• Bonus One includes descriptions of each song in two formats. You can download them for audio reception in both English and Spanish, or you can read the text descriptions which are provided in English only.
• Bonus Two includes creative activities related to each song. Some contain the sheet music for some songs and others provide illustrations which can be duplicated. The cognitive development of the students in different grades has been taken into account so that the songs can be relevant from P-K through and Intermediate grades and higher.

The following article appeared in the Indy STAR July 29. I’ve included a link to the photo. Juana has been a terrific role model, especially for young Latino Women.

By Cathy Kightlinger

Four area female leaders, deemed solid role models for young women, got top honors Wednesday from Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis.

The organization — which aims to empower girls to be confident, prepared and proud of themselves — annually gives out its Touchstone Awards to women who are role models in the Indianapolis area.

One of those honored Wednesday, Fay H. Williams, helped found Girls Inc. in 1969.

“Circumstances are different now (for women),” Williams said. “We have had the women’s movement and the civil rights movement, but the issues are the same — gender equality, removal of barriers and developing self-esteem.”

Williams said she was proud to have helped found an organization that has sustained itself by helping girls become mature women for 40 years.

“It’s still growing, evolving.”

This year’s honorees are:

Myra Borshoff Cook, founding principal of Borshoff, an Indianapolis public relations firm established in 1984. Cook is known for her ability to gracefully handle big PR conundrums.

Among her roles, she has served as public relations counsel to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay and his team and leads an account with J.D. Byrider, the country’s largest used car and finance company. Irsay made an appearance to congratulate Cook personally during the event at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown.

Becky Skillman, who has been Indiana’s lieutenant governor since 2005.

In a second term with Gov. Mitch Daniels, she has helped move the administration’s initiatives through the legislature. Skillman also has served as president of the Association of Indiana Counties and spent 12 years in the state Senate.

Juana O. Watson, founder of Badges Without Borders, which educates public safety personnel in the Spanish language and culture to improve their services to the Latino community.

She also founded two Latino/Hispanic community centers, co-founded the Indiana Diversity Women’s Network and was senior adviser for Latino and immigrant affairs to Daniels.

We pay lip service to the development of “standards-based objectives” forming the basis of our curriculum development. Tests, we are told, should align with those standards. Fine. No one would object to that premise. Yet we are leaving out several questions that are not being addressed:

• How should adults be able to perform in order to be considered productive workers, responsible family members, and concerned citizens?
• What attitudes, perspectives and skills should each person have to become aware of, concerned about, and competent in dealing effectively with the many social problems they will encounter as adults?
• How can these ideas be developed with increasing complexity and skill development from infancy to adulthood?
• What roles fall upon schools to provide the background leading to the successful attainment of these kinds of concerns?
• How can the schools nurture the collaboration of families, churches, social agencies, and state, local and federal governments to support the development of environments that lead students toward these broad goals?

Once we reach a general consensus about the kinds of behaviors that exhibit the kinds of persons we envision, then we can develop standards that are reflective of these goals. However, are these the sole province of schools? Of course not. Preparing young people to enter tomorrow’s world rests upon  many sectors that students encounter and react with every day. The key toward success rests with those persons in each sector recognizing their roles in the process and how they can help students to interact within all of the parts of their learning environment.

This becomes extremely important because the success or failure of student learning rests with many different groups and organizations and is not the sole province of the schools. Actually, the emphasis that each group has will differ from one community to another.  Therefore, it is important that each community develops leaders that can guide groups and organizations to work together effectively, moving toward a shared vision of what kinds of adults the community wants its young people to become.

The role of the schools becomes extremely important, but it doesn’t exist alone. Its role becomes one of not only providing specific learning opportunities for its students but also of leading the community through guidance toward a shared vision.

Once these goals have resulted in shared objectives, the means to assess progress must be developed. Is this a school project? One for the community? A state program? Perhaps a federal activity? The answer has to “YES” to all! In varying degrees there are roles for each. The relative importance of each will be different in different communities.

For example, at the federal level we currently have the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Each year a sampling of students nation-wide is taken and general levels of reading and math attainment are calculated. This is a fitting role on a national scale. There are no results for single school districts or even regions within a state. We get a broad, general picture, not results to identify local strengths or weaknesses.

The problem with the NAEP is not with the general administration of the tests. Rather it is in the uses of the tests for state comparisons when no one has spelled out standards that meet the concerns of each state. Validity of results come into question when there isn’t even agreement that the test actually meets each state’s priorities consistently.

The most important problem we face with current assessments whether administered locally or state-wide is that one-time short answer testing has become the alpha and omega of evaluation for individual students, for teachers, for schools and school districts, and even for states. Whether it’s a state test, an SAT, or a locally administered achievement test,  current public assumptions rest on short-answer test scores. Claiming that these results are valid for general purposes of educational attainment is ridiculous. They measure a narrow base of learning and skills. To make the leap from these conclusions to assessing student success or failure, teacher effectiveness or ineffectiveness, or school achievement levels is a travesty.

Everyone should support valid assessments both within schools and for the learning that takes place out of school. But it has to be linked to the goals and expectations similar to those identified above.

• Where should at least 13 years of education lead our students?
• How can we build goals and objectives to move students toward our vision?
• What tools can we use that will give us valid measures of how well students are progressing?
• How can these tools enable us to help students, both individually and as groups, move more effectively toward our targets?

If, as communities, as states, and as a nation, we can begin to make strides in these directions, then we have a chance to again become the world’s leader in educational attainment.

What specific things can be done? Here’s an excerpt from an article in Edutopia, the journal of the George Lucas Education Foundation. Read it. React to it. Comment on it. Let’s get to thinking and acting to make a difference.

How Should We Measure Student Learning?: The Many Forms of Assessment

The demands of the today’s world require students learn many skills. A knowledge-based, highly technological economy requires that students master higher-order thinking skills and that they are able to see the relationships among seemingly diverse concepts. These abilities — recall, analysis, comparison, inference, and evaluation — will be the skills of a literate twenty-first-century citizen. And they are the kinds of skills that aren’t measured by our current high-stakes tests.

In addition, skills such as teamwork, collaboration, and moral character — traits that aren’t measured in a typical standardized tests — are increasingly important. Businesses are always looking for employees with people skills and the ability to get along well with coworkers.

Multiple Forms of Assessment

We know that the typical multiple-choice and short-answer tests aren’t the only way, or necessarily the best way, to gauge a student’s knowledge and abilities. Many states are incorporating performance-based assessments into their standardized tests or adding assessment vehicles such as student portfolios and presentations as additional measures of student understanding.

These rigorous, multiple forms of assessment require students to apply what they’re learning to real world tasks. These include standards-based projects and assignments that require students to apply their knowledge and skills, such as designing a building or investigating the water quality of a nearby pond; clearly defined rubrics (or criteria) to facilitate a fair and consistent evaluation of student work; and opportunities for students to benefit from the feedback of teachers, peers, and outside experts.

With these formative and summative types of assessment come the ability to give students immediate feedback. They also allow a teacher to immediately intervene, to change course when assessments show that a particular lesson or strategy isn’t working for a student, or to offer new challenges for students who’ve mastered a concept or skill. Return to our Assessment page to learn more.

Let us know what you think.

The Arizona governor has just signed yet another controversial bill banning ethnic studies courses from being taught in public schools. What is wrong with this picture? Even the United Nations is getting involved.

Most American universities offer some kind of ethnic studies. Indiana University has wonderful programs such as Latino Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, African-American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and so on. These programs are very important to all the students. They bring awareness and understanding among cultures. They provide a broad treatment of the various forms of diversity common in today’s schools and universities.

Ethnic studies help students who belong to an ethnic group become more aware of who they are. Students who don’t belong to the particular ethnic group being studied are able to learn about another culture with its traditions, ideas, history and geography. This exposure allows students to become more open-minded about cultures other than their own.

Sociologists who study culture in terms of various competing social groups within a society have developed a number of concepts that are helpful in understanding many terms used in ethnic studies programs. Five of these most commonly used to describe social groups, which share important cultural elements but are smaller than a whole society, are subculture, micro culture, ethnic group, minority group, and people of color.

The term ethnic group refers to groups that share a common heritage. When people define themselves as African-American, Hispanic-Latino, Jewish or Polish, they are identifying with a group of people who share common histories, ancestries, celebrations and traditions, who enjoy similar foods, and who might speak a common language (other than English). Consequently, people can live in one nation and claim one nationality, while maintaining ancestral ties to one another.

There is no need to be afraid of ethnic studies programs since they encourage all students to become better people by offering an understanding of what diversity is all about. It is about teaching all students in a society that is growing more diverse each year. It is about changes in schools and in the larger society in which those schools are embedded. It is equally about change within oneself, for change in the larger dimensions of society cannot occur without significant changes in one’s own perception, attitudes and skills.

I graduated from Indiana University’s Latino Studies program, and most of the classes I took were related to the history of education, Latino/Hispanic literature, citizenship, identity, etc. These classes helped me appreciate all cultures. I learned about social justice on the one hand and about inequities in education on the other. Ultimately, these culture studies courses taught me to appreciate the history of this great country.

Our ethnicity is as much a part of each of us as is our DNA. To refuse to help each other understand our many ethnic heritages, our traditions and values that have evolved over generations is to deny us learning about a part of that which makes us human.

Dr. Watson is right. Appreciating and understanding each other’s ethnicity can make us all better, more concerned and empathetic citizens. To deny the importance of such understanding robs all of us from really understanding the mosaic which is the United States.. Remember: “E Pluribus Unum.” Out of many we become one.

By Trey Kerby

In general, people in the sports world keep their political leanings to themselves. Sure, there are a few guys who regularly speak out on political issues, but for the most part that’s considered bad business. As Michael Jordan put it, “Republicans buy shoes too.” That’s why what the Phoenix Suns are doing is so amazing.

The team will be wearing its “Los Suns” jerseys for Wednesday night’s Game 2 against the San Antonio Spurs “to honor [the] Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation.” Awesome.

The decision to wear the jerseys came from way up the corporate ladder, as team owner Robert Sarver suggested the team wear their Noche Latina alternates.

Sarver, who was born and raised in Tucson, said frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called “a flawed state law.”

“However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question,” he said, “and Arizona’s already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them.”

The Suns voted on the jerseys and unanimously decided to wear them for Cinco De Mayo. As if he weren’t likeable enough, Phoenix guard Steve Nash(notes) succinctly summed up the Suns’ feelings on the issue.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Nash said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think the law is very misguided. I think it’s, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it’s very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us.”

And it’s not just the Suns who are speaking out on this issue.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is on board, and the team even tried to get their “Los Spurs” jerseys, though it was too late to do so. When asked for approval to wear the jerseys, the NBA “was all for it,” said Suns general manager Steve Kerr. Furthermore, NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter issued a press release, denouncing the law.

The recent passage of the new immigration law in Arizona is disappointing and disturbing. The National Basketball Players Association strongly supports the repeal or immediate modification of this legislation. Any attempt to encourage, tolerate or legalize racial profiling is offensive and incompatible with basic notions of fairness and equal protection. A law that unfairly targets one group is ultimately a threat to all.

We applaud the actions of Phoenix Suns players and management and join them in taking a stand against the misguided efforts of Arizona lawmakers. We are consulting with our members and our player leadership to determine the most effective way for our union to continue to voice our opposition to this legislation.

It’s not much, just an extra three letters on the front of a tanktop, but it means a lot more. As Kerr said, the Suns want to “make sure that people understand that we know what’s going on and we don’t agree with the law itself.” For a sports team, that’s huge.

Related: Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs

Juan and I met a few years ago when he came to the U. S. from Mexico on business. He spoke in a forum I ran for my company, Eye2theWorld. I really liked Juan. He said what was on his mind in no uncertain terms.

“Rueff,” he said with a serious look on his face, “I gotta run. I’m on my way home to Mexico. Just been to a meeting with a bunch of Americans here in Chicago. They’re as bad as the ones who are invading my country!”

“Invading?” I replied, “What do you mean?”

“Rueff”, he retorted, “they’re coming down by the millions. Taking over Acapulco and Cancun. Trying to live by their lifestyle and not giving a hoot about blending into our culture. It’s really bad, Rueff. They’re lazy to boot. All they want to do is lie out on the beach during the day and party all night. They’re a drain on our economy.”

“But Juan,” I replied, “think of all the money they’re bringing down. That’s a benefit isn’t it?”

“Sure as heck it isn’t. Think of all the expense of building those hotels and restaurants just so they could have a place to stay and eat. Why, they don’t even want to eat our food. They want what they call ‘real American food’ like pizza. I tell you, Rueff, they’re stupid and lazy and good-for-nothing loafers. Look, I learned English so I could work with people from the USA, but they won’t even learn Spanish, our national language, so they can understand us better. And besides, they don’t want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo; they want Cuatro de Julio!”

“Well, Juan, with all the shouting and concerns about Arizona, I suppose people have a concern.”

“A concern, Rueff? I’ll tell you about a concern. All the noise is turning Arizona into a Din of Inequity, that’s what! Anyway, I’m going back to my little town outside Mexico City and relax from  toda esta locura Americana!”

With those words Juan departed to catch his plane, and I sank down in my seat to think about what we just discussed. “Din of inequity?”

A decade ago, California had the same issues regarding undocumented immigration. But California is very different from Arizona. Latinos mobilized in California gaining support from other ethnic groups. That is why harsh immigration laws did not pass there. Other states have signed similar bills in the past, but many have been challenged in the Supreme Court. Oklahoma is the latest example of what could happen when these bills become law.

Some Latino advocates argue that Arizona’s fast-growing Latino population will eventually begin flexing its political muscle to force a more moderate course on immigration. Nearly half of all K-12 students and babies born in the state are Latino.

Antonio Gonzalez of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, which helped register more than 55,000 new Latino voters in Arizona between 2004 and 2008, said, “Demography is destiny.”

Many Latinos are worried that this bill will bring more profiling against anyone who looks Latino and has an accent.

Even President Obama called the bill “misguided.” He is instructing the Justice Department to see if it is legal. He said, “The federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level . . .or leave the door open to irresponsibility by others.”

He also said “Recent efforts in Arizona threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”