Kathy and Calvin's Home Page

Eclecticism is such a popular term in the field of education. It has such a worldly cosmopolitan ring, doesn't it? When I hear someone say they have an "eclectic" approach to a problem they either (a) do not understand the problem, (b) do not have a solution, or (c) both.

The present polarization is not productive. "ABA is the only way" is just as bad as "No intervention is needed because I never needed any..." What is needed is adequate support and respect for families so that they can learn of the diversity of interventions and use one or a mix, depending on their child's needs.

Remember, never attribute to malice what can easily be explained by incompetence.

Outcomes observed for Principals and District Superintends who have faithfully implemented DI:

1. All the parents will love him because their kids are reading, but the scores won’t change, and he’ll get such bad press from the newspapers that the school board will fire him anyway.

2. All the parents will love him because their kids are reading, and the scores will go up, so he’ll be accused of cheating and the school board will fire him anyway.

3. All the parents will love him because their kids are reading, but the scores will go down because the Whole Language tests aren’t aligned with sane instructional sequences, so he’ll be accused of failing and the school board will fire him.

4. All the parents will love him because their kids are reading, so he’ll leave the district to start a charter school.

Change in behavior over time = Celeration

A good reason to use research based curriculum in the schools - this is not Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.

In reality, excellence shall not fear observation.

An Oregon State University study of just a part of Kitzhaber's plan indicates $4.25 of future savings for every $1 invested (into special education).

In the relentless pursuit of each student's success:
1. Assuring that our work and that of Oregon schools is done with best practices and cutting-edge research
2. Fully partnering with others in the education community
3. Fostering conditions for Oregon schools and the Department of Education to be great places to work and learn

The public schools' failure at teaching our children well is "academic child abuse."