Duncan: States Will Get School Testing Waivers (It's About Time!!!!)

BY DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP   08/ 8/11 12:04 AM ET 

 State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn't answered the call.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break.

The plan to offer waivers to all 50 states, as long as they meet other school reform requirements, comes at the request of President Barack Obama, Duncan said. More details on the waivers will come in September, he said.

The goal of the No Child Left Behind law is to have every student proficient in math and reading by 2014. States have been required to bring more students up to the math and reading standards each year, based on tests that usually take place each spring. The step-by-step ramping up of the 9-year-old law has caused heartburn in states and most school districts, because more and more schools are labeled as failures as too few of their students meet testing goals.

Critics say the benchmarks are unrealistic and brands schools as failures even if they make progress. Schools and districts where too few kids pass the tests for several years are subject to sanctions that can include firing teachers or closing the school entirely.

Through the waivers, schools will get some relief from looming deadlines to meet testing goals as long as they agree to embrace other kinds of education reforms such as raising standards, helping teachers and principals improve, and focusing on fixing the lowest performing schools.

Duncan and Melody Barnes, director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House, said the administration will encourage every state to apply and will work with them to meet the requirements.

Nothing in this plan for temporary relief from some aspects of the federal law will undermine what Congress is still discussing in terms of revising federal education laws, Duncan said. The long-awaited overhaul of the law began earlier this year in the U.S. House, but a comprehensive reform appears far from the finish line.

"What we do in terms of flexibility can be a bridge or transition," he said. "We all want to fix the law. This might help us get closer to that."

The chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, however, says he is worried about Duncan's waiver plan.

"I remain concerned that temporary measures instituted by the department, such as conditional waivers, could undermine the committee's efforts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., in a statement, referring to the formal name of the No Child Left Behind law.

The Obama administration requested a revision more than a year ago. Duncan said another school year is about to start and state education officials have told him they can't keep waiting for relief from the mandates.

"I can't overemphasize how loudly the outcry is to do something now," Duncan said.

Duncan has warned that 82 percent of U.S. schools could be labeled failures next year if No Child Left Behind is not changed. Education experts have questioned that estimate, but state officials report a growing number of schools facing sanctions under the law.

Montana Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau said she welcomed the waiver proposal, as long as it offers relief from the 2014 deadline. She said her state isn't afraid of high standards and education reform but needs enough time to reach those standards and freedom to institute change in a way that works for Montana.

Montana decided to skip a planned increase in its testing goals this past school year.

"I don't mind the goals and we're certainly not afraid of accountability. They can set the bar wherever they want. They just have to let us have the flexibility to get there," Juneau said. "We can definitely meet any bar they throw at us."

The chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said he understands why it was time for the administration to take action.

"This Congress faces real challenges reaching bipartisan, bicameral agreement on anything," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in a written statement. "Given the ill-advised and partisan bills that the House majority has chosen to move, I understand Secretary Duncan's decision to proceed with a waiver package to provide some interim relief while Congress finishes its work."

Harkin said he remains committed to keep working toward a bipartisan solution to reform the federal education law.

A.R. Bordon: Extraterrestrials on Earth: A Challenge We Can No Longer Ignore

A.R. Bordon: Extraterrestrials on Earth: A Challenge We Can No Longer Ignore

Sometimes, Nothing Works

Sometimes, Nothing Works

Bachmann and lightbulbs, just the tip of the (melting) iceberg of crazy

Bachmann and lightbulbs, just the tip of the (melting) iceberg of crazy

Obama: Deaths of Americans in Afghan chopper crash shows ‘extraordinary’ cost of war

Obama: Deaths of Americans in Afghan chopper crash shows ‘extraordinary’ cost of war

"College Students Lack Critical Thinking Skills, But Who’s To Blame?"

DOUG MATACONIS   ·   TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2011   ·

A new study suggests that American universities are failing in what is supposed to be one of the their core missions:

NEW YORK — An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn’t learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education.

Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn’t determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin.

Arum, whose book “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses” (University of Chicago Press) comes out this month, followed 2,322 traditional-age students from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2009 and examined testing data and student surveys at a broad range of 24 U.S. colleges and universities, from the highly selective to the less selective.

Forty-five percent of students made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning or writing skills during the first two years of college, according to the study. After four years, 36 percent showed no significant gains in these so-called “higher order” thinking skills.

Combining the hours spent studying and in class, students devoted less than a fifth of their time each week to academic pursuits. By contrast, students spent 51 percent of their time — or 85 hours a week — socializing or in extracurricular activities.

The study also showed that students who studied alone made more significant gains in learning than those who studied in groups.

Perhaps most the most interesting thing about the study is the manner in which the results seem skewed by field of study:

Students who majored in the traditional liberal arts — including the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences and mathematics — showed significantly greater gains over time than other students in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills.

Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the least gains in learning. However, the authors note that their findings don’t preclude the possibility that such students “are developing subject-specific or occupationally relevant skills.”

Greater gains in liberal arts subjects are at least partly the result of faculty requiring higher levels of reading and writing, as well as students spending more time studying, the study’s authors found. Students who took courses heavy on both reading (more than 40 pages a week) and writing (more than 20 pages in a semester) showed higher rates of learning.

That’s welcome news to liberal arts advocates.

I would think it would be, but on some level such an analysis would seem to ignore the reasons that students go to college today. Unlike in the past, when a college education was viewed as an opportunity for learning, there seems to be more of a focus today on learning skills that will lead to a high rate of monetary return after college. Majoring in history or political science may help you to learn to think critically, and that is a skill that is valuable in fields like medicine and law, but its unlikely to lead to the same level of monetary reward as someone who pursues, say, a Masters In Business Administration. On some level, colleges have become vocational school almost as much as they are “institutions of higher learning.” I’m not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing, but it’s the world that we live in and it’s unlikely to change.

Ann Althouse, who teaches law at the University of Wisconsin, wonders why the study concentrates so much on the students and not the professors:

I’d like a study analyzing whether the professors know how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument, and objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event.

It strikes me as a fair point considering that it is sort of difficult to teach someone a skill you don’t possess yourself.

Another blogger points out that this isn’t just an indictment of college education in the U.S.:

By the time our kids get to college it is too late to change habits por learn new skills that should have been taught to them in grade k-12 in my opinion. This study does not merely condemn colleges, it throws a harsh light on our primary education system on this country. In general, the US doesn’t pay our teachers well (compared to other professions and other nations), nor do we reward them for excellence, nor do we often provide them with a system that accurately assesses their efforts (i.e., No child left behind ring any bells?).

This is a fair point. Students do not walk into college blank slates, but as products of the education they received for twelve years before that. If colleges are failing at their primary mission, it isn’t necessarily their fault.

"The Shocking Truth for Thirty Percent of Divorced Women" by Jennifer Gauvain

The Shocking Truth for Thirty Percent of Divorced Women

Posted: 8/6/11 12:34 PM ET

It was the day she had dreamed about. Standing barefoot at sunset, "Joni" (a former client of mine whose name I have changed) stood looking at the man she was about to marry. She planned the perfect wedding--a fairytale. There was one hitch--as she looked into her future husband's eyes, she had a pretty good idea that the marriage would not last.

Joni's story was not unique. After years of working with women like her I was curious about why so many women stayed in relationships that were essentially doomed from the start. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I have spent more than 15 years working with women seeking guidance for relationship issues. The initial call usually involves a request to help with "communication skills" or "conflict management." More often than not, as therapy progresses, they reveal that the problems started long before they walked down the aisle. And if they're not married, they'll admit that they already know he's is not the right guy for them--yet they stay.

When I had a serendipitous meeting with a former runaway bride, we decided to write a book about this phenomenon. My coauthor's story of her near-miss at the altar along with my clinical experience turned into a mission to find out why so many women walk down the aisle knowing they are making a mistake! We thought if we could help women recognize the excuses for dating--and ultimately marrying--the wrong guys, maybe we could help them find the courage to get out before it was too late.

We developed a survey and sent it to divorced women, with one qualifier: "Did you know you were making a mistake as you were walking down the aisle?"

We sent it to everyone we knew. Within days our inboxes were jammed. Eventually, close to 1000 women gave detailed accounts about why they knowingly dated and eventually married the wrong guys.

Amid a chorus of critics who shout "hindsight bias" or "selective memory," I stand firm. If you take 10 divorced women and ask them whether they believed on their wedding day that they were marrying the right guy for the right reasons, seven of them would say yes and three will confess they had serious doubts long before walking down the aisle. That's the shocking truth for 30% of divorced women.

These women have very clear, distinct memories of the doubts, issues and concerns that existed in the relationship all along. They can also tell you exactly what they were feeling before they walked down the aisle. For example:

I was avoiding my dad's eyes as I waited with him at the end of the aisle. I did not want to hear any "pearls of wisdom." Instead I paid attention to the photographer. I simply could not look at my dad because I knew I was making a mistake.

I felt like I was dying a thousand deaths. I just wanted to get the whole thing over with.

By the time they made it to the ceremony, they felt it was too late to turn back. While their insides told them to run, their outsides marched down the aisle. They saw problems and ignored them. However, every single one of them put the blame for ignoring the problems and issues squarely on their own shoulders. The problem is not that their fiancé was a bad guy-the problem was that they ignored the problems!

Why would smart women do this? They cited many of the same reasons:

• Age: The self-imposed biological clock is starting to tick a little louder.

• "Marriage will instantly make the relationship better."

• "It's my last chance to get married and no one else will come along."

• "If it doesn't work out I can always get a divorce."

You can be critical, point your finger and shake your head. Judgment aside, "these women" are your sisters, daughters, and friends. Maybe even you. Their common --yet misguided--belief is that they are better off with the wrong guy than being alone. It doesn't matter how self-actualized, independent or liberal-minded they are.

So what's the answer? When in doubt, don't! Don't let fears of being alone dictate a night out with someone you have nothing in common with. Don't continue to date a man with whom you have zero chemistry. Chemistry matters. Don't say "I do" because you have "invested too much time in the relationship" or it's "the next logical step." And absolutely don't think that divorce can be used as an escape route without consequence. Divorce is not easy even when you are the one serving the papers. It's expensive, painful and it affects everyone around you.

Just ask Joni. She saw the red flags and she ignored them. Her gut told her something was wrong but she tuned it out. She found out the hard way that being alone would have been a lot easier than marrying the wrong guy--especially as she starts the painful task of navigating a divorce. The moral of the story is pay attention to those red flags and gut feelings. If you do, you are guaranteed to have happier, healthier relationships. What a difference this would make in the divorce rate. As a therapist, I'd be thrilled.

Reconnecting with Love by Owen Waters

With the ups and downs of life, there can be times when your connection to a universe of love seems distant. The opposite of love is fear and it appears in many forms. All negative emotions including guilt and anger are expressions of fear and they can flourish in the absence of love.  Fortunately, fear has a simple antidote. Love dissolves fear, so you need to know how to bring its feeling back when it has temporarily gone away. Gratitude is one type of expression of love which has enormous power. Gratitude is invoked when you mentally send love to those whom you appreciate. It becomes especially powerful when you send your gratitude to your concept of God the Creator for all the good things in your life and for life itself, because God will reciprocate with uplifting energies. That one step you take towards God really does bring a reaction of two steps towards you. Gratitude takes you right out of your personal sphere of consciousness and into an expanded view of the universe. In this way, it raises you far above the petty fears that still try to haunt people in the everyday world. Gratitude is one of the most beautiful secrets in spiritual life. It is an expression of love, and love flows through all forms of manifestation. Without love, life in the universe cannot exist. Love is the universal force of preservation which holds Creation in manifestation. When you allow your heart to open to the universe’s flow of love, gratitude comes with that flow. Gratitude for being alive, for just existing, for just being in the flow of the adventure of life. Gratitude for the Sun that gives us life. Gratitude for the Creation of the Earth as our home in this great cosmos. Gratitude for the people that you love, and for those who share your journey through life. Gratitude flows unimpeded from an open heart. When you allow it, gratitude will flow as freely as the sunshine, unobstructed by judgments or conditions. Use the following affirmation and see what happens. Keep repeating it and, each time, think more about what the words mean. The Gratitude Affirmation adds new meaning to the term, quality of life. It really works! Try it now. Gratitude Affirmation I am grateful for life And all that I love I am grateful for the Earth And the Sun up above I am grateful for my spirit And my inner being For the One that I express And the joy of this feeling When you awaken each day, even before you get out of bed, think of ten things for which you are grateful. Finish your reflections with the Gratitude Affirmation and, each day, you'll feel inspired to have the best day ever!

How Buddhist Meditation Unlocks Our Natural Wisdom and Compassion

by 

Sogyal Rinpoche; author, "The Tibetan 

Book of Living and Dying"

Posted: 8/5/11 12:23 PM ET

In the teaching of Buddha, it is said that we are all naturally endowed with boundless wisdom, immeasurable compassion and infinite power or capability. Yet, because we have lost touch with these inner qualities, we rarely scratch beneath the surface of the potential that we possess. When we do come in touch with our true nature, however, we can truly be of service and benefit -- not only to our selves and our own best interests, but also to others and their needs.

So first, in order to truly help others, we must help ourselves. As it is said in the Christian tradition: "Charity begins at home." We can begin, first of all, by getting to know our own mind. In fact, the entire teaching of the Buddha can be summed up in a single line: to tame, transform and conquer this mind of ours.

Mind is the root of everything: the creator of happiness and the creator of suffering; the creator of what we call nirvana, and what we call samsara. Samsara is the cycle of existence, of birth and death, characterized by suffering and determined by our destructive emotions and our harmful actions. Nirvana is, literally, the state beyond suffering and sorrow; it can be said to be the state of buddhahood or enlightenment itself.

As one great master says:

"Samsara is mind turned outwardly, lost in its projections;
Nirvana is mind turned inwardly, recognizing its true nature."

"Mind turned inwardly" does not mean becoming introverted; it means really understanding the mind, in its true nature.

For when we speak about the mind, it has two main aspects: the appearance of mind, and the essence or nature of mind. His Holiness the Dalai Lama often describes these two aspects as "appearance and reality." Most of us think that thoughts and emotions are the mind. But thoughts and emotions are merely the appearance of mind, like the sun's rays, whereas the nature of mind is like the sun itself. When we are lost in the appearance of mind, we have no idea what the essence of mind really is. So the crucial point is the direction in which our mind is turned: whether it is outwardly looking, lost in thoughts and emotions; or inwardly seeing, recognizing its true nature.

If you tame, transform and conquer your mind, then you will transform your own perceptions and your experience. Thereby even circumstances and outer appearances will begin to change and appear differently.

Meditation

One of the best ways to tame our mind is through the unique and profound approach of meditation in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet.

The first and most basic practice of meditation is to allow the mind to settle into a state of "calm abiding," where it will find peace and stability, and can rest in the state of non-distraction, which is what meditation really is. When you first begin to meditate, you may use a support: for example, looking at an object or an image of Buddha, or Christ if you are a Christian practitioner; or lightly, mindfully watching the breath, which is common to many spiritual traditions.

What is very important, the great Buddhist teachers always advise, is not to fixate while practicing the concentration of calm abiding. That's why they recommend you place only 25 percent of your attention on mindfulness of the breath. But then, as you may have noticed, mindfulness alone is not enough. While you are supposed to be watching the breath, after a few minutes you may find yourself playing in a football game or starring in your own movie. So another 25 percent should be devoted to a continuous vigilance or watchful awareness, one that oversees and checks whether you are being mindful of the breath. The remaining 50 percent of your attention is left abiding, spaciously. Of course, the exact percentages are not as important as the fact that all three of these elements -- mindfulness, vigilance and spaciousness -- are present.

Gradually, as you are able to rest your mind naturally in a state of non-distraction, you will not need the support of an image or the breath. Even though you are not particularly focusing on anything, there is still some presence of mind, that may be loosely described as a "center of awareness."

This undistracted presence of mind is the best way of integrating your meditation into everyday life, while you are walking or eating or caring for others -- whatever the situation. When you bring conscious awareness to your activities, distractions and anxieties will gradually disappear, and your mind will become more peaceful. It will also bring you a certain stability within yourself and a certain confidence with which you can face life and the complexity of the world with composure, ease and humour.

Profound Methods For Bringing Forth The Nature Of Mind

Then, on the most profound level, we can say that meditation is using the mind to recognize the mind. Or that it is simply resting in the natural state of your present mind, without manipulating or contriving.

There's a wonderful saying by the great masters of the past. I remember when I first heard it what a revelation it was, because in these two lines is shown both what the nature of mind is and how to abide by it, which is the practice of meditation on the highest level. In Tibetan it is very beautiful, almost musical:

chu ma nyok na dang,
sem ma chö na de.

It means roughly, "Water, if you don't stir it, will become clear; the mind, left unaltered, will find its own natural peace, well-being, happiness and bliss..." What is so incredible about this instruction is its emphasis on naturalness and on allowing our mind simply to be, unaltered and without changing anything at all.

Yet another profound way of describing meditation is this: allowing yourself to be simply and clearly present in the face of whatever thoughts, sensations or emotions arise.

The secret is where exactly your mind is: whether you are lost in the appearances of mind -- the thoughts and emotions -- or whether you are resting in the essence of mind -- in your real nature, in your true being.

Through meditation, when you reach the state of transcendence, you simply rest, as much as you can, in the nature of mind, this most natural state which is without any reference or concept, hope or fear, yet with a quiet but soaring confidence, the deepest form of well-being imaginable. As the cloudlike thoughts and emotions fade away, the sky-like nature of your true being is revealed, and, shining from it, your true nature, like the sun. And just as both light and warmth blaze from the sun, wisdom and loving compassion radiate out from the mind's innermost nature.

Since you have reached the state of transcendental wisdom, beyond your ego self, it is as if you have reached the summit of the highest mountain, from which you have a view over all, as well as a heartfelt understanding and insight into the needs of others. There comes a great opening of your heart in compassion, infused with a deep and pervasive love.

The more we are able to be in the nature of our mind, therefore, the more we will discover our wisdom, immeasurable compassion and infinite capability, and so develop an inner strength that is deeply nourishing.

As we connect with the purity of our inherent nature through meditation practice, what is revealed is our fundamental goodness, our good heart. Kindness, compassion and love simply exude. And the more we integrate the practice mindfully in our lives, the more we will find that not only are we in touch with ourselves, but completely in touch with others. The barrier between ourself and others dissolves. Negativity is defused, there comes a self-forgiveness, and all the harm in us is removed, so that we become truly useful and able to be of service to others.

If you would like to find out more about meditation, or try it for yourself, you can visit Whatmeditationreallyis.com. The site is part of a program that I have initiated which draws upon the wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in order to make the benefits of meditation available to everybody. It offers an introduction to meditation, video advice from different meditation teachers, as well as a blog and forum where you can discuss everything to do with meditation.

Obama unveils civilian jobs program for out-of-work veterans

Obama unveils civilian jobs program for out-of-work veterans

Some Bad News About Alan Grayson

Some Bad News About Alan Grayson

CBS/NY Times poll: The more you get to know the tea party, the more you dislike them

CBS/NY Times poll: The more you get to know the tea party, the more you dislike them

Best Debt Ceiling Word Cloud Graphic We

Best Debt Ceiling Word Cloud Graphic We

America is a Country In Debt

America is a Country In Debt

How We Can Inspire People to Care About Social Change and Feel Good About Themselves in the Process | Activism & Vision | AlterNet

If the Wisconsin struggle between the unions and Governor Walker showed us anything, it was that the needs that animate people around progressive causes are not simply needs for money or financial security. The need for community and its accompanying feeling of belonging and the need to connect with something larger than the self, the need for meaning, were every bit as important in (click link for more)

How We Can Inspire People to Care About Social Change and Feel Good About Themselves in the Process | Activism & Vision | AlterNet

Cantor: 'Promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept'

Cantor: 'Promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept'

"Raise the Gas Tax!" (seriously?!?!?!?)

Raise the Gas Tax!

— By Kevin Drum

| Thu Aug. 4, 2011 8:42 AM PDT

\

No one in Congress wants to raise the gas tax even though our transportation infrastructure is crumbling and revenue from the tax has been falling. Brad Plumer rounds up some substitute ideas:

One idea is a vehicle-miles traveled tax, which would track driver habits via GPS and charge per mile driven....Another is to charge some sort of congestion fee on overclogged highways....Mica, for his part, has suggested extending the Build America Bonds program....A bipartisan team affiliated with the Carnegie Endowment has proposed an upstream tax on oil combined with a variable gas tax that shrinks when oil prices rise and expands when oil prices plummet.

Uh huh. Or we could, you know, just raise the gas tax. We are ruled by idiots.

Kevin Drum is a political blogger for Mother Jones.

The 6 Biggest Lies About the U.S. Debt | | AlterNet

There is one simple truth about the discussion of the looming U.S. debt crisis: it is largely a compendium of half-truths, distortions, myths and outright lies.

For example, is it true that the U.S. debt is unsustainable, which is spurring the budget-cutting fever? Far from it. While U.S. debt is at one of its highest levels ever in terms of gross domestic product, the estimated interest payments for all of 2011 on the $14.3 trillion public debt will be a mere $430 billion. This is only 18 percent more than the $364 billion paid way back in 1998, while the U.S. economy has grown nearly 30 percent since then.

For full report, click link:

The 6 Biggest Lies About the U.S. Debt | | AlterNet

8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance | | AlterNet

8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance | | AlterNet