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Notes from the Field
Notes from the Field feature updates about assessment, standards, and accountability implementation from the field of K–12 education. These short posts are reflections of what CSAI staff have observed or encountered in their work with states and educators.
Recent Post: Collaborative Expertise - Sandy Chang - 10/24/2016
- Collaborative Expertise - Sandy Chang - 10/24/2016
- What ESSA Did on Summer Vacation - Augustus Mays - 9/15/2016
- Next-Generation Assessments for Next-Generation Standards - Andrew Latham - 7/15/2016
- The Feds Want to Know - Joan Herman - 6/15/2016
- Getting It Right This Time - Deb Sigman - 5/12/2016
- Maximizing Assessment Value While Minimizing Administrative Burden - Andrew Latham - 4/11/2016
- Support for the Common Core: The Silent Majority - Joan Herman - 8/5/2015
- A Look at the EdReports Reviews - Glory Tobiason - 6/2/2015
- Good News about Higher Standards - Joan Herman - 4/27/2015
- Assessing the New Tests - Andrew Latham - 3/10/2015
Collaborative Expertise - Sandy Chang - 10/24/16
How can we engage in and achieve transformational learning needed for the 21st century workforce? How do we create and utilize effective personalized and adaptive learning environments? How will we continue to innovate how we teach, learn, assess, and evaluate learning and teaching? These were just some of the issues the CRESST conference tackled during a two-day meeting that brought together educators, researchers, policymakers, ed tech executives, and other stakeholders interested in learning about ways the educational community can address its biggest challenges.
One potential answer to these complex yet thought-provoking questions? Collaborative expertise. John Hattie, in his keynote presentation, offered "ten big ideas in education" for improving student achievement (see the list below for all ten).1 Number 6: It is all about collective expertise in "knowing thy impact." Collaborative expertise occurs when all sectors of the education system – from teachers and school and district leaders, to students and parents, to state leaders and policymakers – work together to form a community to share effective practices and policies. A critical aspect of collaborative expertise is ensuring that the practices and policies enacted are coordinated with strong research, development, and evaluation; that is, how we know that what we do has impact.
This idea of collaborative expertise weaves its way into every single one of Hattie's ten big ideas.2
- Ask the relative question (not what works but what works best)
- Ask the upscaling question
- Every child deserves at least a year's growth for a year's input
- The major learning is between 0-2
- It is about how educators think
- It is about collective expertise in "knowing thy impact"
- Develop evaluative capacity
- Assessments is feedback to teachers about their impact
- Focus on learning not teaching
- We need to educate parents about learning
In particular, developing evaluative capacity (#7) and providing feedback to teachers about their impact (#8) struck a chord in me with the work we do at CSAI. Hattie said that building the expertise of educators as evaluators involves teachers working together to assess their impact, moving from what students know now towards explicit success criteria, and maximizing feedback about teachers' impact. These ideas coalesce into an important point that assessments are feedback to teachers: once teachers and students understand their expectations of learning, we need to provide teachers with valid and reliable assessments and evaluative processes and tools to help them set, measure, and gauge these expectations. Collaborative expertise – teachers, students, parents, test developers, and education leaders, to name a few – is needed to accomplish such goals.
Collaborative expertise was on display at the 2016 CRESST conference, where a confluence of experts in research, policy, and technology met with school, district, state, and national leaders in education to share their collective knowledge in solving educational problems and creating solutions. Collaborative expertise is also at work within the comprehensive center network. Recently, in speaking with program officers from U.S. Department of Education, this concept came to my mind as we discussed ways that the network collaborates to assist states with their educational needs. CSAI, as a content center, helps teachers – and those who support teachers from the regional comprehensive centers (RCCs) and state education agencies (SEAs) – evaluate how effective their teaching strategies are by providing tools, training, and resources that are aligned to state college and career ready standards, which are aligned to valid and reliable assessment practices. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, CSAI is working with RCCs and the states in their region to provide technical assistance and research support to help inform decisions about assessment and accountability systems. CSAI is part of network of centers that is implementing collaborative expertise: working together toward a goal, knowing our impact, and reacting accordingly.
1Hattie, the Director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, is probably best known for his book Visible Learning, in which he conducted a meta-analysis of over 800 studies to examine the influences on student achievement. The meta-analysis revealed that learning and teaching strategies and teacher and student self-efficacy matter more to achievement than structural and programmatic factors.
2To read a paper Hattie wrote on collaborative expertise, visit http://www.csai-online.org/resources/what-works-best-education-politics-....
What ESSA Did on Summer Vacation - Augustus Mays - 9/15/16
Augustus Mays is the Director of Government Relations for the Office of Policy and Communications at WestEd and serves as WestEd's liaison to Washington, D.C.–based professional associations, education policy think tanks, and related groups.
With the atypical presidential campaign and the Olympics grabbing everyone's attention this summer, you may have missed that the U.S. Department of Education (USED) keeps chugging along in its effort to release guidance and regulations on various aspects of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by year's end. This post summarizes the most significant features of the draft regulations and highlights proposals of special interest to CSAI.
USED Issues Notices of Proposed Rulemaking
In July, USED issued two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) to implement provisions of ESSA regarding assessments for Title I, Part A, and Title I, Part B:
- Title I, Part A. ESSA required USED to go through the negotiated rulemaking process primarily on two sections of the law — Title I, Part A, assessments and "supplement, not supplant." Through that negotiated rulemaking process, negotiators were only able to reach agreement on the assessment issues, which provided clarity and guidance on issues such as computer-adaptive tests, how tests for English language learners and students in special education should work, how high schools can offer local exams in lieu of state exams, and how advanced math testing for eighth graders should work.
- Title I, Part B. The second NPRM touches on the ESSA "innovative assessment demonstration authority" under Title I, Part B. The law allows a small handful of states (initially up to seven) to permit districts to use local tests, such as a system of competency-based assessments, in lieu of the state exam, as long as those districts are trying out a system that will eventually go statewide. ESSA also places a number of stringent conditions on the pilot — what the law's architects like to call "guardrails." These guardrails are aimed at ensuring that the new kinds of tests that states develop are of high quality, and that all kinds of students — including English language learners and students in special education — have access to them.
Response to USED's Draft Rules on Accountability
In addition to the two regulations on assessments, USED also released proposed regulations on accountability systems, school improvement systems, data reporting, and state plans. The agency gave educators, advocates, and others until August 1 to comment on the proposed rules.
What was the education community's response? USED received nearly 21,000 comments in response to the proposed regulations. The following are some general themes to the education community's response to USED's proposed accountability rules:
- Many groups, such as CCSSO and NASBE, don't like that the proposed rules require schools to be identified for improvement based on data from the 2016–17 school year. These groups are asking USED to allow schools to first be identified for improvement in 2018–19, based on 2017–18 data.
- A number of groups (e.g., AASA) are not too happy with the requirement for a single summative rating for schools, which many argue would lack nuance in describing the overall performance of a school.
- Some civil rights groups are concerned that the department's proposed menu of ideas for states on how to pinpoint which schools have groups of students that are "consistently underperforming" are not prescriptive enough. For example, the Education Trust wants the final regulations changed to require that "consistently underperforming" subgroups of students be defined by their progress toward state goals, not by how they perform compared to the statewide student average.
- Many groups want to see the proposed rules take a lighter touch in relation to how states report test-participation numbers (95% rule) for accountability purposes.
So What's Next?
USED will now consider public comments on the proposed regulations for assessment and accountability, and will potentially make changes based on this feedback sometime in the fall. As new developments emerge, CSAI will update the "Communications from the U.S. Department of Education" collection.
Next-Generation Assessments for Next-Generation Standards - Andrew Latham - 7/15/2016
At the National Conference on Student Assessment in Philadelphia this June, I was struck by the number of presentations that focused on how we teach and assess K–12 science. Much of the conversation focused on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS),1 released in 2013, which present a comprehensive, integrated vision for science education. Specifically, each NGSS standard weaves together three dimensions—Disciplinary Core Ideas, Scientific and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts—to produce Performance Expectations for what students should know and be able to do.2 If we are to realize a rich vision for how students learn science, as expressed in A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012),3 we will need to figure out how to assess students' learning across these integrated dimensions in valid and reliable ways, at a time when there is tremendous pressure to reduce the amount of time and resources spent assessing students.4
Many of the conference attendees were eager to learn from their peers in states that have already begun to develop and implement NGSS assessment solutions. The conference included presentations by Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington,5 the latter two on behalf of a 14-state collaborative that has developed two prototype NGSS assessment tasks, referred to as "item clusters."6 After attending these sessions as well as an invitational focus group of a half-dozen states interested in next-generation science assessment, I was struck by the following observations:
- It is hard to imagine any scenario in which a traditional assessment of independent multiple-choice questions can measure three-dimensional standards such as the NGSS. Instead, the NGSS would seem to require some type of integrated scenarios or tasks requiring students to connect their thinking across nuanced ideas and observations, as called for in Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2014).7
- While integrated tasks tend to elicit more authentic scientific thinking than traditional assessment questions do, they also tend to be more expensive to develop and more time-consuming to administer. Additionally, if they require open-ended responses, they typically must be scored by hand, so next-generation assessments of this type will likely pose significant pragmatic challenges if they are to be administered on a large scale within a state. However, when I asked the Oregon and Washington presenters whether they felt that they could implement this type of assessment on a large scale, they both emphatically answered that they could, and that they are currently exploring a variety of approaches. One possibility would be to use a matrix sampling approach so that each individual student is tested on a subset of the standards but, collectively, all of the students in the state are tested on most of the standards. This approach provides a comprehensive statewide view at a fraction of the cost and testing time that would be required if every student were to be tested on every standard.
- No single NGSS assessment will work across all states, because science is inextricably influenced by local cultural mores. For example, one state representative said that, although his state was a strong advocate of the NGSS, it would likely reject any questions related to evolution and climate change. Presumably, additional scientific topics will be politically sensitive in other states. Moreover, states vary in which grades are tested, their interpretations of reporting expectations, and opinions on how to bundle Performance Expectations, all of which will pose significant technical hurdles for any collaborative that is trying to develop a single assessment that will work across states. So, while the relative expense of developing three-dimensional science tasks may provide states with an incentive to pool resources to jointly develop content, each state will likely need some freedom and leeway to adapt or refine some percentage of the content that appears on its state-specific assessment. This will make comparing results across states more challenging.
Interest in how to implement and assess the NGSS is not new. In September 2013, the K–12 Center at ETS hosted an invitational research symposium on next-generation science assessments, which brought national and international researchers together with state science staff to discuss the latest relevant research and its implications for future science assessment. Over the past three years, a number of states have made considerable strides in moving from research to initial implementation, but substantial challenges remain. How well these states succeed, and the lessons that they learn along the way, should help illuminate and inform the future, not only for science assessment, but for assessment of all content areas that seek to integrate the complex ways in which students learn content and apply their knowledge.
1NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: Achieve, Inc.
2For more background and detail on the NGSS, see http://www.nextgenscience.org/.
3National Research Council (NRC). (2012). A framework for K–12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Committee on Conceptual Framework for the New K–12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
4See, for example, President Obama's testing action plan, released in October 2015.
5The following are links to the states' NCSA presentations: KY, MD, and OR & WA.
6The interactive demo of the Grade 5 item cluster prototype can be accessed here.
7NRC. (2014). Developing assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards. Committee on Developing Assessments of Science Proficiency in K–12. Board on Testing and Assessment and Board on Science Education, J. W. Pellegrino, M. R. Wilson, J. A. Koenig, & A. S. Beatty (Eds.). Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
The Feds Want to Know - Joan Herman - 6/15/2016
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last several weeks, you know that the Department of Education has issued for public comment draft rules for implementing the Every Child Succeeds Act's (ESSA) accountability and state planning provisions (see the Proposed Rule from the Federal Register). You also probably have read about the major requirements these rules encompass with regard to:
- Establishing a single, state-wide accountability system, including the indicators and measures that the state will use to differentiate (in a single metric) the quality of all public schools and to identify schools for comprehensive or targeted support and improvement;
- Developing and implementing evidence-based improvement plans for these identified schools;
- Developing – with parent involvement – and making available and accessible state and local report cards, with specified content elements and timeliness requirements; and
- Creating consolidated state plans, including specification of content, format, and deadlines for submission (March or July, 2017).
See, for example, ESSA's general rules on accountability and specific pieces of ESSA's accountability draft rules.
But you might have missed that in addition to requesting your comments on the proposed rules, the Department also is asking for your help in refining and creating additional rules in five specific areas.
- Do the suggested options for identifying "consistently underperforming subgroups of students," as proposed in §200.19, result in meaningful identification? If not, which should be deleted and/or what additional options should be considered?
- Should additional or different options be proposed for dealing with low participation rates in schools that do not assess at least 95% of their students, so that parents and teachers will have the information they need to evaluate and support students' academic progress (§200.15)?
- Would states be better able to support English learners if proposed regulations include a maximum state-determined timeline for English learners achieving English language proficiency? If so, what should that timeline be, based on available research (§200.13)?
- Keep, modify, or eliminate the draft provision that allows a student who was previously identified as a student with a disability under IDEA, but who no longer receives special education services, to be included in subgroup calculations for school academic achievement indicators? If so, should such students be permitted to be counted in the subgroup for up to two years or for a shorter period of time (§200.16)?
- Should there be standardized criteria for including children with disabilities, English learners, homeless children, and children who are in foster care in their corresponding subgroups within the adjusted cohort graduation rate? If so, what are ways to standardize these criteria (§200.34)?
Have ideas or comments on any of these issues? Submit your comments by August 1, 2016 to www.regulations.gov.
Getting It Right This Time - Deb Sigman - 5/12/2016
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of attending the Accountability Systems and Reporting (ASR) State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS). This group, one of several sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), supports the work of state education agencies (SEAs) as they navigate policies related to educational standards, assessment, and accountability. As a former state testing director, I always found the SCASS meetings to be extraordinarily helpful and to be a safe, collegial place where SEA staff could celebrate our state successes and commiserate about the ever-changing landscape of education policy.
It had been about three years since I had attended one of these meetings. Much has happened in the area of education standards, assessment, and accountability during that time. The assessment consortia delivered their first operational assessments, every student was to achieve proficiency by 2014, and states with federal accountability waivers were continuing down a path of uncharted territory with varying degrees of success. Most notable was the December 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, meaning the end of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the beginning of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As I listened to the ASR participants, I noticed two things. First, out of the 100 or so SEA assessment/accountability personnel in attendance, the vast majority had been in these roles for less than three years. Second, those in attendance, no matter how seasoned, seemed concerned, but hopeful, about ESSA.
These SEA personnel, who are at the front line of implementing ESSA, generally seemed grateful for the new education law, which lifts a very tightly constrained set of regulations around standards, assessment, and accountability. The few veteran staff in the audience agreed that the reauthorization was long overdue, and were anxious to move beyond NCLB, but along with this renewed sense of vigor came a sense of apprehension and reticence. Why is it that after a decade of hoping for more flexibility and autonomy, fully embracing the flexibility and autonomy that is offered seems slow to take root? Let me offer this analogy. Most of us have experienced the relief of finally getting rid of an electronic device that we've held onto for far too long. It's old, out-of-date, and no longer functional. But once it's gone, a sense of nostalgia, safety, comfort, lingers. We knew the old device, we knew how to make it work (even if it was not very functional), we knew its good qualities and its idiosyncrasies. We could become frustrated by its dysfunction, but we knew the work-arounds. Then we experience the excitement of getting a new device. The new device is great and we're excited to see what it can do. But there's also a reticence. We don't know this device, and we're not sure about all its functions and how to make it work seamlessly. We may be hesitant to take full advantage of what the device has to offer, particularly before we become very familiar with the explicit instructions. And so it goes with ESSA. For a number of years, states, districts, and schools recognized that NCLB was out-of-date, had ceased to be a positive influence, and essentially, not functioning in the way that had been intended. As a state testing director, I often heard from district personnel, "NCLB is too compliance-driven; schools can't possibly educate all of their students under the constraints of NCLB. Schools and districts would be able to do things better and more efficiently if school and district personnel had more control over the system and the money." But now that NCLB is gone and ESSA is here, just like with new devices, there is a reticence to take full advantage of what this law offers until we know the exact instructions (regulations).
During the NCLB era, states and districts could point to the constraints and dysfunction of NCLB as the "enemy," responsible for keeping states from making effective education policy decisions. Now states will have to make and own the decisions they make about standards, assessment, and accountability. While the provisions around standards, assessment, accountability, and interventions are still very present in ESSA, the balance of power has shifted; states will be able to maximize the flexibility offered in the law to increase access and equity for all students. It will be difficult to argue that federal law is at fault if the education policy decisions made by states and districts do not lead to educational successes.
With great autonomy and flexibility comes great responsibility. Assessments and the accountability systems that utilize them have the potential to be change agents that advocate for children and families who may not be able to advocate for themselves. I'm hopeful, now that ESSA is here, that the education community will be able to strike a balance between accountability and fundamental principles of equity and fairness, to learn from NCLB and its predecessors, and to make good on the promise that all children will learn. Let's make sure we get it right this time.
Maximizing Assessment Value While Minimizing Administrative Burden - Andrew Latham - 4/11/2016
Last October, President Obama announced the Testing Action Plan, an initiative encouraging states to evaluate and refine their statewide assessment accountability systems. The plan outlines many principles for creating and implementing high-quality state assessments, including the recommendation that states "place a cap on the percentage of instructional time students spend taking required statewide standardized assessments to ensure that no child spends more than 2 percent of her classroom time taking these tests."
Who could argue against such a laudable goal? The ultimate intent of assessment and accountability systems is to ensure that students learn more, so the less time they take away from classroom instruction, the better. Nonetheless, test reduction initiatives can pose significant challenges for states. The Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) has begun helping these states conduct audits of their assessment programs to see where they can effectively be scaled back.
The core challenge of reducing testing time is that newer standards, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), seek to establish deeper, more complex learning goals than previous standards. But measuring such learning typically requires more testing time, not less. A traditional multiple-choice vocabulary question might provide a word and then list five possible answer options, one of which is a synonym. In tests striving to measure the CCSS in English language arts, which look for students to derive meaning from text, that vocabulary question might consist of a relatively brief reading passage containing the vocabulary word in question, and ask the student to define that word based on the contextual clues from the passage. Because the latter question requires students to read a passage, it will take longer to administer.
So how are states supposed to reduce their required testing time while measuring student learning more deeply? Since the Testing Action Plan was released, CSAI has met with more than half a dozen states to discuss their options. The most interesting theme to emerge from these conversations is that most states know relatively little about what additional assessments are being required locally at the district and school levels. While the Testing Action Plan specifically refers to state-required assessments, any thoughtful reduction in testing time must also take into account local requirements, many of which can often far exceed state mandates.
As an initial step, CSAI helps states collect data in two waves. First, we work with states to conduct an inventory of the assessments currently in use at both the state and local levels. This is trickier and more time-consuming than it sounds. In some of the larger districts, local assessment requirements can vary widely from school to school within the district, so capturing accurately all the tests in use at schools throughout the state requires a considerable effort. To counter this problem, one state (with a small number of districts) we are working with has elected to meet with the assessment director in each district individually to fill out the inventory together. This method will not only be likely to yield more accurate information, but it also serves as an opportunity for the state to demonstrate how serious it is about reducing test burden on students. It is also a very time-consuming data collection method, and thus would likely not be viable in states with larger numbers of districts.
Once CSAI inventories the assessments being used across the state, we then survey the schools to see how the assessment results are being used, and to capture the teachers' impressions about how useful the results are in helping them tailor their instruction to maximize student learning. After collecting and analyzing this usage and utility data, we then help the state conduct focus groups to delve more deeply into the use and benefit of each assessment. During these conversations, we look to discover redundant assessment systems, where the purposes of and information provided by assessments overlap unduly. Such instances are not uncommon.
Our first two state audits are well underway, and we anticipate completing the initial data collection and analysis this spring. From these first two efforts, we plan to distill themes and guidelines for other states to consider as they evaluate their own programs. Every assessment will impose some level of administrative burden, and each should also provide some value for student learning. Our goal in conducting these assessment audits is to help states identify the point at which they can maximize value while minimizing burden in terms of lost instructional time.
To learn more about the results of our first two assessment audits in response to the Testing Action Plan, please join us at the National Conference on Student Assessment in Philadelphia on Monday, June 20, at 4:00 pm. CSAI Director Andrew Latham will be joined by staff from the West Comprehensive Center and the U.S. Department of Education in a session titled The Two Percent Solution: Weighing Value Against Burden in Statewide Standardized Assessments.
Support for the Common Core: The Silent Majority - Joan Herman - 8/5/2015
Controversy over the Common Core! Parents opting out in growing numbers! Congress clashing over standards and testing in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind! Turmoil, discord, conflict abounds. Browse recent headlines and media accounts, and the situation indeed is looking dire for current initiatives to support students' achievement of college and career readiness.
But wait! Last week, two interesting news pieces on standards and assessment provide quite a different perspective.
First, a very interesting infographic from Mission: Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids summarized state reactions to the Common Core. Mission: Readiness, as its name implies, brings together retired generals, admirals, and other senior military leaders to advocate for policies that support children and the military. Five Years After the Common Core: The State of the States makes clear that despite the fireworks of the past year, the Common Core is secure as of the end of the 2015 state legislative season. Of the 19 states in which legislation to repeal the Common Core was introduced or attempted, none succeeded, and little meaningful change is expected in the three states where the standards are under review.1 Sure, a few states may have nominally created their own standards, but look at what they created, and the Common Core rings through. Mission: Readiness declares the Common Core debate "firmly settled."
A second item worth underscoring comes from advance results of EducationNext's 9th national survey on public attitudes toward testing and the opt-out movement. The survey's nationally representative sample of 700 teachers and 3,300 adult members of the general public were asked, "Do you support or oppose the federal government continuing to require that all students be tested in math and reading each year in grades 3-8 and once in high school?" Two-thirds of the public and a similar percentage of parents responded affirmatively, with only 21% opposed to annual testing. Teachers' views were more mixed: 46% opposed annual testing—perhaps understandably if test results are likely to be used against them.
The opt-out movement also garnered relatively little support when survey respondents were posed the question:
Some people say that ALL students should take state tests in math and reading. Others say that parents should decide whether or not their children take these tests. Do you support or oppose letting parents decide whether to have their children take state math and reading tests?
A quarter of the public supported the idea, 59% opposed it, and the remainder were neutral. Parents and teachers were slightly more positive, with 32% favoring the idea, but the clear majority were opposed.
I'm not sure the debate on these issues is fully over, as Mission: Readiness concluded about the Common Core. Surely some skirmishes remain. However, I do hope that with the close of the legislative season and its controversies and with the start of a new school year, states and districts can focus their full attention on strategies that will support their schools', teachers', and students' success. Let's be sure we build a strong bridge from "debate over" to "mission accomplished" for kids and help teachers help students be prepared for college and career success.
1The infographic is based on analysis from the Collaborative for Student Success.
A Look at the EdReports Reviews - Glory Tobiason - 6/2/2015
Measuring the moving parts of our educational system is hard. I spend my days knee-deep in the subject, sleeves rolled up, hands dirty in nitty-gritty methodological details of education research, and things are just as complex from this vantage point as they are from the classroom. A lot of research in education boils down to some form of the question "Is this going to work for students?" and recently this question, as it pertains to curriculum, has gotten quite a bit of attention.
EdReports: New Kid on the Block
As states have transitioned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), several organizations have positioned themselves to examine existing educational resources and ask, "How well does this resource support students in achieving the CCSS?" EdReports is one of the newest players on this field, having recently released a collection of reviews that analyze popular instructional materials.
The organization bills itself as a "Consumer Reports" for educational materials, one that aims to "provide free, web-based reviews of instructional materials focused on alignment to the Common Core and other indicators of high quality as recommended by educators, including usability, teacher support, and differentiation." The initial suite of reviews focused on K-8 mathematics curriculum; additional suites that focus on secondary mathematics and ELA are in the works.
There's a lot to like in the work of the EdReports team. They made teachers a central part of their evaluation process, which lends the reviews an unusual credibility. They made their evaluation criteria clear. And they showed remarkable integrity by posting "Publisher Responses," letters in which many curriculum publishers commented on the review results and provided a rich description of the design, intent, and logic of their instructional materials. In general, there is a refreshing sense of enthusiasm and transparency in EdReports' work, which focuses on critical issues for districts and schools who are faced with purchasing new resources or reviewing existing ones. But to understand what the evaluations do and do not tell us, we need to unpack a bit of the underlying methodology.
Embedded Value Judgments
Details of the rubric and process used to guide the review process are available here, but – in a nutshell – three guiding questions were used:
- Does the instructional material focus on the CCSS major work of the grade (on the order of 65-85% of class time over the year) and is it coherent?
- Does the instructional material meet the CCSS expectations for rigor and mathematical practices?
- Are the materials consistent with effective practices for use and design, teacher planning and learning, assessment, differentiated instruction and effective technology use?
What strikes me about these questions is that, taken together, they do a remarkably good job of bite-sizing a very complex concept: "quality" in instructional materials. In order to bound the scope of their work, however, EdReports did not weight all three questions equally, but rather decided that the first question was more important than the second, and that both of these were more important than the third. This ordering is wholly defensible (it mirrors the official publisher's criteria for the CCSSM), but it's certainly not the only option. If asked to prioritize the questions, different stakeholders would likely answer differently, depending on their beliefs, ideals, and interests. For example, one could argue that an integration of the math practice standards is just as important as a focus on the CCSS major work of the grade. Or that support for differentiated instruction and coherence across topics are equally critical.
Constraints in Available Information
What happened next is quite interesting and quite consequential: EdReports' value judgment resonated methodologically in the use of sequential "gateways" for review. If materials didn't pass muster at question 1, questions 2 and 3 were never asked. (The open letter published by NCTM and NCSM does a nice job of exploring this methodological issue in more detail.)
What this means is that this study of "the alignment and quality of instructional material programs" actually tells us very little about a program that has failed to pass Gateway 1. It could have failed at question 1, but done a stellar job at questions 2 and 3. Or it could have failed relative to all three questions.
In other words, the inferences we can make about a program that fails at Gateway 1 are limited. Such a program could have important strengths. It could do an unusually good job of integrating the content and practice standards, for example, or of incorporating effective designs to support teacher use. If this is the case, it may provide good resources for addressing at least some of the CCSS — but we can't differentiate such a program from one that fails on all three counts.
Things are changing fast in our education system, and the adoption of the CCSS is a major driver of this change. Several weeks ago, my colleague Andrew Lantham wrote about how this change is playing out for student assessments [see below: "Assessing the New Tests - 3/10/2015"], and the EdReports reviews call our attention to this change, relative to instructional materials. Regardless of whether we're talking about tests or curriculum, pedagogy or policy, the essential question remains: "Is this going to work for students?"
The EdReports reviews bring a particular perspective to this question; other reviews will bring different ones. The way I see it, the real value of EdReports' work lies in the conversations it has sparked: it has forced us to think long and hard about what constitutes "quality instructional materials" and how to prioritize different dimensions of this multifaceted concept. Moving forward, I suggest we follow the lead of Eric Hirsch, executive director of EdReports, and "value the diversity of expertise in the space."
Glory Tobiason is a UCLA doctoral student in social research methodology and a member of the CSAI team. She has a background in formative assessment and mathematics curriculum, as well as nine years of experience as a teacher of ESL, EFL, and math. Her current research focuses on strategies to effectively communicate technical education research to parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers.
Good News about Higher Standards - Joan Herman - 4/27/2015
The media is full of news of the controversies surrounding the Common Core State Standards. Polemics and partisanship run high. Less prominent in the public dialogue is recent evidence about what happens when states and schools adopt higher expectations and implement higher standards for college and career readiness. Consider these recent findings.
- Positive relationship between Common Core implementation and NAEP performance. The Brown Center's used NAEP data for 2009-2013 and two indices of Common Core implementation to examine how student performance in states with strong implementation compared to that in states that did not adopt the Common Core. Findings for both fourth grade reading and eighth grade math found small, statistical differences favoring states with strong Common Core implementation. (See Tom Loveless, March 24, 2015, Measuring the Effects of the Common Core.)
- Positive relationship between Common Core and ACT scores. AIR researchers analyzed data from Kentucky, the first state to adopt the Common Core, to examine students ACT performance, prior and subsequent to implementation. Results indicated that students in both high and low poverty schools subsequent to Common Core implementation showed higher improvement than students who were not engaged with the standards. (See Zeyu Xu & Kennan Cepa, March 2015, Getting College and Career Ready During State Transition Toward Common Core Standards.)
- Positive relationship between deeper learning and student learning. College and career ready standards share with deeper learning a focus on students' content mastery in English language arts and mathematics, as well as students' ability to use their knowledge and skills to communicate effectively, reason with evidence, and solve complex problems. Researchers analyzed the performance of students who attended schools that were well implementing deeper learning with that of demographically similar students in comparison schools. Results showed that students in deeper learning schools surpassed their counterparts in learning, based on both a PISA-based measure and state mandated tests, and in inter- and intrapersonal skills and on-time high school graduation. (See AIR, Does Deeper Learning Improve Student Outcomes? Results from the Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes.)
- College expectations and access to rigorous coursework positively related to college-ready performance. Advanced Placement (AP) classes represent college-level expectations, and students who score 3 and above on AP exams can earn college credit. Over the last 10 years, Florida has made concerted efforts to increase its students' participation in AP and has a far higher proportion of students - including low-income students - participating in AP, compared to the national average. Thirty percent of Florida's 2014 graduates earned a score of three or more on at least one AP exam, ranking Florida third among states. Surpassing Massachusetts, Florida's AP performance was only slightly bested by that of Maryland and Connecticut, states with considerably higher SES and lower diversity than Florida. Florida's improvement in AP performance, from 16.3% of students with passing scores in 2004 to 2014's 30% rate, was second only to Connecticut. (See Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel April 8, 2015, Florida Ranks Third for AP Success.)
Although none of these studies can prove that higher standards and expectations increase student learning (and in the main, they reveal only small effects), they are results that are highly promising. The consistency of positive results across multiple quasi-experimental studies using a variety of outcome measures is particularly heartening. Minimally, these study results suggest that implementing new, more rigorous standards and engaging students in rigorous curriculum and instruction does not disrupt or impede student learning, as some have feared. Future research clearly is needed to reach greater clarity on the effects of current initiatives, and as we move forward, let's keep our eye on the evidence.
Assessing the New Tests - Andrew Latham - 3/10/2015
The era of Common Core testing is upon us. Many Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) states are preparing to launch their operational assessments either this spring or next. Both development efforts were ushered into existence with great fanfare and a staggering $330M of federal funding in 2010, with the promise that these consortia would produce "next-generation assessments" that would dramatically improve how we measure students' readiness for college and careers. The closer we get to implementation, the more charged the rhetoric has become, with strident battle lines being drawn between supporters and detractors, and very few ambivalent people left in the middle. This article looks at some of the more contentious points being debated, and analyzes a few released Smarter and PARCC questions, to get a sense of how different and effective the new tests may be.
But first, a disclaimer. My company, WestEd, has completed project management work for Smarter, and test development work under subcontract to PARCC, so I am not an objective observer. In general I support the Common Core State Standards, and I support the notion that pooling resources and working towards a single set of challenging standards has the potential to lead to much more innovative and accurate measures of student learning than have been available in the past. This does not make me a blind adherent, however; clearly both programs face considerable challenges, and not even the most staunch advocate would predict a smooth launch and seamless transition to the new assessments.
On to the tests themselves. To begin with, let's debunk the tired next generation moniker, because it implies a degree of homogeneity in the current generation of assessments. Prior to the introduction of the Common Core, when almost all states were developing their own state standards and assessments, the rigor and quality of both were all over the map. One 2014 study estimated that state standards varied by as much as three to four grade levels between the least and most rigorous states. And the tests developed to measure these standards ranged from traditional paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice tests, to computer-adaptive instruments with significant percentages of open-ended questions that required students to construct their responses. For this reason, any comparison of old with new glosses over the significant variability among the old tests, and must be interpreted with caution.
Both Smarter Balanced and PARCC are designed for computer delivery, significantly expanding the types of items that can be administered and scored automatically in real time. Consider the following Grade 3 Math item from PARCC:
Source: http://www.parcconline.org/samples/mathematics/grade-3-mathematics
On a paper-and-pencil test, a comparable item most likely would contain a number line with 5 dots at various plausible points and ask the student to identify which dot represents a specific fractional value.By guessing alone, the student would have a 20 percent chance of answering correctly. To be sure, the traditional test might also ask the student to draw three dots representing the same three fractional values shown in the PARCC item, but if it did, that task would need to be hand-scored, increasing the expense of administration, the possibility of errors in scoring, and the time required to report scores. Moreover, note that the PARCC question probes the student's depth of understanding in a manner consistent with the intended richness of the Common Core State Standards. Instead of presenting a single fraction, it presents three. All three have the same denominator, so students are encouraged to recognize fraction patterns and relationships (i.e., if they all share a denominator, the value increases as the numerator increases). One of the fractions is also a whole number. In this way, one relatively straightforward PARCC question provides a much more nuanced measure of student understanding than a simpler, more traditional paper-and-pencil variant might.
Now let's look at a fourth-grade reading task from Smarter Balanced:
Read the sentences from the passage. Then answer the question.
"My grandma pulled the ball out, unwrapped it, and held it out for us to see. The ball was scarred almost beyond recognition. It had dog bite marks, dirt scuffs, and fraying seams. Right in the middle was a big signature in black ink that I had somehow overlooked. It was smudged now and faded, but it still clearly said 'Babe Ruth.' I began to shake inside."
Click on two phrases from the paragraph that help you understand the meaning of scarred.
Source: http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm
The Common Core State Standards for English language arts (ELA) emphasize the ability to derive meaning from texts as essential for eventual college and career success. A more traditional question might simply ask the student to select the correct definition of "scarred" from five options, again opening the door to guessing, but also measuring a student's vocabulary more than his or her ability to interpret context clues. In this example, the student isn't even asked to define the word, but instead must identify those specific areas of text that shed light on its definition. Guessing is largely eliminated, and the construct measured is textual interpretation, not vocabulary knowledge.
Speaking and listening skills also have a place in the Common Core. While the new tests have not yet made a concerted effort to address the speaking component, they do include listening tasks. One set of sample tasks from Smarter Balanced involves students watching a brief video on their computer about astronauts and gravity, and then answering a few informational questions from the video. At first, I was skeptical. Is pulling information out of a video really a necessary college and career skill? On further reflection, I realized I was probably being a Luddite. When my two high school children conduct research for a project, they don't go to the library, they go to the Internet. For better or worse, video appears to be the ubiquitous medium through which the current generation of students will access and interpret information. In addition, recent research on the use of video in the classroom has shown that watching short, dynamic videos provides a sensory experience that produces a greater depth of understanding of new concepts and ideas. Using videos and other media in assessments allows for a deeper measure of the comprehension, through a more immersive experience.
Among the many detractors of the new tests, one popular refrain is that they still contain lots of multiple-choice questions, so by definition they aren't really measuring higher-order thinking skills. But while multiple-choice questions are clearly more limited than open-ended ones, it's a mistake to think they can't measure complex reasoning or skills, particularly when coupled with open-ended questions.This type of coupling is common among the Smarter Balanced- and PARCC-released questions. A typical example item might ask the student to select the main idea of a passage from among five options, then follow it up with an open-ended question requiring the student to identify the sections of the text that illustrate the main idea. To receive full credit, the student must provide a reasoned, text-based rationale in support of the multiple-choice selection.
It's too easy to be dismissive of multiple-choice items. To be sure, relying solely on multiple-choice would limit the depth of knowledge that can be assessed. But the new tests don't rely on multiple-choice questions alone; they integrate multiple-choice questions with healthy portions of constructed-response questions that take advantage of various technological innovations. And there are many pragmatic reasons why multiple-choice questions have dominated the first century or so of standardized assessments: they are far less expensive to develop and validate; they require much less student testing time to complete; they can be scored automatically and quickly; and they tend to produce more reliable scores than open-ended items. Moreover, multiple-choice items provide the most efficient and valid way to measure student understanding at the foundational learning levels. The trick, then, is to provide an integrated mix of multiple-choice and open-ended tasks that try to balance all the pressures of providing rich, authentic measures of student learning with the need to hold rising test costs and student testing time in relative check.
Perhaps the most interesting tasks in the new assessments are the performance tasks in both math and ELA, which can take anywhere from a half hour to two hours to complete. These tasks typically require students to interpret multiple resources, sometimes using multiple media, to address a series of questions that require them to demonstrate strategic and extended thinking by researching, hypothesizing, modeling, comparing, and/or problem solving. When most people think of next-generation assessments, they probably think of these types of tasks, which can and should be used to great effect when integrated seamlessly with instruction. But as promising as they are, when used in standardized accountability assessments performance tasks can rampantly increase testing time and be exceedingly expensive and difficult to score accurately and reliably. So the new tests must strike a balance. While both assessments include extended performance tasks for math and ELA, they do so in limited numbers—Smarter Balanced includes just one performance task for each content area.
Will the Smarter Balanced and PARCC tests justify their $330M price tag? We'll find out soon, as the tests are administered for the first time, the data are analyzed, and teachers and schools have a chance to evaluate what the results tell them about their students' learning.It's certainly possible to produce rigorous standards and innovative computer-delivered tests at the state level—some states have already done just that. But few would argue that this high quality cuts across all state programs. The consortia tests represent an intriguing and expensive gamble, founded on the belief that by pooling resources and developing to a single set of high standards, states can disruptively innovate the depth and breadth with which we measure our students' learning. It will be fascinating to see what the data tell us this spring.


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Recognize The Signs of Suicide and Find Help
Suicide is the second leading cause of death in people between the ages of 15 to 34 in the United States, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The report revealed an increase in suicides in nearly every state from 1999 through 2016. Suicide is a serious public health issue that affects families and communities across the nation.
Its causes can be complex and involve many factors, from mental illness and abuse, to social isolation and depression, but relationship problems and substance misuse are also frequent reasons.
Immediate Help
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) or through chat available 24/7. You can also text a professional for help with the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
If you believe someone is in immediate danger, do not leave the person alone and call 911. Know and share these resources--it could save a life.
Find help 24/7 in Spanish at 1-888-628-9454.
Be Aware; Listen
Every 13 minutes, someone commits suicide in the U.S. There are ways to identify signs and make an approach if you suspect a friend or loved one is considering suicide
Learn to recognize the signs and what you can do as a parent, sibling, other relative, friend, or even acquaintance to help.
- Be familiar with the risk factors of suicide.
- Know the five action steps for helping someone in emotional pain.
Service Members and Veterans
- Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support.
- Find support and help for military members before, during, or after service.
- Take the Self-Check Quiz to learn whether stress and depression might be affecting you.

subset: commoncrawl


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Green Season Promotion
This is the time of year to enjoy our green season with unforgettable holiday at La Flora Resort with our special rate and promotion. Now we offer a special promotion. "get 20% discount book now, stay later". So why not plan your holiday to Phuket around the green season and keep a memorable experience.
Travel period : April 21, 2012 – May 31, 2012
Include of :
- Daily breakfast for 2 persons
- Complimentary daily mini-bar
- Complimentary daily newspaper
- Free Wi-Fi internet connection in the room
- Complimentary – a tray of tropical fruits in season daily prepared
Green Season Activities
This season is even more memorable as we offer many activities in which you can do.
Our Steam & Sauna Room is a recommendation habit before commencing Spa Treatment to helps soothing your tension muscle and increase the body's pliancy and suppleness. It also detoxifies your body by getting rid of collected impurities through perspiration. It is free to use upon request, anytime of the day or night from 9am to 9pm.
The Flora Fit is located just in the corner space of the Flora Spa. A square room but comfortable to move around with no waste of time with our new equipments. You are free to enjoy the new equipments from treadmills to G5 cable motion technology. Ask anyone from our Front Desk to Spa Therapist, they will guide you there with smile.
Our rebalancing package where you can pampered yourself in our clean & cozy Spa with our expert Therapists and ask for: Aroma Sanctuary Massage, one of the most requested treatment.
"Where it stimulates your senses and let your stress flow away with massage oil. This massage is wonderful to help rebalance your energy, mind and soul. Full Body gentle massage, a touch by using the palms, thumbs knuckles and hand heels to relieves sore muscles"
For : 55 Minutes : 1,800 THB / 80 Minutes : 2,200 THB
Thai Cooking Class
When Passion Become Delicious
There are 3 set memu dishes to be recommended. Our Chef prepares a variety of set Thai dishes for you to choose and set in separated days which is available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 14.00 hrs
PRICES : 1,500 nett / persons & 2,500 nett / couple
A one to one lesson with our Chef is much easier as well as the preparation of the recipe. Find out these varieties of food below and who knows, you will be our next Chef!
39 Thaweewong Road., Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150 Thailand
Tel: +66 76 344 241 Fax: +66 76 344 251


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There is widespread frost across Sussex this morning (Sunday) starting a cold winter week.
The frost is expected to clear over the morning with clear and sunny skies for most of the day.
Temperatures remain relatively low, with highs of just 6 degrees Celsius in most places.
Skies will turn cloudier this evening with gales and heavy rain expected to hit late tonight or early on Monday morning.
Monday is expected to be wet and windy until late in the afternoon, although temperatures will rise to around 12 degrees Celsius.
Skies are expected to remain clear for the rest of the week, but will stay cold despite sunny skies.


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Prior to her presenting duties, Anna Faris took to the red carpet for the 41st Annual People's Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre LA Live on Wednesday (January 7) in Los Angeles, California.
The actress wore a Juan Carlos Obando Spring 2015 white top and skirt with plenty of flare.
I just love the ruffled peplum and the edge this look is given by the uneven hemline. It's quite unlike anything we've seen before from Anna, whose red carpet style is usually quite safe.
Styling the look with nude Stuart Weitzman 'Nudist' sandals and Irene Neuwirth earrings, she completed her look with a half-up, half-down hairstyle and heavy kohl-rimmed eyes.
Credit: Style.com & Getty


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Biggest housing loan scam: bankers arrested
CBI had arrested LIC Housing Finance CEO Ramchandran Nair, Naresh K Chopra, Secretary (Investment), LIC, R N Tayal, General Manager of Bank of India (Delhi), Maninder Singh Johar, Director of Central Bank of India, and Venkoba Gujjal, Deputy GM of Punjab National Bank (Delhi) for allegedly sanctioning loans in return for bribes.
CBI claims that 17 companies that allegedly benefited from the scam include Pashmina Mantri Realty, Sigrun, Entertainment World, Indore City Treasure, Lavasa, Ashapura Minechem, BGR Energy, OPG Group, Krishna Group, Suzlon, MRMGH, MBDB, Gold Sukha Project, JP Group, Adani group, J P Hydro, JSW Power, Ralligear, D B Realty, Pantaloons, Adalite and MTech.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday directed all public sector banks (PSBs), financial institutions and insurance companies to look into their exposures to the various companies mentioned in the CBI application filed in the court in regard to the housing loan scam.


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28-Count Aida Cross Stitch Fabric - 15" x 18"
- Collection: Zweigart
- Brand: Artiste
Stitch incredible, customized designs into this perfect needlework base! 28-Count Aida Cross Stitch Fabric is an even weave cotton piece with a large size which can be cut for a variety of projects. Pick your favorite cross stitch pattern or freehand a design that showcases your personality!
- Length: 18"
- Width: 15"
- Content: 100% Cotton
Package contains 1 piece.
Item not available in Hobby Lobby Stores.
Check your local store for availability.
Send me an email when it's back in stock.
Check your local store for availability.
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If ever there was a time to enter a realm of bliss and highness it would be now. A place to hide away from the cold to numb the pain of what awaits this weekend at Less Than Zero. Here's some tunes to help the syringe go in nicely.
Get it and keep it.
What better way to get things started:
For the weekend:
So sweet:
The city:
Never letting go:
The funkiest of all:
DOWNLOAD ALL: http://www60.zippyshare.com/v/2990069/file.html


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New York, NY
User since: Feb 3 2012
Xenophile, Cinematographer, Chef & Traveler
"Better known as a "highball". I don't work and/or am NOT affiliated with Gus' soda, but its light, less sugar and makes the cocktail more enjoyable for my tastes. They make great soda, now they just have to make it affordable. $6 for 4 smaller bottles ain't cheap :("
"Pure experiment, pure success on first try... wonder if it already has a name?"
"I've had rib sauce in restaurants with Maker's Mark. I never thought much of it... but after buying my first bottle, do I dare to say its competition for Jack Daniels? I found it to be not as sweet and a bit smooth with hints of vanilla?"
"I've had rib sauce in restaurants with Maker's Mark. I never thought much of it... but after buying my first bottle, do I dare to say its competition for Jack Daniels? I found it to be not as sweet and a bit smooth with hints of vanilla?"
"Many ways to make/serve this but its fairly simple. I don't like it in a metal cup, but it helps keep it cooler. This cup is a replica from the 1950s. The originals were colored from the inside and outside, these, the outside only. Who else remembers them from our parent's days of cocktails?"
"Delicious. Southern Comfort is so under rated for mixing or drinking straight or even with a twist of any citrus."
"A Martini is not a Martini if there is no gin. I love the "Martini" concept of Appletinis, Melontinis, Cosmos, etc etc, but if you order a "Martini" it is NOT a Martini if its made with anything other than Gin, and yes, that includes you too my favorite spirit, Vodka."
I don't know about 7-up, it could be regional, where are you? Here in North Jersey/NYC I can't find it, but growing up in the 70s we had cases of it in the garage in the old steel cans (not aluminum).
Yes, if you make it with orange juice it becomes known as a "Melonball" delicious ;)
Yes, if you use the polaricetray.com molds you definitely only need one triangle ice cube in the winter, maybe one of their bigger "rock" molds in the summer outdoors... it takes up like 50% of the glass lol.
Ahhh... great stuff, can't wait for Summer, this will be on my list!
PS - When you see the shrimp on the bottle label, do not be afraid, this is NOT distilled from shrimp (although you will see bottles of cachaca with peppers, eels, lizards, other small insects (like the worm at the bottom of the bottle of tequila)... no shrimp were harmed and/or used in the making of this spirit! For Brazilians, eating fresh shrimp while drinking a caipirinha on the beach is like going to the movies and having popcorn or going to a baseball game and having a hotdog - its part of the experience... one goes with the other as part of it, otherwise you don't get the full experience!
Silver or light rum will be much smoother, but then it would be a Daiquiri made famous by Hemingway when he was living/writing in Key West, Florida. You can find the lime as any major part of your simplest but classic cocktails by many names: Daiquiri: Lime Juice & Rum Caiparinha: Lime Juice & Cachaca Gimlet: Lime Juice & Gin (or vodka) Margarita: Lime Juice & Tequila Mojito: Lime Juice, Rum, Crushed mint leaves For your darker liquors, use lemon for: Whiskey Sour: Lemon Juice & Whiskey Amaretto Sour: Lemon Juice & Amaretto Pisco Sour: Lemon Juice & Pisco (etc etc). Basically, when ANY recipe calls for "sweet & sour mix" instantly replace it with fresh lemon and/or lime juice... far better, far tastier, far more authentic. "Simplicity is a sign of perfection"
Is there a brand name of this silicone tray? Does it make clear or cloudy ice?
Stoli is my have Russian vodka, for "everyday" vodka I use Svedka, great tasting, smooth, and also most economical of all imports.
I'll have to buy another bottle and do a blind tasting to compare... I was actually knocking the "celeb" chef restaurant... how dare they charge me $15 for a single drink and use anything other than top shelf, unless there is a unique quality that does not take away from the rest of the drink? Maybe tanqueray & bombay dominate the drink somehow? Still trying to figure it out :)
Well, it took 5 ingredients but I guess I call it that because its as premium as you can get LOL


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Your shopping cart is empty!
We believe our products must live up to your highest expectations, and our service must live up to the quality of our products. If for any reason you need to return your order, it's easy! Simply follow the instructions listed on the back of the packing slip you received with your order.
All returns or exchanges must be made within 3days of receipt of your order without delay and must be accompanied by a Return Authorization Number. To obtain a Return Authorization Number, please mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com. Returns of orders that do not include a Return Authorization Number cannot be processed. Return address information can be found on the reverse side of your packing slip or on a separate sheet included in your order. All refunds are made in the original payment method. Shipping and handling charges are non-refundable. We recommend using a shipping method that can be tracked and insured for your protection.
Refunds on your purchase are done seamlessly once a Return is requested. However, it might take a few days to be credited back to you in the original mode of payment.
Finally and to give you the ultimate Peace of Mind, should you still be unsatisfied with a purchase after the conditional time-frames for Returns has elapsed, you could still contact us within 7 days from the date of delivery to discuss your concerns and we will attempt to help out in every way we can.
The goods once sold shall be taken back and replaced if it is found defective or damaged when supplied provided that such defect or damage should be reported within 7 days from the date of delivery by email to email@example.com and an extended time also may be considered in exceptional cases on proper grounds and this replacement shall not be applied in case the Product was damaged due to the mishandling and improper use of the Purchaser.
If for any reason you are not entirely satisfied with an order, please contact our Customer Service team
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Read the Policy but still have some questions? Why don't you visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section


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U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and Navy Adm. William H. McRaven have signed a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Special Operations Command to increase support services for military families.
The MOU allows the USDA-supported Cooperative Extension System and Land Grant Universities to work directly with Socom to conduct research and develop programs for military families of special operations units on issues such as personal financial management, health and nutrition, child care and youth empowerment, USDA said in a news release.
The USDA and the Defense Department have a longstanding relationship in support of service members and their families, Harden said in the release.
"This agreement allows us to extend similar support to Special Operations Forces by developing programs and services that help improve the quality of life for military family members," Harden continued in the release. "From offering workshops and classes about financial management for families, to creating positive youth development environments for military kids, to promoting healthy lifestyles, the USDA stands at the ready to serve."
"We are very grateful for USDA's support to our special operations warriors and their families," McRaven said in the release. "One of the fundamentals of special operations is that people are more important than hardware. This partnership exemplifies that truth. By facilitating access to a magnitude of valuable and credible family support programs and research through land grant universities, USDA will play a vital role in strengthening our force's resiliency and mission readiness."
The MOU builds on a current MOU between USDA and the DOD to strengthen child, youth and family programs for military personnel and their families, according to the release. That agreement, the release said, was signed in 2010 by Dr. Roger N. Beachy, former director of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, then-Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Under that agreement, the release said, the USDA-supported Cooperative Extension System and Land Grant Universities and DOD are engaged in a 10-year effort to leverage each other's resources and expertise in support of military families.


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Inpatient Remote Coder
United Audit Systems, Inc
Job Title: Remote Inpatient Coder (High Level/Experienced – Any US state)
Job Description:
UASI is currently seeking full-time (40 hours/week) experienced high-level inpatient coding specialists to perform accurate code assignments while working remotely from a home office. The ideal candidate will be flexible, detail-oriented, have the ability to work independently, quality conscious and be able to adapt well to change.
Required Qualifications:
• RHIA, RHIT or CCS certification
• A minimum of 3 years of recent coding experience in an acute care setting
• Experience working in a large trauma/teaching facility is required
• The ability to provide a secure work environment is a must
UASI is a privately owned HIM consulting firm with over 30 years of experience and stability. We are dedicated to providing employees with the support and tools needed to excel in their positions. We also recognize that HIM professionals are our greatest asset and in return for your talents, we offer a dynamic work environment, competitive salaries and a full benefit package which includes:
- Medical, Dental, Vision and Life Insurance
- Short/ long-term disability, PTO, 401(K), referral bonuses and flexible schedules
- Training opportunities, yearly educational allowances and continuing education programs as well as our ICD-10 training program
- UASI's unique approach to employee appreciation which include: birthday recognition, holiday gift selections, years of service awards and quality bonus programs
Instructions for Resume Submission:
Please send an updated resume to email@example.com with your certifications & years of inpatient coding experience if you are interested.
Apply Online: http://www.uasisolutions.com


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Jackie Morris Parades Cards
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- Graffeg Ltd
- https://www.pubmatch.com/Graffeg.html
More About This Title Jackie Morris Parades Cards
- English
This pack of five greetings cards features five different illustrations from Jackie Morris' best-selling children's books, loved by children and adults alike. This series features images from Cat & the Fiddle and The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. Suitable for any occasion, each card is blank for your own message. Each card has a caption written by Jackie and is supplied cello-wrapped with an envelope.
- English
Jackie Morris is an internationally bestselling author, illustrator, and photographer. She is the author of East of the Sun, West of the Moon; Can You See a Little Bear; and Tell me a Dragon.


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Banana Powder
OFRA's Pressed Banana Powder is an innovative new product that can be used as an all-in-one face powder.
Why We Love It
With a light banana scent, this pressed matte powder is versatile and can be used to:
Conceal dark circles underneath eyes.
Set concealer.
Highlight underneath eyes, the brow bone, the bridge of the nose, the middle of the forehead and the chin.
Complete your look as a luxury finishing powder.
Act as a light matte eyeshadow shade.
This powder comes as a compact and can be used with our Brush #11 for larger areas or Brush #3 for small areas.
For best results, apply our Silicone Primer Gel or Absolute Cover Face Primer before any makeup applications. Our Eye Gel Primer is also great before putting on eye makeup!
Desire a sweetly scented loose powder that works perfectly with OFRA's Pressed Banana Powder? Try our Translucent Highlighting Luxury Powder for flawless coverage!


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Trade & Consumer Shows
We Know How to Put On a Show
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome hosts more than just football games. During the off-season, our Main Arena Floor is prime space for your trade or consumer show. The Superdome is host to the annual Boat Show and New Orleans Home and Garden Show. With almost 162,500 square feet of column free space, convenient on-site parking facilities, and in-house electrical and booth services, the Superdome is the ideal venue for any type of trade or consumer show programming.
The Superdome is a Ticketmaster facility and our team of box office professionals will assist you throughout the entire process, from the on-sale to the conclusion of the show. The Superdome ASM Global team will work with you on booking your show, marketing your show and flawless on-site logistical execution.
For more information or to receive a customized proposal, please call the Sales Department at (504) 587-3663, (800) 756-7074 or email [email protected].
Everything you need to know when planning your show can be found below. Browse through site maps, facility specifications, back of house space layouts, etc.


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yes..its available..kindly drop by at our Balestier outlet for fixture...thank yo!
yes..its available..kindly drop by at our Balestier outlet for fixture...thank yo!
hey guys...our site has just been revamped...do check it out @ http://www.wingyap.com.sg/
do note that in future CRP card members will be able to monitor/check and redeem their CRP points through the website...kindly opt for this service by providing us your email to faciliate the process....cheers!
can quote me a price for the rear hugger, red?
what is the second last round thing for ?
hi..its the fuel thank cap....
hi, X1R tailight can fix onto spark 135?
yes...its possible...kindly drop by at any of our outlets for fixtures...thank you!
wing yap...
Do you have X1-R orginal racing foot rest? or any racing foot rest that can fit on my bike without any mods??
Hi Ray...the original footrest is available.....just drop by then...cheers!!!
how much is the footrest?
for pricing details...kindly drop by at our respective outlets...available in all 3 original colours...cheers!
New X1-R /Spark 135 Rear Huuger Assy wif Chain Cover
Price @ $40/- with installation.....
For more info and stock status, kindly contact TCLee @ 64560018...cheers!
Last edited by wym; 21-06-2008 at 11:41 AM.
very nice .
should you be interested just drop by at our Amk outlet...cheers!
wym, may i know what is the machine price of x1r as well as otr price? thank you!
pm me the price! thank you!
please check your maiL!
yes...however its of limited stock...please note...thank you!
cya ard!!!
Came by yesterday to balestier branch to get a new set of the racing foot rest...
Just wanna say Thanks!!!
no pro Rayner...hope everything is in order and should there be any issue do feel free to drop us a contact again...have a speedy recovery! Cya soon...
Hi Again WYM,
Is it possible if I could have your assistance in installing a 2 way alarm system on my X1-R? Kinda new to DIY-ing..
hi...no pro on tat...but just let us noe when will you be dropping by...will charge you only for the installation...no worries on that...thanx!
Hi WYM
i'll be coming down in a months time.. got my whole arm plus elbow in a cast.. cant ride...
I'll let ya know when i am coming...
Last edited by RAO; 03-07-2008 at 12:05 PM.
no pro...cya ard!
Would like a price list on all X-1r 135 Parst & Accessories
hi knutty...for pricing details kindly drop by at our respective outlets personally as we do not provide any price quote online...hope to see you soon! Cheers!
Limited Edition Swingarm
New Racing Boy Front Fork Brace
Yamaha Original Front Wheel Lock
Racing Footrest
- Limited Series
- Latest From Racing Boy
Ya'll have spare rider footpegs for the racing footrest??
yo Rayner...contact Eric for more info...he will assist you on it....
Hello WYM,
Does the racing footrest cost more than 100?
Does X1-R rear tyre able to fit 120 or 110?
Do you have the rear pillion handle bar?
can PM me?
bike is a machine without soul, rider would inject new life and character to this machine
Xiao Rou Yi Hao & "Colossal" 919
Sin Ming Editor got 1 DAY jailterm and $2000 fine for pillion death!
Rally Point: http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5322898#post5322898
hi mild...for more info kindly contact TCLee @ 64560018...he will be able to assist you on the details...do note that the pricing of the footrest will cost more than your budget pricing...cheers!
hi....pricing will cost you less than 260...with installation...for detailed pricing kindly drop by at our respective outlets....
Thks wym
no pro...hope to see you around...!
*Original Yamaha CoolMesh Add On Seat Cover*
Latest Coolmesh Seat Cover
Last edited by wym; 18-08-2008 at 11:03 AM.
Helmet - For Racing & Export Only
Norbi Performance Exhaust System - For Racing & Export Only
YMAX Original C & C Adjustible Spark 135 Lever Set
YMAX Original spark 135 Lever Set
Carbon Fibre Hugger With Chain Cover
Special Customise Rear Seat Mount - Spark 135 / X1-R / Fino
u gt mail mate!
do you sell body kits?
Yamaha Rxz (sept-dec 2007)
Yamaha X1-R(dec 07-nov 09 )
YAmaha RXZ(Nov 09-dec11)
Honda Super 4(dec 11-June12)
Yamaha FZ15(June12- current)
Carbon Fibre Hugger With Chain Cover
my tire 90/80 can fit not?
if can how much?
thanks boss
hi kindly drop by at our Balestier outlet for the fitting of the Hugger if you do not mind...
hope to see you soon!
hi iszker....which area are you looking at ?
dear wym..... like to enquire how much u selling bracket for iu unit.... pm me the pricing pls... thanx


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25mm No.5 Millinery Petersham Hat Ribbon
25mm wide (a.k.a. No.5) millinery petersham ribbon is ideal for trimming, edging and creating hat bands as it can be curved with an iron.
This is super high quality and is made specifically for hat making with a fiber content of 70% rayon, 30% viscose.
Sold by the metre (1.09 yards) or by the full roll which measures 30m (32.8 yards). Multiple metres purchased will arrive as one long continuous piece.


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Wickstead, Helen and Barber, Martyn (2010) A newly recorded hilltop enclosure at Myncen Farm, Minchington. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 131, pp. 103-112. ISSN (print) 0070-7112Full text not available from this archive.
|Item Type:
|Research Area:
|Faculty, School or Research Centre:
|Faculty of Science (until 2011) > School of Geography, Geology and Environment > Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research (CEESR)
|Depositing User:
|Helen Wickstead
|Date Deposited:
|11 Nov 2010 13:51
|Last Modified:
|11 Nov 2010 13:51
Actions (Repository Editors)
|Item Control Page


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Providing sound reinforcement for graduation ceremonies
We were excited for this event because it would be the debut of our recently purchase QSC Wideline8 System. However, debuting this system in a tent is far from ideal.
Although tents are not acoustically ideal, they proved to act in our favor for speech. The reflective surfaces, and domed tops acted as a natural horn for our loud speakers.
With the predicated coverage in EASE and the reflective surfaces of the tents the coverage was beautiful! From the front row to the back speech was crystal clear and intelligible. This was also the case with soft talkers, a type of person I'm always concerned about at speaking events, such as graduations.
Overall it was a successful event and the Rockfan Team worked hard and delivered another great production! Both of our stages utilizing this QSC Wideline8 configuration received praise for clear, intelligible sound throughout the tent. Our other 2 stages outfitted with QSC KLA12's went off without a hitch as well! Thanks again to Blazen Illuminations and RC Events for the opportunity!


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We have to eat 3 times a day, so why not make that time worthwhile? In case you missed it, you are what you eat. So, if you want glowing, radiant skin, long, shiny hair, and strong nails, then try my Complexion Perfection Salad.
Where does the Complexion Perfection come in?
Baby Kale: Packed with every vitamin known to man; High in anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer nutrients.
Red Onion: Prevents inflammation, and are high in silica, a beauty mineral responsible for clear skin.
Kalamata Olives: Smooths Skin, protects against wrinkles, and more.
Radishes: Touted as the most beautifying of all foods, by creating luminous, wrinkle-free skin, and more.
Pumpkin Seeds: Detoxifies body, creates radiant, glowing skin, combats acne and wrinkles, and more.
Sunflower Seeds: Loaded with Vitamin E, Vitamin B1, and a number of anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Hemp Seeds: Helps burn excess fat, strengthens skin, hair and nails, and more.
- baby kale
- red onions diced
- Kalamata olives pitted
- radishes sliced
- pumpkin seeds raw
- sunflower seeds raw
- hemp seeds
- 2 Tbsp. sesame seed butter
- 3 Tbsp. water
- 1/4 inch ginger peeled and minced (optional)
- lemon juice from half a lemon
- pink salt
- crushed red pepper flakes
- Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients with a fork, or if you have a bullet blender, you can blend in there.
- Pour over salad, mix well, and savor every bite!
Maria Marlowe
Maria Marlowe is a holistic nutrition and wellness coach who uses real food to help her clients improve their health, weight, and skin. She offers a 28-day healthy eating meal plan that teaches you how to batch cook, as well as one to clear up acne. Her most popular program is EatSLIM, a 10-week online group glass that guides participants to develop healthy eating habits that stick – and lose weight, boost their metabolism, improve their digestion, and quit sugar.
She writes healthy and delicious plant-based recipes for her popular blog. She is also the author of the #1 New Release on Amazon, The Real Food Grocery Guide, the most practical guide to selecting the healthiest foods, without going broke, which has been praised by Dr. Oz and InStyle magazines. You can find her on instagram @mariamarlowe.


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The Wooden Duck Bed & Breakfast is located in a quiet country setting with over 10 acres of woodlands to explore.
We are located in Kittatinny Valley State Park, with rail trails adjacent to our property. Our marked trail leads through our 10 acres of land with varying terrain including rocky outcroppings, marshy fern paths, and beautiful woodland forests. Our B & B is a natural setting and home for wildlife including deer, turkeys, black bears, foxes and many native birds including woodpeckers.
We are located in historical Andover, New Jersey, near the Andover ironworks.


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Housemate Guide
A Guide for Successful Housemate Relationships
The key to a good relationship is communication. This is apparent when living off-campus. Whether this is the first time living off-campus or the first time with new housemates, it is always important to set clear expectations right from the start. Here are a few suggestions:
Sharing Items
- Do you mind lending items to housemates, such as clothes, books, money, class notes, and food?
- What items are all right to share -TV? Microwave? Computer?
Cleaning Up
- How important is a clean house to you? Is this different from the ideas of your housemates?
- How will responsibilities be assigned? For example, who will clean the bathroom? Vacuum the living room? Take out the trash?
- Who will buy cleaning supplies?
- When do you like to go to sleep?
- Are you a morning or night person?
- How do the previous two questions differ from your housemates?
- How will housemates deal with problems stemming from a guest or guests?
- How will the housemates address the issue of overnight guests of the opposite sex? Same sex?
- How do you feel about gatherings?
Study Habits
- When do you like to study?
- Are you able to study with noise? How much noise? What about your housemates?
- How often do you consume alcohol?
- How often do your housemates consume alcohol?
- How does your response differ from your housemate?
Emotional Style
- How do you act when you are upset?
- Do you tend to say things you are thinking, or do you keep it all inside?
- Are you an introvert or extravert?
- Are there times you prefer to be alone?
- How do you know if people are mad?
- What annoys you?
- What are you like when you are under pressure?
- What are some specific things that bother you?
- Will housemates buy goods together? For example, food, dishes, bathroom items, cleaning supplies, etc.
- If a housemate leaves, how will goods and costs be split up?
Rules for a Good Discussion
Problems do arise between housemates. Here are some tips to help you confront problems and deal with issues in your house.
- Focus on the behavior-not your housemate.
- "Own" your feelings-you choose to feel and act a certain way.
- Listen to all perspectives. Let your housemates speak without interruption, and actively listen to their requests.
- Make sure you understand everything that is being said; assume nothing.
- Remember that this is not a win/lose situation. The goal is to find some kind of compromise for all to live with. Be as objective and rational as possible.
- If emotions are running high, take a break and resume discussion later.
- Try to get at the heart of the problem right away. Don't waste time on details of little concern.
- Try to remain calm.


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"Mesa Plays" Revives Sports Complex Push
By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder's Exchange
Halloween has passed, but one project thought dead for more than a year has returned from the grave. Unlike typical zombies, however, this one is getting a warm welcome among some sectors of the Mesa and East Valley community.
A steering and promotional committee called Mesa Plays, formed by city tourism group Visit Mesa, has recently begun efforts to revisit plans for a $60M, 24-field, multipurpose sports complex. The project would be built on city-owned land at Brown Road near the Loop 202. A 110KSF field house is also included in the plan.
On its website, the group cites an analysis by Elliot D. Pollack & Company in support of the project, stating, "This new development would generate significant benefits to the City of Mesa during every stage – from construction, daily operations and the anticipated future spending of visitors attending tournaments year-round. The complex will generate new economic activity like hotels and restaurants that will provide new tax revenue and jobs for all Mesa residents."
The group says plans for the complex were developed through a survey of more than 400 local, regional and national event planners, and that existing space is woefully inadequate to fill demand. That demand includes a more than 50 percent growth in the number of soccer players registered among various area groups in just the past five years. An Arizona Republic article on the proposal says Mesa has between 800-1,000 hours more demand for lighted sports field use than it can accommodate.
Visit Mesa first announced the project in December, 2015. However, it was shelved in June of 2016 when Mesa City Council opted not to put it on that year's November ballot. Several officials at the time, including Mayor John Giles, said it was a great idea but that the timing wasn't right. The city was asking voters for a public safety sales tax and for approval of a downtown Mesa campus for ASU. Both measures were defeated.
At that time, Mesa officials and supporters said there was no immediate plan to reintroduce the project, but that it could potentially be considered as part of a larger parks plan in 2018 or 2019.
Now, however, the proposal has been dusted off, and supporters are citing both the demand for sports facilities and the complex's potential as an economic development engine.
Among the benefits Mesa Plays is estimating are:
- 400,000 new visitors a year for events, meetings and other activities;
- $365M in total annual economic activity, including $183M in direct visitor expenditures;
- 3,400 total, sustained jobs created;
- More than 180,000 hotel nights booked each year, and
- Service as an anchor point to launch new hotel, restaurant and other building development.
Group officials and supporters have been meeting with – and otherwise reaching out to – councilmembers in hopes of putting a bond request on the November 2018 ballot. If voters approve, the project will move into design, with the expectation of starting construction in summer or fall of 2019 and opening in late 2020 or early 2021.
NOTE: Paid subscribers receive additional project details in our twice-weekly PDF publication, including project stakeholder information and valuable project bidding leads. Find out more about AZBEX subscriptions or contact Rebekah Morris at firstname.lastname@example.com or (480) 709-4190


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Modernizing Web Filtering for K-12 Schools
December 18, 2019 Added by:Timur Kovalev
Today's 24/7 Internet access world underlines the importance of fine-tuned web filters and content security across K-12 networks.
Comments (0)
5 Limitations of Network-Centric Security in the Cloud
August 19, 2019 Added by:Sanjay Kalra
Traditional security solutions aim to identify threats at the perimeter of the enterprise, but threats targeting public clouds require a different level of insight and action.
Comments (0)
U.S. Now Leads by Number of DDoS Botnet C&C Servers
July 25, 2018 Added by:Ionut Arghire
The United States was the top region by number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) botnet command and control (C&C) servers in Q2 2018, Kaspersky Lab reports.
Comments (0)
We Can't Control Devices and People, but We Can Control the Network
April 26, 2017 Added by:Dennis Reilly
Dennis Reilly asks BAI Senior Director of Operations Ryan Morris about current trends he is seeing, including what challenges federal agencies may face.
Comments (0)
The Third Party Threat
February 16, 2017 Added by:Michael Patterson
A data compromise is inevitable for companies wherever it might emanate from. Therefore an organizations' ability to respond to an incident is key.
Comments (0)
Winter Is Coming: Forget the Firewall and Layer Up
October 25, 2016 Added by:Myk Konrad
With the holidays around the corner, bundling up on security is the best thing you can do to protect your revenue from the cold realities of cybercrime.
Comments (0)
Going Global: Three Key Strategies for Managing International Firewalls
September 23, 2016 Added by:Avishai Wool
Professor Avashai Wool, CTO at Alogsec explains how businesses can best manage a cross-border firewall estate, keeping their perimeters secure globally.
Comments (0)
How to Choose the Right EDR solution for Your Organization
September 23, 2016 Added by:Tom Wayne
The need for an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution is at its highest for any organization who wants to ensure they are as protected as possible from the threat of attack.
Comments (0)
Advanced Threat Protection Technologies Beyond Marketing
September 07, 2016 Added by:Roy Samson
The right Advanced Threat Protection technology choices depend on your current and target IT architecture. It is also important not to be tempted to base your decision for a specific security product owing to a small unique 'sales/marketing' feature.
Comments (0)
Making the Most of User Entity Behavior Analytics: Expectations, Features and Best Practices
May 24, 2016 Added by:Brian Soldato
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) platforms are very promising. In the near future, expect to see user behavior analytics platforms integrate more directly with infrastructure and with automated response.
Comments (0)
Bangladesh Bank: Why Aren't We Talking About Privileged Account Management?
April 26, 2016 Added by:Jim Legg
While prevention of the initial breach is an important layer of an enterprise security strategy, perimeter-based threat protection alone is not sufficient to protect against today's increasingly sophisticated and targeted external security threats.
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3 Requirements for Effective Security Investigations
April 15, 2016 Added by:Tomer Saban
In order to provide security teams with the ability to react quickly and accurately to cyber-attacks and overcome technical and resource-related limitations, here are three fundamental requirements to consider.
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March Madness Security Threats Can Drive Any Organization Mad!
March 14, 2016 Added by:Mark Parker
Unfortunately, while the popularity of March Madness (the NCAA Basketball Tournament) has grown exponentially, nearly every facet of any employee's involvement with the event could open up the employee, as well as the organization, to a number of cyber risks.
Comments (0)
Yes. The World Needs More Security Predictions
February 17, 2016 Added by:Dan Lohrmann
With the surging growth in cyberspace, new technologies, Wi-Fi, apps, robots, drones, terrorists with social media accounts, the Internet of Things (IoT) and nation-state hacking, online data security has become the Achilles' heel of the Internet. A growing number of people want to know about new apps available for their smartphones and their data in the cloud – along with the upcoming securit...
Comments (0)
The Age of Advanced Threats Has Arrived
January 15, 2016 Added by:Luis Corrons
The most capable defense solutions must not only be centralized, but also be able to automatically block, identify, forensically profile and purge malware, even when it is veiled by legitimate programs and processes. The software needs to be smarter than the malware itself.
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Carrier Grade NAT and the DoS Consequences
December 16, 2015 Added by:Stefan Fouant
Through the use of dedicated DDoS mitigation devices, Carrier Grade NAT devices and their associated customers are protected from service disruptions, while still ensuring legitimate traffic is allowed unencumbered.
Comments (0)
Hacker to Release Symantec's PCAnywhere Sour... Jerry Shaw on 10-05-2015
"Shifting costs from your capital expense with an operational one, the opportunity to scale along when necessary, as well as the Web-bas..."
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New PCI Compliance Study... on 03-17-2015
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- What Does Being Data-Centric Actually Look Like?
- The Big 3: Top Domain-Based Attack Tactics Threatening Organizations
- Security Compass Receives Funding for Product Development and Expansion
- Password Shaming Isn't Productive – Passwords Are Scary Business
- Five Key Cyber-Attack Trends for This Year
- 20/20 Vision on 2020's Network Security Challenges
- Is Cybersecurity Getting Too Complex?
- Global Security Threats Organizations Must Prepare for in 2020
- Six Reasons for Organizations to Take Control of Their Orphaned Encryption Keys
- The Cybersecurity Skills Gap: An Update for 2020


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Hype Video: First Teaser For Cars 3 Is Surprisingly Bleak
Those who know me, know that I love Disney Pixar's Cars franchise. So, when news broke that a third movie was in the works I was pretty excited and I've tried to keep you guys updated on it as well. Today, Pixar released the first teaser trailer and unlike the optimistic tones of the first two films, Cars 3 looks to be going in a surprisingly dark direction. A while back, Cars 3 director Brian Fee revealed that the story would revolve around Lightning McQueen being literally left behind by younger, faster race cars and enlists the help of a young female racer named Cruz Ramirez to make him competitive again.
Naturally I thought that premise would make for an emotional but light-hearted tone. However, judging by the teaser trailer it looks like things may get a bit more serious than I first thought. Watch the teaser trailer below and then let me know what you thought of it in the comments or tweet to us @Motorworldhype.