"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation."

- Charles F. Kettering

The newspaper, Kingman Daily Miner, had this article "Literacy law will challenge third-graders." In The Arizona Department of Education estimates that about 3,345 students about 4 percent of third-graders --will score far below what's needed, based on 2012 AIMS scores; furthermore, about 1500 students likely will be held back (Kingman Daily Miner, 2013, Apr 28).

First, children that read at their grade level will go onto high school and enroll in college. This all generated in 2010, the state's Move On When Reading (MOWR). Also, a new test aligned to tougher Common Core standards will replace the AIMS tests next year (Kingman Daily Miner, 2013, Apr 28). There are options such a summer and on-line classes when a child is held back.

Second, the state's school districts and charters will have even more tests regularly. This adds to the burden of the teacher because more is required. When are the teachers going to obtain the salaries they deserve for their hard labors and spending their own money on school supplies? We need to do some of these ideas for the teacher who is helping the children:

• "Read to your children every evening to encourage their love of reading, to enjoy books, and to be an independent reader.
• Have books and magazines lying around the home. Periodically, read something out load that you have just read to your kids.
• Take your kids and their friends to the library and show them how much better books are than Television.
• Celebrate you kids as they deepen their own reading abilities.
• Tell stories about how the melting pot of America has served our nation's freedoms.
• Take your children to celebrations and events that showcase the different cultures of Arizona. Show them that culture is a lens through which people see the world.
• Volunteer in the school to help with simple tasks so the teacher will have more time to connect with kids. Relay positive stories from when you were in school, in regards to teachers who went out of their way to support your learning.
• Parents can put up bulletin boards, scoring multi-choice tests, and monitoring out-of-classroom activities (Peterson, 2012, p. 88).

Lastly, I thank our teachers for their patience, intuitive, and critical-thinking skills. We are a society that aspires to be just, a society that strives not to withhold its benefits from individuals on the basis of their ethnic or racial background, skin color, religion, gender, or disability. Go forward and make a home run.

References

Kingman Daily Miner (2013, APR 28). Literacy Law will challenge third-graders. Retrieved from the Local/Arizona News.

Peterson, D. (2012, 88.). Helping Kids Succeed - Arizona Style. Retrieved from www.HelpingKids SucceedArizonaStyle.org.

Digital Learning

June 22, 2013

Summer is available time for learning

All of America needs to learn Digital Literacy. Jamie Hollier tells the reader of her article that one in five Americans, roughly 62 million people, does not use the Internet (Hollier, 2013, Jun 17). Technology changes, not enough funds to access computers, and plain explanation no interest to use the Internet are what some people use for their excuse. She also writes that digital literacy has to be seen as lifelong in order to make sure that people who traditionally been marginalized are not left behind.

She worked for two years at the Colorado State Library funded by the Recovery Act, to establish 88 public computer centers across the state. The facts are the was the Project of the year award winner, more than three million people have access to a computer and digital literacy training has been received by thirty thousand people, including library and community organization staff. Her example, a Father was embarrassed to ask his children for help. The library gave him what he asked, one-on-one digital literacy training, and shortly after he started his computer classes, he found a job. With this skill he was able to break the barriers of inequality, decreased access to education, job applications on-line instructions, health information inquiries, and social inclusion (Hollier, 2013, Jun 17).

She is truly a winner and the world will benefit from her amazing ideas. She is a White House Champion of Change and entrepreneur, consultant and a board member for the Digital Public Library of America.

This is another tool for the parents to understand what their children are saying when the children come home each day from school. Children and parents have the resources from the Internet to help them learn about their health, math tutors, attaching their practice to tools that allow them better outcomes. This is the beginning of better relationships between teachers and the school community to look at the "Big Picture". We should all want all children the best education with knowledge, skills, and the joy of each new day.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/17/unlocking-opportunities...

Identify politics

Issues and debates Blog

Many district politics and policy hurt the students it tried to protect. These are some reasons why are children are hurt:

• State monitoring
• Voting wards
• Councils controls discretionary resources at the site
• The structure of site-based management (SBM) vary widely across states and school districts. Without close analysis of intra-district equity of resources, SBM becomes a trap (Marshall & Gerstl-Pepin). A majority of the cities' 32 school boards carved their districts into fiefdoms where jobs were doled out to loyal campaign workers, lovers, and family or sold for cash (Segal 1997, p. 1).
• All of this lead to firing the superintendent and create a new board. Later shifts included alterations of voting districts, election of a new mayor, and hired a retired Army general as superintendent.
• Although these power shifts make national headlines in the big cities, they are no less dramatic when governance shifts are proposed in rural and suburban districts.

The district patterns, school leaders can re-frame district politics to build on the insights and potential social capital of once silenced and now released voices (Marshall & Gerstl-Pepin, 2005). We are still looking at frameworks to identifying the way a problem definition shapes policy, and the mechanisms that are built into policy to make people take it seriously and follow directions (Marshall & Gerstl-Pepin, 2005). Threats of punishment are cheaper than support but may result in hardening the resistance of those responsible for implementing policy or take away resources from the people who need them the most. Finally, the classifications may provide an organizer for the profusion, confusion, and complexity of local policy, as the analyst tries to predict how policy will be implemented. It is available for the policy makers to use this same system and get up close and personal with the many mechanisms still available for their use.

References

Marshall, C. & Gerstl-Pepin, C. (2005). Re-framing educational politics for social justice. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc./Allyn & Bacon.

Segal, L. (1997). The pitfalls of political decentralization and proposals for reform: The Case of New York City public schools. Public Administration Review.

Arizona Education

Quality Education

I would like to project the positive regarding some issues found in an Arizona newspaper article. For once it doe not matter where a child lives in Arizona to receive a quality education. This blog is reporting a former Intel CEO, Craig Barrett and current chairman of Gov. Brewer's Arizona Ready Education Council, we can no longer countenance our country placing 17th and 30th respectively in language and math skills behind such countries as China, South Korea, and Poland (Molera, 2013, Jan 13).

Further, for this effort to succeed, Jaime Molera reminds us there has to be a balance in the funding for K-12 grades. Arizona needs reform, otherwise any significant increases will go for naught. Without policymakers putting the Common Core into every school and each child's education; our school system will fail our students of a bright future.

The AP Environmental Science Teacher from Flagstaff High School, Jeff Taylor, agrees that anything can help our system because the rating is currently ranked at 49th place in student spending and 50th place in pupil spending, and 49th in teacher's pay.

Lastly, our state needs more educational opportunities such as media in the classroom and healthy breakfasts and lunches. Our children deserve the best and with nutrition their brain can think, absorb more of the teachers' instructions, and their body will be strong to stand tall and proud of their accomplishments.

Reference

Molera, J. (2013, Jan 13). New system will provide higher-quality education. Retrieved on June 5, 2013 from http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20130111new-system-ed...

June 2, 2013

By Terri Downer

My question today would be directed to the policy makers of the U. S. A. Education Department. Have you started a Praising chart (Johnson & Johnson, 1986). This is important because the better you feel about yourself, the more you learn (Johnson & Johnson, 1986). The best way to improve comes from within ourselves.

The funding of education by the federal government is associated with the NEA's labeling of anyone who fails as an U. S. House of Representative candidate. In 1982, these NEA positions included such issues as decriminalization of marijuana, pro-abortion, opposition to U. S. involvement in Central America, support of a complete and immediate halt in the nuclear arms race (Save Our Schools, 1988). This continues to happen today because they are the Political Action Committee (NEA-PAC) which made a Republican defeat list by means of money donations.

In my opinion, communication is the key tool to use when change is needed in the area of education. My world would be a positive image, safe environment, and everyone would receive the same information at the same time. Many times our teachers start their week off with a five-day-lesson-plan. Could an emergency cause a change in their plans? Yes, they would have the emergency as the primary problem that needed immediate attention. This is why drills are necessary to know what to do during a fire, where is your meeting place, and keeping great attendance records. The adults are accountable for the children's safety. Everyone would be achieving their best with integration of newly graduated management majors and drills that save lives by becoming second nature.

Our children and teachers need the freedom to make educational choices that create brilliant students and no follow a cookie-cutter program.

Reference

Johnson, S. & Johnson, C. (1986). The One Minute Teacher. New York, NY: Quill, William Morrow and Company, Inc. ISBN: 0688082491

Save Our Schools. (1988). Who's Ruining Our Schools? Washinton, D. C.: Save our schools research and education foundation