Yeah, this is all about indoctrination of children.
Let's forget the real reason kids are at school -- learning socialization skills -- and let's turn them into self-contained units that can be isolated cubicles.
And sell our shit technology at the same time.
Hey, it's o.k. if corporations benefit from government spending -- as long as its not the American public that benefits.
"In Some Schools, iPods Are Required Listening" by WINNIE HU
UNION CITY, N.J., Oct. 8 — A ban on iPods is so strictly enforced at José Martí Middle School that as many as three a week are confiscated from students — and returned only to their parents.
But even as students have been told to leave their iPods at home, the school here in Hudson County has been handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs.
Next month, the Union City district will give out 300 iPods at its schools as part of a $130,000 experiment in one of New Jersey’s poorest urban school systems. The effort has spurred a handful of other districts in the state, including the ones in Perth Amboy and South Brunswick, to start their own iPod programs in the last year, and the project has drawn the attention of educators from Westchester County to Monrovia, Calif.
The spread of iPods into classrooms comes at a time when many school districts across the country have outlawed the portable players from their buildings — along with cellphones and DVD players — because they pose a distraction, or worse, to students. In some cases, students have been caught cheating on tests by loading answers, mathematical formulas and notes onto their iPods.
But some schools are rethinking the iPod bans as they try to co-opt the devices for educational purposes. Last month, the Perth Amboy district bought 40 iPods for students to use in bilingual classes that are modeled after those in Union City. In South Brunswick, 20 iPods were used last spring in French and Spanish classes. And in North Plainfield, N.J., the district has supplied iPods to science teachers to illustrate chemistry concepts, and it is considering allowing students in those classes to use iPods that they have brought from home.
“It’s an innovation,” said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, which selected Union City educators to speak about the iPod classes at the group’s annual conference in Atlantic City Oct. 24-26. “Most people think of the iPod as just entertainment.”
At José Martí, the silver iPods, with built-in video screens, cost about $250 each and are passed out at the beginning of class along with headsets and Spanish-to-English dictionaries. The iPods are collected at the end of class, and school officials said that none have disappeared or been broken.
In one recent class, eighth-grade students mouthed the words to the rock song “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s as they played the tune on the iPods over and over again. The braver ones sang out loud.
“It speaks to me,” said Stephanie Rojas, 13, who moved here last year from Puerto Rico and now prefers to sing in English. “I take a long time in the shower because I’m singing, and my brothers are like, ‘Hurry up!’”
Pedro Noguera, a sociology professor at New York University who studies urban schools, said that more districts were using new technologies like iPods to connect with students. For instance, he said, teachers have designed video games around history lessons and assigned students to re-enact novels and plays on YouTube.
“You know the No. 1 complaint about school is that it’s boring because the traditional way it’s taught relies on passive learning,” Mr. Noguera said. “It’s not interactive enough.”
[Yeah, but putting on headphones and tuning everyone else out is INTERACTIVE!
Pffffttttt!]
In many affluent communities, iPods have evolved into an essential accessory for students. In 2004, Duke University led the way by outfitting its entire freshman class with iPods that were preloaded with orientation information and even the Duke fight song. While Duke no longer gives away iPods, it maintains a pool of them that are lent to students for classes. Last spring, 93 of the 2,000 or so courses at Duke required iPods.
The Brearley School, a private girls school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has used iPods to supplement foreign-language textbooks and its music, drama and English classes. Every Brearley student in seventh through ninth grades is required to buy or rent an iPod.
Here in Union City, the iPods are a splurge for many of the immigrant families who live in this densely packed urban center, once known for its embroidery factories. About 94 percent of the district’s 11,000 students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
The Union City district, which has a $197 million annual budget, places a priority on bilingual classes because more than one-quarter of its students are learning basic English skills. District officials said the stakes are high; 4 of the district’s 12 schools have been identified as needing improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind law, largely because not enough bilingual students have passed the state reading and math tests.
Grace Poli, a media specialist at José Martí, said that she approached district officials about buying 23 iPods for an after-school bilingual program in 2004 after being struck by students’ passion for them. Spanish-speaking students seemed bored by their English-language textbooks, she said, which they found outdated and irrelevant.
The program became so popular that it was added to the regular school schedule the following year, and in 2006, Ms. Poli received 60 more iPods. Last May, the district decided to buy 300 iPods to expand the program to other schools this fall.
Ms. Poli scoured the music charts for songs that appealed to students, compiling an eclectic mix of tunes by Shania Twain, Barry White, U2 and the Black Eyed Peas. She downloaded their songs to the iPods and typed out the lyrics. Then she deleted all the nouns — and in turn, the verbs and adjectives — forcing the students to fill in the missing words and learn their meaning.
In class, they sing or recite the completed lyrics back to her.
“A lot of our bilingual kids are very shy, and they feel like outsiders,” said Ms. Poli, whose parents immigrated from Ecuador. “You have kids who never said a word in English, and now they’re singing Black Eyed Peas. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.”
Ms. Poli has also downloaded audio books, including the Harry Potter series, and added recording devices to the iPods so that students can listen to their pronunciation as they read poetry or talk with one another.
While the iPods have been used mainly in bilingual classes, the district plans to try them with students who have learning disabilities and behavioral problems as part of the program’s expansion, which is set to begin next month. Last year, Ms. Poli helped an alternative education class create podcasts of test-taking tips that were shared with the entire school.
Ms. Poli said her Spanish-speaking students — known around the school as Pod People — have been able to move out of bilingual classes after just a year of using the digital devices, compared with an average of four to six years for most bilingual students.
Geri Perez, the principal at José Martí, said parents have requested that their children be enrolled in the iPod-equipped classes. Ms. Perez, who does not speak Spanish, said that bilingual students who once shied away from talking to her have gained self-confidence and now come up to her in the hallways.
Dianelis Cano, 13, who moved here from Cuba less than two years ago, said that she had learned so much English that her mother, a saleswoman in a clothing store, bought her an iPod over the summer as a reward for good grades. Dianelis loads her own songs onto the iPod to practice English outside school, though she also includes Spanish music.
“I’m going to check your iPod to make sure there is English music there,” Ms. Poli teased her. “I’m going to make home visits.”
And who would even want to be a teacher now?
In this fascista state? No thanks!
"Test for teachers uses thumbprint to deter cheaters; New ID rule upsets some" by Tracy Jan, Boston Globe October 10, 2007
The aspiring teachers arrived armed with No. 2 pencils, government-issued identification, and their admission ticket to the test that will determine whether they qualify to teach in a Massachusetts public school.
But before they were allowed to take the test last month, the teachers were required to provide their thumbprint, to prove they were who they professed to be.
It was the latest step in the state's attempts to prevent or catch cheaters on the high-stakes exams. The new demand caught test-takers by surprise and has ignited controversy among future educators who say they resent being treated like suspects.
"I was totally thrown off when they asked me for my fingerprint," said Nicole Brunelle, 21, a senior at Salem State College, who took the test in September. "It made me more nervous than I already was. I felt they thought I was like a criminal or something."
[This government views us ALL as criminals now, because they know we are fed up and had it!!!]
Last year, five teachers sent substitutes to take the tests for them, under their names, said Heidi Guarino, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. The ringers aroused suspicion when they provided identification with blurry photographs.
The state has caught 15 people in the last four years who cheated by having someone take the test for them. The total is a tiny fraction of the 35,000 people each year who take the tests. But the state has grown more concerned about the authenticity of identification amid anonymous calls tipping state officials off to possible cheaters, Guarino said. Thumbprints, she said, have become necessary for test security.
[Is this really a problem that requires such a fascista answer?
What is the percent of cheaters? 0.ooo42857.
That is 4/100ths of 1 percent, folks.
Sig Heil, teach!]
"It's not that we don't trust people, but we don't want to get people into our classrooms under false pretenses," Guarino said. "We're asking for thumbprints. We're not asking for blood."
[And a Sig Heil salute, too!
FUCK YOUR FASCIST STATE, shitters!!!
Time to HOME SCHOOL!!!!!
Never, I repeat, NEVER send YOUR CHILDREN to public schools, readers.
Sig Heil!!!]
Teachers must pass the communications and literacy skills test, as well as tests in their subject areas, to get a license and be deemed "highly qualified" under federal law. The Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure, or MTEL, are given 10 times a year. Teachers can take the tests as many times as necessary to pass, but those who fail can continue teaching only if their school systems apply to the state for waivers, which have become more difficult to get.
The thumbprints, which will now be required for every teacher test, would be used for comparison if someone who fails does remarkably better on a future try or if other questions arise concerning possible fraud.
New York began requiring thumbprints in 2003, followed last year by Georgia and Oklahoma. Massachusetts, Illinois, and California began requiring thumbprints this fall.
The Law School Admissions Test has required thumbprints for more than three decades to deter impostor test takers, but Canada's federal privacy commissioner recently ruled the requirement an invasion of privacy. The standard tests to get into business and medical schools also collect thumbprints from test takers.
Several aspiring teachers interviewed yesterday said they understand the need for security but feel that taking their thumbprints goes too far and invades their privacy. Already test takers must show two pieces of identification, one government-issued, and submit a photocopy of their driver's licenses. That should be sufficient to verify identity, they said.
[Your papers!!!]
Testing rooms were abuzz with confusion and frustration last month when proctors walked from desk to desk with inkpads and wet wipes, asking people to dab their right thumb in black ink and roll a print on the cover of their test booklet, test takers said.
Brunelle and other aspirants said they were upset that they had not been warned in advance and called the procedure distracting.
"It was just an added stress for the test," said Allison Gilgun, 21, also a senior at Salem State, who was taking the early childhood MTEL test last month for the third time. "The test is already so stressful as it is."
Gilgun, who took the test at a Lynn high school, said a man and his daughter sat in front of her and the father, a lawyer, was complaining about the invasion of privacy. He was trying the test because his daughter had failed it seven times, despite having a high GPA, Gilgun said.
Even worse, test takers said, the people administering the test could not explain why thumbprints were being taken or how long they would be kept.
"My proctor said, 'Oh, just because. I don't know why, but it's ridiculous,' " Brunelle said.
Guarino, of the Education Department, said the fingerprints would be held for an indefinite time by the testing company and drawn upon only if the state has to investigate a possible cheating case. The prints would not be used for any other purpose, she said.
Typically, the testing company flags only the answer sheets of people who have taken the test more than four times and whose scores suddenly spiked, Guarino said.
The answer sheets are then returned to the Department of Education, where a retired State Police officer conducts a handwriting analysis.
With fingerprints now added to the arsenal, she said, the department can determine with greater accuracy whether someone cheated.
[Yup, let's hassle teachers.
Never mind the lying, law-breaking, looting shithole government we've got going.
We'll worry about teachers cheating. HOME SCHOOL!!!!]
"We only call on these fingerprints if there's a reason," Guarino said. "We don't want to accuse somebody who doesn't deserve to be accused."
Those found guilty of cheating are penalized on a case-by-case basis.
Some may be offered a retest, depending on the circumstances, Guarino said."
Sig Heil, 'ey, reader?
"Bush Prodding Congress to Reauthorize His Education Law" by SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — With his domestic agenda in tatters, President Bush tried Tuesday to prod Congress into reauthorizing his biggest domestic achievement, the 2001 No Child Left Behind education law. But lawmakers have yet to come to terms on the legislation, and prospects for a deal this year appear dim.
Mr. Bush invited civil rights leaders, who are among the bill’s staunchest backers, to a meeting in the White House Roosevelt Room on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the prospects for renewal. Then, in a bit of theater designed to pressure lawmakers — especially Democrats, for whom civil rights advocates are a core constituency — the president took his guests into the Rose Garden, where he issued a public call for Congress to act.
“We don’t necessarily agree on every issue, but we do agree that education is a basic civil right,” Mr. Bush said, adding that the nation “has reached a defining moment in our struggle to secure a good education for every child.”
It was the second time in as many weeks that Mr. Bush has used his presidential platform to draw attention to the education bill, an intensifying effort that suggests he is concerned that his signature domestic achievement could come undone before his term is out.
The bill would remain in effect even if it is not renewed, but the administration is seeking changes to it, and some opponents would like to see it thoroughly revamped. If Congress reauthorizes the bill with its basic components intact, it would be a welcome, and rare, legislative victory for Mr. Bush on Capitol Hill, one that could help cement his legacy in education policy, an issue he has cared about since he was governor of Texas.
The president wants a bill by the end of the year, but administration officials do not sound entirely confident. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said after the Rose Garden ceremony that she was “cautiously optimistic.”
At least one of the civil rights leaders in attendance, Wade Henderson, said he feared that the reauthorization effort could collapse amid challenges from Republicans, in much the same way that the president’s immigration proposal was brought down by his own party. Mr. Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said Mr. Bush seemed determined to see the bill through.
“He committed to using his personal capital to see to it that the bill is reauthorized this year,” Mr. Henderson said. “This is his signature achievement, and I think he wants to extend that.”
[His signature achievement -- a great big bowel movement!!]
But as with the immigration bill, there are questions on how far the president’s capital can take him. Mr. Bush is in the thick of a series of veto fights with Congressional Democrats, many of whom accuse the administration of failing to finance the original education measure fully. At the same time, the bill faces challenges from some Republicans, who say it tramples on local control of schools.
“Every day that goes by, the likelihood becomes less that they’ll be able to get a bill passed this year,” said Jack Jennings, a former general counsel for the House education committee and president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit group that advises many states on the federal education law.
First passed in 2001, No Child Left Behind created new, specific standards for student achievement, demanding that all schools test students in Grades 3 to 8 in reading and math every year, with the goal of having all students demonstrate proficiency in those subjects by 2014. Mr. Bush said Tuesday that he would not “compromise on the basic principle” that every child must read and do math at or above grade level.
Ms. Spellings said: “It’s a strong law, a hawkish law and a good law. We can make it better, but we don’t need to risk making it worse.”
House Democrats have been working much of the year to draw up legislation to renew the law, but have yet to produce a bill. A “discussion draft” has come under attack from backers and opponents of the original measure.
In the Senate, the lead Democratic sponsor of the original bill, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, plans to introduce legislation to renew it by the end of the month. On Tuesday, Mr. Kennedy chided the White House for making the reauthorization effort “far more difficult by its failure to fully fund and implement it.”
Civil rights advocates said they used Tuesday’s meeting to press Mr. Bush to support substantial increases in federal spending on No Child Left Behind, saying the money was needed to help schools meet the law’s demands and to develop better, more sophisticated ways to measure student progress."
Fuck Bush and his regimented Nazi state.
I would HATE to be a kid in school now!
