On Student Assessment And Accountability - State Of Michigan: Fill & Download for Free

There is a flaw in the system.Back in the old days, this flaw did not exist. High schools existed to teach students, but students were free to come and go effectively as they wished. There were no graduation requirements as such, and many students didn’t graduate. This was not seen as necessarily a bad thing. My grandfather only finished the 8th grade, and then went to work. This was seen (at the time) as a relatively normal thing to do. Lots of other kids did it, especially boys. My grandmother finished high school, which again wasn’t that abnormal at the time, but had she dropped out, the school likely wouldn’t have cared that much. Neither would her parents. I am not advocating for dropping out of high school - I’m simply relaying the history of high school.Then things changed.Look at this article:Michigan's high school graduation rate increases for fourth straight year, now at 78.58 percentWow! High school graduation rates continue to improve. Look at those happy graduates, tossing their caps in jubilation.You can see the data more clearly here:https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012006.pdfGraduation rates continue to climb, little by little, nearly every year. It’s as if we’ve found the secret to making sure everyone learns. How could anyone be opposed to that?There is, however, an open secret lurking in the halls of every high school in America. Not all diplomas are created equal. We are graduating a small but non-zero number of students who cannot read, or do simple math, or perform the kinds of tasks required to get a job.There’s a relatively new term to describe what’s at play here: Misaligned Incentives. Starting around 30 years ago (depending on the state), high schools (and later school districts) started being graded based on their graduation rates. Schools with higher graduation rates were assumed to be better (somehow) than those with lower graduation rates.There’s the misaligned incentive. The purpose of school is, of course, to educate. But the presence of this grading of schools (and, later, the attachment of funding, or even the ability to continue to operate, to that grade) pushed schools away from honestly educating and evaluating and toward dishonestly graduating everyone.The proof is incredibly easy to find.Here are two graphs showing the graduation rates of two high schools near me:High School A:High School B:I got this data from The State of Michigan’s website. As you can see, there’s some fluctuation going on here, but both schools seem to be doing a pretty good job. You would probably feel quite good about sending your child to either of these schools.The average SAT score in District A is 23rd percentile. For District B, it is 50th percentile.So, armed with what you know, what do you think of the SAT scores at this school:Would you believe me if I told you they were in the 90th percentile?Now, what if I told you they were in the 9th percentile?The correct answer? 9th.How on Earth can a school have test scores very nearly at the bottom (only 8% of schools did worse, on average), but graduation rates far in excess of 90% (and higher than schools with vastly superior scores)?The misaligned incentive rears its ugly head.The school on the bottom was in danger of being taken over by the state. Michigan uses a complex formula that takes into account things like test scores, attendance, facilities, and (of course) graduation rate. Since the test scores at this school were very low, the formula would normally have given the school a grade low enough to get it taken over by the state.But, if the graduation rate were high enough…the score could be inflated such that the school wasn’t closed…Thanks to the way the state does its math, this approach can only be used for 5 years. If you have low enough test scores for 5 straight years, the state can come in and assume control.The school on the bottom “closed” at the end of the 2015–2016 school year. It has reopened, on the same campus, but with a new name. 5 new years of operation purchased with misaligned incentives.Today, in Michigan and many other states, districts are funded based (at least in part) on their graduation rates. Graduate many and the school gets money. Graduate few and the school gets closed or taken over or underfunded or any number of other negative outcomes.Of course, if you really wanted to improve that school, you’d probably increase funding to low-performing schools rather than decrease it. But, misaligned incentives reign supreme here.About 5 years ago, I received a lower mark on “assessment” on one of my evaluations. This is odd, considering I’d been employed by the county to write assessments:http://www.elmwoodparkschools.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=4693017So, I asked what was going on. The response?“We’re concerned you’re failing too many kids.”I replied, “How many kids should I be failing?”“Oh no, it’s not like that. It’s not a hard number or anything…”“Clearly it is. What’s the line?”“Look, it’s not a line, it’s more of a suggestion, really…”“OK, what’s the suggestion?”“Well, it raises a red flag if more than 25% of your students aren’t passing.”I went back to my room and calculated my failure rate. 25.9%. At that time I’d been teaching for over 10 years, and I’d never bothered to calculate this, or even really think about it.Then, the public shaming started. Teachers’ failure rates were distributed (anonymously, but it was really easy to figure out) at meetings. Later, the names were included. High failure rates were directly equated with poor teaching.And then, people started getting fired or pushed to part time.Miraculously, my failure rate steadily declined and has stayed quite low ever since. It’s as if I’ve found the secret to making sure everyone learns.So long as schools are judged on their graduation rates, irrespective of the students they serve, this perverse twisting of how a school functions will flourish. In many low-performing schools across this country, it’s nearly impossible to not graduate.That is why functionally illiterate students are allowed to graduate.

I decided to vote for Warren after the second or third debate when it became apparent to me that Beto O’Rourke was simply not ready for the big stage, and that the things that made him a great candidate in his Senate race simply did not translate into making him a good Presidential candidate. At that time, I began looking at each candidate’s qualifications, plans, policy positions and character in detail.Choosing a presidential candidate can be a difficult thing. Often we connect with someone emotionally as I did early on with Beto, based on how impressed I was with the way he conducted himself on the campaign trail during his Senate run. But “I like them” is typically a poor answer when asked why you support someone, especially for the highest office in the land. Unfortunately for many people it often comes down to that.I evaluate a candidate on 4 main criteria.Qualifications — What skills, experience, education, or demonstrated knowledge do they have that makes them qualified for the office?Policy Positions — What statements have they made, or how have they voted to indicate what their position is on various political policies, and how does that align with my beliefs on those positions? To help with this, you can go to Candidates on the Issues and look up any US politician, and see a collection of all their public statements and their voting record on a wide array of issues. Looking through each candidate’s On The Issues profile will help you decide who most aligns with your own values.Plans — What have they published about what they plan to do if elected, how detailed and realistic are those plans, and do I agree that what they plan to do should be done?Character — This is a judgment call that we make, and it often does get to your feeling about an individual: What is your assessment of their Character? Do you question their integrity, do they seem to be a person of strong moral conviction? Are they the type of person you believe can be trusted with the power we entrust to the President of the United States? What do we know about them, about their past, that indicates how they will behave if we entrust them with the power of the office of the President of the United States? Do they seem like a hard worker? Do they seem to be in it for themselves, or do they seem to have a genuine desire to serve their nation? What is it that drives them?So. Let’s Look at why I came to the decision to vote for Elizabeth Warren.1.) QualificationsI believe Warren is not only the most qualified candidate running for President in this election, I consider her to be the most qualified candidate I can remember examining since George H. W. Bush.Elizabeth Warren was born in Oklahoma City in 1949, daughter of a Montgomery Ward salesman. After a heart attack led to heavy medical bills and the loss of his sales job, he became a maintenance man for an apartment building. To help with finances her mother found work with Sears, and Warren herself started waiting tables a the age of 13 at her aunt’s restaurant to help with the bills. These early struggles led to her interest later in life in consumer bankruptcy law.A lifelong Republican, she switched party affiliations and became a Democrat in 1996. A High School Debate team star, she was awarded a debate scholarship to George Washington University at the age of 16. She attended with the goal of becoming a teacher, but left school after 2 years to marry her high school sweetheart. After moving with him to Houston Tx, she finished her degree at the University of Houston in speech pathology and audiology and became a teacher. A job transfer led to a move to New Jersey, and the birth of her daughter led her to stay home to take care of Amelia. When her daughter turned 2, Warren enrolled in Rutgers Law School, and earned her J.D. in 1976. She divorced and 2 years later married her current husband.Soon after began a brilliant academic career spanning several decades, and work with prestigious schools such as Rutgers University, The University of Texas, and the University of Michigan. She has been a full professor at the University of Houston, The University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University.She is one of the foremost experts in the United States on the subject of Consumer Bankruptcy law and has written five and co-authored six books, including several Bankruptcy Law Textbooks which are still used today by major universities around the US.She began government service in 1996, first as an advisor to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, and worked as a member of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion. Her advisory work was instrumental in establishing the Consumer Finacial Protection Bureau. In September 2010, Obama named Warren Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB to set up the new agency.In 2012, Warren ran for her election to the US Senate in Massachusetts and defeated incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown. She has served onCommittee on Armed ServicesSubcommittee on AirlandSubcommittee on PersonnelSubcommittee on Strategic ForcesCommittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban AffairsSubcommittee on Economic PolicySubcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection (ranking member)Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and InvestmentCommittee on Health, Education, Labor and PensionsSubcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement SecuritySpecial Committee on Aging2.) Policy Positions: Elizabeth Warren on the IssuesAfter growing up in a Republican household and spending most of her life as a Republican, Warren’s political views have shifted over her lifetime to become significantly more liberal. She is currently the most progressive candidate in the race aside from Bernie Sanders.She fully supports Medicare for all, and as one of the foremost experts on Consumer Bankruptcy in the US, knows better than anyone that the foremost cause of Consumer Bankruptcy in the US is medical debt. She proposes a 4-year transition away from For-Profit Insurance to a Single-Payer Solution.She describes herself as a “Hard Core Capitalist,” a firm believer in Keynesian Economics, the demand side focused economics philosophy that focuses on using active government policy to manage aggregate demand in order to address or prevent economic recessions.She favors a wealth tax on fortunes over $50 million dollars as a way to address Income inequality and generate enough revenue to manage government programs needed to support lower-income Americans on a path to better education, opportunity, and financial stability.She strongly favors investments in green energy to address the Climate Crisis. She sees green energy as the greatest path to American Job Growth we have. She would require green technology be built by American union jobs. She strongly supports Unions, wants to make it easier for workers to organize, and has been fighting to raise the minimum wage since she began work in Government.She supports Criminal Justice Reform, believes that Marijuana should be legalized at both Federal and state levels, and supports the Marijuana Justice Act to decriminalize pot and expunge the records of non-violent pot offenders.She is highly supportive of avoiding Foreign entanglements, wants a quick and effective exit from the middle east, especially “Get out of Afganistan as quickly as possible,” supports nonintervention in Yemen, and opposes further military expansion.Sen. Warren supports immigration reform, strongly supports the DREAM act, and wants to fix the “man-made” crisis at the border, not “Stir it up.”She does not support open borders, saying as late as July 2019: ‘We need border security but must live by our values.”3.) Plans:Of the things that I find impressive about Sen. Warren, the thing that draws the most attention and the thing most of her supporters cite when asked about why they support her is how complete and fully articulated her plans are. One of her Primary Campaign slogans, though unofficial, is “I have a plan for that.”You can read about all her plans here: Plans | Elizabeth WarrenOr piece by piece, how she means to deal with health care: Health Care Is A Basic Human Right | Elizabeth Warren How EXACTLY she plans to transition to that My First Term Plan for Reducing Health Care Costs in America | Elizabeth WarrenHow she intends to Pay for all the things she wants to do for America Ultra-Millionaire Tax | Elizabeth WarrenHow she intends to deal with Climate Change Tackling the Climate Crisis Head On | Elizabeth WarrenWhat she plans to do about Student Loan Debt, and what she really thinks about it as a foremost expert on consumer Bankruptcy My Plan to Cancel Student Loan Debt on Day One of My Presidency | Elizabeth WarrenHer plans on Immigration reform A Fair and Welcoming Immigration System | Elizabeth WarrenHer plans to reform the Criminal Justice system and get rid of For-Profit Prisons Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform | Elizabeth WarrenHow to defend and Create American Jobs Defend & Create American Jobs | Elizabeth WarrenHow to address not just unemployment, but stagnant wages Empowering American Workers and Raising Wages | Elizabeth WarrenHow to fight digital disinformation Fighting Digital Disinformation | Elizabeth WarrenHow to end the Opioid Crisis Ending the Opioid Crisis | Elizabeth WarrenHow to get big money out of politics Getting Big Money Out of Politics | Elizabeth WarrenHow to help Family Farmers A New Farm Economy | Elizabeth WarrenHow to Address Problems with Trade A New Approach to Trade | Elizabeth WarrenWhat she plans for America on the World Stage Foreign Policy | Elizabeth WarrenGO to the original link. There you will find a list of all the things she plans to do. I doubt you will leave that page with any questions about what she intends to do, or how she intends to do it.4.) Character.The more I hear Elizabeth Warren Speak, the more I hear how heartfelt and passionate she is about her ideas on how to move America forward in such a way that all Americans have the kind of chance that is America’s promise. I see a woman out working her tail off on the campaign trail, not stopping the selfie line until the last person who wants a picture with her has one. I see someone trying her hardest to keep the conversation on what it is she wants to accomplish it an how she intends to do it.The biggest knock the right has on Warren is the contention that she claimed Native American Heritage when applying for academic jobs to give herself an unfair advantage. Warren grew up in a family with native lore. In other words, she was always told she had native ancestry. A DNA test showed that while it is true that she did have some native ancestry, it was not very much and was in the distant past. Opponents use this to question her integrity and suggest dishonesty. I see it differently. If you say something that is not true, it is only a lie if you are aware it is untrue when you say it. There’s a big difference between pretending Native heritage just to gain an advantage and marking a checkbox on an employment application because you’ve always been told that you fit that definition.An extensive investigation by the Boston Globe concluded that her reported ethnicity played no role in her rise in the academic legal profession. Ethnicity not a factor in Elizabeth Warren’s rise in law - The Boston Globe In 2019, according to the Wikipedia article:Warren responded in part, "I am not a person of color; I am not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes, and only tribes, determine tribal citizenship, and I respect that difference." [157]She later reached out to leadership of the Cherokee Nation to apologize "for furthering confusion over issues of tribal sovereignty and citizenship and for any harm her announcement caused". Cherokee Nation executive director of communications Julie Hubbard said that Warren understands "that being a Cherokee Nation tribal citizen is rooted in centuries of culture and laws not through DNA tests." [158]Warren apologized again in August 2019 before the Native American Forum in IowaConsider this. Have you ever heard Donald Trump apologize for anything he was ever wrong about? If you ask me, her ability to reflect, to look at something like this from the past, and not dig in claiming that the DNA test had ‘Vindicated” her, but instead to accept accountability and apologize, I think is a very important indication of strong character.Consider this too. Go back and look at her plans, how carefully thought through and comprehensive they are. If all they have for her at the end of the day is “Pocahontas,” they’re in DEEP, DEEP trouble.In Conclusion:There you have it. That's why I’m supporting Elizabeth Warren for President. It’s why I think you shouldI ask you not to take my word for it.Go out, look, read. Do the same research I’ve laid out here on the other candidates. Apply the same test to Donald Trump, it may be that he’s the candidate that most aligns with your views, and guess what? I don’t agree with you, but THAT’S OK!!!!Just because we don’t agree doesn’t mean we aren’t on the same side.

The short list.Define “Refugee and Asylum” as opposed to economic migrants looking for welfare states.To those that wish to use “seeking asylum and refugee” in place of “US American taxpayer government benefit seeking illegal immigrant”…U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) define a refugee as someone who is outside of his or her homeland, and has been persecuted in his or her homeland or has a well-founded fear of persecution there on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Political asylum is for someone already in the United States, and protects an individual from removal to a country of feared persecution.According to the US American Government Agencies, independent aid groups, and the Democrat Party, the vast majority of the immigrant asylum seekers on the US American southern border are currently from Central America’s Northern Triangle region (Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador). They are claiming asylum based on violence. People perusing economic and social migration are not refugees seeking asylum (read above) , there is no immediate cause to enter the US America for protection from persecution. In their home country (not at the border) they may complete the paperwork, get in the queue, go through the process, and enter the US America if they meet the requirements. The claim of violence and persecution in their home county is cause for immediate action, border holding, legal hearing, and economic assistance. However,Four cities in the United States are counted the among the world's most dangerous. The cities are, in descending order of homicide rates, St. Louis, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, New Orleans, Louisiana and Detroit, Michigan. More dangerous than the major cities the asylum seekers come from, San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and San Salvador, El Salvador.So the question we the world is asking, how does the US America tell a mother of murdered child in one of those cities that the US America is more interested in these refugees, than the children in her city? It would appear that these Democrat Party run cities should be more concerned with the death and violence within the US American borders, then a photo opportunity of a “family” with no documentation that they are even related. In Logan Airport I viewed these families detention centers on the television; however, no mention or pictures of the violence and murder in St. Louis, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, New Orleans, Louisiana or Detroit, Michigan. (I lived in the Detroit area, abject poverty and crime, where is the outcry?) It is beyond comprehension that US American children are second to these so-called refugee seekers.Consider Environmental and Climate EffectsTo those that wish to ring the political bell of Environmental Protection and Climate Change.Ironically, the politicians, and their visionless followers, that are pushing for increasing the population of the US America through mass “indiscriminate” immigration are the environmental and climate change alarmist. Currently the US American has less than 5% of the world’s population and uses about 23% of the world’s energy. Welcoming people from third world countries, or developing countries, that are presently living at “subsistence level” introduces them to US American “Conspicuous Consumption”; this is a multiplier of said claimed environmental and climate change factors. Bestowing them with the US American “Liberal Humane Rights” to automobiles, modern housing, air conditioning, refrigerators, an array of non-necessary electric appliances, and consumables purchasing power (Government EBT card) is clearly a negative effect on the environment.The US America has many environmental concerns that are proportional to population.• Fresh Water Supplies: west and southwestern part of the county, or… Flint Mi?• Increased Household Waste: US America produced 254 million tons of garbage in 2017.• Automotive and Household Emissions: greenhouse gasses, carbon footprint, particulate, etc.• Wildlife Encroachment, Soil Degradation, Deforestation, Loss of BiodiversityConsider the US American Spending on Education and HealthcareAdding more people to high-cost low performing taxpayer supported programs?The US America spent 7.3 percent of its gross domestic product on education, compared with the 6.3 percent average of other OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. The most recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results, from 2015, placed the US America at an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the US America ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.Increasing the number of indigent non-English speaking illegal immigrant children is a burden on an education system that already spends the most, and ranks low. Why not concentrate on the US American children of the taxpaying citizens. Remember, it was taxpayer’s money that built the schools, bought the busses, pays the teachers, and paid to create US American educational system as it exist today.The WHO (World Health Organization) U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37. The US America spends around $8,700 per capita each year on health care, more than double the OECD average and well more than second place Switzerland.Hispanic immigrants are an increasing portion of the US population and are at increased risk for some infections that are unusual in the US-born population. Such diseases as tuberculosis, neurocysticercosis, brucellosis, typhoid fever, amebiasis, viral exanthems, and hepatitis (Journal of Clinical Infectious Disease). Indiscriminate Immigration spreads antibiotic resistance diseases and has contributed to the resurgence of once eliminated diseases. We know this in Europe were drug-resistant bacteria found in 25% of migrants to Europe (University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy).Increasing the number of indigent illegal immigrant children is a burden on the healthcare system that already spends the most, and ranks low. How many of the southern border illegal immigrants have a health insurance card? I have one when I enter the US America. Why not concentrate on lowering cost and improving the healthcare and US American of the taxpaying citizens. Remember, it was taxpayer’s money that built most of the hospitals, clinics, subsidize these institutions, pay to educate the healthcare professionals, and paid to create US American healthcare system as it exist today.These immigrants (opportunist) are immediately placed on Medicaid. Someone pays for Medicaid, many US Americans do not realize the US American Government has no money, it has the money the taxpaying fraction pays in taxes, and what it borrows (Definition, Borrow: take and use (something that belongs to someone else) with the intention of returning it.), again the tax paying citizens have the burden of paying it back.Humm… I wonder how President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton?