me 3 pages of paperwork to fill out and send back. I was assured that as soon as my paperwork was received, I would get my big settlement of $8.

I blew it off.

PM, A few years ago I got a class-action suit check because of my credit card company. They were over-charging people based on due dates. The check was for $0.02. I am not joking. I never cashed the thing and I show it to people as a conversation piece.

Hey jorr, I recently paid off a mortgage. And believe it or not I got a check a month later for three cents. I have not deposited it either as the bank made paying off the morgtgage so difficult I am hoping that not depositing their check will cause them a bit of a bookeeeping problem, hehe. Take care!!!

I realize I am naive, but...
Many decades ago, when I was a secondary school kid, we had a common testing program called New York State (University) Regents' exams and if one passed enough exams, one was awarded a Regents' HS diploma which was highly regarded.
There was absolutely no question that most if not all eligible courses were taught to the standards of same.
I also realize that the Fed mandated NCLB is several orders of magnitude "dumbed down", but is a minimal student performance threshold unreasonable?
I certainly would prefer it be done locally, but most of the entrenched, mostly unionized, local powers seem unable and unwilling to comply with any standards (except, of course, ensuring that any teacher have the appropriate teaching credential, regardless of one's subject knowledge, undergraduate/graduate concentrations, or lack of same).
Seriously, is there really any long term hope for basic public education in the US?

jorr and P_M,
Did you investigate what %age of the settlement went to the lawyers?
M

onewanderingjew:

I've had so much protest concerning my fodor's name that I'm considering changing it to Young_Chick!:-D

Rave: Rita didn't come OUR way!

Rave: Finally broke our 3-4 week drought and received 1-1/2" of rain this week!

Rave: Was able to "help out" in several different ways this week, which always gives me a kick!

Rant: DH had an employee get killed on the job ...Tragic mechanical accident!!! DH had to bear the news to the man's family and the co-worker involved is taking it hard as well. DH said it was the 'worst day of my life'.

Rant: the poor souls involved in the bus accident evacuating from Rita, and all who had to flee in that horrible traffic!

Rave: Special event tonight at church...expect an uplifting celebration!

Belle

Southernbelle, I'm so sorry to hear what you & your husband are dealing with. I can't imagine how hard that would be. I'll give some positive thoughts.

OSB--I am truly sorry for what you guys are going through and your employee's family too. I can't even imagine...

mikemo,

The problem with the testing done for NCLB is that each state can decide what and how to test, so there is NOT a national standard. My students will be tested starting the first week of October. Other states will test in winter or spring, yet we are all compared. Not a very level playing field in my mind.

The testing companies supposedly adjust the scores based on the week of the school year the test is administered.

The biggest problem is that all demographic groups have to meet AYP "adequate yearly progress" over three years or the school is designated a failing school(with varied reprecussions).

Lots of problems with that. The feds didn't realize that if you have a good ESOL program, you won't have the same kids for the entire 3 years, so your ESOL/ELL classes won't "meet" AYP - because they are doing exactly what an ESOL program should do...help kids make the transition to regular classrooms. Oops. So, a school's ESOL subgroup (by definition) can't meet AYP. They think they've fixed that glitch.

Special ed kids have to meet the objectives tested on grade level. By definition, a large # of sped kids can't. That's why they are special ed.

It's all based on percentages. Texas knew how to play the game and some districts reported that their CLASS SIZE was 600 students. That leaves LOTS of room for "failing" students without damaging the school's grade. Other states were honest and reported a class size of 15 to 25. So, 1 or 2 students not meeting AYP in that subgroup means the school won't meet AYP and therefore will be a "failing school".

Since this started in Shrub's backyard, TX knew how to define their playing field when others' didn't.

And, then, what about schools with a high transient or migrant population? You can only count kids who are around for 3 years. So, that class size may drop to just a handful of students. Same problem as above.

Statistics and "scientifically based researched program" sound just great. But, scientists know that you have to control the variables to conduct a statistically valid experiment. We are talking kids here - not lab rats.

Heaven help us in public education - and this is the first time I've ever felt this way.

Hello Mike,

Unfortunately teachers are at the bottom of the food chain. It's difficult to accomplish so much with so little.

Similar to viamar's district, 95 percent of our students are English language learners. Schools must retain (hold over - such a more pleasant word) those students who they know will not be able to pass the state assessments - why? Well, starrsville explained it quite accurately. Is this a solution? Absolutely not. But because we do not get enough funding **money** (HELLO!), we just keep repeating what does not work. You would think that in a school where the majority of students do not speak English, we would have an established ESOL program. For that matter, a bilingual special education department. NO MONEY, no programs.

I am all in favor of accountable practices as well as curriculum standards (which by the way I have seen a huge improvement in over the last few years), however, I DO NOT BELIEVE FOR A MOMENT THAT "NATIONAL STANDARDS" is the way to go. The decisions must remain local, to meet the needs of their population - but give us money, please.

As always, special education is the last to be considered in the NCLB mandate. Many of these students have severe learning disabilities and they will NEVER be able to pass an assessment. The NCLB framers have dug themselves a big hole with this one - that's why they keep pushing the year this is all supposed to take effect forward.

As far as master teachers being categorized now as "unqualified", that's just the biggest load of $#@!. It will have such a negative impact on education and the ones that will suffer most, of course, will be our children.

That's enough for me. I'm going to spend the rest of this day with my family.

OSB: My deepest sympathy for all concerned.

OSB, I can only imagine how awful it would be to have the duty of giving such news to a family. That would be the worst day of my life too.