Re: Eli's a-comin'

[MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net]

Truly excellent, Tauna

Joe
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Tauna Rogers" <taunar@plateautel.net>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> ELI'S BOLD NEW PLAN
> 
> 12-1-2007
> 
>  
> 
> Billionaire philanthropist, entrepreneur, and public education expert Eli Broad 
> has teamed up with the International Star Registry to promote a provocative plan 
> of action to raise individual student achievement (as measured by standardized 
> test scores) and overall achievement in Title I schools across the nation. 
> 
>  
> 
> Interviews conducted by the Education Trust's Kati Hiccup and the Education 
> Sector's Andrew Rottenham confirm Broad's unyielding  commitment to student 
> achievement as the defining civil rights issue of our time. Asked to clarify his 
> commitment to High Test Scores, Broad reiterated the business sector's 
> no-nonsense approach to rigorous public school accountability:
> 
>  
> 
>  "Every child is worthy, regardless of the circumstances in his or her life - 
> hunger, poverty, abuse, neglect, lack of health care - you name it. However, a 
> child can hardly be expected to become a goodly contributor to the Global 
> Economy unless our failing public schools shape up and impart the essential 
> skills that students need to assume their roles in our rapidly changing world. 
> All children deserve a shot at the millions of high-paying jobs that await young 
> people who are willing to work hard, pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and 
> measure up on The Tests." 
> 
>  
> 
> The International Star Registry of Achievement, with hefty funding from Broad, 
> will award qualifying states grants to motivate poor student achievers to score 
> proficiently on The Tests. Details are emerging but it is clear students who 
> perform adequately on The Tests will have a star named after them. In addition, 
> the Registry's Ultimate Package includes a beautiful 24" X 20" full color 
> parchment certificate beautifully embossed with the child's name, their star's 
> name, the child's test date, test score, and their star's coordinates. The 
> elegant certificates are double-matted in gold metallic frames. 
> 
>  
> 
> Children who do not meet proficiency on The Tests but who are deemed to be 
> nearing proficiency will not have a star named after them until they reach 
> proficiency. However, they will receive the Star Registry's Deluxe Package, 
> which includes a beautiful, double-matted certificate in a silver metallic 
> frame, a refrigerator magnet, and a bumper sticker for the family car (My Child 
> is Nearing Proficiency!).
> 
>  
> 
> The Broad Prize Extraordinaire is reserved for entire schools. A school that by 
> 2014 manages to achieve the ultimate NCLB goal of every single student in the 
> school scoring proficient, regardless of ability or circumstance, will be 
> awarded a nationally televised space launch to be attended by Sally Ride and 
> congressional dignitaries. A message commemorating the event, containing the 
> names of each student and their test scores, will be gloriously launched into 
> the night sky on board a real spacecraft that orbits the Earth. 
> 
>  
> 
> Asked about public schools which fail to meet the much prized 2014 standard, 
> Broad said they should probably lower their flags to half-mast and be taken over 
> by private companies.
> 
>  
> 
> Educators are not exactly jumping on board. Many are questioning the plan as an 
> ultimately useless scheme which tosses badly needed funds into a black hole and 
> promotes extrinsic rewards over a deep and lasting love of real learning. Many 
> also question the assumption that paper and  pencil standardized tests provide 
> children with a fair opportunity to apply and demonstrate what they really know 
> and are able to do. Teachers noted that many bored and disengaged students don't 
> even bother to try on the tests, much less read them. They would prefer teaching 
> which encompasses real world projects and application rather than the narrow 
> kinds of teaching and learning that high-stakes testing inevitably leads to. 
> 
>  
> 
> Others have noted that corporate-driven policies are putting the cart before the 
> horse. Claiming that the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and 
> their more fortunate peers is a symptom of other neglected societal gaps in our 
> nation, rather than the cause, a number of activists have asked Broad if 
> children wouldn't be much better served if he took on eradicating some of the 
> known factors that contribute to low achievement, like lead-infested housing. 
> Questioned about educators' misgivings, Broad dismissed the claims as the soft 
> bigotry of low expectations. "It's about time teachers toughened up instead of 
> whining. Low-performing corporate workers hardly utter a sniffle when their 
> good-paying jobs are outsourced to China or rendered obsolete by technology."
> 
>  
> 
> Asked whether each student would receive a telescope where they could actually 
> view their 'own' star, Broad replied that there are limitations to what 
> philanthropists can and should do. "The whole point," he noted, "is that once 
> schools have provided students with the necessary skills to get and retain good 
> jobs, they will be able to buy their own telescopes. That's the beauty of my 
> plan."
> 
> 
> 
> Tauna Rogers