Why Have Goals?

Warriors, in my “Purse Strings” article, you were promised a follow-up article further looking at the connections between SEL (Social Emotional Learning), the SMART Goals, and, the HARD Goals.

Briefly, before we get to that follow-up information, I’d like to point out something I didn’t in the original article. The connections between who funds each of these types of activities in each of our States is worth looking into. However, don’t only look at the wealthiest folks, but look at their foundations. Look at the traditionally conservative or liberal policy think-tanks. Are there connections between these groups? Are there partnerships? A great conservative example is the AFC (American Federation for Children). Besty DeVos has been instrumental in AFC’s work in the States. Does AFC have an affiliate in your State? As far as an liberal example, try to see if your State has any affiliate offices for the Center for American Progress (CAP).
(*Note: A resource I found where the political spectrum of policy groups is featured is the Citizens Source.)
Also, what PACs (Political Action Committees) are active in education in your State?
More information about PACs and how they are broken down can be found at OpenSecrets.com.

Why We Need to Know The Money Trail:

ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) not only mandates MORE P3s (public private partnerships), it will reward them for overreaching into education!
Find out what are they supporting or funding in the War Vs. the Core.

 

SEL, Grit, SMART, HARD, And American Education:

To quickly review the connections between these  encompass the global education design for “grit”. Meaning, all education must be a certain way in order to be deemed as ‘successful’. Put another way, per the NC ESSA State Draft Plan (I found it in other State Plans as well), ‘grit’ is for ‘college and career readiness’ (CCR). CCR is another phrase for ‘post-secondary readiness’! See the evidence here.

By passing WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) in 2014, ESSA (Every Student Succeeds) and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)Acts in 2015, renewing the HEA’s (Higher Education Act) funding in 2015, our federal government has done a ‘bang up’ job of mandating we’ll see MORE grit, SEL, SMART, and HARD parameters in ALL educational levels. 

Here are two visuals to explain SMART Goals and HARD Goals:

You’ll find plenty of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Revelant, and Trackable) and HARD (Heart-felt, Animated, Required, and Difficult) in every digital resource your students encounter.  All those ‘personalized courses’ are an example.

Teachers will also face the same constraints. HOW? Professional Development in ESSA mandates teachers and other educational leaders MUST be credentialed in everything post-secondary readiness so their students can measure up. Teachers/leaders/students will be collectively graded on how successful what is taught and learned. It’s called whole school grading. ESSA will reward or punish States where schools do not measure up. Likewise, teachers/leaders will be rewarded or punished if not properly credentialed or badged.

Here are some vital resources you’ll need for SMART and HARD Goals:

1) As we know, there’s a 2013 U.S. Dept. of Education publication about GRIT.
It unabashedly connects CCSS to SEL. Find it here.  (*Note: you’ll find mega bucks Bill and Melinda Gates had a huge hand in helping create this document.)

2)  SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) Goals. Originally designed for business, it appears they’ve made their way into education.  Here’s a document from the State of VA. It’s from the Human Resources Dept of the University of VA. It’s clearly visible this document was for use in higher education.

Warriors, we know higher education has been overrun with corporate/federal interference to help embed that cradle to grave stream global education needs for all citizens. I’ve covered this multiple times here on my blog. WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and HEA (Higher Education Act) are tools for this. ESSA’s the same.

3) What happens when GRIT and SMART are combined? Find it here.
3a) From CA, a 6th grade Career Roadmap using SMART.

4) Below, Lifelong Learning Labs has this definition of SMART for education. As you can see it’s not too far removed from the business model (‘SMART’ in business stands for Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic, and Timely.). LLL also calls SMART Goals ‘mind tools’.

5) From the Science and Arts School at the University of PA, the 12 Point GRIT Scale used in classrooms across America.
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HARD Goals supposedly are to make your brain engage and cause your performance levels soar..at least in the business world. According to this blog article about HARD Goals, the concept has been around a long time. These are to be the ‘softer’, more personal skills you have or can groom in others. According to this same article, Leadership IQ’s Mark Murphy has created the latest acroynm. So, who is Murphy? From his Leadership IQ website, this excerpt about his ties to the CCSS Machine and global workforce/education.
“With a reputation for brilliant, yet immediately actionable, insights about leadership, he’s trained leaders at the United Nations, Harvard Business School, the Clinton Foundation, Microsoft, MasterCard, SHRM, and hundreds more organizations.  Mark leads one of the world’s largest leadership skills studies, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and U.S. News & World Report. Mark has also appeared on CNN, NPR, CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC’s 20/20, and Fox Business News.” Source 

1) According to Tony Gurr, he created HARD Goals for education/teaching back in 2012.
His blog entry reveals he ‘borrowed’ Mark Murphy’s business model. See it here. Gurr’s based in Turkey, by the way. According to his LinkedIn profile, he’s got his finger on the HARD/SMART, English Language Learning (ELL) and, English Language Teaching (ELT) education reform. See his ties to Dubai, too. Gurr’s a presentor in this on-line course for teachers available to all education choices.

2) From the “Read Less, Do More” website, Murphy’s summary on how HARD goals are to be used. Read this and see if you do not recognize some of the techniques used in classrooms.

3) If you don’t have time to read the summary, look below for a visual example of HARD goals from 2014. Entire Slide Share presentation, here.

Warriors, ‘personalized learning’ uses SEL, GRIT, SMART, and HARD!

4) Murphy’s lastest article on HARD vs SMART for Forbes, states both are best for career development. Knowing how aligned to this mandate ESSA is, look for more of this type of BS in classrooms.

5) Tying Grit to Education Savings Accounts, will not only encompass personalized learning, but CBE (Competency Based Education). Big money groups in our States fund these! A ‘leader’ in this is The Jeb Bush Foundation for Excellence in Education. However, FEE is hardly the only big-buck-group in this education reform. Here’s a previously published article where I laid it all out for you.

Closing:

Warriors, I hope between the strings and goals I’ve presented for you in the 2 related articles, you can get an idea that ‘local control’ as promised by the CCSS Machine is a big, fat lie. Locally controlled education should not have nebulous purse strings or someone else’s business modeled priorities as the guiding framework. Local education should be OF the people, BY the people, and, FOR the people.

One truth you can still share with your State’s leaders/funders, etc. is that this federal statute is STILL being broken every day ESSA’s implementation continues. Every day WIOA’s workforce ursurping of education continues, furthers this breach. With the HEA being re-written, the egregious overreaches will continue. Will your State speak up?!