Trend-Flipping, Gap-Bowing and Growth-Stretching: The Pliability of Popular High-Stakes Statistics

I know, quite a title. It's not my title, it's the title of Andrew Ho's paper and talk that, if you have 45 minutes and like charts and statistics, is a fascinating study of the process of screwing up education by distorting data on the high-stakes tests. It's pretty much an indictment of NCLB's methods, and proof that the law allows politicians to manipulate the numbers to suit whatever the hell they want! Check it out.

More Petitions To Sign

Here is another petition for you to sign if you want to voice your desire to repeal NCLB. Go on, you know you want to sign it! Here are the first bits: (I'm a little late on this one)

To: U.S. Congress

We, the educators, parents, and concerned citizens whose names appear below, reject the misnamed No Child Left Behind Act and call for legislators to vote against its reauthorization. We do so not because we resist accountability, but because the law's simplistic approach to education reform wastes student potential, undermines public education, and threatens the future of our democracy.

Below, briefly stated, are some of the reasons we consider the law too destructive to salvage. In its place we call for formal, state-level dialogues led by working educators rather than by politicians, ideology-bound "think tank" members, or leaders of business and industry who have little or no direct experience in the field of education.

Eerie Snow-Globes

Yes, these snow-globes are eerie. But they are cool, I think.

Abu Ghraib Constitution

Chris Jordan makes incredible pictures. Check it out. Go to his site to find out what this picture is actually made of....

George Carlin: RIP

What a loss! George Carlin, who died of a heart attack yesterday, was the first "smart" comic I ever knew about. When I was quite young he was playing at the university (CSUN) near my house. My friend and I went to see him. We were maybe 13 years old. During his set, he decided that he should take a break for a smoke. He took a newspaper, sat down on the floor at center stage, lit his smoke, and read quietly for about 10 minutes while we all sat there. Fucking hilarious!

He was a smart, funny guy who taught me how to talk dirty! I will miss him.