Bill Gates Donated $250k To Help Arizona Write Their RTTT Grant In 2009

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which handpicked 15 states for $250,000 each in funding to help them prepare their Race to the Top Fund applications, is going to offer assistance to the remaining 35 states—if they meet eight education reform criteria.

The memo sent by Vicki Phillips outlining the criteria for the funds was sent to the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

These were the same two groups that Jan Brewer and former State Superintendent Tom Horne were participants.  The two groups who the Obama Administration and Arne Duncan NEEDED to make the Common Core push appear to be "state-led."

The foundation's initial Chosen 15 were: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

However, Texas never applied.

The Gates Foundation stated that "these states will be targets for further foundation investment provided they continue to follow through on these commitments."

These commitments include:

1. Has your state signed the MOA regarding the Common Core Standards currently being developed by NGA/CCSSO? [Answer must be “yes”]

2. Does your state plan to adopt the common core standards by June 2010 (as currently referenced in the draft RTT guidance)? [Answer must be “yes”]

3. Demonstrate how your state plans to adopt/prioritize the common core standards currently being developed by NGA/CCSSO? [Answers will be scrutinized to assess commitment and viability]

4. Does your state offer an alternative route(s) to teacher certification? [Answer must be “yes”]

5. Does your state grant teacher tenure in fewer than three years? [Answer must be “no” or the state should be able to demonstrate a plan to set a higher bar for tenure]

6. Does your state have policies or grant programs (e.g., TIF grant) in place that encourage the placement of the most effective teachers in schools with most disadvantaged kids (e.g.to campuses undergoing state/fed accountability intervention) [Answer must be “yes” or state must demonstrate commitment and/or plans to put policies in place]

7. Does state have at least six of the DQC’s 10 essential data elements? (Required six: unique student identifier, teacher-student link, student level enrollment data, graduation and dropout data.)

8. Does your state have policies that prohibit the linkage and/or usage of student achievement data in teacher evaluations?


You really CAN buy anything in this world with money.

A Sample Of What "Informational Text" Students Will Use With Common Core

We found a youtube channel for an organization called the Teaching Channel.  It is a "non profit" that has put out videos to help market the new Common Core curriculum.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have donated over $11M to the Teaching Channel since 2011.

Let's take a look at a few of the sample subjects such as the 10th grade topic of European Imperialism in Africa.  Sample text for the project came from an "eye witness book on Africa," an essay by 16th century social reformer (anti-imperialist) Bartolome de las Casas, and excerpts from a novel called "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe (another anti-colonialist) all of which are recommended as standard text in the Common Core appendix.

Sound a little one-sided? 

As we know, the Common Core Standards will now include about 70% of "informational text" in the curriculum.  By "informational text" we mean one-sided text which will be presented as "fact."  Then, students can participate in panels such as this one with their new-found knowledge of evils of imperialism and colonialism:

Teaching Consultant, Jennifer Apodaca critiqued the teacher's performance and said,

"I think the facts were there, but I think it could have been much more specific.....Maybe you want to say, 'Use these sources.' So, maybe you have to specify like 'You MUST use information from the following documents....' "

Well, now that doesn't sound like it encourages critical thinking.

Another video explains that "What you have to be able to do is show that you can argue based on evidence and show that you can convey complex information clearly."

As you watch the videos, try not to focus too much on the number of misspelled words on the student's papers. Spelling isn't important because kids will always have spell check as a crutch....

The teacher in the above video poses a question to the students about the informational text they read, "How do you know what he is saying is real or not?"

Because.  The informational text is from the New York Times.

This information will certainly prepare students for college and career readiness.


As the teacher said, "There are various sources.  Some are reliable and some are not.  They need to be able to independently determine that."

Of course, the sources that the CCSS recommends will be reliable.

Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the ELA CCSS into other classes such as Social Studies, History, Science and Technical Subjects.  In the following video, the English teacher collaborated with a science teacher who selected articles and text for the students who were to write a persuasive essay on natural disasters.  And by an essay on natural disasters we really mean, whether or not the United States should provide foreign aid to countries that have experienced a disaster.

Enjoy these other snippets of Common Core lessons put together by the Bill Gates funded Teaching Channel...

Like this English class lesson on child marriage in Afghanistan and learning to feel badly that their median income is $800/year while it is over $40k in the United States without pointing out the reasons why.

Or the fact that there is global warming    climate change...

and more climate change.....

Well, at least these 4th graders are learning the three "R"s......

Ok.  Not Reading, Writing and 'Rithmatic but "Revolution" "Reaction" and "Reform."

THAT'S going to make them college and career ready for sure.

United Nations, Microsoft, Data Collection And The Beginnings Of Common Core

In April 2000, the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) met in Dakar, Senegal. UNESCO's goals are "to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. Other priorities of the Organization include attaining quality education for all and lifelong learning, addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, fostering cultural diversity, a culture of peace and building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication." 


"Education for all", "lifelong learners" and "quality education" are all familiar buzz words used today.  


Back in 2000, during his final days in office, Bill Clinton's Administration signed off on a UNESCO agreement known as the Dakar Framework for Action, "Education for All."  This was a set of education goals to be achieved by 2015.  In fact, Obama's National Economic Council Director, Gene Sperling, spoke at the UNESCO 2000 Conference.  At that time, Sperling was Clinton's NEC Advisor.  Some of the Dakar Framework commitments include: 

Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; 

Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality; 

Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.  

(The first subjects of the Common Core State Standards were in English Language Arts and Math)


The Dakar Framework directs participating countries to achieve these goals by investing in NATIONAL action plans.  Much of the Framework also includes the development of monitoring systems.

Ensure the engagement and participation of civil society in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of strategies for educational development.

 

Develop responsive, participatory and accountable systems of educational governance and management.

 

Systematically monitor progress towards EFA goals and strategies at the national, regional, and international levels.Build on existing mechanisms to accelerate progress towards education for all. ..We affirm that no countries seriously committed to education for all will be thwarted in their achievement of this goal by a lack of resources.
 

 

Undertaking more effective and regular monitoring of progress towards EFA goals and targets, including periodic assessments.

 

It is...essential that new, concrete financial commitments be made by national governments and also by bilateral and multilateral donors including the World Bank and the regional development banks, by civil society and by foundations.

 

Political will and stronger national leadership are needed for the effective and successful implementation of national plans in each of the countries concerned.

 

 Common Core was "state-led?"  Really?

 
In 2006, UNESCO published a UNESCO-Private Partnership brochure emphasizing that working with the private sector is a necessity, not an option.  They state that "Responsible behavior, global citizenship, solidarity and peace are at the centre of UNESCO's value propositions.  They also make good long-term business sense by positioning the private sector and, in particular, the business community as key drivers of sustainable development." 


Some of these private partners include Bill Gates' Microsoft, Cisco and INTEL.  The same companies who funded the writing of the CCSS, the assessments and data collection.

 

 

In October 2012, the 6th UNESCO Collective Consulation of NGO's on Education for All meeting took place in Paris, France.  This was a meeting to discuss the final push for EFA by 2015.

One of the final goals listed included:

 

Improving data collection and developing capacity for its effective use, are essential for effective policy and governance. Disaggregated data should be generated and used in addressing inequalities.

Member States guarantee institutionalized mechanisms for civil society participation in policy development and monitoring at the national level.

UNESCO secures and disseminates quality data and analysis, and assists Member States to strengthen their database systems in order to inform policy development.

Now, why would the United Nations be interested in collecting this kind of data?  Particularly, disaggregated data?  And why did our country sign off on this intrusion of our privacy?
 
Is it any wonder why Bill Gates and Microsoft joined with UNESCO in 2004 to "support the use of technology to transform education, reduce poverty and help address the digital divide?"


Would you be surprised to learn that Microsoft, Cisco, INTEL and the International Science and Technology in Education (ISTE) teamed up with UNESCO on an Information and Communication Techololgy (ICT) program to develop the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT) project?

Which might be known under their other name...the Common Core

You might recognize one of the goals:

 Knowledge Deepening:

The aim of the knowledge deepening approach is to increase the ability of students, citizens, and the workforce to add value to society and to the economy by applying the knowledge gained in school subjects to solve complex, high priority problems encountered in real world situations of work, society and in life generally. Such problems might relate to the environment, food security, health, and conflict resolution. With this approach, teachers should understand policy goals and social priorities and be able to identify, design and use specific classroom activities that address these goals and priorities. This approach often requires changes in the curriculum that emphasize depth of understanding over coverage of content and assessments that emphasize the application of understanding to real-world problems.

If only there was a way for other nations to compare THEIR standards to ours. 

"The absence of a common internationally recognized standard in the area of ICT integration, as well as training based on those standards, prevents having a consistent method to assess teacher competency."

Oh wait.  They're already working on that.

Common Core in the Arab World

Thailand

Caribbean