Maine ASCD Weblog

Please Stop Blocking Our E-Mail

Like everyone, we are challenged by the relentless onslaught of SPAM and unsolicited email filling our mailboxes each day. On the average day, we are filtering about 200 unwanted emails with our SPAM programs, so we know the problem.

Unfortunately, some SPAM blocking techniques also block legitmate and solicited e-mails from professional organizations and associations like Maine ASCD. SPAM blocking techniques which utilize a filter at the mail server end are the most troubling because these systems block all mail so many users don't even know that their mail was blocked. Filtering techniques used at the client level still allow the mail to arrive in the mailbox, but automatically sorts the mail into separate folder thus allowing the user to decide if it is SPAM or not. This is the kind of SPAM filtering that we use at Maine ASCD and we find that every once and a while a legitimate e-mail is incorrectly blocked. Fortunately, this system allows us to refine the filter to always trust this source thus preventing this mishap from occuring again.

In recent months, increasing numbers of school districts have started employed these server-based SPAM filtering systems and many Maine ASCD members are now not able to receive e-mail correspondence from their association. To remedy this, we ask that all members to contact their IT departments and staff and ask them to change their filters to allow mail from Maine ASCD to be passed on to them.

Our database of addresses contain only members and past participants from our events. If at any time you wish to have your contact information removed from our database we will be happy to do so. Please simply send a correspondence to info@maineascd.org or mail or fax to the address below. However, please be aware that nearly all services to members and customers require the use of e-mail. So by removing your name from our system we will not be able to provide you with customer services or member support.

The Maine ASCD Board of Directors has worked hard to keep our membership dues at the same level ($35) for over seven years. To service members using a paper-based system, as opposed to an e-mail based system, would likely require a significant increase in the membership fee. And we know you don't want that!

So we ask that you help keep the cost of membership and customer service low by asking your IT department to stop blocking our e-mail.

Thank you.

John E. Brandt, Executive Director
Maine ASCD
PO Box 926
Brunswick, ME 04011
P: 207-729-6652
F: 207-725-8547
E: info@maineascd.org
W: www.maineascd.org

Don’t Look Now, the Others are Catching Up!

As we busily prepare for our major conference on the Future of Maine’s Economy taking place in Augusta next week, I read this article about a new education report in today’s eSchool News with some concern.

It states:

U.S. and European schoolchildren are losing ground to countries such as China and India that are adapting faster to changing needs and producing more of the high-skilled workers the 21st century demands…

The report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggests, “East Asian countries are increasingly outperforming Europe and the United States--and they ‘succeed without leaving many students behind’" according to the article. It also goes on to point out, “the report warned against a ‘lack of ambition’ among youth in many OECD countries that contrasts sharply with families' push to educate children in many developing countries--especially China and India.”

A similar message was delivered in January 2005 at our first conference on the Future of Maine’s Economy and I expect that our speakers next week will mention this report.

Here is the summary on the United States:

As reported in the OECD’s Economic Outlook, the US economy remains strong and competitive internationally. GDP per capita remains higher than any other OECD country except Luxembourg and productivity growth over recent years has been strong. Research shows the important role that education plays in achieving economic success with OECD figures estimating that the long-term effect on economic output of one additional year of education generally lies been 3% and 6%. The education indicators in this year’s Education at a Glance show the strengths and weaknesses of the  education system in the US compared to its competitors and lay out potential future challenges.

The US education systems produce high levels of educational attainment, at relatively high cost, with greater gender equality than most countries and permits the more highly qualified members of the population to reap healthy benefits in the labour market. But whereas in the past the US topped the league on these measures, other countries are catching up and in some cases surpassing the US performance. In addition, the upper secondary and university graduation rates of the most recent cohorts in the US are now both below the OECD average. Projecting these trends forward 10 years would see the US share of the OECD-wide pool of highly qualified people fall from 41% to 36%.

An opportunity as well as a challenge arises from the dramatic growth in the internationalisation of education. While the US is still the most popular destination for foreign student, in a four year period when the number of international students worldwide has increased by 41%, the US share of the international tertiary student market has fallen from 25% to 22%.

"Education at a Glance" report  http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2006
Briefing Notes for the United States: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/51/20/37392850.pdf

~John Brandt