By [email protected] June 9, 2014 Uncategorized 18 Comments I’ve made it through about 15,000 lines of State Department financial reports and my eyes are going cross-eyed. One thing I have figured out through this endeavor is that there sure are a lot of folks who’ve figured out how to get their hands on our state’s […]

I will say this for Governor Mary Fallin—she throws a wicked curveball! Two weeks ago I would have bet $100 that the governor would sign House Bill 2625 (RSA revision) into law, for no other reason that it was passed by veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. She vetoed the bill and the legislature […]

I know. I am mixing my metaphors but the more I look at the results from this year’s state writing tests, the more convinced I am that we have another SNAFU on our hands. It is becoming clear to most people outside of the State Department of Education that something went terribly wrong with the […]

By [email protected] May 31, 2014 Uncategorized 23 Comments To paraphrase Shakespeare, something is rotten in the offices of CTB/McGraw Hill and/or the Oklahoma State Department of Education. A long-running joke I have with my staff is that the reason the OCCT results are often late or rife with errors is because they are graded by […]

By [email protected] May 30, 2014 Uncategorized 15 Comments One of my favorite segments on Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night comedy show is his Friday night “Thank You” notes.  If you are not familiar with the skit, here is a clip from the “Best of Late Night” episode: This one made me laugh: With today being the […]

It’s Friday night and my brain is not quite in the mood to tackle today’s “big” budget deal announcement. My initial reaction: Underwhelmed and disappointed. Looks like Oklahoma schools will spend yet another year scraping for crumbs. How bad would it have been without the education rally? Was anyone at the Capitol listening? Geesh! Instead, […]

It’s in the Lemurs’ Hands Now By [email protected] May 12, 2014 Uncategorized 11 Comments The release of third grade reading scores on Friday detracted from what is normally a day of celebration for schools and test administrators across Oklahoma. May 9th was the final day of the spring testing season. Now, I am aware that […]

By [email protected] May 10, 2014 Uncategorized 18 Comments This is a long post but I really encourage you to read it in its entirety. Please also share it with others in Oklahoma, especially those who believe that shaming schools, teachers, and students is the right path to school improvement. We must continue to educate them. […]