ABCs OF IOWA SCHOOL FAILURES, THEIR CAUSES & FIXES
9-17-09
INTRODUCTION
This education document presents the ABCs of school failures, their causes and fixes:
Acknowledge and admit 50 years of Iowa public school failures to date,
Believe the causes of those failures and
Commit to making effective fixes.
It contains about 1,800 words, which is equivalent to 3 Des Moines Register editorials. Successful accomplishment of the ABCs described herein will increase student achievement by at least 75% within 10 years. This means Iowa will surpass NCLB requirements and have NAEP test scores showing at least 60% of Iowa students are Proficient!
The % increase in student achievement, the ABCs are projected to produce within 10 years, is shown for each, farther below. Recognizing school failures, and their causes, results in upfront improvement, as this destroys the myth that schools are performing perfectly and in no need of improvement. Once this is accomplished, fixes can be planned and implemented.
Any doubters of the numbers herein should be reminded that in Aug. 2009, Iowalive once again reported only 32% of Iowa's students scored at their Iowa enrolled grade level. In Sept. 2009, the IA. Dept. of Education released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores showing 32% of Iowa students were Proficient, meaning students know what they should know in their enrolled grade level. Detailed proof is posted on website: http://www.iowalive.net/iowa%20naep.htm including a discussion of how difficult it is for Iowa schools to cheat on NAEP scores.
Anyone claiming to have better numbers, than those presented herein, is asked to provide them for evaluation and comparison.
ABCs FOR IOWA SCHOOLS
ACKNOWLEDGE AND ADMIT IOWA SCHOOL FAILURES, AND THEIR TOTAL DAMAGE—15%
The following 5 high impact items acknowledge Iowa education failures, over the past 50 years.
1. The following table shows education 'fix' failures and their total net waste, as of 9-11-09.
EDUCATION FIXES THAT FAILED WASTED $178 BILLION, AS OF 9-11-09 DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATION FIX FAILURES ESTIMATED NET, TOTAL WASTE, AS OF 9-11-09. (BILLIONS) HIGHER TEACHER PAY $91.0 STATE AID TO SCHOOLS $33.0 AEAs $22.2 SPECIAL EDUCATION $11.3 NEW MATH $5.3 PHASES I, II & III TEACHER TRAINING $5.3 SMALLER CLASS SIZE $4.4 WHOLE LANGUAGE $3.1 MANDATORY KINDERGARTEN $1.4 TEACHER-IN-SERVICE DAYS $1.1 TOTAL $178.1
NOTE: Iowa's Gross Domestic Product is now about $135 Billion.
2. The following chart shows the 45 year overall fall in Iowa student achievement, prior to 5 years stagnation, shown in the next chart. Cost per student, in constant 2000 year dollars, increased form $5,000 in 1940 to $13,000 in 2008--nearly a 3 to 1 increase, as student achievement fell.
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The fall in student achievement results in the following chart showing the accompanying decline in teen mind development. The University of Washington, in St. Louis, MO, has also reported the decline in student mind development. Employers complain about the decline in new employee thinking and problem solving skills--and decision making. Society is plagued with the fall out of poor mind development.
3. The following Sept. 2009 Iowa Dept. of Education State Report Card chart shows 5 typical, stagnant years of student achievement, following the 45 year fall shown in the above chart. To see much more evidence of stagnation, visit website: http://www.iowalive.net/iowa%20naep.htm
In the following Dept. of Education chart, notice the 80 % claimed Proficient due to cheating and Iowa's pathetically low student Proficiency Standard.
NOTE THE MUCH LOWER 36 % PROFICIENT REPORTED BY NAEP TESTS--WHICH ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO CHEAT AND MANIPULATE!
Iowalive net worker analysis agrees with NAEP test scores! There are very valid reasons Iowalive calls for IA. school cheating to be stopped.
4. According to IA. Dept. of Education data, there are at least 573 Iowa schools and school districts on the Watch and In Need of Assistance Lists, in 08-09, as shown in the following table. Student achievement stagnation prevents meeting NCLB improvement requirements. This should not come as a surprise as most districts had no plans or intentions of meeting NCLB 2014 requirements--and the school boards, controlled by the educrats in the teacher's union, are doing nothing about it.
AT LEAST 573 IOWA SCHOOLS ON WATCH AND NEED OF ASSISTANCE LISTS, AND THE NUMBER GROWS YEARLY. DESCRIPTION NUMBER IN 08-09 SCHOOL YEAR SCHOOLS ON WATCH LIST 397 SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON WATCH LIST 27 SCHOOLS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE 136 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE 13 IOWA TOTAL 573
5. The following table shows the bottom line consequences of education failure on high school graduates, Iowa and Iowans. Approximately 21,500,000 students graduated from Iowa schools during the 50 year period of education decline and failure. Approximately 2,200,000 dropped out. Any successful economic recovery, or development program, must first fix education failures. Politicians in Washington D. C. are loading students with huge debt and Iowa schools are not preparing them to make money to pay it off!! This is a disaster in the making.
EDUCATION FAILURE CONSEQUENCES FOR IOWA AND IOWANS DESCRIPTION NET TOTAL LOSS, TO DATE 9-11-09 IOWAN'S STANDARD OF LIVING 25% GRADUATE'S NET TOTAL INCOME $63,000,000,000 IOWA GDP $125,000,000,000
BELIEVE THE CAUSES OF IOWA SCHOOL FAILURES—20%
The believable causes of Iowa school failures are described in the following 5 high impact items.
1. Statewide school failure started with abandonment of teaching phonics and worsened when New Math was started. As a result, test scores started falling sharply in the 1960s--as shown in the chart above. Parents were unable to help their kids with either subject, since parents were not taught with New Math and Whole Language. Constructivism was then created to blame socio-economic conditions for school failures. Parents, who were educated in the public schools, have been blamed as well.
To make matters worse, some teachers have referred to themselves as Insecure control freaks, obsessed with money. Those so obsessed have a persistent, disturbing preoccupation and unreasonable idea of money. We call them educrats, as they care about money, rather than the kids. They include constructivists and are in the minority, in the teacher and union ranks--but they are in control. Constructivists believe student learning is based on mental activity--and conveniently blame socio-economic conditions for learning failures. Website http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/Skaalid/definition.html explains constructivism. The charts and numbers herein serve as proof it doesn't work.
Educrats are easily identified. They blame everyone and everything but themselves for school failures--and want more money for schools!!
The teachers, who care about the kids, are pressured to join the teacher's union and are almost powerless to confront and defeat the entrenched educrats/constructivists. They are ruining Iowa's public schools with their refusal to accept responsibility, abandon New Math and Whole Language and to implement performance measures. The following table shows educrat concentrations, including the % of people educrats control.
EDUCRATS CONTROL EDUCATION, AND THE FAILURE OF IT, IN IOWA. DESCRIPTION % OF THEM WHO ARE EDUCRATS, INCLUDING THOSE CONTROLLED BY EDUCRATS GOVERNOR 100% ISEA TEACHER UNION OFFICIALS 99% DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICIALS 80% DEMOCRAT LEGISLATORS IN LEADERSHIP 80% SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS 61% LEGISLATORS ON EDUCATION COMMITTEES 61% MEMBERS OF IOWA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS 60% SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS 50% MEMBERS OF STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 40% DEMOCRAT LEGISLATORS 40% SUPERINTENDENTS OF LARGE SCHOOLS 40% CLASSROOM TEACHERS 32% SUPERINTENDENTS OF SMALL SCHOOLS 25% MEMBERS OF STATE BOARD OF EDUCATIONAL EXAMINERS 25% MEMBERS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS OF IOWA GROUP 4% REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS 0% COACHES 0% REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS IN LEADERSHIP 0% Professional Educators of Iowa 0%
2. Educrats make excuses for failure rather than making improvement plans and progress--and they blame everyone and everything but themselves, for failures
Look at education reports, such as the Sept. 2009 State Report Card, and you will see page after page of data on socio economic conditions that try to lead people to believe poor or minority students can't learn--which we know is false. Athletic coaches routinely prove these students can learn and excel. Educrats have the audacity to blame parents, who were educated in the public schools, for education failures.
3. The teacher’s union and its power to influence legislators--and to elect a governor and school board members of its choice.
Governor Culver publicly admitted he was elected by the teacher's union. He has thrown Billions at educrats, and their failures, in return.
4. Lack of school competition
Insecure control freaks abhor competition, as they strongly believe it threatens their security. They avoid the private sector, where competition abounds, and prefer to close the door and hide in a classroom of kids--who cannot challenge or grade them.
5. Ineffective use of performance measures
Without use of effective performance measures, it is impossible to determine if progress is being made. That is what educrats want, so they will fight using test scores, dropout rates, and cost per student as performance measures. It never occurs to them that athletic coaches, and the players and teams they coach, are routinely scored. Their scores and commentary of sports reporters is now routine--if not fair. People know the score in sports, and take great interest in it. They don't know the score in academics--and that's the way educrats want to keep it.
COMMIT TO FIX IOWA SCHOOL FAILURES—40%
Commitment to following 6 high impact items is essential for fixing Iowa public education failures. Schools have already received ample money to fix failures, so no new money is needed. They need only to make much better use of the money they have. Money obsessed educrats will of course howl and scream when they read this. Their howling and screaming serve as reliable measures of progress. :-) The lack of their howling and screaming verify past education failures.
1. Vote educrats, and those controlled by educrats, out of office and don't elect any more of them! They are easily identified. They blame school failures on everyone and everything but themselves, and always want more money for schools and education.
2. Stop cheating by setting school policies to prevent cheating and to identify and punish cheaters. Educators despise educrats who cheat on test scores--but are helpless to stop them. The same applies to cheating on enrollments, free and reduced lunch counts, and classification and counts of special education students, whose numbers are growing steadily. Whistle blowers must be encouraged, empowered and obligated to report cheating, fraud, waste and abuse. They must also be protected from educrat reprisals. There is very little cheating in school sports or Iowa's casinos, so it can be stopped.
3. Raise the Iowa student Proficiency standard to the 65th National Percentile Rank (NPR), as is used in MO, MN and ND. It is fraudulent to claim students Proficient, expert--when scoring up to two grades or more below enrolled grade level, as is now the common practice with the pathetic 40th NPR Iowa standard.
4. Implement academic competition guidelines. Guidelines are in place for sports, music and speech. The integrity of sports, speech and music competition is highly commendable. It is however recognized and admitted that the integrity of administrative officials involved with boys and girls high school sports is in dire need of improvement. School competition must be based on performance measures such as test scores, cost per student, and dropout rate.
5. Publicly report test scores for each grade, school and district--in rank order of performance. Publicly report district cost per student and dropout rate in rank order as well. Chart state trends of test scores, by grade, school and district, and cost per student and dropout rate. by district Newspapers, especially the Des Moines Register and Cedar Rapids Gazette, must improve their integrity and school news reporting. They now lag most Iowa newspapers in these two vital areas.
6. Emulate and recognize top performers, be they in private schools--such as Judy Hintz at Educational Resources, or in the public schools--as they improve as projected. There are some public schools that have controlled cheating, as shown in the honestly and Integrity Rankings on website: http://www.iowalive.net/ranking8.htm where Maquoketa Valley tops the ranking. However, some schools, such as East Marshall, have improved significantly and will be ranked higher in the next report.
CONCLUSION
Iowans must retake control and fix the public schools. Educrats, described herein, must be recognized for what they are--and defeated. Iowans will take action and back leaders who are willing and able to reclaim our schools. Such leaders must be identified and actively supported. Effective improvement plans must be prepared and implemented to accomplish the fixes herein. This includes newspapers, that have yet to do their job as it should be done. Just as there is an active movement to retake America, there must be a comparable movement to retake Iowa public schools. It can, and must, be done. Our children's future, and the State of Iowa, depend on it. School officials who can't, or refuse to do it, must be replaced.