Category Archives: NC DPI

An NC Look At Malkin Article ‘Look Who Is Data Mining Your Toddlers’

Posted on October 11, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Michelle Malkin has an important article out on data mining and how it is being done on our littlest citizens. The article covers a group called TS Gold (Teaching Strategies Gold). North Carolina uses TS Gold.

NC Uses TS Gold => Look who’s data-mining your toddlers http://t.co/Ch172cSEJm #nced #stopcommoncore

— LL1885 – A.P. Dillon (@LadyLiberty1885) October 10, 2014

Malkin writes that TS Gold is an assessment tool tracking our littlest learners and is expanding through Third grade, with the bonus of capturing behavioral data:

KEEP READING… Continue reading →

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What NC Citizens Can Do About #APUSH

Posted on October 5, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

On Friday, I wrote about how #APUSH Is Going To Get A Debate In North Carolina.

I noted in that article the talking points from State Superintendent Atkinson and Chairman Bill Cobey. These two have no intention of dropping APUSH and their remarks seemingly hint at skirting the Founding Principles Act.

It was also suggested that if they are going to keep APUSH as an option, that a fundamental prerequisite course be put into place. I concur. The State Board of Education should move fast and make History I and History II prerequisites for APUSH.

Bear in mind, it was also noted that somewhere around 20,000 North Carolina students take Advanced Placement courses. Of those, only a small percentage pass. The College Board makes their money regardless. This is something the General Assembly would to well to consider evaluating since they hold the purse strings and direct the Department of Public Instruction to work with the College Board.

As with the Common Core, North Carolina should not be relying on outside entities for materials we have no control over and that have no accountability to our citizens.

KEEP READING – SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT APUSH Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NC Board Of Education, NC DPI | Tagged , | Comments Off on What NC Citizens Can Do About #APUSH

10,000 Comments: NC Overall Feedback

Posted on October 2, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Yesterday, I wrote about the The Infamous “10,000” Comments On Common Core. To quickly recap, the CoreStandards.org site took public feedback prior to the standards being published. Those comments were sold around the country as proof of transparency and vetting and are known by most as the “10,000 comments”. I received a copy of the comments from North Carolina residents along with an overall total from all respondent locations. It was not 10,000, but 8,731. North Carolina’s total was 195.

I said I would publish the comments once I had a suitable format for doing so. The document is an excel sheet, so transferring the data is going to take time. The excel sheet has multiple categories beyond overall comments dealing with K-5 ELA and math, grades 6 and up ELA and math, history/social studies, architecture of the standards, the appendices and more. It is a lot to sort through.

I have compiled the overall comment section with identifiers of the type of respondent for North Carolina. Not all respondents gave input in the overall feedback column, which is why I will have to publish multiple sections.

KEEP READING – See some of the comments, view all the NC general comments document. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, NC DPI | 2 Comments

The Infamous “10,000” Comments On Common Core

Posted on October 1, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

If you’ve been following along in my journey to obtain the “10,000” comments, you know I’ve been looking for these pieces of feedback ever since Dr. Atkinson mentioned them.

Atkinson also commented during the course of the legislative research commission that there were “60,000 teachers” involved in the revision of the standard course of study. She was very vague and never brought that item up again. As of this moment, I don’t believe that there are “60,000 teachers” involved in any set of feedback for any course of study past or present. I think there’s been some “false witness” going on. Read on and see why. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson, NC DPI | Tagged | 6 Comments

Unanswered Questions On Those “10,000 Comments”

Posted on October 1, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Those who attended the North Carolina Common Core legislative research committee meetings might remember remarks made by Dr. Atkinson about “10,000” comments or pieces of feedback apparently given on the standards prior to their implementation.

I’ve asked for those comments back in July and have yet to receive them. Perhaps publishing this question will help the data get to me. Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, NC DPI | Tagged | 1 Comment

Unanswered Questions On NC’s Common Core SBAC Field Test

Posted on September 30, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

A few months ago, I requested information on the Common Core SBAC field tests that went on this past Spring in North Carolina. I asked twice but perhaps it was lost in the shuffle.

Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 9:20 AM
To: Vanessa Jeter
One last question on this topic if you don’t mind?
What funds were used to implement the test pilot of SBAC tests in NC this past spring? Where can I located a breakout by school of this information?

Thank you! Have a great weekend!

AP Dillon Continue reading →

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