1 OF 5 REGISTER PROPOSED SCHOOL FIXES WORTHWHILE
There the Des Moines Register editors go again. The 1-29-12 Register carried 5 lengthy essays on how to fix Iowa public schools. None of them cited how much their fix would cost nor how much it was expected to improve student achievement. NONE OF THEM. The Register didn’t care!
Most of the essays equated to the Register’s prior editorial school fix for school officials to “keep two sets of school books and do anything legal” to make schools look better than they are. Sad!
You would at least think the Register would ask the writers to state how much their fix would cost and what improved student achievement results it would produce!! We are not including the essays here as they are not worthy of anyone’s time to read them—except for Branstad’s fix, which is so simple it need not be included.
Branstad proposed to stop promoting 3rd graders who can't read, to 4th grade!! How novel!! What’s a 4th grade reading teacher supposed to do with students who can’t read when they get there?? Huh?
The most pathetic fix was the racist (“more likely to be black or brown than white”) fix proposed by Nancy Sebring, Des Moines School Superintendent. Her essay is absolutely BBR (Burn Before Reading). Would someone on the Des Moines school board please enroll Nancy in Judy Hintz’ kid fixer school at Educational Resources in West Des Moines-- http://www.thekidfixer.com/ ? Nancy continuously lobbies and manipulates to get more money for the disastrous Des Moines school district—and is now using racism to get it.
Here is the table giving numbers the essay writers failed to consider, much less provide. If any of them claim to have better numbers, they are asked to provide them—so readers can know what they are talking about. Editors, please forward this post to them with that in mind.
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ONLY BRANSTAD'S PROPOSED SCHOOL FIX MAKES ANY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT--OF THE 5 PROPOSED IN ESSAYS IN THE 1-29-12 DES MOINES REGISTER. |
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DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED SCHOOL FIX |
TOTAL 5 YEAR COST TO IMPLEMENT THE PROPOSED FIX |
% AVG. CHANGE IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AFTER FIX IMPLEMENTED FOR 5 YEARS |
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Don't promote a child to 4th grade who can't read--GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD |
$200,000 |
12% |
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Make bipartisan commitment for few ambitious goals--DAN SMITH |
$70,000,000 |
2% |
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Go back to the national certification for teachers--ERNEST SCHILLER |
$150,000 |
1% |
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Focus on what's being taught and how, not on costly testing--THOMAS DOWNS |
$250,000 |
0% |
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Racist recognition that rural and urban schools differ--NANCY SEBRING |
$35,000,000 |
0% |
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ANYONE CLAIMING TO HAVE BETTER NUMBERS IS ASKED TO PROVIDE THEM. |
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