Ultimate Character Education Network

Delivery of early reading skills is a Critical Gift. Without this Gift, all children are behind before they start kindergarten. The Gift, Only an individual gift delivers early reading skills at age 2, 3, 4 and 5. This gift is the key to opportunity. It is society’s best (effective and lowest cost) approach to preparing the most at-risk to want opportunities, choices and engagement.

See also http://www.usavaluescoupons.com

September 06, 2013

At the Start

At the start -- what reading readiness could be delivered and received by the child first things first? That thinking really needs to be freshly examined. As you know there are more than 2,000,000 children per year who start behind the reading requirements of the K-12 school systems across the nation. Reading readiness and age appropriate positive expectations are very important assets or attributes mostly missing in each of these children. If you are effective and care about the nation we leave our children you understand there is no choice to doing anything other than first things first. That needs to be found and plugged in.

The learning of order and language based on a one size fits one relationship with an adult that matches the child’s age 0-6 sensitivity of brain synaptic development would be a huge boost to the local education and economic systems.

Footing for K-12 Education Systems Simplicity is important when a district is trying to move the needle on 20-80% of the children starting. If a meaningful relationship between provider, age 0-6 child and parent is taking place early literacy is the result. Anything less than early literacy means the requirement has not been kept simple and primary by us. School districts are positioned exclusively with the capacity to simplify and solidify the requirements.

USA VALUES, LLC is working long odds with large business and local school districts. Many say the presentation of this simplicity to large business, governors, commissioners, mayors, school boards, superintendants and others at the top looking down will strike out without creating the footings for system change. See http://chardevelactivity.blogspot.com/ for business; and for government and education http://ulticharnetwork.blogspot.com/. However, somehow we will establish a base in the grassroots with the effective citizen in pain to call on education reform and turnaround to start with first things first right the first time (FTFRTFT) with the most at risk for the highest return. This change already happened quickly in business systems using these concepts because customers demanded higher quality. Each and every successful turnaround from a system that does not work includes a stop and pivot; finds the basic first things first; does that without exception; and rebuilds everything around that result and new capacity. Leadership knows that not getting first things first done right the first time means effectiveness is compromised. We owe our most at risk kids the pivot to literacy is freedom, one size fits one that existed back when our nation was formed and was 97% literate.

To be clear, as we approach the many in the grassroots living the “national pain” with a revenue source for messaging, http://www.usavaluescoupons.com/article/pain/ , we will be saying that the system and its establishments know better. School districts have the money and expertise to close the gap of what can be assuredly measured with observation and demonstration starting kindergarten. We hope to focus the nation on why simple could be the solution and how badly we are missing the 100% goal expectation. Our historical investments in “literacy is freedom” in the world are numerous and generous. Leaderships to provide the gift of literacy at home to 100% of our citizens are constrained by policy compromise.

The following is foundational to seeing this simple innovation and creating the new money to deliver 100% of the children.

· http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/support-files/introstory1.pdf ; School District

· http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/support-files/adaptedknowledge.pdf ; Constraint Management to Achieve Goals.
· http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/support-files/adaptedknowledgemore.pdf More on Constraint Management to Achieve Goals.

In simple summary there are just five steps to continuous improvement in high quality throughput.

1.       Identify the systems constraints (this is easy for the school district)
2.       Decide how to exploit the systems constraints
3.       Focus everything on the FTF system constraint plus one or two that are next
4.       Break the FTFRTFT constraint with innovation drawn from a resource not constrained.
5.       Move to the next, never stopping and also taking on the policies

There are three questions to answer with one new Socratic attitude that creates proactivity and common sense cause-effect-cause ownership of the problem at the district level.

1. What to change (FTFRTFT) -See Covey -First Thing First

2. What to change to (End in Mind) -See Covey -Start with the End in Mind

3. How to cause the change ( Socratic) -See Covey -Be Proactive Internally and Externally

a. Understand Cause – Effect - Cause --See it as science. Constraints built around dependent processes, variability and time lost being money lost is as predictable as water turning to ice.

The Theory of Constraints (short book) by Eliyahu M. Goldratt -1990; goes the entire distance to explain how to set the problem and the solution at the level (school district) to impact the expectations of our communities. Without literacy we are without freedom and it is painful within the grassroots. He points out three languages of change management and a need to respect each for the understanding of the wisdom it delivers.
1.       Language of the organization and its system/data;
2.       Continuous improvement language of process and importantly the science of throughput.
3.       Positive Expectation Emotion caused by effect-cause-effect Socratic thinking that places the problem with those who can solve it. The science part of the answer is always subject to an attitude that requires the power of an idea creator.

A Footing for the At Risk Child This is the low cost pain pill, not offered, because of vested externalities built on past compromise. Early Reading Skills Delivered for a Ringing Advantage (ERSD-RA) is always delivered one size fits one when the process is dissected. Even a classroom or child care effort breaks down to one size fits one to deliver the basic knowledge as a gift. At this delivery point the care provider can predict the outcome and the child reflected joy when they know they get it. If a meaningful relationship between provider, child and parent is taking place early literacy is the result. Ready to read starting kindergarten is easy to define from the child’s take away. The detail is here and does not require testing, is all about demonstration and observation:

http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/support-files/areyoureadybrochure2.pdf

More footing for the System Once the simplicity is observed the complex alternatives preventing 100% delivery becomes a cloud evaporated. Look and you can find this happening every day. The provider capacity to deliver this far exceeds what can be placed in classrooms today or in the future and our next tranche of at risk children should not be asked to wait. Districts will want to reach into the community with quality requirements that can be met within a new six sigma focus that is more than just finding a mentor for the child.

Level Process outcome of reading readiness Ready for kindergarten judged without testing

1 80% of 100% 80%

2 80% of 20% 16%

3 80% of 4% 3.2%

4 80% of .8% .64%

Total 99.84% Delivered to Kindergarten Ready

.16% Delivered Not Ready
160 per 100,000 Not Ready
1.6 per 1,000 Not Ready

Present Value of Positive Expectations from Prek ERSD-RA; delivered FTFRTFT will impact expected GDP Growth The top tier of this issue (federal, state, foundations, and associations) are vested in compromise while the basic population is simply not being prepared to carry its weight and a nation that started with 97% literacy 240 years ago is at risk of failure. You cannot afford to not examine the upside that literally will release our best and brightest to be the world standard again. It will move our masses to graduate high school or better. A short period is needed to affect the projections of this on the economic future. The professional macro projection exists that this change in quality and quantity of education would be enough to cause a 4% base growth rate in GDP expectation versus our present 2% expectation. In the semi-macro sense this changes every local societal problem being discussed to something more than the new normal of less for each.

Best regards,
Early Reading Skills Delivered - Ringing Advantages
Thomas Wolfgram
President- USA VALUES, LLC
mailto:tomwolfgram@usavalues-character.com
http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/ and http://www.usavaluescoupons.com and http://twitter.com/EEEEinNDC and
http://twitter.com/usavalues and https://twitter.com/tdwusavalues and http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwolfgram
651-735-3018; Cell 612-968-1579

Labels: Community ROI, Early Reading Skills Delivered, ERSD-RA, FTFRTFT, innovation, New money, PVofPE-Prek, school reform, USA VALUES

posted by Tom # 6:10 AM 1 comments

August 13, 2013

Governor’s First letter.

Greetings, Please let me introduce the Theory of Constraints

USA VALUES, LLC does not have a horse in the top down race to develop Early Childhood Education. However, its observations are being shared because it is so very important to the children at risk, the public school district’s future and the basic individual formula to step beyond poverty.

There is a proven Socratic 21^st century continuous improvement method called the Theory of Constraints that should be repurposed to graduation and proficiency gains and give rise to BOOMING expectations for change, innovation, and the potential for reinvested savings that payback the bonded loan and much more.

Doing first things first causes everything downstream to change under control.

The call to innovate public education for the 21^st century is constant because it is pained by a troublesome gap in proficiency and the segment of our population most pained is without turnaround knowledge and power. Continuous improvements of constraint management generating innovation and savings in your state’s school districts are more than possible and could be more than adequately funded because of simple confidence and commitment.

The goal is 12 words:

“graduations rising, total operating costs declining,

dropout rates decreasing to near zero”.

This would be based on:

Large companies asking a school district or two or ten to cause

100% early reading skills delivered to kindergarten

starting with the most at risk children

Simply deliver 100% of the children ready to read to kindergarten and everything changes overnight like the capping of the Gulf Oil Leak. All the subjects and words would change and be put into the order of the first tranche of children progressing through the school district with great new positive expectations.

In system words this is removal of one major initial constraint that drives negativity from birth to death. We are not suggesting a whole life focus, just a first things first focus. The science of this improvement method has not formally been used in school districts and communities. Yet the practicality of first things first constraint management has been applied in a number of notable successes. More study is not warranted because success is a local attitude.

Schools are seeing many choices to change as something much more confusing than it need be. Turnarounds always drive the ownership back to first things first, so this opportunity is not going away. Continually making the “not first things first choice” is costing our nation and states their edge for the future.

Districts can not miss with the Theory of Constraints because it is Socratically built at each district to change only one or two most critical dependent capacity constraints at a time and subordinate all other change efforts to that. Choices of what to change disappear and agreement increases when the throughput issues are reduced to what is first thing first. The New Money bridge to make this change over 10 years is paid back and nets to a savings from innovation so the money is available based on district level commitment.

Your superintendents are going to need large company encouragement to innovate, school districts have externalities to work with that will require a higher power challenge. Truthfully, large companies, often do not feel the pain at the Pre-k point. That is a logical problem we have solved in the application of their value to this focus point. The encouragement we have designed comes with a last resort guarantee of the bonds needed to fund the school district’s oversight of 100% reading readiness delivered to kindergarten right the first time. In the concept of 100% reading readiness before kindergarten there is no reason to wait in reaching the most at risk. Resolving to have a process that has a 100% positive expectation and no leaks is mostly attitude.

We are now approaching the largest businesses in our nation with the concept that they encourage local superintendents and school boards to innovate on the sure footed basis of first things first done right the first time. Our approach in bits and notes is lengthy leaving little room for the logical and emotional status quo, of doing nothing with the externalities that are in the way. Regional and district level business will also be addressed when the district decides to innovate in a way that the payment of the bridge loan can be guaranteed and the positive expectation shared. Who is really feeling the pain of status quo and the ability to project growth? Who is really pained by our overall education proficiency and economic stagnation? Does the Fortune 1000 valuations reflect growth right away? Think Socratically about what is first things first.

A series of 20 email letters to the largest business CEOs is in process and documented here. http://chardevelactivity.blogspot.com/ A series of email letters to the governors, commissioners and superintendents is documented here. http://ulticharnetwork.blogspot.com/ This is an adapted knowledge of high quality meeting requirements of the next step as defined here. http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/support-files/adaptedknowledge.pdf

These three books, covering this knowledge written for business, are just waiting to be repurposed for school districts and state governments. The “Goal “, “Critical Chain” and “Theory of Constraints” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, in the late 1980’s, are available as used books on Amazon. Yes, these concepts are “old” and already taught in business schools all over the nation with consultants everywhere.

You could help by seeing your superintendents as CEOs with “nothing more than the goal or GOAL” as their #1 issue. The GOAL and the Theory of Constraints is applied in systems of dependent product and service flow and policy including K-12 school districts and communities feeding the process. If we are not careful with the policy we will end up with another silo of state regulations that do not exactly fit the exact first things first pain.

Business / School District Issues

1. First things first throughputs in units are measured using 100% wherever there is a real capacity constraint created by dependent productive efforts and policy. First thing units of learning required to pass and graduate are like individual projects steps to be managed as constraints.

2. Total operating expenses are measured without reference to local optimization. Ditto

3. In process inventory is the storage of materials and historical allocated operating expense to date that are accepted to improve throughput meeting the required due dates. In process individual learning is stored for future readiness and graduation. Policies making artificial starts and stops are costly. Dropouts are not valued at the in-process operating expense lost. Our best and brightest students and teachers are held back when they could generate more throughput revenue in a shorter time span.

The Goal requires that the first things first dependent effort constraints be broken. From the following you can imagine how important they are. Constraints created by policy are often major impediments to throughput. Superintendents have long lists of these, showing that 100% throughput is not the # 1 goal. The concept of a constraint to throughput is similar to a bottleneck. Watch a funnel backup and overflow and realize the cost effectiveness after the funnel was depend on the capacity of the funnel and lost time cannot be made up. The teacher force has issues, but nothing close to what is first things first.

1. First things first constraints (FTFC), not broken reduce throughput

2. FTFC not broken cause excess cost elsewhere

3. FTFC not broken actually limit what can be achieved in a time frame. The weakest link limits the output of the process of dependent efforts.

4. FTFC, if not improved to meet 100% requirements, will cause rework or loss of individuals in the process of proficiency and graduation.

5. FTFC not broken lengthens the process really needed from start to finish. In public education, the individual not being ready creates rework, waiting, testing and grading. Not being ready to read before kindergarten is simply more expensive than doing it right the first time. The system of dependent efforts cannot catch up and can only fall further behind.

6. Not breaking FTFC immediately increases the risk of loss in the in-process individual between kindergarten and graduation.

7. FTFC solutions do not need to include staff reductions as more learning will take place in the shorter start to finish.

You can help by seeing your superintendent as the CEO who knows his way around these concepts and know that the business CEOs have this to share:

1. Theory of Constraints - Repeating the “Goal “, “Critical Chain” and “Theory of Constraints” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in the late 1980’s are available as used books on Amazon. Yes, these concepts are “old” and already taught in business schools all over the nation with consultants everywhere.

2. Definition of the local Pre-k Juggernaut to find 100% of the most at risk- “Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut”, http://www.hoover.org/publications/books/8138 by Chester E. Finn Jr. The PDF publishing is an outstanding introduction of issues reducing societal and business risk and increasing the proficiency of the USA School System. It might be used to transfer power to those committed to the mother load of education spending,

3. The promotional present value of positive expectations from pre-k. Click on the story.

4. The GDP value of 100% graduation rates and dramatic increases in the proficiency of our citizens. Eric A. Hanushek, Hover Institute (Stanford) senior fellow in education has written chapter 16 - Education Quality and Economic Growth in The 4% Solution – Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs - George W. Bush Institute. In that chapter one can clearly place, at the bottom of page 231, the concepts of ERSD-RA, PVofPE-Prek and FTFRTFT into the start and heart of his accelerated projection of the USA GDP Growth Rate. We tie into and we cannot present a stronger economic justification than Socratically presented here. It has been published by an expert without our asking.

5. Redefinition of high quality to that of meeting the requirement of the next step, judged by the next step, in a process of dependent efforts. Business has used this definition for the last 40 years and schools and government have missed this opportunity. Again, Chester E. Finn Jr., the President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Advancing Education Excellence wrote in -Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut- in the chapter on The Quality Conundrum that the classic 1980 compliance language is not 21^st century results/outputs language. USA says If results were measured and corrected first things first it would lead to the dollars of ROI downstream and every district could fix itself in 5-10 years by flowing high quality first things first to the next dependent step.

Best regards,
Early Reading Skills Delivered - Ringing Advantages
Thomas Wolfgram

President- USA VALUES, LLC

mailto:tomwolfgram@usavalues-character.com

http://www.usa-positive-expectations.com/ and http://www.usavaluescoupons.com and http://twitter.com/EEEEinNDC and

http://twitter.com/usavalues and https://twitter.com/tdwusavalues and http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwolfgram

651-735-3018; Cell 612-968-1579

Labels: Community ROI, Early Reading Skills Delivered, innovation, school reform, USA VALUES, USAVALUES

posted by Tom # 10:06 AM 1 comments