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I heard David Brook (New York Times columnist) on Meet the Press yesterday, January 31, 2010. He highlighted the fact that the big problem in America is that the public has a distrust of government. Wow. Right on!

It matters what our kids know. It matters to them and it matters to our nation. An important new study by Professor Eric Hanushek of Stanford and Andreas Schleicher of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development links rise in test scores with a nation's output. Thank you for that research!(What kids learn and know matters)Let's hope this is widely read on Main Street and in Washington.

(States apply for RTTT funds) Isn't it amazing that 40 states have applied for $4.35 billions in the Race to the Top funds.... The states need to demonstrate that their proposals are bold and innovative. Not a rehash of the status quo. Yet, all states will share in the much larger number, $12.2 billions of additional, NEW moneys added to special education. They do not need to show any innovation or boldness any reform the system. That money goes to support the status quo. Make sense? [...]

What does David Brooks' column, "Politics in the Age of Distrust," have to do with special education? Everything. I am struck by how much it relates to the issues we have in special education. (Politics in the age of distrust).So, let's ask, why do schools and parents have to go through endless meetings, procedures, paperwork, written plans, lawsuits, threats of lawsuits, legal and bureaucratic requirements, due process, documentation ad infinitum in special education? Because, at [...]

Check out this article! (Generation X parents)Fascinating discussion of Gen-X parents (and how they differ from Boomer parents.) Bottom line, in order to be successful in the decades ahead, schools will need to build relations with parents from the get-go, provide data, data, data, "market themselves intelligently to this new generation of parents," and rebrand themselves. We're talking about all parents-- of regular, special education, gifted, talented, bored, everyone. A fascinating [...]

Today's Core Knowledge blog picked up an important article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel(character education is at the root of it all).Thank you for this return to basics and common sense. Honesty, effort, punctuality, showing up ready to work, getting along with others, putting in consistent effort every day--these are what business needs from schools. As well as, these are what schools need from students--and schools need to foster the reality that these values matter most and [...]

Am I the only person who is amazed (and troubled) by the fact that our country is obsessed with a smaller pot of Race to the Top (RTTT) money--and silent on the larger pot, additional funding for special education.Check this out.The stimulus package's 'Race to the Top' funds add up to $4.35 BILLION. Yes, that's with a B!Everyone is scrambling for that amount--across our country. States are turning policies inside out in order to be eligible for the race--to improve education, [...]

(FixingSpecialEducation on Joannejacobs.com)Let's keep the national conversation going and fix the system for all children.

The front page of the New York Times starts 2010 with a look at honors and grade inflation. Maybe we will turn a corner back to real and high standards. Congratulations to the Times for opening the new year with this wakeup call! Happy New Year to all!

In case you missed the public comments about testing students with disabilities and students who are English language learners,they are now posted. I was a member of the expert panel on testing students with disabilities on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). Those final reports have been available for a while. Here are comments about the testing for English language learners and the endorsement for that expert panel's work. Let's hope we get back to valid and reliable [...]