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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-15


Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?by Valerie StraussHere’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society and which gave me permission to republish it.Read full article Tim Tebow’s unusual educationValerie Strauss at The Answer ... more »

The Innovative Educator: A Dream to Be Free At Last From State Standardized Tests

The Innovative Educator: A Dream to Be Free At Last From State Standardized Tests:A Dream to Be Free At Last From State Standardized Testsby noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)Parents across the nation are fed up with a government sucking data out of or students like a vampire who needs their blood to survive. Fortunately, the jig is up. Parents have caught on to the fact that not only does all this ineffective, inaccurate, and outdated testing and prepping do nothing to help ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McLaren to Remove Amendment About Boren

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McLaren to Remove Amendment About Boren:McLaren to Remove Amendment About Borenby Melissa WestbrookFrom the West Seattle Blog: Thank you to all the West Seattle (and other) people who have joined the dialogue about short term solutions for overcrowding in our elementary schools.Decision to move forward with the STEM option proposalFriday I made the decision not to go forward with my amendment to the current proposal: Thus, the Seattle School Board will vote next Wednesday, January 18th, ... more »

Cal Grants would be harder to get under Brown's proposed budget - latimes.com

Cal Grants would be harder to get under Brown's proposed budget - latimes.com:Cal Grants would be harder to get under Brown's proposed budgetCal Grants, the state-funded financial aid for California higher education students, could become much harder to obtain for new students under restrictions proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown as part of his 2012-2013 budget.One of the most contentious of the restrictions would increase the minimum grade point average needed to qualify for the awards, which are a key part ... more »

Blue Jersey:: Charter School Debate Round Up

Blue Jersey:: Charter School Debate Round Up:Charter School Debate Round Upby Jersey JazzmanYou probably don't know what to do with yourself until 4:30 today. If you're inclined to blow off your honey-do list, perhaps you'd care to join the growing debate about charter schools that's raging across the Garden State.Start with Tom Moran's piece in the Star-Ledger, which takes us to a "high performing" charter in Jersey City. Give Moran some credit for at least acknowledging the other side of ... more »

NCLB Waivers: The Details in the Devil's Bargain - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

NCLB Waivers: The Details in the Devil's Bargain - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:NCLB Waivers: The Details in the Devil's Bargainby Anthony CodyGuest post by Jack Hassard.The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) wants to insure that every teacher in the U.S. is evaluated on the basis on student progress on high-stakes achievement tests. To achieve this, the DOE will issues waivers on some aspects of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in exchange for a state-wide system to evaluate ... more »

Rahm's bullying exposed - Substance News

Rahm's bullying exposed - Substance News:Rahm's Rent-A-Preacher and Rent-A-Protest exposed, even to elected state officialsJohn Kugler - January 15, 2012In a reversal of fortunes, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's bullying and union busting tactics have been not only uncovered but challenged by state officials on the Illinois Educational Facilities Task Force and in other contexts. As a result of the January 6, 2012 hearings on the proposed closings of nine Chicago public schools, it was was established again by evidence and ... more »

America's Teachers See Growing Poverty Up Close

America's Teachers See Growing Poverty Up Close:America's Teachers See Growing Poverty Up CloseBy Mark Naison, LA Progressive14 January 12 If you want to know the human impact of the current recession, ask America's teachersne of the things I've discovered in recent years is that when it comes to education policy, the last people asked for input are America's teachers. We have a President who holds an "education summit" that includes the nation's top business leaders and foundation heads, but no ... more »

Sunday lists. « Fred Klonsky

Sunday lists. « Fred Klonsky:Sunday lists.by Fred KlonskyOccupy Albuquerque.Peace activist Marv Davidov dies at the age of 80.Chicago teacher Katie Osgood says that merit pay may work for day traders but not classrooms. Say, wasn’t Rahm Emanuel a trader? Why, yes he was.Thank God we’re done with Tebow for the year.On the other hand, The Bulls have the best record in the NBA.Letter from a Teacher in a school designated for closing by the DOE in order to receive “Race ... more »

NJ Charter Data Round-up « School Finance 101

NJ Charter Data Round-up « School Finance 101:NJ Charter Data Round-upby schoolfinance101Note: I will be making updates to this post in the coming days/weeks.As we once again begin discussing debating the appropriate role for Charter schools in New Jersey’s education reform “mix,” here’s a round-up on the New Jersey charter school numbers, in terms of demographic comparisons to all other public and charter schools in the same ‘city’ and proficiency rates (across all grades) compared to all others in the ... more »

The Cruel Hoax of “Choice” With Charter Schools | Seattle Education

The Cruel Hoax of “Choice” With Charter Schools | Seattle Education:The Cruel Hoax of “Choice” With Charter Schoolsby seattleducation2011Karran Harper Royal, a Founding Member of Parents Across America, works as an Education Advocate in New Orleans. She is the Assistant Director of Pyramid Community Parent Resource Center and the former Training Coordinator for the New Orleans Parent Organizing Network. Her work at Pyramid involves providing one on one support to parents of children with disabilities and conducting workshops to help ... more »

Prospective college students fear proposed aid cuts in California - latimes.com

Prospective college students fear proposed aid cuts in California - latimes.com:Budget plan would raise the bar for Cal Grant financial aidPart of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan would raise the minimum GPA needed to qualify for the two types of Cal Grants, which are merit- and income-based. The aid is key for many low- and middle-income students.Comments11Share0Edgar Flores-Villalobos, a senior at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, fills out a form for college financial aid. He would like to attend ... more »

Wanted: Common Core Stories « Cooperative Catalyst

Wanted: Common Core Stories « Cooperative Catalyst:Wanted: Common Core Storiesby Adam BurkAfter the big splash of Common Core Standards coming on the education scene there’s been a notable silence since they have begun to roll out.I’m looking for stories of how these new standards are playing out in schools for better, the same, or worse. I began asking as we pulled new calendars out of their plastic wrapping and hung them where 2011 used to be.So far I have heard ...more »

Daily Kos: 10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free

Daily Kos: 10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free:10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the freeby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)is the title of this op ed by Jonathan Turley in today's Washington Post, which is a must read.I urge everyone to read it and pass it on and then scream bloody hell.Here are his ten reasons, each of which is backed up with detail, as I will illustrate with only one.Assassination of U.S. ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts 1-15 #edreform #ows

Denied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD?- Perdaily.comBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-1 hour agoDenied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD? (Negó la Equidad Educativa o discriminados por el LAUSD? por L. Joanne Tachera) by L. Joanne Tachera - Perdaily.com:Denied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD? (Negó la Equidad Educativa o discriminados por el LAUSD? por L. Joanne Tachera) by L. Joanne Tacheraby Leonard Isenberg(Mensaje se repite en Español)(For a national view of public education reform ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Republicans Applauded by a Democratic Lawmaker for Supporting Obama's Educational Agenda

Missouri Education Watchdog: Republicans Applauded by a Democratic Lawmaker for Supporting Obama's Educational Agenda:Republicans Applauded by a Democratic Lawmaker for Supporting Obama's Educational Agendaby stlgretchenOn the heels of our last posting, Republicans are Supporting the Federal Takeover of Education, a blogger in Nashville confirmed (from a Democratic congressman's lips) the alliance of conservative Republican legislators and Obama's educational plan. From Enclave:Democrat Jim Cooper celebrates conservatives supporting President Obama on charter schoolsCongressman Jim ... more »

Hechinger Report | How to measure teacher effectiveness fairly?

Hechinger Report | How to measure teacher effectiveness fairly?:How to measure teacher effectiveness fairly?by Justin SniderIn the age of accountability, measuring teacher effectiveness has become king. But it’s not enough merely to measure effectiveness, according to many leading thinkers and policymakers; personnel decisions—from pay and promotions to layoffs and outright firings—should be based on teacher-effectiveness data, they say.The Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition brought renewed attention to teacher evaluation, as did The New Teacher Project’s 2009 landma... more »

Denied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD?- Perdaily.com

Denied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD? (Negó la Equidad Educativa o discriminados por el LAUSD? por L. Joanne Tachera) by L. Joanne Tachera - Perdaily.com:Denied Educational Equity or Discriminated Against by LAUSD? (Negó la Equidad Educativa o discriminados por el LAUSD? por L. Joanne Tachera) by L. Joanne Tacheraby Leonard Isenberg(Mensaje se repite en Español)(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)PARENTS: Does your child's teacher and school have the resources ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-14

Grumpy Educators: Florida: Parent, community member, and tax payer opposition strengthensBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-25 minutes agoGrumpy Educators: Florida: Parent, community member, and tax payer opposition strengthens:Florida: Parent, community member, and tax payer opposition strengthensby SandraFlorida legislators introduced a Parent Trigger bill, calling it the Parent Empowerment Act. Under the bill, parents and teachers could vote to turn a public school into a charter school if 51% agree and the local elected school board has no say in ... more »

Elk Grove Citizen : News

Elk Grove Citizen : News:Elk Grove teachers union to host education activist’s speech, Jan. 20By Citizen staffPublished: Friday, January 13, 2012 2:35 PM PST Diane Ravitch, a nationally renowned public education advocate, will be speaking at the Sacramento Convention Center on Jan. 20.The Elk Grove Education Association, which represents teachers in the Elk Grove Unified School District, is hosting the event, “An Evening with Diane Ravitch.”Ravitch wrote the book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System and ... more »