The Echo

Confidential sources reporting in that there's been a shake-up in school leadership...

“This is what wakes me up at 4 in the morning,” Markell said. “Recognizing that the environment we’re in is more competitive than ever and my job is to make sure Delaware is competitive as it can be.”

Really, all those high paying jobs at the Delaware Department of Education and they didn't budget in a copy editor?

A copy of this year’s edition of the Delaware Scholarship Compendium obtained by the News Journal lists an apparent mistyping of a number for Department of Education’s higher education office — the real number is 1-800-292-7935.
When the number included in the guide is called, an automated message picks up.
“Welcome to America’s hottest talk line,” the message says. “Ladies, interesting and exciting guys are waiting to talk to you; press one now. Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you; press two to connect free.”

Wait! Wait. Wait!  It's not the first time:

Department of Education spokeswoman Alison May said the mistake, which appears in the letterhead at the top of the guide, was a mistake in last year’s letter that got carried into this year.

And we all know that the machine will find a way to skate the gov through this scandal like an ice queen after the zamboni smooths the grooves.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130922/NEWS02/309220051/Illegal-donations-Jack-Markell-s-2008-campaign-discovered

Don’t let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures.  The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/ftt.htm

At last night's CSD Board meeting, Senator Bryan Townsend announced that he is planning to take the DCAS!  Sen. Townsend has been working on details with DOE for some time.  But, it looks like his efforts to share the experience of our state's students in high stakes testing is nearing reality!

Thank You, Senator!

I'm calling on all of Delaware's Edu-bloggers to run a post DEMANDING THAT GOV. JACK MARKELL TAKE THE 10TH GRADE DCAS and SHARE HIS SCORES WITH THE PUBLIC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/when-an-adult-took-standardized-tests-forced-on-kids/2011/12/05/gIQApTDuUO_blog.html

A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading tests for 10th graders, and said he’d make his scores public.

We live in a time when the role of local school board member has been greatly reduced by the overstep of the federal government and its imposition on states' rights.  On face value, that such a board member would take the test is minutia and less than newsworthy.  Unless...

I asked him what he now thought about the tests he’d taken. “I won’t beat around the bush,” he wrote in an email. “The math section had 60 questions. I knew the answers to none of them, but managed to guess ten out of the 60 correctly. On the reading test, I got 62% . In our system, that’s a “D”, and would get me a mandatory assignment to a double block of reading instruction.

Federal validation that local school board members know nothing of which they speak and govern - justification for legislating the control of public education from their foolish hands.

 
He continued, “It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a bachelor of science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate.
“I help oversee an organization with 22,000 employees and a $3 billion operations and capital budget, and am able to make sense of complex data related to those responsibilities.

Holy shit!  A Bachelors, Two Masters, and credit towards a Doctorate?  This guy must have bought his degrees from some fly-by-night internet diploma mill. Masters and Doctorates?  No legitimate university would convey such degrees on a student who earns nothing more than a "D" and requires double reading blocks to assuage the test-makers.   

What you don't know about this test-taker is a run-of-the-mill schmuck that ed reformers would have you believe of all school board members.  His children are well educated adults. He lives in a nice home in an affluent part of town, owns a condo in the Caribbean and has racked up the frequent flier miles to go with it.  He's well-respected with influential friends, wins his elections by large margins, engages in open dialogue, and is held in high regard by teachers, administrators, unions, and parents. 

And this part here, what he tells us, sums the millions of reasons that THE TEST is a sham:

“If I’d been required to take those two tests when I was a 10th grader, my life would almost certainly have been very different. I’d have been told I wasn’t ‘college material,’ would probably have believed it, and looked for work appropriate for the level of ability that the test said I had.

So, fellow bloggers, it's time to use our collective voice and demand that our Governor take the DAMN test, himself.  He won't. And if we actually succeed in getting his attention, he'll probably get his gym teacher to take it for him. But, the message is clear - The Test is a Sham.

It's right here, Jack:  https://dept.tds.airast.org/student/Pages/LoginShell.aspx?logout=true

Biography

Jean V. Beukema, age 96 of the Town of Niagara, formerly of Wilson, died unexpectedly on Friday August 30, 2013 at her son's residence.

Jean was born August 20, 1917 in the Town of Shelby, NY, the daughter of the late Edward and Florence (Sybrant) Van Brocklin. She held a Master's Degree in Library Science and for 20 years was the Chief Research Librarian for the Niagara Library System. On October 25, 1941 she married Leslie V. Beukema in the Universalist Church in Middleport and they moved to Wilson in 1945. Leslie predeceased her on February 27, 2002.

Jean was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Wilson and enjoyed traveling.

She is survived by two sons, John (Sandra) Beukema of the Town of Niagara and Thomas (Christine) Beukema of Newark, DE; her grandchildren, Kimberly, Mary, Elizabeth, Theresa, and Patrick; and 10 great grandchildren.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, September 7, at 1:00 PM in St. John's Episcopal Church, 431 Lake St., Wilson with the Rev. Judith Lee officiating. There will be no prior visitation. Flowers are gratefully declined. Arrangements have been entrusted to HARDISON FUNERAL HOME, N. Fourth & Ridge Streets, Lewiston. 

In honor of my Grandmother Jean V. Beukema, my son's favorite YouTube Video, appropriately made by the New York State Reading Association:



 

The deadline has come and gone.  The Moyer wait is nearing an end, and yet, this one question remains:  Did New Moyer purchase its' facilities?

The answer from Alison May (Kepner), DOE spokeswoman:

We received documentation from them regarding the purchase of the building. Staff is now reviewing it.

As of 7:55 am, New Castle County Recorder of Deeds and the NCCo Dept. of Land Use still show the property as belonging to Reinvestment II, LLC, the company that defaulted on the loans to the mortgager, Reinvestment Fund, Inc - two companies operated by the same principals out of the same address in PA.

If the purchase did occur on August 19, 2013, an expectation previously noted in Moyer docs submitted to DOE, the change in deeds and ownership may yet be in the pipeline of property updates to be made to the County databases.  Thus, the lack of a status change to the NCCo websites is not an indicator that the real estate ownership has not changed hands.

The ultimate deadline still looms - Moyer's lease on the facilities it now occupies is set to expire on Sept. 30th.  Something has to give this month or the school will be homeless.