Thanks for writing this, Jeff. You're spot on with your diagnosis of the problem. ODE and other state agencies have politicized the research process to support their pre-held policy preferences, to disastrous ends. FWIW, I don't think we should criminalize bad research, because defining what is "bad" or fraudulent or misleading research is hard and will be used primarily by the people who have created Oregon's mess to prolong Oregon's mess by prosecuting people, including people who agree with you and me, over research with which the people who run our state disagree.
Hey Jeff, I appreciate your thoughts on this. I do have to disagree with you on one key part. I don’t think it’s hard to define what is bad, or at least the type of fraud I’m seeing the most.
What is “bad” here is the blatant misrepresentation of a cited study. If you have a few minutes, check out finding #3 in this article I wrote last year on their 2016 Chronic Absenteeism plan.
They had cited a research study that dug into the root causes for chronic absenteeism. As you’ll see in the comparison table I made, ODE added some significant items to each of study author’s three main causes. Then they went further and added their own 4th cause.
You don’t get to just add or change outcomes from a study to say what you want it to say. And clearly this was not an accident. That’s fraud, and it’s being used over and over again to radicalize our education system, create grant programs for NGOs, and more. And it’s all harming students and school staff alike.
Thank you for this. I am a mom in southern Oregon. I and a few others are trying to push our school board to do better for our kids. I would love any advice you may have on how we at the local level can facilitate change.
You're very welcome! As for advice to facilitate change, the first suggestion would be to secure meetings with one or your school board members to get their perspective on your issues, learn what control or influence they have, and to get their input on what could lead to change. I say that because school boards are really limited as far as the day to day operations of a school district go. They set policies, but often they get those from the Oregon School Boards Association and tweak as needed for their local district. So building a relationship with one or more board members is a great way to navigate the broader picture.
The other suggestion would be to request a meeting with the Superintendent or the leader for the main area you're concerned with. Have your questions ready ahead of time, and what actions/follow-ups you want. For example, if you're concerned about disruptions and violence in classrooms, you could ask them about what data they track, what they think are the current trends, what their approach to discipline is, and how they feel their approach is working. If I were you, I'd also ask them to provide their discipline data after the meeting (offer to file a public records request if they'd prefer you go that route).
I'm not sure how organized your group is, but find someone who will take the lead and help keep people connected. One of the hardest things is keeping people involved and not overwhelm them. If you have someone who can step up and take the lead with scheduling and holding meetings, that's huge.
Finally, I encourage you to go to the oregoned.info website and sign up. This "Oregon Education Project" will be officially launching next month, and the goal is to help groups across Oregon fight back against the most significant issues we're all facing.
Education is the only aspect of American life more wrought with unapologetic fraud, waste and corruption than our healthcare system (I should rewrite that last sentence with gargantuan air quotes around both “education“ and “healthcare“).
Are you being ironic when you describe “Elected Officials’” “Disinterest in Harm to Students” as “Surprising”? As long as teachers unions remain the largest contributors to the Democratic party (and no small share of Republicans), we will continue to see this “surprising“ disinterest.
Honestly I have been surprised how few legislators seemed to care. Part of the reason is that the department of education here recently shamed the legislature publicly when they bypassed them and went to the State Board of Education to get some of their recommendations implemented. Unfortunately, the legislature gave the state board too much authority.
Also, research fraud at this level and this obvious shouldn’t be “partisan”. Leaders from the dept of Ed have repeatedly come in front of legislative committees and outright lied about the quality and content of the reports they provided them. It’s public record too, since all these meetings are recorded.
So even just to save face, I thought legislators would care. But sadly I think they just hoped this would blow over and I’d go away. No and definitely no! I’m tenacious, especially when their inaction is harming my kids and the 500k+ other K-12 students around the state!!
Thanks for writing this, Jeff. You're spot on with your diagnosis of the problem. ODE and other state agencies have politicized the research process to support their pre-held policy preferences, to disastrous ends. FWIW, I don't think we should criminalize bad research, because defining what is "bad" or fraudulent or misleading research is hard and will be used primarily by the people who have created Oregon's mess to prolong Oregon's mess by prosecuting people, including people who agree with you and me, over research with which the people who run our state disagree.
Hey Jeff, I appreciate your thoughts on this. I do have to disagree with you on one key part. I don’t think it’s hard to define what is bad, or at least the type of fraud I’m seeing the most.
What is “bad” here is the blatant misrepresentation of a cited study. If you have a few minutes, check out finding #3 in this article I wrote last year on their 2016 Chronic Absenteeism plan.
https://www.saveoregonschools.com/p/another-f-grade-for-the-oregon-department
They had cited a research study that dug into the root causes for chronic absenteeism. As you’ll see in the comparison table I made, ODE added some significant items to each of study author’s three main causes. Then they went further and added their own 4th cause.
You don’t get to just add or change outcomes from a study to say what you want it to say. And clearly this was not an accident. That’s fraud, and it’s being used over and over again to radicalize our education system, create grant programs for NGOs, and more. And it’s all harming students and school staff alike.
Thank you for this. I am a mom in southern Oregon. I and a few others are trying to push our school board to do better for our kids. I would love any advice you may have on how we at the local level can facilitate change.
You're very welcome! As for advice to facilitate change, the first suggestion would be to secure meetings with one or your school board members to get their perspective on your issues, learn what control or influence they have, and to get their input on what could lead to change. I say that because school boards are really limited as far as the day to day operations of a school district go. They set policies, but often they get those from the Oregon School Boards Association and tweak as needed for their local district. So building a relationship with one or more board members is a great way to navigate the broader picture.
The other suggestion would be to request a meeting with the Superintendent or the leader for the main area you're concerned with. Have your questions ready ahead of time, and what actions/follow-ups you want. For example, if you're concerned about disruptions and violence in classrooms, you could ask them about what data they track, what they think are the current trends, what their approach to discipline is, and how they feel their approach is working. If I were you, I'd also ask them to provide their discipline data after the meeting (offer to file a public records request if they'd prefer you go that route).
I'm not sure how organized your group is, but find someone who will take the lead and help keep people connected. One of the hardest things is keeping people involved and not overwhelm them. If you have someone who can step up and take the lead with scheduling and holding meetings, that's huge.
Finally, I encourage you to go to the oregoned.info website and sign up. This "Oregon Education Project" will be officially launching next month, and the goal is to help groups across Oregon fight back against the most significant issues we're all facing.
Wow! What an amazing article.
Education is the only aspect of American life more wrought with unapologetic fraud, waste and corruption than our healthcare system (I should rewrite that last sentence with gargantuan air quotes around both “education“ and “healthcare“).
Are you being ironic when you describe “Elected Officials’” “Disinterest in Harm to Students” as “Surprising”? As long as teachers unions remain the largest contributors to the Democratic party (and no small share of Republicans), we will continue to see this “surprising“ disinterest.
Again, thanks for a great piece.
Honestly I have been surprised how few legislators seemed to care. Part of the reason is that the department of education here recently shamed the legislature publicly when they bypassed them and went to the State Board of Education to get some of their recommendations implemented. Unfortunately, the legislature gave the state board too much authority.
Also, research fraud at this level and this obvious shouldn’t be “partisan”. Leaders from the dept of Ed have repeatedly come in front of legislative committees and outright lied about the quality and content of the reports they provided them. It’s public record too, since all these meetings are recorded.
So even just to save face, I thought legislators would care. But sadly I think they just hoped this would blow over and I’d go away. No and definitely no! I’m tenacious, especially when their inaction is harming my kids and the 500k+ other K-12 students around the state!!
Thank you for your feedback. Again I appreciate all you do. We will keep plugging away.