In this presentation from a 2017 conference, JaKell Sullivan talks about comprehensive sexual education and the agenda of the educational power brokers.
In 30 minutes you will learn what is going on in the public schools with Competency Based Ed, Personalized Learning, and how that is used to change values in children. A MUST SEE for all parents:
Tag Archives: CBE
The NH Dept of Ed & the NEA Team Up To Bring Students More Failed Fads
New Hampshire Teachers have seen failed fads come and go but now they are seeing many of the old failed fads resurrected in their classrooms. Failed fads like Outcome Based Education has been called new and innovative now that it’s back in New Hampshire.
Since so many people realize Outcome Based Ed.(OBE) was a failure in the 90′s, Education Reformers changed the name to “Competency Based Education” (CBE) to throw parents off their track. Whether it’s called Outcome Based Ed. or Competency Based Ed. it’s still the same education fad that failed students a few decades ago.
In this post, Student Learning Outcomes and the Decline of American Education, the author takes you through the history of OBE and how education fads led to the decline in American education.
He explains one of these failed fads: Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs:
SLO ancestor Total Quality Management (TQM) slithered into view during the 1980s and spawned Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in the 1990s. TQM was originally a business management theory that preached constant improvement; OBE was an explicitly educational offshoot of TQM that insisted that college courses must have expressed measurable results.
He goes on to note that he critiqued SLOs in 2003:
OBE and Learning Outcomes and Assessment are not about education at all; they are about control. Nothing is more seductive to ideologues and to management than the prospect of creating a meaningless “jargon and data storm” to justify or conceal whatever they do. Where does it end? As William S. Burroughs said, “…control can never be a means to any practical end…. It can never be a means to anything but more control….”
CONTROL. Control of education seems to be something both political parties have been fighting for. The latest federal law (Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA) is about power and control. Sure the talking points tell you that ESSA returns power to the state, but the ultimate authority is the U.S. Secretary of Education. The U.S. Secretary of Education has been given power to withhold funding if state plans are not to his liking. That’s not returning power to the states, that’s unprecedented power to the feds.
Why would ESSA pass with bi-partisan support? Because both parties think they are better at controlling education.
In his article, David Clemens identifies what each political party wants to control when it comes to education policy:
The right sees SLOs as a way to enforce professor accountability, increase “productivity,” and get rid of bad teachers and junk courses. The left sees SLOs as a golden opportunity to promote progressivism through ideological outcomes that students must internalize in order to pass.
He goes on to explain how the social justice political indoctrination is seeping into your child’s curriculum through the SLOs. He also explains how this kind of education reform does nothing to help your child academically. Since most parents want the best for their children, parents across the country are starting to get angry at the dumbing down they see, but it’s also important for parents to see where this is coming from.
Governor Hassan’s Department of Education has been fully facilitating all of the federal reforms without hesitation. No where do you see her or the bureaucrats questioning these fads, but instead they are driving them into our schools without offering administrators any kind of critical analysis.
The New Hampshire Department of Education and the NEA-NH teamed up to develop the SLOs for New Hampshire Schools. You can see in this announcement on their “partnership.” Keep in mind that that NEA in NH has also been working against parents and in support of the dumbed down Common Core Standards.
The same bureaucratic agency that tells us that their objective is to teach kids to “think critically,” are the same bureaucrats who fail to look at any of these failed fads with a critical eye!
The Problems With Competency Based Ed. in NH Schools
Recently there was a brief discussion on a social media web site by NEW HAMPSHIRE parents and a NEW HAMPSHIRE teacher addressing the problems with Competency Based Ed. (CBE)
CBE has is another part of the Obama redesign in public education. Like the Common Core Standards, CBE is included in the federal reform. (SEE: Strategically use learning time in more meaningful ways, which could include effective application of technology, redesigning school calendars, and competency-based progression.)
We’ve also posted information that CBE is just another rehashing of the failed Outcome Based Education model that’s been tried in other states and proved to be a fad that never improved academic achievement. (SEE links below)
You can also read a detailed summary on how CBE is failing in Maine by one of their state school board members here: http://nhfamiliesforeducation.org/content/maine-state-board-education-member-speaks-out-against-competency-based-education
Or read another post by a Rochester NH School Board member who explains the failures she’s seen in her district with CBE: http://www.girardatlarge.com/2014/01/testimony-rochester-school-board-member-susan-oconnor/
Once again we call attention to the NH Dept. of Ed under Governor Hassan FOLLOWING the Federal reforms rather than LEADING New Hampshire to academic excellence.
Below is a discussion between a couple of parents and a teacher. We’ve elected to remove their last names in order to respect their privacy….
Tanya: If there is one thing in the whole “competency” grading is that from a parents perspective..we see that our child received a “C” for competent..ok great! BUT how “competent” is my child? How many Cs in a particular area means they are fully competent and have basically “mastered” this ? How many NYCs can they get to still be considered “competent” in a particular area? And lets focus on this aspect for a minute…Competent means-”acceptable and satisfactory, though not outstanding” . Yet the goal of this is to have the children become competent..isn’t it??? Now lets look at what “Not Yet Competent” really means (I went with incompetent because the two are one in the same)- “not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully. synonyms: inept, unskillful, unskilled, inexpert, amateurish, unprofessional, bungling, blundering, clumsy, inadequate, substandard, inferior, ineffective, deficient, inefficient, ineffectual, wanting, lacking, leaving much to be desired”. This is what kids are being told they are when they are struggling to learn something..they are “inept or deficient”. I am not sure about any of you, but I don’t find this appropriate!! I grew up receiving letter grades and I feel they are much more informative for parents and the children.
Tom: The other thing that I find disturbing about “Competencies” is that the teachers seem to stop at “Competent.” The teachers neither look for not encourage the students to do work above the “Competent” level. My grandkids come home all pleased that they are “Competent” but when asked if there is anything above that grade there is confusion – the only goal is to be “Competent.”
TEACHER: It could be because they run out of time to get them above competent. They reach competent and it’s time to move onto the next competency. There’s never enough time in public education. Even esl kids fresh off the boat are expected to have mastered English after one year even though the research says 7-10 years is needed for academic language alone though the process can be accelerated with sound teaching methods and support. It’s unrealistical. That is, what’s being asked of your children is.
Tom: My grandkids spend most of their school days waiting for the rest of the class to “catch up.” They get the concepts right away, then wait for the rest of the class to also become “Competent.” (This is something that we were assured would NEVER happen under competencies – that advanced learners would be able to move right along once they grasped a concept.) They NEVER have homework because outside assignments are completed in class while waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. Yet, despite their quick understanding of subject matter, they are rarely graded at anything beyond “Competent.”
TEACHER: That’s another problem. Those who are ready to move on have to wait. They should be given enrichment activities to challenge them more. I taught grades 1-2 this past year and balancing it all was a constant struggle. I had two major behavior issues that were violent and 20 kids. So I was either deescalating something, almost getting hit myself or trying to get the ones behind to catch up. I agree with you. Their homework should be just that. It’s a failing system which is why I am going to start at a boarding school because I’ve had enough.
The failed Outcome Based Model is again, holding kids back who could be advancing and creating more problems in the classroom. This model is a dumbed down workforce training model that parents had to deal with in the 90′s and fought against: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2001/04/the-new-definition-of-standards-in-american-education
Education reform is about rehashing failed fads and renaming them so parents will not know what they are doing to their children.
DEMAND BETTER. Contact your legislators and tell them NO MORE EXPERIMENTING ON MY KIDS!
More on the failures of Competency Based ed:
http://stopcommoncorenh.org/sccnh/2015/05/23/from-literacy-to-indoctrination-in-the-nh-schools-competency-based-ed/
http://stopcommoncorenh.org/sccnh/2015/04/27/nh-moves-closer-to-full-implementation-of-the-failed-outcome-based-ed-model/
From Literacy to Indoctrination in the NH Schools: Competency Based Ed
Competency Based Ed (CBE) in NH is based on the old and failed Outcome Based Ed (OBE) fad. This rehashed failed fad has offered no independent measurable academic achievement in our schools.
Outcome Based Ed or Competency Based Ed creates the illusion that your children will be “competent” in the core academic subjects. It sounds good to parents when they hear promoters talk about how their children will be “competent” in the core content before their children move on. Sadly no one ever asks, competent in what?
Parents assume being competent means their children will know that 2 + 2 = 4. The history is very different from what parents have been led to believe.
OBE is a failed fad in terms of failing to improve academic achievement. This is why parents should be asking their Superintendent, bureaucrats from the NH Dept. of Ed and members of the NH Board of Education for proof. After several years of CBE in NH, where is the INDEPENDENT PROOF CBE has improved academic achievement?
OBE has been criticized in the past for attempting to change the values, attitudes and beliefs in students. The focus is not on literacy or academic excellence, it’s on workforce skills and changing a student’s beliefs and values.
Competency Based Education is part of the Obama agenda to redesign public education from a liberal arts model to a dumbed down workforce training model.
Marc Tucker, key architect of this redesigned model, attempted to transform education during the Clinton years. The full implementation was derailed however we saw key elements begin years ago. Now the entire agenda has been kicked into high gear from the Obama administration and facilitated through Hassan’s Dept. of Education.
So what does CBE look like in New Hampshire? We’ll provide a few examples of how CBE has been used, not to improve academic excellence in our schools but to indoctrinate students in a belief system that many parents object to.
In Bedford several years ago, a controversial book was assigned to students in their Personal Finance Class. This is a class where parents assume their children would learn about calculating simple interest or learn to balance a check book. However many were surprised to find out that their children were subjected to a political operative’s extreme views on minimum wage.
The book, Nickel and Dimed On (NOT) Getting By In America, met a “competency” and yet only provided students with a politically biased view on minimum wage. This wasn’t a lesson in personal finance, it was political indoctrination through Competency Based Education.
From The Blaze
Excerpt:
“We found the book provided valuable insight into the circumstances of the working poor and an opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the ‘Financial Impact’ competency,” the committee reported.
In Rochester one parent expressed anger on social media when her child came home with a “competency” based assessment that was nothing but a soft propaganda piece on video games. Since Bill Gates and the TECH Industry profit the most off of this education reform, is anyone surprised that they want their product message embedded in your child’s curriculum?
This Obama redesign facilitated by Governor Hassan’s Dept. of Education is not about elevating the academic content in our schools. This is another attempt at “social justice” education brought to us by the same people who’ve tried these failed fads over the last two to three decades.
It was through a grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation (funded by Gates and the U.S. Dept. of Ed) that facilitated CBE in New Hampshire.
http://www.education.nh.gov/recovery/documents/rttt_sectionb.pdf
The biggest loser in this reform is the children. Your child is now being denied quality academic content in favor of content that seeks to change your child’s attitudes.
Whether it be political or consumer attitudes, one thing is for sure, your children are being used as pawns instead of educated.
This is the legacy of Governor Hasan, the New Hampshire Board of Education and legislators who continue to support reforms that turn our schools away from a focus on literacy.
NH Moves Closer To Full Implementation of the Failed Outcome Based Ed. Model
We’ve exposed the fraud being perpetrated on parents across New Hampshire as the NH DoE continues to sell Competency Based Ed (CBE) as “new and innovative.” Everyone should know by now that CBE is the old rehashed Outcome Based fad from the 1990‘s renamed and being forced upon New Hampshire schools.
The “Competency Based Ed” fad has been called; School-to-Work, 21st Century Skills, Mastery Learning, Standards Based Ed, but we all know it’s Outcome Based Ed. CBE is based on a dumbed down workforce training model that categorizes children as human capital and teachers as facilitators.
The NH Dept.of Ed is doubling down on this model by not only forcing schools to use CBE, but force them to use CBE assessments too. The new PACE assessments are performance based assessments that has the potential of becoming a real problem in some of the core classes.
Let’s look at how CBE works in a math class and highlight the numerous problems we hear from math teachers and parents across NH.
A math teacher would like to teach the children about multiplying fractions. The teacher prefers to use the direct instruction method of teaching because they know the students need to be taught the algorithm. The teacher begins to teach students how to multiply fractions and may then decide to engage the students to use their memory to work through the problems.
That sounds like a logical approach to teaching math and yet under the CBE model, the teacher becomes the facilitator, kids work in groups and a lot of time is spent investigating and collaborating.
This approach to learning math might not be the most efficient way to cover an Algebra I class. However with CBE, the teacher is now forced through the competencies to make sure their students are collaborating while learning math.
1) Parents become frustrated knowing a great deal of time is wasted in group learning.
2) The student who may know math relatively well is often times the one who teaches the other kids in the group. This leaves some parents to question why their child is not receiving the teacher’s salary.
3) Kids often times report a lot of socializing is going on and not much learning.
4) After numerous group activities, parents begin to realize the learning process has been severely slowed down causing their children to begin falling behind their peers in schools that use a more logical approach to teaching.
5) Students often times admit they’re not learning much but hey, the teacher did manage to meet a competency by getting the students to collaborate.
In other words, there isn’t a lot of learning going on under this method because the reformers believe that the “collaboration” workforce skill is more important than learning the academic content.
This is what happens in some of classes that use the CBE model. How do we know this? We’ve been through this for the past 20 years with no real data to prove this model improves academic achievement. The NH DoE has certainly provided no independent data that CBE will improve academic achievement.
That’s one of many examples of how the Obama/Hassan administration is redesigning public education in NH. Not only are they forcing the dumbed down Common Core curriculum on our schools through the Common Core Assessment, they have also forced CBE on our schools too.
Did any NH parents ask for this? NO
Did the teachers in NH ask for this? NO
Did the legislators in NH ask for this? NO
This is all part of the Obama redesign in public education and being facilitated through the Hassan DoE.
NH Families for Education has been a vocal opposition to this entire redesign and has pushed back in an effort to support parents and teachers in NH. They are one of a few organizations that have been in this battle to stop the top-down approach to education and has been supportive of local communities driving the education in their own public schools.
Today NH Families for Education posted an article that included a letter from the U.S. Dept. of Education to NH Commissioner of Ed, Virginia Barry. In the letter it spells out how the Commissioner again, is working to fully implement CBE in our schools. This falls in line with the U.S. Dept. of Ed’s agenda to redesign public education in NH.
You are reminded that the parents, teachers and legislators in NH never asked for this.
You are reminded that this agenda comes from the FEDS.
You are reminded that our own NH DoE is almost fully funded by the Federal Govt.
You are reminded that the NH DoE is facilitating the Obama agenda, NOT the New Hampshire agenda.
We strongly encourage you to read the article and information provided by NH Families for Education.
We also strongly encourage you to read our prior posts on the PACE assessment program being pushed on our local schools.
The parents who refused to let their children take the Smarter Balanced Assessment are at a real risk if HB323 goes through as it’s been presented. There is NO provision to opt your children out of these experimental assessments based on the Outcome Based Education Model.
Knowing the OBE model is all about social engineering and not academics, we can only imagine how bad these assessments will be.
It’s critical that parents have the right to OPT out of those psychometric assessments if parents find the problems in the PACE assessments that they are seeing in the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
It’s unfortunate that the NH DoE lost the trust of many in New Hampshire by signing on to the SBAC with no input from the legislators, parents or teachers in NH.
Everyone is encourage to write to the NH Senators and tell them NO on the PACE assessments. NO on Competency Based Ed and NO to the Obama to redesign our schools. Senators@leg.state.nh.us
It is up to the local communities to decide what standards, curriculum and tests should be used for their students. The NH DoE has proven they are ill-equipped to make these important decisions for our children. We trust the local communities to begin the process of setting standards, choosing quality curriculum and testing students in a way they see fit.