Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Jaime Escalante .. Vaya con Dios

LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jaime-escalante31-2010mar31,0,4111731,full.story


Escalante's plan for Student Success
The Program that became the Dynasty

A true courageous hero has passed..
Vaya con Dios, Jaime.

====================
The irony is that Jaime Escalante actually achieved equity of opportunity in East LA for those students who chose to work hard. The old adage, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, is still true today as it was yesterday. Equity of outcome can never be reached due to individual choice and potential. The students today don't have an equity of opportunity because the schools don't offer programs that allow them to reach their full potential.

Laura

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Answer to Irrational Behavior is HERE

The Answer to Irrational Behavior is HERE.

{Note the BERC group is wandering around lots of WA Schools that have not met NCLB AYP and are in Improvement.}

From the above link:
"Independent and unbiased evaluation is critical to the success of any program."
Unfortunately this is just cheap talk ... "unbiased"... Please who are these folks trying to deceive this time?

I have repeatedly scratched my head trying to figure out why the NMAP is ignored and reams of highly relevant data specific to the decision a School Board is asked to make is also ignored?
(Final Report).......... (Here is the LD "National Center for Learning Disabilities" take on NMAP )

Let us also toss in Hattie's Visible Learning, Project Follow Through, and the work of W. Edwards Deming and lots more onto the ignored pile.

All this ignoring is because these professionally accomplished School Board Directors prefer to believe in "Happy Talk" NOT relevant data. No I think the real reason is much deeper than that.

Read the Link above for the Answer to Irrational Behavior. Be sure to click through the entire site and find out who really runs the show in Issaquah and Seattle (and elsewhere). {Be Thinking Oligarchy NOT Republic as you read.}

Is it just an accident that some KC Superior Court Judges fail to hold the Seattle School Board accountable for continual violations of State Law RCW 28A.645.020?

{Note: the most recent violation may have occurred on March 25 as SPS failed to satisfy the RCW in the NTN contract appeal filed on 3-5-2010}

Please carefully follow the progress of the Writ of Mandamus through the State Supreme Court. I did not receive a case number when I filed it on Friday. I will get on it and go get a case number on Monday 3-29-2010 and post it here.

Now consider all this in the Light of Seattle's "NTN" Contract "RE-DO"

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

"Performance & Accountability" needed from the Board and the Superintendent

The next School Defenders legal action will require greater accountability of the school board and their only employee the Superintendent, who clearly needs better supervision.

The Superintendent is "Performance" deficient in a variety of ways. If you are interested in counting and listing all the ways, then See Mr. Charlie Mas's postings and comments at the Seattle Schools Community Blog ...then go on to Melissa Westbrook's contributions. For additional information there are a number of persons capable of adding to your list.

Defenders at this time intend to file a Writ of Mandamus with the Washington State Supreme Court
(moved to Friday 3-26-10) in regard to continuing violations on the part of the SPS in following the law, particularly RCW 28A 645.020. Defenders also see THE HONORABLE THERESA DOYLE Superior Court Judge as not keeping the School Board accountable to State Law RCW 28A 645.020 in a timely manner. Defenders also concluded that THE HONORABLE LAURA INVEEN Superior Court Judge also needs Supreme Court assistance in holding the SPS accountable. The Court System or some agency clearly needs to Manage SPS Performance as it needs vast improvement.

I see this Writ of Mandamus as being necessary. I believe that certain public officials are not fulfilling their public responsibilities adequately. The Supreme Court has the ability I believe to make these officials aware of their responsibilities and how to adequately fulfill them. They may also make said officials aware of current consequences for past failure. I am not a lawyer but that is how I see it. Time will tell.

Here is the paper work:
Writ of Mandamus ..See Issaquah's Excellent system here.

EXHIBIT 1 - Verbatim Report of Proceedings.pdf (270KB)
;

EXHIBIT 2 - Responses to Interrogatories re Adequacy of Record.pdf (431KB)

"PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT" Festival ........... 3rd & Lander at 6:00 PM
Wednesday March 17, 2010
St. Patrick's Day

Yes it will be a Mid-Major Festival as 15 out of 19 speakers will address
"Performance Management"
List of Speakers & topics

SCHOOL DEFENSE FUND : needs You

PayPal option is at the bottom.

It has become radically apparent that the SPS is for lack of a better term an Outlaw Organization. RCW 28A 645.020 is one law that the Outlaw Organization allegedly ignores.

The School Defenders will be using the legal system to bring these alleged outlaws into compliance with the law. Of course funds are needed to make it happen.
We have a recent record of success.
The School Defenders won an "Arbitrary and Capricious" ruling on February 4, 2010, in the High school math text adoption. This was reported and discussed in Scientific American Here.

Defenders filed a Lawsuit on March 5, 2010 that appealed the Board's decision on February 3, to sign the $800,000 New Tech Network contract. This forced the District into a ReDo "Do Over" position. Tonight, March 17, beginning with a re-introduction of a revised contract Action Report that addresses signing a contract on April 7, which supposedly already may have occurred as something passed 4-2 on Feb 3, 2010.

The Seattle School Board and their employee Dr. Goodloe-Johnson (it is alleged) frequently violate the law with neglect of the RCW 28A 645.020 requirement to keep a complete transcript (certified to be correct of the administrative record) which addresses the evidence used in School Board decisions. This alleged neglect might force a loss of any decisions still under appeal. Student Assignment plan and some school closures are still under appeal but have been delayed because of the Board's failure to provide a certified correct transcript of the truth.

Send a check** made out to:

Scott Stafne
Attorney

mail it to:
Danaher Dempsey (School Defense Fund)


PO BOX 5775
Lacey WA
98509-5775
..check** NOT tax deductable (we are NOT a 501c3, as we generate political action and make things happen ... unlike a long list of 501c3 organizations)

PAYPAL option if you wish to PayPal
you may send a contribution to:

dempsey_dan@yahoo.com

Any funds sent to me at that address go to Scott Stafne.

Keep in mind that Paypal takes a small cut of most transfers of funds from you to me.

For really huge donations the many foundations that I am sure wish to donate large sums may wish to send checks.

Seattle and Performance Management
{Oxymoron}

My thoughts on Seattle and Performance Management

Crazy NTN Contract "REDO" : say What?

Excellent article on the original NTN appeal in the SouthSeattleBeacon Longer version updated in Queen Anne News

The MEMO on January 29, 2010

My letter in response to this lunacy.

Kirschner letter

Geary on Biological Knowledge


Sweller on Geary

Why Minimally Guided Instruction does not Work


SPS Highest Math GAP ever

See Also ....The NTN contract appeal HERE

Answer to irrational behavior is here.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Upside down world of NSF grants for math improvement

Here you go......
read about PD Cubed and the strangest idea ever.....

Cleveland high school participates in a three year study then instead of improving math PD Cubed produces a three year average Math WASL pass rate of 10% for Black students and the the Director of the project states that:

the data confirms his findings that (3) The results of the project overall improved math outcomes with minority and low-income students, not the reverse.

Welcome to the upside down world of math research and spin. I've attached a document that shows what Dr. King had to say in the comment section at Scientific American to the article about Number Wars.

Letter to School Directors

In Dr. King's comments he mentions Cleveland and Garfield as being participants but not West Seattle High School. He refused the proposed WSHS project because it was not inquiry-based (Spring 2007). WSHS was a PD Cubed participant, but a shunned one.

Dr. James King's comments in Scientific American comments.


A Look at Discovering in Bethel School District and EDM and Connected use. Also Seattle's record Black White achievement gap of 51.5

Discovering and Gaps here
The charts linked above show the WASL pass rates for White, Hispanic, Black and Low-Income 10th grade students in four school districts using the Discovering math series.

Why Minimal Guidance does Not Work by Kirschner, Sweller and Clark

Dr. Paul A. Kirschner's letter to Issaquah Superintendent Rasmussen.

David C. Geary's An Evolutionarily Informed Education Science

John Sweller on Instructional Implications of David C. Geary’s Evolutionary Educational Psychology.

BENEFITS OF A GOOD TEXT BOOK/CURRICULUM
by David A. Orbits, 8/24/09

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Plaintiffs Wanted !!!
in the next 24 hours in Seattle
Join the party
The improve the SPS party

Plaintiffs wanted for NTN Contract Appeal of Feb 3, 2010 Action
(4-2 approval of contract different from Action Report)


I am putting together an appeal of the NTN contract decision for Friday.
I would love to have one plaintiff from as many schools as possible.
I will be guaranteeing payment in this legal action.
The plaintiffs will have no financial responsibility.

Cleveland's two STEM schools were not properly researched or described they are to be modeled along the NTN mandated guideline. These produce serious under performance at schools. This under performance is clearly shown in test comparisons with similar yet less advantaged schools consistently out performing the NTN model that requires Project Based Learning as the principal instructional mode in every classroom..

Minimally guided instruction is not appropriate for teaching an entire course.

--------
The Cleveland model is very expensive and will sap other schools of resources.

What I need is the name of each plaintiff and a contact number and hopefully an email address.

No names of children are needed but the name of school and current grade is needed.

Plaintiffs can send their information to me.

I will be adding plaintiffs to the document on Thursday.

The document will be filed on Friday.

It would be helpful if each plaintiff expressed a reason or two for their dissatisfaction with the Boards contract vote.

Danaher Dempsey

SEND your information to my email address:

dempsey_dan@yahoo.com

Monday, March 1, 2010

Advice for Bellevue & Issaquah educational decision-makers

An absolutely astounding characteristic …..
of most Puget Sound School districts is:


their seemingly universal failure to look at relevant data in this area and State, when making decisions.


Seattle searched the nation to find slightly positive “DM” data in Madison Wisconsin, while ignoring the Bethel School District. Bethel began using Discovering 3.5 years ago. Bethel has 18,000 students.

Below you will see the change in WASL Math performance that occurred with the KCP “Discovering” Math Series adoption.
Note: the last column is the difference of the Bethel Subgroup when the State subgroup score is subtracted from it.

(six data blocks inserted here -- then the Summary)

Note the CHANGE in performance from Spring 2005 to 2009
for each subgroup:

-8.4 = WHITE (-17.7 - (-9.3))

-4.3 = BLACK (-3.3 - 1.0)

-11.5 = American Indian ( 0.60 -12.1 )

-6.1 = Asian / Pacific Islander (-21.0 - (-14.9) )

-18.3 = Hispanic Students ( -6.0 - 12.3 )

-10.6 = Low Income Students (-8.6 - 2.0 )



Great Adoption Bethel ….
These books serve everyone poorly and they are "Mathematically Unsound"

Many school districts continually fail to look at “the Evidence”. It takes a Superior Court Judge to look at the evidence and say:

“The court finds, based upon a review of the entire administrative record, that there is insufficient evidence for any "reasonable Board member" to approve the selection of the Discovering series.”


{Note the absence of reasonable people in Issaquah SD thus far.}

What can be said about the members of Adoption Committees and Instructional Material Committees that produce these recommendations?

What about Dr. Rassmussen in Issaquah, who on Feb 25, released a four-page letter explaining why he was recommending the "Discovering Math Series" to the school board for adoption.
(Whatever was Dr. Rassmussen thinking ???)


Read all about it here: "defending the indefensible"


Decision-Makers,

Please intelligently apply relevant data in making selections of instructional materials.

The failure to use evidence is inexcusable.

Please read and use:

NMAP's "Foundations for Success"

and this document from the M.A.A. website.

What is Important in School Mathematics

Thank You,