The Boston Globe gets to "Your Town" with Franklin!

Yes, there is a "Your Town" Franklin page! A recent conversation with Globe Regional Editor David K Dahl, revealed the news and he followed up with the link.

You can view the new page here: http://yourtown.boston.com/franklin

It will aggregate information as published by the Globe and other identified sources (yes, Franklin Matters is one of them!).

This is cool!

Do kindergartners need to tested?

The front page of the Boston Globe on Sunday caught my eye with the headline "State aims to test kindergartners"

Paul Reville, the state’s education secretary, emphasized that the kindergarten readiness assessments, which are in the conceptual phase, “shouldn’t be mistaken for an early MCAS’’ and will not be used to determine who should enter kindergarten. 

“It will be a more subtle and nuanced approach to assessing students,’’ Reville said. “The goal is to get a better sense of how students are doing, particularly in literacy.’’ 

The assessments ‘shouldn’t be mistaken for an early MCAS.’ 

The labor-intensive data collection, however, could be a tough sell to local districts and teachers, especially as budget cuts have pushed up class sizes, said Jason Sachs, director of early childhood education for Boston public schools. Boston, he said, already uses 14 assessments in kindergarten.

There are already plenty of assessments available or being conducted. Let's focus on providing some time and resources to actually using those assessments to improve the educational experience for the kindergartners.

The article fortunately admits:

For generations, state education officials have known that it is critical for children to start kindergarten ready to learn, and they have been keenly aware of a wide skills gap among students on the first day, even without a testing system in place. 

The gap exists for a variety of reasons, such as uneven quality of preschool programs, the frequency of parents reading to their children at home, or simply because children by nature can grow and develop at widely different rates in the early years.

So even with generations of knowledge and experience, the State is pursuing this to obtain some Federal funding.

“Each type produces helpful data for teachers and policymakers,’’ Scott-Little said. “In an ideal world, if we had plenty of resources and teachers had time, a combination would provide the best picture of where children are.’’ 

Monty Neill, executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing - a Jamaica Plain organization critical of standardized testing - said he is encouraged that the state is pursuing observation-based assessments for kindergartners. But he said he is concerned the state, because of shortages of money and time, could ultimately create a system , that collects data based on one observation instead of several over a period of time. 

“The results could likely be more damaging than helpful,’’ Neill said. “The public ought to pay very careful attention to this.’’

Yes, I agree. We all should pay attention to what testing or assessments are being looked at and why? We should also be looking to ensure that this doesn't become an unfunded mandate, meaning that the State says we must do this but does not provide the funding for the "labor intensive" activity.

Franklin's voters have consistently voted down operational overrides to properly fund the schools. The high school project will be coming up early next year. Will the Town Council also give us an option for another override? Who knows. You should ask questions of the potential Town Council candidates and of the School Committee candidates. The opportunity is now through Nov 8th to decide who we want to lead our discussion.

You can (and should) read the full article in the Boston Globe here (subscription registration may be required)


Note: yes, my disclosure statement includes the fact that my wife happens to be a kindergarten teacher here in the Franklin Schools. Some would dismiss these comments offhand just because of that connection. So be it. I choose to do this information sharing because the education that is available to our 6,000 students today is NOT what available to my daughters. Both of them have successfully graduated from FHS (2004 and 2006). Both have successfully graduated from college and both are gainfully employed today.

This was originally posted to Franklin Matters

"nothing left to moan about"

I almost canceled my Boston Globe subscription this morning. The nerve of Joseph P. Kahn!

A city and region that have suffered through curses and exorcisms, dreamed impossible dreams, counted banners in rafters, and worn bloody socks (with hearts on sleeves), woke up to a fresh reality yesterday morning: We have nothing left to moan about.

We have "nothing left to moan about"?

Yes, I can do the math very well. 39 is more than 15. I get it. I do feel sorry for the Kraft family. For 15 years, they have struggled to build the New England Revolution franchise into something and all for naught.

"nothing left to moan about"!

The Revs having made it to the playoffs for 8 straight years (more than any one of Boston's other pro teams) , been to the final twice and yet have not won the Major League Soccer (MLS) title. Yes, they have won a US Open Cup. They have even won a SuperLiga Title. But no MLS Cup. And the few loyal fans remaining do moan.




I did not cancel my subscription.
I do not blame Joseph P. Kahn.

This is the real soccer issue with the USA. They will come out to support the national team but little else. The US Women's team can create a following but the Women's pro league can hardly stay in business. Boston had a team (Boston Breakers) in the first try and the league stopped operating. The Boston Breakers have returned for this second go around with professional soccer.

I get it. This is reality.

It is as constant as the sun rising, the sun setting. Soccer has been and will be under appreciated in the USA.

New England Revolution fans will continue to moan over the team's lack of goal scoring this season and likely for sometime, their lack of success in winning the MLS Cup. Despite what the Globe says.

Globe Subscriber page - broken

The Boston Globe subscriber page says:

To change your address, payment method, or any of the account information listed below, please enter the updated information in the appropriate box. Click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page when you have finished.

1 - The 'Bold' is for my emphasis as the "any' does not include changing the subscription option. To do that you need to call their Customer Service number.

2 - The "Submit" button doesn't exist. It is called "Continue."

job search notes: key to success - people with passion

The What's Next in Tech event held Thursday evening at the Boston University School of Management opened with a networking reception followed by two panel discussions.

The panel discussions were moderated by Scott Kirsner, Innovation Economy columnist for the Boston Globe.

Venture Capital Panelists

• Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
• Neil Sequiera, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
• Michael Greeley, General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners

These were very respectable folks. They have money and are trying to put it to good use. They were asked, "What do they look for in a company?"

It was interesting to hear that the consensus answer was not the business plan (so they have Excel and perhaps thought about expenses, so what!) or the product (if they have a prototype, I definitely want to see and play with it) but the people. The people that comprise the start up team is all critical. I think it was Neil who said that the where a funded start-up failed it was due to an flaw in the team that was not revealed during the discovery or in the operations in time to correct it.

So hold that thought, people matter.

We move on to the second panel of entrepreneurs, rather successful folks who in some cases were long-brewing overnight sensations. Yes, they had the patience and persistence to stick it out, change their direction as necessary along the way, and ultimately be successful.

Entrepreneur Panelists

• Mike Dornbrook, COO, Harmonix Music Systems (makers of "Rock Band")
• Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot Corp. and founder of The Droid Works
• Ellen Rubin, Founder & VP/Product of CloudSwitch
• Brian Halligan, social media expert and CEO of HubSpot
• Tim Healy, CEO of EnerNOC

One of the several questions asked got around to the important topic of jobs. All have positions open. All are actively looking, so what are they looking for in the people that they would hire?

4 of the 5 specifically stated in the first words of their answer, passion. The fifth got to passion along the way. Depending upon the stage of the start-up, they may be looking for specific skill sets or they may be looking for a jack-of-all-trades type person but in either case, passion was the most significant factor.

On the venture side, it was the people.
On the entrepreneur side, it was the passion.

How do we translate that to our job search?
Should we spend less time on our resume and more time out in the social world connecting with people?

If your skill and passion can be presented in words on a page successfully, I would say go for it.
Otherwise, it seems like getting face to face with someone to share your passion and skill set would be the best thing to do.

Thoughts?

"You just can't sit around at home"

If a layoff can happen to the president of the local Rotary chapter, it can happen to anyone.

"We're in a crisis," said Ken Masson, who heads the Merrimack Valley Rotary Club and lost his job in December, several months after his employer, Massbank Corp., was bought out by Eastern Bank Corp. "With 11 million people in the US without a job, going through hardships, that's a crisis."

Increasing unemployment across Greater Boston prompted the former service marketing director to call on his fellow Rotarians to consider a twist on one of their organization's core missions, vocational service, by helping out the laid-off workers in their own backyards.

"You think of Rotary coming to the rescue of people who have polio or need water in developing countries, but there are things we can do right here," Masson said.

You can continue reading the article in today's Boston Globe here.

Yes, being without a job can happen to anyone. For the job search notes that I have compiled from my own experience follow this link here. If you want to compare notes and network, please feel free to contact me via comment or email.

This was cross posted to Franklin Matters today.

Traffic : jam :: music : calm

You may recall my review of Daniel Levitin's book "This is Your Brain on Music" for the Love Affair with Books on the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog. In the book, Daniel talks about the 6 songs that define rock music. He apparently takes that up a notch with his newest book according to an article on how singing music helps calm drivers in traffic that appeared in Sunday's Boston Globe.

Commutes can be made more bearable with satellite radio, where listeners can indulge in very specific fancies, like stations dedicated wholly to Led Zeppelin. Industry surveys suggest more musical options are down the road: Nearly all 2009 cars will come equipped with an iPod or MP3 jack allowing drivers to listen to the songs they choose.

It may seem like a small change, but it's not, said Dan Levitin, a psychology professor at Montreal's McGill University and author of the best-selling "The World in Six Songs; How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature."

"We're coming back in the last few years, listening more and singing more and making music more," Levitin said.

Today's 16-year-old will listen to more music than his "great-grandfather did in a lifetime," he said.

"You can hold in the palm of your hand the library of a large radio station," he said. "Technology has given us freedom."

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here.

Given the success of the Young@Heart chorus, there is something to this idea!

Daydreaming - a good thing!

"The capacity to daydream enables a person to fill empty time with an enjoyable activity that can be carried on anywhere," Belton says. "But that's a skill that requires real practice. Too many kids never get the practice."

----

Every time we slip effortlessly into a daydream, a distinct pattern of brain areas is activated, which is known as the default network. Studies show that this network is most engaged when people are performing tasks that require little conscious attention, such as routine driving on the highway or reading a tedious text. Although such mental trances are often seen as a sign of lethargy - we are staring haplessly into space - the cortex is actually very active during this default state, as numerous brain regions interact. Instead of responding to the outside world, the brain starts to contemplate its internal landscape. This is when new and creative connections are made between seemingly unrelated ideas.

"When you don't use a muscle, that muscle really isn't doing much of anything," says Dr. Marcus Raichle, a neurologist and radiologist at Washington University who was one of the first scientists to locate the default network in the brain. "But when your brain is supposedly doing nothing and daydreaming, it's really doing a tremendous amount. We call it the 'resting state,' but the brain isn't resting at all."

Read the full article in the Boston Sunday Globe here

Plan time for yourself to do some daydreaming!

In the Globe: High School Sports fees

By Lisa Kocian and Brian Benson Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent / August 24, 2008

Mark and Monica Juitt's son and daughter both go to Ashland High School, and both play sports. Between them, Nina and Tim Juitt will participate on five teams this year.

Last year, their activities would have cost the family $650 in sports fees. But this year, the school district has raised the fees and eliminated a cap on how much a family has to pay, and the Juitts are facing a bill for $1,353.

"It's a lot of money," said Monica Juitt. To offset the cost, she will not pay the bus fee, about $280 per student, and will instead drive her children to school, she said.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here.

It is too bad the Globe does not provide a link or way to share the table of the fees charged by the high schools in the 28 communities shown in the printed version of the paper. That is a table that one should keep for reference.

Link love from the Boston Globe

Thanks to the Boston Globe for adding this site to the listing of local blogs. A little confirmation of the selection I made for my name tag when I first went to PodCamp Boston. While others were referencing their podcast or vlog, I wrote that I was a "local blogger".

And if you are coming here from the Boston Globe link, I hope you find something useful and informative. If you do not, please let me know.

Override Central starts a tally

If you were following the trials and tribulations in Franklin last year as the budget season progressed and Franklin passed its first operational override on May 22, you can fasten your seat belt for some sort of ride this time around as well.

The school budget is facing a shortfall of $3.2M to provide "level service". If forced to stay short, then the high performing district that Franklin is will likely start a decline. 45 teachers would be cut to meet the shortfall. In the School Committee meeting on Tuesday 3/25/08, there was at least one mention that the focus Franklin has placed on school size has driven its success in the MCAS scores.

Hence, an increase school class size (cutting 45 teachers) will decrease the MCAS scores.

Exactly what will happen to the overall budget still remains to be determined.

To follow the story of the Franklin budget this year, subscribe to Franklin Matters.

The Boston Globe's Override Central is getting active again. Subscribe there for what is happening to other communities around the commonwealth.

Boston Gobe recognizes the Palmer House Inn, Falmouth

You may recall that Dolores and I have had a couple of pleasant weekend stays at the Palmer House Inn, Falmouth. Both times we went in August for the dual purpose of celebrating our anniversary, and to allow me to run the Falmouth Road Race.

My summary for the weekend in 2006 can be found here. (I started writing online in September 2005, after we were there, so that is not available.)

The Ellen Albanese, writer for the Globe says, in part:

The best part of visiting a bed-and-breakfast is the personal touch, the knowledge that you are staying in a place that is, if not the actual residence of the innkeepers, at least a home they have chosen to treat as their own.

In such a place, you feel more like a guest than a customer, and that's just how we felt at the Palmer House Inn. Pat and Bill O'Connell were consummate hosts, greeting us warmly, giving an unhurried tour of the 1901 main house, asking questions about dietary restrictions and coffee preferences, offering to bring ice to our room. They managed to make us feel that nothing was more important to them than our comfort.

The inn is an imposing Queen Anne-style Victorian at the edge of Falmouth's historic, shop- and restaurant-filled downtown, which makes it central but quiet. There are 12 rooms in the main house, four in the guest house (including a handicapped-accessible room), and a two-bedroom cottage.

Read the remainder here.

The Palmer House Inn website.

Easy does it - for snow, use the Wovel!

The Boston Globe Magazine introduces the find for the season, the Wovel.

Wovel?
Yes, try combining a shovel and a wheel.

Looks cool. Apparently, it is only available in my area via web site order. I'd like to hold a Wovel before buying so I need to find a place where it is available.

For those of you dealing with snow, what do you think?
Would you try one?

Nalgene - Good or bad?

Worries about a hormone-mimicking chemical used in the trendy sports accessory led a major Canadian retailer to remove Nalgene and other polycarbonate plastic containers from store shelves in early December.

"It's definitely a concern but I'd like to learn more before I make any decisions about my water bottles," McHugh, 26, a business manager for a reggae band, said with an easy laugh. "For now, I'll probably keep using my Nalgene until it breaks. It's indestructible, I've heard!"

Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op is waiting for Canadian health regulators to finish a preliminary review in May before it reconsiders restocking its 11 stores with the reusable, transparent bottles made with bisphenol A, or BPA, a compound created by a Russian chemist in 1891.

There is little dispute that the chemical can disrupt the hormonal system, but scientists differ markedly on whether very low doses found in food and beverage containers can be harmful. The US Food and Drug Administration sides with the plastics industry that BPA-based products do not pose a health risk.

I'd like to follow the money on this story. Who is funding the research to take down the Nalgene bottles? One avenue would be to look at who stands to gain? That is look at the major water suppliers - Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc. After the FastCompany article earlier this year debunking the water bottle industry as a waste, why not retaliate against the competition.

Read the full story in today's Boston Globe here.

Instructions for an igloo

Appropriately with enough snow here in New England, although not exactly the proper kind for an igloo, the Boston Globe presents 8 steps to create an igloo.

Have fun! The instructions can be found here.

Where is leadership when you need it?

"The beauty of the military is every commander has to make decisions about what to prosecute and how," Markley said. "Every commander out there is deciding, 'Is this the highest priority for my attention?' "

Even now, he said, he has not been asked by his superiors to take action to safeguard the tests.

"Nobody has come to me and said, 'Solve this problem,' " he said.

The quote above are from Colonel James C. Markley, the senior officer in charge of the testing center.

If the Army knew of cheating going on, if the cheating contributes to personnel being improperly trained and readied for operations, why should this continue?

Markley, by his own statement, does not see this in his scope of responsibility. That might be part of the problem.

What do you think?


Read the full Boston Globe report, the result of five months of investigation here.

Override Central - catching up

I have been behind on the news in Override Central so here is what has happened recently:

1 - One of the ways budget specialists want to cut costs is to steer city and town employees into cheaper state run insurance plan. But the towns are slow to embrace the idea. Check here for more

2 - Amesbury voters will get a chance to consider a tax cut. Town officials are divided over the proposed $1-million tax cut that goes before voters Nov. 6. Read more in Globe North.

3 - In Bolton, selectmen have voted to support a $5.7 million property tax increase to pay for a new public safety center, said Town Administrator Jodi Ross.

The proposed increase, as a debt-exclusion override of Proposition 2 1/2, is scheduled to go before voters at a Nov. 5 Special Town Meeting, More here

4 - Milford's Board of Selectmen has imposed a budget moratorium, mandating cuts in expenses and a search for more cost-effective means to pay for major projects, like an renovation of the local Armory and a proposed replacement of Milford High School's emergency generator. More in the article here

High school generator replacement? Sounds like Franklin doesn't it?

5 - Winchester is well known for its creative ways of financing its schools. But now the town northwest of Boston is facing a tussle over crowding at one of its schools. More in the full article here

6 - One town went to the junkyard to get engines for its police cars. Another laid off 30 workers. Another hit up businesses for $30,000 to keep the local senior center open.

In the towns south of Boston, failures of several Prop 2 1/2 override requests have hit hard, according to a Chris Wallgren article in Globe South Thursday. Full article here

7 - Should non-profits pay property taxes?

A really good question. Especially as the real problem is for communities to expand the tax base.

Override Central is a decent source of info on the local tax situations. I just wish they would update the calendar in their left column. It still references the override schedule from April through May. Come on folks! That is OLD NEWS.

NY Times comes out from behind the wall!

I frequently link to the Boston Globe but infrequently to the NY Times primarily because of access. In most cases, I can grab the RSS feed for the Globe link which doesn't require a login to access the article. If you were required to login, it at least was for free.

The NY Times was worse. They actually charged for access to many articles. But no more!

Read the details of the story here


Of note, the Boston Globe is owned by the NY Times.

Override Central is out of date

The Boston Globe's Override Central web page is out of date.

It was before the Franklin override vote on May 22 and remains out of date today.

Notice the left column, the date table ends at May 19th with Middleborough.


What is today's date? Oh, June 5th.

Hmm, how long does it take to get the page updated?



PS - Although the table said May 19th, Middleborough actually voted this past Saturday, June 2. For the record, the Globe did report that they rejected all five of their override votes primarily due to the confusion around the numbers.