OSMTECHFUTURES
Ah, Regis, one of the best reasons I can think of to be thankful to be out of the confines of the system!
BN
Beth: (FYI-Credibility)
Is this the same Regis that was referred to by Ken Rogers of Automatioin Alley?
I would like to clear up a misunderstanding that Regis put
forth. The business community does in fact support education
in this county. In fact, they support Oakland ISD programs.
I had discussed this with Regis in the past yet he choose to
overlook that discussion.
Corporations have invested large sums in various educational
programs that their individual companies support. GM and
Chrysler programs quickly come to mind. Certainly they need
to do more and I will work to make that happen in the future.
I remember something else Regis once said in an Oakland County Quality Council (OCQC) meeting.
"We don't need no Henry Fords." Brilliant guy!
Just wondering.......of course like you I always consider the source. (;<)
Best,
Jim
Beth:
Now about that letter from the Governor
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/052604/bus_20040526033.shtml
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Http://www.michigan.gov/gov
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168--92638--,00.html
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Second, we must begin to retrain the state’s workforce to meet the demands of the 21st century economy. To do so, we will create Michigan Regional Skills Alliances (MiRSA). Through the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) will provide one-year start-up grants totaling $1,050,000 for 12 MiRSAs across the state. MiRSAs are locally managed partnerships formed to address strategic workforce issues affecting groups of firms operating in the same industry in a specific region. They will be coordinated by a local economic development organization and will include representatives of local businesses, K-12 education, community colleges and universities, and existing workforce agencies.
Best,
Jim
Hi Folks:
The GOOD
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/052604/loc_20040526054.shtml
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The BAD
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/052604/loc_20040526044.shtml
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And the UGLY?
Best,
Jim
Hi Folks:
WHY we blog
Did Bill Gates shake the blogosphere? Bill Gates told Warren Buffett about blogging on Thursday. Buffett, the legendary investor and moving force behind Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A), was in attendance at the eighth annual CEO summit put on by Microsoft (MSFT) in Redmond, Wash. Also on hand were Barry Diller of InteractiveCorp (IACI), Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com (AMZN) and Dell Inc.'s (DELL) Michael Dell. They all heard Gates describe blogs and RSS feeds as tools that "make it very easy to communicate" with customers, suppliers and employees. The result, according to New York public relations executive Steve Rubel, is likely to be a number of meetings of executives and their PR people and IT managers to explore this "blogging thing Bill Gates talked about." Rubel, of CooperKatz & Co., also wrote Friday morning, "The blogosphere changed. It feels very much like 1995 all over again." Gates' endorsement of blogging, Rubel said, is likely to lead to more businesses using it: "Bottom-up business communication will only gain steam here." But there's more to the story. Gates' comments were also "a veiled declaration of war on Six Apart, Userland, Google and anyone else who makes blogging tools." Rubel's blog is called MicroPersuasion. Microsoft has indeed been a booster of blogs. More than 700 employees publish the online diaries, often discussing projects and software in development. One of the more ambitious is Channel9, the work of five company employees who "want a new level of communication between Microsoft and developers." It includes descriptions of new technology, video interviews of Microsoft program managers and developers, and some gossip.
Best,
Jim
Hi Folks:
Something to ponder on leadership, "what it is and what it should be."
http://www.public-cio.com/story.print.php?id=90221
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Best,
Jim
Hi Folks:
There has been a lot happening "off of the grid" and I will be attempting to summarize and post ASAP.
Best,
Jim
Folks:
In the interest of balance.........things could be worse.....much, much, worse.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/051404/opi_20040514036.shtml
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Best,
Jim
Folks:
ARTS & Technology. Just the tip of the iceberg?
http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18902826
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Best,
Jim
Folks:
Now about those MEAP scores and NEW MATH!
http://www.freep.com/news/education/meap12_20040512.htm
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Could someone "splain" this to me.
Best,
Jim
Wish I could, Jim, my question is what planet do our "experts" live on?
Bauer doesn't think the state lowered the standards. But he does believe this year's test included more difficult questions than last year's test, and so the state lowered the cutoff point for passing to compensate.
Beth
Folks:
Technology Counts 2004 Report
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/tc04/
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Best,
Jim
The following link provides federal fodder for the charter school effort.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.RES.600:
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Magnet school is the best option....every person is there because they want to be. I know of no instance where the magnet concept has failed.
It's sort of like the "hereafter".
Change is tough. My concern with the magnet is the loss of band, athletics, clubs,etc. Guess it will just attract a different student? What about a setup like the International Academy? Yes, I am rambling and desperate. BTW, the Dept. of Career Development (Deb LaPine) is reviewing OSMTech.
Beth
The International Academy is an excellent and demanding program. We worked with them for a couple of years during their start-up phase several years ago. Bert Okma it's president is a dynamic leader and not afraid to take risks on behalf of the student body if it extends their capacity for learning. He is also a personal friend.
Best,
Jim
Think I need to contact him?
Beth
Folks:
Something to ponder not squander.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/050704/opi_20040507038.shtml
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Best,
Jim
Take this job and ship it? Well, perhaps not just yet
Web-posted May 7, 2004
"The great sucking sound of jobs leaving the country" is a line made famous by Ross Perot when he argued in 1992 that Americans should oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement.
That "sound" is making a comeback in this presidential election.
The major difference is that those '90s jobs were the blue-collar factory variety being transferred to Mexico. But the years that followed were pretty strong economically and the concerns died down.
Things are different today. After years of economic doldrums and massive American layoffs, the issue again seems to resonate with voters.
What seems to offend people now is that the departing jobs are white-collar computer programming and engineering positions going to India, China and the Philippines.
Part of the objection is that these are the jobs we had in mind for our children when we sent them off to college.
And despite campaign rhetoric that this process can be stopped, it is unlikely anyone can even slow it down.
The world has become a much smaller place. Advances in telecommunications and the Internet have created a global workplace where almost any work done on a computer can be done anywhere on the planet.
American companies are testing the waters and seeing which work might be accomplished cheaper in poorer countries with educated workers. There are even terms for the process: Moving jobs abroad is called "offshoring." Moving jobs someplace close, such as Mexico, is called "nearshoring." Bringing foreign workers to America to do the work is called "inshoring." Mixing it all up by having a little of everything is called "rightshoring."
The last term is the most telling. What is likely to shake out from all this shipping of jobs is that some work will go overseas. But certainly not all of it. American companies will find that some work here is worth the extra wages because it just won't happen anywhere else.
The "great sucking sound" phrase is effective because the news of repeated layoffs seems so ominous. During these "Chicken Little" episodes we tend to overlook other news about record auto sales and record home sales. If all the jobs are leaving, who is buying all this stuff? Could it be that sending work abroad strengthens huge potential markets for American goods and services?
Today's concerns have a familiar ring. They are similar to those voiced when Japan's manufacturing successes threatened American jobs in the 1980s. At the time, news reports painted Japanese industry as faultless and relentless. We feared their industrial wealth would buy out America.
Since then we have seen that while the Japanese are good at making some things, they have their own economic problems - partially brought on by their economic isolationism. They have not brought America to its knees, nor do they wish to. Where else could they sell so many of their goods?
The same is true of China, India and the Philippines. These countries have a surplus of educated workers but not an unlimited supply. Most of their population is undereducated and lives in poverty. Most have no social safety nets and inadequate health care. Most have problems with graft, corruption and fickle governments.
They also have an appetite for things American.
THE DAILY OAKLAND PRESS
GOOD MORNING
Gas is still cheaper than some brands of bottled water.
Hi Beth:
Great, timely, insightful, self-confirming information. It certainly reinforces our mutual vision tenets regarding the urgent need for the dynamic reform we are proposing. From God's lip's so to speak. I especially liked the reference to the "pioneering men and women across the United States who have taken up the reform challenge."
Much continued success. Please keep me apprised of anything I can do in support of this effort.
Best,
Jim
Folks:
Another piece of the Science equation regarding No Child Left Behind. Why wait?
http://www.roxboro-courier.com/sections/topstories/0405014Bugnar.htm
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Best,
Jim
Bugnar: NCLB science mandate will add pressure to school day
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
In three years, federal No Child Left Behind standards will include a measurement of how well students perform in science. Person County Schools Supt. Ronnie G. Bugnar says science achievement should be measured, but that placing more emphasis on teaching science and social studies in an already crowded elementary school day will present a new set of problems for educators.
Bayer Corp. this week announced that it has sponsored a national survey, to be released May 11, that explores the issue of whether America’s kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers are being properly prepared to teach science. The survey polls new teachers and deans of the colleges and universities responsible for training them in an attempt to uncover what the release calls “one of the root causes of the continuing failure of U.S. science education.”
Supt. Bugnar said Tuesday, “It is no secret we don’t have a lot of young Americans going into the science field.”
There could be many reasons for that, he added, among them is that science can be a rigorous course of study in a day already filled with preparation for rigorous state and federal reading, writing and math standards.
And, said Bugnar, “It could be that the way we teach science in public schools doesn’t promote science and going into scientific fields.”
But, the superintendent observed that with North Carolina and other states focusing mainly on reading, writing and math in end-of-grade testing, and teacher and school bonuses tied to scores in those subjects, other subjects could be “shuffled” in a crowded instructional day.
“In a limited amount of time,” said Bugnar, “you can only teach so much, and the state’s emphasis has been on reading, math and writing. It’s hard,” he said, “to devote equal time to all subjects when there are so many to be dealt with in an elementary day.”
He added that, as the Bayer survey points out, “It could be that elementary teachers are not well prepared to teach science.”
As for the survey, Bugnar said, “I think it is a legitimate issue.”
He also pointed out that “not a lot of our [North Carolina] folks are going into science and engineering” fields. “We should improve” instruction in those areas, he said, “but it can’t be done overnight.”
Bugnar said he was of the opinion that public schools and higher education should be placing more emphasis on science, but, he said, “If we add more time for science we would have to take time from something else, or we may have to make the (school) day longer.”
Bugnar said children in America, by law, must receive 180 days of instruction in a school year. In Europe, he said, the school year is 220 days long, allowing for more instructional time and therefore the ability to better focus on a broad range of subjects.
He also noted that public schools are currently under pressure from a renewed emphasis on teaching health and physical education and that some art teachers complain that there is not enough focus on the arts in elementary schools.
But as it stands right now, he said, “What gets measured gets done.” Therefore, “When the federal government wants to measure science, the state will have to measure it,” and schools will have to increase the focus on their science curriculum.
Friends:
The following is a "little bit" of research with HUGE implications regarding our nations competitive future and offers some underlying elemental substaniation for this OSMTech K-12 education initiative.
U.S Losing Dominnance in Scientific Innovation
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/03/science/03RESE.html?hp
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Best,
Jim
