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How TX CSCOPE Controversy Began

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by Ginger Russell

 

I did not wake up one day and decide to fight the public school system in Texas. Not by a long shot. I have always been politically active and my mother, Janice VanCleave, not so much. Unfortunately the cause fell in our lap when mom asked me to look into a situation she found herself in.

My mother is science author, Janice VanCleave who also runs www.txcscopereview.com.  She is in her 70′s and retired. She spends time serving her community by visiting widows in nursing homes and tutoring. This all started over a year ago when she tried to tutor some children in her local school district, of Marlin ISD.  When she asked them where their textbooks were they said they had none. (RED FLAG) The teacher knew mom’s reputation and gave her a copy of a CSCOPE science lesson. Finding the CSCOPE lesson riddled with errors she asked for additional lessons and was refused. (RED FLAG). Prior to writing, mom taught years earlier in Marlin ISD among other TX districts. Needless to say she ended up in her local ESC in Waco where they refused to let her see the CSCOPE lessons as well. The actions and behavior by all involved raised some serious (RED FLAGS). I put mom in contact with SBOE chairman Barbara Cargill who had not heard of CSCOPE (RED FLAG)  and she requested the ESC to give her a password and they refused (RED FLAG). Barbara was not able to get a password to CSCOPE for six months until Gov Perry got involved (RED FLAG).

When the CSCOPE reps in Austin found out who mom was and her credentials they drove to her local town of Marlin to meet with her. SERIOUSLY! I along with another gentlemen attended the meeting to their surprise. They had hoped they could team up on her 5 to 1 and were not happy with our presence. I have the whole meeting recorded below.  It is long and boring. But at one point in the conversation I handed the CSCOPE State Coordinator, the Islamic Powerpoint and he tries to deny it (RED FLAG).
https://soundcloud.com/ginger-russell/wade-labay
I then filed a Public Information Request and TESCCC (CSCOPE owners) asked the attorney General to deem them a “non governmental entity”)RED FLAG) which he denied. They also stated that mom was a CSCOPE competitor in hopes he would rule on their behalf. The lie has made it’s round through the education system.

We then started going public and teachers would contact us anonymously asking for help. They informed us that their administrators were having them to sign a non disclosure statement, stating that they would not release the contents or say anything negative about it. (RED FLAG).

I spoke at the Willis ISD Board meeting in October in regard to CSCOPE. I had no idea at the time who Lindy McCullogh (ESC CSCOPE COORDINATOR) was or that she was there. She spoke after me and was obviously outraged that I had spoke out against CSCOPE. (RED FLAG) VIDEO BELOW


I later called ESC director Brent Hawkins and in our conversation he said “you will not tear apart something we implemented”. (RED FLAG)

Now, with all the red flags and strange behavior by some many educators in regard to CSCOPE we knew something had to be done. By this time a couple of veteran educators had contacted us and started  exposing CSCOPE lesson content (which CSCOPE reps began editing and removingd after we exposed it).

Needless to say when you have an educational program that is riddled with the controversial material, parents can’t see it, teachers silenced and threatened with prosecution for releasing content, etc, that was enough RED FLAGS for us.

Being politically active I had a personal meeting with the LT Governor in January. Dewhurst said he would have the chairman of the Senate Education Committee which was Dan Patrick hold an education hearing on it. And he did. About the same time I had tweeted about the CSCOPE lesson that portrayed the Boston Tea Party as being a Terrorist Act, and Glenn Beck picked it up. Thank you Glenn! Fortunately parents started realizing what was going on at their  school and became involved as well. The rest is history.

I have not even expounded the financials in regard to CSCOPE or their lack of transparency, which is presently under the review of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott.

It has taken me over a year to finally find out what CSCOPE iand it is about implementing a radical change in the way students are taught called “project based learning”(PBL). PBL is based on the collective not individual achievement. There is a chart below outlining the differences in a traditional education and PBL. Project Based Learning and Common Core Standards are based on the same progressive philosophy.

As for a my mother, the Texas education establishment have come out attacking and FALSELY accusing her as being a competitor with CSCOPE and out it to make a profit on CSCOPE’s exposure.Nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything, out of  concern for children and our country’s future it has cost us both money and time away from family working on this debacle.  We have got where we just laugh at the accusations because we know the education establishment is jumping through hoops to divert the exposure off of them. Thankfully the truth always wins in the end.

I am by no way a self proclaimed expert on education. Yes, I did home school both of my children who are now college graduates and married. But I do know it is wrong to pass out verses of the Quran to students, I know it is wrong to have students draw new Communist Flags,I know it is wrong to have students learn about the sex life of Islamic Women, etc, etc.. enough on the lessons. I know it was unacceptable and wrong to not allow parents to view what their children were taught. I know it is wrong to have teachers threatened with a lawsuit for disclosing content or speaking negatively about a curriculum. How you can ignore this? How can you vote to purchase this crap again and petition the state for a waiver is beyond me.

I want you to know yes mom and I have a following of conservative christian activist… but there are 100′s across the state that supply us information as to what is going on in their school districts. We are not in this alone, not by a long shot. The days of our local school districts hiding and spending money with no oversight is over.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I want to personally thank Alice Linahan, Donna Garner, Peggy Venable, Ms. Mac, Ms. Bowen, Stan Hartzler, Dr. David Stovall, Laurie Bartlett, and hundreds more that have joined in this battle of protecting our children.

 PBL RHC

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Sen. Patrick vs Ratliff: See Live!

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ONLINE EVENT:

 The controversial lesson plans called CSCOPE will be debated by Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and State Board of Education member Thomas Ratliff, R-Mt. Pleasant. The two have agreed to square off over the lesson plans used in hundreds of Texas schools.

 

The debate at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, August 24th, on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler will be broadcast live on www.OnPointBroadcasting.com and we will host a live TwitterFest.

 

Panelists will include the Hudson ISD superintendent and a Grass Roots America leader, JoAnn Fleming. Scott Braddock of Quorum Report will moderate. We at Americans for Prosperity – Texas will be providing commentary on the debate!

 

Event: CSCOPE Debate with Senator Dan Patrick and SBOE member Thomas Ratliff

Website: onpointbroadcasting.com

 

Date: Saturday, August 24th, 2013

Time: 6:30pm

 

Have a twitter account? Use the hashtag #CSCOPE to follow the debate and let us know what you think!

Visit our website throughout the week to keep track of up-to-date News & Views from across the state!

www.americansforprosperity.org/texas

 

mean ratliff

 

Senator Patrick                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Thomas Ratliff

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Where Is The Outrage? Christians are being Persecuted!!

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illegal cross

Today Coptic Christians are being murdered and tortured in Egypt. At least 42  churches have been burned down and destroyed. Where is the OUTRAGE? Does Obama care? Do Americans care? America has become so complacent and believes persecution will not make it’s way to our shores. With the removal of prayer in schools, the murder of the unborn through abortion, America has turned it’s face away from God.

The IRS under the Obama administration has been noted to ask a pro-life group to disclose “content of it’s members prayers”. Seriously? Has America come to this?  The absurdity of this question alerts one to the mentality of the left and the havoc they are reaping on America along with the ripping away of American Exceptionalism. Can Christian persecution come to America?  You bet it can and will if American values and America’s exceptionalism are not once again instilled in our children! Our education system in America has been the greatest contributor to removing those cherished values and principals from our next generation.

America, the Greatest Country in the World,  the envy of millions world wide is coming apart from the inside out. There are thousands who have made it their goal in life to tear America apart but many more are unaware that they are contributing to this foreseeable destruction. The Christian principals that are weaved into America’s founding and the values that have contributed to 200+ years of religious freedom are no longer taught in our education system. Students are taught the religion of globalization and environmentalism. America will not survive this. In my fight against the Texas Education establishment and their implementation of a progressive teaching philosophy, called CSCOPE aka Project Based Learning known nationally as Common Core, educators come out in droves claiming their Christianity. I  have never questioned their faith but I question on behalf of their faith how can they be so ignorant of the progressive agenda and the impending doom it will have on all of our children’s future. God’s word says in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”.

At a time when education takes up the majority of our budget and is at the forefront of every election campaign, I am reminded of the speech by Ronald Reagan “A Time for Choosing”, where he said “It’s not that our liberal friends are ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t true”. Wake up America! Persecution is coming!

 

More on the persecution of Christian persecution go to Persecution.org

 

 

 

EGYPT Coptic Church Set Ablaze (By Muslim Brotherhood Supporters?)

 

 

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TEXAS STUDENT ON CSCOPE

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Women On the Wall Communication Team Conference Call- A Students perspective on CSCOPE

Alice Linahan

Last night we had a young lady named Jessica describe what parents have been reporting to us. You will hear first hand that Jessica feels CSCOPE is not about actually educating students but the controlling of teachers. You will also hear about how frustrating it is for students who truly want to learn and hindered in the process due to CSCOPE.

 

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Houston Chronicle on CSCOPE

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Obtaining news, the Houston Chronicle is my last place to turn due to their leftist bent. My hats off to editor Linda Falkenberg on coverage of CSCOPE. Though I don’t agree with Ms. Falkenberg’s attempt to minimize concerns with the CSCOPE’s controversial content.   I would like to say she did a fantastic job outlining the events that have led up to what has become a state controversy.
houston chronicle

 

 

Curriculum flare-up earned an ‘A’ in drama

August 21, 2013

Lisa Falkenberg

Lisa Falkenberg

 

The real shocker among the claims of conservatives fighting something called “CSCOPE” isn’t that the state-produced lesson plans are allegedly pro-Marx and anti-Christ, or even that they’re trying to indoctrinate Texas children into Islam.

It’s that, when you get past the craziness, there are some good questions being asked.

It remains to be seen whether any of those questions will get answered this Saturday in Tyler when Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick debates State Board of Education member Thomas Ratliff.

But the planned clash between the two Republicans – one a tea party darling running for lieutenant governor, the other an outspoken East Texas pragmatist who helped dismantle the Religious Right’s grip on the state education board – has elevated to center stage a little known controversy thus far followed only by online conspiracy theorists and political junkies.

At issue is a computer-based curriculum tool known as CSCOPE produced by Texas Regional Education Service Centers. Until recently, it was being used in some part by 70 percent of Texas school districts, many of them in rural areas that may not be able to afford their own curriculum writers.

Teachers, some of whom have been using the curriculum guide since 2006, have complained of errors, shallow skimming of concepts and, mostly, the instructions they’ve received from some local administrators not to deviate from scripted lesson plans.

But a retired teacher named Janice VanCleave takes the credit for bringing the other issues to light. VanCleave, who lives in Riesel, just east of Waco, and has written many science-related children’s books, said she was trying to tutor students in her local district in 2011 when she asked about the textbook. When the children said there was no textbook, VanCleave got suspicious.

Doors began shutting

When she tried to obtain information on the computer-based lesson plans, she was turned away by the local school district and then by the regional service centers that produced the curriculum. Similar attempts by parents and even State Board of Education members to gain access to the material were rejected. The state centers claimed propriety concerns, but grass-roots conservatives smelled a rat.

And, since nothing feeds conspiracy theories like secrecy, accusations of a government curriculum rife with a progressive, even anti-American bias spread like wildfire. The lessons began to trickle out, providing endless fodder for bloggers who spun webs of intrigue and claims of insidious indoctrination. Glenn Beck and Fox News seized on the story. Then came the politicians, Patrick and the incumbent whose job he’s seeking, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, took up the cause in their respective bids to out-conservative each other.

Tea Party terrorism

The panic grew, even as Attorney General Greg Abbott announced that parents should have access to curriculum. Bloggers took issue with social studies lessons that, in one case, asked students to consider whether, from the British perspective, the Boston Tea Party was a terrorist act. (The fact that student had every right to say “heck, no!” didn’t seem to matter.) Another lesson asked students to design a socialist flag. Another that drew concern simply defined “Allah,” in short, as a monotheistic deity, otherwise known as the God of Abraham.

Not sure why this last one was such a big deal.

Lynn Mitchell, director of the religious studies program at the University of Houston, explained that “Allah” is simply Arabic for “God.” He pointed out that even Arabic-speaking Christians refer to God as “Allah.”

Premature celebration

In May, Patrick announced that the state education service centers had agreed to no longer produce the curriculum and conservatives cheered. But the issue flared back up when critics realized that some districts rushing to prepare lessons for the coming school year were still using the curriculum.

There have been some good issues raised by critics. No teacher should be forced to follow a one-size-fits-all canned script in the classroom. No state-written curriculum should be hidden from parents. The CSCOPE finances should be studied, and perhaps, as Patrick suggested, more oversight is needed in developing such curriculum tools. Certainly, a better editor to weed out the errors.

But these points could have been made without the fear-mongering, without the apocalyptic rhetoric. Even Peggy Venable, director of the conservative, anti-tax group, Americans for Prosperity, who raised solid concerns recently in her op-ed against the curriculum, couldn’t resist the temptation to include the charges of “indoctrination.”

Loaded language

That kind of language scores with the local tea party activists. It gets you on Fox News. And it gets certain primary voters riled enough to show up at the polls. But it’s not constructive.

For her part, the woman who started all this, Janice VanCleave, seems to be a thoughtful woman who is genuinely passionate about children’s education. She’s right that if the curriculum isn’t thorough enough to provide a solid foundation in a historic event such as the Boston Tea Party, then asking whether that event could be construed as a terrorist act is a jarring proposition some kids would be ill-equipped to answer.

“If you don’t really understand why they were throwing the tea, then you can’t really have critical thinking about it,” she says.

It’s her opinion that the curriculum left students ill-informed about Boston. But that’s a concern that makes sense. That’s a debate we could have had without all the drama.

 

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Proof That CSCOPE Is Not Needed

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“Proof  That CSCOPE Is Not Needed: Valuable Links

by Donna Garner

8.20.13

 

Contents of this e-mail (short explanations of each): 

 

  • Information about CSCOPE lawsuit
  • Link to Alice Linahan Radio Show from 8.19.13 — discussion of CSCOPE and SBOE member, Thomas Ratliff
  • Discussion of Amicus Brief in support of CSCOPE filed by Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS)
  • How to view and understand Texas’ 2013 Accountability Ratings released on 8.9.13
  • Explanation of Indexes and Distinctions columns in 2013 Accountability Ratings spreadsheet
  • Chart showing TACS members’ school district 2013 ratings
  • How to find Spring 2013 STAAR/End-of-Course test results for every school campus/district in Texas

 

INFORMATION ABOUT CSCOPE LAWSUIT

 When the moms, pops, grandparents, and taxpayers of LLano, Texas, became very concerned about the content of the CSCOPE lessons being taught to their children and grandchildren in the LLano ISD, they filed a lawsuit to stop the CSCOPE lessons from being used until the Texas State Board of Education had finished its review (according to SB 1406 passed by the 83rd Legislative Session).

 

INVOLVEMENT BY TACS

 The Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS) is made up of members who have one high school in their district.  Members pay from $320 to $670 annually to belong and normally use taxpayers’ dollars to pay their dues and convention and conference expenses.

 The president of TACS is Mary Ann Whiteker, the superintendent of Hudson ISD.  Whiteker is to be a panelist in support of CSCOPE at the Sen. Dan Patrick vs. Thomas Ratliff CSCOPE debate this coming Saturday, Aug. 24, 6:30 P. M., at the U. of Tyler. 

 [Please take time to listen to this 8.19.13 podcast on the Alice Linahan Radio Show in which a group of moms discusses the threat their children face with CSCOPE and with Thomas Ratliff on the SBOE:  http://soundcloud.com/alice-linahan/women-on-the-wall-radio-show-1?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter ]

 

 When the group of concerned citizens in LLano ISD filed their lawsuit, TACS almost immediately filed an Amicus Brief (link may need to be cut/copied/pasted into browser to work)  —https://docs.google.com/file/d/15ndWh4EmDih9aLBI_wQjgFt-0iuWqK_sGXB_E-r9TbxamGeEU87caEBzd3l9/edit  —  to defend the use of CSCOPE in their schools.  The brief has statements from various TACS superintendents who basically rave about CSCOPE and say their school districts could not possibly operate without this excellent CSCOPE system.  

 

The rave statements in favor of CSCOPE in the TACS’ Amicus Brief led me to do a little research.  Based upon the glowing statements from Lytle, Palacios, Abernathy, Hudson, Roosevelt, and Granger ISD’s in the Amicus Brief, I expected to see that their students had excelled on the 2013 Accountability Ratings released on 8.9.13 by the Texas Education Agency. 

 

After all, these TACS members that indicated they could not live without CSCOPE and had paid multiple-thousands of taxpayers’ dollars each year to purchase it must have had fabulous results on students’ STAAR/End-of-Course tests, right? 

 

Surely these TACS members could prove by the testing data that their students had mastered the Texas curriculum standards (TEKS).  The TEKS (English, Science, Social Studies, Math) have been adopted by the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) and are mandated for every public school in Texas. The TEKS tell educators WHAT to teach, but the educators at the local level decide HOW to teach it. By law, school administrators are required to make sure that the students in their districts are provided instruction that will prepare them for the STAAR/EOC’s.  

 

Let’s see how these TACS schools did?   

 

HOW TO VIEW AND UNDERSTAND THE 2013 ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS

 

To see the various links on the TEA website to the 2013 Accountability Ratings, here is the link: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2013/index.html

 

The TEA used a massive spreadsheet to divide up every campus in Texas into groups of 40 so that comparisons can be made among campuses that have like-characteristics (e.g., enrollment, demographics, etc.).  To see the names of the Campus Comparison Groups, please go to this link and type in your search information: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2013/group.srch.html

 

 To see a composite screen of all of the campuses/districts in Texas along with their ratings, please go to this link:  http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2013/statelist.pdf

 

 

You will find seven columns out to the right of each campus/district name.  The first four columns are under the Indexes category.   If the campus/district meets the standard set for each column, there will be a “Y” in that column, meaning “Yes” the standard was met.”  If there is a blank, that means “No, the standard was not met.”   The first three Indexes apply to K-12, and the last Index applies only to high schools. 

 EXPLANATION OF INDEXES COLUMNS

 Index 1: Student Achievement. Provides a snapshot of performance across subjects, on

both general and alternative assessments (e.g., STAAR/End-of-Course tests), at the satisfactory performance standard.

 Index 2: Student Progress. Provides a measure of student progress by subject and

student group independent of overall student achievement levels [improvement over time or lack thereof].

 

 Index 3: Closing Performance Gaps. Emphasizes advanced academic achievement of

the economically disadvantaged student group and the lowest performing racial/ethnic

student groups at each campus or district.

 I

Index 4: Postsecondary Readiness. Emphasizes the importance for students to receive

a high school diploma that provides them with the foundation necessary for success in

college, the workforce, job training programs, or the military. [This Index rates high schools on how well their students are prepared for post-secondary success.]

 

EXPLANATION OF DISTINCTIONS COLUMNS

 

I believe the three Distinctions columns are far more indicative of superior performance because they are based upon objective data that ratesacademic achievement (the primary goal of the public schools.)  The campuses/districts are only compared with their same like-characteristic group of 40.

 

The first column under Distinctions means outstanding academic achievement in English/Language Arts/Reading. 

 

The second column means outstanding academic achievement in Math. 

 

The third column means the campus/district was in the Top 25% of schools among the 40 like-comparison group of campuses.

 ================

 QUESTION:  How did those TACS schools that gave such rave reviews to CSCOPE in the Amicus Brief do academically?  According to those superintendents, CSCOPE is essential to the success of their districts; and they have spent multi-thousands of  taxpayers’ dollars to purchase it.  

 Please notice the chart below and all of the “NO’s” under Distinctions in the 2013 Accountability Ratings.  This should tell the public all they need to know about CSCOPE.  It obviously is not aligned with the TEKS. It obviously is not aligned with the STAAR/EOC tests. It obviously is not producing well-educated students. It obviously is an impediment to academic achievement. It obviously is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.  

 

 

NAME OF CSCOPE DISTRICTS AND CAMPUSES DISTINCTION IN READING/ELA DISTINCTION IN MATH TOP 25%
       
ABERNATHY ISD NO NO NO
ABERNATHY HIGH SCHOOL YES YES YES
ABERNATHY JUNIOR HIGH YES YES YES
ABERNATHY ELEMENTARY YES NO NO
       
GRANGER ISD NO NO NO
GRANGER SCHOOL NO NO YES
       
*HUDSON ISD NO NO NO
HUDSON HIGH SCHOOL      
HUDSON MIDDLE SCHOOL YES YES YES
W. F. PEAVY PRIMARY NO NO NO
W. H. BONNER ELEMENTARY NO YES NO
       
       
LYTLE ISD (IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED) NO NO NO
LYTLE HIGH SCHOOL NO NO NO
LYTLE JR. HIGH SCHOOL NO NO NO
LYTLE ELEMENTARY NO NO YES
LYTLE PRIMARY NO NO NO
       
PALACIOS ISD NO NO NO
PALACIOS HIGH SCHOOL NO YES YES
PALACIOS JR. HIGH NO YES YES
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY YES NO NO
EAST SIDE INTERMEDIATE NO NO YES
       
ROOSEVELT ISD NO NO NO
ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL NO YES NO
ROOSEVELT JR. HIGH YES NO YES
ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY YES NO NO

 

*Hudson ISD’s superintendent is Mary Anne Whiteker, the president of TACS and an outspoken advocate for CSCOPE.  She is to be the pro-CSCOPE panelist at this Saturday’s debate between Sen. Dan Patrick and SBOE Member Thomas Ratliff.  Please notice how poorly her district did using CSCOPE.

 

=============

 

Explains the Accountability System 2013 —http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2013/manual/ch02.pdf

 

Excerpts:

 

State Accountability Ratings

The overall design of the accountability rating system is a performance index framework.

Performance indicators are grouped into four indexes that align with the goals of the

accountability system.

 

The structure for evaluation of performance across the four indexes affords multiple views of campus and district performance. Performance across the four indexes are used to assign accountability rating labels based on performance targets that are set for each index.

 

Index 1: Student Achievement. Provides a snapshot of performance across subjects, on

both general and alternative assessments, at the satisfactory performance standard.

 

 

Index 2: Student Progress. Provides a measure of student progress by subject and

student group independent of overall student achievement levels.

 

 

Index 3: Closing Performance Gaps. Emphasizes advanced academic achievement of

the economically disadvantaged student group and the lowest performing racial/ethnic

student groups at each campus or district.

 

Index 4: Postsecondary Readiness. Emphasizes the importance for students to receive

a high school diploma that provides them with the foundation necessary for success in

college, the workforce, job training programs, or the military.

 

 

STAAR/END-OF-COURSE SPRING 2013 TEST RESULTS NOW AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC

 

The Spring 2013 STAAR/End-of-Course test results are now available for every campus/district in Texas and can be viewed by the public. 

 

Here is the link to the Statewide Spring 2013 STAAR/EOC scores:

 

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/rpt/sum/yr13/  

 

 

To see individual campus and district STAAR/EOC scores for all Texas public schools, please go to the Pearson website: https://tx.pearsonaccess.com/tclp/portal/tclp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pa2_analytical_reporting_page

 

Notice the four radio buttons under “PDF Reports”  at the top of the page.  By clicking on the button, you can access STAAR/EOC results by State, Region, District, and/or Campus.  

 

 

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

 

 

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Microsoft, Thomas Ratliff, CSCOPE/PBL

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IMPEACH RATLIFF

Texas State Board of Education member, Thomas Ratliff is a paid lobbyist for Microsoft. Besides from the fact that is illegal to be a lobbyist and sit on the State Board of Education , Ratliff is promoting and supporting a radical change in Texas education called project based learning (PBL). The nations Common Core standards are based on PBL. Texas is one of 5 states that did not adopt common core, but that that did not stop the “education establishment” from implementing it. The Texas Education Service Centers,  Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association of School Boards, Texas School Superintendents and other education entities have been working at implementing PBL over the last 7 years under a veil of secrecy. Most smaller school districts use it under the name CSCOPE. Though the larger school districts have either created or purchased their own PBL curriculum.

The unveiling of CSCOPE has put Mr. Ratliff is some sorta tail spin. He has been publicly lashing out at taxpayers and citizens that are concerned about CSCOPE and the radical change in education. We have asked Mr. Ratliff he profits from Microsoft or the Public School System due to his lobbying and he has refused to answer. After some research it has been discovered that Microsoft promotes this radical change  of implementing PBL in the school system. Below you will find websites and photos of Microsoft’s support of Project Based Learning. 

Project Based Learning is being facilitated with the use of computers/IPAD’s for all students so they can be globally engaged. Microsoft sponsors Conferences and Summits Worldwide that have to do with Transforming education. The United Nations is behind this transformation. You can read about it here.

Microsoft-Implementing Project Based Learning in your classroom

microsoft 1

Microsoft Partners in Learning

microsoft

 

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WARNING: Texas Students Data Collected!

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Texas Schools now welcome students online activity during school hours, while at one time it was monitored and restricted. Why, you might ask? Besides from the fact they are steering away from a traditional to a more constructivist teaching philosophy of education, personal data is being collected on your child.

 

21st Century Workforce

One thing I have learned when the powers at be implement something that is sold to save you time or money or will be a benefit to you, it ultimately will remove more of your privacy or freedom.  This is being sold as a cost saver to your local school district and will help you when it comes to helping your child be college ready.  Seriously?  The Texas Education Agency along with Texas Education Service Centers and other agencies have been working on implementing a system called Texas Student Data System where your child will be traced from the time they enter the public school system (great reason to home school) until they finish college.  Give me a break! This is nothing more than the Government’s attempt at removing freedom and collecting data on families and limiting parental involvement. The state thinks they know better what is best for your child. 

Data Mining

Your local district has a PEIMS (Personal Education Information Management System) employee that works on collecting data and sending it to the appropriate WAREHOUSE. With federal funds the Texas Education Agency received through the American Recovery Reinvestment Act opened up for students data to be shared outside of the State and available to various researchers.

researchers

 

There are no boundaries as to what these organizations will do when it comes to our children. There is nothing sacred or private any longer when it comes to your family if you have entered the government public school system.

Each Texas Education Service Centers assist with the collecting data on students. They each have “Texas Student Data System employees” aka CHAMPIONS” that have your child’s best interest at heart. NOT!  You have seen this is not true with the Education Service Center’s deceptive plan of implementing CSCOPE in the Texas School System. CSCOPE assessment/test are mandatory within a district that has purchased it and students test results are recorded in a data system. These test never come home for parents to review.

 

Your child will receive a Unique ID number once they enter the “system”  that will stay with them along with he personal online StudentGPS dashboard with photo (see below).  Personal Information will be collected and coded. What will be collected? Name, Sex, Test Scores, Finances, activities, discipline, parents info, personality characteristics, psychological analysis, academic competency, etc. 

dashboards

 

 

 

 

 

ben Franklin

 

 

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Restraining Order against Texas ISD on CSCOPE

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8.9.13 – 6:06 P. M. – BREAKING NEWS

 MEDIA ADVISORY”: CSCOPE Press Conference Monday, August 12th at 1:30 pm CT

Austin, Tx -Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Llano ISD Parents, Grandparents and tax payers will hold a news conference on Monday, August  12 at 1:30 PM CT in the Senate Press Rm at the capitol in Austin, TXto announce that parents, grandparents and taxpayers of Llano County, Texas sought and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from State District Judge Dan Mills. This Court Order bans the Llano Independent School District (Llano ISD) from the use of CSCOPE Lesson Plans until those plans have been approved by the State Board of Education.

During the news conference Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and House Representative Steve Toth will stand with WomenOnTheWall.org Board Member Alice Linahan,  Llano Tax Payer Bill Hussey and Attorney Tim Cowart, who will make this announcement.

Details of the news conference:

When:                

Monday, August 12th at 1:30 PM CT

Where:              

Senate Press Room 

Capitol Building

Austin, TX

 http://www.voicesempower.com/media-advisory-cscope-press-conference-monday-august-12th-at-130-pm-ct/

 Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

 

PATRIOTS NEEDED in Austin on Monday. Let your

voices be heard and together we can  to put an end to

CSCOPE!

 

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Expert Says Cscope Science Lesson Faulty!

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8.9.13 — To parents, educators, administrators: 

 

From Donna Garner:  If you have doubts about the academic quality of CSCOPE lessons, the following 5th grade CSCOPE science lesson with comments by Janice VanCleave should validate your concerns.

Janice VanCleave is well-known internationally for her “Science for Every Kid” series and is an authority on making students’ science experiments fascinating while building them on sound science.  Her materials are used by science teachers all over the world: http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0471503819

Janice VanCleave is a former secondary classroom teacher who has written more than 50 science and math books for kids and educators. Her reading audience spans ages from kindergarten to high school seniors. Janice’s books are translated in fifteen languages and to date there have been more than two million copies sold. So it is safe to say that kids and educators around the world are playing and having fun doing Janice VanCleave’s investigations.

Ms. VanCleave has taken the time to go through this 5th grade CSCOPE lesson and evaluate it for accuracy.  Here are her introductory comments and the link to view the CSCOPE lesson along with her reviews: 

 

From Janice VanCleave:  The following 5th grade lesson is the perfect example of why schools should not use CSCOPE. I actually got tired of correcting this lesson and stopped. I’ll review it more later, but there are enough errors marked to let any parent know that administrators/educators who choose CSCOPE for their district are setting their students up for failure on the state-mandated tests (i.e., STAAR tests).  

 

biology

 LINK TO 5TH GRADE CSCOPE LESSON:

 http://www.txcscopereview.com/2013/cscope-5-sci-phy-properties/

 

 

  

 

 

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

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The Perfect Plan To Destroy America – Nationalize Education

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by Donna Garner 8.7.13

If a person wanted to destroy our American culture, keep this generation from communicating effectively with older generations, and make sure today’s children grow up detesting America instead of valuing our nation’s American exceptionalism, the best plan would be to implement the Common Core Standards (CCS) into every school in America.

OBAMA’S PLAN

That is exactly what Obama and his administration are trying to do, and 45 states (plus D. C.) originally committed to the CCS (before the standards had even been released publicly).  However, because of a groundswell of negative responses from the grassroots, a large number of states are now rethinking their commitment to the CCS.

TEACHERS REQUIRED TO DO…

As directed by the CCS, teachers have to make sure that by the time students graduate in 2014, 70% percent of books studied must be nonfiction (i.e., informational text); and those nonfiction selections must be taught in a “close reading” process.  That means students must not be given any background information or historical significance of a nonfiction piece before reading it.  For instance, the Declaration of Independence must be presented devoid of what was occurring in the United States at the time this monumental document was written, leaving students with a shallow understanding of the courage and revolutionary spirit that moved the signers to voice their opposition to tyranny.

Just as importantly, how many English teachers could possibly cover the great classic pieces of fiction literature in only 30% of classroom time?  None.  For instance, it takes at least four to six weeks in English I to cover Great Expectations, which is one of the most outstanding, applicable, and character-building books for early-high school teens to read.


THE DESTRUCTION OF FICTIONAL CLASSICS

As Dr. Sandra Stotsky recently explained about the CCS:

The reading standards for ELA are divided into 10 informational [nonfiction] standards and 9 literature [fiction] standards. That division goes from K to 12. It affects high school English as well as middle school English.  It means that over 50% of the reading instruction must be devoted to informational reading and less than 50% to poetry, drama, and fiction.http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/dr-stotsky-sets-th…

Dr. Stotsky as quoted on the Heritage Foundation website:

This misplaced stress on informational texts (no matter how much is literary nonfiction) reflects the limited expertise of Common Core’s architects and sponsoring organizations in curriculum and in teachers’ training. This division of reading standards was clearly not developed or approved by English teachers and humanities scholars…

Common Core’s damage to the English curriculum is already taking shape. Anecdotal reports from high school English teachers indicate that the amount of informational or nonfiction reading they are being told to do in their classroom is 50 percent or more of their reading instructional time—and that they will have time only for excerpts from novels, plays, or epic poems if they want students to read more than very short stories and poems (12.11.12 –http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/12/questionable-quali… )

ARE THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS GOOD STANDARDS?

Even more basic, do the Common Core Standards teach children to read well at all?  No, the CCS do not.

In K-3, explicit and systematic instruction of decoding skills (phonics) is lacking; and goals for the independent mastery of these skills are not set nor expected.  In fact, not one of the CCS objectives on phonics and word analysis skills requires students to apply their decoding skills by reading independently and accurately unfamiliar words in and out of context. 

Nonfiction/informational text is weighted heavily at all grade levels K-12 while fiction is given short shrift.  Teachers and test makers are given no substantive standards as to how to select nonfiction/informational text and, thus, are not held accountable to select literary pieces of quality and significance.  In K-12, there are only two standards (Grades 11 and 12) that even mention American literature.

“Reading to understand” and “use information” are commonly used phrases K-12 in CCS; yet teachers are not required to teach students basic concepts such as topic sentences, paragraph development, introduction/conclusion of expository text, and chronological order.  Neither do the CCS contain a clear sequence of informational reading skills from grade level to grade level.

Rather than having students use appropriate dictionaries, the Common Core Standards expect students to learn vocabulary words in context (e.g., CCS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.5a – “interpret figures of speech…literary, Biblical, or mythological allusion”).  However, if students have not read the great literary, Biblical, or mythological pieces of the world, how can they possibly understand the vocabulary words in context?

In the area of composition (i.e., writing), the CCS do not teach elementary students to write persuasive papers (called “argument”) that are built upon informed sources but instead encourage students merely to share their opinions.

The oral and written language conventions (grammar/usage) in K-12 have no logical, cognitive progression from grade level to grade level but instead throw in confusing, stilted terminology at random such as Grade 4:  “Use modal auxiliaries to convey various conditions.”  What fourth grader (and probably his teacher) even knows what that means and much less how to produce it?

Many of the CCS standards are not measurable and contain artificially inflated wording and expectations such as “Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.”  As Dr. Sandra Stotsky stated about this standard, “How much and what kind of reading of world literature must precede the reading of a specific work that is to be analyzed for the author’s point of view?”

The Common Core Standards do not increase in depth and complexity from one grade level to the next.  Many of the standards are simply paraphrased or repeated frequently.  Particularly in the elementary grades where a child’s basic knowledge and skill foundation is put into place, there are not clear goals set that require students to demonstrate independent learning without having to be prompted constantly by the teacher.

Lack of ease with sounding out words automatically destroys a student’s reading pleasure and causes him/her to avoid reading the great classic pieces of the world.  The more the student refuses to read, the “dumber” she/he becomes. While other class members get “smarter” by reading more and better books, the slow readers fall further behind. This is called the Matthew Principle in the world of reading skills.

DESTROYING STUDENTS’ BIBLICAL AND LITERARY KNOWLEDGE

Of course, stripping away the teaching of the great classics of the world is the point because many are built upon Biblical principles.  If the Obama administration can limit children’s reading skills and destroy their appreciation and understanding of the Judeo-Christian ethic upon which America is built, then these children as adults will be much more susceptible to endorsing Communism, Socialism, Marxism, Islamism, Atheism, or whatever belief system will best destroy America’s God-ordained  place in the world.

 

Excerpts from E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (2nd edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993):

No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible… All educated speakers of American English need to understand what is meant when someone describes a contest as being between David and Goliath, or whether a person who has the ‘wisdom of Solomon’ is wise or foolish, or whether saying ‘My cup runneth over’ means the person feels fortunate or unfortunate.  Those who cannot understand such allusions cannot fully participate in literate English.

The Bible is also essential for understanding many of the moral and spiritual values of our culture, whatever our religious beliefs. The linguistic and cultural importance of the Bible is a fact that no one denies.

No person in the modern world can be considered educated without a basic knowledge of all the great religions of the world — Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity.  But our knowledge of Judaism and Christianity needs to be more detailed than that of other great religions, if only because of the historical accident that has embedded the Bible in our thought and language.

Probably the strongest reason to teach the Bible as literature is that almost all of the literature which scholars consider worthy of study was written by people who knew the Bible.  The Bible’s language, importance in society, and teachings permeate the majority of English works that are extant today.  Shakespeare’s education revolved around Bible study.  Try to find one of his plays that does not contain Biblical allusions.  Charles Dickens’ novels are replete with redemption allusions (e.g., ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’ from A TALE OF TWO CITIES).

 

How will students be able to understand the writings of religious persecution if they do not know what the Bible says and how it was being interpreted by the various groups? 

 How can students understand the prejudice faced by Isaac the Jew in IVANHOE if they do not have a knowledge of Old and New Testament? 

 Students without Biblical knowledge will wonder why Gwenevere should be condemned to be burned for committing adultery against her husband King Arthur. 

 What would be so important about finding the Holy Grail if students did not know the crucifixion story?

 How will students feel the torment of Daniel DeFoe and of John Bunyan, whose wife’s dowry was her Bible which she used to teach John how to read?  (the end of excerpts taken from E. D. Hirsch, Jr., “The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy”) 

 

LITERARY ALLUSIONS: STUDENTS MUST UNDERSTAND THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE AMERICAN CULTURE

Following are various literary allusions that saturate our American culture on a daily basis.  Unless students read and study these great pieces of literature that have connected each succeeding generation with one another, how will today’s students be able to stay connected with their historical past and be able to appreciate our American way of life?

  •  The Journey — The journey sends a hero in search of some truth or information necessary to restore fertility to the kingdom such as is found in THE CANTERBURY TALES.
  • The Fall — This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being.  The experience involves a defilement and/or loss of innocence and bliss as is found in Adam and Eve and PARADISE LOST.
  • The Quest — This motif describes the search for someone or some talisman which, when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land, the desolation of which is mirrored by a leader’s illness and disability such as in Galahad searching for the Holy Grail in IDYLLS OF THE KING.
  • Battle between Good and Evil — This is the battle between two primal forces such as between Satan and God in PARADISE LOST.
  • Heaven vs. Hell — This is the belief by man that parts of the universe are not accessible to man such as are found in the diabolic forces in PARADISE LOST, THE DIVINE COMEDY.
  • Supernatural Intervention — God intervenes on the side of man as found in THE BIBLE.
  • Fire vs. Ice — Fire represents knowledge, light, life, rebirth while ice represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death such as is found in Dante’s INFERNO.
  • The Hero — The life of the protagonist is clearly divided into a series of well-marked adventures which strongly suggest a ritualistic pattern.  The hero’s mother is a virgin, the circumstances of his conception are unusual, and at birth some attempt is made to kill him. These archetypes are seen in such Biblical characters as Joseph, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Christ.
  •  The Devil Figure — The evil incarnate character who offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul is found in the Bible and is called Satan.
  •  The Woman Figure (The Platonic Ideal ) –   This woman is a source of inspiration and a spiritual ideal (e.g., the Virgin Mary).

Many important themes, concepts, and symbols are based upon Biblical literature:

The Trinity

The Cross

Temptation/Sin

Forgiveness/Redemption

Obedience/Punishment

Creation

God as a Power

Angels/Devils

Heaven/Hell

Twelve (tribes, apostles)

Self-sacrifice

Good/Evil

Forbidden Knowledge

Courage in the face of great danger

Value of Suffering

Prejudice (racial, political, and religious) Human Nature Faith in Human Nature Triumph from Adversity Poetic Justice

The following is a partial list of the Biblical references with which students must be familiar in order to be considered well-educated:

 

  • BEOWULF  — Grendel born of Cain, “God must decide who will be given to death’s cold grip,” hell, battle between good and evil

 

  • MORTE D’ARTHUR –Trinity, Sunday, Jesus, Holy Cross

 

  • THE CANTERBURY TALES — Pardoner contrasted to corrupted church, Christ’s gospel, forgiveness of sins, Holy Sacrament, Fiend, common enemy, perdition, story of Adam, Herod, John the Baptist

 

  • SIR GAWAIN — confession, penance

 

  • EVERYMAN — morality play, “I hanged between two, it cannot be denied”; “Thorns hurt my head.”

 

  • MACBETH — Golgatha, cherubim, Fallen Angel, common enemy of man

 

  • HOLY SONNET 10 — Donne — entire poem

 

  • HOLY SONNET 14 — Donne — “Batter my heart, three-personed God”

 

  • ON MY FIRST SON  — Jonson — “Child of my right hand”

 

  • PARADISE LOST — Milton — Adam, Eve, Heavenly Muse, Sinai,  Beelzebub, Seraphim, Tarsus, Leviathan

 

  • WHEN I CONSIDER HOW MY LIGHT IS SPENT — Milton — Parable of Talents (Matt. 25:14-30)

 

  • THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS –  Bunyan — Vanity Fair, Celestial City, Beelzebub, Legion, temptation of Christ, Promised Land,  I Corinthians 5:10, Prince of Peace

 

  • THOUGHTS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY — Addison — “I consider the great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries and make our appearance together.”

 

  • THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER — Coleridge — forgiveness, penance, blessing, Wedding Guest, Bridegroom

 

  • JANE EYRE — Bronte — salvation; Helen Burns is a symbol of suffering, redemption (Christ-like figure); Mr. Rochester’s punishment, “valley of shadow of death,” remorse, repentance, reconcilement to his maker

 

  • CROSSING THE BAR — Tennyson — “I hope to see my Pilot face to face.”

 

  • PROSPICE — Browning — arch fear, fiend

 

  • RECESSIONAL — Kipling — Psalms 51:17, Romans 2:14

 

  • THE HOLLOW MEN — Eliot — “For thine is the kingdom”

 

  • THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN — Twain –  King Solomon, “pray  in the closet”

 

  • THE SCARLET LETTER — Hawthorne — Divine Maternity

 

  • A TALE OF TWO CITIES — Dickens — “Recalled to life,” sacrifice, redemption, Carton as the Christ-like figure (John 11:25), blood, forgiveness, power of love

 

  • LE’ MORTE D’ARTHUR — Pentecost

 

  • MORTE D’ARTHUR — Tennyson — “The light that led the holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.”

 

  • MERLIN — Muir — “The furrow drawn by Adam’s finger” — Genesis 1-5

 

  • WATERSHIP DOWN — Adams — The Creation, Noah’s Ark

 

  • OLD MAN AND THE SEA — Hemingway — Santiago (Christ-like figure), the mast, three days at sea

 

  • THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER — Irving — Old Scratch, the Devil

 

  • THE GRAPES OF WRATH — Rose of Sharon, Exodus from Oklahoma, Noah’s Ark

 

  • THE SECOND COMING — Yeats — birth of Christ, Bethlehem

 

  • THE PEARL — Steinbeck — Hail Mary, tithe

 

  • HUSWIFERY — Taylor — God’s grace

 

  • THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS — Malamud — allusion to Genesis 29

 

  • THE BURNING OF OUR HOUSE — Bradstreet — Job 1:21, Ecclesiastes 1:2

 

  • SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD — Jonathan Edwards

 

  • THE MASQUE OF RED DEATH — Poe — “out-Heroded Herod,” a thief in the night

 

  • TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — Lee –”take this cup from you,”  the parable of the good Samaritan, “Who is your neighbor?”

 

The following Spanish literature is taught as a part of the Advanced Placement curriculum and is filled with Biblical allusions:

 

· LA CELESTINA –Fernando de Rojas

 

· El CANTOR DE MÍO — epic poem of Spain

 

· DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA — Miguel de Cervantes

 

· LAZARILLO DE TORMES — author unknown

 

· APOCALIPSIS –Marco Denevi

 

· EL EVANGELIO SEGÚN MARCOS — Jorge Luis Borges

 

· LOS DOS REYES Y LOS DOS LABERINTOS –  Jorge Luis Borges

 

· SONETO A CRISTO CRUCIFICADO — anonymous

 

· UNA CARTA A DIÓS — Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes

 

· LA LEYENDA DE SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA

 

· GENESIS — Marco Denevi

 

· SAN MANUEL BUENO, MÁRTIR — Miguel de Unamuno

CONCLUSION

Reading with ease and comprehension forms the cornerstone upon which success in all other school courses is based.  Reading the literary classics takes time but opens doors of opportunity and understanding for students.  The study of the Bible as literature is fundamental to a student’s education.  Biblical allusions exist in the classics as well as in modern literature.  Including the study of the Bible gives students a broader understanding of the major works that they will read in school and later in life.

Because the Common Core Standards diminish time spent on the great classic pieces of the world, many of which were written by authors “who cut their teeth” on the Bible, students who largely study informational text through the “close method” will lack an understanding of American exceptionalism.  We as Americans must not allow this to happen to our children and grandchildren who are the future of this great nation.

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CSCOPE CONFERENCE UNDERWAY IN SAN ANTONIO

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by Lou Ann Anderson

WatchDogWire

Akin to Mark Twain and his famous “report of my death was an exaggeration” quote, the same seems increasingly applicable to the alleged demise of CSCOPE, the controversial curriculum management system developed at taxpayer expense by Texas Regional Education Service Centers (ESCs) and used by approximately 875 public, private and charter schools. While CSCOPE’s lesson plans are theoretically scheduled to be unavailable after Aug. 31, the program appears alive and well – at least in consuming taxpayer dollars – as evidenced by a convention currently underway in San Antonio.

A recent article asked CSCOPE’s lesson plans: gone or gone into hiding?. The last State Board of Education meeting suggested the lesson plans were merely hiding – in fact, hiding in plain sight as they are now alleged to be in the public domain and, per Texas Education Agency attorney David Anderson, with “no statute” that would require districts to refrain from using CSCOPE.

With the Texas legislature now adjourned from its third special session, any legislative fixes anticipated prior to the school year start appear totally off the table. Meanwhile, in a Have No Fear CSCOPE Is Here? post, Red Hot Conservative alerted readers to the 2013 CSCOPE State Conference scheduled Aug. 6-8 at the San Antonio Convention Center.

The event’s 72-page agenda includes a welcome in which the “20 regional education service centers of Texas that comprise the Texas Curriculum Management Program Cooperative (TCMPC) are pleased to present this unique event filled with a wide variety of sessions and networking opportunities.”

The TCMPC board is staffed by ESC executive directors, all Texas public school employees, as was the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC), a governing board of the nonprofit corporation formed to oversee the CSCOPE curriculum management system. The board disbanded in the wake of CSCOPE’s controversy based on concerns over its formation without legislative authority and administrative operations that include a history of resisting to post or make public its meetings as per the Texas Open Meetings Act and efforts to withhold information requested through the Public Information Act, efforts that included using taxpayer-funded lawyers to argue it was a nonprofit.

As the San Antonio conference runs through Thursday, CSCOPE’s long-term fate remains unknown. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Dan Patrick have called for administrative audits and other new transparency with Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Pauken echoing those concerns.

Meanwhile, since its 2005 inception and 2006 rollout into schools, CSCOPE has received new tax dollars for a program taxpayers paid to develop, for a curriculum that’s been a fight to see while generating financials so far withheld from all interested parties.

But one certainty: CSCOPE’s command of public dollars currently continues with Texas taxpayers footing the bill as thousands of Texas public school employees travel to San Antonio for this conference.

 

Lou Ann Anderson Lou Ann Anderson

Lou Ann Anderson is an information activist and the editor of Watchdog Wire – Texas. As a Policy Analyst with Americans for Prosperity – Texas, she writes and speaks about a variety of public policy topics. Lou Ann is the Creator and Online Producer at EstateofDenial.com, a web site that addresses the growing issue of probate abuse in which wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are used to loot assets from intended beneficiaries or heirs. Contact Lou Ann at Texas@WatchdogWire.com with story ideas and for ways to get involved with citizen journalism in Texas.

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Huntsville ISD Implementing CSCOPE for the 1st Time?

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Steven Johnson, Hunstville ISD school superintendent is grasping for straws in winning over his community’s approval of the progressive CSCOPE curriculum. He posted a letter in the HUNTSVILLE ITEM promoting the idea that HISD cannot possibly do without the wonderful “curriculum management system”, CSCOPE. Seriously! It makes you wonder how any of us were educated in the Texas Schools when CSCOPE did not exist. These administrators seem lost if they lose access to CSCOPE. Parents and Taxpayers need to realize is CSCOPE is all about implementing Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning is built around the collective and not individual achievement. Built on teaching Globalization and Diversity not American Exceptionalism. Tomorrow August 6, CSCOPE is starting their annual CSCOPE conference in San Antonio on the taxpayer dime.

 

 

One of the break out sessions is titled “Diversity in the Classroom? Have No Fear, CSCOPE IS HERE!”

no fear

CSCOPE PROGRAM/2013

In the comments section of the Huntsville Item article ESC 6, Component Director Dr. Cathy Moak responded to my comments. She stated that Huntsville ISD is in their first year of implementing CSCOPE. If that is the case why would Huntsville ISD spend 61,002.00 purchasing CSCOPE last school year, 2012/2013? Money doesn’t seem to be an object to HISD. They spend it like it grows on trees while at the same time joining forces with Texas Association of School Administrators and Texas Association of School Boards lobbying the Texas legislature for more money for schools. What is so sad is that this money doesn’t go back to the classroom to help students.

 

cathy moak

ms. moak

What Mrs. Moak doesn’t realize is there are teachers in Huntsville ISD that have been telling the truth of what is going on with HISD.

 Mrs. Moak who works for the Texas Education Service Center 6 which sells various services to Huntsville ISD. Mrs. Moak’s husband, Sam Moak serves on the HISD school board. If I read local government code 171.002 correctly Mr. Moak’s voting and discussion of items that relate to ESC 6 appears to be a conflict of interest.

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THOMAS RATLIFF HAS LOST IT!!

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TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER THOMAS RATLIFF APPEARS TO HAVE LOST IT. Thomas Ratliff is a RINO and could care less what students are taught or that Great teachers have quit their jobs over CSCOPE. No, Ratliff cares about his progressive liberal agenda and his pocket-book. Ratliff is a paid lobbyist for Microsoft and should not be on the State Board of Education. It is illegal! Does he care? No! He has not respect for the rule of law.

I have never seen such outrage over a controversial textbook or any curriculum as I have with  CSCOPE. Below are remarks by Ratliff in regard to Sen. Patrick as well as parents and taxpayers who are standing up against the progressive takeover of Texas Public Education.

 

Thomas Ratliff has lost it

Ratliff is the “book burner” here. He and his educational cronies have been and are working on removing Text Books and replacing online learning. Would that not benefit a “Microsoft lobbyist”? Link to original article. 

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Good Teachers No Longer Needed in Texas!!

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With CSCOPE good veteran teachers are no longer needed or wanted. CSCOPE “pushers” view good veteran teachers as a threat when it comes to implementing their progressive teaching philosophy . The following photo is a snapshot from a CSCOPE powerpoint presentation for administrators.

vetern teachrers

 

CSCOPE was about implementing a progressive teaching philosophy called  Project Based Learning (PBL). Students will now work in groups where direct teaching will become a thing of the past.  They want teachers to be “facilitators”  and to “learn along side” their students. The philosophy is built around  a “constructivist” philosophy. It is built around the “collective” opposed to individual achievement. American Exceptionalism is no longer valued or taught replaced with Globalization and Diversity. Marxist Phychologist, Lev Vygotsky encouraged an education built on “constructivism”  CSCOPE acknowledged “progressive” educators as their research base along with Lev Vygotsky.

.

fascilitators

 

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CSCOPE WHISTLEBLOWERS SPEAK OUT!

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I posted an article yesterday  revealing a situation I perceive to be a “Conflict of Interest” taking place in the Huntsville Independent School District. Read it HERE.

Shortly after posting the article I received the following  comments from Huntsville ISD school
board member,Sam Moak.

 

I am Sam Moak. I am a Christian, a husband, a father and a son. Yes my wife works at Education Service Center Region VI. So did my mother, for 37 years. I do not follow anyone and I think for myself. Am I perfect, no, but I am honest and have done nothing wrong. Yes, our children did attend Alpha Omega Academy, a wonderful Christian school. It was a choice as Christians we made and I am not afraid of. However, due to situations related to my wife’s illness, we choose to move to HISD. I am a graduate of HISD and proud of both AOA and HISD. CSCOPE is a political issue. Unfortunately, all the children of Texas are victims of this political battle. I only want what is the best for all the children of Huntsville. HISD cannot afford, nor can the vast majority of school districts in Texas, to hire a curriculum writer. Therefore, long before I was on the HISD School Board, the decision was made to use CSCOPE as a resource. It’s use was and never has been mandated at HISD. I am tired of hearing Mrs. Russell and her mother, Janice Van Cleave, repeat over and over the problems with CSCOPE. They point to 3 or 4 lessons in the social studies segment and brand the entire 1600 lessons as bad. Mrs. Russell you choose to homeschool your child(ren) and your mother, Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages. I find nothing wrong with families that choose to homeschool, however, I suspect your motives are not true. You use the Tea Party and Senator Dan Patrick and any means you can to attack public school districts and the wonderful money saving Education Service Centers throughout our state. It would cost our school districts, and thus the taxpayers, millions of dollars to replace the Education Service Centers. But is your real purpose to support a voucher system in Texas? A system that allows folks who can afford to segregate their children from other children? Or is it to help promote your choice of homeschooling and to sell education material written by your mother? Or do you Mrs. Russell support purchasing our children’s curriculum from a foreign based entity (Pearson) that sells curriculum to 70 other countries including Islamic ones? What is your educational background? Training? What makes you such a self proclaimed expert on education?

 

Whistleblower responses….

ME

 

 

 

 

Ginger Russell

Mr. Moak,

I did not wake up one day and decide to fight the public school system in Texas. Not by a long shot. I have always been politically active and my mother has not. Unfortunately the cause fell in my lap when mom asked me to look into a situation she found her self in.

My mother is in her 70’s and retired. She spends time serving her community by visiting widows in nursing homes and tutoring. This all started over a year ago when she tried to tutor some children in her local school district. When she asked them where their textbooks were they said they had none. (RED FLAG) The teacher knew mom’s reputation and gave her a copy of a CSCOPE science lesson. Finding it riddled with errors she asked for additional lessons and was refused. (RED FLAG) She had even taught in this particular school district years earlier prior to her writing. Needless to say she ended up in her local ESC in Waco where they refused to let her see the CSCOPE lessons as well. The actions and behavior by all involved raised some serious (RED FLAGS). I put mom in contact with SBOE chairman Barbara Cargill who had not heard of CSCOPE either and she also requested the ESC to give her a password and they refused (RED FLAG). Barbara was not able to get a password to CSCOPE for six months until Gov Perry got involved (RED FLAG).

When the CSCOPE reps in Austin found out who mom was they drove to her local town of Marlin to meet with her. SERIOUSLY! I along with another gentlemen attended the meeting to their surprise. They had hoped they could team up on her 5 to 1 and were not happy with our presence. I have the whole meeting recorded HERE. It is long and boring. But at one point in the conversation I handed the CSCOPE State Coordinator,  the Islamic Powerpoint and he tries to deny it (RED FLAG).

I then filed a Public Information Request and TESCCC asked the attorney General to deem them a “non governmental entity” which he denied. They also stated that mom was a CSCOPE competitor in hopes he would rule on their behalf. The lie has made it’s round through the education system.

We then started going public and teachers would contact us anonymously asking for help. They informed us that their administrators were having them to sign non disclosure statements that they would not release the contents or say anything negative about it. (RED FLAG).

I spoke at the Willis ISD Board meeting in October in regard to CSCOPE. I had no idea at the time who Lindy McCullogh (ESC CSCOPE COORDINATOR) was or that she was there. She spoke after me and was obviously outraged that I had spoke out against CSCOPE. (RED FLAG)

I later called ESC director Brent Hawkins and in our conversation he said “you will not tear apart something we implemented”. (RED FLAG)

Now, with all the flags and strange behavior by some many educators in regard to CSCOPE we knew something had to be done. By this time a couple of veteran educators had contacted us and started talking.

Needless to say when you have an educational program that is riddled with the controversial material, parents can’t see it, teachers silenced and threatened with prosecution for releasing content, etc, that was enough RED FLAGS for us.

Being politically active I had a personal meeting with the LT Governor in January. Dewhurst said he would have the chairman of the Senate Education Committee which was Dan Patrick hold an education hearing on it. And he did. The rest is history.

I have not even got into the financials in regard to CSCOPE or their lack of transparency.

It has taken me over a year to finally find out what CSCOPE is all about and it was to implement “project based learning”(PBL) in the schools. PBL is based on the collective not individual achievement. PBL is quite the opposite of a Classical Education that your children received at Alpha Omega.

Huntsville ISD has spent thousands attended TASA’s Transformation Academies which is all about PBL. Why? Why do you support this radical change?

Now this week I get an article about Huntsville ISD’s waiver request. I saw your last name and it rang a bell with due to the fact that your wife had sent me twitter feeds months back and I put the pieces together. The more I research the more of this I find. It is one big spider web and the tax payers are paying out the butt for it.

How christian conservatives can set back and ignore what is going on is beyond me, I can’t do it. My children and grandchildren deserve better.

As for as mom and her books she has been accused of doing this for money. We got where we just laugh. If anything this has cost us both.

I am by no way a self proclaimed expert on education. Yes, I did home school both of my children who are now college graduates and married. But I do know it is wrong to pass out verses of the Quran to students, I know it is wrong to have students draw new Communist Flags,I know it is wrong to have students learn about the sex life of Islamic Women, etc, etc.. enough on the lessons. I know it was unacceptable and wrong to not allow parents to view what their children were taught. I know it is wrong to have teachers threatened with a lawsuit for disclosing content or speaking negatively about a curriculum. How you can ignore this? How can you vote to purchase this crap again and petition the state for a waiver is beyond me.

I want you to know yes mom and I have a following of conservative christian activist… but there are 100’s across the state that supply us information as to what is going on in their local area. We are not in this alone, not by a long shot. The days of our local school districts hiding and spending money with no oversight is over.

I am sure your and your wife are wonderful loving christian parents.

But I do wonder why and how you and other proclaimed christian people can set back and ignore this progressive ideology that is taking over our school system.

If you have any further questions I will be happy to answer them.

Ginger Russell
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD”
~Psalms 33:12~

 

Janice VanCleave

This email is being sent to Sam Moak, a Huntsville ISD School Board Member, whose wife works at Region 6 and sells CSCOPE to the Huntsville ISD. Mr.Moak left a comment on www.redhotconservative.com stating that he is tired of me and my daughter, Ginger Russell, attacking CSCOPE. I don’t want to misquote Mr. Moak, so I’ll paste his comments here:
” I am tired of hearing Mrs. Russell and her mother, Janice Van Cleave, repeat over and over the problems with CSCOPE. They point to 3 or 4 lessons in the social studies segment and brand the entire 1600 lessons as bad. Mrs. Russell you choose to homeschool your child(ren) and your mother, Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages. I find nothing wrong with families that choose to homeschool, however, I suspect your motives are not true. You use the Tea Party and Senator Dan Patrick and any means you can to attack public school districts and the wonderful money saving Education Service Centers throughout our state. It would cost our school districts, and thus the taxpayers, millions of dollars to replace the Education Service Centers. But is your real purpose to support a voucher system in Texas? A system that allows folks who can afford to segregate their children from other children? Or is it to help promote your choice of homeschooling and to sell education material written by your mother? Or do you Mrs. Russell support purchasing our children’s curriculum from a foreign based entity (Pearson) that sells curriculum to 70 other countries including Islamic ones? What is your educational background? Training? What makes you such a self proclaimed expert on education?”
 

Hi Sam,

I am Ginger Russell’s mother, Janice VanCleave and want to address some of the points you have made. 
 
First, concerned citizens do not have to have an education background to question what is being taught in the public school. But, I do have an education background and continue to study up todate educational teaching method that are applicable for classroom as well as home study. My background includes 27 years in public schools, mostly in Texas. My second career was writing science experiment books for kids and educators. My third career or I might say project is creating a science website with the primary focus on science fair projects, thus I feel very qualified to evaluate the CSCOPE Performance Indicators as well as other progressive Project Based Learning lessons (PBL). Those creating PBL lessons do not truly understand how to prepare students to use critical thinking to solve problems. They fail to provide kids with the tools for critical thinking. 
this is because they are using the constructivist/progressive teaching method, which assumes students come to class with the foundation knowledge and using this can discover for themselves. Parents can best understand this method by remember their child’s first science fair project or maybe every science fair project. The teacher announces that everyone is to do a science fair project–gives a list of all the necessary parts and sends them off. This is when I receive panic emails from kids and parents –How does one do a science fair project? Same method is being used with all PBL. No critical thinking–just anxiety and frustration. Now that the CSCOPE lessons are public domain, I can provide you with more information.
 
About using 2 to 3 social studies lessons to condemn an entire curriculum. If you had listened to the Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE, you would have heard evidence of many lessons. Barbara Cargill, chair of the state board of education had in her hands a folder full of examples that were pointed out to the committee. These were CSCOPE science, math, ELAR and social studies lessons all with errors and/or biases. How many of the CSCOPE lessons have you personally evaluated? Do the school board members at Huntsville ISD have passwords to the CSCOPE website?
 
FYI:  After being refused a password to CSCOPE for six months, Governor Perry had to request that Barbara Cargill, the chair of the State Board of Education, be given a password to the CSCOPE website. This tells you how secretive the content of the CSCOPE lessons were prior to the Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE. Again, how many CSCOPE lessons have you evaluated?
 
I have asked and received all science lessons K-8 from teachers who must remain anonymous. This is a sad statement. The CSCOPE lessons should have been public domain from the start. The ESCs are not suppose to support any one vendor and they become a vendor themselves. The ESCs are suppose to provide service to a specific region and they grouped together creating a one-size-fits-all curriculum with the goal of educating students across Texas EQUALLY. This can only be done by scripting lessons and school administrators monitor educators to force them to follow the script. Some give teachers more flexibility but still provide them with CSCOPE lessons that have never been evaluated for correctness. You sir, refuse to believe me when I tell you that all the the science lessons incorrectly present the scientific method which is 40% of the Science STAAR Tests. Not one CSCOPE administrator or School Board Member wants proof. I’ll start posting examples onWWW.TXCSCOPEREVIEW.com 
 
As to Pearson Publishing, this company basically controls Texas Education now. Pearson helps write the STAAR/EOCs. Pearson publishes and grades the STAAR/EOCs. Pearson decides the evaluation of STAAR/EOC grades, thus this foreign based company controls what students are taught and whether they have mastered the concepts. Pearson also publishes study books for the STAAR/EOC tests. If schools purchased any materials it should be these study guides. Who knows more about the STAAR/EOCs than the company that writes and prints these tests? Does Pearson Publishing have an unfair advantage in the education market in Texas, you bet! Do the ESCs have an unfair market advantage over education materials sold in Texas? No doubt about it. Of course the ESCs have better prices for their vendor products, the state of Texas pays their employess, pays for offices, in fact pays all overhead. What the ESCs sell is pure non-taxed profit. Do the ESCs fairly compete with other vendors–No. I think you call this a monopoly. Now the CSCOPE money trail would be interesting. Where is all this money? I would like the ESCs to stop being vendors and start being independent service centers again. There is nothing fun and personnal about the ESCs now. It was fun to have the teacher workroom where educators and even parents could go to make cutouts for their class. This is gone and it was important. Some ESCs loaned out science critters. This should be part of every ESC. The ESCs could be providing wonderful services to schools in their district, instead the atmosphere at the ESCs is cloaked in secrecy. You have the STAFFERs who are kept in the dark and the CSCOPE group whispering and making new plans (documented statement from an observer).
Pearson Publishing also sponsors TASA/TASB the private organization that school board members and superintendents pay membership and conference fees using the school taxes. This is no small amount— $100 Million has been estimated from the information collected from school districts. Yes, some of this money is for things like school insurance. But, why not buy from some local group? Citizens pay school taxes, superintendents and school board members give some of it to a private organization that is sabatoging STATE Education with their Vision Learning program to transform Texas Education. Were school taxes used to pay for the anyone from your school district to attend the TASA transition training?
 
Sam, I am not sure I understand this statement you made:
Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages.
 

How I make my living has nothing to do with my questions of what is being taught in the Texas public schools. I do not write textbooks, nor do I write K-12 curriculum for every subject. I write science experiment books for kids and resource science/math books for educators. In no way is my work competitive with CSCOPE. In fact, prior to the development of CSCOPE in 2006, I was hired by many of the Texas Education Service Centers to present science workshops for Texas Educators. Region 12 is near my home and I have been involved with this group since 1975 as a teacher in the region as well as an author. As a science author, I was an honorary member of the Region 12 Science Consortium. I payed my own way to event and provided supplies and science books to the teachers in this group. Becca Bell, the CSCOPE director at Region 12 recently informed me that she never heard of an honorary member. I was welcomed at Region 12 prior to my asking to view the CSCOPE lessons. I dropped in with supplies and was welcomed. CSCOPE has taken the fun out everything it touches.   

 
As to your comment “OH Horror” in reference to the foreign translations. It is strange that school board members and superintendents responsible for purchasing CSCOPE for their schools feel the need to attack me and my work. I have met with Wade Labay, STATE CSCOPE director, and we have respect for each other though we disagree about CSCOPE. Mr. Lebay doesn’t share your view of me or my work. During a meeting with Mr. Lebay and Ed Vega, supervisor of CSCOPE curriculum, Ed brought a copy of one of  my books and asked me to authograph it. I will contact these men today and ask them to give me a reference to post.  
 
As to only 2 to 3 social studies lessons being incorrect. These lessons caught the eye of the news media and continued to be discussed. But it was the lack of transparency that first alarmed me and got the news media interested. It was hard to get people to believe that in Texas Public Schools lessons were being taught that parents were not allowed to view. It was hard to get people to believe that teachers were being so micromanaged. Parents are aware of the truth now and it will be difficult for superintendents and school boards to continue purchasing unapproved education materials. Parents and concerned citizens will start demanding to be part of the decision making of the school. School board members are suppose to represent the community, but education materials have become a very profitable business for the 20 ESCs. 
 
Is there any conflict of interest in you being on a region 6 school board where you approve the CSCOPE product that your wife who works at Region 6 sells? Of course there is.

 
As to my supporting the voucher system. I know very little about this. As to people that can afford to use voucher so they can segregate their children from public schools. What’s the difference in putting children in private schools instead of sending them to public schools? I cannot say that I support the voucher system, but do support parents that choose the best education for their children and if they think the public schools are not providing this, then they should have some way to do so without having to move. I live near Marlin Texas. The Marlin ISD schools have failed the state tests for so many years that it is not even news worthy. Seven consecutive years of failure makes it difficult for families that have no choice but care about their children’s education. Families have taken new jobs so that they can move out of Marlin.
Yes, Marlin ISD uses CSCOPE and that is where I was first introduced to this curriculum. A friend with an afterschool program asked me to tutor elementary children in science and math. The children in Marlin ISD are not issued text books. Does Huntsville ISD provide textbooks to students? I hope so because without textbooks parents have no clue what is being taught to their children. Without textbooks, kids have no resources to do any homestudy. Without textbooks, the education of our kids is limited to what teachers present in class and how much students remember. Yes, class notebooks are required in every class at all grade levels. Thus, the class notebook and what students write in it is all students have to review at home for class tests as well as the STAAR Test.
 
One elementary teacher that taught in a CSCOPE school last year was forced to follow the CSCOPE lessons. She insisted on providing science books to her students. The administration did not want teachers using books because as promoted by the CSCOPE vendor (including region 6), even books aligned with the revised TEKS cannot update changes in the TEKs as often as the CSCOPE online curriculum can. This is a false statement in that the TEKS for a subject are not changed often. The science TEKS were introduced in the fall of 2010 and the next science TEKS revision will be introduced in 2016. The same is true for TEKS in other subjects. Another false statement promoted by Region 6 and the other 19 ESCs (the CSCOPE Vendor) is that books that are not aligned with the revised TEKS do not have information needed to teach these new TEKS. Not True.
 
Science books with the TEKS for TAKS Tests have the same information with very few changes as the revised science books aligned with the new TEKS for STAAR Tests. 
 
Did you know that the 20 ESCs were paid $100 million dollars to prepare transition materials for Texas Eductors. YES I said $100 Million. Did they do it? Ask your local Region 6 for copies of this material. It was the transition material teachers needed. But 800 school districts were sold CSCOPE. Why? The ESCs had FREE material for the Texas Teachers. I have copies of this material. Do your teachers?
 
Did you know that Region 6 received $1,041,156, just to present workshops for teachers in  Region 6 during the summer of 2010 through the spring of 2011. Did your teachers attend? Were they invited?
 
In 2011 Region 6 received $2,914,384 Million, yes almost $3 MILLION dollars just to present workshops to Texas Teachers so that they would be prepared to present the new social studies and math TEKs.
 
There was never a reason for CSCOPE—the 20 ESCs received a total of another $100 Million dollars to prepare Texas Educators to adapt their teaching materials to the new TEKS. Were the Huntsville teachers at these workshops or did Region 6 sell Huntsville CSCOPE materials instead of providing the FREE materials they were paid millions of dollars to prepare, present and post on the Project Share?
 
Are these the same ESCs that you have such concern about? 
 
At the bottom of this note I have a copy of the millions paid to Region 6. I will send this letter to region 6 and request an account of what they did with more than $4 million dollars. They didn’t give $4 million dollars of service to the educators in region 6. Instead they sold CSCOPE  to school districts and some such as Huntsville are still standing behind the CSCOPE product. Maybe you should be asking Region 6 why they sold CSCOPE instead of giving it to your free– $4 million dollars is a lot of money and it should have provided your school with something free. 
 
Note: The attached files show how much each of the 20 ESCs received in two years to provide materials that Texas teachers still don’t know anything about. Let me suggest that you ask Region 6 to pull out that Rider 42 TEKS materials they were paid millions to present and start giving those workshops now. This solves the problem of not having the CSCOPE lessons. 
 
About these Free Rider 42 TEKS Workshops. 
 The 81 Texas Legislature gave TEA via Rider 42 grant over $150 MILLION— I emphasize that this is MILLIONS of dollars. The objective being for the 20 ESCs to prepare materials so that teachers could easily transition from the TEKS for TAKS tests to the revised TEKS for STAAR TESTs. Science and ELAR Rider 42 academies were to be presented during the summer of 2010. All the 20 ESCs were given $50 MILLION dollars to create science and ELAR Rider 42 PD materials, post it on the Project Share website and give face-to-face hands-on Science and ELAR workshops. 
 
Did all the teachers from Huntsville ISD attend these special multi-million dollar workshops that were FREE. These workshops were to provide information so that teachers could easily transition from the Science and ELAR TEKS/TAKS to the TEKS/STAAR. Again, the 20 ESCs were paid $50 MILLION dollars to write materials so that all Texas teachers would start the 2010-2011 school year prepared. 
 
The Rider 42 materials were to show a side-by-side comparison of the two sets of TEKS, old with the new. Teachers were to be shown any old TEKS that included in the new TEKS. Teachers were to be shown new TEKS not used the previous year. In other words, the two sets of TEKS were to be totally compared. This was to be done so that teachers could modify their TEKS/TAKS scope and sequence. To modify their curriculum. To modify the lessons used with the TEKS/TAKS so that the new TEKS/STAAR would be emphasized. 
 
The main differences between the two sets of TEKS for a specific subject mainly referenced an increase in content. It is not that the revised TEKS were so much more rigorous, it is the STAAR tests that are more rigorous. This means that the TEKS need to be considered the minimum framework and lessons need to do much more than be aligned with the TEKS. This is one reason CSCOPE does not properly prepare students for the state tests Another reason is that the CSCOPE lessons have so many factual errors. 
 
Administrators and school board members who have purchased CSCOPE seem not to be aware that this free material was prepared and that the 20 ESCs admited that they did nothing special to notify Texas Schools about it. Yes a few teachers saw the workshops listed in the catalog of each ESC, but it should have been the most attended workshops ever given. This was the transition material that allowed teachers to revise their lessons so that new curriculum and lessons were not needed. Veteran teachers didn’t have to attend workshops to know this, but they were vilified any time they tried to provide information. The 20 ESCs had a product(CSCOPE) they wanted to sell. The big selling point for CSCOPE was that it provided all the materials teachers needed for the new TEKS. The ESCs instructed administrators that lessons for TEKS/TAKS could not be used for the new TEKS/STAAR–this was a lie.
Veteran teachers knew this but were said to be lazy and only wanted to use their old lessons because they were used to them. Veteran teachers were said to be out of date and didn’t want to spend the time learning the new modern 21st Century Education Technology that the online CSCOPE curriculum could provide. The ESCs went so far as to train administrators that Veteran teachers were trouble makers. The slide shown is from an ESC training power point for Administrators.

   vetern teachrers

One administrator said that CSCOPE fills the gap between the textbooks aligned with TEKS/TAKS until textbooks for TEKS/STAAR are published. This identifies this administrators lack of knowledge of the content of textbooks. Other than add the new TEKS with comments, the science content of the old and revised textbook changes so very little. New pictures and graphs, a face lift so to speak. So for the ESCs to claim textbooks are not useful for our modern technology world are in it for the money because they are only trying to sell their online CSCOPE product. 
 
Parents need to demand that the school provide as well as use textbooks in every class. Yes, there are things in textbooks that parents are not going to approve of, but at least they are aware of this. Unlike the CSCOPE lessons that remained hidden from parents for six years. Parents are now aware and will be more questioning of what is being taught in 2012-2013. The terms used to confuse parents in the past won’t work because they now know what all the education double talk given by CSCOPE schools mean. 
 
 
 rider 42 (1)
 
rider 42 (2)

 

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TX SBOE Member Thomas Ratliff lashing out at CSCOPE Whistleblowers!!

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whisleblower

The Texas Tribune posted an article titled “Dewhurst, Patrick Continue Push to End CSCOPE”. The article is riddled with passionate comments. To no surprise Thomas Ratliff who serves on the Texas State Board of Education chimed in with his rants.

 

ThomasRatliff

THE FOLLOWING IS MY EXCHANGE WITH TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER THOMAS RATLIFF.

I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THIS MAN IS A PUBLIC SERVANT.

recovered ratliff

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CSCOPE ON FLAMES IN AUSTIN

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flames

No one can say that grassroots activist can’t make a difference. The discovery of CSCOPE and it’s framework to control teachers and indoctrinate students with a Marxist learning philosophy is about all Texas Parents & Taxpayers could stand. The outrage has set Texas Legislature into action. Read the press releases from Lt. Gov David Dewhurst and Senator Donna Campbell as well as Senator Dan Patrick’s Facebook post.

 

 

LT GOV

DONNA CAMPBELL

PATRICK FACE BOOK PAGE

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Texas Schools Running Rampant with Liberal Ideology

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CSCOPE has led to grassroots activist peeling back the layers of the “onion” and finding a mount of corruption and the infiltration of liberal ideology in the Texas Education System.

 

 

     Brandon Core

A local school district utilizing CSCOPE was Anderson-Shiro CISD. Superintendent Brandon Core was more than willing to talk to me and convince me of the benefits of CSCOPE until the Texas Senate held CSCOPE hearings. After the hearings I called and emailed Mr. Core to set up a meeting with him to no avail.  Why? What did he have to hide? I have since found out that BrandTeon Core has left his superintendent position at Anderson-Shiro CISD and went to work for ESC 18’s Texas Center for Education Effectiveness, TxCEE. This discovery led to more layers of the onion being exposed.

 

October 2012 Texas Education Service Center 18 applied and received a Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) federal grant for 40.7 million known as the Texas TIF Project. The federal TIF agenda is associated with the Liberal Progressive organization Center for American Progress funded by George Soros.

The TIF The money is being managed  within ESC 18 under the name Texas Center for Education Effectiveness, TxCEE.

Here is ESC’s 18 Grant Application

After peeling the layers of the onion back you will find all this money is tied to various organizations involved in reforming our Texas Education System with a liberal progressive ideology. TxCEE works with the TAP System that works to implement Project Based Learning. The TAP System was created by Lowell Milken which also created the NEIT Institute.

 

ESC tappi

esc 18 tap

center progress

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Texas Educators Thumb Noses @ Gov Perry, Taxpayers and Parents!

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TEXAS EDUCATORS

 

Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) are funded with tax money through local school districts and are behind implementing a progressive TRANSFORMATION of the Texas School System.

You will read in the following News Release from TASB stating their agenda to pursue their liberal agenda despite Gov Perry’s Veto of HB 2824 which was sponsored “Bennet Ratliff”, whose brother Thomas Ratliff serves on the State Board of Education illegally.

Why are tax payers funding TASA and TASB who are lobbying groups for progressive ideology? Wake up Texas Tax Payers!

consortium

Despite the outrage state wide over the progressive curriculum CSCOPE,  the majority of school systems will continue to purchase and use it despite parents concern. Though CSCOPE was filled with controversial lessons the system is controversial as well. CSCOPE was the stepping stone for implementing Project Based Learning (PBL). Please inform your friends and family and taxpayers in your district as to what your local school district is doing. Ask your school board members why they are spending your tax dollars to fund TASA and TASB.

 

PBL RHC

 

For additional info on CSCOPE go to WWW.TXCSCOPEREVIEW.COM

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