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Ignored by the Common Core agenda—Making the link between poverty, nutrition and poor performance in school

At a Glance:

Twelve weeks of supplementation with vitamins and minerals was found to boost the attention scores of children, according to results published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

“It is well known that adequate levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are essential for optimal neural functioning. A significant percentage of individuals, including children, suffer from deficiencies in one or more vitamins or minerals. This study investigated whether daily supplementation with a multivitamin could alter cognitive performance and mood in healthy children.

“The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 81 healthy children aged 8-14. The children were reportedly all healthy and free from food allergies. None of the children used other dietary supplements during the three months prior to the study. Participants were randomly assigned to daily multivitamin and mineral supplements or placebo for 12 weeks

“The children underwent laboratory assessments of their cognitive performance and mood pre-dose and at 1 and 3 h post-dose on the first and last days of the trial.  Assessments were also completed at home after 4 and 8 weeks at 3 hours post-dose. Cognitive performance was measured using a battery of laboratory assessments, which included tasks assessing mood and the speed and accuracy of attention and aspects of memory. The children in the vitamin/mineral group performed more accurately on two tests of attention. No effects were observed on measures of the children’s mood

“Although the results of this study require further investigation, it suggests that vitamin/mineral supplementation has the potential to improve brain function in healthy children.”

  • Haskell CF et al. Cognitive and mood effects in healthy children during 12 weeks’ supplementation with multi-vitamin/minerals. Br J Nutr 2008 Nov;100(5):1086-96.

But what if the children are not healthy?


children taking tests with Bill Gates cracking the whip

There’s this from the University of Wisconsin – Madison that makes the connection between poverty and early childhood brain development that causes poor performance in school—proving that the one size Common Core testing rank, fire and close public schools agenda promoted HEAVILY by the Bill and Melinda Gates and Walton family Foundations is even more flawed than we thought.

“Poverty may have direct implications for important, early steps in the development of the brain, saddling children of low-income families with slower rates of growth in two key brain structures, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

“By age 4, children in families living with incomes under 200 percent of the federal poverty line have less gray matter—brain tissue critical for processing of information and execution of actions—than kids growing up in families with higher incomes.”

Someone please shout in President Obama’s ear that the one-size fits all Common Core agenda being forced on the country by Arne Duncan, Bill Gates, the Walton family and a few other billionaires and hedge fund managers, who want to profit off of are our children, is a total fraud. After you’re done shouting, give them a standardized bubble test to see what they learned.

There are more than 72 million children under 18 years old in the United States. 45 percent – 32.4 million – live in low-income families. 22 percent –16.1 million – live in poor families. National Center for Children in Poverty

 _______________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran,
who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).

Runner Up in Biography/Autobiogrpahy
2015 Florida Book Festival

lloydlofthouse_crazyisnormal_web2_5

Honorable Mention in Biography/Autobiography
2014 Southern California Book Festival
2014 New England Book Festival
2014 London Book Festival

His third book is Crazy is Normal, a classroom exposé, a memoir. “Lofthouse presents us with grungy classrooms, kids who don’t want to be in school, and the consequences of growing up in a hardscrabble world. While some parents support his efforts, many sabotage them—and isolated administrators make the work of Lofthouse and his peers even more difficult.” – Bruce Reeves

Lofthouse’s first novel was the award winning historical fiction My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. His second novel was the award winning thriller Running with the Enemy. His short story A Night at the “Well of Purity” was named a finalist of the 2007 Chicago Literary Awards. His wife is Anchee Min, the international, best-selling, award winning author of Red Azalea, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (1992).

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Superintendents and Leaders of School Boards and Parent Associations in New York: Please Sign the Declaration of the Alliance to Save Public Education

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

A group of school superintendents in New York banded together in late February to form The Alliance to Save Public Education.  They currently number 30 superintendents from Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County, and Monroe County. They invite other superintendents from across the state to join them in signing their Declaration below. They welcome the signatures of school board presidents and leaders of parent associations as well.

Please contact your Superintendent, Board President, or PTA President to sign:

Print it, then sign the printout with a dark flair-type pen in a blank spot 

Scan & email it (or fax it) back to dgamberg@southoldufsd.com

You can download the letter to print here.

Here is the text of the letter:

March X, 2015

Dear Lawmaker:

Every day, nearly three million children and adolescents attend New York State’s public schools:  upstate and downstate, rural, urban and suburban, small, medium and large. …

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Posted by on March 12, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

The Network for Public Education Supports Opt Out!

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

The Network for Public Education supports opting out of Common Core tests.

“The Network for Public Education stands in full support of parents, students and educators who choose to teach and learn about the reality of high stakes tests, opt out of high stakes tests, speak out against high stakes tests and who refuse to give those tests to students.

“Right now, in communities from the highest need to the most affluent, students, parents and educators are being punished for the courageous act of informing others about available options to opt out of high stakes tests and acting upon those options. These reprisals, often for merely learning and teaching about students’ rights, violate basic human rights and common decency.

“There is no evidence that these tests contribute to the quality of education, or help close the “achievement gap.” Since NCLB, these tests have hindered, not helped, school improvement efforts. The…

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Posted by on March 10, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Stephen Dyer: Comparing Data Between Charters and Public Schools in Ohio

Less than 10% of charter school children in Ohio are in buildings that outperform urban (public school) districts.

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

Stephen Dyer of Innovation Ohio helped to create an excellent website that allows anyone to review and compare data about charter schools and public schools in Ohio. All the data comes from public sources. Know Your Charter is a product of Innovation Ohio and the. Ohio Education Association.

“When we started http://www.KnowYourCharter.com, some criticized us for only posting district and charter school data. They said the only “fair” comparison (even though it is districts that lose money from the charter school funding system, not schools) was to look at building-to-building data. We chose to look at district-level data first because it is districts, not individual schools in them, that lose money to charters.

“Well, today we posted the building data as well. So now it is possible to compare every Ohio school building — district or charter — with each other, as well as districts. This adds to the comparative…

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Posted by on March 3, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Tennessee: “Achievement School District” In Search of High-Performing Students

In Tennessee schools must be held accountable to some of the highest standards in the country – unless there is a profit motive involved – and then the powers-that-be not only look the other way, they actually work to create more opportunities for students to attend schools that the state has labeled “failing”!

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

The following post was written by a parent in Tennessee. The state’s Achievement School District was created by former Commissioner Krvin Huffman with the intent of taking control of the state’s lowest-performing public schools and handing them over to charter operators. The goal, promised ASD leader Chris Barbic was that the lowest 5% would be in the top 25% within five years. The clock is ticking.

The parent writes:

Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) Superintendent Chris Barbic, like other reformers, often talks about creating opportunities for students “trapped in failing schools.” But this week Barbic is pushing legislation that would allow Barbic to recruit students from high-performing schools INTO schools the state has identified as “failing.” Barbic told Tennessee legislators on Wednesday that parents are beating down his door to get into ASD charter schools that are some of the worst performing schools in the state, according to the state’s…

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Posted by on March 2, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Hey, Kids: Take the PARCC Test, Qualify for an iPad Mini (??)

In this Louisiana school district, administration is rewarding students who take the Common Core rank and punish PARCC test and punishing students who Opt Out.

Corporate school reform is almost all about punishing public schools, public teachers, children and parents if they do not fall in line and obey without question. Is this really the United States? Is this the country I risked my life as a U.S. Marine to defend when I fought in one of its many foreign wars?

deutsch29's avatardeutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Louisiana parents are choosing to opt their children out of whatever it is that state superintendent John White has concocted and is labeling the “PARCC” test.

refuse the test

Louisiana is not a legitimate PARCC participant. Official PARCC vendor, Pearson, has no contract directly with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) for the 2015 PARCC testing that is supposed to occur in March and May 2015.

2015 PARCC scores cannot directly affect student promotion decisions because the scores will not even be available until fall 2015, after the 2015-16 school year begins.

It seems that the primary function of 2015 Louisiana “PARCC” is to grade schools. The secondary use is to form a baseline to use to grade teachers via value-added modeling (VAM).

The fact that 2015 Louisiana “PARCC” will directly affect schools and not individual students has created an atmosphere in which some Louisiana school administrators are trying to coerce students…

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Posted by on March 2, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

“The Other PARCC:” A New Short Film Of Refusal In New Jersey

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

David Sirota: Cuomo Will Collect $700,000 from Book Deal with Murdoch Company

An International Business Times review of New York state documents reveals that News Corporation gave Cuomo a book contract that will net him more than $700,000 for a book that has sold only 3,000 copies—-after Cuomo’s administration backed a series of state initiatives that benefited the media giant.”

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

David Sirota puts the pieces together in this investigative report about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s outside income.

“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo likes to portray himself as a crusader against corruption in Albany, the state’s capital, taking a hardline position against allowing state lawmakers to collect outside income that may be connected to pending legislation. He has championed a bill that would require lawmakers to disclose more of their outside income lest they write bills that benefit special interests in pursuit of private cash….

“But the Democratic governor’s strong words don’t quite square with his own personal appetite for cash earned outside the confines of his state work. Cuomo has so far raked in more than $188,000 from HarperCollins, a News Corporation subsidiary. That is part of a book deal that could ultimately net him more than $700,000. With Albany’s transactional politics now the subject of a federal probe, the context…

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Posted by on February 27, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

New Jersey Parents Opting Out: Gates-funded Ed Trust Wants You to Stay In

For third grade, New Jersey schools must schedule 4.75 hours for the English language arts (ELA) PBA and EOY PARCC and 5 hours for the math PBA and EOY PARCC. Just shy of 10 hours of schedules testing time for a third grader. For fourth and fifth graders it is a full 10 hours. For sixth through eighth graders, almost 11 hours.
Ed Trust has the distinction of being the single most Gates-supported corporate-reform organization that I have come across for the millions Gates funnels to Ed Trust for no better reason than to keep Ed Trust’s doors open.
Between September 2004 and March 2014, the Gates Foundation has paid Education Trust $30.7 million for “general operating support.”
In its February 2014 earnings call, Pearson executives made it clear that they are planning to profit from the Common Core in the United States.
Blowing billions of education dollars annually on standardized testing is crazy.

deutsch29's avatardeutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

PARCC testing in New Jersey is scheduled to begin March 2, 2015. The NJ PARCC testing “window” will not end in March, but will continue into April, May, and June, depending upon the grade level and whether the test is part of the PBA (performance-based assessment), which is given 75% of the way through a school year, or EOY (end of year), which comes 90% of the way into a school year.

For third grade, New Jersey schools must schedule 4.75 hours for the English language arts (ELA) PBA and EOY PARCC and 5 hours for the math PBA and EOY PARCC.

Just shy of 10 hours of schedules testing time for a third grader.

For fourth and fifth graders it is a full 10 hours.

For sixth through eighth graders, almost 11 hours.

Note that the PBA and EOY PARCC tests are summative assessments. The US Department of…

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Posted by on February 26, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Keeping it in Perspective.

It isn’t easy being a parent who takes that job seriously. It’s much easier to just turn the child over the TV and then go have a beer.

TC Weber's avatarDad Gone Wild

kidsThis week Metro Nashville School Board Member Jill Speering wrote a Facebook post that started with the following question:

At last week’s meeting, an MNPS Board member suggested that there are 35,00o seats in Metro Schools that lack “quality” so I’ve been thinking about this language and what this term means. What do we mean by student “success”? What do we mean by “quality” seats?

It’s a question that I wrestle with on a regular basis. As I’ve previously mentioned, I have two small children. My daughter, Avery, is 5 and half, (that half is extremely important to her), and a four-year-old named Peter . Six years ago when my wife was pregnant, we had many conversations about how we wanted to raise our children. We both agreed that we wanted independent, intellectually curious, verbal children who would be equipped to stand up for themselves and navigate the uncertainty that is life. Well, guess…

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Posted by on February 19, 2015 in Uncategorized