• Books  (3 Articles)

    Encyclopedia of Education:

    Even though everyone has had experiences with school, the NEA is the world’s largest labor union, and education issues dominate every election, the reality is, most people still don’t fully understand the hows, whys and whats. “Educationeze,” impersonal administrators, opposing political arguments, and the sheer size of public education can be intimidating. This collection of chapters on individual topics (like motivation, testing, curriculum or politics) simplifies the concepts of education, explains the issues, but most importantly, shows the reader how he can find and procure the level of training he actually seeks. This volume answers all your questions, and tells you how to accomplish what you want.

     
    Having it All (Or Living Like a King on a Workingman's Income):

    There are two ways to get everything you want in life. Most people know about paying cash, and those who cannot afford it, usually give up right there. This book teaches you how to gain an education, travel the world, dine on haute cuisine, indeed, do or achieve anything you want without paying cash. This is the full-length treatise of method number two--turning your energy (work) directly into anything you want, without worrying about cash.


    What Everybody Needs to Know about Experiential Education:

    Sometimes a school works for some student, and sometimes one becomes well-educated despite everything that is done to him. But for those who want to learn, the last twenty-five years of research have proven conclusively that Experiential Education is the most effective way to teach and learn, and it works for everyone! This book is the seminal book in the field. Whether you want to learn, and therefore want to know what kind of experiences/settings and schools to seek, or whether you want to teach, and actually reach and impact your students, this is the one book you have to devour.

  • Education Resources  (0 Articles)

    Take Charge of Your Education


    If you want to take charge of your education, turn your experiences and education into wealth, or learn to make the most of any opportunity, you have found the most dynamic company in America. In fact, Dynamic is in our name: Education Leadership Dynamics. We can help you turn your education, no matter what it is, into personal happiness, success and wealth. ELD is headed by the nation's foremost expert in gifted education, homeschooling, outdoor education, experiential education and alternative education, Joel D. Black. He is also one of the founders of the Washington Homeschool Organization.

    A long-time practitioner of experiential education, he is the author of THE book on the subject, "What Everybody Needs to Know About Experiential Education." E.L.D. is pleased to bring you the very best in educational audio, books, adventure programs, and study abroad travel programs. You have no question we cannot answer, and no need we cannot find resources for. ELD services include a chat room, travel and a real high school, Cascade Independent High School, through which you can earn credits for travel, independent study, and which also serves you with a comprehensive referral service to help you find exactly what you need to make the most of any opportunity. Through our relationships with a variety of sister companies and educational organizations, we can save you money in travel, save you time obtaining your education, help you move your life forward in the direction you would like it to go, and help you in every way achieve your dreams and goals.

    Dr. Joel Black is uniquely qualified to help answer any question on any topic in education. Author of three books and dozens of monographs, he has also been an invited speaker at four dozen conventions and seminars all across the country. His wilderness adventure trek has been called the Cadillac of all outdoor experiential programs.

  • Talking With Mr. Education  (0 Articles)

    Questions and answers coming soon. If you have questions for Mr. Education, please ask, and the answers will be posted here.


    Dr. Joel D. Black has been a national leader in education since 1983. Upon the publication of Developing Leadership: Can Recreation Programs Be Modified to Do It?, Dr. J.T. O’Leary noted, “Mr. Black knows more about leadership than anyone in America.” When Dr. Black delivered a series of 24 lectures on education between 1989 and 1995, the requests to make them available poured in. In 1995, when Lighthouse Publishers were printing Dr. Black’s book, What Everybody Needs to Know About Experiential Education, the publisher and the graphic artist took to calling Dr. Black “Mr. Education.” L.B. Earle noted at the time, “Mr. Black is clearly the best-informed educator in America. Why he is not Secretary of Education is one of the political imponderables of the nation.” In 1992 Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers published its first edition, honoring the top five percent of the nation’s teachers, public, private and university level. Mr. Black was among the honored. In the nine subsequent editions, Dr. Black (he earned his PhD in 1999) has been honored six additional times. We are not aware of another seven-time honoree in the country. When the Congress of the United States passed the “No Child Left Behind” education act of 2001, it called for a “highly qualified teacher in every classroom.” The new law was so stringent that forty percent of America’s teachers were found “unqualified.” Very few were “highly qualified.” Immediately two organizations began offering a national “professional” teaching certificate to those who could pass muster. Dr. Black, of course, applied immediately. The reply he received to his application surprised him. “We have no way to assess you at the present time. Your situation and skills far exceed our parameters.” Dr. Black was not surprised when a follow-up letter invited him to sit on the evaluation board. It appears that he is the only teacher in the country “highly qualified” in seven separate disciplines.


    Dr. Black has made his extensive background, and simple solutions, available to the nation. Through books, monographs, lectures and chatrooms, as well as through the private school he founded, students nationwide can earn alternative credits and get their questions answered about how to procure the education they deserve. Parents can get clear answers to the many political conundrums, and can find a way to steer a clear course to the education their children deserve. Additionally, through the enrichment experiences and scholarships Dr. Black both sponsors, and recommends, hundreds of students each year can get a leg up on the system, and with that edge, can achieve all that they have dreamed.

  • Cascade Independent High School  (8 Articles)

    General Information

    Cascade Independent High School
    1849 Marshall Ave. Enumclaw, WA 98022
    Joel D. Black, Ph.D., Director
    (360) 825-0865

    Student, Faculty and Parent Handbooks: a Narrative Statement

    While the school has in its possession sample handbooks from various schools, both public and private, where the director has taught, it is not deemed appropriate to publish such for this school. The reasons follow.

    While the school is open to anyone who wishes to apply and can pay the tuition, it is expected that all regular day students will be the children of the faculty and adjunct faculty. Each faculty member has a minimum of ten years of public school teaching experience, and holds at least a bachelor's degree. Most adjunct faculty hold at least a master's degree. Students enrolling for extension services are exclusively homeschool students whose parents are unable to teach them one or more subjects. These students are each enrolled for just those courses they cannot complete at home. Every student is the responsibility of his or her parents where discipline is concerned. Each parent is responsible to assure that each student studies the requisite number of hours and completes all assignments to receive credit in any course. Students maintain a portfolio of all their work. The school maintains enrollment and credit records, and a syllabus of the content covered by each course. Credits are granted only when all RCW's and WAC's are fully complied with. Each course is indexed to state EALRs, including components and GLEs.

    It is the policy of C.I.H. to allow all students to progress as fast as they are able, and to have input into the direction of their studies and the nature of their assignments. It is also our policy to demand rigor. Our director did his doctoral work in gifted education and has been a national correspondent and author on alternative education for 22 years. This school is the culmination of his dream for his own children, and the children of his professional associates who share his rigorous and progressive views.

    The director and faculty, along with interested parents, meet monthly to determine policies or changes in the same, curricular additions, and to discuss the business of the school. At these meetings state requirements are reviewed to assure compliance. Since students are challenged not merely to learn facts, but to draw conclusions and synthesize information in order to complete projects, assignments include traditional research papers and tests, and also include student taught lessons, student designed, multi media presentations, and other demonstrations of expertise. Students may use appropriate texts, or work on assignments drawn from resources available at the local public library. Student progress is assessed by teacher, student and parent in semi annual conferences, and verified by the director at the conclusion of said conference.

    All students attending C.I.H. part time are duly and legally enrolled full time in a Washington State recognized high school, or have submitted the declaration to homeschool to their home district. Credits earned through C.I.H. may be transferred to the school of primary enrollment.

    All other policies and procedures will be recorded when implemented, and will be on file for all parents, students, interested observers and state officials to peruse at their request.
     
    The School was established to meet the needs of self motivated, high school students who have one of the following needs:
    1. Homeschooled students wanting a recognized, high school diploma.
    2. Any student wanting to earn one or more individual credits, in order to transfer them to and graduate from another high school.
    3. Students traveling abroad or otherwise displaced who need the credit for their experiences.
    4. Students completing additional serious learning at home (like music or martial arts) but not receiving credit for it from any other institution.
    5. Students whose learning style demands a completely non traditional and very individual plan of learning, which no other school situation has been able to address.
    6. Students who have a portfolio of work completed, and wish to challenge certain courses for credit.
    7. Students who have been enrolled in other schools (public or private,) and now want more freedom and flexibility.

    Students desiring credit meet with the director or one of the staff (personally, by phone, or by e-mail) to determine what subjects will be studied and to lay out plans for completing the study. The student must provide the director a detailed plan (curriculum) of what he will do (did) to earn the credit, including the order of study, books and references used, and his goal in studying this material. Payments will be taken at tutoring sessions and at final evaluation sessions when the portfolio is examined, but not at initial interviews. There is no fee for occasional, short phone calls either.

    Students wanting credit must keep accurate records: of time spent studying and of all work completed during that study (worksheets, notes, essays, maps, charts, tests, etc.) This portfolio is what will be reviewed for the student's grade, and will comprise the evidence (along with some oral questions) of learning gained.
     
    Students are responsible to find any help or tutoring they need (including from C.I.H. staff, at an hourly fee) and to call for clarifications as needed. The directorate of C.I.H. is happy to refer all inquiries to other institutions or to personnel who can best help. We can recommend tutors, and full service extension programs. Just ask.
     
    Students may challenge any course in which they are competent. The director and his board will hear the challenge, examine the evidence and render a decision. C.I.H. reserves the right to accept, reject, or ask for additional evidence for any credit transferred to us. We do not accept all credits on all transcripts, nor do we believe all schools provide quality education. C.I.H. believes in rigor and quality.

    Students who wish to receive a C.I.H. diploma must complete all applicable state requirements, 21 credits, including a rigorous research paper, and sit for and pass a comprehensive oral examination with the director. The director of the school, and a board selected by him, are the final authority on whether to admit any student or teacher, or to grant any credit for any work performed.

    School Calendar

    The calendar, schedule and offerings remain substantially the same as when first printed in 1995. Cascade has since added two extension services which also offer the same services and schedule, deal primarily with independent students under the applicable WACs, and join with the primary center for special curriculum and for field trips. Additionally, Cascade has reached an agreement with two public alternative programs to team-teach certain subjects, allowing for greater student opportunities, and greater service.

    School convenes the first Tuesday in September, and runs Monday through Friday, five days a week for 51 weeks, each year, with the exception of state and federal holidays and Christmas to New Year's Week. Thus school is in session 244 days.

    Daily Schedule

    The day begins at 7:30 A.M. with an orientation, and ends at 5:30 P.M. Classes and consultations begin at 9:00 A.M. and include all eleven subject areas, with particular emphasis on the high school solids. All students attend those classes and sections in which they need credits, and are free to leave campus between sessions. In the mid afternoon students are free to work on homework, learn crafts and arts, continue with building and construction skills, take music lessons, pursue scouting activities or hold part time jobs, for which work experience credit is awarded. The majority of student work is completed on their own, in any appropriate setting, under the direction of the instructor.

    The annual calendar thus includes 2,440 potential instructional hours.

    Fees are set up on a "per use" basis, with a ceiling. You pay only for what you get.
    • Full diploma, including 21 credit hours, not to exceed: $1,000.00*
    • Graduation exam fee: $100.00
    • Evaluate existing transcript(s) and transfer credits to C.I.H. $100.00
    • One half to three credits evaluated at one setting: $120.00
    • Three and one quarter to six credits evaluated at one sitting: $200.00
    • (No more than 6 credits will be examined in any one sitting. It kills our evaluator.)
    • (No more than 12 credits can be earned in one year.)
    • Tutoring in any subject, per hour or partial hour: $40.00
    • Return evaluations, each sitting: $40.00
    • (i.e. student did not receive full credit at initial evaluation, and needed to finish some work at home.)
    • Maximum anyone will ever pay C.I.H. (besides tutoring): $1,000.00*

    Referral Rebate:

    We welcome referrals, and will rebate/refund $50.00 per referral to any current student who signs up his friends, upon his graduation from C.I.H.

    *this figure does not include tutoring