The below document is disturbing on many levels. It is the minutes from a joint meeting from the Delaware Department of Education and American Institutes for Research. Many assumptions are made on both parts, and they just run with it. Of particular assessment is the second paragraph of page four and the last paragraph on page seven. I am beginning to understand why the DOE really doesn’t get special education. The very fact that they would not defend their own students to these data freaks at AIR is astonishing.
If anything, this document shows what our students are to these data freaks at AIR- nothing but even more data for them to dissect and disseminate. The cold and callous way students are discussed in terms of high-stakes testing chilled me to the bone. These are children, not data.
As well, Brian Touchette with the DOE gives mention to something called the Duckworth/Grit analysis. Angela Duckworth is a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who has made over a million dollars with her “grit” method, which revolves around “growth mindset”. Grit and rigor…flip sides of the same coin…
Some things to keep in mind with this presentation. This is December 2013, six months before the Delaware General Assembly voted on House Bill 334, which made Smarter Balanced the state assessment in Delaware. The DOE advises AIR they have already committed to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, without any change in the law. Why is this important? There has been differing opinions of when Delaware bought the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Governor Markell said one thing and former Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said another. This proves Delaware was very much committed to SBAC at least half a year before it was written into state law…
The Season Of Myths 
The only thing left, is the idea that a school that being dysfunctional will wake up residents to the relative smaller cost of the added referendum’s expense, But that usually doesn’t happen. People flee a failing system. Which then causes the entire system to crumble..
But…. that said, anyone who looks over the income distribution in both this state and country, can readily see why.. As we get figures on how this recovery is rebounding back, notice they are all AVERAGEs …. When you break down into quintiles (fifths) you get all of the recover in the top, and none in the other four… It is the gigantic increase in the top echelons, which are so big, when you average it out, it pulls up the total average……
Therefore, since that is where the money is… that is where the tax should go… I wonder if it would be possible to put a 50% tax increase on all properties worth over $1 million dollars and be able to sell that to those barely making ends meet, and get enough votes from the populace (who wouldn’t pay for it out of their pockets), would fly?… Never really thought about it till now, but … hmmm. I wonder.. I know I’d jump at it, and could get my whole street out to vote for that… Simple selling point: we can have great schools, increase our property’s worth, and pay no penny more for the privilege….
Sounds like an awesome idea. No one has ever thought of it before I guess….
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