1. Time

Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave
Without leaving a piece of youth- Billy Corgan

X= Time

1:1 Ratio

1: Hour= 1 Hour 1:Day= 1 Day 1:Year= 1 Year

Federal Laws require states to mandate schooling for ages 5-18.

Pre K Ages 2-4 years Old not mandatory but funded and encouraged.

0-8. *Considered the most formative years with the fastest neurobiological development.

8-13 Early Adolescent

13-18 Adolescent

18-24 (Adults expected to work or go to school)

US Compulsory Education by state. (Laws requiring mandatory education). Average 5-18.

physical growth, cognitive development, emotional and social development, language development, and sensory and motor development.

Average retirement age: 67

0- A Wicked Problem

A Wicked Problem- (Education).

“refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, where there is no single solution to the problem; and "wicked" denotes resistance to resolution, rather than evil (*). Another definition is "a problem whose social complexity means that it has no determinable stopping point". Wikipedia

A wicked problem IS- Circular O

Wicked Problem Examples: Education design, financial crises, health care, hunger, income disparity, obesity, poverty, terrorism, and sustainability.

Video. Highlight (3min35sec): A circular/ paradox to wicked problems is Transparency. Transparency of- Intention, Process and Objectives.

Original Question: What is the Purpose of education? What is the intention? The Process and Objectives?

I.School discovered a paradox- often conflicting and paradoxical results.

My intention is to draw attention to education as a wicked problem. This is my process and my objectives are to create, live by, and lead by examples of wicked-loopholes. Loopholes are by means of understanding the nature of education today and ‘bending the curve’.

Wicked solutions to wicked problems. Understand the problem FIRST.

On to Step One. Time. The Problem of Time and Education.

*”wicked denotes resistance to resolution, rather than evil.” Although, if evil is defined as “profoundly immoral” (by Webster), and education is immoral (with proof), then education can be considered___________. (Debatable, but I have a hunch I could win that debate).

science of reading

Prediction. (Use NAEP data scores to buy a new product.)

After Common Core (is that still a thing?) and new 2024 standards (for a very old system); get familiar with the “new and improved” Science of Reading. If you have not heard it tied to NAEP reading assessments, I predict you will.

Bread Crumbs: Lexia. As in- how to help kids with reading- from dyslexia, hense “Lexia.” Is a new product for the educational market. Here are the links to crumbs-

Veritas Capital A private investment group, to “vitally important areas, such as healthcare, education, and national security, is core to Veritas.” Owns-

Cambium Learning Group

Cambium Learning Group, Inc. provides digital education solutions to school districts, educators, students and parents. The company’s solutions target preK-12 literacy, science, math and intervention and serves approximately 75% of US school districts in all 50 states and customers in over 170 countries.

The “new” Science of Reading- brought to you by-

Lexia which is owned by Cambium/ Veritas; your education and military testing head quarters.

Perhaps a side note, but other education dominant companies also invested in education:

Google “Alphabet” 7 Companies owned by Google Alphabet. Google/Youtube Classroom.

BM: Business Management Systems and Education.

Other sources: AIR. a constant resource when it comes to education, since 1946. Now run by Cambium.

PBS.

Education Prof.

NAEP: 2022 Headline: Scores decline in NAEP reading at grades 4 and 8 compared to 2019.

2023 NAEP/NCES: 5 Goals translated.

NAEP- Nations Report Card. National

NCES- National Center for Educational Statistics

Watch: Long-Term Goals. (1 minute and 37 seconds.)

CPS: Critical Problem Solving (I think, although not clarified).

5 Simple Goals- directly quoted.

  1. Maintain an organizational culture of achievement.

  2. To promote operational excellence;

  3. To ensure the safety and well-being of our students and out staff;

  4. To encourage stakeholder engagement through timely, transparent and concrete engagement;

  5. And to cultivate wellness and civility for our students and our staff.

1:38 seconds later ~Marty West NAEP Board. I do not need to watch the rest of the 37 minutes. I predict the rest of the clip will include: carefully chosen negative fearful words- warning of bad testing, blame COVID- followed by lots and lots of graphs and data. Visuals. More reinforcements. Like a “you better go along with this or else…”

Stop The World.

5 Simple Goals. I. Translation.

  1. define “achievement” as ‘the quantity of a students work’. Quantity.

  2. “operational excellence” Other wise known as, “OpEx, is an approach to business management that emphasizes continuing achievement.” (IBM Blog)

  3. “Safety”. the “condition of being protected from harm”. Like data and testing?

  4. Stakeholders- private party; makes wager; interest in something (education) especially in business. Transparent- easily perceived motives. Engagement a formal arrangement (not marriage, but similar?); or to do something at a fixed time. Like Long-Term trends. See ROE (Rules of Engagement). Education and military.

  5. “Cultivate wellness and civility for our students and staff.” NCES/ NAEP

Sixty-nine percent of public schools reported an increase in the percentage of their students seeking mental health services at school since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and roughly three-quarters (76 percent) of schools also reported an increase in staff voicing concerns about their students exhibiting symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and trauma. NCES

Remember 11.11.23

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One.

WWI

At 11am, a two minute silence is observed at war memorials and other public spaces across the UK.

The First Two Minute Silence in London (11th November 1919) as reported in the Manchester Guardian, 12th November 1919.

'The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect.

The tram cars glided into stillness, motors ceased to cough and fume, and stopped dead, and the mighty-limbed dray horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition.

Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of 'attention'. An elderly woman, not far away, wiped her eyes, and the man beside her looked white and stern. Everyone stood very still ... The hush deepened. It had spread over the whole city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain ... And the spirit of memory brooded over it all.'

World War II:

And in a 1948 speech, Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” No matter the origin, the sentiments are eternal.

Condemned, doomed- both are synonyms for “wrong,” “reprehensible,” “Evil”

Learn. Remember. (or not).

List of wars from 1945 to 1989

Israel, the Middle East… The List goes on. The effects are nearly identical from, Historic Shell Shock to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD

2023 United States

Education. Multiple sources have deemed todays children are in Crisis.

“for youth in the United States, leading to a mental health crisis as declared by the United States surgeon general just over a year ago. But U.S. children and teens have been suffering for far longer.” APA January 1, 2023

Factors such as homework, social life, perceived parental pressure, university applications, and never-ending workloads all generate stress;

This, on top of growing concerns about social media, mass violence, natural disasters, climate change, and political polarization—not to mention the normal ups and downs of childhood and adolescence—can feel insurmountable for those who work with kids.

Not to mention a pandemic.

Much has been said about the pandemic's effects on kids' mental health. And while that's true, the pandemic added to problems that have long existed, said Joseph Feinglass, a research professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.

in fact, suicide is now the leading cause of death for 13- and 14-year-olds in the United States, said senior researcher Dr. Sarah Wood, a professor of pediatrics at Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine. US

November 11, 2023

As part of I.School. I would encourage silent reflection. Two minutes, half-hour, an Hour, A Day of Silence.

No, you students were not around for WWI or II. Neither was I. I was born in 1968: Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, riots in Washington, DC, the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1968, and heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War, values, and race.

Most Recognized wars have not been on US soil. Who remembers the Civil War? Nope. 9-11 is the nearest in time. 22 years ago.

Today’s students are all post 9-11. War, riots in DC, landmark Supreme Court decision, protests against systemic racism, values, and education. So, as things change- so painfully similar, in systemic ways.

Of course I have no authority, no power to change laws (remember, I’m the loser teacher ;)

However, This Remembrance Day, I will honor all students. All Students. Honestly, I think about you Every Day! But today is more of a lesson.

At Least, please remember to take a moment and well, remember anyone you know who has lived through school shootings; or who have thought about suicide, or have taken their own life. Make it personal. Wear white, black, an armband, or a poppy. Just surgestions. Don’t be pushy or disrespectful especially to veterans- many are in pain. Like you.

Remember what you precious students have already lived through. You are not alone.

One for me, one thinking of you.

One for you. One for me.

What does the Foxx Say?

Here’s What:

N.C. Representative Virginia Foxx seen here , far right, telling a reporter to “shut up!”

So What?

So, Virginia Foxx is the Chair, of the House Education Committee. Education and Labor.

From the Official Committee Webpage:

The Education and Labor Committee's purpose is to ensure that Americans' needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy.

The committee and its five subcommittees oversee education and workforce programs that affect all Americans, from early learning through secondary education, from job training through retirement.

The Education and Labor Committee Democrats' goal is to keep America strong by increasing education opportunities for students, by making it easier to send young adults to college, and by helping workers find job training and retirement security for a better future. The following education issues are under the jurisdiction of the Education and Labor Committee:

So, as a former teacher, (Foxx received her bachelor's degree in 1968 and later earned both a Master of Arts in college teaching (1972) and an Ed.D) telling a reporter or a student to shut up is important because she represents national education. Don’t ask questions to the newly appointed Speaker of the House? Third in line to the presidency.

Seeing a pattern?

Now What?

Consider yourself, the student, consumer, AND the labor force. Continue to be self-critical thinkers. Ask questions. Don’t accept unclear answers.

What does the Fox Say? I remember students showing me this video when it first came out. Over and over. ha, What a crazy song!

Connect the Dots. engage

Here is a sample of my work. All Connected.

The Department of Education/ NAEP + IES

And Much More!

The IES

IES: Created in 2002 (after NCLB), and under Grover “Russ” Whitehurst. (NAEP Board, 2023).

Mark Schneider

IES Institution of Education Science. Currently under Mark Schneider: Trump appointee, 2018.

"Never let a good crisis go to waste."

The 74

Interview with Mark Schneider (Head of the IES);

The 74

The 74 launched in 2015, with a $4 million annual budget. Funders include Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Walton Family Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation.

AIR

An Insight Look at AIR: The Most Terrifying Company in Education Reform

The scariest part is AIR’s role in the creation of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The IES and Marbury v. Madison

ENGAGE and DARPA Defense Advanced Research Project Agency

IES: to accelerate the translation of science into "facts on the ground,"

Mark Schneider, former vice President- for the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

The 74 DARPA and Education

Hypothesis

Assumptions. After research I have a hypothetical hypotheses, (is that redundant?): 

First,

Kids have the right to a free, unfettered (unobstructed), education.

Second,

Kids are the most maligned group I can think of.  Unfairly criticized and exploited. 

Third assumption is  a-

Syllogism (logical reasoning): 

If public school kids are being used as, say: a labor force, militarism, and consumerism;

And big business management coupled with policy makers, are unfairly and unilaterally using kids for their financial gains.

Then, by definition, it is a sin, a crime and unconstitutional.

If a counter argument is true, I would argue- 

Then redefine the word, “Transparency”, and be honest with kids when they ask “why do we have to learn this stuff?” Answer with a “well kids, you don’t. We need you to work for big businesses, stay in debt and buy stuff until you die.” (See, is that too much? I cringe, but, is it closer to a truth? Logically speaking.) 

Here is another piece of bait:

Historically, players of the power game deploy three main tactics from say, the Middle Ages, from indentured servants to powerful empires- (take your pick of empire).  Three patterns persist, which is to  Keep the masses:

  • Desperate. Keep ‘em poor and dependent. Keep em tired. 

  • Distracted. Keep education controlled and engaged; Ordered from the top down. 

  • Divided. Keep ‘em fighting each other. Plant morality lies. Focus low. Emotions over logic, because it works.  

Solution? S.O.S.

Save ourselves, or save our students, take your pick. 

Do as much as you can to take back your time and mind- through more insightful conversations that matter. Be More- independent, focused, united. A self-propelling wheel. 

Professional Development

“Professional Development” Daze:

Have you questioned where PD’s come from? Why they are nation-wide and mandatory? What the topics are, and perhaps how they came into play? Who profits from, and more importantly, who does not gain from development? Who loses? 

Interesting how, in an occupation that boasts (at least on school web sites) “critical thinking” skills and “life long learning” when in actuality it provides neither. The opposite, in fact. 

Hey, teachers! Try a scientific experiment.  Ask. Do a “deep dive” into the origin of professional development. Interestingly enough, if you want to see the grip business management systems have over education, and you, ask a simple question: Try this:

Act like a 4th grader, and ask: “Why do we have to learn this stuff?”

Observe, question, experiment, analyze, repeat. It’s science.

Good Luck.  

Liberty and Moms

Moms for Liberty 

“He alone who owns the youth, gains the future.”


The first thing that I think about when I read articles about Moms for Liberty, is the use of co-opting a phrase combo.  “Moms” and “Liberty”. 

Moms: That’s personal. I am a mom. Biologically birthed two beloved babies. The youth. 

Liberty. I am in support of Liberty, defined as:

: the quality or state of being free:

: the power to do as one pleases (See limitations on the First Amendment- such as, incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats.)

: freedom from physical restraint

: freedom from arbitrary or despotic control (Despot- one who desires absolute power often in a cruel and oppressive way)

: the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges

: the power of choice

Second thing I ponder is, who is backing this extremist group? Is it really about “mama bears” protecting their cubs, or more of a political re-election deception financed by super pacs for prosperity. Primarily for the private elites, not for the pubic school participants?

“We live in a world of keyboard warriors, right, where people are frustrated but no one’s taking action to do something and affect positive change. And they should, and they can!” Bridget Ziegler said.

Bridget Ziegler, wife of Florida’s chairman of the Republican Party. Bridget, founder/ co-founder of Mom’s for Liberty. 

Moms for Liberty ultimately limits states freedoms on curricula, advocates physically restraining kids by mandating additional mandatory-maskless “seat time” in school, arbitrarily requiring more testing, which takes away from “positive social, political and economic rights- and- privileges” of students. (See above definition of Liberty.) 

Pause for a moment. A third conception is the reality, that to merely verbally challenge a powerful group such as Moms for liberty gets restricted. Any critical questioning gets an instant interrupted label such as “woke” (negative), liberal (bad), Marxist, Communist, Fascist… obvious unintelligible name calling. Well, that ends a conversation with little, make that NO, intellectual context about education, philosophy and here is a doozy, uh, the Kids. Students.

Moms for Liberty advocates against school curricula that mention LGBT rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory, and discrimination. Multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban books that address gender and sexuality from school libraries.Founded in 2021, the group began by campaigning against COVID-19 protections in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates. Moms for Liberty is influential within the Republican Party. 

In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks extremists, termed Moms for Liberty a far-right extremist organization. The group has been criticized for harassment, for deepening divisions among parents, for making students' education more difficult, and for having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort. Wikipedia 

Lastly, the unfortunate use of an Indiana Moms for Liberty Chapter, who used a quote from Hitler, “He Alone who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future,” is ironic on so many levels. He/Moms own kids? Own kids. As if. Unless, owning a lucrative profit sourced, backed by big financiers, business management systems, for their own gains. Okay, more literal than ironic in my observations, just another thought to ponder. That along with, questions- did this mom not do her research? …. For education? Like, read history prior to picking a poignant prose, for liberty? Hey, I make gaffs too. (Was it though?) A lot. Being a mom is tough. 

Want to be a mom? Great, because freedoms of choice and liberty have been restricted for anyone choosing (freedom) not to birth (by extreme groups). Want Liberty? Me too. Hey- Key board warriors, unite!! Uh- oh, that sounds too, you know… How about this proverb:

"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World" is a poem by William Ross Wallace that praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world.  Although the poem itself is now largely forgotten, the poem's refrain became a commonly quoted proverb.

Praises Motherhood, and I see it as a warning. “Growing on for good or evil”. Be careful with that power!

Start Here

August 28, 2023

Start Here:

Summary:

  • The NAEP sets the gold standard for testing.

  • Testing is profitable. 

  • Low test scores means more testing. 

  • The NAEP controls the test, data, and interpretation of data.

  • 2020 pandemic became a crisis “too good to waste”. 

  • The NAEP has been working hard to increase time and testing for public schools staring in 2023.  Planning to 2028.

Start With Zero expectations. Okay, maybe not zero, but have really, really low, next to nil expectations.

Like an empty jar/ container. If you already think you know what you know about education, you may not get much from I.School. But if you can be open, like an empty container, it will make things easier. 

Please. I am asking you to try to listen to what I have to say.

Like now, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Machiavellian quote from the IES- the Institute of Education Sciences) https://ies.ed.gov/director/remarks/09-13-2022.asp

If you are a student, a former student, a colleague, a former colleague of education. If you are a kid, have a kid, or know a kid. You are going to want to know the current sate of the education dis-union. 

Now, I don’t expect you to trust me, in fact, I encourage skepticism, but with an open mind. 

This is “essential”. But believe only what you want. A justified True Belief. You must believe it to be true, and have evidence to support it. But you must believe. 

Why now?

Because so much media and subsequently our conversations evolve around this circus of politics, we are not paying attention to the federally run NAEP, which has been boringly, quietly, establishing policy from 2020 to "2028 and beyond”. This effects everyone.

91% of people are publicly educated.  

https://research.com/education/american-school-statistics#:~:text=90%25%20or%2050.8%20million%20American,students%20or%2053%25%20are%20white

100% okay, maybe 99.9% are currently dissatisfied with public education. (My own poll might be biased, however.) 

In 2020 the American Psychological Association reported children ha more anxiety than psychiatric patients in the 1950’s. And that is not good.

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2000/12/anxiety

In 2023 it has increased. Currently, and after COVID, the NAEP is “Doubling Down” on time and testing for future students. Which logically will increase stress and anxiety. Do we need stats and data to emphasize that? Or do you believe?

Is this dramatic? Conspiratorial?

Watch, (or not), the latest NAEP videos. Listen to the dialogue. Scripted. Repetitive. Redundant.

https://blue-orange-akcj.squarespace.com/config/website/pages/5fd7a75858279f70e4302829

https://blue-orange-akcj.squarespace.com/config/website/pages/5fd7a75858279f70e4302829

There are two completely different conversations going on here. Teacher and Students want to learn. The NAEP (or whomever pays their salary), talk about “success” and “closing the gap” The loss of learning, Gap, during and after COVID. 

Talking Points: I.Logic

Students have been heavily tested. Say, since 2001. (Testing occurred prior to 2000, but not to the extent of the next two decades). The NAEP, the Nations Report Card, the Gold Standard consequently has increased both time required in school and testing. Starting 2023-2028.

Here is the logic: If we have been testing kids for over twenty years, and there is still no improvement. In fact, a “crisis” has been declared and as Machiavelli said (via NAEP), ”Never let a good crisis go to waste." (Also quoted in the IES, the Institute of Education Sciences- to support the NAEP.)

https://ies.ed.gov/director/remarks/09-13-2022.asp

https://www.the74million.org/article/nations-report-card-two-decades-of-growth-wiped-out-by-two-years-of-pandemic/

And who’s fault is that? Scores are down. “Horrifically.”

The NAEP, and affiliates, writes the tests, collects the tests, analyzes the testing data, interprets the data and disseminates desired data (hint, it will always be bad and fear based), with well connected media. The NAEP has big political and even Bigger economic ties to disseminate information through radio, newspapers, magazines.

Then blames public school children for the results, which conveniently and (I believe) intentionally helps private companies. Because Public mandates means more testing, more required classes, thus textbooks publishing companies, technology giants, even big pharmaceuticals profit off NAEP’s interpretation of data.

I looks more like we are selling education, which really isn’t education if it is regurgitation of testing.

It’s time consuming, which is the point. Cradle to career conditioning. Not only are businesses management systems profiting off of kids, bm’s have compliant future employees. Long hours. Less self-actualization.

“A Child’s Need for Sleep” https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/childs-need-sleep

Much is still unknown, but it has become clear that sleep is essential to learning, memory formation, emotional regulation, and physical and mental development and that naps are an essential part of a child’s health and well-being.

Once factory work came along in the late 1700s, adult schedules began to become more regimented and children’s sleep patterns followed suit.

Lack of sleep, is just the start. Most high school students I talk to say they lack sleep, and school is the number one reason for that loss.

Point of view- think about it from business management’s perspective. Why would Big Business and Government want this system to change? It works! It works so well that during a pandemic, not only would bm’s want a return to normal (it has worked for over 100 years), but to ‘double down’ on its effectiveness. 

Truly, if you are in the top tear of the economic triangle, why would you want to empower the youth? Stay sleepy. Don’t question. Stay medicated. Don’t challenge. Of course there is media rhetoric about being “woke.” If you knew more, you might perform less.

Why would bm’s want rested, clear-minded, educated, financially sustained public populations? Privatization is much more lucrative for the few. 

Privatization means, what? Students owe businesses somehow? For the opportunity to forcibly go to school? Or is it ownership? Who owns you? Seriously, if you produce a creative piece of work, on school grounds, with school computers, while being monitored, who “owns” students works? Ok, I digress. But it’s a good question. Are public school ‘constituents’ aka  ‘students’ considered Intellectual Property? Owned. What are they going to do about it?

Arguably, the most vulnerable of our population, kids- can’t vote, they are too short to fight back, and completely, financially dependent; and often in debt. Unfortunately, this system works. 

I personally believe students deserve rights. And kids (you!) deserve a free, honest, non-coerced education. Instead we are allowing our kids to be treated and traded like pawns in a social, political, economic game- where they have little control. Simply by going along with school, as is, as has been. 

My loyalty is to you students anywhere. The “losers”. The 1.7 Trillion dollar student in-debt-tors. The mentally drained “losers” of sleep and sprit. 

I am on your side. 

Not only am I siding with students, I’m staying here. Sideline educator. Step by step suggestions as to how to survive and thrive in this hell-hole of oppression. 

How?

We are going to start with 

  1. I.Schools 10 in 10 plan

  2. Lesson on the NAEP framework.

Why?

If you Know the System, you can Use the system, so the system doesn’t use you. (As much).

Sincerely, 

Your teacher-in-service

I.Newson

Recap:

  • The NAEP sets the gold standard for testing.

  • Testing is profitable. 

  • Low test scores means more testing. 

  • The NAEP controls the test, data, and interpretation of data.

  • 2020 pandemic became a crisis “too good to waste”. 

  • The NAEP has been working hard to increase time and testing for public schools staring in 2023.