Have you ever tried to figure out your health insurance benefits?

What a confounding experience. I spent a little time today reviewing my coverage. As much as I’d like to claim it’s because I’m that organized, but really it’s just because my part time employer recently made benefits available to us. So, why not take a look at my coverage and options.

Health Insurance is not my bailiwick, but a person with reasonable education should be able to figure out her own insurance costs and benefits. Yes?

If you treat the total payout for this policy as full use of resources and the total cost as monthly premium + copays, you get a decent reflection for apples-to-apple comparison with other policies. It ain’t perfect, but it works. Since this policy caps the payout annually, it’s easy to calculate as the Maximum Benefit – assume full use of maximum benefit. The Cost is set in stone through bi-weekly withdrawals – so that too is blissfully easy to calculate.

Here’s how the numbers break down:

So . . . how’s that option 2 looking? Just because a plan is offered, does not mean it makes sense. This is an actual apples-to-apples for these two plans, same provider, same stuff. Remarkable. Keep in mind, once I hit the Total Benefit mark, the plan is 100% out of pocket for me, so this is only an in-between type plan to cover those of us who elect to have a high deductible plan.

Aetna, thanks but no thanks.

Even though the NPV of plan 1 is positive on a cash basis, adjusted for hassle factor, it rolls negative pretty quickly. I look at it this way, I’ll need to spend 2-3 hours a year (at least) dealing with the paperwork, submitting receipts, and assorted shenanigans. Is my time worth more than the $182/3 hours, or roughly $60 an hour? Without a doubt.

As a healthy person, I can get away with less . . . that’s part of the reason I make certain choices . . . to keep my health care costs down. When business was down for a bit I did just fine, not optimally, but just fine, on a cash-to-provider plan. The plan consisted of me paying my provider directly for services rendered. Annual cost for medical and dental was under $500. But the threat of idiots running red lights and slamming into me and my family is enough to keep me renewing the high deductible plan for “just in case” situations. So, I’m still on that cash-to-provider plan and have a safety net if needed.

Turns out doctors really appreciate the no nonsense approach too. Two out of three of my annual providers now no longer file insurance forms for clients. You pay cash at the door. Why should a doctor spend his or her time shuffling through insurance mandates? Which would you rather have a doctor who has time and attention for you or a doctor who file insurance forms?

No related posts.

Rewriting the No Child Left Behind Law is in process. If you have children in school this may be important to you. If you are childless, it may seem unimportant.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Whether or not you have children, if you plan to be living in 20 years, how our children are educated today will influence your quality of life. In 20 years, the children just starting school will be having their mid-20s crisis (did anyone have one of these prior to the baby boomers?). The children now finishing school will be leading major companies and entering the upper rungs of politics . . .

These kids are our future, literally.

So how are they doing?

Oh, #@$*@!

From what I can tell, they have a lot of self esteem. They feel good about themselves. Really, really, good about themselves. But, they don’t have any proof of earning that self esteem, and deep down, each child knows it.

Let’s take a quick look at our rankings in international tests. This chart demonstrates performance in problem solving – Math.

The reality check is that United States students performed well on some tests, not as well as might be expected on others, and very poorly on some.

There is a “counter myth” that the United States generally performed at or close to the international average in math and science. This is true, as far as it goes. However, some of the nations tested were decidedly disadvantaged compared to the United States, and the international average included the scores of those less favored nations. To say that the United States is near the international average largely means that our students fared better than students in some severely deprived countries. Many other advanced nations scored far above the average.  See the article with stats from the international tests.

But, surely there are ways to counter this information, right? The standard excuses that we educate all of our population so a comparison of our students is broader than in other countries . . . not true. How about the idea that our best students outperform the best students in other countries – again, that our average is pulled down by the lower end of students . . . again, not true. US best students ranked second to last of the 20 advanced nations. How about . . . our students are more attuned to cretive thinking whereas these other countries are drilling facts and using rote memorization?

It is true the other countries lean on heavy drills, memorization and other (apparently) seeming barbaric learning mechanisms. Guess what?

American students were dead last of the advanced countries and well below average for all countries in ability to apply knowledge through creative problem solving.

Perhaps rote memorization serves a purpose….

As a nation, we’ve been punked. Our children are learning to feel good, but they aren’t learning to read, write, add/subtract/multiply and divide. How can you feel good as an adult if you can’t cover the basic functions and then apply them. We are creating a nation of zombies.

When you cannot contribute to the vibrant, productive fabric of this country you are more likely to have problems with substance abuse and depression. Those are expensive problems for society….

Are there any bright spots?

Our 4th graders have often done well, especially in reading. Our 8th graders have done exceptionally well in civics.

Well that’s something. At least until you read the conclusion. Emphasis is mine.

However, American students have not generally performed as well as our national advantages would lead one to expect. Between 1995 and 2003 our students made good strides in factual learning in science and some improvement in factual learning in mathematics. They deteriorated in application of knowledge in all subjects between 2000 and 2003. They did very poorly in tests of original, creative, logical thinking. Most of the excuses for low American performance fail the reality test. Quibbles about sample participation and the age of students tested are specious and cannot explain away the obvious defects in US students’ performance.

The harder a student works, the more he will struggle with concepts, the more he will own those concepts once he gets them. Upon mastery of a concept, the child will develop a security that he knows something. That’s the beauty of it, he will know something. This leads to self esteem.

Self-esteem can not be taught, it must be earned.

The Secretary of Education is coming to your state by the end of December, look here for his schedule – then go give your input!

Related posts:

1. Education Issues – Teacher Signaling
2. Education Issues: Quantity, Quality?
3. Education Stimulus Money Establishes Test Standards, Can’t Fix Test Problems

In the Education Leadership post a few days ago Rob commented that teaching attracts liberals. So let’s dissect. Is it true that teaching attracts liberals or is there something more going on?

There are a few ways to go through this. Let’s start with the premise that teaching attracts liberals. That premise is either true or not true. How do we decide, scientifically? We have to identify the population of teachers as liberal or not liberal versus the same in the overall population.

If it is true that teaching attracts liberals disproportionally, what is it about teaching or liberalness that brings the two together?

Could it be that Teacher Unions somehow block non-liberals? Or matriculation for conservative PhD students is somehow blocked by liberal faculty….

If it is false, how did the profession get the reputation? Better yet, has it always been this way?

So let’s tackle these one at a time (1999 data from the North American Academic Study Survey):

By their own description, 72 percent of those teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal and 15 percent are conservative, says the study being published this week (April 2005). The imbalance is almost as striking in partisan terms, with 50 percent of the faculty members surveyed identifying themselves as Democrats and 11 percent as Republicans….

“What’s most striking is how few conservatives there are in any field,” said Robert Lichter, a professor at George Mason University and a co-author of the study. “There was no field we studied in which there were more conservatives than liberals or more Republicans than Democrats. It’s a very homogenous environment, not just in the places you’d expect to be dominated by liberals.”

In contrast with the finding that nearly three-quarters of college faculty are liberal, a Harris Poll of the general public last year found that 33 percent describe themselves as conservative and 18 percent as liberal.

Hmmmm.

The evidence I have for liberal professors blocking the advancement of conservative students is painful and anecdotal, so give me a few days to dig for the science to support or deny this – look for that next week.

Has it always been this way?

In the last major survey of college faculty, by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1984, 39 percent identified themselves as liberal.

Well then.

What is perhaps more troubling is the ripple effect it is having throughout the education system. I have no beef with college professors who fly left of the spectrum. That’s your gig. And, yes, I will defend your right to have those opinions no matter how much I disagree with them.

But what about our primary and secondary education system? By the time a child reaches college he or she should be able to think critically and has been molded by mom and dad. When you are 5 years old, you take everything said to you at face value.

I have a very strong opposition to politics in the classroom for those who are not even the age of reason.

Give the lack of understanding for the basics (reading, writing, arithmetic) I see in adult graduate level students, there is no time for political shenanigans in the primary classroom. Get back to math, reading and writing. Science, critical thinking, scientific method – how to conduct an unbiased experiment and scientifically assess the results… those have a solid place in late elementary school and middle school. Being told smart cars are “better” in kindergarten, no place. No thank you.

So let’s leave this politicing aside and look at something perhaps more important, teacher qualifications. If teachers are qualified to teach our children how to think and to love learning, then perhaps the right/left (rather left/far left) leanings become less relevant . . ..

Oh dear.

According to the “Meeting Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge” report published in 2003, 28 of 29 states where the same standardized teaching tests are used, a teacher may be below the national overall (teaching and non-teaching populations) average in mathematics and still be a teacher. 29 of 29 for reading . . . and in some states you may perform in the bottom quarter (i.e. with more than 75% of the population performing better than you did) and still meet the requirements to become a teacher.

What?!

Yet, from my personal experience it is next to impossible to pursue the very low pay, grueling hours of teaching due to the certification process. Thanks, I’ll stick with private education.

As large donors to the Democratic party, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have an agenda, but it doesn’t seem to be educating our young ones.

Want more? A site dedicated to information on teachers’ unions.

Related posts:

1. Cost of Education
2. Education Issues – Teacher Signaling
3. Education Issues: Quantity, Quality?

The strongest case for Education reform in the United States

Upon reading another author’s blog’s comments I was reminded how few people are put at the peril of the market in an obvious way, daily – i.e. they work for someone else, have benefits, and believe these things due to them. We need Basic Economics training for everyone. Without understanding how market forces major and minor contribute to profits and losses for businesses, a vast portion of our vocal population perpetuate the notion that businesses are profiting by skimping on employee benefits – benefits they feel are a right and obligation for someone else to provide.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods

Howdy to healthcare reform. The comments are a hoot. On one hand, you have well reasoned responses discussing the economics behind healthcare from a personal point. Some small business owners chime in. On the other hand, you have folks attacking Mr. Mackey – these folks refer to themselves as “Progressives.”

The talkers talk loudest making demands while the doers work their butts off to provide for both. There’s only so much a doer can take before she stops producing for the talker. Productive people will always find a way to make things work, even if it’s messy. A talker depends on the productive person to keep producing. A few of my family members fall into the Talker category . . . they would gladly strangle the goose who lays the golden eggs, because they can dismiss the golden eggs as luck.

It’s amazing how lucky you get when you work really hard.

There’s just no reasoning with folks so unreasonable.

“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”-Margaret Thatcher.

“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”  — Milton Friedman

Related posts:

1. Education Issues: Calling Out Bill Gates on Treating Schools Like Corporations
2. Education Issues – State v Federal Standards
3. Education Issues: Quantity, Quality?

A rant about the failure of of educational system. Are our best and brightest simply delusional?

A suitor, Jay*, recently approached me about taking the GMAT. He knows that I teach for ManhattanGMAT (a super fantastic group!) and he was prepping to take the test on his own. I shared some general words of advice and suggested a few particular areas of study that most self-study students ignore. Let me state clearly, he is NOT a ManhattanGMAT student.

We had drifted apart by the time he took his test, but he did call to give an update on his progress. He performed well below his expectation and was shocked. I was not so shocked…. While Jay is a nice guy, he is not likely to do well on the GMAT and is likely to struggle through any MBA program. Comprehension is not his strong suit.

For example, after 6 months of study, he did not understand that the test is adaptive. In other words, the test gets harder the better you do.

On the phone he complained that the test was more than a “test of the basics,” and he wasn’t expecting it to be so hard. The books he used clearly state that the test is adaptive – so he simply missed this point, and the test is actually a test of the basics . . . however it is a test of your MASTERY of the basics. In other words, it is not sufficient to be able to calculate the area of a triangle only when given the base and the height, you may need to calculate the base and the height from information given. How often do your business problems come with a full fact set, clear solution and “correct” answer?

Jay proclaimed that he understands triangles and that he earned a 98 in Algebra and was an “A” student in math. He “understands” Geometry, Algebra, Equations, Fractions….” Yet, he was unable to solve for the Area of the Triangle above. He remembered 1/2 b*h, but was unable to find the height of the triangle.

He has superficial understanding of triangles but does not understand the concepts.

I have no bone to pick with Jay, but I do want to shake up the school district that sent him out into the world believing he understands math and is “good at math.” He is delusional. If I had a 98 in math, I too would think that I was pretty good at it.

Perhaps he is a one-off? No, like the two Algebra II students I tutored before December finals (2008) from his same school district, he is sadly not a one-off. The Honors student was unable to factor 9x^2 – 25y^2. Sure, how often do you need this stuff? Rarely. BUT, we are training students to believe they actually know things that they don’t even begin to grasp. It is shockingly bad. Yet, from a student perspective I understand part of the Whys this is happening. Have you seen these textbooks? Holy bleeep!

Current textbooks are 100 pounds of pure horrible. The Algebra II textbook explained parabolas in such a way I began to doubt what I know. The way the material is presented lends itself to short-term memorization, not to understanding, and certainly not to mastery.

It is better to understand WHY 2+2 is to equal 4 then to memorize the problem 2+2 = 4. We are feeding our students superficial knowledge and then patting them on the heads with inflated grades. Folks, no amount of self esteem can help you when you suck at math. You will have trouble – you will spend more than those who understand math because you are more likely to be taken by the car dealer, mortgage broker, credit card company, and even your little punk brother (who understands math). It is better to train ALL of our students to have basic life skills. Math is one of those life skills.

So maybe we have to pay Ashley Alasky to add math concepts to all her syrupy songs. That’s something I’d support with a few dollars (private dollars).

Answers:

9x^2 – 25y^2 = (3x-5y)(3x+5y) This is an application of the x^2-y^2 special factorization model . . . it doesn’t change when you add coefficients.

Related posts:

1. Education Issues – Teacher Signaling
2. Education Issues: Calling Out Bill Gates on Treating Schools Like Corporations
3. Education Issues: Peer Effects?