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This is my Activity for spanish.

Chris Cassise

#1 & 2

Lobbying against: No Child Left Behind Act

The act was proposed by George W. Bush to standards-based education reform, which is the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades and does not assert a national achievement standard. These standards are set by each individual state.

The main goal of NCLB is to close the “achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.” Voting took place in 2001 with majority voting yes (87) and only 10 nays. Two republican senators from Pennsylvania voted yes on the bill.
More on the NCLB Act.

Arlen Sector was a republican senator since 1996 and voted yes to pass the No Child Left Behind Act when it was proposed in 2001. He also believes that this act needs to be reformed by supporting the Pathways to college act proposed to reform the educational and re-authorization of middle and high school success in education. In 2009, he switched parties to the Democratic side to try and get reelected. He was unsuccessful being defeated by current runner Joe Sestak.  
Rick Santorum was a former senator of Pennsylvania and voted yes to pass the No Child Left Behind Act also. He played a major role in the process of NCLB act being proposed and is now known for creating the Santorum Amendment. The Santorum Amdendment is in the modified bill and doesnt play a major part in the Act but is still considered the stepping stone in proposing the act. He came up with the “teach the controversy” campaign which implemented teaching science efficiently and teaching things that are still being debated.  He was defeated in 2006 by Bob Casey jr.





My defense:
Who is creating this test? Officials or the teachers? It takes away from the unique experience in class that officials who have no experience of situations with students choose to pick the educational process of learning and the tests that follow through their lives.

Some states dont even have as many writing questions because they lack funds. Gary Cook, Wisconsin’s former testing director, said “it could cost a thousand times more to score an essay question than a multiple-choice question.” In 2005, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center reported that 15 states relied on multiple-choice questions in reading and math tests.

There is no evidence that this is succeeding as a program and it seems that it is just crippling school districts with funds that they do not have.

Evidence:

“A study classified elementary school students as "actively" engaged in learning if they went back over things they didn't understand and participated in understanding such questions” Students are able to skip hard questions and relate to the easy parts of the test which defeats the purpose helping students to learn better.

Schools are under pressure to show better test results which has cannibalized the curriculum. When students are judged on a multiple-choice test, teachers use multiple-choice exercises and in-class tests to curb a students understanding to the test, which takes away from the rigor of learning that a student is supposed to learn. A student shouldnt have to worry so highly and waste class time on learning to take a quiz or eliminating wrong answers to multiple choice questions.

Administrators have cut back vital parts of schooling such as:
Programs in the arts
Recess for young children
Electives for high schoolers
Class meetings discussions about current events since that material will not appear on the test



Supporters against NCLB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSTzLILQx3c


Senator Bob Casey jr.
Representative of Philadelphia’s 1st district.
Caseys statement on No Child Left Behind Act, a General Statement:
“Reforming the No Child Left Behind Legislation Washington's No Child Left Behind legislation is actually leaving millions of schoolchildren behind. As it stands now, No Child Left Behind is all stick and no carrot. Its combination of confusing federal mandates and gross under-funding threatens to undermine creative state and local efforts to improve our schools. In contrast, Bob Casey will work to provide our schools with the crucial assistance they need to meet high academic performance standards.”

Casey is hoping to create in support of other officials a reform act on No Child Left Behind to fix the problems that have occurred.

He has proposed The Pathways to College Act, with bipartisan sponsorship, is a bill designed to aid low-income and first generation students in their transition to secondary education by focusing attention on the importance of school counseling in the college and career planning process. This bill will provide funds to high school districts to invest in school counseling services to establish a college-going culture.

#3

1. What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?

This is a bad year in terms of my issue on NCLB. They are talking about making a reform of it and a lot of people believe on both sides of the political sphere that is has not worked as efficiently as expected. Senator Bob Casey jr. is coming up with another bill called the pathways to college act to curb an understanding and reform the NCLB act.

2. Who is essential to the outcome?

Who are the stakeholders in this issue? Who are the allies you need to have on board because they increase the power you have to move the issue? Which decision-makers do you need to move (committee chairs, legislation sponsors, etc)?

To make this outcome happen, we need more support from the republican side and a big part of this process was when Rick Santorum switched sides to support this NCLB act reform and go against his own belief when he voted for the NCLB back in 2001.

3. Who else is working on this? Can you coordinate?

Only Bob Casey jr as the public official of Pennsylvania.

4. Who can you influence?

I would try and influence the republicans more since the republicans proposed the bill back in 2001 and a lot still believe it. It wouldn’t be hard to have people more educated with the problems this bill is causing through statistics.

5. What is the time frame?

There is no time frame.

6. When are key dates - meetings, committee hearings, deadlines, etc.

There are no key dates or meetings thus far this year.

Sources:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h107-1

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/education/no_child/basics.html

http://www.arizonaea.org/politics.php?page=282&sub_page=252

http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/execsumm.html

Kern Clarke

Shelby Harcher

Amaris Romero

As in presentation zen video I made my new slide background image bleed, contrast in the color to catch to audience attention, rules of the third, and large words. 

On my old slide I had contrast in the color and large words.

by Michael Dea, Joshua Martin-Corrales, and Henry Yam

Congratulations to all of SLA's marathoners.

10 full marathoners

4 half marathoners

14 awesome marathoners

Well done!

Goal #1: Write my homework in my Agenda. 

  Sometimes I forgot to write my homework in my agenda. I want to stop that so, when I get home, I don't have to ask people what the homework is. 

Goal #2: Raising my hand more in class

I don't raise my hand in class often. I need to raise my hand more in class because I usually have good answers, but I don't want them to be wrong. So, I don't raise my hand. I would like to raise my hand more in class because then I would better participation grades in class. 

Goal #3: Be more confident when doing presentations

I usually get nervous during presentations. Then, I blank out and don't know what to say. So, I would like to become more confident. Then, I can do better during presentations. Also, my voice gets extra high. 

Chinese Timeline 1868-1882

Chinese Timeline 1865

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35548907@N02/5189664929/in/photostream/

One of my goals for second quarter is for me to be to be less nervous when it comes to test taking. Normally, I understand the concepts I'm learning, but when it comes to the test, I get very anxious about what my grade will be when I'm done. If I study more, maybe I could become more confident, which will make it less difficult taking tests. Another goal I have for the second quarter is to use my time wisely and plan it out. That way, I can always get a good amount of sleep and get my homework done, but still have some time to talk to friends. My last goal is to be less shy in class. Sometimes, I feel like it will be the wrong answer, or someone won't agree with what I say. At times though, I feel confident with my answer and I answer correctly. 

Get straight A's second quarter. I was just short on straight A's first quarter so I am willing to WORK so much harder to get my straight A's.

Sleep before Anthony does. 

Be more sociable. 

Confidence boost.

wrok on beter spelling.

Do the ultimate drama play.

Goals I Have for the Second Quarter 

Try hard to get a an A in Algebra 1. Go to math lab at least once a week for every week of the quarter until grades go in. Ask Ms. Garvey for help when I need it. Don't be afraid to ask her to clarify something is class.

Find better reading habits. Try to be  a better close reader rather than just flipping the pages on and on. Stop and think about what I read. Talk to a friend about what I read. Recommend the book to them.

Find ways to progress  in my writing. Follow the guides the Ms. Dunn gives when writing. Don't wait last minute before a Benchmark is due. Try to improve in grammer!

One of my goals are to work on my benchmarks better. Last time when i got my benchmark this time and i waited like the day befor it was due and that made it extra hard. This time i plan to start working on my benchmarks as soon as i get it. maybe like have half of it done by the third day it was given.

Another one of my goals is to become husky. i love myself for the way i am but being husky would just put icing on the cake. i plan to be able to lift 175 lbs by the end of this quarter.

One last goal is to get nothing lower than a B in any of the classes. Last time i did not get a C but  I think i might get one next time.

Academic:

1. Go to math lab more. I really have been doing bad on math standards but yet have not been retaking them. I retook one of them but got the same grade as the first time. If I need help or anything I am going to really go. 

2. Try to do my best more. I often do this but I have not been doing it as much 1st quarter.

3. Be better about writing down my homework. I never have used my planners. I realized in high school that I really need to use it.

One of my goals for this 2nd quarter is to try harder.  This is a big switch so now that I am used to it I now can do better.  An example would be to never get a grade under a B.  Another goal is to try not to be forgetful.  Sometimes I forget to do somethings.I forget it then I will remember at the last minute and rush to do it.  

Hm, some of my academic goals are to get at least three A's in my grades, mentally compute math problems easily and not be lethargic to do that, and put a lot more effort into do school work. 

This quarter I got three A's. I hope to keep that up and eventually get more. But for the time being, I want stay with achieving three A's in ending result of all my classes.

Other than getting at least three A's in my classes, I want to be able to mentally compute math problems. Not all, but some. Such as addition, subtraction, or multiplication. I was challenged by my math teacher to do this and I think it's a useful skill to have.

Though I have done fairly well this quarter, I want to put more effort into doing classwork and homework. I want to manage my time well and put more thought into homework.

Watch the video below to see the awesomeness of improv.

Johnny Irizarry is another member of the SRC in the Philadelphia School District. Having taught at some high schools in Philadelphia, and shown great persistence in the development of students education, he will be a good guy to talk to. Although he has a specific focus, on the Center for Hispanic Excellence, he will still be helpful and be able to share his past experiences.

We have received the opportunity to attend a town hall meeting on Monday, October 25th, to discuss education in America and the importance of great teachers. Presented by A&E Network, Comcast, Temple University and the U.S. Department of Education. Featuring Governer Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, Arlene Ackerman, and Tony Danza. We will be able to participate in a professional conversation and get many of our questions answered. After this experience I believe we will both feel more comfortable to attend other SRC and town hall planning and action meetings. These meetings are generally open to the public for our advantage. We hope to attend a planning meeting on Wednesday November 10, 2010 and an action meeting on Wednesday November 17, 2010.  At these two meetings we will have a chance to get a sort of behind the scenes look into the department of education. We hope to get insight on how ideas are proposed and decisions are made professionally

Johnny Irizarry is another member of the SRC in the Philadelphia School District. Having taught at some high schools in Philadelphia, and shown great persistence in the development of students education, he will be a good guy to talk to. Although he has a specific focus, on the Center for Hispanic Excellence, he will still be helpful and be able to share his past experiences.

We have received the opportunity to attend a town hall meeting on Monday, October 25th, to discuss education in America and the importance of great teachers. Presented by A&E Network, Comcast, Temple University and the U.S. Department of Education. Featuring Governer Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, Arlene Ackerman, and Tony Danza. We will be able to participate in a professional conversation and get many of our questions answered. After this experience I believe we will both feel more comfortable to attend other SRC and town hall planning and action meetings. These meetings are generally open to the public for our advantage. We hope to attend a planning meeting on Wednesday November 10, 2010 and an action meeting on Wednesday November 17, 2010.  At these two meetings we will have a chance to get a sort of behind the scenes look into the department of education. We hope to get insight on how ideas are proposed and decisions are made professionally

1. What are you lobbying for, against or to change? Explain the issue

1. Elaborate on your motivation for investigating and influencing public policy?

1. Who are the main supporters of your lobbying idea?

1. Who are the main opponents of your lobbying idea?

1. Is there any pending legislation dealing with your lobbying idea? Explain. If there is not, what would you like to see proposed. Elaborate.

1. Any other information regarding the background for your topic.