A recent fact sheet from FairTest challenges some of the myths about the coming Common Core tests: http://fairtest.org/common-core-assessments-factsheet
Myth: Common Core tests will be much better than current exams, with many items measuring higher-order skills. Reality: New tests will largely consist of the same old, multiple-choice questions. Proponents initially hyped new assessments that they said would measure – and help teachers promote – critical thinking. In fact, the exams will remain predominantly multiple choice. Heavy reliance on such items continues to promote rote teaching and learning. Assessments will generally include just one session of short performance tasks per subject. Some short-answer and “essay” questions will appear, just as on many current state tests... The prominent Gordon Commission of measurement and education experts concluded Common Core tests are currently “far from what is ultimately needed for either accountability or classroom instructional improvement purposes” (Gordon Commission, 2013).
Jesse Hagopian, a teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle, will describe how he and his colleagues decided to embark on a risky boycott of a mandated standardized test that was to be used as part of their evaluations, how they gained national support, and how they won. Here's an interview with Jesse from Democracy Now!http://www.democracynow.org/2013/5/20/seattle_teachers_students_win_historic_victory. As the Garfield teachers wrote in their boycott statement:
"We are not troublemakers nor do we want to impede the high functioning of our school. We are professionals who care deeply about our students and cannot continue to participate in a practice that harms our school and our students. We want to be able to identify student growth and determine if our practice supports student learning. We wish to be evaluated in a way so that we can continue to improve our practice. The MAP test is not the way to do any of these things. We feel strongly that we must decline to give the MAP test even one more time."
Hope you can join us to hear from Monty, Jesse, and our other amazing panelists tomorrow night!
Sponsored by Progressive Educators for Action, Coalition for Educational Justice, The Schools LA Students Deserve Coalition, Politics and Pedagogy Collective, and the Union Power Coalition.
An event with both FairTest's Monty Neill, and MAP boycott organizer Jesse Hagopian? Yes!
Source: money.ca.msn.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013 (Reuters) - Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co (HBC) is close to buying U.S. luxury department store Saks Inc , according to a media report. ...
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been invited to resume peace talks in Washington on Monday and Tuesday, the US state department said, after a break of nearly three years.
The latest diplomatic push follows months of intense shuttle diplomacy by US secretary of state John Kerry who said a week ago the groundwork had been laid for a breakthrough, while setting no specific date for talks to restart.
"Today Kerry spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and personally extended an invitation to send senior negotiating teams to Washington to formally resume direct final status negotiations," state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.
"Initial meetings are planned for the evening of Monday July 29 and Tuesday July 30," she said.
Nabil Abu Rdaineh, a senior aide to Abbas, who was in Amman, said the Palestinian leader had received Kerry's invitation there from the US ambassador to Jordan and that his negotiating team would be in Washington on Monday.
Israeli negotiators were set to fly to Washington late on Sunday, a government official said.
The US-sponsored talks broke down in late 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, which Palestinians say denies them a viable state.
Netanyahu's cabinet cleared the way earlier on Sunday for the renewal of the talks by approving the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.
Thirteen ministers voted in favour of the release, seven voted against and two abstained, a government official said.
"The cabinet has authorised the opening of diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinians," said a statement issued by the prime minister's office.
Netanyahu had urged divided rightists in his cabinet to back the prisoner deal.
"This moment is not easy for me, is not easy for the cabinet ministers, and is not easy especially for the bereaved families, whose feelings I understand," he said when the cabinet met, referring to families who have lost members in militant attacks.
"But there are moments in which tough decisions must be made for the good of the nation and this is one of those moments."
Prisoner release
Justice minister Tzipi Livni, who is set to head Israel's negotiation team and will be accompanied by Netanyahu confidant Yitzhak Molcho, told her cabinet colleagues that resuming talks with the Palestinians was a vital national interest.
"Today's cabinet decision is one of the most important for the future of Israel ... Starting a (peace) process is in Israel's security and strategic interests," Livni said.
Abbas has demanded the release of prisoners held since before a 1993 interim peace accord took effect. Israel has jailed thousands more Palestinians since then, many for carrying out deadly attacks.
The prisoner release would allow Netanyahu to sidestep other Palestinian demands, such as a halt to Jewish settlement expansion and a guarantee that negotiations over borders will be based on boundaries from before the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who will be accompanied to Washington by Mohammed Ishtyeh, an Abbas aide, welcomed Israel's decision, which he said had come 14 years late. He pledged to work to free all prisoners held by Israel.
"This Israeli cabinet decision is an overdue step towards the implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement of 1999," he said in a statement. "We call on Israel to seize the opportunity ... to put an end to decades of occupation and exile and to start a new stage of justice, freedom and peace for Israel, Palestine and the rest of the region."
In any future peace deal, Israel wants to keep several settlement blocs and East Jerusalem, which it annexed as part of its capital in a move never recognised internationally.
Hundreds of protesters from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) staged a rally against the resumption of peace talks, clashing with police in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of Abbas's Palestinian Authority.
PFLP activists also demonstrated in Gaza and chanted: "Listen Abbas, our land is not for sale... The (Palestinian) cause will never be resolved except by the rifle."
Appealing for support on his Facebook page on Saturday, Netanyahu said the inmates would be freed in groups only after the start of talks, expected to last at least nine months.
Israeli Channel 1 television said prisoners would be released in three stages, depending on progress in the talks, with a group who are Israeli citizens left until the last stage.
The 22-member cabinet also discussed legislation that would require a referendum on any statehood deal reached with the Palestinians involving a withdrawal from land Israel captured in the 1967 war. It will be sent for parliamentary debate shortly.
Before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud party that Israel would pay a price if peace talks did not resume, according to one official who was there.
When someone says the word ?healthcare? what immediately comes to mind? If you are like most people you probably first think of doctors, nurses, clinics and hospitals. But in reality there is so much more to health and healthcare than that. In fact, most healthcare takes place where we live, work and play?in our cities and in our homes. Sure, clinics and hospitals are essential, but they are just a part of the healthcare ecosystem and really not even the most important part.
Most of today?s health problems and chronic diseases are determined by our genetic make up (something we cannot control) and how we live (something we often can control).?Overall health is very much determined by the everyday decisions we make about what we eat, whether we get exercise, our habits (especially smoking and alcohol), our friends, our work, and so much more. Care actually starts in the home and all too often only ends up in clinics or hospitals when what we do at home stops working.
Even the clinic and hospital part of healthcare is shifting these days to put more emphasis on keeping people well instead of only taking care of them when they are sick. But this means a much greater focus is needed on resources, tools and technologies to arm people with the information they need to make smarter decisions and then act on those decisions.
Earlier this month, Microsoft kicked offCityNext, a global initiative that harnesses the power of people?whether as citizens, in businesses, or in governments?to create healthier, greener, safer, and more prosperous places to live. Although the focus of CityNext is far broader than health and healthcare, for all the reasons outlined above it is entirely appropriate that we include health in the dialogue we are having with citizens, businesses, and government leaders. Specific to health and healthcare we are demonstrating how cloud technologies, smart devices, mobile applications and people-centric solutions provide a framework for better access to health information, resources, and services from virtually any location. This includes new tools for personal health and wellness, remote care and case management, social benefits and administration, population health management, and more.
On the personal health and wellness front, I?m pleased to announce that my colleagues in our search division will release a new?Bing Health and Fitness?app in Windows 8.1. Just as there are currently apps for travel, music, video and news, when you install Windows 8, when you install Windows 8.1 there will be an app designed with your health and fitness in mind. Among other cool services in the Bing Health and Fitness app is integration with Microsoft?s application for storing and sharing personal health information, MicrosoftHealthVault. The new Bing Health and Fitness app works through a well organized, very intuitive and frankly quite beautiful aggregation of tools and topics including Diet Tracker, Nutrition and Calories, Exercise Tracker, Exercises, Health Tracker, Symptom Check, Drug Information, and Conditions. You can learn more about Bing Health and Fitness?here. There?s even a preview edition of the app you will see right now if you download thepreview version of Windows 8.1.
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In coming months you?ll be hearing a lot more about CityNext and in particular from me, about how Microsoft and partner technologies are being used to improve communication and collaboration, data analytics, and productivity in health and healthcare for citizens and patients as well as for all of those who work in the healthcare industry.
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Bill Crounse, MD??????? Senior Director, Worldwide Health??????????Microsoft
Connect:
Authored by:
Bill Crounse
Bill Crounse, MD, is Senior Director, Worldwide Health for the Microsoft Corporation. He is responsible for providing worldwide thought leadership, vision, and strategy for Microsoft technologies and solutions in the healthcare provider industry. He received his B.S. Degree at the University of Puget Sound and is a graduate of the Medical University of Ohio. As a board certified family ...
DANBURY, Conn. -- Western Connecticut State University graduate Angelo Tsingerliotis of Norwalk is awaiting a call on whether he will play for the Greek national baseball team in the European Championship for the second time.
Tsingerliotis, also a Trinity Catholic High School graduate, played for Greece in the European Championships in 2012. He is hoping to represent the country of his ancestors again in the 2014 games in Prague.
?Playing for the country of my heritage was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, one that I will remember forever,? Tsingerliotis said in a statement. ?It was much more than representing a town, a state or even a college. I was representing millions in Greece with the word ?Hellas? on the front of my jersey."
Tsingerliotis, who played for the men's soccer team at WestConn in Danbury, was selected for the 2012 Greek national team after a successful tryout in Athens. He had a batting average of more than .300 for Spartakos Glyfadas, a leading team in Greece?s Champions League.
The highlight of the tournament was his start in a game against Croatia, where he delivered a hit and drove in a run in a 7-2 victory, Tsingerliotis said.
His tournament experience was cut short by a shoulder injury, but the excitement of being a member of the Greek national team has lingered long after the competition?s end.
?After the games, kids would line up and we would sign autographs for them, and just seeing their faces was worth a million words,"?Tsingerliotis said in the statement.
Tsingerliotis will return to his high school alma mater this fall as an assistant soccer coach for the Trinity Catholic boys soccer team.
Goose-stepping soldiers, columns of tanks and a broad array of ominous-looking missiles poised on mobile launchers paraded through Pyongyang's main square in a painstakingly choreographed military pageant intended to strike fear into North Korea's adversaries and rally its people behind young ruler Kim Jong Un on the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
The lavish assembly of weapons and troops is reminiscent of the marches held by the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Cold War. It is one of the few chances the world gets to see North Korea's military up close. Although Pyongyang frequently uses the occasion to reveal new, though not always operational, hardware, there didn't appear to be any new weapons in Saturday's parade. Its arsenal of missiles, however, was front-and-centre.
Overlooking a sea of spectators mobilised in Kim Il Sung Square to cheer and wave flags, leader Kim Jong Un saluted his troops from a review stand. He was flanked by senior military officials, the chests of their olive green and white uniforms laden with medals. As fighter jets screamed overhead, a relaxed looking Kim smiled and talked with China's vice president.
China fought with North Korea during the war and is Pyongyang's only major ally and a crucial source of economic aid. Kim did not make a speech.
Saturday's parade marks a holiday the North Koreans call "Victory Day in the Fatherland Liberation War," although the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and the Korean Peninsula remains technically at war.
In Washington, President Barack Obama marked the day with a speech at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, saying the anniversary marks the end of the war and the beginning of a long and prosperous peace.
"Here today, we can say with confidence, that war was no tie, Korea was a victory," with 50 million South Koreans living in freedom and "a vibrant democracy" in stark contrast to dire conditions in the North, Obama said.
He said the US-South Korea partnership remains "a bedrock of stability" throughout the Pacific region, and gave credit to the US service members who fought all those years ago and to the men and women currently stationed there.
Kim's rule, which began in late 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, has been marked by high tensions with Washington and Seoul. He has overseen two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear test that drew widespread condemnation and tightened UN sanctions.
North and South Korea have turned to tentative diplomacy in recent weeks, but March and April saw North Korean threats of nuclear war against Washington and Seoul in response to annual South Korean-US military drills and UN condemnation of Pyongyang's February nuclear test, the country's third. Long-stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talks show no sign of resuming.
Last year's parade in Pyongyang, held to commemorate the April celebrations of the 100th birthday of the late national founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, created a buzz among military watchers when the North rolled out a mysterious long-range missile known abroad as the KN-08. Most outside observers now believe the missiles were mock-ups, but they were carried on mobile launchers that appeared to have been obtained from China, possibly against UN arms trade sanctions.
Choe Ryong Hae, the army's top political officer, said North Korea should be ready to fight to defend the stability the country needs to revive the economy. But his speech at Kim Il Sung Square was mild compared with past fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang attacking the United States and South Korea.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, President Park Geun-hye vowed not to tolerate provocations from North Korea - Seoul says North Korean attacks in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans - but she also said Seoul would work on building trust with the North. "I urge North Korea to give up the development of nuclear weapons if the country is to start on a path toward true change and progress," Park said in a speech.
North Korea is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear bombs, but many analysts don't think it has yet mastered the technology needed to build warheads small enough to fit on long-range missiles.
About 200 people gathered in Seoul, some burning pictures of the North's ruling Kim dynasty, at a rally meant "to condemn the nuclear development and threatening strategy of the tyrannical regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un," said Park Chan-sung, an anti-North Korea activist.
Shin Eun-gyeong, who visited an exhibit on the armistice on Saturday at a recently opened history museum, said she wants the rival Koreas to be unified - but as a democracy, not under North Korea's autocratic rule. "It's a real tragedy for Korea that we are still a divided nation," Shin said.
The North's parade tradition goes back to the founding of the country in 1948. Few countries - including North Korea's communist models - continue to trot out their military forces in public squares with such pomp and pageantry. But Pyongyang has stuck with them because its leaders believe they are a good way to show the world those things about the military they want to reveal, while at the same time sending a potent message domestically of the power of the ruling elite.
"The beauty of a parade is that weapons systems don't actually have to work in order to be impressive - a missile launcher looks good even when the missile won't launch," said David Stone, an expert on the Soviet and Russian militaries at Kansas State University. That can be risky, however.
Almost as soon as last year's parade was over, military experts around the world said they thought the stars of the show - the long-range KN-08 missiles - were mock-ups of a design that is still being perfected and probably couldn't actually fly, despite North Korea's claims that it has the capability to strike the United States with nuclear-tipped ICBMs.
"They certainly learned that they might lose some reputation by showing imperfect mock-ups," said Marcus Schiller, a private-sector aerospace engineer in Germany who is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea's missile capabilities. "Better to show nothing and let the world know by `leaked secret information' how dangerous they are."
Even so, analysts say the parades send important messages meant to signal strength to North Korea's people - who are not privy to such outside analysis. As it rolled out its arsenal Saturday, military helicopters, jets in formation and other warplanes did flyovers. Later, thousands of civilians marched alongside festive floats, a departure from previous parades. A truckload of soldiers wore chest packs with nuclear symbols.
"After watching this parade, I feel our country could defeat anyone," said Ryang Un Ho, 84, a captain in the North Korean infantry during the war who sat in the hot sun with other veterans at the square for the two-hour spectacle.
Enda Tuomey?s WriteFix is a fantastic open resource aimed at English language learners focused on IELTS and TOEFL speaking or writing exams. Enda compiled and refined these study opportunities over the past ten years while working at a technical college in the Middle East. He advises that, ?If you have time, the best thing to do is to start at the beginning, and go step-by-step through the procedure for writing an argument essay.?
Overall health is very much determined by the everyday decisions we make about what we eat, whether we get exercise, our habits (especially smoking and alcohol), our friends, our work, and so much more. Care actually starts in the home and all too often only ends up in clinics or hospitals when what we do at home stops working.
Enda Tuomey?s WriteFix is a fantastic open resource aimed at English language learners focused on IELTS and TOEFL speaking or writing exams. Enda compiled and refined these study opportunities over the past ten years while working at a technical college in the Middle East. He advises that, ?If you have time, the best thing to do is to start at the beginning, and go step-by-step through the procedure for writing an argument essay.?