We have all slept since then, and the now 23-minute news cycle has moved on to young Hollywood’s rehab stints and other socially important happenings, so I can sympathize if the vaccine, Gardasil, sounds more like a plant nutrient stick than a three-cycle injection.

However, with school starting again soon, I’m wondering if parents are opting to have their doctors go ahead and give their daughters the vaccine as part of their regimen of back-to-school immunizations? Are parents insisting this be part of the cocktail, although not required to enroll? Are doctors pushing the vaccine? Does anyone care anymore?

If this is familiar to you, e-mail me below or call (405) 475-3364.

Jeff Raymond

This is from Vicki Harbert, counselor at Tishomingo High School (The emphasis is hers; I’ve broken up the paragraphs.):

“No Child Left Behind is a wonderful idea in theory, but a dismal failure in reality.  The truth is, there are children being left behind.  It is utterly ridiculous to think that all children will achieve to set standards without regard to cognitive ability, economic status, English speaking or not, parental involvement, etc. 

“I feel that rural schools in poorer counties in Oklahoma are at a distinct disadvantage in meeting the letter of the law in NCLB.  Several reports I’ve recently read tout the fact that student achievement is rising due to NCLB.  In actuality, teaching for the test is rising.  Why spend time on topics that are not “tested,” even though a teacher may feel they are extremely important to growing a child of integrity, character and knowledge? 

“Teachers cannot afford the luxury of a well-rounded education because of the constraints of NCLB.  Counselors are being overwhelmed with paperwork, reports, training and testing preparation for the ones helping administer tests, helping students and parents with test anxiety (and even some teachers who feel like their jobs are on the line if their students perform poorly), in addition to the security of the tests!  I became a school counselor to counsel and advise students, not to give tests! 

“I will leave public education before I am required to add one more test to measure the “success” of NCLB.”

This one is from M. Gene Henderson, a retired 20-year superintendent from Missouri (I’ve changed a few things, but not much.):

“I’m a retired 20-year superintendent, 16 at Francis Howell of St. Charles County, Missouri. FH was the first school to operate a four-cycle, year-round program. We tested to discover the effect. Finally got smart and asked the teachers.”Teachers have already said it loudly and clearly. NCLB is a disaster on the way to a calamity.

“Each responsible administrator should interview a ‘random sample’ (all or 30) of a unit’s teachers. The interview questions should be constructed by interview, then interviews conducted by an (verifiable leader) administrator. Each school has its own result with, we would think, (would) overlap.

“Isn’t it a shame that test scores are sought instead of asking the teacher? Test scores, handled carefully, can tell some things about a group, but almost nothing we want to know about individuals. Too many of us think a number can reveal info about extremely complex matters. ”

 Keep ‘em coming. Click below to e-mail me.

 Jeff Raymond

Now, I’ll say from the get-go that I’m not gonna take the time to compare test score trends from a decade ago to today’s to post in a blog. But I may revisit the topic for a future story.

By Mooneyham’s reckoning, the one-size-fits-all formula of No Child Left Behind Act actually stifled progress Oklahoma and other states already were making — in some cases, had been making for some time.

I’ve heard this argument before; I just didn’t realize it may apply here. Typically, those who must implement NCLB prefer to focus on the progress the state has made since its passage than the progress that could have been made (or perhaps not made) had the state been left to continue doing what it had been doing.

I’m sure the law puts them in an odd place — defending accountability measures with which they may justifiably disagree – but that’s nothing new for public servants.

I can’t say I have ever picked up on this from state education officials, but I can’t imagine it’s not at least somewhat true. Push for (or fight against, as the case may be) reforms only to see them pre-empted by federal law.

“It changed the reforms that were already in place,” Mooneyham said of the 2001 act that required a range of targets for schools and districts to meet. “If anything, the one-size-fits-all strategy of No Child Left Behind was counterproductive,” he said. 

Was Oklahoma making more progress before NCLB than it is now? Is it making enough progress now? How would things have been different had NCLB not been introduced?

I don’t know the answers to these questions but am curious about what others think. Click on my name to e-mail me or call me at (405) 475-3364.

Jeff Raymond

After getting tipped off about a new U.S. Department of Education Report, “Status of Education in Rural America,” I did my customary search for mentions of Oklahoma before embarking on reading the entire report.

Interestingly, although the report doesn’t single out Oklahoma, and only mentions that state in lists with the other 50 (and the District of Columbia), Oklahoma largely stands alone in its proportion of city, rural, town and suburban students.  Data are from 2003-04, which is a typical lag time for federal statistics to wind up in reports.

Oklahoma is in the low-middle in its percentage of city students. In terms of suburban students, its percentage is fairly low, although there’s a lot of spread. Its percentage of students in towns is fairly high, comparatively speaking, and its percentage of rural students

Admittedly, the definitions are complicated, but what the numbers show, to me, is clear. Although North Carolina comes fairly close overall, and Tennessee isn’t too far off, Oklahoma has fewer city, suburban and rural students than many southern states yet more students in towns.

 According to the report’s appendices, a town is considered a territory inside an urban cluster (although not near a city of 100,000 or more) that is 10 to 35 miles from an urbanized area.

So, what does all this mean?

Oklahoma has a number of small, yet not too small, towns and hundreds of school districts. Although rural Oklahoma (by my definition, not the report’s) has lost people for years, it’s still educating a lot of kids and is perhaps healthier, from the perspective of school enrollment, than most other southern states.

 But I could be wrong. That’s just my two cents.

Jeff Raymond

Among its bells and whistles, ParentCONNECT allows parents to check on a child’s assignments, receive an e-mail if he or she misses class or fails to turn in homework.

The service is free. It is password-protected and linked only to a parent’s child.

Going back to a conversation we had last week here on The Oklahoman’s eighth floor, getting your child’s whereabouts (or when he or she isn’t in class) beat implanting a microchip in the skin. Leave that for pets.

I like the idea of being able to check assignments, homework, etc., but the real draw to me of this service is the e-mails if a child skips class or doesn’t turn in something.

To sign up, visit https://parentconnect.putnamcityschools.org.

“We don’t expect or even want ParentCONNECT to take the place parent-teacher conferences, phone calls or any kind of interaction that takes place now between parents and school staff. We see ParentCONNECT as an added tool to make sure there is the strong school-to-home connection that helps students succeed,” Superintendent Jim Capps said in a press release.

Jeff Raymond

I’m resisting the urge to make fun here, but it’s soooo hard.

A new study from the University of Missouri shows freshman and sophomore college students under 21 years old who possess fake IDs often — wait until you hear this — drink!

The study examined fake ID ownership (Mental note: Can you ever really “own” something that is both fraudulent and illegal?) and “heavy” alcohol consumption, according to a Mizzou press release.

Over two years, the number of students with fake IDs more than doubled. Students belonging to fraternities or sororities were more likely to own a fake ID.

“The biggest finding is that having a fake ID is a risk factor for additional drinking – drinking that might not otherwise be occurring,” said Kenneth J. Sher, professor of clinical psychology. “The other piece is how ubiquitous it is – how many underage drinkers have a fake ID. Basically, being a heavy drinker predicts the likelihood that someone will obtain a fake ID, and having a fake ID predicts that someone will be a heavy drinker.”

Research included more than 3,700 students. Researchers assessed the drinking habits of participants in the summer prior to entering the university and during their first four semesters, asking about how often students drank five or more drinks in a setting, felt high on alcohol or got drunk on alcohol.

The study, “Fake ID Ownership and Heavy Drinking in Underage College Students: Prospective Findings,” was published in the American Psychological Association journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

“Currently, around the nation people are concerned about underage drinking,” researcher Julia Martinez said. “One of the big issues is how are these kids accessing alcohol. One of the ways to get alcohol is with a fake ID, and that has been understudied.”

Jeff Raymond

The state is in first place, but Texas, Louisiana and Nebraska are gaining.

Including today, there are only nine more days in the contest, so organizers ask that you vote every day through July 31. To vote, click on http://www2.firstbook.org/whatbook/index.php. You’ll be asked what book got you hooked on reading, and why. To select Oklahoma as the recipient of 50,000 books, pull it down from a drop-down menu.

According to literacy advocate First Book, which is sponsoring the giveaway, the majority of children from low-income families have no books in their homes or classrooms; as a result, direct access to books for these children is limited.

Middle-income children have a book-to-child ratio of 13 to 1, while there is one age-appropriate book per 300 children in low-income neighborhoods.

More than 80 percent of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income children have no age-appropriate books. Children from low-income families have been exposed to an average of 25 hours of one-on-one reading, compared to 1,000 to 1,700 hours for middle-class children.

No Child Left Behind scores from 2005 show 36 percent of all 4th-graders scored “below basic” in reading proficiency. Fifty-four percent of 4th-graders eligible for the school lunch program scored below basic in reading.

From 1992 to 2005, middle school students’ reading scores remained virtually unchanged.

Get out there and vote!!!

Jeff Raymond

Garrett’s speech came during her annual leadership conference.

Read Garrett’s speech here.

See the video here in QuickTime format and here in Windows Media Player format.

A few excerpts:

• If you’re one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you.
• The 25 percent of Chinese people with the highest IQs exceed the population of North America.
• China will soon become the number one English-speaking country in the world.

Now, the heady stuff.

• Today’s student will have 10 to 14 jobs by age 38.
• One out of four workers currently works for a company with whom they have been employed for less than a year.
• Former Education Secretary Richard Riley predicts the top 10 jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
• One out of every eight couples who married in the United States last year met online.
• The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the planet’s population.
• A week’s worth of The New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

Now, the stuff that gives me hope and nightmares at the same time.

• By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capacity of the human brain.
• By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the brain’s computational capacity.
• By 2049, the $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capacity of the human race.

Say what you will (and many people have) about Garrett’s push for longer school days and school years. The video is stark and speaks for itself.

Jeff Raymond

Having seen school district accounting from the inside — uncertain finances at budget time; uncertain actions from the Legislature, Congress and the courts; and a budget process that seems to begin shortly after it ends — I appreciate the complexity of school finance and the need for solid numbers.

The Norman district was so passionate about receiving the award that it worked with state education officials to go over everything it had been marked down on last year.

The result was a stellar score.  

The Norman district received the award for the large district category.

Other recipients were:

• Tishomingo Public Schools (Johnston County)
• Mason Public Schools (Okfuskee County)
• Brushy Public School (Sequoyah County)

Jeff Raymond

I received another e-mail today from my favorite test-security experts, Utah’s Caveon Test Security. This stuff is never boring, folks. Caveon reports:

1.) TIME

(Vietnam) …In recent years, entrance-exam fraud has been highly publicized in local media. Last year, two dozen students were caught being fed answers through Bluetooth headsets concealed under wigs. Earlier this month, police busted a ring issuing fake IDs to university students who were to take the test for struggling prospective scholars. The price? $2,500 — more than twice Vietnam’s average annual wage. In response to concerns over cheating, authorities have beefed up security, calling in local police and even the Public Security ministry to guard exam sites….

2.) San Francisco Chronicle

…More than 30 years ago, Donald Campbell, an eminent social scientist, warned about the danger of measuring effectiveness by a single influential metric. The more any quantitative indicator is used for decision-making, he said, the more subject it will be to corruption and the more it will corrupt the very process it is intended to monitor. The use of high-stakes testing is precisely the kind of process that Campbell’s Law unwittingly foresaw. When attention is focused on standardized test scores to the exclusion of other factors in evaluating educational quality, the stage is ideally set for unethical behavior. Uprep, however, is not alone. And neither are charter schools….

3.) Institute for War and Peace Reporting – London

(Kazakhstan) …According to the press service, the man was arrested as he attempted to sell a compact disc for 1,300,000 tenge (around 10,600 US dollars) containing 10,000 codes of correct answers to UNT questions. During a subsequent police raid prompted by the arrest, NSC employees found large sums of money – 25,000 dollars, and over 2 million tenge (around 16,000 dollars) – said to have been received for assistance in passing the UNT….

4.) Inside Bay Area – Oakland, Calif.

…This year, Padia said, investigators found 2005 algebra and geometry test booklets at the school — a major security breach. As a result, he said, Uprep’s standardized test scores for 2007 will be invalidated as well. “This is pretty serious, in terms of having actual copies of the test,” Padia said. State education officials have asked Oakland school district officials to take over the investigation and to handle the administration of future state tests at the school, Padia said….

5.) ArmyTimes.com – Springfield, VA

…Thomas was a test examiner for the Office of Personnel Management when, between September 2000 and February 2002, she received a total of about $1,500 in cash for boosting ASVAB scores for about 70 applicants, according to court documents. The documents also state that Thomas conspired with Guard recruiters when determining which test scores to manipulate….

6.) SFGate.com – San Francisco

…Now, eight former teachers assert in a 27-page report to state and local education officials that a culture of cheating exists at the school. And they say it’s done at the top level. The teachers claim: — Students’ grades are frequently falsified. — Course titles don’t always match the easier content tested. — Low-scoring students are barred from taking state-required exams in an attempt to keep them from lowering the school’s scores. — Discipline is arbitrary and intimidating….

7.) Naples Daily News – Naples, FL

…The number of students taking online courses is surging, which is making things very difficult for educators who want to prevent cheating. “We have gone from testing with paper and pencil to almost exclusively online,” said John Pribanic, a testing specialist at Edison College in East Naples…

What do you think about the test cheating and its prevalence? E-mail me below to let me know.

Jeff Raymond