Lloyd Lofthouse

President Obama’s Failure of Leadership

Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé

Recently, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing reported on the release of a dozen years of 12th grade NAEP scores revealing the test-based accountability era of G. W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Obama’s Race to the Top with its seriously flawed and draconian Common Core Standards has had no discernible effect on the test scores of seniors.

“How much more evidence do federal and state policy-makers need that driving schooling through standardized exams does not increase educational quality?” asked Fair Test Public Education Director Bob Schaeffer. “It is time to abandon failed test-and-punish policies and adopt assessments that have been shown to improve teaching and learning.”

Second, I read What, Me Worry? By Kristin Sainani writing for a Publication of the Stanford Alumni Association.  The Stanford piece discussed two kinds of stress:  Good Stress vs. Bad Stress, and how chronic stress shrinks the hippocampus (one…

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Lloyd Lofthouse

6 responses to “President Obama’s Failure of Leadership”

  1. Marilyn Armstrong Avatar
    Marilyn Armstrong

    I re-blogged this on Serendipity. Education is failing miserably and we need to do something about it sooner rather than later.

    Reply
    1. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
      Lloyd Lofthouse

      The only way we’ll stem this flood of insanity out of Washington DC and state capitals is to educate the public and that will be an uphill battle on steep slopes because most of the traditional media is owned by six major corporations and billionaires like Bill Gates, Rupert Murdock, the Walton family, the Koch brother, Eli Broad, Micheal Bloomberg and a crooked gang of Hedge Fund billionaires are spending billions bribing politicians, paying for ads and running slick PR campaigns through the media to demonize public education and scapegoat teachers for the flaws in American society. Hitler did the same thing when he turned most Germans against the Jews in Europe. We all know the results of that PR campaign.

      Our only chance to get the word out is through the Internet and even that is in danger as Congress pushes hard—as I’m writing this—to pass a bill that will do away with Internet neutrality allowing the wealthy to buy up search engine ranking locking anyone out of a Google search, for instance, that they don’t want heard.

      Reply
      1. Marilyn Armstrong Avatar
        Marilyn Armstrong

        I really don’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense to me. I just wish they would stop and care enough about the country they claim to love to stop ruining it.

      2. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
        Lloyd Lofthouse

        To understand why some people are like this, think of humans as not a digital computer with programs carefully (well, usually) programed to achieve a specific task, but as a biological computer that is programmed by life starting before birth while in the womb by its environment and genetics. This programming continues though life but at least 90% of it is completed during the first six years of life. This helps explain why we end up with Hitlers and Stalins.

        That’s why we have such a wide diversity of people: for instance, some are empaths and some or sociopaths or psychopaths. These billionaires don’t fit in the empathic group. And as these faulty humans grow older, it’s more difficult to reprogram them to be more empathic and open minded. I’m sure you’ve heard that we aren’t born to become racists but we learn to be racists as we grow up. Racists don’t take classes in racism. Becoming a racist—or even a serial killer—starts at birth and the teachers are usually the child’s parents, neighbors, family and friends.

      3. Marilyn Armstrong Avatar
        Marilyn Armstrong

        There is a strong possibility that I don’t really WANT to understand. It’s as if these people have a piece missing, a piece I thought essential and part of every person as a birthright. Apparently not.

        On the same theme, you might want to take a look at Garry’s post today “Come Back, Mr. Chips.”

        http://teepee12.com/2014/05/10/come-back-mr-chips/

      4. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
        Lloyd Lofthouse

        I think you’re right. These people do have a piece missing, a piece that’s essential for a well rounded, balanced, reasonable, open minded person who doesn’t want to hurt others.

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