Well, since you are obviously a student of military history, surely you understand how it is when one fights against overwhelming, insurmountable odds! We can only admire that they've held out so long before the inevitable surrender. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

t&l

Thanks stph & Beth.

The work for this show is meant to be small & affordable. I've made some things kids will be able to buy for their parents if they want to. The gallery where I have my work seems to have a price range & a comfort zone of style people are comfortable spending in & buying from so I've adjusted my work accordingly. I will make things more out of the zone on occasion when I get sick of the sameness.

I do feel I at something of a standstill with my work though. I need time to spend in the studio, uninterupted. Maybe some day.

Todd, how are you? Did you get the results from your Dr. you were hoping for?

I off with a dear friend to a pottery show. It will be lots of fun. Oh, & lunch too. Weee hee! Lucky me!

Average Spending/Pupil Teacher
SAT Score (1993 Dollars) Ratio
1960 975 $1,700 25.8
1970 948 2,830 22.3
1980 890 3,835 18.7
1985 906 4,342 17.9
1990 900 5,193 17.2
1994 902 5,400 17.3
Sources: College Board, Dept. of Education
COPYRIGHT 1994 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Yet more evidence of the folly of commonly held beliefs about educational quality.

The columns don't line up well, but from left to right are year, average SAT score, spending per student and average number of students per class. Does this surprise anyone?

The US spends more per student than any other G7 nation, yet - yet - our kids score lower on standardized tess than any of the other nations. This is shameful. We are the world's economic and technological power, yet we are failing our kids in school.

I have a few hunches what is wrong with our schools; I am currently conducting research to validate, or invalidate my hunches.

Research on such things follows these steps:

Hunch -> Logic -> Research -> Theory.

If/when I arrive at any meaningful conclusions, I will post.

Hi Todd,

How are you? Any results yet? Is it tumor related? I hope that you will have good news. I know too well what it is like waiting on results.

Your stats. are very interesting. I will be interested to read your conclusions. On the subject of education. When we toured Australia I was told the parents there purchase all the text books etc. that their child needs. I can't remember all the details, maybe BigK could fill us in when he returns. At the time I was so surprised they don't have the same "free" education as we do. They also had a totally different system for teacher promotion. I am fairly certain they have a tougher criteria for advancing to college also.

Todd, I don't know what the weather is like where you are but I am heading to the beach. It is beautiful here today. I either surf or swim every day of the year. No surf early this morning so a swim today.
It's just something I decided to do when I was ill and wasn't able. I so longed for it, so I decided to make the most of every day. Plus, it is great workout.

Hope you are having a good day.

I am reading but not posting.

The holiday season seems to be 'hitting' me really hard...more than I expected it, too!

...hoping that some 'hybernating' will help...although I know I am kidding myself!

...just want you to know that you are in my 'heart and thoughts'....all of you!

(((((((((((((((TKO)))))))))))))))

Hi Beth,

Still waiting on tests. Have some results in with no conclusions. It is likely tumor related, but indirectly. IOW, tumor caused imbalance of hormones, and that may be responsible, or partly responsible for problem. They know what is wrong; it is just a matter of determining why.

Beth, the Pacific Ocean water temperature is very cold this time of year. How is the world do you swim is such cold temperatures?

As for the weather, it is 54 here and sunny. Too cold for me.

Hi Beth,

I forgot to respond to your education comments. Today, as compared to any past period, teacher's salaries are higher, a higher percentage of teachers possess master's degrees, educational expenditures per student have dramatically increased and the number of students per teacher has decreased. We have been assured that the foregoing goals would ensure high educational quality and results, yet SAT scores have proven this notion wrong.

We spend more money on education, including per student, than any other G7 nation, yet our scores are in last place. It is time to rethink our approach.

My hunch for what is behind the decline has three parts:

1. The involvement of the federal governemt. By the time my youngest son was ready to enter school, I was fed up with government schools. I toured several private schools before deciding on one. As I toured the schools, I asked the "quality" questions. Among them, of course, was what was the average teacher's salary. The teacher's salary of every private school was lower than that of government schools. I asked how they could attract teachers. They had a two part answer:

(i) teachers are generally not drawn to their profession for the money.
(ii) their teachers were willing to accept lower salaries in exchange for being free of excessive governmental regulations which includes excessive paperwork and tireless "standards" requirements.

2. The growth of the NEA. The NEA is a labor union. Like any union, its goals are to increase the pay and benefits of its members and decrease the workload of its members. Hmm...wonder if this is the source for higher teacher pay, smaller classrooms, etc.

3. The third one is so controversial that I will not post about it unless and until I have supportive data and analyses to prove it. And I could be wrong but early research suggests otherwise.

Todd,

"How in the world do you swim in such cold temperatures?"

The Aussie crawl of course! I will add some trivia for you regarding the "crawl" that I found interesting.

On top of that you grin and bare it!! lol

Actually, it is not too bad at the moment - guessing about 58-60 degreees. But, I really don't want to know!! Plus don't forget the wonderful invention of wet suits, booties, gloves etc. I usually just wear a rash vest swimming though. As always in the water - just keep moving! I don't frolic, I swim. My boys and WH all surf too and we all scuba dive. Perfect location here for water sports, bit warmer would be nicer though. I spent some time in Florida and felt like I was in a bath.

If you are interested we have a great site on the internet you can look at. Scripps Institute of Oceanography, I'm sure you will have heard of it.

I understand about cures often causing their own problems.
My thyroid was destroyed due to chemo and I have some heart problems but nothing too major. Live for the day hey.

I wish you good news Todd.


Trivia

The front crawl has been in use since ancient times[citation needed]. In the Western world, the front crawl was first seen in a competition held in 1844 in London, where it was swum by South American Indians, who easily defeated the British breaststroke swimmers. However, the English gentlemen considered this style, with its considerable splashing, to be barbarically "un-British"; the British continued to swim only the breaststroke in competition, as it was the fastest stroke they had.

Sometime between 1870 and 1890, John Arthur Trudgen learned the front crawl from Native Americans during a trip to South America. (The exact date is disputed, but is most often given as 1873.) However, Trudgen mistakenly used the (in Britain) more common breaststroke (scissor) kick instead of the flutter kick used by the Native Americans. This hybrid stroke was called the Trudgen. Because of its speed the stroke quickly became popular.

The Trudgen was improved by the British-born Australian swimming teacher and swimmer Richard (Fred, Frederick) Cavill. Like Trudgen, he watched natives from the Solomon Islands using the front crawl. But unlike Trudgen, he noticed the flutter kick and studied it closely. This modified Trudgen stroke, similar to the original Native American style, was known as the Australian crawl. In 1950, its name was shortened to crawl, technically known as front crawl. With minor modifications, this stroke is the front crawl used today.

Todd,

What is your opinion on education/school vouchers?
Just so you know I am not setting you up - I support them.

Have you been following the Wal-Mart story?
Have you seen the ads. on TV by workers?
That is another interesting debate.

You remind me of a professor I had in college.
Loved planting a seed and watching it grow!
That is a compliment, not an insult.

I have to get to work though. It's a good season so far - retail wise.

Nams,

I haven't been able to find an email address for you.
Would you mind emailing me?
My address is back on my posts now.
I just have a question for you regarding your work.

Thanks, Beth.

I am against a government role in educaton in any form. I call them government schools instead of the euphemism, public schools. Vouchers assert a deepening role for the government. I believe all achools should be private. Yes, for the economically disadvantaged, this can be a problem. But the solution is cheap compared to what our collective governments currently spend/waste on education.



Yes, Wal-Mart is under attactk by the media, politicans and "concerned citizens". Senator John Edwards recently made the comment on TV that Wal-Mart workers earn the minimum wage; in fact, in his state of NC, the average pay is $10.25. The national average is $10.11. He also said that Wal-Mart does not provide health care benefits to its workers. This is a bald faced lie. Now, Edwards is a smart man. Was he delusional? No, he lied. Why? The war on Wal-Mart was declared by a union who is frustrated that WM workers are union free. This has been my real point in my posts about government and statistics: in our information and mass communication world, it is easy to lie, and the masses will believe you. Integrity? What is that?

No shrinkage.

I use a fair amount of polynomial regression. For some of my things I need an instantaneous slope so taking the derivative is very straightforward. I find polynomial regression to be very sensitive to the sampling distribution and certainly to the degress of freedom.

Hi Beth, Todd & Pio,

Small group for the moment.

Todd, I'm very interested to hear your views on education. My oldest son went to a charter school, started by parents, for his middle school years. The teachers were a very dedicated group with much more freedom to be innovative than in public schools.

Though I wouldn't need a master's degree to teach in a private, charter or magnet school I do feel getting my master's would give me much a broader range of school to apply at. I'd also prefer more, rather than less, pay even if I'm drawn to the job because I love it.

I understand your view on government involvement, however, don't you think our government should have a vested interest in producing educated citizens?

Beth, I'll email you.

Finally, someone who can speak English.

Were you aware that Erdos died earlier this year?

Very sad.

my sons' high school was also a charter school. It did make a difference which really proves my point: the more you get government out of the schools, the better the education.


Naturally and you may commute to a school or system for better pay. But would you relocate 1,000 miles away to take a higher paying teaching job? Most would not. Moreover, the data are clear: there are negative correlations between teachers' salaries, classroom size, masters degrees held by teachers and government spending on education.


Short answer is no. We as a country and a society have a vested interest in producing educated citizens but why is it the government's job? What has our government ever done in a productive and efficient manner? The primary reason private schools are better, on average, is because they are mostly unfettered by the government. As for government producing educated citizens, the jury is in. We have the worst educated students of the G7 countries, even as government spending on education has quadrupled over the years. Our government has failed our kids in education.

Todd,

I have a question. After the fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese were brought to the USA as refugees. A military base near where I lived was one of the detainment centers. After a while, the Vietnamese were released. They went to school and, on average, got great educations. The resource was there. They just decided to use it.

There are multiple English based education systems in the world. This is a debate I am somewhat in the middle of because it is a decision we have to make for our DDs. It is also difficult to switch systems "mid-career". What I have seen is that students brought up in the IB program, for example, seem to have an easier transition to the "American" system than vice-versa. Someone was telling me about a fairly new hybrid system developed on behalf of Shell specifically to allow students to move more easily between countries.

Maybe I should rephrase. Shouldn't our government have some responsibility in ensuring American children are well educated?

Keep in mind I'm not saying they ARE ensuring only asking if they should.

Governments don't usually do things because they are right. They do things because it is in their interest to do them. For the government it is complex but simple math - the math is simple yet too complex for anyone in the government to be able to figure it out. If you take the simple theory that education means productive jobs then that places less burden on government welfare programs.

From where I sit, I get the impression that the government wants us pregnant and in the kitchen and I don't understand why. I know for a fact that the government is continually placing more obstacles to expatriation. They don't like their citizens being overseas.

Looking at the larger scale, I question the value of education in that it doesn't offer unlimited potential. More and more "hi tech" jobs are going overseas. That can't be stopped. Globalization is a dangerous thing and the US will be left in its wake. I think the US needs to take a serious look at how it is going to fit in the new world order and target its education to meet that need (whatever that need is and I haven't figured it out yet). China is well on its way to surpass the US as the world's super power. Even India is now scared of China. IMO what the Chinese have just begun to figure out is that the only thing missing for them to rule the world is to master the English language.

Pio,

Based purely on antecdotal evidence, which is comprised of my real world observations, the community which feeds into a school is the largest shaper of school quality. The community is composed of individual families. Each family has its own set of values in how they view education and more specifically, the drive they instill in their kids to excel in school. Asian Americans are well-known to emphasize education and my sons' friends who were Asian Americans did not see them much socially because they simply were not available much of the time. So, to your point, I believe that the Vietnamese whose kids got good educations was due to their won desires and values, in spite of the government.