Thursday, February 9, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
etween May and September 2016, the Ministry of Education organised almost 90 meetings with the education sector to discuss proposed changes to the way we fund our ECE services, our nga kohanga reo and our primary and secondary schools.
This process of extensive sector engagement reached a consensus that the current funding system was not doing enough to raise the achievement of all our children and young people, especially those most at risk of underachievement, that the current system was too complex to understand, and that the decile funding system was unfairly stigmatising many schools, regardless of their educational success.
These meetings, along with those held by an Advisory Group comprising sector representatives, agreed that it was appropriate to continue working on a number of proposals for change.
Following this feedback, the Minister of Education took a paper to Cabinet seeking agreement to progress a number of the proposed funding system changes to the next stage of further policy design and testing. These proposals are designed to:
- Determine what’s needed to achieve, and then deliver, a year’s learning progress for all learners, in every year of their education
- Look at funding each child in early childhood education, rather than the placed-based approach we have now
- Explore the best ways to target funding for disadvantage to learners most at risk of underachievement. This will be based on a risk index which is calculated from government agencies’ data
- Test better approaches for learning support to students with additional physical, intellectual, or behavioural learning needs
- Define the criteria for small and isolated schools and early childhood services and considering the role Communities of Learning| Kāhui Ako can play in mitigating the impacts of size and isolation
- Look into changing the arrangements for property maintenance and utilities, to give greater assurance that school property is appropriately maintained and to secure greater efficiencies in utilities expenditure
- Strengthen the line of sight between the investment Government makes in education with the outcomes achieved by children and young people.
As a first step, a number of topic-specific technical reference groups will be established to support the more detailed design of these proposals. People on these groups will have expertise and experience in curriculum design and delivery and in the measurement of educational progress, as well as wider sector and educational expertise.
The groups include ones on:
- Curriculum-based progress – to advise on what it takes for children and young people to achieve a year’s worth of progress across the curriculum and input in to the move to child based funding in early learning
- Dealing with disadvantage – to input on the best ways to target funding for learners most at risk of underachievement
- Small and Isolated – to test the approach to defining small and isolated early childhood services and schools, as well as how Communities of Learning| Kāhui Ako can mitigate the impacts of school size and isolation
- Property – to input on how property maintenance funding could be more efficiently spent to meet the interests of students and staff.
- Using data to improve outcomes: strengthening the line of sight between the investment the government makes in education with the outcomes achieved by children and young people.
To assist with the policy design and testing of these change proposals, the former Advisory Group on the review has been upgraded to a Ministerial Advisory Group. The Group will meet regularly with the Minister to discuss the work of the reference groups and the proposed new funding components.
In addition, work will be progressed by the Ministry to determine how best to fund schools and Communities of Learning|Kāhui Ako to support learners needing additional learning support, and to determine a new funding formula to support independent schools. The latter work will commence following the completion of the technical working groups.
The proposed changes aim to ensure that every child and young person is given the opportunity to make at least a year’s worth of progress against the curriculum. We want to ensure that the $11 billion per year being invested in education achieves maximum impact in raising achievement for all learners, and that our funding systems support diversity of choice for all parents and their kids via a variety of schooling options.
No decisions on any changes have been made and there will be further opportunity for sector and public involvement on the proposed changes before the implementation of any new funding components in 2020
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
18 November 2016
Between May and September 2017, the Ministry of Education organised almost 90 meetings with the education sector to discuss proposed changes to the way we fund our ECE services, our nga kohanga reo and our primary and secondary schools.
This process of extensive sector engagement reached a consensus that the current funding system was not doing enough to raise the achievement of all our children and young people, especially those most at risk of underachievement, that the current system was too complex to understand, and that the decile funding system was unfairly stigmatising many schools, regardless of their educational success.
These meetings, along with those held by an Advisory Group comprising sector representatives, agreed that it was appropriate to continue working on a number of proposals for change.
Following this feedback, the Minister of Education took a paper to Cabinet seeking agreement to progress a number of the proposed funding system changes to the next stage of further policy design and testing. These proposals are designed to:
Determine what’s needed to achieve, and then deliver, a year’s learning progress for all learners, in every year of their educationLook at funding each child in early childhood education, rather than the placed-based approach we have now
Explore the best ways to target funding for disadvantage to learners most at risk of underachievement. This will be based on a risk index which is calculated from government agencies’ data
Test better approaches for learning support to students with additional physical, intellectual, or behavioural learning needs
Define the criteria for small and isolated schools and early childhood services and considering the role Communities of Learning| Kāhui Ako can play in mitigating the impacts of size and isolation
Look into changing the arrangements for property maintenance and utilities, to give greater assurance that school property is appropriately maintained and to secure greater efficiencies in utilities expenditure
Strengthen the line of sight between the investment Government makes in education with the outcomes achieved by children and young people.
As a first step, a number of topic-specific technical reference groups will be established to support the more detailed design of these proposals. People on these groups will have expertise and experience in curriculum design and delivery and in the measurement of educational progress, as well as wider sector and educational expertise.
The groups include ones on:
Curriculum-based progress – to advise on what it takes for children and young people to achieve a year’s worth of progress across the curriculum and input in to the move to child based funding in early learning
Dealing with disadvantage – to input on the best ways to target funding for learners most at risk of underachievement
Small and Isolated – to test the approach to defining small and isolated early childhood services and schools, as well as how Communities of Learning| Kāhui Ako can mitigate the impacts of school size and isolation
Property – to input on how property maintenance funding could be more efficiently spent to meet the interests of students and staff.
Using data to improve outcomes: strengthening the line of sight between the investment the government makes in education with the outcomes achieved by children and young people.
To assist with the policy design and testing of these change proposals, the former Advisory Group on the review has been upgraded to a Ministerial Advisory Group. The Group will meet regularly with the Minister to discuss the work of the reference groups and the proposed new funding components.
In addition, work will be progressed by the Ministry to determine how best to fund schools and Communities of Learning|Kāhui Ako to support learners needing additional learning support, and to determine a new funding formula to support independent schools. The latter work will commence following the completion of the technical working groups.
The proposed changes aim to ensure that every child and young person is given the opportunity to make at least a year’s worth of progress against the curriculum. We want to ensure that the $11 billion per year being invested in education achieves maximum impact in raising achievement for all learners, and that our funding systems support diversity of choice for all parents and their kids via a variety of schooling options.
No decisions on any changes have been made and there will be further opportunity for sector and public involvement on the proposed changes before the implementation of any new funding components in 2020
Sunday, January 15, 2017
“SEO is all about user experience and presentation. We often forget who is our eventual visitor, it’s not Google, it’s your visitor, it’s your user, make him happy, [and] Google will make you happy......................................................................................
Right about now, nearly every SEO on the planet is devising his or her blueprints for gaining organic traction on the SERPs in 2017.
While there are more than 200 different factors that contribute to a brand’s overall placement for particular queries, there are certain trends emerging and steadfast rules for ranking that are important to consider as we move into the New Year.
If you are on the hunt for the latest trends and SEO rules of engagement for 2017, look no further. Here are the top five practices you should be concerning yourself with throughout 2017.
Rule 1. A Mobile-First Focus
No major revelations here. Over the past several years, mobile’s importance has continued to grow and its impact on SEO has become increasingly dramatic.
Google has, in no uncertain terms, laid out its agenda as it relates to mobile; and it is soon to top the list of search priorities.
Over the course of 2016, SEOs, marketers and business owners saw Google ramp up the uses of Accelerated Mobile Pages by introducing it organically into the SERPs, advertisements and even eCommerce offerings.
This was only the tip of the iceberg, however — the biggest mobile-related announcement came in November when Google revealed its mobile-first indexing exercise.
While these are only a couple examples of how Google is turning its attention toward mobile, the overall consensus is that your business should be doing the same.
It is now a necessity to have a mobile version of your website. Moreover, it is becoming vital that your company adopt AMP for content offerings, increase mobile page speeds, and hone in on a truly unique and beneficial user experience.
Rule 2. Quality Over Quantity Prevails
This is one of those things that remains a staple in 2017 SEO practices; and will likely always be around in one form or another.
In the past few years, content marketers have generated more articles, blogs and videos than people can consume; and much of it is the same rehashed drivel.
Don’t worry so much about meeting a “content quota,” instead, your main goal is to produce truly useful materials as it relates to your niche; that’s what users care about, and that’s what Google cares about. Quality content is the entire focus of the Panda algorithm update.
Forget about article spinning and other ways to crank out content for the sake of content. Place your focus on creating highly-informative, evergreen content; something that users can leverage for years to come.
This leads us into our next content-related rule:
Rule 3. Deep Diving Content is a Must – Kind Of
In-depth content that intimately covers a given topic is not something new to 2017, but there are some changes on the horizon.
Over the past couple of years, various studies have been produced which clearly show the benefits of long-form content. One particular study even showed that the top slots in the Google SERPs went to content that contained more than 2,000 words.
Of course, the goal is not to create ultra-long content stuffed with fluff; it is to generate serious value for readers. Something that can genuinely help them understand a topic and improve.
The mobile-driven future, however, likely has other plans for content. While it is still ideal to create comprehensive materials for desktop, small screen devices will begin to require information-dense articles that are relatively short.
This is mainly because mobile devices are not optimized for long-form content but are emerging as the most favorable platform for the masses. As this trend continues to mature, so will the nature of the content that is served to mobile users.
Rule 4. Semantics are Significant
Google has been focusing more and more on user intent in recent years. And the proliferation of voice search technology has only served to amplify that pursuit.
Google is on a path of constant improvement as it relates to user experience. This means the company is continually trying to provide the most relevant and helpful links for user queries; the best way to do that is to understand the user’s intention for the search.
In 2017, SEOs will need to continue to adjust their keyword strategies to further identify key-phrases that relate to why users would seek out their website, product, or service. Keywords are often too broad to understand a user’s motive. By really focusing on detailed phrases, you are far more likely to reap SEO benefits in 2017.
Rule 5. Other Search Engines Matter
A lot of SEOs and business owners get so caught up in feverishly trying to rank on Google that they completely neglect other platforms; ignoring other search engines is a mistake.
In late 2015, Bing attained a 21 percent market share and is currently growing faster than Google. Considering that there are roughly 3.4 billion Internet users, this translates to approximately 714 million users that are missed by not leveraging Bing.
More importantly, these figures could see massive growth in 2017 as personal assistants Siri and Cortana utilize Bing as their default engines; Cortana already has more than 100 million monthly active users.
In 2017, put significant effort toward understanding Bing’s best practices, ensuring your pages are indexed with the engine, and optimizing your pages for better results. It wouldn’t hurt to secure some advertising space on the platform either.
Creating a powerful SEO strategy in 2017 comes down to focusing on what makes for a better user experience; that’s what Google is after. The more you place a spotlight on user intent, user-centric content, and great mobile offerings, the more Google will acknowledge your efforts.
Which of these SEO rules are already part of your 2017 plans? Let us know in the comments below.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
CONTROLLING & MONITIZING TEXAS EDUCATION SUPPORTS CORPORATE DESIRES WITH UNCERTAIN STUDENT RESULTS
Schools spend billions on technology, even as they lay off teachers, with little proof it improves basic learning
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas study, based upon four years of solid research, found that when it comes to students immersion in technology and their academic achievement, “there was no evidence linking technology immersion with student self-directed learning or their general satisfaction with schoolwork.” And the New York Times has reported on the use of technology in Arizona classrooms, where,
“The digital push aims to go far beyond gadgets to transform the very nature of the classroom.”
And as the Times has reported, “Schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning.”
The August 31, 2016 issue of Time Magazine carried an article by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras called “Screens In Schools Are a $60 Billion Hoax.” In this article, he argues that putting children in front of digital devices is bad learning strategy which has known deleterious health effects.
The quoted comments below outline some of these health problems and provides a powerful and diverse set of linked references supporting his arguments.
Tech in the classroom not only leads to worse educational outcomes for kids, which I will explain shortly, it can also clinically hurt them.
“I’ve worked with over a thousand teens in the past 15 years, and have observed that students who have been raised on a high-tech diet not only appear to struggle more with attention and focus, but also seem to suffer from an adolescent malaise that appears to be a direct byproduct of their digital immersion.
“Indeed, over two hundred peer-reviewed studies point to screen time correlating to increased ADHD, screen addiction, increased aggression, depression, anxiety and even psychosis.”
High school mathematics & physics (regular, Honors and AP) teacher Thomas Ultican this points out, extensively in the article below, the onslaught states like Texas now face as they attempt to improve education results within a growing and vastly divergent student population. Ultican begins,
“Every year, school districts in San Diego County, California are wasting $10’s of millions on technology. This spending binge harms education and is difficult for school boards to oppose. Worst of all children and good pedagogy are being harmed.”
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Promotes Technology over Good Pedagogy
When Congress passed the new education Every Student Succeeds Act law (ESSA), the United States Department of Education was transformed into the nation’s leading education technology sales force. President Barack Obama’s Education Secretary John King has effectively become a shill for a group of corporations and their “non-profit” foundations working to sell:
1.Blended Learning
2.Competency-Based Education
3.Personalized Learning
4.Project-Based Learning
4.Collaborative Learning
5.Linked Learning. etc.
These initiatives have at least four things in common:
They all profit technology companies
They all are unproven
They all promote unhealthy education practices, and
They overturn a student’s right to privacy
The former governor of West Virginia, Bob Wise, has been leading the Alliance for Excellent Education since 2005. On their web presence the Alliance lists this group of supporters:
Anonymous
AT&T Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
GE Foundation
National Public Education Support Fund
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
State Farm
Stuart Foundation
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and more
For unknown reasons, the biggest dollars appear to come from anonymous. This foundation is just one example, there are hundreds of non-profits like this supported by many of these same groups. They sound well-intentioned, but their main motive is monetizing and controlling education in a way that supports corporate desires.
Bob Wise’s organization sponsors Future Ready which says, “The Alliance for Excellent Education leads Future Ready in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and a vast coalition of both national and regional organizations.”
Pictured below are 3 of the 12 rows of sponsors advertised on their web site. It is disturbing that the two major teachers’ unions, American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are there, along with the national PTA.
Monday, January 9, 2017
http://go.ad2upapp.com/afu.php?id=976634
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UNIVERSITY offers more than the chance to indulge in a few years of debauchery. A new report from the OECD, a rich country think-tank, attempts to measure how much more graduates can expect to earn compared with those who seek jobs without having a degree. In America the lifetime gross earnings of male graduates are, on average, nearly $370,000 higher than those of non-graduates, comfortably repaying the pricey investment in a university education (female graduates earn an extra $229,000). In South Korea and Spain female graduates pull in a lot more than their male counterparts. In Turkey, although the additional wages are more modest, the difference between men and women is far less pronounced.http://go.ad2upapp.com/afu.php?id=976634
Monday, January 2, 2017
Daniel Harris from Dhaka is earning $14,500 on a daily basis, without leaving his house.
I think everyone has a dream, so did I. While I've been working for 2 years as a cashier in one of the stores, I haven't got any closer to my dream! Now, I'm earning $14,500 a month, working on my PC at home, do you want to do the same? Some time ago I haven't even thought that anyone here can earn more than $1,500 a month. I still can't believe that I've managed to achieve this level and that's really awesome. All of my dreams came true, thanks to the BinaryMate.
I'm only 24 years old and about a year ago, I was working as a simple cashier. I thought that I have a good job, earning around $500 a month, I could easily cover all of my basic needs and even had some extra money to save for one of my biggest dreams – BMW X6! During the two years of work, I've managed to save only $4800.. I was hoping that maybe someday I would have enough money to buy it...
So, how have I managed to buy my BMW X6? The truth is, I got fired in November last year.. I didn't give up, so I'd started to search for a job that would fit my personality. I wanted to work at home and in the best case scenario, to do something on my own. Some of my friends were telling that it' a bad idea and I won't go far with that.. I've already had a loan for a new phone and a loan for my laptop, so at one point, I thought that I won't be able to cover it all :(
My new job, which is allowing me to earn $4800 a month, has started from a simple registration on this web-site (RIGHT AFTER THE REGISTRATION, I'VE RECEIVED $250 ON MY DEMO ACCOUNT AND STARTED TO TEST THEM OUT!)
Guys, everyone who is looking for a job or trying to save some money, believe me, there is not better job online than BinaryMate. Of course, it's better to start as soon as possible, so you can give it a try, playing with a demo-account using the bonus money that you get after the registration! You can learn and experiment at someone else's cost and when you get better – start earning yourself!
What should you do now? First of all, sign up HERE. Follow the instructions and set up your account. Then they will show you what to do. Everything gets tracked. The most important thing is to give it a try!
Finally, let me brag a little bit.. That's what I've earned working over the weekend. Good luck!
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