I just finished reading Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City. I've been an admirer of the work Ben Chavis has done at American Indian Public Charter for some time. He took a school which was going to be closed for poor academic achievement in 1999 and turned it into one of the highest scoring schools in the state. Last year, 88.1% of the school's Hispanic students scored at grade-level on the Language Arts and Math CSTs. At the school, 100% of 8th graders take Algebra I. Last year 100% of those students were proficient on the Algebra I CST.

What he's done at the school, and what others are doing at schools who are utilizing his methods is incredible. I thought the book did a great job of sharing both his personal story, as well as the story of his school, his students and his methods. One of his former teachers, Carey Blakely co-wrote the book from Dr. Chavis' perspective. I thought she did a wonderful job. It was an enjoyable read. I think we need a few more Ben Chavis' running around our educational system.

I just finished reading Sergeant Nibley, Ph.D.:Memories of an Unlikely Screaming Eagle. I thought it was a great book. Hugh Nibley was a very interesting person. In this book, his son Alex took many of Hugh's recollections, letters and diary writings and inserts them between historical accounts from others of World War II in Europe. Sergeant Nibley, a college professor enlisted at the beginning of the war and ended up right in the midst of our country's intelligence efforts and he found himself involved in the Normandy invasion and other historic actions.

I thought his perspective as an outsider, in the middle of the action was a unique one. He discusses the insanity of the military, as well as the genuine humanity that can happen in the middle of a war. I'd recommend this book for anyone interested in a different look at World War II.

I just finished reading a book that I got for a Christmas gift. I heard Marcus Luttrell tell his story on the Glenn Beck show late last year. Luttrell and three of his fellow Navy SEALS were on a mission in Afghanistan that went terribly, terribly wrong. The incredible heroism and courage that he described was phenomenal. I was really looking forward to reading the book. Read the rest of this post!

While I was gone to the beach yesterday, Apple's Steve Jobs did a keynote at the World Wide Developer Conference. One of his "oh and one more thing" comments at the end discussed the new version of Safari being included in the Leopard. In addition to development on Leopard, they've also ported Safari 3 to Windows XP and Vista, as well as OS X 10.4. The Beta version for both OS X 10.4 and Windows XP/Vista is now available on their web site for download.

According to Apple, Safari is twice as fast as Internet Explorer and 1.6 times as fast as Firefox on Windows XP.

I've been running the OS X 10.4 version this morning and so far, I'm very impressed. For my Windows-loving friends, give it a try and let me know how it works on Windows. You can download it and see all the propaganda at http://www.apple.com/safari/.

I was happy to see this San Jose' Mercury News editorial demonstrating that the Mercury News editorial board recognizes the importance of second grade standards testing for public school students.

Misguided opponents of statewide education testing are waging guerrilla war, trying to shoot down tests for the youngest students while also taking aim at a familiar target, the high school exit exam. It will take Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to defend them.

What's most vulnerable are standardized reading and math tests for second-graders. Budget committees in the Legislature have stripped money for them.

The timing is bad. The recently released Getting Down to Facts, the extensive Stanford-led education study, stressed the need for statewide data to guide upcoming decisions on education reform. Soon the state will finally have in place a student identifier system that will track students' progress over time. It will be even more important to begin collecting data early, when students are acquiring basic skills.

We're sympathetic with teachers' complaints that the STAR tests, which form the basis for a schools ranking, are wearing on young, fidgety children, even when the five-hour tests are spread over more than a week. It's a particular strain on English learners who have to take yet another battery of tests.

But the value of the tests outweighs lost classroom time. The tests provide early indicators of which individual students are falling behind, which teachers may not be educating to state standards, and which schools are struggling. As it is, the results of the second-grade tests, given in May, aren't available until third grade. Throw the testing back a year, and problems may not be picked up until a child is in fourth grade. Crucial time for intervention will have been lost.

I'm very happy to see the recognition of the importance of testing for second graders. These students can't wait until the fall of the fourth-grade year for their parents or even their teachers to know where they stand. Dropping second grade testing would just be the first step in dumping testing in other grades as well. Let's hope the Governor stands up to the anti-testing crowd and protects public school accountability.