Monthly Archive for February, 2007

Zig book redux

Published on 28 February 2007 in Administration, Arithmetic and mathematics, Assessment, Behavior Management, Content learning, Musings, News, Parents, Reading, Research, Social behavior, Spelling, Teacher education, Technology, The press and Written Expression. 0 Comments

Good news for those who discovered too late that Zig Engelmann was publishing a history of his time in education. The chapters were available only briefly (2 weeks each) but Zig’s making the entire product available again briefly.

If you missed downloading any of the earlier chapters of “The Outrage of
Project Follow Through,” Zig is re posting ALL chapters on Monday, March 12
about 8am pacific and will leave them up until Monday, March 19, around 8am
pacific.

Bryan
Bryan Wickman,
Executive Director
Association for Direct Instruction

Save the dates. Get it while it’s free. Go to zigsite.com.

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More DC misdirection

Published on 28 February 2007 in Administration, News and Research. 0 Comments

Last week (21 Feb 2007), David Nakamura and V. Dion Haynes of the Washington (DC, US) Post wrote a story about recommendations for changes in special education in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Under the headline “Fenty Submits Plan for Special-Ed: Changes Would Be Part of Takeover,” they discussed Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s proposal to take over D.C. public schools, including his recommendations for special education.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday beefed up his proposal to take over D.C. public schools by promising to overhaul special education. If he gains control of the school system, the mayor said, he will expand the placement of disabled children in regular classes, bring special education into compliance with court rulings and cut transportation costs.

To be sure, these are interesting goals, but I have some problems with them.

  1. Expand placement regular classes—Good idea, provided that it appropriate for the individual students. That’s part of the reason we have Individualized Education Programs.
  2. Compliance with court rulings—Good idea, but see item a above.
  3. Cut transportation costs—Another good idea, provided that the cuts does not (i) cause failure to comply with court rulings or (ii) make students have longer bus rides.

What I’d really like to know, though, is whether Mayor Fenty and the people with whom he’s working or proposes to work on the overhaul of DCPS will take this important step: Require DCPS to employ educational practices that have been proven to promote high levels of student outcomes.

Link to the article by Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Haynes.

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Wing Institute

Published on 28 February 2007 in Musings, News and Research. 0 Comments

I am pleased to add the Wing Institute, a not-for-profit organization aimed at promoting evidence-based education, to the list of Web resources listed on Teach Effectively. I learned about the organization when I was invited to a pending meeting, the Wing Institute Annual Summit on Evidence-based Special Education 27 April 2007, and I am quite impressed with the scope and quality of its efforts.

Continue reading ‘Wing Institute’

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Learning drug

Published on 26 February 2007 in News and Research. 0 Comments

Mainstream news sources are abuzz with the story that Stanford University neurobiologist Craig Garner and his colleagues compared the effects of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) to picrotoxin and bilobalide on object recognition and maze learning of mice bred to have an analog of Down Syndrome. As they report in Nature Neuroscience, after a couple of weeks of receiving the drug, Professor Garner and his team found that the mice receiving PTZ not only did better than mice receiving the other compounds, but they performed as well as unimpaired mice on the learning tests. In addition, they found that the effects of the treatment lasted up to two months after treatment ended.

PTZ, which causes convulsions and has been used in shock therapy, is clearly a dangerous substance. It should not be administered to humans except with close medical supervision.

Continue reading ‘Learning drug’

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Zig bk–chapter 6

Published on 26 February 2007 in News. 0 Comments

Today’s the day that chapter 6, Follow Through Aftermath, of Zig Engelmann’s book, The Outrage of Project Follow Through: 5 million failed kids later, becomes available at http://zigsite.com. To secure your free copy, you need to download it within the next two weeks.

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More math

Published on 25 February 2007 in Arithmetic and mathematics, Musings and Parents. 2 Comments

The folks over at Where’s the Math are still raising a ruckus—andconsciouness— about the need for effective instruction in arithmetic and mathematics. Having not visited for a couple of weeks, I flitted over there today and found that WtM people have another video (Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences recites a devastating litany of problems with the education in-coming university students receive and calls for reform), new endorsements by professional mathematicians, and lots of other content.
Continue reading ‘More math’

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Traction

Published on 24 February 2007 in Administration, Arithmetic and mathematics, News, Reading, Research, Spelling and The press. 0 Comments

Linda Seebach, an editorial writer for the Rocky Mountain News, published a column recounting the story of Zig Engelmann’s book, The Outrage of Project Follow Through: 5 Million Failed Kids Later. Here’s her lead.

I’ve been reading one of the most important education books you’ll likely never have a chance to read. It’s by Siegfried Engelmann, and it’s about Direct Instruction, the structured curriculum he began to develop in the early 1960s, how DI participated in a federal study called Project Follow Through, and how the results of that study – which demonstrated that DI produced superior outcomes for at-risk children – were essentially disappeared from the educational landscape by hostile educators and bureaucrats.

It’s good to see that some of the mainstream press is picking up this story. Kudos to Ms. Seebach. Link to her column.

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UDL hearing

Published on 22 February 2007 in Administration, News and Research. 2 Comments

Tomorrow, Friday 23 February 2007, there is to be a hearing regarding universal design for learning (UDL) beginning at 10 AM in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 430, Washington, DC. I plan to attend. Although I am familiar with UDL (see CAST), I am interested in seeing how it will be—ahem!—cast during this hearing. Will it be offered as a scientifically founded intervention? What research will be offered to document its effects? Is this a part of an effort to promote UDL as a mandated component of education under the re-authorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (i.e., NCLB)?

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