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Does Texas Need School Choice?

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by Texas Science Author and Educator, Janice VanCleave

momTexas parents have the right to select educational opportunities other than public school for their children NOW!!

In Texas, under current state legislation:

1. Parents can freely choose to take their children out of public school. If their local public school has a below average state rating, at no expense to parents, their children can be bused to other local schools with higher ratings.

2. Parents can freely choose to homeschool or send their children to private schools or to a public charter school.

So why does Texas need a School Choice Program?

The proposed Texas School Choice Program Offers one thing: MONEY
Yes, School Choice is all about money. Education Saving Account, ESA, is the name of the funding states are offering parents to remove their children from public schools.

Government money always has strings, and the amount of strings attached to ESA funding could be woven into large elaborate macrame tapestries.

Some some of these strings include how parents spend ESA funding. The state sets guidelines about the educational curriculum that can be used. In fact, the state dictates the curriculum choices. Also, ESA funding may only be used pay fees to approved private schools.

Yes, there is lots of paper work that parents will have to provide to prove the ESA funding is being used properly. For example, while the money can be used for transportation, the total amount per year allowed is set by the state. Parents will have to provide copies of maps showing the path from start to finish for each trip. ETC…ETC…..Receipts–you bet.

Monkey looks confused.mom

So why does Texas need a School Choice Program?

Texas legislatures say that parents of students in poor communities do not have the funding to homeschool or to send their children to private schools. Thus, the children of these parents must continue to attend public schools that do not offer a diverse quality education for their children. (FYI: This is because the Texas Education Association, TEA, has dictated that all public schools prepare every child for college.)

Make note that ESA funds cannot be used to send children to charter schools. This is because the state considers charter schools as public schools.

 

So why does Texas need a School Choice Program?

ESA funds will first go to low income parents with children having any type of disability, learning or physical. Other parents will receive less ESA funding. Texas legislatures contend that a School Choice Program will improve the education Monkey looks confused.of all Texas children. Parents who take ESA funding will be able to take their children out of public schools and some how the children left in public schools will receive a better education. No, I do not understand how this proposed miracle solution to improving Texas education is suppose to happen. Unless, our state legislatures promote school choice so fewer students with learning disabilities will be taking STAAR tests. Generally, these students make lower scores on these tests, which bring down the average of school districts. If this is the plan, School Choice will not improve the education of students, instead it will improve school STAAR test averages.

Why will only children in public schools take STAAR tests? Children receiving ESA funds will not be required to take the STAAR test? So, how can legislature claim that these children will be receiving a quality education?

So why does Texas need a School Choice Program?

Children who are now being homeschooled or are in private schools may not receive ESA funding. To be qualified they must enroll in their local public school for no less than 100 days.

Think about it: The School Choice program is being set up so that parents can remove their children from public schools that are not providing a high standard of education for students. Yet, to be qualified to receive School Choice ESA funding, children must first attend one of the less than adequate pubic school for 100 days. Why? Is it for data collection on all children in the US?

 

For Homeschoolers ……..

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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Texas STAAR Testing is a JOKE!!

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STAAR JOKE

STAAR TESTING

1. Pearson Publishing provides the STAAR/EOC questions, grades tests, decides on scoring (who passes and who fails), and prepares and scores 5th and 8th STAAR retests.
2. Pearson Publishing has not been shown to be a reputable company-recent information shows Pearson Publishing shareholders as being terrorists.
3. STAAR tests cover TEKS for the entire school year. Students are not prepared to take STAAR tests in March and April.
Let me be very clear about this: TEKS for the entire school year cannot be properly taught before the STAAR tests.
The STAAR tests are given early so that time remains for review and retesting for students who fail the first STAAR tests.
4. Once STAAR tests are taken, the remaining days of school are spent retesting students who failed.
After the STAAR tests are given, school is basically childcare for students who pass the STAAR tests.
5. Michael Williams, the Commissioner of Education, changed the testing code requiring that all students 3-8 go to summer school if they failed STAAR reading and math. The Federal Government provides money for summer school, thus schools make money if your child fails the STAAR and is required to attend summer school.
6. There is NO STATE retest given to all 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th graders attending summer school. Individual schools are responsible for this. Teachers who taught and prepared tests during the school year may be the same teachers teaching and preparing tests for summer school.
7. TEA is aware that there are errors on past STAAR/EOC tests. These errors have been reported. TEA has responded with answers including that while there may be more than one correct answer, it is the best answer that is counted correct. In other words, TEA chooses not to acknowledge that they make mistakes. This would result in grade changes, which would be expensive.
8. The STAAR/EOC tests have no positive educational value for your child. The results of the STAAR/EOC test are used to determine whether a child is promoted or not.
9. The STAAR/EOC scores do not provide data that is used to benefit your child. While it is said that students are given additional assistance in areas they scored poorly in, because of open enrollment (inclusion) students are not placed in classes based on STAAR/EOC scores.
10. The focus of Texas education is the STAAR/EOC tests. Thus, your child is being taught bits and pieces of information that is most likely to be on the tests.

There is so much more that will not fit on one sheet of paper. For more information, please contact directly at: ASKJVC@aol.com
Sincerely,
Janice VanCleave
www.TxCscopeReview.com

Texas Education has taken on a very liberal turn that will not benefit students in the long run. The terminology is often changed in order to confuse parents and the community. Today you will hear the term 21 Century Learning. What is the world does this mean?

21st Century

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TEXAS: STOP the STAAR/EOC TESTS

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Children-Walking-Away-300x218Texas Education was Better Before STAAR/EOC

 

by Janice VanCleave

WWW. TXCSCOPEREVIEW.COM

 

 

Children enjoyed school and were better educated before the STAAR/EOC tests.

The Texas Commissioner of Education has no concern for children. It is all about the STATE testing, which have been shown not to be correct, yet these tests are used to determine whether students are promoted.

Students in Texas public schools are only taught information that could be on the state tests. Nothing else is important. Thus, Texas children are being dumbed down by the state educational officials.

Did you know that parent rights are limited in the Texas Code of Education? Read the following from this code and you will find this statement: The decision of the grade placement committee is final and may not be appealed. There is no one reviewing the STAAR/EOC tests other than TEA and Pearson Publishing who is being paid millions to do this.

One way to improve Texas Education is to stop the STAAR/EOC tests. Please opt your children out of the

STAAR/EOC tests.

Texas Education Code – Section 28.0211. Satisfactory Performance On Assessment Instruments Required; Accelerated Instruction

(e) A student who, after at least three attempts, fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) shall be retained at the same grade level for the next school year in accordance with Subsection (a). The student’s parent or guardian may appeal the student’s retention by submitting a request to the grade placement committee established under Subsection (c). The school district shall give the parent or guardian written notice of the opportunity to appeal. The grade placement committee may decide in favor of a student’s promotion only if the committee concludes, using standards adopted by the board of trustees, that if promoted and given accelerated instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. A student may not be promoted on the basis of the grade placement committee’s decision unless that decision is unanimous. The commissioner by rule shall establish a time line for making the placement determination. This subsection does not create a property interest in promotion. The decision of the grade placement committee is final and may not be appealed.

What about this situation:

A child passed all class assignments and tests but failed all three STAAR 5th grade reading tests. The placement committee decided to retain the child in the 5th grade.

During the summer, the child attended a private reading academy. The child’s reading level was raised to meet requirements for the 6th grade. Do the parents not have the right to appeal the decision of the grade placement committee?

 

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CSCOPE IS STILL ALIVE!

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cscope is alive

Despite the controversy and public outrage surrounding Cscope,  the Texas Education Service Centers (ESC) continue to lease Cscope to many Texas School districts. Due to Cscope getting a bad name they have changed the name to Teks Resourse System. What I want you to understand Cscope is leased to school districts yearly costing taxpayers thousands.  From my perspective it keeps a job opening available for superintendents in the future, kind of like scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

Cscope is a Marxist curriculum management system bent on having all school district across the sate on the same page daily. It eliminates the creativity a teacher can bring to a class. Science Author Janice VanCleave asked the Cscope director Becca Bell from Region XII “What if I wanted to bring in a butterfly cocoon in teaching metamorphosis or bring in the fall leaves that are changing colors, with Cscope I am not allowed to do that, correct? ” Becca Bell confirmed that those would not be allowed to be taught in the classroom unless the Cscope Scope and Sequence called for it at that time but may be taken to another grade level that may be learning about that subject.  Seriously? Many good experienced veteran teachers have left the profession due to the control Cscope has.

Cscope was and has not been a SBOE reviewed curriculum. Lessons were part of the leased product until is was found it was riddled with controversial material. Though they have removed the lessons from the password protected website we know that the ESC’s called from teachers to download the lessons before they were removed and ESC’s have sold USB storage devices with the lessons on them.  To give you an idea of the mindset of those responsible for implementing this in our Texas Schools you can view some of the lessons HERE.

The concerns surrounding the  finances and management of Cscope were validated with the release to the State Audit Report this past June. https://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/report.aspx?reportnumber=14-034. An Article by Brietbart Texas highlights some of these concerns.

Parents and taxpayers need to wake up as to what your school district is purchasing and using to teach your children. A radical leftest turn has taken place with the funding from the federal government.

 

 

Dr. Brent Hawkins was the assistant directors from ESC VI in Huntsville. In a conversation with Dr. Hawkins regarding Cscope he told me I would not tear apart something they had implemented. Well 2 years later Cscope has become a huge controversy and Dr. Brent Hawkins has left the ESC to become superintendent of Livingston ISD. On the districts superintendent page I was surprised that Mr. Hawkins in going to phase out the product he was 100% supportive of. Why a change of heart? Don’t be fooled though I am sure Livingston ISD will write another curriculum management system bent on the same progressive/Marxist philosophy as Cscope.

phasing out

 

Texas Education Service Center promoting Obama’s Agenda http://www.redhotconservative.com/texas-education-service-center-promoting-obamas-agenda/

 

Texas Education Service Centers “Strategic Plan to Create Workforce” http://www.redhotconservative.com/texas-education-service-centers-strategic-plan-to-create-workforce/

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TEXAS: Honor Roll Students Sent to Summer School

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chilton
Chilton honor roll students are in summer school because:

1. Texas Legislatures have not thought through the codes for promoting students or they could care less how the codes affect the lives of children and their families. This is because education and the STAAR testing is all about money.  

Code 28.0211 Requires school districts to re-mediate every student who fails the STAAR tests in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Did our legislatures factor in students who work hard and make all A’s or all A’s and B’s? What about kids that are doing their best and making passing grades, but because of the undue stress of taking a 4 hour test in a room with the walls covered with white sheets or some other covering fail the STAAR test?
A retest is provided during the school day for 5th and 8th grade students that fail the STAAR. But students in the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th grades who fail the STAAR must attend summer school. Why? Is it because the school district only receives government grant money if students attend summer school? Are our children being punished so the school district can make more money?
Chilton elementary school had a banquet for the elementary honor roll students. These students received a metal honoring their achievements. Some of the students can wear their metals to summer school because they failed a STAAR test.
Can you tell me why any parent should send their child to a Texas Public School when nothing the child accomplishes matters? It is only the STAAR Score that matters. The STAAR score trumps every accomplishment during the school year.
Being on the honor roll? Big deal. If you fail the STAAR your honor roll award is not what is on your permanent record. Instead, you will be labeled a failure. You will be in remediation and then in what is erroneously called an accelerated class if the school district decides to promote you.
This is being done so that school districts will receive more Federal money for remediation.
Where are all the politicians who love children and want the best education for them? What a joke.
Note: Homeschool students do not have to take the STAAR test only Texas public school children spend the entire school year being taught how to take the STAAR test. Only Texas public school children on the honor roll have to attend summer school if they fail a STAAR test.
* Please stand with me and fight against this injustice? Encourage parents to contact their senators and representatives as well as SBOE representative.
* Please help evaluated the released STAAR tests to determine if they are valid test? Stand Hartzler has reviewed the 4th and 5th grade math STAAR 2013 tests. There are errors. But kids went to summer school last year and again this year because the TEA assessments department refuses to admit that there are errors on these tests.
* Please help me get the codes changes so that the STAAR scores do not trump all other student accomplishments.
The STAAR test is all that is being taught. Is the test that important? Should one test trump an entire year’s worth of student work?
Know that school districts are designing their own remediation and reassessment for grades 3, 4, 6, and 7. Thus. there is no standard set for remediation or reassessment. I do not see any length of time for remediation. Maybe it is listed in another code.
I have to tell parents of a 4th grade honor roll students that the state of Texas has created a code requiring that their child must attend summer school.I have to tell these parents that it doesn’t matter how hare their child works, the STAAR test is more important than everything she has done during the school year.
Will it matter if there are errors found in the 4th grade STAAR math test? It appears that no one is overly concerned about this. Why?
If any of you have any suggestion as to how to change this injustice, let me know. I’ve contacted every source that I know about. It seems that our legislatures didn’t care enough about the children when they dreamed up a code that forces outstanding scholastic achievers to go to summer school because they failed a STAAR test.
Nothing, absolutely nothing positive comes from the STAAR testing. NOTHING!
If you think the STAAR tests are affecting what is being taught, you are 100% correct. Teachers are teaching to the test. But, they have no clue what is on the test. If you think the TEKS are the big clue to the STAAR content, think again.
Sincerely,
Janice VanCleave
1-254-896-2080
Janice VanCleave
http://scienceprojectideasforkids.com
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Dear Commissioner Williams:

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commissioner
Commissioner Williams,
I am a retired Texas Science Teacher, science author of 52 published science investigation books for kids and educators, and now design thermochromic products and activities for Hallcrest, inc.
I tell you this so that you know that I do have an understanding of science and education. Thus, have the expertise to evaluate science curriculum, such as the flawed, incorrect science in the CSCOPE instruction material.
As part of a group of concerned Texas citizens, I testified at the first Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE. My daughter, Ginger Russell, and I created two separate websites dedicated to present information to the public about the flawed CSCOPE material. Redhotconservative.com and TxCSCOPEReview.com
I live within the boundaries of the Marlin ISD, which has consecutively failed the state tests for seven years. Two years ago I spoke to the interim superintendent, Marsha Ridlehuber and the curriculum director Jamie Johnson about helping the 5th grade science teacher. Both were very negative and both refused my offer. They did not want me to have access to the CSCOPE instruction material because it was at that time not being shown to the public. Ridlehuber is gone but Jamie Johnson is still in postion to keep CSCOPE lessons in the classrooms. I am still not welcome to work with the elementary science teachers even though the 5th grade continues to fail the state test.
TEA has assigned Elizabeth Rowland and a team of others to help Marlin ISD. Sir, failing schools have become the “CASH COW” for TEA monitors and conservators. From the results of Rowland’s improvement plan for Marlin ISD, Rowland has a lifetime job in the district. Taxes are raised to continue to pay for the inept programs of Elizabeth Rowland and others assigned to help improve student performance. Not one of the approved improvement programs actually focuses on improving teacher understanding of core curriculum being taught.
Commissioner, I am questioning the use of Title I money to pay for professional development for the purpose of monitoring how a teacher presents his/her lesson. Rowland has approved Title I money for Lead Your School, which is a list of teacher actions monitors can observe and check on a list. One teacher was written up for sitting at his desk while he recorded attendance on his computer. Teachers are not allowed to sit at their desk unless students are standing around it.
Commissioner, the local ESC-Region 12 receives millions of dollars for money every year to develop professional development. But, most of their professional development programs are expensive. What are they doing with all the grant money? Region 12 is the culprit selling CSCOPE to Marlin ISD.
Sir, something is very wrong with the entire Texas education system. TEA cannot be trusted to send qualified helpers. TEA cannot be trusted to monitor the grant money given to the ESCs, such as the $200 Million dollars from the Rider 42 TEKS grant to be used specifically for teacher professional development. I can provide much more information (facts) about this.
The SBOE cannot be trusted when Thomas Ratliff, a lobbyist for Microsoft is the vice-chairman on the board. Ratliff files charges on grassroot patriots who interfer with anything he promotes. Ratliff promotes CSCOPE because it is an internet program so he promotes that teachers not be allowed to give students textbooks. Marlin provides no textbooks for students.
Sir, How are students going to improve in reading if they are not given books to read?
Senator Patrick, chair of the Senate Education Committee made a behind the scenes deal with the 20 ESCs. Patrick thought he had bargained for CSCOPE to be removed from the Texas schools. But the ESC directors tricked the senator. The results being that Patrick helped delay the Sunset review of the ESCs and in return the ESCs gave the CSCOPE lessons to all the schools who had previously been purchasing these lessons. While the ESCs can no longer sell the CSCOPE lessons, they are allowed to continue selling at the same fee the schedule for using the K-12 lessons as well as the unit assessments for the CSCOPE lessons.
Governor Perry mandated that Common Core not be used in the Texas Schools, not one peep has been heard from him about the ESCs having conventions with workshops using common core or TASA going to common core conventions.
The past Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott, supported TASA, never responded when he received questions about CSCOPE, instead he quickly resigned.
Commissioner Williams, you sir are in a position to Turn Texas Education Around. I am asking you to take a close look at what is going on in Marlin ISD, the lowest academic school in the state of Texas. Help this school district and I am convinced that like falling dominoes, other schools will fall in line.
Letter 1.jpg
Sincerely,
Janice VanCleave

 

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A SERIES on CSCOPE, PART 2 DIGGING STILL DEEPER, for TEXAS CHILDREN

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texas insider

By Janice VanCleave & Jeanine McGregor

NOcscope

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – CSCOPE is not gone, it has just changed names. The 20 Texas Education Service Centers (ESC’s) are a true example of morphism. What was set up as 20 regional agencies to provide “affordable” and free quality educational services to school districts has morphed into a 20 headed monster. Sound  melodramatic? Sadly, it is true.

An Introduction: by Jeanine McGregor:

Texans by nature, design and heritage, are God-fearing, independent-minded, hard-working, individuals who stand for truth and justice.  When Texas turned down the highly-suspect federal program, Common Core, yielding to its  Jeanine McGregor Ms. MacSMALL own educational goals, parents and community leaders heralded our independent choice, little did we know that traitors amongst us, a.k.a. some liberal-minded Texas school administrators and superintendents, had joined forces to implement behind our backs a similar program, CSCOPE.

That, at the very least, was raw, untested, and poorly designed, and at the most was a highly-restrictive management framework, dipped in radical ideology, meant to control our children’s academic futures using fear and intimidation.

True Texans from across the state are waking up and speaking out.  The following is the first in a series of articles from individuals across Texas, meant to reveal the truth and empower the individual so that together we can stand up and say, “We’re from Texas.  We don’t like being lied to and we don’t ‘cotton to you messin’ with our children.”

____________________________________________________________

Is This Happening At Your School?

Janice VanCleave3eBy Janice VanCleave

CSCOPE is not gone, it has just changed names. The 20 Texas Education Service Centers are a true example of morphism.

What was set up as 20 regional agencies to provide “affordable” and free quality educational services to school districts has morphed into a 20 headed monster with appendages it can shed, much like a lizard can lose its tail and keep on going.

Severing the limb containing the CSCOPE Lessons was a minor setback. The lessons were not lost. Instead they are now snugly set in place in school districts with administrators dedicated to continuing this covert cause to remove parents from being a part of their children’s education; dedicated to continuing to set the educational bar so low that every student learns at an equally low level; dedicated to continue bullying teachers making them so fearful of losing their jobs that they must teach in secret–when the administrators, the CSCOPE Management CZARS, leave the school building.

Sounds very melodramatic doesn’t it? Sadly, it is true.

CSCOPEparentPortal1. Are CSCOPE Lessons, as well as assessments, a one-size-fits all?

The CSCOPE assessments are being given in some schools about every 3 weeks. This is in every subject, every grade, and at every ability-level. Some Advanced Placement students are required to take these tests!

You might ask how this could be, since the AP classes do not have to follow the same schedule as the “regular” classes. It doesn’t seem to matter. It’s the data that is being collected:

  • How many failed this?
  • Which race failed that?
  • Do white kids do better than black, Hispanic, or the “other” races?

If you have ever filled out a questionnaire for a political poll, you know that the results are (on average) going to be the way the politician wants them to be. Your kids are little more than political guinea pigs.

There is a point to what seems to be madness, and it has little to nothing to do with academics. It isn’t just that kids are being “brainwashed” into thinking that there has to be a big change in teaching methods, because after all we are in the 21st Century.  They need to learn how to Twitter and develop Facebook pages so they can get better jobs. Kids don’t cscope-arrowneed textbooks; they need ipads. Learn to read? Learn to write? No, they need to learn to TEXT (sic!) –  Thus they will be able to get better jobs – to become brain surgeons – those who know little about the brain, but are great with social media!

What about teachers? No problem here. The new CSCOPE teaching philosophy will in time displace certified teachers with “Guides on the SIDE.” Actually, certified teachers and school administrators are slowly being phased out.

At one time school board members represented the community. They hired certified personnel. Now, the 20 ESCs train and certify teachers, principals, supervisors, and superintendents. But, having the right certification is not required  by all school districts. Some superintendents hold the job position, but are not certified. The same is true with principals and other administrators.

Are your administrators certified for their jobs? You can find out at this State Websitehttps://secure.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECONLINE/virtcert.asp 

2. How many days of the school year are spent taking and preparing for tests?

The more tests students take, the fewer days teachers have to present information being assessed.

The more tests students take, the fewer days students have to prepare for the tests.

CSCOPE Tests are filled with errors. Teachers know this, but this year teachers do not have access to the CSCOPE tests cscope7duntil they are given to the students.

ALL TEACHERS DO NOT have the freedom to teach. If their administrators are following the CSCOPE Managing System, which gives administrators more controlling power and some love it, then teachers are to “goosestep” to the tune scripted by the ESC/CSCOPE directors. Sadly, these administrators are marching in step to the same tune but seem not to recognize the irony.

Parents, Don’t let the enchanted “song of the CSCOPE Sirens” lure you into believing your child is receiving the best 21st Century technology education with rigor necessary for the STAAR. Find out for yourself what is happening in your child’s classroom.

3. Is the teacher forced to give frequent CSCOPE assessments?

If so, she/he may be struggling to rush through topics in an effort to prepare kids for the next assessment and then the next and so on. Find out what teachers do during what is now facetiously called the teacher planning period. The CSCOPE teachers I correspond with have no time to plan their lessons, they are filling out data reports.

Find out if teachers in your school have to give CSCOPE assessments over material that hasn’t been introduced to your child. It is happening in some schools. It seems that these CSCOPE assessments are being given so data can be collected. What kind of data?

Also, since the STAAR/EOC Tests are given during the 5th 6-weeks of the school year, teachers are expected to teach 36 weeks worth of instruction material in less than 30 weeks. Think of all the days of instruction lost because of the extra cscope7cCSCOPE DATA-Collecting Assessments.

Now add to that the time scheduled before the STAAR/EOC TESTs for review of everything learned.

4. Are the grades on the CSCOPE Assessments being used to evaluate the progress of your child?

These assessments have so many errors. But if these grades are not used, teachers have to use another day to evaluate students. Another day of instruction lost.

Did you know that not all of the CSCOPE assessments are machine graded using the bubble in testing sheets. Some of the questions are subjective and teachers have to read these answers and determine if they are right or wrong. Then teachers have to bubble this information in on the data gathering forms.

5.  How much time do the teachers in your school spend collecting data, giving tests, instead of providing instructions?

Teachers are not to be “Sages on the Stage” providing information. Instead, they are to be “Guides on the Side” watching students discover information for themselves.

cscope7eThink About This!

A football coach demands and receives the attention of his players. Football coaches do not give the team an assignment and then have them form groups and discover on their own how to accomplish making touchdowns. Yet, parents are buying into the idea that in the classroom teachers need to present the class with a problem and then step back and let the kids share and research to discover the answers. WHY? Why would it work in the classroom and not on the football field?

I know that it doesn’t make sense that our entire country is embracing a progressive teaching philosophy that promotes “social learning,” which means students are expected to have experiences while sharing them with others.  They are also expected to conduct research via the web.   As a group, students will determine which information is relevant and important to them. This includes learning math processes necessary to solve problems.

I recommend that we all review the events that took place in Germany when Hitler took control. Are you aware that Hitler’s ideas about education very closely parallel with those of the current progressive teaching philosophy?  Hitler was more interested in directing the social and moral standards of children than emphasizing academics.

Sound familiar?

CSCOPE promotes leveling the playing field for all students. This eliminates challenging students who are at different levels. The argument that every student must be on the same page at the same time so that kids can move NOcscope3cfrom one location and not lose ground is a questionable motive.

Don’t be lured to the ‘rocks of destruction’ by the songs of the Social Education Progressive Sirens.

Parents, any school, using ESC/CSCOPE material, has administrators that are lying to you. I have read and evaluated every elementary CSCOPE lesson and assessment. This instruction material does not align with the state standards called TEKS because the content of the CSCOPE instruction material is not all correct.

There are many errors that are carried from one grade to the next. Last year teachers had to teach to the CSCOPE assessments, in doing this these teachers were teaching incorrect information.

Parents, the problems in Texas Education will be corrected when you demand it.

Janice VanCleave3e

Janice VanCleave (right) is an internationally-known author, as well as a Science Teacher from Riesel, Texas, who blogs on the Texas CSCOPE Review.

SERIES EDITOR Jeanine McGregor, known to most in the Texas Education Debate as ”Ms. Mac”, is an Award-Winning Teacher, an educational researcher, and an author-publisher as CEO of Character of American Productions. She is also producer of Ms. Mac’s Schoolhouse, and the innovative Ms. Mac TV” Program.

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A Series on CSCOPE, Part 1: Digger ‘ Deeper For The Sake of Texas Children

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texas insider

By Jeanine McGregor & Janice VanCleave

www.texasinsider.org

CSCOPE LogoTexas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Texans by nature, design and heritage, are God-fearing, independent-minded, hard-working, individuals who stand for truth and justice.  When Texas turned down the highly-suspect federal program, Common Core,   yielding to its own educational goals, parents and community leaders heralded our independent choice, little did we know that traitors amongst us, a.k.a. some liberal-minded Texas school administrators and superintendents, had joined forces to implement behind our backs a similar program, CSCOPE.  CSCOPE Closed

That, at the very least, was raw, untested, and poorly designed, and at the most was a highly-restrictive management framework, dipped in radical ideology, meant to control our children’s academic futures using fear and intimidation.

True Texans from across the state are waking up and speaking out.  The following is the first in a series of articles from individuals across Texas, meant to reveal the truth and empower the individual so that together we can stand up and say, “We’re from Texas.  We don’t like being lied to and we don’t ‘cotton to you messin’ with our children.”

____________________________________________________________

Is This Happening At Your School?

Janice VanCleave3cBy Janice VanCleave

CSCOPE is not gone, it has just changed names. The 20 Texas Education Service Centers are a true example of morphism.

What was set up as 20 regional agencies to provide “affordable” and free quality educational services to school districts has morphed into a 20 headed monster with appendages it can shed, much like a lizard can lose its tail and keep on going.

Severing the limb containing the CSCOPE Lessons was a minor setback. The lessons were not lost. Instead they are now snugly set in place in school districts with administrators dedicated to continuing this covert cause to remove parents from being a part of their children’s education; dedicated to continuing to set the educational bar so low that every student learns at an equally low level; dedicated to continue bullying teachers making them so fearful of losing their jobs that they must teach in secret — when the administrators, the CSCOPE Management CZARS, leave the school building.

Sounds very melodramatic doesn’t it? Sadly, it is true.

But because it is so absolutely absurd for administrators to be working toward a goal that results in students failing the state tests, it is difficult to get people to believe that this is true. It is difficult for people to believe that Texas Education tea-logo3Agencies are purposely creating CSCOPE Instructional Materials with an ulterior goal of establishing a Controlling Management System.

But it has happened and has been very successful. The 20 ESCs are in control of most of the Texas Public Schools because they are in control of the administrators in these schools.

WATCH NOW: SBOE Ad Hoc CSCOPE Review Committee Hearing – September 13, 2013
[Archive Video Part 1]

Parents have bought into the sales pitch that the schools should provide RIGOR so that their children pass the STATE STAAR/EOC TESTS.

I doubt that parents have a clue as to what rigor is all about. Teachers seem equally uninformed. Who introduced the idea that the STAAR/EOCs TESTs would have more RIGOR and that the new TEKS have more RIGOR, thus curriculum with RIGOR is needed? The answer is from TEA! Yes, the Texas Education System–TEA. I asked TEA representatives about RIGOR-its definition and requirements. The answer was that TEA gave the ESCs approximately $200 MILLION dollars to provide materials, workshops, and website articles for Texas Educators.

YES. TEA GAVE THE 20 ESCS, WHO CREATED CSCOPE, MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and thus far not one person, as far as I know, has demanded to know what they did with this money.

I know that they did not fulfill the specifications listed in the Rider 42 grant that provided the money. So why were they paid? Why does TEA continue to give the 20 ESCs money when these agencies are doing everything they can to TEA Exemplary 2010 Logotransform Texas Schools so that the students will not be taught facts needed for academic advancement?

Instead, The ESCs are transforming the instruction in Texas Schools so that students are learning social technology (Tweeting and developing Facebook pages), questioning the social, moral, patriotic, and religious values of parents.

Parents, if you are concerned about your child passing the state STAAR/EOC Tests, I suggest that you find out if collecting testing data is the focus of your school. Find out if the following describes how your children are being “educated.”

CSCOPE promotes that all children have an ‘equal education,’ thus the need for a one-size-fits-all instructional material and assessments. This is the definition of social learning — more appropriately called Socialism. 

CSCOPE promotes leveling the playing field for all students. This eliminates challenging students who are at different levels. The argument that every student must be on the same page at the same time so that kids can move from one location and not lose ground is a questionable motive. Don’t be lured to the ‘rocks of destruction’ by the songs of the Social Education Progressive Sirens.

Parents, any school, using ESC/CSCOPE material, has administrators that are lying to you. I have read and evaluated every elementary CSCOPE lesson and assessment. This instruction material does not align with the state standards called TEKS because the content of the CSCOPE instruction material is not all correct.

There are many errors that are carried from one grade to the next. Last year teachers had to teach to the CSCOPE assessments, in doing this these teachers were teaching incorrect information.

Parents, the problems in Texas Education will be corrected when you demand it.

Jeanine McGregor Ms. MacSMALL

Jeanine McGregor (right), known to most in the Texas Education Debate as ”Ms. Mac”, is an Award-Winning Teacher, an educational researcher, and an author-publisher as CEO of Character of American Productions. She is also producer of Ms. Mac’s Schoolhouse, and the innovative “Ms. Mac TV” Program.

Janice VanCleave3e

Janice VanCleave (left) is an internationally-known author, as well as a Science Teacher from Riesel, Texas, who blogs on the Texas CSCOPE Review.

 

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Who is Matt Foster?

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Who is Matt Foster?

Mr. Foster is the Government Relations Liaison of GRAND PRAIRIE ISD. In my opinion Mr. Foster’s position in the district is a waste of taxpayers dollars. With the GRAND PRAIRIE ISD already funneling taxpayers dollars into and joining the political associations of  Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) which are political lobbying groups why would the district need to pay a government liaison?

Matt Grandprairie

Mr. Foster’s job position came to my attention after he took to the world of twitter in attacking me, a “private citizen” for exposing the controversial Marxist Texas curriculum, CSCOPE. Why would a Government Liaison of a Texas school district stoop to such  behavior?  Is it money? Is it philosophy? Whatever may drive this behavior…. I found that most Texas educators think no one is qualified to question the education establishment in Texas, they are the ones that know BEST what is best when it comes to your kids education. They abhor home schoolers  but “LOVE” our tax dollars.  Educators have and will come out in droves and attack private citizens, moms and dads, grandparents and taxpayers for questioning them. Unfortunately for them, many of their attacks are posted online for the whole world to see revealing their disdain for parents and taxpayers that have questions and concerns.

I have found it astonishing that those that are pro CSCOPE on the State Board of Education all the way to the teacher in the classroom will attack anyone who questions or  criticizes CSCOPE or the teaching practice of Project Based Learning.

matt Foster 2

9-15-2013 1-11-00 PM

matt foster

Mr. Foster has along with other educators have tried to accuse my mother science author Janice VanCleave who discovered the “hidden” CSCOPE curriculum as being a competitor. Matt, for being a govt relations guy does not understand the free market system.   CSCOPE was created with tax dollars and it being sold back to the taxpayer.

I will assure you if my mother wrote and published a curriculum it would be transparent for all to see not hidden behind a password protected wall where teachers are threatened with a law suit if they exposed it or said anything negative about it. 

rival provider

matt foster

I am sure Matt and other Texas educators will continue  attacking me and others on social media stating we tell lies and untruths but they have yet to prove one LIE! They fail to realize there is a global movement taking place that is working to change teaching philosophy with the end goal of equity, diversity and globalization. Progressive are presently referring to it as Project Based Learning.

Read further.. CSCOPE & State Employees lash out at Private Citizens.

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How TX CSCOPE Controversy Began

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light

by Ginger Russell

 

I did not wake up one day and decide to fight the public school system in Texas. Not by a long shot. I have always been politically active and my mother, Janice VanCleave, not so much. Unfortunately the cause fell in our lap when mom asked me to look into a situation she found herself in.

My mother is science author, Janice VanCleave who also runs www.txcscopereview.com.  She is in her 70′s and retired. She spends time serving her community by visiting widows in nursing homes and tutoring. This all started over a year ago when she tried to tutor some children in her local school district, of Marlin ISD.  When she asked them where their textbooks were they said they had none. (RED FLAG) The teacher knew mom’s reputation and gave her a copy of a CSCOPE science lesson. Finding the CSCOPE lesson riddled with errors she asked for additional lessons and was refused. (RED FLAG). Prior to writing, mom taught years earlier in Marlin ISD among other TX districts. Needless to say she ended up in her local ESC in Waco where they refused to let her see the CSCOPE lessons as well. The actions and behavior by all involved raised some serious (RED FLAGS). I put mom in contact with SBOE chairman Barbara Cargill who had not heard of CSCOPE (RED FLAG)  and she requested the ESC to give her a password and they refused (RED FLAG). Barbara was not able to get a password to CSCOPE for six months until Gov Perry got involved (RED FLAG).

When the CSCOPE reps in Austin found out who mom was and her credentials they drove to her local town of Marlin to meet with her. SERIOUSLY! I along with another gentlemen attended the meeting to their surprise. They had hoped they could team up on her 5 to 1 and were not happy with our presence. I have the whole meeting recorded below.  It is long and boring. But at one point in the conversation I handed the CSCOPE State Coordinator, the Islamic Powerpoint and he tries to deny it (RED FLAG).

I then filed a Public Information Request and TESCCC (CSCOPE owners) asked the attorney General to deem them a “non governmental entity”)RED FLAG) which he denied. They also stated that mom was a CSCOPE competitor in hopes he would rule on their behalf. The lie has made it’s round through the education system.

We then started going public and teachers would contact us anonymously asking for help. They informed us that their administrators were having them to sign a non disclosure statement, stating that they would not release the contents or say anything negative about it. (RED FLAG).

I spoke at the Willis ISD Board meeting in October in regard to CSCOPE. I had no idea at the time who Lindy McCullogh (ESC CSCOPE COORDINATOR) was or that she was there. She spoke after me and was obviously outraged that I had spoke out against CSCOPE. (RED FLAG) VIDEO BELOW


I later called ESC director Brent Hawkins and in our conversation he said “you will not tear apart something we implemented”. (RED FLAG)

Now, with all the red flags and strange behavior by some many educators in regard to CSCOPE we knew something had to be done. By this time a couple of veteran educators had contacted us and started  exposing CSCOPE lesson content (which CSCOPE reps began editing and removingd after we exposed it).

Needless to say when you have an educational program that is riddled with the controversial material, parents can’t see it, teachers silenced and threatened with prosecution for releasing content, etc, that was enough RED FLAGS for us.

Being politically active I had a personal meeting with the LT Governor in January. Dewhurst said he would have the chairman of the Senate Education Committee which was Dan Patrick hold an education hearing on it. And he did. About the same time I had tweeted about the CSCOPE lesson that portrayed the Boston Tea Party as being a Terrorist Act, and Glenn Beck picked it up. Thank you Glenn! Fortunately parents started realizing what was going on at their  school and became involved as well. The rest is history.

I have not even expounded the financials in regard to CSCOPE or their lack of transparency, which is presently under the review of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott.

It has taken me over a year to finally find out what CSCOPE iand it is about implementing a radical change in the way students are taught called “project based learning”(PBL). PBL is based on the collective not individual achievement. There is a chart below outlining the differences in a traditional education and PBL. Project Based Learning and Common Core Standards are based on the same progressive philosophy.

As for a my mother, the Texas education establishment have come out attacking and FALSELY accusing her as being a competitor with CSCOPE and out it to make a profit on CSCOPE’s exposure.Nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything, out of  concern for children and our country’s future it has cost us both money and time away from family working on this debacle.  We have got where we just laugh at the accusations because we know the education establishment is jumping through hoops to divert the exposure off of them. Thankfully the truth always wins in the end.

I am by no way a self proclaimed expert on education. Yes, I did home school both of my children who are now college graduates and married. But I do know it is wrong to pass out verses of the Quran to students, I know it is wrong to have students draw new Communist Flags,I know it is wrong to have students learn about the sex life of Islamic Women, etc, etc.. enough on the lessons. I know it was unacceptable and wrong to not allow parents to view what their children were taught. I know it is wrong to have teachers threatened with a lawsuit for disclosing content or speaking negatively about a curriculum. How you can ignore this? How can you vote to purchase this crap again and petition the state for a waiver is beyond me.

I want you to know yes mom and I have a following of conservative christian activist… but there are 100′s across the state that supply us information as to what is going on in their school districts. We are not in this alone, not by a long shot. The days of our local school districts hiding and spending money with no oversight is over.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I want to personally thank Alice Linahan, Donna Garner, Peggy Venable, Ms. Mac, Ms. Bowen, Stan Hartzler, Dr. David Stovall, Laurie Bartlett, and hundreds more that have joined in this battle of protecting our children.

 PBL RHC

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Houston Chronicle on CSCOPE

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Obtaining news, the Houston Chronicle is my last place to turn due to their leftist bent. My hats off to editor Linda Falkenberg on coverage of CSCOPE. Though I don’t agree with Ms. Falkenberg’s attempt to minimize concerns with the CSCOPE’s controversial content.   I would like to say she did a fantastic job outlining the events that have led up to what has become a state controversy.
houston chronicle

 

 

Curriculum flare-up earned an ‘A’ in drama

August 21, 2013

Lisa Falkenberg

Lisa Falkenberg

 

The real shocker among the claims of conservatives fighting something called “CSCOPE” isn’t that the state-produced lesson plans are allegedly pro-Marx and anti-Christ, or even that they’re trying to indoctrinate Texas children into Islam.

It’s that, when you get past the craziness, there are some good questions being asked.

It remains to be seen whether any of those questions will get answered this Saturday in Tyler when Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick debates State Board of Education member Thomas Ratliff.

But the planned clash between the two Republicans – one a tea party darling running for lieutenant governor, the other an outspoken East Texas pragmatist who helped dismantle the Religious Right’s grip on the state education board – has elevated to center stage a little known controversy thus far followed only by online conspiracy theorists and political junkies.

At issue is a computer-based curriculum tool known as CSCOPE produced by Texas Regional Education Service Centers. Until recently, it was being used in some part by 70 percent of Texas school districts, many of them in rural areas that may not be able to afford their own curriculum writers.

Teachers, some of whom have been using the curriculum guide since 2006, have complained of errors, shallow skimming of concepts and, mostly, the instructions they’ve received from some local administrators not to deviate from scripted lesson plans.

But a retired teacher named Janice VanCleave takes the credit for bringing the other issues to light. VanCleave, who lives in Riesel, just east of Waco, and has written many science-related children’s books, said she was trying to tutor students in her local district in 2011 when she asked about the textbook. When the children said there was no textbook, VanCleave got suspicious.

Doors began shutting

When she tried to obtain information on the computer-based lesson plans, she was turned away by the local school district and then by the regional service centers that produced the curriculum. Similar attempts by parents and even State Board of Education members to gain access to the material were rejected. The state centers claimed propriety concerns, but grass-roots conservatives smelled a rat.

And, since nothing feeds conspiracy theories like secrecy, accusations of a government curriculum rife with a progressive, even anti-American bias spread like wildfire. The lessons began to trickle out, providing endless fodder for bloggers who spun webs of intrigue and claims of insidious indoctrination. Glenn Beck and Fox News seized on the story. Then came the politicians, Patrick and the incumbent whose job he’s seeking, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, took up the cause in their respective bids to out-conservative each other.

Tea Party terrorism

The panic grew, even as Attorney General Greg Abbott announced that parents should have access to curriculum. Bloggers took issue with social studies lessons that, in one case, asked students to consider whether, from the British perspective, the Boston Tea Party was a terrorist act. (The fact that student had every right to say “heck, no!” didn’t seem to matter.) Another lesson asked students to design a socialist flag. Another that drew concern simply defined “Allah,” in short, as a monotheistic deity, otherwise known as the God of Abraham.

Not sure why this last one was such a big deal.

Lynn Mitchell, director of the religious studies program at the University of Houston, explained that “Allah” is simply Arabic for “God.” He pointed out that even Arabic-speaking Christians refer to God as “Allah.”

Premature celebration

In May, Patrick announced that the state education service centers had agreed to no longer produce the curriculum and conservatives cheered. But the issue flared back up when critics realized that some districts rushing to prepare lessons for the coming school year were still using the curriculum.

There have been some good issues raised by critics. No teacher should be forced to follow a one-size-fits-all canned script in the classroom. No state-written curriculum should be hidden from parents. The CSCOPE finances should be studied, and perhaps, as Patrick suggested, more oversight is needed in developing such curriculum tools. Certainly, a better editor to weed out the errors.

But these points could have been made without the fear-mongering, without the apocalyptic rhetoric. Even Peggy Venable, director of the conservative, anti-tax group, Americans for Prosperity, who raised solid concerns recently in her op-ed against the curriculum, couldn’t resist the temptation to include the charges of “indoctrination.”

Loaded language

That kind of language scores with the local tea party activists. It gets you on Fox News. And it gets certain primary voters riled enough to show up at the polls. But it’s not constructive.

For her part, the woman who started all this, Janice VanCleave, seems to be a thoughtful woman who is genuinely passionate about children’s education. She’s right that if the curriculum isn’t thorough enough to provide a solid foundation in a historic event such as the Boston Tea Party, then asking whether that event could be construed as a terrorist act is a jarring proposition some kids would be ill-equipped to answer.

“If you don’t really understand why they were throwing the tea, then you can’t really have critical thinking about it,” she says.

It’s her opinion that the curriculum left students ill-informed about Boston. But that’s a concern that makes sense. That’s a debate we could have had without all the drama.

 

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Expert Says Cscope Science Lesson Faulty!

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8.9.13 — To parents, educators, administrators: 

 

From Donna Garner:  If you have doubts about the academic quality of CSCOPE lessons, the following 5th grade CSCOPE science lesson with comments by Janice VanCleave should validate your concerns.

Janice VanCleave is well-known internationally for her “Science for Every Kid” series and is an authority on making students’ science experiments fascinating while building them on sound science.  Her materials are used by science teachers all over the world: http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0471503819

Janice VanCleave is a former secondary classroom teacher who has written more than 50 science and math books for kids and educators. Her reading audience spans ages from kindergarten to high school seniors. Janice’s books are translated in fifteen languages and to date there have been more than two million copies sold. So it is safe to say that kids and educators around the world are playing and having fun doing Janice VanCleave’s investigations.

Ms. VanCleave has taken the time to go through this 5th grade CSCOPE lesson and evaluate it for accuracy.  Here are her introductory comments and the link to view the CSCOPE lesson along with her reviews: 

 

From Janice VanCleave:  The following 5th grade lesson is the perfect example of why schools should not use CSCOPE. I actually got tired of correcting this lesson and stopped. I’ll review it more later, but there are enough errors marked to let any parent know that administrators/educators who choose CSCOPE for their district are setting their students up for failure on the state-mandated tests (i.e., STAAR tests).  

 

biology

 LINK TO 5TH GRADE CSCOPE LESSON:

 http://www.txcscopereview.com/2013/cscope-5-sci-phy-properties/

 

 

  

 

 

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

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CSCOPE WHISTLEBLOWERS SPEAK OUT!

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I posted an article yesterday  revealing a situation I perceive to be a “Conflict of Interest” taking place in the Huntsville Independent School District. Read it HERE.

Shortly after posting the article I received the following  comments from Huntsville ISD school
board member,Sam Moak.

 

I am Sam Moak. I am a Christian, a husband, a father and a son. Yes my wife works at Education Service Center Region VI. So did my mother, for 37 years. I do not follow anyone and I think for myself. Am I perfect, no, but I am honest and have done nothing wrong. Yes, our children did attend Alpha Omega Academy, a wonderful Christian school. It was a choice as Christians we made and I am not afraid of. However, due to situations related to my wife’s illness, we choose to move to HISD. I am a graduate of HISD and proud of both AOA and HISD. CSCOPE is a political issue. Unfortunately, all the children of Texas are victims of this political battle. I only want what is the best for all the children of Huntsville. HISD cannot afford, nor can the vast majority of school districts in Texas, to hire a curriculum writer. Therefore, long before I was on the HISD School Board, the decision was made to use CSCOPE as a resource. It’s use was and never has been mandated at HISD. I am tired of hearing Mrs. Russell and her mother, Janice Van Cleave, repeat over and over the problems with CSCOPE. They point to 3 or 4 lessons in the social studies segment and brand the entire 1600 lessons as bad. Mrs. Russell you choose to homeschool your child(ren) and your mother, Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages. I find nothing wrong with families that choose to homeschool, however, I suspect your motives are not true. You use the Tea Party and Senator Dan Patrick and any means you can to attack public school districts and the wonderful money saving Education Service Centers throughout our state. It would cost our school districts, and thus the taxpayers, millions of dollars to replace the Education Service Centers. But is your real purpose to support a voucher system in Texas? A system that allows folks who can afford to segregate their children from other children? Or is it to help promote your choice of homeschooling and to sell education material written by your mother? Or do you Mrs. Russell support purchasing our children’s curriculum from a foreign based entity (Pearson) that sells curriculum to 70 other countries including Islamic ones? What is your educational background? Training? What makes you such a self proclaimed expert on education?

 

Whistleblower responses….

ME

 

 

 

 

Ginger Russell

Mr. Moak,

I did not wake up one day and decide to fight the public school system in Texas. Not by a long shot. I have always been politically active and my mother has not. Unfortunately the cause fell in my lap when mom asked me to look into a situation she found her self in.

My mother is in her 70’s and retired. She spends time serving her community by visiting widows in nursing homes and tutoring. This all started over a year ago when she tried to tutor some children in her local school district. When she asked them where their textbooks were they said they had none. (RED FLAG) The teacher knew mom’s reputation and gave her a copy of a CSCOPE science lesson. Finding it riddled with errors she asked for additional lessons and was refused. (RED FLAG) She had even taught in this particular school district years earlier prior to her writing. Needless to say she ended up in her local ESC in Waco where they refused to let her see the CSCOPE lessons as well. The actions and behavior by all involved raised some serious (RED FLAGS). I put mom in contact with SBOE chairman Barbara Cargill who had not heard of CSCOPE either and she also requested the ESC to give her a password and they refused (RED FLAG). Barbara was not able to get a password to CSCOPE for six months until Gov Perry got involved (RED FLAG).

When the CSCOPE reps in Austin found out who mom was they drove to her local town of Marlin to meet with her. SERIOUSLY! I along with another gentlemen attended the meeting to their surprise. They had hoped they could team up on her 5 to 1 and were not happy with our presence. I have the whole meeting recorded HERE. It is long and boring. But at one point in the conversation I handed the CSCOPE State Coordinator,  the Islamic Powerpoint and he tries to deny it (RED FLAG).

I then filed a Public Information Request and TESCCC asked the attorney General to deem them a “non governmental entity” which he denied. They also stated that mom was a CSCOPE competitor in hopes he would rule on their behalf. The lie has made it’s round through the education system.

We then started going public and teachers would contact us anonymously asking for help. They informed us that their administrators were having them to sign non disclosure statements that they would not release the contents or say anything negative about it. (RED FLAG).

I spoke at the Willis ISD Board meeting in October in regard to CSCOPE. I had no idea at the time who Lindy McCullogh (ESC CSCOPE COORDINATOR) was or that she was there. She spoke after me and was obviously outraged that I had spoke out against CSCOPE. (RED FLAG)

I later called ESC director Brent Hawkins and in our conversation he said “you will not tear apart something we implemented”. (RED FLAG)

Now, with all the flags and strange behavior by some many educators in regard to CSCOPE we knew something had to be done. By this time a couple of veteran educators had contacted us and started talking.

Needless to say when you have an educational program that is riddled with the controversial material, parents can’t see it, teachers silenced and threatened with prosecution for releasing content, etc, that was enough RED FLAGS for us.

Being politically active I had a personal meeting with the LT Governor in January. Dewhurst said he would have the chairman of the Senate Education Committee which was Dan Patrick hold an education hearing on it. And he did. The rest is history.

I have not even got into the financials in regard to CSCOPE or their lack of transparency.

It has taken me over a year to finally find out what CSCOPE is all about and it was to implement “project based learning”(PBL) in the schools. PBL is based on the collective not individual achievement. PBL is quite the opposite of a Classical Education that your children received at Alpha Omega.

Huntsville ISD has spent thousands attended TASA’s Transformation Academies which is all about PBL. Why? Why do you support this radical change?

Now this week I get an article about Huntsville ISD’s waiver request. I saw your last name and it rang a bell with due to the fact that your wife had sent me twitter feeds months back and I put the pieces together. The more I research the more of this I find. It is one big spider web and the tax payers are paying out the butt for it.

How christian conservatives can set back and ignore what is going on is beyond me, I can’t do it. My children and grandchildren deserve better.

As for as mom and her books she has been accused of doing this for money. We got where we just laugh. If anything this has cost us both.

I am by no way a self proclaimed expert on education. Yes, I did home school both of my children who are now college graduates and married. But I do know it is wrong to pass out verses of the Quran to students, I know it is wrong to have students draw new Communist Flags,I know it is wrong to have students learn about the sex life of Islamic Women, etc, etc.. enough on the lessons. I know it was unacceptable and wrong to not allow parents to view what their children were taught. I know it is wrong to have teachers threatened with a lawsuit for disclosing content or speaking negatively about a curriculum. How you can ignore this? How can you vote to purchase this crap again and petition the state for a waiver is beyond me.

I want you to know yes mom and I have a following of conservative christian activist… but there are 100’s across the state that supply us information as to what is going on in their local area. We are not in this alone, not by a long shot. The days of our local school districts hiding and spending money with no oversight is over.

I am sure your and your wife are wonderful loving christian parents.

But I do wonder why and how you and other proclaimed christian people can set back and ignore this progressive ideology that is taking over our school system.

If you have any further questions I will be happy to answer them.

Ginger Russell
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD”
~Psalms 33:12~

 

Janice VanCleave

This email is being sent to Sam Moak, a Huntsville ISD School Board Member, whose wife works at Region 6 and sells CSCOPE to the Huntsville ISD. Mr.Moak left a comment on www.redhotconservative.com stating that he is tired of me and my daughter, Ginger Russell, attacking CSCOPE. I don’t want to misquote Mr. Moak, so I’ll paste his comments here:
” I am tired of hearing Mrs. Russell and her mother, Janice Van Cleave, repeat over and over the problems with CSCOPE. They point to 3 or 4 lessons in the social studies segment and brand the entire 1600 lessons as bad. Mrs. Russell you choose to homeschool your child(ren) and your mother, Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages. I find nothing wrong with families that choose to homeschool, however, I suspect your motives are not true. You use the Tea Party and Senator Dan Patrick and any means you can to attack public school districts and the wonderful money saving Education Service Centers throughout our state. It would cost our school districts, and thus the taxpayers, millions of dollars to replace the Education Service Centers. But is your real purpose to support a voucher system in Texas? A system that allows folks who can afford to segregate their children from other children? Or is it to help promote your choice of homeschooling and to sell education material written by your mother? Or do you Mrs. Russell support purchasing our children’s curriculum from a foreign based entity (Pearson) that sells curriculum to 70 other countries including Islamic ones? What is your educational background? Training? What makes you such a self proclaimed expert on education?”
 

Hi Sam,

I am Ginger Russell’s mother, Janice VanCleave and want to address some of the points you have made. 
 
First, concerned citizens do not have to have an education background to question what is being taught in the public school. But, I do have an education background and continue to study up todate educational teaching method that are applicable for classroom as well as home study. My background includes 27 years in public schools, mostly in Texas. My second career was writing science experiment books for kids and educators. My third career or I might say project is creating a science website with the primary focus on science fair projects, thus I feel very qualified to evaluate the CSCOPE Performance Indicators as well as other progressive Project Based Learning lessons (PBL). Those creating PBL lessons do not truly understand how to prepare students to use critical thinking to solve problems. They fail to provide kids with the tools for critical thinking. 
this is because they are using the constructivist/progressive teaching method, which assumes students come to class with the foundation knowledge and using this can discover for themselves. Parents can best understand this method by remember their child’s first science fair project or maybe every science fair project. The teacher announces that everyone is to do a science fair project–gives a list of all the necessary parts and sends them off. This is when I receive panic emails from kids and parents –How does one do a science fair project? Same method is being used with all PBL. No critical thinking–just anxiety and frustration. Now that the CSCOPE lessons are public domain, I can provide you with more information.
 
About using 2 to 3 social studies lessons to condemn an entire curriculum. If you had listened to the Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE, you would have heard evidence of many lessons. Barbara Cargill, chair of the state board of education had in her hands a folder full of examples that were pointed out to the committee. These were CSCOPE science, math, ELAR and social studies lessons all with errors and/or biases. How many of the CSCOPE lessons have you personally evaluated? Do the school board members at Huntsville ISD have passwords to the CSCOPE website?
 
FYI:  After being refused a password to CSCOPE for six months, Governor Perry had to request that Barbara Cargill, the chair of the State Board of Education, be given a password to the CSCOPE website. This tells you how secretive the content of the CSCOPE lessons were prior to the Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE. Again, how many CSCOPE lessons have you evaluated?
 
I have asked and received all science lessons K-8 from teachers who must remain anonymous. This is a sad statement. The CSCOPE lessons should have been public domain from the start. The ESCs are not suppose to support any one vendor and they become a vendor themselves. The ESCs are suppose to provide service to a specific region and they grouped together creating a one-size-fits-all curriculum with the goal of educating students across Texas EQUALLY. This can only be done by scripting lessons and school administrators monitor educators to force them to follow the script. Some give teachers more flexibility but still provide them with CSCOPE lessons that have never been evaluated for correctness. You sir, refuse to believe me when I tell you that all the the science lessons incorrectly present the scientific method which is 40% of the Science STAAR Tests. Not one CSCOPE administrator or School Board Member wants proof. I’ll start posting examples onWWW.TXCSCOPEREVIEW.com 
 
As to Pearson Publishing, this company basically controls Texas Education now. Pearson helps write the STAAR/EOCs. Pearson publishes and grades the STAAR/EOCs. Pearson decides the evaluation of STAAR/EOC grades, thus this foreign based company controls what students are taught and whether they have mastered the concepts. Pearson also publishes study books for the STAAR/EOC tests. If schools purchased any materials it should be these study guides. Who knows more about the STAAR/EOCs than the company that writes and prints these tests? Does Pearson Publishing have an unfair advantage in the education market in Texas, you bet! Do the ESCs have an unfair market advantage over education materials sold in Texas? No doubt about it. Of course the ESCs have better prices for their vendor products, the state of Texas pays their employess, pays for offices, in fact pays all overhead. What the ESCs sell is pure non-taxed profit. Do the ESCs fairly compete with other vendors–No. I think you call this a monopoly. Now the CSCOPE money trail would be interesting. Where is all this money? I would like the ESCs to stop being vendors and start being independent service centers again. There is nothing fun and personnal about the ESCs now. It was fun to have the teacher workroom where educators and even parents could go to make cutouts for their class. This is gone and it was important. Some ESCs loaned out science critters. This should be part of every ESC. The ESCs could be providing wonderful services to schools in their district, instead the atmosphere at the ESCs is cloaked in secrecy. You have the STAFFERs who are kept in the dark and the CSCOPE group whispering and making new plans (documented statement from an observer).
Pearson Publishing also sponsors TASA/TASB the private organization that school board members and superintendents pay membership and conference fees using the school taxes. This is no small amount— $100 Million has been estimated from the information collected from school districts. Yes, some of this money is for things like school insurance. But, why not buy from some local group? Citizens pay school taxes, superintendents and school board members give some of it to a private organization that is sabatoging STATE Education with their Vision Learning program to transform Texas Education. Were school taxes used to pay for the anyone from your school district to attend the TASA transition training?
 
Sam, I am not sure I understand this statement you made:
Janice Van Cleave, has made quite a nice living selling over 89 education products to homeschoolers, some of which is written (oh Horror), in other languages.
 

How I make my living has nothing to do with my questions of what is being taught in the Texas public schools. I do not write textbooks, nor do I write K-12 curriculum for every subject. I write science experiment books for kids and resource science/math books for educators. In no way is my work competitive with CSCOPE. In fact, prior to the development of CSCOPE in 2006, I was hired by many of the Texas Education Service Centers to present science workshops for Texas Educators. Region 12 is near my home and I have been involved with this group since 1975 as a teacher in the region as well as an author. As a science author, I was an honorary member of the Region 12 Science Consortium. I payed my own way to event and provided supplies and science books to the teachers in this group. Becca Bell, the CSCOPE director at Region 12 recently informed me that she never heard of an honorary member. I was welcomed at Region 12 prior to my asking to view the CSCOPE lessons. I dropped in with supplies and was welcomed. CSCOPE has taken the fun out everything it touches.   

 
As to your comment “OH Horror” in reference to the foreign translations. It is strange that school board members and superintendents responsible for purchasing CSCOPE for their schools feel the need to attack me and my work. I have met with Wade Labay, STATE CSCOPE director, and we have respect for each other though we disagree about CSCOPE. Mr. Lebay doesn’t share your view of me or my work. During a meeting with Mr. Lebay and Ed Vega, supervisor of CSCOPE curriculum, Ed brought a copy of one of  my books and asked me to authograph it. I will contact these men today and ask them to give me a reference to post.  
 
As to only 2 to 3 social studies lessons being incorrect. These lessons caught the eye of the news media and continued to be discussed. But it was the lack of transparency that first alarmed me and got the news media interested. It was hard to get people to believe that in Texas Public Schools lessons were being taught that parents were not allowed to view. It was hard to get people to believe that teachers were being so micromanaged. Parents are aware of the truth now and it will be difficult for superintendents and school boards to continue purchasing unapproved education materials. Parents and concerned citizens will start demanding to be part of the decision making of the school. School board members are suppose to represent the community, but education materials have become a very profitable business for the 20 ESCs. 
 
Is there any conflict of interest in you being on a region 6 school board where you approve the CSCOPE product that your wife who works at Region 6 sells? Of course there is.

 
As to my supporting the voucher system. I know very little about this. As to people that can afford to use voucher so they can segregate their children from public schools. What’s the difference in putting children in private schools instead of sending them to public schools? I cannot say that I support the voucher system, but do support parents that choose the best education for their children and if they think the public schools are not providing this, then they should have some way to do so without having to move. I live near Marlin Texas. The Marlin ISD schools have failed the state tests for so many years that it is not even news worthy. Seven consecutive years of failure makes it difficult for families that have no choice but care about their children’s education. Families have taken new jobs so that they can move out of Marlin.
Yes, Marlin ISD uses CSCOPE and that is where I was first introduced to this curriculum. A friend with an afterschool program asked me to tutor elementary children in science and math. The children in Marlin ISD are not issued text books. Does Huntsville ISD provide textbooks to students? I hope so because without textbooks parents have no clue what is being taught to their children. Without textbooks, kids have no resources to do any homestudy. Without textbooks, the education of our kids is limited to what teachers present in class and how much students remember. Yes, class notebooks are required in every class at all grade levels. Thus, the class notebook and what students write in it is all students have to review at home for class tests as well as the STAAR Test.
 
One elementary teacher that taught in a CSCOPE school last year was forced to follow the CSCOPE lessons. She insisted on providing science books to her students. The administration did not want teachers using books because as promoted by the CSCOPE vendor (including region 6), even books aligned with the revised TEKS cannot update changes in the TEKs as often as the CSCOPE online curriculum can. This is a false statement in that the TEKS for a subject are not changed often. The science TEKS were introduced in the fall of 2010 and the next science TEKS revision will be introduced in 2016. The same is true for TEKS in other subjects. Another false statement promoted by Region 6 and the other 19 ESCs (the CSCOPE Vendor) is that books that are not aligned with the revised TEKS do not have information needed to teach these new TEKS. Not True.
 
Science books with the TEKS for TAKS Tests have the same information with very few changes as the revised science books aligned with the new TEKS for STAAR Tests. 
 
Did you know that the 20 ESCs were paid $100 million dollars to prepare transition materials for Texas Eductors. YES I said $100 Million. Did they do it? Ask your local Region 6 for copies of this material. It was the transition material teachers needed. But 800 school districts were sold CSCOPE. Why? The ESCs had FREE material for the Texas Teachers. I have copies of this material. Do your teachers?
 
Did you know that Region 6 received $1,041,156, just to present workshops for teachers in  Region 6 during the summer of 2010 through the spring of 2011. Did your teachers attend? Were they invited?
 
In 2011 Region 6 received $2,914,384 Million, yes almost $3 MILLION dollars just to present workshops to Texas Teachers so that they would be prepared to present the new social studies and math TEKs.
 
There was never a reason for CSCOPE—the 20 ESCs received a total of another $100 Million dollars to prepare Texas Educators to adapt their teaching materials to the new TEKS. Were the Huntsville teachers at these workshops or did Region 6 sell Huntsville CSCOPE materials instead of providing the FREE materials they were paid millions of dollars to prepare, present and post on the Project Share?
 
Are these the same ESCs that you have such concern about? 
 
At the bottom of this note I have a copy of the millions paid to Region 6. I will send this letter to region 6 and request an account of what they did with more than $4 million dollars. They didn’t give $4 million dollars of service to the educators in region 6. Instead they sold CSCOPE  to school districts and some such as Huntsville are still standing behind the CSCOPE product. Maybe you should be asking Region 6 why they sold CSCOPE instead of giving it to your free– $4 million dollars is a lot of money and it should have provided your school with something free. 
 
Note: The attached files show how much each of the 20 ESCs received in two years to provide materials that Texas teachers still don’t know anything about. Let me suggest that you ask Region 6 to pull out that Rider 42 TEKS materials they were paid millions to present and start giving those workshops now. This solves the problem of not having the CSCOPE lessons. 
 
About these Free Rider 42 TEKS Workshops. 
 The 81 Texas Legislature gave TEA via Rider 42 grant over $150 MILLION— I emphasize that this is MILLIONS of dollars. The objective being for the 20 ESCs to prepare materials so that teachers could easily transition from the TEKS for TAKS tests to the revised TEKS for STAAR TESTs. Science and ELAR Rider 42 academies were to be presented during the summer of 2010. All the 20 ESCs were given $50 MILLION dollars to create science and ELAR Rider 42 PD materials, post it on the Project Share website and give face-to-face hands-on Science and ELAR workshops. 
 
Did all the teachers from Huntsville ISD attend these special multi-million dollar workshops that were FREE. These workshops were to provide information so that teachers could easily transition from the Science and ELAR TEKS/TAKS to the TEKS/STAAR. Again, the 20 ESCs were paid $50 MILLION dollars to write materials so that all Texas teachers would start the 2010-2011 school year prepared. 
 
The Rider 42 materials were to show a side-by-side comparison of the two sets of TEKS, old with the new. Teachers were to be shown any old TEKS that included in the new TEKS. Teachers were to be shown new TEKS not used the previous year. In other words, the two sets of TEKS were to be totally compared. This was to be done so that teachers could modify their TEKS/TAKS scope and sequence. To modify their curriculum. To modify the lessons used with the TEKS/TAKS so that the new TEKS/STAAR would be emphasized. 
 
The main differences between the two sets of TEKS for a specific subject mainly referenced an increase in content. It is not that the revised TEKS were so much more rigorous, it is the STAAR tests that are more rigorous. This means that the TEKS need to be considered the minimum framework and lessons need to do much more than be aligned with the TEKS. This is one reason CSCOPE does not properly prepare students for the state tests Another reason is that the CSCOPE lessons have so many factual errors. 
 
Administrators and school board members who have purchased CSCOPE seem not to be aware that this free material was prepared and that the 20 ESCs admited that they did nothing special to notify Texas Schools about it. Yes a few teachers saw the workshops listed in the catalog of each ESC, but it should have been the most attended workshops ever given. This was the transition material that allowed teachers to revise their lessons so that new curriculum and lessons were not needed. Veteran teachers didn’t have to attend workshops to know this, but they were vilified any time they tried to provide information. The 20 ESCs had a product(CSCOPE) they wanted to sell. The big selling point for CSCOPE was that it provided all the materials teachers needed for the new TEKS. The ESCs instructed administrators that lessons for TEKS/TAKS could not be used for the new TEKS/STAAR–this was a lie.
Veteran teachers knew this but were said to be lazy and only wanted to use their old lessons because they were used to them. Veteran teachers were said to be out of date and didn’t want to spend the time learning the new modern 21st Century Education Technology that the online CSCOPE curriculum could provide. The ESCs went so far as to train administrators that Veteran teachers were trouble makers. The slide shown is from an ESC training power point for Administrators.

   vetern teachrers

One administrator said that CSCOPE fills the gap between the textbooks aligned with TEKS/TAKS until textbooks for TEKS/STAAR are published. This identifies this administrators lack of knowledge of the content of textbooks. Other than add the new TEKS with comments, the science content of the old and revised textbook changes so very little. New pictures and graphs, a face lift so to speak. So for the ESCs to claim textbooks are not useful for our modern technology world are in it for the money because they are only trying to sell their online CSCOPE product. 
 
Parents need to demand that the school provide as well as use textbooks in every class. Yes, there are things in textbooks that parents are not going to approve of, but at least they are aware of this. Unlike the CSCOPE lessons that remained hidden from parents for six years. Parents are now aware and will be more questioning of what is being taught in 2012-2013. The terms used to confuse parents in the past won’t work because they now know what all the education double talk given by CSCOPE schools mean. 
 
 
 rider 42 (1)
 
rider 42 (2)

 

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TX SBOE Member Thomas Ratliff lashing out at CSCOPE Whistleblowers!!

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whisleblower

The Texas Tribune posted an article titled “Dewhurst, Patrick Continue Push to End CSCOPE”. The article is riddled with passionate comments. To no surprise Thomas Ratliff who serves on the Texas State Board of Education chimed in with his rants.

 

ThomasRatliff

THE FOLLOWING IS MY EXCHANGE WITH TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER THOMAS RATLIFF.

I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THIS MAN IS A PUBLIC SERVANT.

recovered ratliff

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CSCOPE’S NEW DEAL

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Despite protests, Hays CISD keeps CSCOPE

BY JANICE VANCLEAVE

TXCSCOPEREVIEW.COM

Parents of Hays ISD–Your school administrators and school board are not concerned about the education of your children. They have voted to pay for CSCOPE even though lessons are no longer provided. But this isn’t really the whole truth. Schools have until Aug. 31, 2013 to copy the CSCOPE lessons to a special safe place on the CSCOPE User Website. As long as they keep paying for CSCOPE they have access to the CSCOPE lessons.

News Blastby KIM HILSENBECK

 

The beleaguered school curriculum, CSCOPE, created by a consortium of Texas regional collaborative, will be back at Hays CISD next year, despite concerns by Texas legislators, teachers and parents both here in Hays and across the state.

 

Comment by Janice

 

Let’s be clear about the creators of the infamous CSCOPE curriculum.  A consortium of Texas regional collaboratives is very vague. There are 20 regional education service centers (ESCs). These 20 state agencies receive multi-millions of dollars of education grant money to develop FREE materials and to Present FREE Professional Development workshops for Texas Education. While the duty of each of the 20 ESCs is to provide educational services to the  school districts in their region, there are few to no free programs offered and the quality of those offered do not all meet the standards of the grant providing the funding. The ESCs are no longer providing services, instead they are selling products. Basically the 20 Texas Education Service Centers have employees paid by the state, but are functioning as vendors. Their primary “Money Cow” product is CSCOPE.  

 

Lessons contained in the system, which is completely online,  raised a flag with legislators and others last year when they learned those lessons were not reviewed and approved by the Texas State Board of Education. All school textbooks are required to undergo an extensive review process. CSCOPE lessons, which about 75 percent of Texas public schools use, were not subjected to that kind of review.

 

Comment by Janice

The 20 Texas Education Service Centers know all the loopholes in Texas Education codes. Thus, by getting someone at the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to classify the CSCOPE instruction material  as a supplementary material, the CSCOPE Instruction Materials  did not have to be reviewed by the Texas State Board of Education. Yes! The Texas Education Service Centers managed to put instruction materials that not even parents were allowed to view into about 75 % of Texas Schools. Why would any school administrator risk their careers to purchase such controversial materials?  

 

What strings were pulled for the CSCOPE Instruction materials to be classified by TEA as a supplementary material? Generally, supplementary material is a book with teaching hints, or maybe a workbook for math problems. But, the CSCOPE Instruction Materials includes every subject for grades K-12.

 

The ESCs CSCOPE directors claim that textbooks do not meet the requirements of 21st Century education. Only online materials can do this because these materials can stay updated. This means that when the state standards changed –EVERY–I mean EVERY part of the CSCOPE Instruction material had to be rewritten to align with the new standards called TEKS. 

 

Comment by Janice

 

Teachers have been upset with the State Board of Education for not providing more clarifications for the new standards, TEKS. Actually, in 2009, the 20 ESCs were given FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS to develop TEKS professional development materials that were presented in the summer of 2010. Teachers would be using new science, ElAR and Math TEKS for the first time in 2010-2011. If the ESCs has developed PD materials as described in the Rider 42 grant providing the funding, teachers would have been able to modify their lessons aligned with the old standards called TAKS. The Rider 42 TEKS PD Academies should have provided all the information educators and school districts needed to know how the old and new standards compared.

 

The 20 ESCs took the $50 Million dollars, prepared materials that for the most part was copied from the TEA website. The exception is the material for social studies. Also, I have not viewed the ELAR materials, but it was not prepared by the ESCs, they paid an outside source to create this material. It didn’t matter a lot about the quality of the material, the 20 ESCs–yes all twenty of the agencies failed to advertise the these very special professional development academies. The TEKS PD academies were listed with other scheduled events. HO HUM! Noting special. 

 

Know that during the time the Rider 42 TEKS PD academy materials were being developed and presented, the CSCOPE lessons, K-12 were being rewritten so that they aligned with the new standards, TEKS.

 

Which material do you think took priority—the Rider 42 TEKS PD Academy materials they got paid for regardless of its quality or the CSCOPE Materials (the product that is a real “Money Cow”)?

 

Knowing all this, Hays ISD is subscribing to CSCOPE again. Why? 

 

However, new state rules for CSCOPE prevent its subscribers from using the product to function as a district’s curriculum. Instead, CSCOPE can only be used as a curriculum management tool, which was its original intent. The lessons will no longer be included. As a result, the cost of the subscription went down from $113,000 to $60,000 for Hays CISD. Last school year, the district paid $96,000 after discounts and credits.

 

Comment by Janice

 

The CSCOPE Curriculum management tool has always included lessons. The management tool is training for administrators so that they know how to micromanage teachers forcing them to follow the CSCOPE schedule and CSCOPE lessons. Remember, prior to CSCOPE lessons being exposed they had never been reviewed, evaluated, copy edited, etc…..The  CSCOPE Curriculum Managing System objective was to have every teacher across Texas doing the same thing. Thus, a 5th grade student moving from Dallas to El Paso would leave one school and be on the same page as students in his new school. When this was revealed to be totally unrealistic unless every 5th grader has the same ability level and school schedules were the same across the state. If nothing else, weather differences affect schedules.

 

More than ever, the CSCOPE Managing System parallels the children’s story of the stupid emperor who purchased clothes made of cloth that was only visible by smart people. Anyone who couldn’t see the cloth admitted his lack of intelligence. It took a child to announce the truth, the Emperor was naked.

 

There are no state regulations that prevent school districts from using the CSCOPE lessons. You can confirm this with Barbara Cargill, chairperson of the State Board of Education. The bills passed only affect the 20 ESCs, not school districts. The ESCs pulled off a very cunning and premeditated deal with Senator Patrick. Since the senator chose not to seek counsel during the bargaining meetings, the senator was basically sold lakeside property in the Sahara Desert.

 

The senator’s announcement that the Era of CSCOPE Lessons is over is only true for the group that deceived the senator. This conniving group let the senator make a public announcement that they know was not true. In fact, while the senator was holding press conferences, Texas schools were saving the CSCOPE lessons. To pour a bit of salt in the senator’s wound, the ESCs had provided via their CSCOPE User Website instructions for transferring the CSCOPE lessons from the files that would be deleted into safe files—yes, on the same website.

 

The results of Senator Patrick’s deal with the ESC CSCOPE Governing Group is that for now, the cost of a subscription to the CSCOPE User Website has decreased. I cannot confirm the rate quoted for Hays ISD. Mason Moses, Information Director for CSCOPE  said this rate had not been determined. But half price looks good. So what do they get for this fee? Assessments? High fee for assessments.

 

The truth is that schools must continue to subscribe to CSCOPE if they wish to have all the CSCOPE lessons and other materials saved to their school district files on the CSCOPE User Website.

 

Hays CISD Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Kimberly Pool   asked the board to approve renewing the district’s CSCOPE subscription contract at a cost of $60,000. She brought in four teachers from Simon Middle School and two from Pfluger Elementary School to speak about the benefits of using CSCOPE. No teachers who oppose the program spoke at the board meeting. Pool also said district administrators want to keep CSCOPE.

“Campus leaders unanimously said, ‘keep it,’” she said.

 

REALLY!!

 

No campus administrators spoke to the board about their opinions on the curriculum management tool.

 

Why didn’t this make the Hays School Board question the intent of Kimberly Pool?
Is the Hays School Board being threatened in some way by Kimberly Pool so that they must do what she says?

 

Boots on the Ground Logo created by Janice VanCleave

Board member Meredith Keller asked Pool about those who do not think CSCOPE is the best product.

 

“We didn’t hear from the detractors – what are we doing for them?” she asked. Keller also questioned Pool on whether Hays CISD could purchase another curriculum, from, for example, Fort Bend ISD, the former district of newly minted superintendent Mike McKie . That district does not use CSCOPE.

 

Comment by Janice

I applaud Meredith Keller for trying. 

Pool responded, saying she thinks staying the course is the best option.

 

WOW! Will Kimberly Pool be making all the decisions for the new superintendent?

 

McKie said he wants teachers to be candid in their assessment of the product.

“Does CSCOPE add value to the day in the life of a teacher?” he asked.

He did not offer a means by which teachers or administrators should provide such feedback.

 

Comment by Janice

 

Obviously the teachers do not trust the Hays administration. It is obvious that they are wise not to. Being from a school without CSCOPE, the new superintendent made no effort to find out why the entire state has been in an uproar over the CSCOPE materials. But, superintendents don’t stay in one school district long enough to be bothered with the education of students. What is the function of a superintendent? 

 

The Hays ISD School Board approved the motion to renew the CSCOPE subscription 7-0.

 

Comment by Janice

 

Come to think of it, what is the function of school boards. They mostly rubber stamp what ever the dominant school administrator wants. 

 

I hope everyone in the Hays ISD community will ask themselves these questions?

 

1. Why did the Hays school board vote for CSCOPE before getting feedback from teachers?

 

2. Why does Kimberly Pool want materials developed by an unscrupulous group that sold CSCOPE lessons to Hays ISD that had never been reviewed, evaluated, copy edited, etc…?

 

3. Why didn’t Kimberly Pool make a thorough inquiry of the teaching staff and school administrators herself? Why did Kimberly Pool only present educators she could depend on to support CSCOPE?
The bottom line is, Why does Kimberly Pool want CSCOPE? Is there some reward for her? 

 

4. Has Kimberly Pool directed staff to save the CSCOPE lessons so that they will be used to teach your children? Remember, the CSCOPE lessons have been shown to be biased toward Islamic teaching, anti-American, incorrect, do not contain lessons that aid in reading and writing, have incorrect science facts, etc…..   

 

Does it make sense that Kimberly Pool has gone to extremes to have CSCOPE renewed? Did the Hays School Board asked what the school will be receiving for the $60,000.00? No lessons. 
What exactly is the CSCOPE Managing System? Was this explained by Kimberly Pool?

 

The Hays School Board voted for CSCOPE last year and received lessons that were so bad that the ESCs selling these lessons proposed deleting them if Senator Patrick would help pass the bill that would delay an outside investigation of the ESCs finances etc…………When are school boards going to do what is best for the education of children in their school district? 

 

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TEXAS SBOE MEMBER THOMAS RATLIFF NEEDS TO GO! AND WHY!

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TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER THOMAS RATLIFF MUST GO AND WHY? 

1) DOES RATILIFF CARE THAT TEXAS STUDENTS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT VERSES OF THE KORAN WITH CSCOPE? NO!

2) DOES RATILIFF CARE THAT STUDENTS HAVE BEEN ASKED TO DRAW A NEW COMMUNIST FLAG WITH CSCOPE? NO!

3) DOES RATILIFF CARE THAT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY WAS PORTRAYED AS A TERRORIST ACT TO TEXAS STUDENTS? NO!

4) DOES RATLIFF CARE THAT STUDENTS ARE FAILING THE STARR TEST BECAUSE OF CSCOPE? NO!

3) DOES RATIFF CARE THAT PARENTS HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO VIEW THE LESSONS FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS? NO!

4) DOES RATILFF CARE THAT NO ONE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE MONEY IS IN RELATION TO CSCOPE? NO!

5) DOES RATILIFF CARE THAT CSCOPE IS NOW UNDER THE REVIEW OF THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL AND WE NEED TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT IT BEFORE PUSHING IT OFF ON SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS? NO!

RATLIFF DOES NOT GIVE ONE HEEL OF BEANS ABOUT WHAT WOULD CONCERN A NORMAL CONSERVATIVE, FREEDOM LOVING PARENT WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR CHILD’S EDUCATION. RATLIFF ONLY CARES ABOUT HIS POCKET BOOK.

CSCOPE, COMMON CORE, PROJECT BASED LEARNING (ALL PROGRESSIVE TECHNIQUES OF LEARNING) ARE TO INCORPORATE THE USE OF IPADS AND LAPTOPS FOR STUDENTS AND ULTIMATELY DO AWAY WITH TEXT BOOKS. RATLIFF IS A PAID LOBBYIST FOR MICORSOFT! RATLIFF IS NOT SETTING ON THE TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF TEXAS STUDENTS…… IT IS ALL ECONOMICS TO HIM.

 

RATLIFF SENT AN EMAIL TO JANICE VANCLEAVE OF TXCSCOPEREVIEW.COM STATING HE WOULD COPY AND DISTRIBUTE CSCOPE LESSONS  TO THE SCHOOLS IN HIS DISTRICT HIMSELF… READ ABOUT IT HERE. THE ARROGANCE OF THIS MAN IS NOTEWORTHY.. RATLIFF NEEDS TO GO!

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Taxpayer Parasite CSCOPE Still Alive

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May 24, 2013 | BlogFeatured

Why is CSCOPE being given the time and room to plot it’s next move? CSCOPE has broken trust with Texas parents and taxpayers in every possible way.

Intrepid parents and taxpayers like Donna Garner, Janice Van Cleave, Women on the Wall, and Americans for Prosperity-Texas are finding out just how bad the picture really is. Let us review.agenda wise

CSCOPE got massive amounts of tax money to develop “time management” tools for teachers, even though a calendar and a pen still cost about $15 at Wal-Mart.

They were also tasked with creating a “professional development” tool to help teachers teach the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). This is the basic knowledge tested in the STAAR test.

What on Earth this “professional development tool” was ever supposed to be is anyone’s guess. The TEKS are the nuggets of knowledge kids need to know for the STAAR test, and they are on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website.

As it turns out, CSCOPE pretty much just cut-and-pasted the TEKS off of the TEA website and called this their “professional development tool”.

At some point they also began developing curriculum – embarrassingly sub-standard curriculum that was also peppered with anti-Americanism and anti-Christianism. This aspect of CSCOPE has gotten most of the headlines, and rightly so, but it is just one part of what is wrong with both CSCOPE and the regional Education Service Centers (ESCs) that have perpetrated CSCOPE on Texans.

This curriculum is what CSOPE is no longer allowed to use, curriculum that included burka-wearing day for young Texas girls, communist flag-making day for school kids, and other such activities.

It is inconceivable that a group that would do such things would be allowed continued access to Texas classrooms by our elected officials, but that is what is happening right now.

CSCOPE tried to keep anyone from finding any of this out by making school districts sign non-disclosure agreements, binding them to not showing anyone the “tool”. This is very weird, and it turns out to be illegal. Parents have the legal right to see what their kids are being taught.

Since these “tools” were bought and paid for by the Texas taxpayer, we expected to be done paying for them.

Not so. CSCOPE is now renting their glorified calendar and cut-and-pasted TEKS to school districts. They also hold seminars to teach people how to use these masterpieces of learning technology.

If you think this sounds like a scam, it’s because it does.

Best of all, the TEA has these time management tools downloadable on its website. The TEKS are there too, which is what the “professional development” tool is.

This all means that CSCOPE is 100% obsolete.

What about it’s origins?

“CSCOPE”  is actually a product of a 501c3 non-profit corporation called TESCCC. The Board of TESCCC are the directors of these regional Education Service Centers (ESCs). The ESCs were given around $180 million in education grants to create these “tools”, and they contracted the work to TESCCC, who produced CSCOPE.

School districts are still paying rent for CSCOPE, and for absolutely no functional reason.

Some districts are pulling this continuing CSCOPE funding. Many are not.

Are parents and taxpayers powerless? No.

Parents and taxpayers can check to see if their ISD has pulled CSCOPE funding and use. If the Superintendant is protecting it, parents can organize to elect school board members who promise to hire a new Superintendant who will cut CSCOPE off.

When the CSCOPE controversy first hit, Sen. Patrick quickly emerged, saying he was pushing for more regulation of this obsolete, wasteful, anti-American, anti-Christian, and incompetent taxpayer leach.

“Regulate CSCOPE!” was not then a rallying cry that satisfied Texans. It still isn’t, despite Sen. Patrick’s recent press conference that failed to generate any sense of finality for the many Texas parents and taxpayers following this drama.

Instead of getting rid of this taxpayer parasite, the now-taskless-but-well-funded CSCOPE has been put under the State Board of Education’s purview.

The Attorney General is an elected official who has actually borne his teeth to CSCOPE, saying he will investigate them and kick them out of Texas if he finds illegality.

These days the executive branch is, hands-down, a better bet than the land-of-comically-low-expectations that is our legislative branch.

 

–AFP article “CSCOPE or C-SCAM?” (AFP has done excellent work on CSCOPE all session)

 

weston

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Cscope & State Employees try to Intimidate Private Citizens

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INTIMIDATE

 

One would never believe an attempt at doing a good deed of tutoring children would lead you to discover a Marxist/Communist takeover of Texas Schools (public, charter and private).  Well that is what happened to retired Science Author Janice VanCleave.   VanCleave who began to question what was going on when refused by her local school district of Marlin, Texas and the Texas Education Service Center XII in Waco access to lessons to help tutor the children who had no textbooks. The lessons were locked behind a password protected online curriculum called Cscope and lessons were barred from being released or viewed.

After further research it was discovered the Marxist philosophy behind Cscope and numerous lessons with a bias toward Communism pro Islam content. The takeover I would say has become one of the biggest education scandals in Texas History due to the number of school districts involved. Is your local school district using Cscope? Check HERE.

VanCleave (mom) and I have been working overtime this past year exposing the Cscope Corruption in our Texas Schools. I guess you can say we have received our gold crown in this fight. Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC) who owns Cscope has made a powerpoint now listing three of their critics, two being mom and I, Janice VanCleave and Ginger Russell along with Ann Kunkel.  I may be wrong but do Govt Agencies  usually come out calling out their critics (private citizens) by name. VanCleave and I both testified before the State Board of Education and the Texas Senate Education Committee in regard to our concerns with Cscope.  Are the owners of Cscope (TESCCC) they now intimidating government witnesses?

Following is their power-point presentation for this upcoming Summer Cscope Conference. Cscope Powerpoint Intimidating Citizens? 

This is slide 8 in the power-point.

Intimidate Cscope

 

 

 

Why would they list their critics in their Summer Conference promotion? Are they having trouble getting speakers due to the fact the Cscope is now exposed for what it is, Control the Teacher, Eliminate the Parent and Indoctrinate the Children. 

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time Cscope Reps have tried intimidation to shut their opposition down. I spoke at Willis ISD board meeting about Cscope not knowing the Cscope Representative from ESC VI, Linday McCulloch was in the room. She spoke after me but does not reveal her true identity or where she works.

You can read more about that night HERE. 

 

In another attempt to alert community leaders, teachers and superintendents to my concerns with Cscope.  I emailed superintendent Dan Powell with Crowley ISD and received the following response….Dan.

 

This is absolute non-sense! You are either crazy or ridiculously mistaken. As a Christian and patriotic American, I am most offended by your lies!  Take me off your mailing list immediately, and find a shrink. 

                                                                                  Dan Powell

 

I have also made attempts to speak before the board of directors of Texas Education Service Center VI. Assistant Director Brett Hawkins told me “You are not going to tear apart something they have implemented”.

bhawkins

 

 

I

 

 

For more information on Cscope go to WWW.TXCSCOPEREVIEW.COM

 

 

I have been using twitter for months in an attempt to alert parents across the state about Cscope. State workers are finding it a way to slander my mother Janice VanCleave and myself. Debbie Smith from Texas Education Service Center VI has left me the following tweets.

Debbie Smith

Debbie Smith

Debbie Smith

 

 

I sent the following email to teachers, community members etc.. Below this email are responses I received from school employees. The reactions I get have bring me to wonder why is there such a “LOVE” for Cscope?

 

Attention Teachers, Parents, Taxpayers

We have a curriculum in over 70% of Texas Schools called Cscope that is based on a Marxist/Communist Philosophy of Collectivism. Has your local school district purchased it? Check HERE.

 

Senator Dan Patrick held an Senate Education Committee Hearing on Cscope January 31st. Here is his statement. 

 

Teachers, if school administration is holding your feet to the fire and demanding that you teach Cscope please contact Senator Patrick @dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us. or you can contact us HERE anonymously. 

 

Cscope has come under heavy scrutiny after finding out that teachers were required to sign a DULA where they would not release the contents or say anything negative about it. It was also discovered that pro Islamic content and pro communistic lessons are being taught. 

 

For information on Cscope you can go to www.txcscopereview.com or www.redhotconservative.com

 

CSCOPE =CONROL the TEACHERS, ELIMINATING the PARENTS & INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN. 

Responses.  

 

Sara Martinez Superintendent Secretary at Valley Mills ISD sent me the following response in my attempt to alert the community about Cscope.

 

 

 

You have your own personal agenda to make money selling your product therefore you want everyone to do away with C-Scope to buy your Science Curriculum. I was taught about communism, socialism and Islam etc. when I was in High School in my World History Class. THIS IS OK BECAUSE IT IS A PART OF OUR WORLD HISTORY therefore it is not a surprise that they included lessons about these in the C-SCOPE curriculum. I do not have any interest in reading the way you twist things to benefit your cause please remove me from your mailing list. 

Thanks,

Sara Martinez

Valley Mills ISD

 

 

Valley Mills ISD Business Manager Brenda Byrom sent me the following emails.

 

 

I don’t know where you get your information or how you can so distort an issue as much as you are doing.

I suppose when I was a student in public schools and our textbooks taught us about Hitler and Stalin that they were teaching us about communism and we should have burned the textbooks.

Your email is ridiculous and I want to be removed from your email list.

Brenda Byrom

Before you send out emails regarding education, you might want to check your grammar.  The school that I attended and the one that taught my kids, made sure that we could type a coherent sentence.  Obviously the one you attended did not, two sentences and neither one of them is correct.  Lady you are a JOKE!!!!!!  You do not have any idea how stupid you sound and how much of an idiot that your emails make you appear to be.

 

idiot

 Dr. Cathy Moak is the Component Director for School Transformation and Digital Learning at ESC 6

 

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