High Stakes Testing

There’s been a lot of talk this legislative session about student assessments – specifically high stakes testing.  I continue to be amazed at how some people insist on requiring students to pass such a test in order to graduate from high school.  They claim that the requirement is necessary to make sure that our schools are turning out students that are ready for post-secondary life / school.  I just don’t get it.  These summative assessments, required by NCLB, are of great use in assessing two things: 1) what a student knows at a particular moment in time and 2) the effectiveness at a system of teaching the material on the test.  Notice what these tests don’t measure: how well prepared a student is for the next phase in their life.  Or what kind of person they are.  Or how successful they will be.  Spending all of the money that we do on this sort of testing seems to me to be a colossal waste of staff time and money – two things that our schools are perilously short on right now.

These tests were a waste of time for me when I was in high school.  You could have spoken to any one of my teachers.  Or my coaches.  Or my guidance counselor.  Or my friends’ parents.  Or even to me.  They all would have told you that I was a decent kid who deserved to graduate from high school and was as well prepared as I could be for whatever was going to come next.  I’m not saying this to brag – the vast majority of the people I went to high school with would have fit into that category with me.  Everyone knew the kids that we thought were going to struggle when high school was over.  We didn’t need a test to tell us.  All the test did was waste time we could have spent learning, waste paid, on the clock hours of teachers, and waste the state’s money.

Beyond that, the simple idea of tying an overall evaluation of anything to one moment in time seems crazy.  I’m going to use a sports analogy here because… well because I’m me.  It’s a baseball one too:

Let’s say that you are a scouting director for a major league team.  It is your job to analyze young baseball players and sign the best ones for your team.  In a way, you are deciding who gets to graduate from being a high school or college player to being a pro player.  Using a high stakes test to decide high school graduation is like basing your scouting analysis off of one showcase game.  No, it’s worse than that.  It’s like basing your scouting analysis off of the box score of one showcase game.  Hmm, that kid went 0-4.  We’d better not sign him.  Yikes!  That kid went 5-5!  Sign him now!  See how crazy this sounds?  What the box score won’t tell you is that the kid that went 0-4 hit four line drives that happened to get caught.  He has a great swing.  He’s also 6’2”, has incredible speed, and a cannon for an arm.  It also won’t tell you that he was playing third base when his natural position was left field, making him uncomfortable all game.  He will be a quality professional player.  It won’t tell you that the kid who went 5-5 was 5’3” and can barely run or throw.  Three of his hits were broken bat pop ups that happened to fall in between fielders.  One was a swinging bunt that the catcher tripped trying to field, and the last one should have been ruled an error.  He has absolutely no future in baseball.  If you really wanted to do your job well you wouldn’t rely on the statistics from any single game… or even on statistics at all.  You would send scouts to watch the players… see how they run… see what kind of swings they have… how the carry themselves… how they play the game… even talk with them to see what kind of kids they are.  You would talk to coaches and parents.  After gathering all of this information you would sit down and make some decisions.  I know I made a rather extreme example, but on an all or nothing high stakes graduation test the results are pretty extreme – graduate or not.

Instead of sinking time and money into tests, why don’t we sink time and money into school staff?  Get high quality school staff that can accurately judge whether or not a student deserves to graduate and is prepared for the next step in their life.  And then why don’t we trust them?  People who actually interact with the student can judge that far better than a test with an arbitrary graduation cut off test score set by someone sitting in a cube in the Department of Education.  Why are we willing to settle for such one dimensional measures in our education system when we NEVER would in ANY other area of our life.  For hiring someone for a job, for buying a car, for asking someone out, for making friends, for choosing colleges… we always go beyond simple numbers and try to get a feel for someone or something before committing to it.  Why do we settle for so much less when it comes to our K-12 students?

Another Peaceful Transfer of Power

Tomorrow is inauguration day.  It is very easy, especially with an inauguration as historic as this one, to take everything that happens tomorrow for granted and forget what it all represents.  Inaugurations represent the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.  That is a truly remarkable thing if it happens once, but it is staggering that we have had peaceful transfers of power for more than 200 years.  What is especially striking about this is that the President is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces.  Not once in our history has our military violently opposed the political will of the people.  It is a testament to the political system that our founders gave us.  For all the flaws we point to in our system today, it’s greatest achievement is the very fact that we take the peaceful transfers of power for granted – that we don’t consider anything else as an option.  No matter how bitter an election was, the outcome is accepted peacefully.  Certainly, there can be objections, but they are heard in court or expressed with words – in the press – and not with bullets.

So, while you are celebrating the inauguration of Obama tomorrow (and you damn well better celebrate!) make sure that you also celebrate America.  Not just because someone like Obama can be elected, but because we live in a country where two opposing political factions can trade power without violence erupting.

The Ongoing Minnesota Senate Saga

Last night John Stewart expressed frustration about our Senate saga and wondered how hard it was to count to 3,000,000 in Minnesota.  Yes, the process has been long, but up until now I’ve accepted it as necessary, but now I’m frustrated too.  Honestly, when the recount began I thought that Coleman would still end up the winner, but I’ve been proven wrong over the last few weeks.  With Franken now ahead, I wish Coleman would do what he urged Franken to do after election day and step aside.  I am not naive enough to think that if the roles were reversed Franken would not be doing the same thing… because he would be challenging the results in court just like Coleman is now… but at this point the time has come to move on.  This delay in providing an election certificate upsets me as a citizen of the state of Minnesota for two reasons.  First, because of the legal challenge we currently have only one senator in Washington, meaning we are being deprived of representation in congress.  Second, there has already been a recount, and a certified winner to the election.  I know that anyone has the legal right to challenge election results, so I’m not saying Coleman has no right to do this.  But I am much more open to accepting such actions when they lead to a recount – not after the recount is already over.  I’m no fan of Coleman, but I wouldn’t stand by Franken if the roles were reversed.  Hopefully we’ll get this thing will be over before too long.

“This Detroit Bailout is Crap”

I’m quoting a friend of mine in the title.  I think he knows more about how all of this works than I do since he took some economics in school, so it’s nice to know I’m not alone in this.

It seems as if some sort of auto industry bailout is going to be passed before too long, and I’m just adding this to my list of things that congress has done in the last few months that I think are mistakes.  To make things worse, I remember hearing that it is only a short term bailout that will last until the new congress can get something bigger done.

I am not an economist, and I don’t know much about the auto industry but, just like the wall street bailout, this one just does not sit well in my gut.  It is only going to postpone the inevitable and waste a WHOLE lot of our money.  Down the drain.  The problems these companies have appear to be self made and they appear to be very very flawed.  Yes, it would suck if they all go out of business, but I think it would present a great opportunity to reform American society for the better.

Let’s say there is no bailout and the auto companies fold.  Their workers are out of work and don’t have health care, right?  Guess what the government says… “We’re sorry that your company failed, but that’s the free market baby.  Ok, I tell you what we’ll do.  We’ll give you guys health insurance.  No charge, this one’s on us.  We’ll also give you a job.  Come build electric cars, buses, trains, railroads, a new power grid, bridges, wind turbines and more!”

Or maybe we should just buy the companies.  I read we can do that for less than the cost of the bailout.  Then we get to be in control of everything, instead of the executives that led us to this disaster in the first place.

Will all of this cost money?  Yes, as will a bailout.  Will it increase the deficit?  Yes, as will a bailout.  Will the country as a whole benefit in the long run?  Yes.  And that is where the difference lies.  It seems to me the country will not benefit from a bailout.  Why perpetuate the problems we already have?  Times of great crisis are not times to let the status quo remain… they are times to make innovative and bold new decisions and policies

Will congress be bold and innovative?  Doubtful.  And it’s sad that even I feel that way.  We need to expect better from our government.

The best idea I’ve heard during this debate is for the government to say, “We are not going to give you one single penny of money.  You should, however, feel free to approach the oil companies for all the money you need.  They are dependent upon your gas guzzling cars to make money, and they have plenty of it to spend.”  We should make the oil companies bail out the auto industry.  And if they won’t, then tough beans.I really feel for the little guy who will lose his job if the companies go out of business, but something tells me that America would be better off, and far more flexible and innovative, if the auto companies are allowed to fail and not given a bailout.  People keep claiming that there will be widespread economic consequences if the companies fail.  They may be right, but at what point do we just say, “maybe it’s better to wipe the slate clean and start over again so we can be more prosperous in the long run”?

This just has to be done in the right way, with the right vision.  Innovative and bold.  Those are the kinds of ideas and leaders we need in congress right now.

“Lieberman” (said in a very Seinfeld “Newman”-like manner)

I was going to write about my fury at the decision made about Lieberman earlier this week.  So I started to write down random thoughts with the intent of merging them into some sort of semi-ish coherent rant.  But while I was still in the random thoughts phase I read an article that expressed exactly how I feel and did so far more persuasively than I ever could.  So, please read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-geiger/liebermans-biggest-crime_b_144903.html

Well put, sir.  Well put.

Now, if you care to see my random thoughts I began to jot down before reading that article here they are:

– the democratic voters in CT decided they did not want him to be in their party… and why should we disagree with them?

– This was not a vote to push some ultra-radical-leftist agenda through congress.  This was a vote on whether or not to keep someone in a club.  Someone who actively campaigned for a different club, said your club was dangerous and naive and un-American and that the country would be destroyed if you won.  He chose his side, and his side lost.  Tough beans.  He cast his lot with the doomed presidential bid of McCain and lost.  He made a CHOICE to support the LOSER.  Now we want to give him a do over?  I’m all for hearing all sides and working with all sides on important issues, but this decision was not about that.  This election was cut and dry.  It’s one thing to support McCain.  It’s quite another play right into the Republican fear mongering us against them must destroy terrorists a vote for Obama is a vote for America’s doom rhetoric.

– Now, I am not afraid to admit (rather loudly) to anyone who will listen that I do NOT want Lieberman in the Deomcratic party (and as I mentioned earlier neither to the Democrats in his home state).  But if you think that he should be given a second chance and should remain in the party caucus, at least don’t let him keep his chairmanship.  You make him “surrender” his place on the Environment and Public Works Committee???  That means you assume he even wanted that assignment in the first place.  Would you?

– Howard Dean said it should be a political decision, not a personal one, as to whether he should keep his chairmanship.  He also said he had not reviewed Lieberman’s credentials for being chairman of homeland security.  I’ll do it for you, Mr. Dean: Lieberman thought that (despite the experience of the past 8 years) the other guy would be better than our guy at providing homeland security.

– The Fix mentioned that the divided factions of the Republican party led to it’s decline in ’06 and ’08, and that if Lieberman was not punished it could lead to the same thing for Democrats.

– I read an interesting piece today that basically says that Obama is saving his political capital for more important fights (passing major climate and health care reforms in the first two years).  All I have to say is that he’d better be.  Lieberman is going to lose in 2010 (although this lifeline the Democrats handed him increase his chances at winning).  If keeping him on for two years does not result in any significant progress on those issues I am going to be one very unhappy camper.

– Also, we don’t need his vote anymore.  The only reason to keep his vote is if the Democrats get to 60 (I do NOT think this will happen because Chambliss will win in Georgia)  BUTTTTTTT  Lieberman is also on the record as saying that he doesn’t think anyone should have a filibuster proof majority… so I’m not inclined to believe that he would vote to cut off debate as the 60th vote.

If you are ever in need of a rant to pass some time, just mention Lieberman to me, sit back, and relax.

Veterans Day

Please take a moment today to thank those who serve, have served, and who have given their lives in the armed forces.  Not just of the United States, but around the world.  Over here, we use this day to celebrate those veterans who are still living because we have Memorial Day in May to celebrate those that have died.  In Europe today is the day they celebrate those who have died, especially those who were killed in World War One – a war that resonates far more over there than in the US.

However you want to… moment of silence… prayer… calling someone… whatever you can and want to do… please take a moment today to recognize the sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made by so many.

Earn This

Update:I wrote this orinigal post before I heard Obama talk about his grandmother today.  Ironic.

Those of you who have seen Saving Private Ryan will recognize the title of this post.  In the closing moments of the movie, Tom Hanks tells Matt Damon to “earn this” as he is dying on a bridge.  We then cut to modern day Matt Damon, now an old man, who asks his wife (with his children and grandchildren standing behind them) if he is a good man; if he has lived a good life.

As I was watching the Obama half hour infomercial last week, I couldn’t help but think about both of my grandfathers.  They left home to fight in a war when they were younger than I am now, so that the world could be a better place… and so that I could have the chance to live in a place like the United States.  So that I could live a free nation.  So that I would have the chance to live in world that was not at war.  When I think about them, I can’t help but think that I owe so much to them.  I hope that when all is said and done they feel that I’ve earned everything that they have given to me.  The first step in earning that is coming soon.  Tomorrow in fact.

But before going into that I want to take some time to recognize the service that they gave to the United States.  I’ll be elaborating more when I start posting some of my family history, but here’s a little snippet:

Robert Szymaszek, or “Pa” as my brother and I called him, served in the 9th Armored Division during World War Two.  He was a tank crewman.  He fought in the battle of the Bulge, holding back the German advance in the vicinity of Sankt Vith, Belgium.  In March of 1945 his unit captured the only bridge across the Rhine that the Germans had not blown up.  He was in one of the first American tanks to cross the Rhine into Germany.  He was awarded the Bronze Star for exploits in combat as his unit advanced through Germany.

John Messinger, or “Pop-pop” as my brother and I called him, joined the Marines and was assigned to the USS Houston (CL-81) as and anti-aircraft gunner.  He participated in several engagements in the Pacific in 1944.  In October of that year, the Houston was struck by a Japanese torpedo during the opening stages of the Battle of the Leyte Gulf.  Pop-pop was forced to abandon ship in rough seas in the middle of the night.  He was eventually picked up by friendly ships.

When I go to the polls tomorrow, I will proudly be casting my votes in honor of my two grandfathers, who risked their lives so that I would be able to vote at all.  They risked their lives to that I could live in a more peaceful and better world than they did.  They never bragged about their service or even talked about it at all.  They never asked for recognition or praise or admiration.  And as I watched Obama speak last week, I realized that voting for him is the first step in earning all they have given me.  If they were alive they might not agree with my vote, but in my heart I know that Obama is the only candidate that will lead this country with the courage my grandfathers had.  He is the only candidate that will ensure their sacrifices are not in vain; he is the only candidate that will preserve the freedom and liberty they helped give to all of us.  He is the only candidate worthy to lead the country The Greatest Generation made such great sacrifices for.

Seven Years Ago

It’s hard to believe that it has already been seven years since the attacks on the world trade center.  Everyone should take a moment today to remember those that gave their lives.  Remember those who went to work that day, thinking it would be like any other.   Remember those firemen and policemen that bravely entered the burning buildings to save those trapped inside.

I think most people can remember where they were when they heard the news that day.  I was a junior in high school in Mr. Bono’s (apologies if that is spelled wrong… it’s been a while) English class.  We heard that planes hit the World Trade Center, but we assumed they were small propeller planes.  Later we heard the towers had collapsed, but none of us seemed to really grasp what had just happened.  We did not have TVs on in the classrooms I was in.  It wasn’t until I got home that I was able to see with my eyes what happened, and I remember being pretty scared.  I was only 16, but as a military / military history buff I had long been exposed to video games and movies that had similar plot lines – it was how wars would be fought in the future.  I was scared that before my eyes the future had finally become the present.  In college I took a class about modern conflict, and one of the books we read was about the “New Wars.”  Just further evidence that wars weren’t going to be fought like that in the future – they ARE being fought like that – in the present.

I never got to see the Twin Towers up close – only out the car window driving on the Jersey Turnpike.  I never visited Manhattan before 9/11.  My first visit to downtown Manhattan came the following summer.  I never flew before 9/11.  My first flight came the following spring.

While I commend both Obama and McCain for suspending their “political” activities today, I would commend them even more if they would make the following promise: never to mention 9/11 on the campaign trail again.  It amazes me how people can think it’s “wrong” to make September 11th a day of political campaigning, but it’s perfectly alright to use September 11th as a political tool while campaigning.

I also recommend that all of you read this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/losing-a-friend-on-911_b_125615.html

The author addresses one of the most curious phenomenons since 9/11: the fact that those people who have the least connection to the actual event are those who used it to get our country into a needless war, while those who experienced the tragedy themselves are some of the war’s strongest opponents.

The author ends with this powerful statement: “I can’t imagine a worst tribute to Jon Albert and the others who died on 9/11: more death from the air, and in the air.”  He is referring to the war in Iraq, but it can very easily be applied to most everything this country and this administration has done in the name of 9/11.  The day could have been remembered as the start of a new spirit of cooperation – both between Americans of all walks of life and between America and the rest of the world.  Instead it is remembered as the event that plunged us into war, isolated us from the world, divided the nation, and allowed those in power to curtail our freedoms.  The “despicable people” (I’ll refrain from using the many many vulgar phrases that come to mind initially) who are responsible for this have tarnished the memory and legacy of those innocent people who gave their lives that day.  And that is not ok with me.  Not ok at all.

You Mess With My Grandpa, I Don’t Vote for Your Grandson

I was never going to vote for John McCain this year anyway…  but recently I was shocked to hear this election won’t be decided on actual policies or issues (at least that’s what the Republicans say).  My opposition to John McCain was solely based on opposition to issues and policies… how misguided was that ???  So now I’m at a bit of a loss for why to oppose him.  Recently I found my reason.  I now present my new rationale for hating on John McCain:

They loved to talk about the military at their convention, and this new hate on McCain rationale stems from just that… military service.  I was reading “The Battle to Save the Houston” by John Grider Miller last week when he revealed what to most people would be a minor and insignificant detail… the USS Houston was transferred to Task Force 38.1 in October of 1944 while on duty in the Pacific.  Things really got juicy when he revealed that Task Force 38.1 was commanded by none other than John S. McCain, grandfather of the dude running for president.

You may be thinking to yourself, where is he going with this?  What does some World War Two ship have to do with the 2008 presidential election?

Well, the USS Houston just happened to have one relatively (ie completely) unknown Marine Private First Class manning one of it’s anti-aircraft guns: my grandfather John Messinger.

It was while under the command of John McCain, Sr. that the USS Houston (my grandpa on board) was torpedoed by the Japanese – crippling the ship and nearly sending her to the bottom of the Pacific.  The crew was forced to abandon ship and wait in the water to be picked up and brought back to safe harbors.

So basically the rationale is thus:  In 1944 one John McCain was in command of a Messinger.  Things go wrong, ship gets torpedoed.  Fast forward to 2008.  One John McCain, grandson of “older” John McCain, is trying to become (essentially) commander of older Messinger’s grandson.  Last time a McCain was in command of a Messinger things didn’t turn out so well, so why will this time be any different?  My family has a bad track record when McCains are in charge of us, and therefore I will not be voting for McCain.

Jesse Ventura, Hermann Göring, and Thomas Jefferson

I came to Minnesota after Jesse Ventura’s reign.  To those of us from out east, it was sort of a joke that this wrestler dude got elected governor.  I know people out here have strong opinions about what happened while he was governor, and having not lived through it I’m in no position to speak with any authority about it.

But this morning I found a post about an interview yesterday with Mr. Ventura.  It can be found at: http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/09/more_nazi_talk.html .  And this is the part that caught my eye:

“KING: Yes, wasn’t that surprising, Jesse, even though you didn’t see it, that the theme was “we’re the patriots”?

VENTURA: Well, you know, the Republicans have been pushing really Hermann Goering on us, the Nazi, since 2001. I mean, you know…

KING: Hermann Goering?

VENTURA: Yes. He said that it’s easy to take a country to war. You have to convince them they’re under attack. Denounce the pacifist for being unpatriotic and also for putting the country into danger. And yet, Thomas Jefferson said dissension is the greatest form of patriotism.

I like to follow the teachings of Thomas Jefferson a little bit more than Herman Goering.”

Here is what Göring said, in full (the emphasis is mine):

“Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. …voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country”

Like I said, I’m not here to push a political opinion of Ventura, but I have to applaud a man who tells it like he sees it.  NO ONE living in America can deny that this is exactly what has happened in the United States since 2001.  I’m not comparing anyone in America to Nazis ideologically, but the method Göring describes for mobilizing a “patriotic” spirit and leading a nation into war has disturbingly close parallels to the last six years in America.

I make no secret of the fact that I love history, and I love it the most when we can see parallels like this in today’s world.  It’s sad that so many people in the modern world don’t learn enough about history.  It’s cliche, but as the last six years have shown, if you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat it.