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May. 25th, 2012 05:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* More on that school in Massachusetts that routinely tortures non and semi verbal autistic children. (I think torture is a fair term in that their treatment would be considered a war crime under the geneva convention if they were enemy soldiers and our prison system wouldn't allow it as it's cruel and inhumane punishment. They are being teated this way for things like dress code violations or not tking off their coats): http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/24/kth-mass-school-called-house-of-horrors/?hpt=ac_mid
* To date, Mitt Romney's plans to "help" working and middle class people go to college is to double their interest payments, halve the number of Pell grants so as to give that money to rich folks on Wallstreet, and to tell people who won't be able to afford college thanks to his policies to "shop around." Uh... thanks?
* By the why, Mitt Romney is outright lying about class size not mattering. I did a paper on this back in the day. You look at the meta studies, that take all the reputable studies of the effect of class size with reasonable methodology, and it's the next most important thing after fully funding head start as far as outcomes like lower drop out rates and higher grades and test scores, assuming you define "small class size" as eighteen students or less. Guess what private schools do? They boast about small class size and the good ones promise eighteen students or less per class. Why do they do that? Because it works. Sure, Mr. Romney can hire people to prove what he wants, especially if he didn't have them correct for SAS. (It's not fair to compare a rich district with upper middle class kids to performance in a district that's starved for funds and has a large incidence of students in poverty, students with learning and/or behavior issues, and a large immigrant population, for example. To do a proper study, you need similar background mix in the same school with the same teachers/teaching methods). Similarly, if you define "small class size" as under 30, you aren't going to find a statistical difference, because multiple studies have shown that eighteen is the most students you can have and everyone still gets enough individual attention to optimize learning. If you know that you can easily design a study to prove no difference by calling 29 students "small class size," and 31 large. I haven't seen Romney's study, but I know how hard it is to correct for variables in education research, so I also know how easy it is to massage data if you are not interested in scientific accuracy, but rather in justifying punishing the children of the poor by cutting funding to their schools.
Mitt Romney is liar. If he weren't a liar, he would be citing responsible peer reviewed studies instead of claiming his one dubious, partisan study trumps decades honest research done by people who are trying to find the truth rather than justify policy.
* The average US temperature in 2011 was 2.6 degrees higher than the previous hottest year since they started recording. The Republicans continue to insist global warming is fake, what with it not being so far advanced it still snows in winter. Who are you going to believe, facts or things made up by Corporationss to support their desire not to not regulated? Sigh.
* "Obama administration orders prisons to step up efforts against prison rape or lose money:" http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-survey-finds-almost-1-in-10-former-state-inmates-report-being-sexually-victimized-in-prison/2012/05/17/gIQAdVNMVU_story.html
* "The Tories are having a Free Vote on our Rights:" http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2012/05/tories-are-having-free-vote-on-our.html
* Trans Olympic history: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/05/keelin-godsey-making-another-attempt-at.html
* Hector has the idea in his head, that if he is particularly sneaky clawing his way across my back he won't notice he's come to steal my food. I suspect you have already spotted the major flaw in his plan.
* Note to self: when you smell burning plastic, check the dishwasher first before enlisting Squirrel in a while apartment search for burning insulation or wiring.
* I just alarmed myself by mistaking Mortensen for Michael York in this picture: http://cdn03.cdn.gofugyourself.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/145038287-419x629.jpg
* To date, Mitt Romney's plans to "help" working and middle class people go to college is to double their interest payments, halve the number of Pell grants so as to give that money to rich folks on Wallstreet, and to tell people who won't be able to afford college thanks to his policies to "shop around." Uh... thanks?
* By the why, Mitt Romney is outright lying about class size not mattering. I did a paper on this back in the day. You look at the meta studies, that take all the reputable studies of the effect of class size with reasonable methodology, and it's the next most important thing after fully funding head start as far as outcomes like lower drop out rates and higher grades and test scores, assuming you define "small class size" as eighteen students or less. Guess what private schools do? They boast about small class size and the good ones promise eighteen students or less per class. Why do they do that? Because it works. Sure, Mr. Romney can hire people to prove what he wants, especially if he didn't have them correct for SAS. (It's not fair to compare a rich district with upper middle class kids to performance in a district that's starved for funds and has a large incidence of students in poverty, students with learning and/or behavior issues, and a large immigrant population, for example. To do a proper study, you need similar background mix in the same school with the same teachers/teaching methods). Similarly, if you define "small class size" as under 30, you aren't going to find a statistical difference, because multiple studies have shown that eighteen is the most students you can have and everyone still gets enough individual attention to optimize learning. If you know that you can easily design a study to prove no difference by calling 29 students "small class size," and 31 large. I haven't seen Romney's study, but I know how hard it is to correct for variables in education research, so I also know how easy it is to massage data if you are not interested in scientific accuracy, but rather in justifying punishing the children of the poor by cutting funding to their schools.
Mitt Romney is liar. If he weren't a liar, he would be citing responsible peer reviewed studies instead of claiming his one dubious, partisan study trumps decades honest research done by people who are trying to find the truth rather than justify policy.
* The average US temperature in 2011 was 2.6 degrees higher than the previous hottest year since they started recording. The Republicans continue to insist global warming is fake, what with it not being so far advanced it still snows in winter. Who are you going to believe, facts or things made up by Corporationss to support their desire not to not regulated? Sigh.
* "Obama administration orders prisons to step up efforts against prison rape or lose money:" http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-survey-finds-almost-1-in-10-former-state-inmates-report-being-sexually-victimized-in-prison/2012/05/17/gIQAdVNMVU_story.html
* "The Tories are having a Free Vote on our Rights:" http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2012/05/tories-are-having-free-vote-on-our.html
* Trans Olympic history: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/05/keelin-godsey-making-another-attempt-at.html
* Hector has the idea in his head, that if he is particularly sneaky clawing his way across my back he won't notice he's come to steal my food. I suspect you have already spotted the major flaw in his plan.
* Note to self: when you smell burning plastic, check the dishwasher first before enlisting Squirrel in a while apartment search for burning insulation or wiring.
* I just alarmed myself by mistaking Mortensen for Michael York in this picture: http://cdn03.cdn.gofugyourself.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/145038287-419x629.jpg
