Ed Startup’s Digital Ed Plan is Utterly Orwellian and Disturbing

Posted on January 14, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

An Education startup’s digital education plans are utterly Orwellian and disturbing.

In an article posted at EdWeek, details on an Education organization’s digital curriculum plans were laid out and include plans for massive data collection and surveillance that is currently targeting K-8 students.

Edweek:

Imagine classrooms outfitted with cameras that run constantly, capturing each child’s every facial expression, fidget, and social interaction, every day, all year long.

Then imagine on the ceilings of those rooms infrared cameras, documenting the objects that every student touches throughout the day, and microphones, recording every word that each person utters.

Picture now the children themselves wearing Fitbit-like devices that track everything from their heart rates to their time between meals. For about a quarter of the day, the students use Chromebooks and learning software that track their every click and keystroke.

What you’re seeing is the future of K-12 education through the eyes of Max Ventilla, the CEO of AltSchool, a Bay Area startup that represents the most aggressive, far-reaching foray into the world of big data and analytics that the K-12 education sector has seen to date.

So who is Altschool?

It’s founded and  run by former Google+ founder, Max Ventilla, along with a host of lawyers, big corporation types and folks from higher education.  Scroll down to the ‘Technology’ personnel — Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft LinkedIn, Zynga and Teach for America all are represented.  More are listed in a press release from March 2015.

Who funds Altschool?

According to their website, investors include, “Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, with follow-on funding from First Round Capital and Harrison Metal and participation from John Doerr, Jonathan Sackler, Learn Capital, and Omidyar Network.”

According to their press releases, they have raised over $133 million. One round of fundraising at $33 million and another of $100 million.  Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz gave money in both rounds of fundraising.

Of note in the $100 million round press release, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was mention.

CommonCoreAlignedAltSchool Is Common Core Aligned

From the Education/Curriculum page, emphasis added:

In addition to building skills for how to learn, AltSchool students build competency across core academic domains. Educators assess student work and progress against each student’s individual learning objectives and nationally recognized standards, including Common Core English and Math, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and Social Emotional Learning Competencies (CASEL). To build a strong academic foundation, students advance when they have demonstrated competency in an area, not because the class has advanced.

Not only is AltSchool using the flawed Common Core, it’s also using the highly criticized Next Gen Science standards AND “Social Emotional Learning Competencies”.

If you don’t know who or what CASEL is, get familiar with them. Fast.

The message is clear: Your child will be profiled and tracked  in every way possible from cradle to grave.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, EDUCATION | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

DPI Saves Jobs At The Cost Of Supporting Kids – #NCed #NCGA

Posted on January 13, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

In case you missed it, Dr. Atkinson quietly dropped a bombshell at the last State Board of Education meeting.

Alex Granados at EducationNC picked up on it:

State Superintendent June Atkinson and State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey were given the power by the State Board last month to implement the General Assembly-mandated 5 percent ($2.5 million) reductions at DPI. This month, they turned into the Board a document that cuts about 18 positions. But those 18 positions aren’t really going away. Three are currently vacant, and those positions will disappear, Atkinson said. But the rest will move to handle work under the General Assembly’s Excellent Public Schools Act, for which DPI received $3.8 million from legislators this past session.

“Please remember that it’s a matter of moving from state funding to state funding,” Atkinson said.

Do you see what Atkinson did there? She moved jobs that were slated to be cut under the $2.5 in budget cuts ordered by the General Assembly to a program that was given $3.8 million in funding.

While one can argue that she’s saved jobs, one can also argue that the funding was arguably not meant to be used in the manner in which Atkinson now has planned.

Atkinson is making the argument that the jobs she’s saving are the personnel that should be working under the Excellent Public Schools Act, yet she gave only vague details of what positions are moving.

The Excellent Public Schools act (SB 361) is supposed to be about supporting reading in schools, evaluations and teacher training/licensing issues.  The money is arguably supposed to be spent on the program, not the personnel DPI already has.

In other words, money intended to assist districts in helping under performing children looks like it is being used to protect DPI bureaucrats.  Reminder: As of 2013-14, over 433 people at DPI made over $70k; 80 of which made over $90K and 45 employees made over $100k.

If the State Board of Education is endorsing this shifting around of taxpayer funds, they should ask for a list of the personnel, their current title, what their new title will be and any changes in compensation.

The State Board of Education and the General Assembly would do well to take a historical  look at DPI’s hiring and salary levels during Dr. Atkinson’s tenure as well. It is likely the bloat that is found will be impressive.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, June Atkinson, NC Board Of Education, NC DPI, NCGA | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Common Core Is Not Gone From NC, Folks.

Posted on January 13, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

In case you missed it, the Academic Standards Review Commission who met for 15 months decided to take a dive. Several of the members went cannibal on poor Dr. Scheick and as a result, killed the math recommendations.

The vanilla set of recommendations that were produced are weak. These recommendations now are with the State Board of Education, where they will be looked at by the Student Achievement Committee. That committee consists of two people: Eric Davis and Olivia Oxendine.

Oxendine served on the Academic Standards Review Commission and was one of the commission members who joined in on attacking Dr. Scheick.  Someone tell me how it works that a person who killed part of the recommendationsnow  gets to possibly further water them down?

Here are some possibilities that could happen now:

State Board of Education committee puts off looking at these recommendations until the General Assembly’s short session is mostly over. That effectively kills any action the NCGA could take on Common Core in the short-term.

It would be dumb or naive, rather, of the State Board of Education to think that there aren’t legislators who have a bill  just sitting in a drawer waiting to be filed though.  At least I get that impression from my moles in at the legislature and from Senator Jerry Tillman’s most recent newsletter:

Common Core – No More – Are You Sure? SBE Must Decide…

Current law does away with the Common Core Curriculum. I wish that was the end of the story. It’s only the beginning. The standards commission ended its work a few short weeks ago. After 15 months of meetings they produced a draft report. The report was fairly thorough and addressed the math curriculum problems well and the draft report recommended adopting Minnesota’s plan – an excellent plan and considered among the best in the nation. The standards commission on December 18th promptly voted down its own report and thus wasted 15 months of time, effort and money.

Now, the State Board of Education must act. The may accept, reject or modify the report. Essentially they got NOTHING from the standards commission – NOTHING. The Legislature, if my guess is right, will not stand for a whitewash, cheap rebranding of the Common Core Curriculum. The people of this state are smarter than that. The people I represent know better. The Legislature once again will have the final say. We’ll see…

Not sure what law Tillman is talking about, but Common Core are standards not curriculum and no law has gotten rid of it yet.

‘We’ll see’ alright —  if the good Senator is all talk and no action.

Archer Lose the RepublicansAnother thing to think about is that if the State Board of Education were to put off moving on the recommendations, it would then land closer to election time and give many candidates a renewed battle call.

Remember, Common Core is that sleeper issue everyone underestimates.

It took Jeb down. it took Kasich down. It took Walker down.  It ain’t over yet — Who will be next?

Related Reading: 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core, NC Board Of Education, NCGA | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

NC Governor Slaps POTUS Around on Refugee Invited to SOTU – #NCpol #Trololo

Posted on January 12, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Ouch.

 

Some nice trololo there, Governor.

RELATED:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Democrats, ELECTIONS, Pat McCrory, Twitter | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on NC Governor Slaps POTUS Around on Refugee Invited to SOTU – #NCpol #Trololo

Buncombe Parents Concerned About Education, Common Core, Here’s Your Candidate – #ncpol

Posted on January 12, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

As I wrote  back in December, parents concerned about education have some great choices for the NC General Assembly this election cycle.

One of those choices is Lisa Baldwin in Buncombe county. Baldwin is running for Sen. Tom Apodaca’s seat, who announced he is not seeking reelection.

Here is Baldwin’s official Press release:
Baldwin, Lisa 2014Lisa Carpenter Baldwin Announces Run for North Carolina Senate
Contact: 828-243-6590 or BaldwinForNCSenate@gmail.com

Jan. 10, 2016 (Fletcher, NC) – Fiscal and social conservative, Lisa Carpenter Baldwin of Fletcher, NC, announced that she will run for the Senate District 48 seat currently held by retiring Senator Tom Apodaca. The district includes southern Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties.

Baldwin served for four years as a Buncombe County school board member in the 11th largest school district in NC. Her school board successes earned recognition from conservative research institute, The John Locke Foundation, from whom she received the 2012 James K. Polk Leadership in Public Service Award. That year, she also received the UNCG Alumni Pacesetter Award. Baldwin’s education reform efforts have been publicized by Fox News, The Carolina Journal, Daily Haymaker, Carolina Public Press and Carolina Plotthound.

Lisa Baldwin is a North Carolina native, graduating as Bessemer City High School Valedictorian in 1983, summa cum laude graduate of UNCG in 1987 and three years later earning a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland where she was a graduate teaching assistant and Henry Weil Fellow. During her college tenure, Baldwin interned with the N.C. School of Government, the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, the Better Business Bureau and Burlington Industries.

After graduation, Baldwin worked as an economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Currently, she blogs at NC Students First and writes a conservative government watchdog column for The Tribune Papers. She and her husband of 27 years, Richard, reside in Fletcher, NC with their son, a high school junior. Their oldest son, Taylor, is pursuing a nuclear engineering master’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he also works as a researcher. Son, Andrew, and daughter, Madison, are respectively studying materials engineering and chemical engineering at N.C. State University. All were A.C. Reynolds High valedictorians.

“More than 50% of the state budget is spent on education which makes my school board experience invaluable,” Baldwin said. “I support free market education reform efforts and expansion of school choice. State Education Savings Accounts will allow the money to follow the child, increasing competition among public and private schools which will result in improved education outcomes for students.”

As a NC Senator, Baldwin wants to see Common Core replaced with academically rigorous standards, putting NC on the map for a world class education system.
Baldwin will call for more transparency and accountability from government agencies. Baldwin said, “Each agency should build their budget from the ground up, known as zero-based budgeting. Only core government services should be funded with valuable taxpayer dollars.”

As a strict Constitutionalist, Baldwin believes all decisions must be viewed through the lens of the state constitution, North Carolina’s governing document and the U.S. Constitution.
Along with fiscal responsibility, Baldwin supports traditional Biblical values, marriage between one man and one woman, and is pro-life.
Baldwin has always been an active volunteer, serving as a member of the NC GOP Executive Committee and Vice-President of the Buncombe County Republican Women’s Club. She belongs to MENSA and is on the Emmanuel Lutheran School Board and N.C. School of Science and Math Strategic Planning Action Team.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NCGA | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Buncombe Parents Concerned About Education, Common Core, Here’s Your Candidate – #ncpol

Dispatches From The Common Core Potemkin Village: Another Hope Street Grp Op Ed

Posted on January 11, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

CC ED Potemkin Village

There is a vast web of ‘non-profits’ and foundations that make up a Potemkin village in Education today.

By tracing the funding of over 250 of these organizations, I’ve figured out who is building that village – Bill Gates… and a couple of his friends.

The Hope Street Group is at Potemkin village resident and is an outfit largely backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read:

The main purpose is to recruit teachers who will advocate for their brand of education programs and agendas, including Common Core.

One of the tactics of this group is to blanket news organizations with Op Ed’s that further the Gates education agenda.   Here’s another an example. A ‘Hope Street Group Fellow’ has a rather poorly thought out and hypocritical Op Ed at the Citizen Times, titled Guest columnist: When everything old shouldn’t be new again.

Note that The Citizen times calls Mr. Lunsford a “guest columnist”.  Keep in mind that this guy is supposed to be a math teacher who uses logic daily.

At the bottom of the rather short article, it says, “Elliot Lunsford is a fellow for the Hope Street Group NC Teacher Voice Network.”

Who is this guy? Let’s read his Hope Street Group Profile:

Elliot has taught mathematics at Owen High School since 2008.  He served on the School Improvement Team (2009-2013) and was appointed the Chair of the Graduation Project Committee in 2014.  He led the implementation of Outcomes-Based Assessment and new mathematics courses.  Additionally, he helps students compete in mathematics competitions.  Elliot also teaches at South College Asheville where he was awarded the 2009 General Education Teacher of the Year.  He graduated from Western Carolina University in 2006 as a North Carolina Teaching Fellow.  In 2007, he earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics also from Western Carolina University.

So,from the profile, we see he was teaching High school math for exactly two years before Common Core came along in 2010.

His entire article is based on the idea it’s bad to go back to something time tested and proven and good to stay with something that has test scores flat-lining and declining.

Yes, it’s bad to go back to the kind of math that has been working for thousands of years and put men on the moon in favor of a set of overly convoluted math strategies and a progression schema that doesn’t support STEM students. Makes perfect sense, if one is employing Common Core style logic.

Remember, Mr. Lunsford has a whole two years of pre-common core teaching experience to draw from.

Common Core had NO support, NO training, NO materials and NO resources — teachers literally had to scramble to pull lessons together and find materials on their own just a month prior to the kick off of school.

So, where were you then Mr. Lunsford?  I guess Bill Gates was funding that type of Op Ed, huh?

Related Reading

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | Tagged , | 5 Comments