Little Boy

Last weekend I had the opportunity to speak to an elementary school principal. I was grilling him on all types of things education. Tenure, inclusion, the arts, bad teachers, it was all going very well. However, I was actually nervous to ask about Race To The Top because California is putting in a strong push for old Uncle Sam's wallet. This principal was already speaking pretty passionately about those other "hot topics," so I suspected this one might rile him up even more. How would RTTT affect what he does? How will his teachers adopt to a new set of standards? Is it fair to the students?

Finally, the time came. I braced myself in my chair, and got ready to jet out of there like the Enola Gay once I dropped my "little boy" - RTTT bomb. I closed my eyes, pulled the trigger, and... nothing. It was a dud. A complete DUD! Truman (or maybe Obama) is going to be so angry.

He said RTTT "bores" him. He assured me the program will not affect schools like his. This principal works at a high performing school. The students at his school score well on the STAR tests. The teachers at his school don't teach to any tests and he doesn't see RTTT policy changing any of that. He also said that because his school - and most of his district - performs fairly well when it comes to state standards he's not counting on any Race To The Top funding to ever trickle down to his school. But that doesn't mean his school couldn't use the money.

This was an interesting realization for me. This whole time I thought Race To The Top was going to radically reform education. I thought resistance was futile. I thought there would be no survivors. It would be a Brave New World! Vive la revolucion! I have a dream! I thought everything was going to change. Oh my naivete! Here's the truth - a lot of schools have a majority of students who are doing well. Other schools have a majority of students who are failing. Sadly, that's a reality that money won't fix. But please, let's not let that leave this blog because next year, I need to get PAID!

Round 2... DING! DING!

In my last entry I introduced you to Race to the The Top. I may have sounded a little biased by implying that there are going to be far more losers in this race than there will be winners. And while that might be a simple assumption, I stand by it. And, just to bury myself deeper, I believe getting an education shouldn't be about winning or losing. Learning should be about things like exploration, discovery, self improvement, and we should have fun while we do it. A high stakes multi-million dollar winner takes all environment is wonderful at a poker table, but to have found it's way to the horseshoe table during first grade reading group is just ludicrous.

However, I might be eating my words here real soon. On Tuesday July 27th, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, announced the 19 finalists for the second and FINAL round of Race to the Top. California is on that list and we all know how much California needs that cash.

Duncan has led us to believe that during this last round there could be as many as 15 winners and with a $3.4 billion pot there seems to be more than enough to go around... well, until you consider that altogether the states are asking for $6.2 billion. And then consider that if New York, Florida, and California win there might only be $1.3 billion left in the pot for the other 12 winners.

Next up in the process is the interview which will take place from August 9 - 13. Five representatives from each state will fly to DC to meet with Duncan in a last chance sales pitch. During round one these interviews proved to be of little importance as the average change was just 4.6 points on a 500 point scale!

Winners and, consequently, losers will be announced in late August or early September.

What do all races have in common?

What does a potato sack race, an egg on a spoon race, the Daytona Five Hundred, and Race to the Top all have in common? I'll tell you what... Lots, and lots and lots of losers.

If you're not familiar with the Obama Administration's Race to the Top program, I hope this blog will serve as an introduction to what it is and how it's developing.

The Race to the Top was created to "expand educational opportunities" as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In general, the goal of Race to the Top is to ambitiously reform public education. The The US Department of Education has developed a set of national standards that it hopes all 50 states will adopt and develop assessments for as they compete to win millions in funding.

All states have to do is this:

States competing for Race to the Top funds were asked to document past education reform successes, as well as outline plans to: extend reforms using college and career-ready standards and assessments; build a workforce of highly effective educators; create educational data systems to support student achievement; and turn around their lowest-performing schools.

It all sounds pretty hunky dory to me. Why wouldn't they want to win that money? Delaware has already won $100 million and Tennessee, Tennessee... Tennessee!



Sorry, that's my ADHD kicking in. Tennessee won $500 million!! Sounds like a great way to get much needed funding.

Nice work Delaware. Good job Tennessee!

As for the rest of you... Alabama! Arizona! Arkansas! California! Colorado! Connecticut! Washington D.C.! Florida! Georgia! Hawaii! Idaho! Illinois! Indiana! Iowa! Kansas! Kentucky! Louisiana! Massachusetts! Michigan! Minnesota! Missouri! Nebraska! New Hampshire! New Jersey! New Mexico! New York! North Carolina! Ohio! Oklahoma! Oregon! Pennsylvania! Rhode Island! South Dakota! Utah! Virginia! West Virginia! Wisconsin! and Wyoming! That's a lot of... well, I'll just say that all these states remind me of these guys:

Introduction

Remember Mr Do!? I do! It was one of the first computer games I ever played and it's definitely on my top 5 list of all-time greatest video games. I didn't play it at the arcade which was where most kids battled it out in the early 1980s, I played it at home on the newest Apple computer! My dad was in charge of the computer lab at his school so my brothers and I became my dad's guinea pigs as he tested out all kinds of educational software on us. While none of the programs were as fun as Mr. Do!, Summer Games, and Castle Wolfenstein, that game about westward expansion was pretty sweet. Though. . . I could never figure out which was worse, having my crush die first and feeling like the trip from there on out was totally worthless, or having my crush and I survive all the way until the end only to have everyone tease me about it... Anyway... Unfortunately for my dad, when Nintendo became available it took the place of gaming and personal computers seemed to become nothing more than fancy typewriters. So, while my gaming evolved into the 8 bit fairytale land of RBI Baseball and Super Mario Brothers 3, I continued to use Apple for word processing and illustration programs like Kid Pix. In my early teens I went online for the first time using the Prodigy network. I remember thinking how cool it was because I didn't have to pull encyclopedias off the shelf to look things up anymore. These days, I use computers to connect to the internet, and as digital file cabinets and editing tools for essays, journals, music, photos, videos, and websites. I think the only aversion I have to technology is that the newest programs are very expensive and by the time I can afford them they are usually already outdated. It makes me wish my dad hadn't retired! Anyway, speaking of outdated, the picture below is of an Apple computer that looks a lot like the first one I used. That thing was sweet.

I have been involved in education for about as long as I can remember, but I've only had to be the responsible adult for the last nine years. My first position was in an after school and summer camp program called Kids Factory. I worked there during my sophomore year of college. When I graduated from SDSU I began working in the Irvine Unified School District as a substitute teacher. I worked there for two years and did some tutoring as well. In the second year, I took a class and earned a certificate to teach English as a second language (TESOL). After two years in Irvine I moved to Quito, Ecuador, and I worked at a private inner city school teaching six, seven, and eight year old kids English. I also did tutoring during the next year and my students were anywhere from three years old to 68 years old. When I returned home from South America I found myself living in Oakland, California. For the next two years I worked in the Oakland Unified School District as a substitute teacher. I also took a job coaching a boys soccer team in nearby Berkeley. I'm really looking forward to beginning the credential program this fall so I can better articulate and understand my past experiences in education.

Below are two photos. The first is of a two of my students dressed up and ready to celebrate the Fiestas de Quito. The second picture is a view of Quito with Volcan Cotopaxi looming in the background. The picture was taken from the top floor of the school where I worked.

From my experiences I know how fun technology can be. Whether it is music and videos on ipods or web browsing and gaming on cell phones, it is truly amazing how much information we have available at our fingertips. As a teacher armed with a dry erase board and overhead projector, all that accessible information just a tap away can be difficult to compete with. I'm really interested in learning how other teachers are incorporating social networking sites, video conferencing, and blogging into their activities. Also, during this course, I hope to learn more about Microsoft Excel and how I can use this program effectively as a teacher.

Cheers!