:Our Finest Hour Arrives

I know it has been a while since I wrote on this, mainly due to lack of motivation as it is no longer a class requirement. But I just read an article from the New York Times that really bugs me, so I am motivated once again.

In the article, titled “Dorm Rooms Are Revoked Over Grades,” a student attending the State University of New York was kicked out of her dorm room for the winter semester because she only earned at 1.8 GPA the previous semester. They didn’t even give her a chance to clear out her things:

“She rushed to clear out her belongings from her room in the Woodlands residence halls, but found that her ID card would no longer open the building door.”

At least they didn’t just bag it all up and send it to the curb. The school recently began cracking down on students for poor academic achievement and kicking students out of the dorms for falling below a 2.0 GPA. But is this really something colleges should be instituting as policy? I understand that universities want to keep their numbers up so they don’t look like their slacking in their educational efforts, but it just seems like booting these students out (87 in all) is going to give them the exact opposite results they want.

Freshman year in college is a stressful time. You have gained complete independence - minus money from your parents, if you’re lucky - classes are much more intense and then when you factor in the social aspect, well, it’s terrifying. Trying to juggle all of those things, as well as a job or being on a sports team is incredibly hard when you don’t have your parents harping on you to get your homework done.

Time management was one of the first skills I attempted to master as a freshman, not quite getting it until my sophomore year. I got a 2.9 cumulative GPA my freshman year, which although lower than I was hoping for, is much better than a 1.8. Sophomore year rolled around, I changed my major and thus far I have gotten a 4.0 or damn near it.

What these schools should do is put these students on academic probation. With this, they can basically warn students, “Do better, or you’re out.” This is what Grand Valley does. I know because a friend of mine was put on academic probation his freshman year after getting 1.9 his first semester. I think this would be a much more effective solution than outright kicking them to the curb. If a student is already having problems acclimating to the college life, breaking them away from what they are just getting comfortable with can have no positive effects.

The student had this to say:

“It feels like they just want the struggling students to drop out.”

Yeah, no kidding. Think of the message the administration is sending to these students, “You’re not good enough to live here, why do you think you can succeed here?” Like I said before, I understand why measures like this are put into place, to keep the prestige of the school as high as possible, but at this point, they might as well just kick them out of school altogether.

Kevin Kruger, spokesman for National Association of Student Personnel Administrators said:

“Students living on campus have a higher academic achievement rate.”

Says who? Is there a study he knows about that I don’t? Most likely. But based on my personal experience, where you live has little to do with how well you do in class. I did horrible, by my standards, my freshman year as I said before. The very next year, when I lived off campus, I brought my grades up. I still am. And I’m still off campus. Your grades simply have to do with how much effort you put into them, not what your living arrangements are.

Another freshman, who maintained a 4.0, said this little gem:

“One thing is good about it,” Ms. Karnofsky said, “the dorms are definitely not as crowded as last semester.”

Ha. Ha. You are hilarious. Now you have more space to kick your feet up while other students are scrambling just to stay in school. Have a little compassion. Sure, college isn’t for everyone, but everyone should at least get a chance, right? Kicking someone out of the dorms is hardly my idea of giving them a fighting chance.
This whole issue really is disheartening to those who are thinking about college but just don’t know if it’s for them. If I were at all apprehensive about going to college after high school, I would definitely think a bit harder once I read an article like this one.

Article by Corey Kilgannon

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 Walter

Johnathon

Niki

Walter

Eli

Jenny

Ashley St 

Kayda 

Nathan 

Chris 

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First of all, this has honestly been one of the best assignments I have had in any class. It not only gave me a chance to write (if you call this writing), but it forced me to learn about the world around me. I suppose ‘forced’ is a strong word. Okay, this blog assignment persuaded me to read about the world and it’s problems.

I sure learned a lot this semester, not only about our wacky President, but about myself as well. My political views have become increasingly liberal as I read about some of the ridiculous things our government and the Bush administration have done. I also learned that it is okay to not have five sentences in a paragraph and that you can write informally while still being informative and analytical.

Not only that, but I have learned that blogs can actually have a use in an academic setting. It teaches you to be more aware of your surroundings as well as (attempting to) better your writing. I definitely want to use an assignment like this in my classroom, assuming school administration allows it.

Most of all, I have learned that the current administration has no idea what a successful education system looks like. Hopefully the next one does. Also, NCLB is a bad piece of legislature and our view of standardized tests really needs some refreshing.

I don’t know what else to say except that this assignment was a really good idea and don’t be surprised if I ‘borrow’ this idea for my classes.

This is only goodbye for a short while. I hope to continue this blog and keep giving my audience something to laugh about (the quality of writing, not the content).

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Well, I guess that’s kind of a lie, I have a lot to say about the subject matter of my most recent article. Yeah, it’s about NCLB. Surprised? So am I…

This one, Proposals to change and even kill off the No Child Left Behind program are stalled in Congress, written by Halimah Abdullah, comes from the Kansas City Star. Basically what the author is talking about is that Congress is being indecisive about what to do with NCLB, which is up for renewal very soon.

“There is bipartisan agreement, however, that No Child Left Behind is due for an overhaul.”

This really gets me because even though most congressmen/women want this law changed, none of them are really doing anything about it. It seems like they just want us to forget about it so they can be inactive and let it renew itself. Maybe they just don’t know how to overhaul it? I mean, the idea of having schools test student’s proficiency is a great idea. I’m all for our nation’s children to have similar curricula and actually be able to pass reading and writing tests. But when that becomes the focus of all teachers, there is a problem.

The heart of all this is standardized testing. MEAP’s, ACT’s, SAT’s - maybe there should be a test with a bunch of acronyms that students have to puzzle out. I know this blog ’sounds’ like a broken record, with my constant disdain for standardized testing, but they are hardly fair.

According the to MEAP Administrator Manual, Grades 3 - 9, Fall 2007 , students have “approximately 50 minutes, or when you think most students have had sufficient time to complete this part.” So, as the teacher, you get to decide what is a ’sufficient’ amount of time for a student to write a five-paragraph essay about a theme which they have never seen. Now, if a student feels they have not had enough time, they are allow to continue the test, though I am unsure of the stipulations behind that. I’m sure they have to be strip searched (to remove any items that could help them in this national security matter), moved to a locked room and is allowed no breaks until they finish. Well, this is certainly better than when I took it. Our class had 50 minutes exactly to brainstorm, draft and edit our papers. So, they have at least taken a step in the right direction because under pressure like that - with a reward of $2,500 for college - it is very hard to produce a 6-point essay. I’ve gotten a bit off track, but I thought it was important to highlight one of the many problems with Michigan’s prominent standardized test.

“[Teachers, school administrators, parents, etc] think the law needs significant improvements, and they are right. Unfortunately, the president couldn’t see it more differently. He thinks the law is nearly perfect.”

Of course he does. With gems like this: “Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning? –Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000,” it’s obvious that he thinks NCLB is a great idea. Besides that, it’s one of the only ‘positive’ things he has done in almost eight years.

“Education experts criticize states’ differing proficiency standards.”

This seems to be the biggest gripe with NCLB. It simply does not make all states have similar proficiency standards, just that they have some in place. So, a kid in Michigan could have more or less knowledge than a kid in Washington, but as long as they both meet their state’s standards, they are in the clear.

I just don’t understand how some of these laws are passed when they clearly don’t create equality in the American education system. I’m interested to see if Congress does anything to drastically overhaul NCLB or remove it completely. If not, hopefully the next President (Obama ftw!), can do something to make the education system just a little better.

Link to article: Proposals to change and even kill off the No Child Left Behind program are stalled in Congress by Halimah Abdullah, featured in the Kansas City Star.

This proves that I didn’t make up those words of wisdom from Dubya. (It’s number 10).

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Despite my catchy title, this post has nothing to do with chocolate treats. That’s why I wrote “More than just a candy bar.” If I misled you in any way, I now give you the opportunity to close this window and move on with your life.

If anyone ever told you not to get into education for the money, they lied to you. Oh, sure, as a teacher you don’t get much, nor as other school staff and faculty. But what about… University President? Well, with that position not only do you get a title with ‘President’ in it, but you get a nice, fat check as well.

Jonathon D. Glater wrote an interesting article in the New York Times called “Increased Compensation Puts More College Presidents in the Million-Dollar Club.”

No. You didn’t misread that. “Million-Dollar Club.” It’s there. Don’t believe me? Look up. It’s still there.

“Presidents at 12 private universities received more than $1 million in the 2005-6 school year [and] the number of private college presidents earning more than $500,000 reached 81, up from 70 a year earlier and just three a decade ago.

So in 1997, three college presidents earned over a million dollars a year and now 81. If that stays on track, maybe there will be a “Five Million-Dollar Club” when my kids are in college.

Maybe this is why tuition is just shy of 32 grand a semester to attend Harvard. Maybe not. I have a feeling, however, that there are other reasons for that. I base that simply on the fact that Ohio State University’s President, E. Gordon Gee, makes over a million a year and tuition at OSU is just below 9,000 for three quarters (roughly nine months). So, why are these guys getting paid so damn much?

“John W. Curtis, director of research and public policy at the American Association of University Professors, said rising pay to presidents was consistent with a “corporate mindset” at colleges, reflecting “the idea that you have a single person who essentially is running the place.”

I had this idea back during my freshman year. I got into a debate with a professor that colleges are essentially businesses. He wouldn’t have anything to do with it. I pointed out that the college makes a product (students), ’sells’ them to companies (giving us degrees, using campus career center’s to find jobs) and then they reap the benefits of ’selling’ great product (if a student from Grand Valley starts a new job and does well, the boss may get the idea that Grand Valley makes fine employees, maybe leading to a contribution or simply praising the school’s successful students, increasing the school’s prestige). So, how is that not a business? Thanks, John W. Curtis for essentially backing me up.

This is far from over. There are always two sides to a story…

“But officials at high-pay institutions defend the salaries, saying they result from intense competition to hold onto talented executives necessary to help build institutional wealth and prestige. They say that running a large university is increasingly similar to running a corporation.”

Intense competition, eh? I think the phrase that should be there is “university president’s greed.” Did I go too far? These presidents - yes, I’m generalizing - have lost vision of what these universities are all about. They aren’t about being able to buy a 12-room mansion or drive a BMW, they’re about raising the future Presidents, CEOs, teachers, doctors, engineers, etc, etc. Why do they need to get paid absurd amounts just to do that? Maybe because many CEOs and Presidents of successful companies get big checks.

I forgot, how are colleges not businesses?

I did a little bit more researching and found that our very own Grand Valley State University President Thomas J. Haas collects a modest 185,000-dollars annually.

If my tuition goes up 10%, or whatever else ridiculous percentage, every year it should be used towards technology on campus, upkeep on buildings, giving me everything I need to learn successfully. And if that’s what it’s being used for, then I’m a happy product. If, however, it is so my university President can sail around the world in a gold-plated zeppelin, we may have a problem.

Link to Article: “Increased Compensation Puts More College Presidents in the Million-Dollar Club” written by Jonathon Glater, New York Times

These are simply to prove that I didn’t make any numbers up about tuitions or salaries.

Harvard University tuition information

Ohio State University tuition information

Thomas J. Haas salary information

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Here is my second set of comments. As of posting this, two of my comments had not yet posted on their pages, but I promise I did them.

Walter

Eli

Jenny

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I think I understand this assignment well enough, so here goes.

I read an article in the Washington Post (which is increasingly becoming my favorite news source) about Janet Dudley-Eshbach, the president of Sailsbury University in Maryland. Apparently, she put some pictures from a recent vacation with her daughter on her Facebook profile. What she did not realize is that people were scrutinizing her profile and found two of her pictures to be offensive.

“…one of [the pictures] showed her brandishing a stick before a Mexican man with a caption saying she had to “beat off the Mexicans because they were constantly flirting with my daughter.” The other photo of a male tapir, a pig-like animal, commented on the animal’s ample genitalia.”

She said that she did not fully understand how Facebook works and thought only her friends and family could see the pictures when, in fact, everyone in the Salisbury area could see them.

First of all, this story is absolutely ridiculous. How this even makes on to a news site seems absurd. People have public and private lives and they should remain separate. I do understand that people in the public eye should take more precaution in the kinds of things they make public, but this is just sillyness. She was not being racist, she didn’t say that because they were Mexican they were flirting with her daughter, simply that it was Mexicans that were doing so. Along with that, penis jokes and toilet humor, while not suitable for public office are usually quite funny - even as adults. Maybe I’m just immature; crazier things have happened. However, I think people need to lighten up a bit when it comes to situations like this.

The final line of this article really makes me laugh. After being asked whether or not she would return to Mexico and visit Enrique - their tour guide - she replied

“We intend to take him out to dinner and visit him,” she said. “Maybe leave the camera at home.”

This writer seems to ironically poke fun at himself for writing this article. Even he seems to think this whole story is a bit of a joke. I wouldn’t really say this is bias in the media, rather the media even realizes that they are reporting stories that really don’t seem to be necessary.

Well, I attempted to fulfill the requirements of this assignment, though I’m not sure if I did. Oh well, it’s what I got.

Link to Article; “President Apologizes for Questionable Photos” by Nelson Hernandez in the Washington Post

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Not just a regular nutshell however, something larger, perhaps a coconut shell.

Also, I do realize it has been quite a while since this conference took place, but I am an excellent note taker and diligent listener, so no information has been lost.

Kathy Yancy’s keynote address was intriguing and the subject matter very important, especially for older teachers. Her focusing on technology as the future of teaching is a great step, but implementation is most important.

In high school, the most technologically advanced any of my teachers ever got was using PowerPoint. And, it wasn’t even a cool use of PowerPoint, just slide after slide of text - text which was taken straight from our textbook. More like PowerPointless (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist). Anyhow, part of using technology of the 21st century has to do with being able to use it effectively. Teachers have to be taught how to use different software and then decide which would go best with lessons.

The reason I said this address was most important for older teachers is simply this: my generation of future teachers grew up with technology. We grew up with computers and CD players and we saw them advance every step of the way. So, for me to use PowerPoint effectively and my old high school teachers to use it are two extremes.

Another thing she mentioned was the plethora of ways for people to communicate with one another. No longer do we have telephones as our key communicative tool. The instant gratification of an email - or even quicker, Instant Messaging - our world is so much more interactive. Shoot, I use IM more than anything else. It’s perfect for catching up with friends who live 100 miles away. But, those tools can be used for more professional development. Imagine a classroom that meets during the day but also, every night, your teacher sets up a chat room and for an hour there is a Q & A session about that day’s homework. That would be fantastic.

From Yancy’s keynote address alone, I can sense that the classroom in 20 years will look and act much differently than today’s room.

The first session I went to was aimed at future teachers and was hosted by Jill Van Antwerp, a professor from our very own Grand Valley. She had all sorts of tips for new teachers, basically telling us that the first few years will - for the lack of a better word - suck. The best piece of information she gave us was, “Hang on! It will get better.” Immediately after, she tells the room that half of us will no longer be teacher after five years because of the incredible burn out rate.

Honestly though, I didn’t feel as though I had learned anything from her. She said the same kinds of things that I have heard before, either from other teachers, family and news articles. For me, it wasn’t worth going to, but there were many around me that gained valuable information, I’m sure.

The second, and much more interesting, session I went to was by Maja Wilson, a teacher in the Ludington school system. Her biggest gripe was about rubrics and using them to objectively grade subjective writing and how that is impossible simply by definition.

The way she grades papers is a very drawn out process. She has them do drafts and then they meet for a one on one conference. In that conference she constructively criticizes their writing, giving them hints and techniques to further edit their writing.

She used a story about a kid in one of her colleague’s classes that killed himself after taking the MEAP because of the subject matter of the essay. Her use of that story was obviously for shock value, but it felt very out of place.

Edit:(That said, she wasn’t saying it was the test, I see now that I failed to make that distinction. Her use of that story was to show how distant the MEAP test actually is - it doesn’t know, chat with, or care for students like a teacher does, it simply gauges how students are doing. The reason for this edit was because I got a comment from Maja Wilson shortly after I posted this. I checked my email and saw that someone named ‘Maja’ commented on this post and I instantly thought, “Oh s***, I said something offensive and now I look like an a**hole.” That is partially the case because after reading her comment and re-reading my post I realized that I had left some things unclear and my writing (in)ability may have put words in her mouth. Maja Wilson, I am sorry if I portrayed you or your ideas unclearly/unfairly. Oh, and thanks for reading and responding, it makes me feel like I have a real audience :))

The subject (of the MEAP, in case you had forgotten after reading that edit) was to write about friends and apparently this kid had none, literally. The way she tied this story into her lecture was that we shouldn’t confine student’s creativity and that there should never be certain subjects used in writing. She was trying to demonstrate the lack of intimacy in the MEAP and it’s grading process. The graders are to look at a rubric and then read a paper. Once done, they think about the 5-point scale and seemingly arbitrarily assign a number to that essay. That person just decided whether that student gets money to go to college or not.

Mrs. Wilson and myself share one very meaningful thing in common - contempt for the standardized testing scene. In that sense, I did like her and she was a relatively good public speaker, so that made it even easier to listen to her.

Her final note was to make our students engaged in writing, let them write about something in which they are passionate and soon they will love to write.

All in all, I had a fantastic time at the MCTE and look forward to going to another conference much like that.

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It’s a sad truth, but truth nonetheless. In our modern day, money is the primary motivator for just about anything. If you do well on the MEAP, you get money; if you do well on an essay-based scholarship contest, you get money; if your school football team wins 4 national championships in 5 years, you get an absurd amount of money. Rewards are something we come to expect in our culture since we are raised on an award-based system. If we do something good, we get something good, if we do something bad, we get something bad (or perhaps worse, nothing.)

So, when I read an article by Jay Mathews in the Washington Post called N.Y. Student Can Take AP Scores to the Bank, I was very excited by the news. The meat of the article is:

“In March, a group of educators and business executives called the National Math and Science Initiative said they planned to pay $250 for every AP passing score (3 or higher on the 5-point scale) in science, English and math at participating schools.”

This is absolutely fantastic! I’m surprised it took so long for them to implement this in the first place. I mean, in Michigan you get money for doing well on the MEAP, so we can only hope that within the next decade, the same will be true for AP tests. This is especially great for those low-income students who are already pulling out their pockets and looking under couch cushions just to write a tuition check.

As I said, money is a great motivator. Not only will this program reward students for doing well, but I have a feeling that over the next five years, the average AP exam scores are going to be on the rise in New York.

I took a few AP courses in high school (Chemistry and Calculus) and I also took an AP test for American Government even though our school did not offer an AP American Government course. I got a two on all of those exams. My only motivator was that if I passed, I could get college credit which, now that I think about it more closely, basically is money. However, my immediate ‘prize’ for doing well on those was not $250 a point. If I had that in the back of my mind, I may have tried just that much more to get another point on those exams.

Anyone who (whom? bah, screw grammar!) can get the full $1,000 for a five point score certainly deserves it; those tests are hard as hell.

It doesn’t stop there. The students aren’t the only ones with a monetary motivator.

“Organizers in New York said they will give money not only to students who get good grades on AP tests but also to the students’ schools and school administrators. They said they would be happy to reward AP teachers if their union allows merit pay, an issue being negotiated.”

Oh, boy! If I were a teacher in this district, I would work my ass off to make sure my students understood every little detail about the subject I teach. If they do good, they get money and I get money. Win-win…-win (Thanks, Michael Scott)

This is great because being a teacher is already hard work (from what I have observed) and teaching an AP course is definitely not easier. So for all the extra effort AP teachers put in, they get a little bonus at the end of the year.

My only question is this: why is this limited to New York? Why can’t this spread like wildfire through the nation? There is absolutely no reason that this can’t be implemented into all districts. You say there is? Ah, yes, money. To give money out, there needs to be a pool of money to take it from.

I’ve stated before my frustration with the lack of funding in education, but I really think this reward system should be implemented. Perhaps the Bill Gates’ or countless over-paid celebrities of the United States could donate 5% of their net worth (for Gates, still a number in the billions) and then some of this funding crisis could be averted. At the same time, while this may work, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure proper funding, not private citizens.

I’m getting off track, which means it’s time to stop. My final word of advice to those high schoolers that will never read this: do well on your AP exams and standardized tests; when you look at that Scantron, think of it as a ream of hundreds, recently minted and stapled together for your convenience.

Link to Article; “N.Y. Students Can Take AP Scores to the Bank” by Jay Mathews in the Washington Post

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*Kind of.

President Bush just signed a bill that was very well accepted in both the House and the Senate that will gradually reduce the interest on federally subsidized student loans. According to the Washington Post’s Ian Shapira, it “is being likened to the G.I. Bill.” Awesome. It only took 63 years for Congress to sign another bill that helps college students. At this rate, perhaps my children’s children’s children’s children may have a bill passed that gives them free notebooks when they attend a university. I can only hope.

” [The College Cost Reduction and Access Act] will gradually reduce interest rates on federally subsidized loans for low-income students to 3.4 percent over five years. The law will also offer loan forgiveness for those who have held public service jobs for 10 years and will cap payments on federal loans at a certain percentage of a college graduate’s income.”

You read that correctly. The name of this new legislation is ‘The College Reduction and Access Act.’ I’m beginning to think that Washington thinks that if they have a catchy title people will not pay attention to the fine print. *cough* NCLB *cough*

Seriously though, this is great. For some. Notice it says “low-income” students. Does that mean the student has a low-income (as almost all do) or they come from a low-income family? I assume they mean they come from a low-income family. The problem with this is that it discriminates against students such as myself. I would say I come from a middle to high-income family, my dad being a head engineer at Domino’s Pizza (yes, even a pizza company - with delicious pizza - needs an extensive crew of programmers. How else would they get that fancy website?). However, I pay most of my own bills relating to school, minus a generous check from my parents. (Thanks guys!) Scratch that, my student loans pay for my school bills. Which, in turn, will be paid back by me once the amount has doubled thanks to interest.

Luckily for me, I am going to be a teacher. So, while I get screwed by the low-income bit, the part about working in public service for 10 years or more might as well be the name of my non-existent yacht.

Of course, with every bit of good G.W. does, he has to do some bad.

“But as Bush signed the bill, he suggested that it is not perfect. “This bill makes some spending commitments that aren’t paid for yet, and I look forward to working with the Congress to ensure Pell Grant increases that are not fully funded in this bill are paid for with offsets in other areas.”

So, while he wants to give more students the chance to attend college, he also intends to take this money from somewhere else.

Where could he take it from?

Could he take it from the 532.8 billion dollar military budget? No. That would take away from our ability to bomb the crap out of some place that 90% of Americans can’t even pronounce. My best guess is that he will take money from something already starving for money, say, the public education system. I mean, all teachers are way overpaid, right? And they have unions. What a bunch of jerks for having the simple task of raising the country’s youth and asking for a little job security.

All that said, I am quite looking forward to some drop in interest rates. Unfortunately for me, I will not feel the full effects of this act simply because I hope to graduate within the next two years. I am definitely going to keep an eye on this issue to see where the money comes from to support poor (read: all) college students.

Article: Bush Signs Sweeping Student Loan Bill Into Law, Adding an Asterisk by Ian Shapira, featured in the Washington Post

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