Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Last Sunday I put up the Doonesbury cartoon for that day. The cartoon honored those who had fallen in the past year. Unfortunately, due to the excessive number of fallen troops, the cartoon was to be continued today. I wanted to put up that cartoon as well.
Today’s Doonesbury cartoon continues to honor the dead in Iraq and adds the dead in Afghanistan. Due to time constraints, Trudeau’s list was from April 26, 2006 to April 18, 2007. His cartoon recommends going to icasualties.org for updates.
If you live in the Orlando area you probably saw the article in the Orlando Sentinel about FCAT scores rising across the state. Schools got the scores yesterday and parents will be able to access the scores via the web tomorrow.
Yesterday at my schools end of the year luncheon my principal came around long enough to tell that based on the results my soon to be former school should be an A. I wasn’t the only one that said “Gee, didn’t he say that last year?” Our grade based on last year’s FCAT results was a C.
Since I’m leaving the school I wouldn’t get any of the “bonus” money that would be paid out if the school actually did improve to an A or even a B. Even if I was, though, I wouldn’t hold my breath that this man is anywhere close to accurate on what grade the school will receive. Not just because he was wrong last year, but also because the state grading scale has been toughened.
According to the Orlando Sentinel
Florida used to grade its schools on a 600-point scale that considered math, reading and writing scores, learning gains and growth by the lowest-scoring students in reading.
This year, the state bulked up the formula with science scores and the growth made by the lowest-scoring math students. It also widened the scale to 800 points.
Also in the Sentinel today was a story about last years 3rd grade FCAT test. Apparently it was “too easy” and as a result the test will be regraded. School and district scores will also be recalculated but the state says that schools will be allowed to keep their grades. Of course, the fact that school grades are based on 4th grade reading results and 5th grade math results means that 3rd grade results weren’t used to determine school grades. 3rd grade results do affect the determination of Adequate Yearly Progress for that year and learning gains for the following year.
Of course state officials and Jeb Bush insist that this latest “oopsie” with the FCAT doesn’t mean that there is a problem with the test. I don’t agree and I’m not the only one.
But Luis Barroso, a Deltona father of three, said the news added to his unease about FCAT and the use of those scores to grade schools, hold back students and dish out teacher bonuses.
He fears schools waste time focusing on standardized tests rather than helping students truly master academics.
“I think the FCAT is a little bit of an unfair barometer of how a child is doing,” Barroso said. “I think it’s tremendous pressure on third- and fourth-graders.”
Maybe one day sensible heads will take over and realize that this parent and those that agree with him are right.
From the New York Times
A second industrial chemical that regulators have found in contaminated pet food in the United States may have also been intentionally added to animal feed by producers seeking larger profits, according to interviews with chemical industry officials here.
Three Chinese chemical makers said that producers of animal feed often purchase or seek to purchase a chemical called cyanuric acid from their factories to blend into animal feed.
Chemical producers said that it was common knowledge that for years cyanuric acid was used in animal and fish feed in China. In the United States, cyanuric acid is often used as a disinfectant in swimming pools.
Two of the chemical makers said feed producers here used it because it was high in nitrogen, enabling feed producers to artificially increase the protein reading of the feed.
I’m beginning to think we will never determine with any certainty just what caused the contamination to pet food that led to the deaths of possibly thousands of cats and dogs all over the world.
In case you haven’t heard, Menu Foods has expanded their recall list.
I have a migraine but I really wanted to make sure you all knew about this. That’s why I’m going to just post 3 paragraphs from two articles and let you go back to the links to read them both.
Both have to do with the FDA investigation into the causes of the contamination found in some recalled pet foods. One includes information about the possibility that you or I may have eaten an animal that ate the tainted food. Nice, huh?
From the first article
Scientists from Canada and the United States say they have new evidence for why dogs and cats died after eating contaminated pet food.
Owners of more than 4,000 pets have complained to the federal Food and Drug Administration that their animals died after eating food that was later recalled.
Inspectors found melamine in the tainted products, but not at levels that would normally kill. But researchers now say that it may have mixed with another compound — cyanuric acid — to produce crystals that may have been deadly.
From the second article
People have eaten millions of chickens that were given feed tainted with recalled pet food, federal officials said Tuesday, though they said the threat to human health is minimal.
The announcement came after an investigation of chicken farms in Indiana found that 38 of the facilities had given contaminated feed to poultry raised for human consumption, and that 2.5 million to 3 million people ate them.
The officials added that they expect to discover that chickens on possibly hundreds of farms in other states were also given tainted feed.
