Language is an Imperfect Model
Submitted by Phil on Thu, 12/26/2019 – 11:19
“Something inside one person takes external form — contained by a poem, picture, melody, play, etc — and through a certain kind of engagement, is transferred to the inside of someone else. Art as a transit system for images.” – Lynda Barry
Submitted by Phil on Sat, 10/05/2019 – 10:34
In 1949, my parents were 10 years old, Harry Truman was president, the Mann Gulch fire revolutionized the study of forest fires, the Berlin Blockade ended, Mao Tse Tung became the premiere of the People’s Republic of China, the Geneva Convention was signed, Lucky Lady II performed the first non-stop circumnavigation flight of the planet, 1984 was published, NATO was established, Newfoundland joined Canada, the world’s first commercially available computer, The Ferranti Mark 1, was released, and the first ISBA/IAPSS conference was held. It is my profound honor to be addressing the 70th ISBA/IAPSS conference. Congratulations everyone.
Continue reading “Address to the 2019 Indiana School Board Association Conference”Submitted by Phil on Sat, 04/20/2019 – 07:51
Indiana Education Spending
Here is a fact: from 2009 to 2018 the Tuition Support budget used to pay Indiana’s public and charter school teachers has grown by 13% while inflation has grown by 17%, and the total Indiana General Fund Budget grew by 21%. There is money in the General Fund to bring Education funding up to inflation. Our elected officials made a choice to move money away from public and charter educators and are failing to live up to the responsibility to fund public education they took on in 2009.
Continue reading “Indiana Education Spending”Submitted by Phil on Thu, 12/27/2018 – 13:26
Came across this in Michael Lewis’ The Fifth Risk.
“The only thing any of us can do completely on our own is to have the start of a good idea.” -Kathy Sullivan
It takes a network or team to build something great. A leader has to let their vision adjust to that of the group.
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 04/23/2018 – 11:52
Recently there have been a lot of stories and opinion pieces written about the Indiana voucher program and school funding. There appears to be a misconception about how the voucher program works as well as its impact on public schools.
Continue reading “Don’t Worry, This Won’t Effect You”Submitted by Phil on Mon, 10/16/2017 – 05:45
“Applying simple solutions to complex problems creates more complex problems.” -Ronald Heifetz
Recently Indiana released the A-F grades for its schools. Each year there is a chance any given school’s ISTEP+ scores and A-F grades may go up or down. This is because ISTEP+ fits statistical models and “regression to the mean” is a real thing.
Continue reading “Indiana’s Schools Deserve Better”Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 16:52
Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.
― Lao Tzu
Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:52
For 16 years since the passage of No Child Left Behind, Indiana has been following the lead of the United States Department of Education, educational testing companies, and standardized testing experts. In those 16 years, the focus of your child’s education has been narrowed by this “Testing Industrial Complex” to a single annual test: a “summative” test these experts promised would measure students, identify poor teachers, rank schools and communities, fix bad schools, catapult the US to the top of the international rankings, and close the achievement gap. To help accomplish this, they offered schools the chance to buy their “teacher-proof” textbooks and take their standardized “formative” tests, too.
Continue reading “Unique not Special”Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:50
The major problem of the current model of assessing students and schools is not tests; it is the misuse of tests.
Continue reading “Simplicity vs Simplistic”Submitted by Phil on Mon, 05/01/2017 – 15:33
Since I have returned, I have been asked whether I think we could match Finland’s success in Indiana. There are conditions contributing to Finland’s success that Indiana will probably never be able to duplicate (its homogeneous society and universal early child care). That being said, the Finns would love to have our talent for creativity and innovation, which is born of our diversity. I did come away with three concrete ideas that are applicable to Indiana.
Continue reading “What Indiana Can Learn from Finland”