Salvation Army: From Joplin to Moore with love

(From the Salvation Army)

“When we heard about Moore, it was déjà vu,” says Lt. James Curry, corps officer for The Salvation Army in Joplin, Missouri.

It was May 22, 2011, when the community of Joplin, Missouri, was hit by an EF5 tornado. One hundred and sixty-one lives were lost; another 1,150 people were injured. The tornado was big, measuring a mile wide in its widest part.

The EF5 that touched down in Moore on May 20, 2013, was wider.

“We started praying immediately,” Curry says. “When I went to work we had a moment of silence.”

Soon after, the community stepped up in a big way.

“We had people dropping off baby diapers, wipes, shampoo and conditioner. People who couldn’t afford to buy hand sanitizer were buying hand sanitizer,” says Ali O’Dell, Volunteer Coordinator for The Salvation Army Joplin Corps.

Along with the diapers, wipes and toiletries came bottled water, and lots of it. Sam’s Club donated 2 pallets of water. Another four pallets came from Tri-State Motor Transit Co. and Downstream Casino Resort.

Beacon Roofing Supply donated a truck to drive the donated goods from Missouri. They also donated hygiene kits, cleaning supplies and other items that can be used for debris clean-up and removal.

Lt. Curry said the citizens of Joplin would continue to keep the Moore community in their prayers.

“This outpouring of love and support for the Moore community is something that the Joplin community wanted to do. We’re here to support the community of Moore until the needs are met.”

While Joplin continues to rebuild, Moore will now begin to heal. The gift of love from a different state will help both communities as they look forward, and remember the past.

The Salvation Army is no longer accepting in kind donations; monetary donations are the most critical need as supplies and personnel move into the areas of greatest need. Donors are encouraged to give online at www.SalvationArmyUSA.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

No Child Left Alive coming in paperback

The infamous book that provided the Joplin R-8 Administration with their avenue to cashier me out of the system, and perhaps out of teaching, will be available in paperback sometime within the next few days.

As I reported earlier, No Child Left Alive, a novel about one year in a dysfunctional public high school, was termed "obscene" by the Joplin R-8 Administration, which claimed I had assigned my students to download and discuss it (though as far as I can tell, they have yet to find one student who downloaded, discussed it, or even knew about it, until the charges were brought against me).

Some have speculated the Joplin administrators were more concerned about some of the things that were done by school administrators in the book. I will leave that for the readers to decide.

The book will be available online in a few days from Amazon.com and its own page on the CreateSpace website. It won't be long after that before it is available on other internet sites, including Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.

It should be in Joplin by the end of the month or early July and a signing will be scheduled around the middle of July.

The description of the book, which will be featured on the Amazon and CreateSpace as is follows:

If the shooter doesn't get them, the system will. That proved to be the case for author Randy Turner, as the veteran teacher was fired from his teaching job in Joplin, Missouri, for writing this book. No Child Left Alive tells the story of one year at dysfunctional Franklin Heights High School, where the teachers battle administrators seeking to pad their resumes at the expense of the students' education and find themselves at the mercy of a criminal element that has been lured back into the school in a misguided effort to increase graduation rates.

 At the center of the storm is Assistant Superintendent Abigail Saucier, who after being passed over for the top job after the death of the former superintendent (and Abigail's lover) is determined to make Franklin Heights a model of innovation through a series of new programs that confound and frustrate the faculty. Abigail also has to deal with a deadbeat husband, a promiscuous daughter, and a growing attraction to her daughter's boyfriend, drug-dealing gang leader Rico Salazar.

Opposing Abigail's plans to remake education at Franklin Heights is Teacher of the Year Walter Tollivar, who has his own problems- a crippling case of claustrophobia, and an attraction to a younger teacher, who five years earlier had been one of his students, and who is now so afraid of her own students that she has begun carrying a gun.

As the teachers battle to hold on to their sanity, a bullied student plans a revenge designed to make everyone forget Columbine.

No Child Left Alive is a satirical, yet frightening, view of education in Obama's America- a wasteland where test scores and statistics are everything, and teachers are cannon fodder for glory-hungry administrators and clueless politicians.

The book will have a new cover, designed by Cody Dyer. The rest of the book's design is being handled by David Hoover, who did Scars from the Tornado, Spirit of Hope, and the cover for 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado.

Joplin Globe finally gets the story: Bruce Speck's out

Today's lead story in the print edition of the Joplin Globe was the firing/resignation of Missouri Southern State University President Bruce Speck.

Of course, regular Turner Report readers learned that two weeks ago today, when I printed the information in a story backed by three sources.

The Globe has been circling around the story for the past couple of weeks, pouring on one layer after another and if anyone did not think Bruce Speck was on his way out, they were not reading between the lines in the Globe story.

When the Board of Governors doesn't come out and say, "Of course, he is our president. Why would you even ask such a thing?" it is not a good sign for the university president's job longevity.

Globe reporter Emily Younker covered most of the bases in her story in today's paper, even though for the life of me, I cannot understand why she wrote the final paragraph in the article the way she did. (Or perhaps, someone edited it that way.)

It reads, "The proposal (to eliminate the international program) was halted by a local legislator who said he wanted to give MSSU officials more time to research potential financial consequences of eliminating the mission from the statute."

Was there any logical reason why it was a "local legislator" instead of simply naming Sen. Ron Richard?

At least, the Globe has the story now and the two-week wait is over.

DESE standards will bring new teachers in line with Common Core, standardized testing frenzy

You know that there are serious problems in the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education when it issues a news release that takes the National Council on Teacher Quality seriously. That organization has been bashing teachers at the behest of its billionaire backers for a long time and its just-issued report on teacher education grades down schools if they are not pushing for Common Core Standards and not stressing standardized tests. The DESE news release is printed below.

The State Board of Education reviewed Missouri's progress on implementing new assessments to help prepare future teachers for the classroom at its meeting Tuesday in Jefferson City.

The new assessments for the state's educator preparation programs are being phased in over the next two years for prospective teachers, as well as guidance counselors, librarians and school administrators.

"These assessments are designed to help new teachers and school leaders become effective educators," said Chris L. Nicastro, commissioner of education. "Quality educators are the most important factor in providing students with the knowledge and skills they need for college, other postsecondary training and a career."

Preparing, developing and supporting effective educators is a primary goal of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Top 10 by 20 initiative, which calls for education in Missouri to rank among the top 10 performing states in the nation by the year 2020.

The State Board is responsible for establishing standards for the education, assessment and certification of all public school teachers and administrators in Missouri. The board approved updated standards for the state's educator preparation programs in November 2012.

The new assessments are aligned to the new standards and are part of the Missouri Educator Gateway Assessment (MEGA) program and include:

• Missouri General Education Assessment: This test for admission into undergraduate professional educator preparation programs includes sections on English language arts, writing, mathematics, science and social science. The assessment will begin in September 2013 and will replace the current College BASE (CBASE) test.
• Missouri Educator Profile (MEP): This new assessment is designed to measure a person's work style as it relates to the field of education. The MEP is set to begin in September 2013 and will assess the characteristics of individuals pursuing certification as a teacher, counselor, librarian and school leaders, including principals and superintendents.
• Content Specialty Assessments: These exit exams must be completed by prospective educators, including teachers, counselors, librarians, principals and superintendents, for all areas of certification they are seeking. The assessments are aligned with state and national standards and will begin in September 2014. They will replace the current Praxis test. 
• Missouri Standards-Based Performance Assessments: These new assessments for prospective teachers, counselors, librarians, principals and superintendents will measure their performance in content, coursework and clinical experiences, including student teaching and internships. The assessments are set to start in September 2014.

The work the Department is doing will help to address some of the concerns voiced in the NCTQ Teacher Prep Reviewreleased today by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) and U.S. News & World Report. The Review evaluates more than 1,100 educator preparation programs nationwide, providing prospective students, parents and school districts with information about the quality of available programs.

According to the Review, only two teacher preparation programs in the state -- Missouri State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology -- earned at least three out of four possible stars to make the high-rated program list, while other institutions received lower marks or chose not to participate.

Missouri's new certification and testing requirements through the MEGA program will raise the bar in a number of areas, including increasing the admission and licensing standards, aligning teacher preparation with the Common Core State Standards, improving clinical preparation and holding preparation programs accountable for student success.

More information about educator preparation in Missouri can found at dese.mo.gov/eq/ep/.

DESE, Higher Education Board working on Common Core standards, assessments

(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)

Members of the State Board of Education (SBE) and Coordinating Board for Higher Education (CBHE) attended a joint meeting Monday to discuss collaborative efforts and the future of Missouri education. The work study session included discussion around the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments.

"Although the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education are two separate entities, there are a number of areas where our work intersects," said Commissioner of Education Chris L. Nicastro. "It's imperative that we have ongoing conversations so we can maximize our efforts to better serve the students of Missouri. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Department of Higher Education."

Similar to the SBE's aim of Missouri becoming one of the top 10 performing states in education by the year 2020, the CBHE has endorsed the goal to increase the proportion of Missourians with high-quality postsecondary credentials to 60 percent by 2025.

The adoption of the Common Core State Standards has emerged as a primary strategy for bridging the gap between high school, college and beyond. A set of academic expectations for English language arts and mathematics, the Common Core Standards are part of the Missouri Learning Standards, which define the knowledge and skills students need to succeed in college, other postsecondary training and careers.

Many higher education institution presidents and chancellors have strongly supported the Common Core Standards, noting the necessity to better prepare students to be college- and career-ready when graduating from high school. The ability to compete in a global, knowledge-based economy is also a critical component of the standards.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is working to develop a comprehensive and innovative assessment system for grades 3-8 and high school, which align to the Common Core Standards and have the capability to measure the level of student proficiency in mastering the standards. The new assessments will roll-out during the 2014-2015 school year.

As part of the meeting discussion, it was also noted that the Common Core Standards have the potential to reduce the remediation rate, improve college degree completion and reduce the costs of obtaining a college degree.

Additionally, a joint Missouri Learning Standards website is being developed to provide information to students, parents and educators about all state standards. Until the new website is launched, current information can be found atmissourilearningstandards.com.

Nixon signs bills extending foster care

Will author(s) of Southern Watch blog be revealed?

One of the enduring mysteries since the arrival of now-departed Bruce Speck as president of Missouri Southern State University has been the identity of the author or authors of the anonymous Southern Watch website.

The site has been a thorn in Speck's side since he arrived and it appears that with its mission winding down, Southern Watch may be ready to go out with a bang, including information about the author. Today's post offers this preview:

We promise that when we wrap this up sometime soon, there will be an epic final post and a peek behind the curtain here at The Watch.