On November 17, 2014, The South Dakota Board of Education held the second of four public hearings regarding the adoption of proposed K-12 Science standards for South Dakota. At this hearing, Senator Phil Jensen, Dist. 33 testified regarding his finding of the South Dakota Science Standards being the Next Generation Science Standards. You can listen to…
On November 17, 2014, the South Dakota Board of Education held the second of four public hearing regarding the proposed K-12 content standards for Science, Technical Education, and Fine Arts.This meeting was also the first of four public hearings regarding new Social Studies Standards. At the September 2014 meeting, I testified regarding the science standards…
On Monday, September 15, 2014, the South Dakota Board of Education held the first of four public hearings on adopting new standards in Science, Technical Education and Fine Arts. You can read what I testified at the September 2014 meeting here. I believe that adoption of these standards is in possible violation of SB 64. (Link…
The South Dakota Board of Education is holding the November meeting on Monday, November 17, 2014, This meeting will be at the MacKay Building, First Floor, Library Commons Area, 800 Governors Drive, Pierre, South Dakota in Pierre, SD. This meeting will include the required public hearings for four new sets of content standards. Science, Fine Arts, Technology…
Bob Kellogg has written about the intrusive middle school behavioral surveys happening in South Dakota. Here are a few excerpts. The survey wants to know a lot about students’ lives: drug use, drinking habits and, of course, their sexual habits, as well among other things. When a couple of concerned moms went to the school…
As parents and concerned citizens protest personally invasive middle school student surveys in Rapid City, Dr. Tim Mitchell of the Rapid City Area Schools admits that the surveys are all about data collection to get federal and state grants. Aren’t federal and state grants our taxpayer dollars? In order to get out money back, we…
The Rapid City Area Schools have announced that they will postpone the middle school student surveys that measure childrens’ attitudes, beliefs, behavior and disposition. Dr. Mitchell, RCAS Superintendent has admitted that they are looking for a legal way to give this survey without getting specific written parental consent from each student’s parent/guardian. The Sioux Falls School…
Jenni White of Restore Oklahoma Public Education and Michael Petrelli of the Fordham Institute participated in a debate sponsored by Oklahoma Wesleyan University on November 11, 2014, called “Common Core Chaos?” Oklahoma repealed the Common Core earlier this year and returned to their former standards while their new standards are being written. Throughout the debate…
UPDATE This week on KSOO radio, VPU will focus on education during the 5:00-6:00 pm hour. I was driving to the Sioux Falls School Board meeting listening yesterday during the broadcast and I can’t recall the complete schedule of broadcasts for the week, but I think it’s as follows. I have a request into…
In today’s Argus Leader is a story about how the Sioux Falls Catholic Schools are using a blended math approach. A few excerpts and thoughts: Due to parent push back and what they saw happening with the children under “Every Day Math”, the district moved back toward more traditional math. Meaning as one student says, “This…
South Dakotans Against Common Core 