Tips may help with back-to-school shopping
Five tips from online sources for buying back-to-school clothes and classroom supplies:
•Livingonadime.com: Don’t buy new clothes if the old ones still fit and aren’t coming apart.
•About.com: Avoid fashion trends. Basics rarely go out of style.
•ConsumerReports.org: Check online sites like couponcabin.com for brand-name and retail-chain coupons you might otherwise miss.
•Parents.com: Don’t buy anything that isn’t on the school supply list. Most other classroom supplies aren’t needed.
•Suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com: Spend a little more on a well-made item from a reputable firm, if it’s something that could be in use for several years (like backpacks).
OSPI race heats up
Primary election ballots have been mailed. So it’s no surprise that you’re also hearing more from the candidates for the nonpartisan position of superintendent of public instruction. Three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson is running television ads in Spokane, while one rival, Randy Dorn, planned to start radio ads this week.
Dorn’s campaign last week accused Bergeson of deception in a radio ad running in Western Washington.
A transcript of the ad wasn’t available, but Dorn campaign manager Robert Harkin says it implies that 92 percent of students are meeting graduation standards for reading, writing and math. Not so, says Bergeson consultant Alex Hays – the 92 percent refers to those who met graduation requirements, which apply only to reading and writing portions of the WASL; everyone knows there’s still a lot of work to be done on math, Hays said.
The other candidates are John Patterson Blair, Don Hansler, Enid Duncan and David Blomstrom, whose Web page – a carryover from his 2004 campaign – still includes some offensive language about Bergeson and others of that year’s candidates.
Acronym of the week
Educators, like professionals in other fields, sometimes perform linguistic gymnastics to come up with acronyms that strike them as cute, clever or easily remembered. This week, we highlight a few examples from the hundreds of acronyms listed on the state’s education Web page, www.k12.wa.gov.
What’s BEACON? It’s Behavioral, Emotional and Academic Curriculum for the Ongoing Needs of Students. One would think that any curriculum would address ongoing needs. But without stating the obvious, you’d be left with just BEAC.
In Harry Potter’s world, OWLS are examinations taken by fifth-year students to help determine their career paths. In the real-life Muggle educational system, OWLS stands for Oral and Written Language Scales – assessments to determine how well kids comprehend what they read and hear.
You may remember “Born Free” as a popular book (and movie) about lions. To educrats BORNFREE means Building Options, Reassessing Norms and Freeing Roles through Educational Equity.
Feel free to say, “huh?”
Number of the week
60 – percentage of children, ages 3-5, who were read to daily by a family member in 2005, according to federal figures. That was up from 53 percent in 1993.