We're alive! It's summer! We've already abandoned our latest church, since our friends left with their new baby. Can you believe their nerve? They spend their whole pregnancy here, and then they whisk that baby off before she's even two weeks old. Or something like that. (No hard feelings, guys. We do miss you, though!) We're now attending sporadically at a different Catholic church, and we're just gonna wait it out until we move again. Unless someone awesome invites us to their awesome church. It could happen.
Baby H is all toddler. Examples:
Talking: Every morning when she wakes up, and anytime sleep of any kind is mentioned: "No, plaaaaaayyy!"
Opinions: "Baby H, are you ready to go?" (This has always been rhetoric before.) "No, pooping." Well then. We were a few minutes late.
Emotions: We got a new book from the library. She cries big, real, sad cries every time we get to the line about soap in the eyes. If it's bedtime, she doesn't quite recover before falling asleep.
Gross motor: What?! This is the child who didn't roll over until 14 months. Nothing impressive going on here. She can climb into a chair now, though.
Relationships: She remembers people better than we do. Honestly.
Chronology: She's started saying "Two Auga" when asked how old she is. She must have heard us answer a few times.
Favorites: Pool time, other people, laughing, running in circles, babies, nakey time and animals. Soccer, reading, "tackling," and fake nap time are high on the list also.
Eating: I made us a box of mac & cheese for lunch. I think she ate at least half. I was still hungry.
I could go on, but I have to save some material for next time. Soon, for reals.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Church in the Land of Strangers
So, lest my last post left you feeling all doom-and-gloom, let me first assure you that we are attending a church full of (as far as week can tell) terribly lovely people. This church hunt was our most discouraging, and I am now totally on board with all those people who decry the state of church in America. I'm so sorry for ever judging you.
Second, to all who attend churches who do not deserve to be placed in that decried state, let me plead with you: Please, please, please say hello to the new family. If you're not sure if they are new, you can always ask how long they've been coming. If you want to tell them about your awesome nursery, cool. If they demure, emphasize how lovely it is to have families worship together in the sanctuary. (If you don't think this..... well, that's a whole other post.) I'm hoping I can keep up with my own advice.
By the way, to our church in Small Town, Midwest- we miss you. We love you. You are so awesome. We were actually a little creeped out by your friendliness the first time we came. That's the way to do it. I might cry right now thinking about your awesomeness.
We tried what feels like many, many churches here. At least two we left partway though the service. Now, as I said before, we are certainly picky to a fault- but still. Both of the ones we left early, it was because no one seemed to be engaged in the service. Our current church has faults too (*cough* the music), but everyone has been perfectly lovely (i.e. they notice we exist), and it seems like they have a really nice community. It's a very small congregation, and they seem very committed to the church and one another. They have yet to invite us for dinner, but some people have been making some noises, so I think it's on the horizon. Everyone knows Baby H's name, even if people are still learning ours. (She is the only child under 4, so that does help.) It took a few weeks for anyone to mention how lovely it was to have her in the service, but I think that's only because they were so worried we would not figure out they had a nursery (it's usually not staffed, since we don't use it and Baby H is the only one under 4.)
The pastor is young, and sometimes seems to struggle to reach his congregation, but he tries hard and they encourage him. He says hello to us (win!) It's some crazy denomination that barely has communion and- fun fact- their baptism is not recognized by the Catholic Church. I kind of think that might be because they don't baptize... Phew, a quick Google search reveals that they do baptize believers. It could be worse. So yeah, their theology isn't really my favorite, but it's nothing crazy, and they work hard to put their faith into action. Since we're only here for two years, I can overlook some different theology.
But, the real reason we joined the church was that our friends did. K & B were friends with two sets of friends of ours from college- so while we never met them before we both moved here, we quickly became friends. We did some church hunting with them, and when we were down to two, we chose this one, because we already would have community there. Even though they'll be leaving long before we do (sniff), it's been so wonderful to go with them. We even have a tiny small group with them every other week! So, in addition to some other factors, and in spite of a few more (not just the music), that's why it's our new church home. It's good to settle in, start focusing on the positive instead of evaluating earnest work, and start working on building relationships.
Second, to all who attend churches who do not deserve to be placed in that decried state, let me plead with you: Please, please, please say hello to the new family. If you're not sure if they are new, you can always ask how long they've been coming. If you want to tell them about your awesome nursery, cool. If they demure, emphasize how lovely it is to have families worship together in the sanctuary. (If you don't think this..... well, that's a whole other post.) I'm hoping I can keep up with my own advice.
By the way, to our church in Small Town, Midwest- we miss you. We love you. You are so awesome. We were actually a little creeped out by your friendliness the first time we came. That's the way to do it. I might cry right now thinking about your awesomeness.
We tried what feels like many, many churches here. At least two we left partway though the service. Now, as I said before, we are certainly picky to a fault- but still. Both of the ones we left early, it was because no one seemed to be engaged in the service. Our current church has faults too (*cough* the music), but everyone has been perfectly lovely (i.e. they notice we exist), and it seems like they have a really nice community. It's a very small congregation, and they seem very committed to the church and one another. They have yet to invite us for dinner, but some people have been making some noises, so I think it's on the horizon. Everyone knows Baby H's name, even if people are still learning ours. (She is the only child under 4, so that does help.) It took a few weeks for anyone to mention how lovely it was to have her in the service, but I think that's only because they were so worried we would not figure out they had a nursery (it's usually not staffed, since we don't use it and Baby H is the only one under 4.)
The pastor is young, and sometimes seems to struggle to reach his congregation, but he tries hard and they encourage him. He says hello to us (win!) It's some crazy denomination that barely has communion and- fun fact- their baptism is not recognized by the Catholic Church. I kind of think that might be because they don't baptize... Phew, a quick Google search reveals that they do baptize believers. It could be worse. So yeah, their theology isn't really my favorite, but it's nothing crazy, and they work hard to put their faith into action. Since we're only here for two years, I can overlook some different theology.
But, the real reason we joined the church was that our friends did. K & B were friends with two sets of friends of ours from college- so while we never met them before we both moved here, we quickly became friends. We did some church hunting with them, and when we were down to two, we chose this one, because we already would have community there. Even though they'll be leaving long before we do (sniff), it's been so wonderful to go with them. We even have a tiny small group with them every other week! So, in addition to some other factors, and in spite of a few more (not just the music), that's why it's our new church home. It's good to settle in, start focusing on the positive instead of evaluating earnest work, and start working on building relationships.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Catholic Fail
E and I grew up Catholic, and we liked it. We entered non-denominational and Protestant groups quietly and naturally, because we liked them, not because we hated Catholicism. We like Catholicism. We do seem to have trouble liking Catholics.
Now, this is probably partly E's and my fault. We are not the most patient, long-suffering of people. Probably some of those Catholics we struggle with are beating our tushies in the game of long-suffering, just by putting up with the likes of us for five minutes. But up until recently, I have always been able to say we left the church very amicably, and that we might return someday. We found more vibrant, active, community centered churches outside of Catholicism, but I always hoped if we found the right community and put in some long-term effort (difficult when you move every 2 years), we'd settle into a vibrant, active, parish with a strong community.
Catholicism here in our new town seemed so promising. I heard good things about the (relatively distant) history of the parish here, so we started attending. No one said hello. It was overcrowded. There was no coffee after, or Bible study groups to get to know people or hear from Jesus. It's a good thing we knew the liturgy, because Catholic churches never come with cheat sheets- I can't believe a non-Catholic would ever come for a second visit, to be honest, after sitting awkwardly through the first (probably while everyone else is standing or kneeling.) Compared to seeker-friendly Protestant churches, things did not look good, but whatever- we grew up Catholic, so I can't say I was surprised. But then, we tried to join two different types of groups for families. We had to find them, and call, and call again. And then, they had no openings for us.
I'm gonna say it again- They had NO OPENINGS for us! And this, in the end, is what made me unable to say Catholicism and I parted ways amicably. My time in Protestant Land taught me one thing about evangelism- when some one ASKS to be closer to people and Jesus, you MAKE ROOM. I love Catholicism for the liturgy, the history, the awe, the focus on what God did rather than our response. I think people need the seasons, the rules, the vast community and body that is there. But, I think it will die unless they can make some room.
Maybe, one day, I'll be part of the church to encourage them in this. But, I don't think it will be here.
Now, this is probably partly E's and my fault. We are not the most patient, long-suffering of people. Probably some of those Catholics we struggle with are beating our tushies in the game of long-suffering, just by putting up with the likes of us for five minutes. But up until recently, I have always been able to say we left the church very amicably, and that we might return someday. We found more vibrant, active, community centered churches outside of Catholicism, but I always hoped if we found the right community and put in some long-term effort (difficult when you move every 2 years), we'd settle into a vibrant, active, parish with a strong community.
Catholicism here in our new town seemed so promising. I heard good things about the (relatively distant) history of the parish here, so we started attending. No one said hello. It was overcrowded. There was no coffee after, or Bible study groups to get to know people or hear from Jesus. It's a good thing we knew the liturgy, because Catholic churches never come with cheat sheets- I can't believe a non-Catholic would ever come for a second visit, to be honest, after sitting awkwardly through the first (probably while everyone else is standing or kneeling.) Compared to seeker-friendly Protestant churches, things did not look good, but whatever- we grew up Catholic, so I can't say I was surprised. But then, we tried to join two different types of groups for families. We had to find them, and call, and call again. And then, they had no openings for us.
I'm gonna say it again- They had NO OPENINGS for us! And this, in the end, is what made me unable to say Catholicism and I parted ways amicably. My time in Protestant Land taught me one thing about evangelism- when some one ASKS to be closer to people and Jesus, you MAKE ROOM. I love Catholicism for the liturgy, the history, the awe, the focus on what God did rather than our response. I think people need the seasons, the rules, the vast community and body that is there. But, I think it will die unless they can make some room.
Maybe, one day, I'll be part of the church to encourage them in this. But, I don't think it will be here.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
So, what do you do? Research Revealed
Friends and family often ask me “So, what are you working on?” Such kind-hearted questions of loyal interest usually cause a cacophony of reactions in any academic’s brain: How should I answer? How many details do they really want about my research? Are they prone to narcolepsy?
Since I started my research fellowship, I’ve gotten many more questions about what types of research I’m working on and what, if anything, I’m learning. As we near the end of the fall semester, and the halfway point through the first year of my fellowship, I thought it might be a good time to take stock of what I’ve learned. Perhaps others will find the following few bullets of results more enlightening and interesting than I’m sure many of my in-person responses to such questions have been in the past.
1. To probably no one’s surprise, tuition costs at public colleges and universities have been rising ever more rapidly over the past decade or so. Just how fast you might ask? By nearly 200 percent since 1992 – which is much much faster than inflation (represented by the CPI-U line below):
And this figure tells us it doesn’t really matter which type of public college you look at – prices were on the climb everywhere. Underlying these trends are huge year-to-year increases in tuition and fees (often in the ballpark of 15 to 20 percent!) at public institutions across the country (e.g., California riots!?). Such increases were especially prevalent after the year 2000.
With a colleague, I’ve learned that large increases in the cost of attending 4-year public institutions of higher learning are causing college-going students to do at least two things: (1) Substitute down within state systems of higher education – they become less likely to go to the top, flagship schools, and more likely to go to less selective 4-years or 2-year institutions; (2) Go out of state to college, rather than attend local 4-year schools that have become relatively more expensive. Further, these effects are largest among low-income student populations. Both findings hold potentially deleterious implications for college completion rates and the robustness of local labor markets.
2. For a while now, economists and policymakers have been concerned about the effects mandatory high-stakes high school exit exams might have on student dropout. Using district-level dropout data from 1998 to 2008, I find that the existence of an exit exam is associated with an increase in the high school dropout rate of about 0.55 percentage points, relative to if no consequential exit exam policy were in place.
Turns out, this effect is concentrated among 12th grade students (1.44 percentage point increase), minority groups, and is almost exclusively driven by states in which students do not have access to alternative graduation pathways (i.e., replacement educational experiences for those unable to pass some or all of the state’s exit exam).
To put these findings in context, you might ask what average dropout rates looked like over this period of time… and if you did… I could happily show you:
Perhaps the silver lining to such findings is that, if alternate ways, beyond retest opportunities, for students to demonstrate mastery of state standards mitigate the increases in dropout rates otherwise observed when students are exposed to high-stakes, rigorous exit exams, this suggests that such state-level policies may be able to reduce some of the social costs associated with high school exit exams. Nevertheless, this assumes at least two important things: First, the alternate graduation pathways crafted by states are indeed adequate proxies for the educational experience and skills students would have received if the goal were still to help them successfully pass the exit exam; and second, teachers, schools, and administrators are not strategically funneling underprepared or minority students into alternate graduation pathways and thereby sub-par high school educational experiences. These two points are worthy targets for future research.
3. For those of you interested in K-12 research… I discovered an interesting impact of the main sanction embedded in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law on school-level student performance: In terms of math and reading proficiency, schools performed worse the year after being labeled as “failing to meet adequate yearly progress” IF the reason for failure was that the school missed the aggregate student achievement goal (e.g., only 53% of the school’s students were proficient in math, when the goal was 62%). But, if the school met this aggregate benchmark, but failed to make progress solely because of a particular student subgroup (such as special education students, African American students, Asian students, Limited English Proficient students, etc.) – students within the failing subgroup performed better the following year.
So, schools that meet achievement targets for the aggregate student group, yet fail to meet at least one demographic subgroup’s target see between 3 and 6 percent more students in the failing subgroup score proficiently the following year, compared to if no accountability pressure were in place. I see this as a story of scope: Broad failure leads to little improvement, whereas focused failure allows schools to more effectively direct scarce resources. For all its negative aspects, NCLB did shine a spotlight on traditionally underserved student populations – and it looks like it increased their performance (at least in one state).
-----
If you’ve made it to this point, congratulations. Thinking about some of the major things I’ve learned over the past year or so, as a function of being engaged in research concerning the economics of education and education policy was helpful for me – and I hope that some of you loyal readers found this write-up interesting, provocative, and policy-relevant at best… and an acceptable substitute for Nyquil at worst. I’d love to hear thoughts, impressions, or questions that this raised for you. Also, I promise more riveting posts from my better half soon.
Since I started my research fellowship, I’ve gotten many more questions about what types of research I’m working on and what, if anything, I’m learning. As we near the end of the fall semester, and the halfway point through the first year of my fellowship, I thought it might be a good time to take stock of what I’ve learned. Perhaps others will find the following few bullets of results more enlightening and interesting than I’m sure many of my in-person responses to such questions have been in the past.
And this figure tells us it doesn’t really matter which type of public college you look at – prices were on the climb everywhere. Underlying these trends are huge year-to-year increases in tuition and fees (often in the ballpark of 15 to 20 percent!) at public institutions across the country (e.g., California riots!?). Such increases were especially prevalent after the year 2000.
With a colleague, I’ve learned that large increases in the cost of attending 4-year public institutions of higher learning are causing college-going students to do at least two things: (1) Substitute down within state systems of higher education – they become less likely to go to the top, flagship schools, and more likely to go to less selective 4-years or 2-year institutions; (2) Go out of state to college, rather than attend local 4-year schools that have become relatively more expensive. Further, these effects are largest among low-income student populations. Both findings hold potentially deleterious implications for college completion rates and the robustness of local labor markets.
2. For a while now, economists and policymakers have been concerned about the effects mandatory high-stakes high school exit exams might have on student dropout. Using district-level dropout data from 1998 to 2008, I find that the existence of an exit exam is associated with an increase in the high school dropout rate of about 0.55 percentage points, relative to if no consequential exit exam policy were in place.
Turns out, this effect is concentrated among 12th grade students (1.44 percentage point increase), minority groups, and is almost exclusively driven by states in which students do not have access to alternative graduation pathways (i.e., replacement educational experiences for those unable to pass some or all of the state’s exit exam).
To put these findings in context, you might ask what average dropout rates looked like over this period of time… and if you did… I could happily show you:
Perhaps the silver lining to such findings is that, if alternate ways, beyond retest opportunities, for students to demonstrate mastery of state standards mitigate the increases in dropout rates otherwise observed when students are exposed to high-stakes, rigorous exit exams, this suggests that such state-level policies may be able to reduce some of the social costs associated with high school exit exams. Nevertheless, this assumes at least two important things: First, the alternate graduation pathways crafted by states are indeed adequate proxies for the educational experience and skills students would have received if the goal were still to help them successfully pass the exit exam; and second, teachers, schools, and administrators are not strategically funneling underprepared or minority students into alternate graduation pathways and thereby sub-par high school educational experiences. These two points are worthy targets for future research.
3. For those of you interested in K-12 research… I discovered an interesting impact of the main sanction embedded in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law on school-level student performance: In terms of math and reading proficiency, schools performed worse the year after being labeled as “failing to meet adequate yearly progress” IF the reason for failure was that the school missed the aggregate student achievement goal (e.g., only 53% of the school’s students were proficient in math, when the goal was 62%). But, if the school met this aggregate benchmark, but failed to make progress solely because of a particular student subgroup (such as special education students, African American students, Asian students, Limited English Proficient students, etc.) – students within the failing subgroup performed better the following year.
So, schools that meet achievement targets for the aggregate student group, yet fail to meet at least one demographic subgroup’s target see between 3 and 6 percent more students in the failing subgroup score proficiently the following year, compared to if no accountability pressure were in place. I see this as a story of scope: Broad failure leads to little improvement, whereas focused failure allows schools to more effectively direct scarce resources. For all its negative aspects, NCLB did shine a spotlight on traditionally underserved student populations – and it looks like it increased their performance (at least in one state).
-----
If you’ve made it to this point, congratulations. Thinking about some of the major things I’ve learned over the past year or so, as a function of being engaged in research concerning the economics of education and education policy was helpful for me – and I hope that some of you loyal readers found this write-up interesting, provocative, and policy-relevant at best… and an acceptable substitute for Nyquil at worst. I’d love to hear thoughts, impressions, or questions that this raised for you. Also, I promise more riveting posts from my better half soon.
Friday, September 30, 2011
I'm loving Autumn
Right, now, I'm loving....
My husband, who is graciously cleaning up dinner while I rest. Having a one year old is exhausting!
The fresh flowers I cut every Wednesday from our CSA.
The butter dish we bought from the local art festival this summer. It's a beautiful, functional thing that sits on our table most of the time- what could be better? I loooove butter, and I figure the grass-fed butter we've been buying is good for nursing moms and babies, so I've been indulging. Also, I figured out why butter knives have that funny shape. Genius.
The full-fledged autumn that is raging here as we bring in October. If spring comes with hope spontaneously bubbling up, autumn finds me holding onto it with fierce, triumphant determination. (We won't talk now about what happens to it in January. Let's just say there's a reason it needs to be reborn every spring.)
The Harry Potter Christmas music I listen to in the fall, until it's time for regular Christmas music.
Speaking of Harry Potter, I just found out today that Local State University has a QUIDDITCH team! What?!?!?!
Emails from my sister! (Hola at ya, sis!)
Looking forward to the farmer's market tomorrow with friends, and hoping to try a pre-made dinner from a cooked-food CSA.
Successful communication that is occasionally happening between me and Baby H. She's signing a lot, but still is inconsistent with translating actual desires into language! And then, of course, I have to understand her!
The written schedules I've been making up for our week. Seems silly to me, but it definitely helps.
My husband, who is graciously cleaning up dinner while I rest. Having a one year old is exhausting!
The fresh flowers I cut every Wednesday from our CSA.
The butter dish we bought from the local art festival this summer. It's a beautiful, functional thing that sits on our table most of the time- what could be better? I loooove butter, and I figure the grass-fed butter we've been buying is good for nursing moms and babies, so I've been indulging. Also, I figured out why butter knives have that funny shape. Genius.
The full-fledged autumn that is raging here as we bring in October. If spring comes with hope spontaneously bubbling up, autumn finds me holding onto it with fierce, triumphant determination. (We won't talk now about what happens to it in January. Let's just say there's a reason it needs to be reborn every spring.)
The Harry Potter Christmas music I listen to in the fall, until it's time for regular Christmas music.
Speaking of Harry Potter, I just found out today that Local State University has a QUIDDITCH team! What?!?!?!
Emails from my sister! (Hola at ya, sis!)
Looking forward to the farmer's market tomorrow with friends, and hoping to try a pre-made dinner from a cooked-food CSA.
Successful communication that is occasionally happening between me and Baby H. She's signing a lot, but still is inconsistent with translating actual desires into language! And then, of course, I have to understand her!
The written schedules I've been making up for our week. Seems silly to me, but it definitely helps.
The hat I'm knitting for Baby H. It's quite a step up from my only, unfinished previous knitting project- but so far I've got it onto double pointed needles, so I'm thinking it's going well. And, I'm going to work on it. Happy Weekend, all!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturdays of Summer
I've been spending the last weeks grocery shopping, figuring out how to change our registration, enjoying a visit from my in-laws (hi Grandmom and Grandpop!), keeping the floors clean of choking hazards, moving money around to meet two cycles of bills from two different states paid from two different bank accounts, recovering from a weird death-by-exhaustion virus, and teaching the baby to sleep. But today- today was Saturday. A SUMMER Saturday. We squeezed every last drop of goodness out of it, despite E fighting the death-by-exhaustion virus.
We started with a walk to a local ice cream store that sells donuts in the morning. It was still pretty cool, and was a great activity for E and me- a long walk for me, donuts for him. That guy will do almost anything for a donut. And they were delicious. We got back before it got too hot, and gave E a haircut while the baby napped. (Hey, sometimes you have to do some chores, even on Summer Saturdays). I was very excited to use an excess of blueberries I had bought this week to make blueberry syrup while E and H spent some quality time together, and I cleaned up (after drinking my third decaf coffee in two years) while they both took naps. A quick trip to the store for more fruit for a party tomorrow, and pancakes with blueberry syrup for dinner. Baby H is now sleeping- she puts herself to sleep most nights now, though tonight took two tries because I accidentally left the vent closed in her room, which was apparently making a scary noise when the AC ran. (She communicates just fine without talking, thanks. And she's quite sensitive. I don't know how I ended up with this one.) Unfortunately, we can't take an after dinner walk with the baby sleeping, which we both still mourn- so I thought I'd update the old blog.
Baby H is quickly becoming NOT a baby! She will be one in less than a month! She pulled herself all the way up for the first time yesterday, and had her first convincing, unprompted sign yesterday (light) and her first convincing, unprompted word today (duck). She also helps me call for E when it's time for him to come read her books once she's in her pj's. She tries to say all kind of words, but they mostly just sound the same- dog, duck, frog, cat, quack, giraffe (af), pretty much anything we say. She still can't say "ma," though, or roll off her back, so we probably have a few months left of babyhood. I can see the thunder clouds of toddlerdom looming, though, especially when she doesn't get her way on something. Yikes.
We started with a walk to a local ice cream store that sells donuts in the morning. It was still pretty cool, and was a great activity for E and me- a long walk for me, donuts for him. That guy will do almost anything for a donut. And they were delicious. We got back before it got too hot, and gave E a haircut while the baby napped. (Hey, sometimes you have to do some chores, even on Summer Saturdays). I was very excited to use an excess of blueberries I had bought this week to make blueberry syrup while E and H spent some quality time together, and I cleaned up (after drinking my third decaf coffee in two years) while they both took naps. A quick trip to the store for more fruit for a party tomorrow, and pancakes with blueberry syrup for dinner. Baby H is now sleeping- she puts herself to sleep most nights now, though tonight took two tries because I accidentally left the vent closed in her room, which was apparently making a scary noise when the AC ran. (She communicates just fine without talking, thanks. And she's quite sensitive. I don't know how I ended up with this one.) Unfortunately, we can't take an after dinner walk with the baby sleeping, which we both still mourn- so I thought I'd update the old blog.
Baby H is quickly becoming NOT a baby! She will be one in less than a month! She pulled herself all the way up for the first time yesterday, and had her first convincing, unprompted sign yesterday (light) and her first convincing, unprompted word today (duck). She also helps me call for E when it's time for him to come read her books once she's in her pj's. She tries to say all kind of words, but they mostly just sound the same- dog, duck, frog, cat, quack, giraffe (af), pretty much anything we say. She still can't say "ma," though, or roll off her back, so we probably have a few months left of babyhood. I can see the thunder clouds of toddlerdom looming, though, especially when she doesn't get her way on something. Yikes.
Friday, June 3, 2011
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