Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top 4-1 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

To See or Not to See: Kids, Movies, and Reality - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 49 minutes ago

To See or Not to See: Kids, Movies, and Reality - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Nancy Flanagan Nancy Flanagan is an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich, and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. She is National Board-certified, and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network. She welcomes feedback on her sharp-eyed perspectives on the inconsistencies and inspirations, ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 3-31 #soschat #EDReform

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 49 minutes ago

This Week's Answers from Valerie Strauss at The Answer SheetBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-1 hour agoThe Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post: ‘A statement of our just grievances’Valerie StraussatThe Answer Sheet-5 minutes agoThis speech was delivered at a recent Save Texas Schools rally in Austin by John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt Consolidated Independent School District. There is something of a revolt against standardized testing occurring in Texas, ... more »

The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali) « Cooperative Catalyst

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali) « Cooperative Catalyst: The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali)bydloitz“]Photo By Lalo AlcarazI, as a student with a strong belief that our education shapes our lives, ideals and the way we view our peers and equals, am completely appalled with the recent education feud in Tucson, Arizona.Somehow, our learning ... more »

Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!: Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children?byOldschoolteach“Hi, my name is Lisa, and I am a teacher-parent”. Sigh. I remember when I started teaching in 1984, my principal had a son that was in Special Ed. I recall all too well my reaction,“How could her son be in Special Ed, she is a principal of the gifted ... more »

Flunking the Test | American Journalism Review

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Flunking the Test |American Journalism Review: Flunking the TestThe American education system has never been better, several important measures show. But you’d never know that from reading overheated media reports about “failing” schools and enthusiastic pieces on unproven “reform” efforts. Fri., March 30, 2012.ByPaul FarhiSenior contributing writer Paul Farhi (farhip@washpost.com) is a reporter for the Washington Post.ShareThisFareed Zakaria is worried about the state of American education. To hear theCNN host and commentatortell it, the nation's schools are broken and must ... more »

Shot Across my Boomer Bow | Lefty Parent

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Shot Across my Boomer Bow | Lefty Parent: Shot Across my Boomer BowbyCooper ZaleI think there are way too few conversations going on between us Baby Boomers and our kids’ generation about our commonalities and areas of divergence and friction. Given that, when our young adult son Eric posted a link on Facebook the other day with the following intro…Everyone should read (and share) this. Everyone.Followed by posting a provocative quote from the linked piece…“From every corner of the institutional ... more »

Parent Engagement: Do you have a policy on that?

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Parent Engagement: Do you have a policy on that?: Parent Engagement: Do you have a policy on that?By Myrdin ThompsonAs parents we don't often rigidly define what "engagement" in our child's educational experience looks like. For some, parent engagement is making sure that their child has been fed, clothed, and made it to school on time. For others, being engaged means spending time in our child's school or classroom, attending a field trip, or volunteering to serve on a PTA/PTO/parent ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opportunity Scholarships

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opportunity Scholarships: Opportunity ScholarshipsbyMelissa WestbrookThis came to me via State Rep. Tim Probst:New scholarship program for the middle class taking applications nowProbst’s Opportunity Scholarships will help 3,000 families afford collegeOLYMPIA – Washington state high school seniors and college students may apply immediately for a new college scholarship program that reaches far into the middle class. The Opportunity Scholarships program is accepting applications online, from now until April 16.The Opportunity Scholarships Act was spon... more »

ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ? « Teachers Fight Back

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ? « Teachers Fight Back: ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ?byalkleenRockford teachers and the school district have reached a tentative deal. The negotiations went on for almost a year and the teachers worked without a contract for many months. What couldn’t be settled in a year, was magically settled after a two-day strike. Isn’t that amazing ? I will wait to see if both sides ratify and to read the details of the contract before we can declare a ... more »

School Tech Connect: Kathleen Falk in Chicago

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Kathleen Falk in Chicago: Kathleen Falk in Chicagobynoreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)I asked Bob Haisman, former president of the IEA, why teachers in Illinois should care about and be involved with the Kathleen Falk campaign in Wisconsin. Falk is running in the Democratic primary for governor, and she was a major player in organizing the 1m signatures that recalled the odious Scott Walker. This is what he had to say (over the background noise):Kathleen Falkis a candidate who talks ... more »

FROM WTF FILE: ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of US Citizen Children - Hispanically Speaking News

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of US Citizen Children - Hispanically Speaking News: ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of U.S. Citizen ChildrenPublished at 11:08 am EST, March 31, 2012Photo: Deportations Shatter familiesClick Here to Enlarge PhotoTroubling New Report Revealing Deportations Data for First Half of 2011Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first half of 2011 deported 46,686 parents who had at least one U.S. citizen child, says anICE reportmade public on Monday.“If deportations continued at that rate ... more »

This Week's Answers from Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post: ‘A statement of our just grievances’Valerie StraussatThe Answer Sheet-5 minutes agoThis speech was delivered at a recent Save Texas Schools rally in Austin by John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt Consolidated Independent School District. There is something of a revolt against standardized testing occurring in Texas, which I wrote about here. It is in that climate that Kuhn gave this speech, which was ... more »

American Skin (41 Shots) #trayvonmartin

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

AMERICAN SKIN (41 SHOTS)Studio version41 shots, and we'll take that ride'Cross this bloody river to the other side41 shots, cut through the nightYou're kneeling over his body in the vestibulePraying for his lifeWell, is it a gun, is it a knifeIs it a wallet, this is your lifeIt ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)No secret my friendYou can get killed just for living in your American skin(41 shots)(41 shots)(41 shots)(41 shots)41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for schoolShe ... more »

Saturday coffee. No caffeine. « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Saturday coffee. No caffeine. « Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. No caffeine.byFred KlonskyThe doctor says that being 63 is a risk factor.He should have seen me at 23. There were many more risk factors in those days.The reason this issue came up was that last night I was in the ER at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn.I don’t usually visit the ER when I come visit the family. But the last few nights I was having heart palpitations. I called ... more »

Department of Education Responds with More Information about Turnarounds - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Department of Education Responds with More Information about Turnarounds - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Department of Education Responds with More Information about TurnaroundsbyAnthony CodyFollow me onTwitter at @AnthonyCodyOn Tuesday, I posted a blog titled "Spinning the Numbers on Turnarounds: School Improvement Grant Controversy Brews." In it I questioned the very limited information Secretary Duncan had released the previous week, when he claimed positive results for the program. I even went so far as to question what the ... more »

Podcast: Rep. Rob Bishop on A-PLUS Act and Education Reform

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Podcast: Rep. Rob Bishop on A-PLUS Act and Education Reform: Scribecast: Rep. Rob Bishop Outlines an Alternative to No Child Left BehindRob BlueyMarch 31, 2012 at 8:43 am(0)More than half of states haveasked the U.S. Department of Education for a waiverfrom No Child Left Behind. Ten years after President George W. Bush signed the law, the Obama administration appears willing to grant waivers, so long as statesadopt a new set of requirementsfavored by the current occupant in the White House.Chief ... more »

Divisive Michelle Rhee is to education what Lindsay Lohan is to the acting profession.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Register gobbles up education 'red herrings' | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com: Register gobbles up education 'red herrings'10:40 PM, Mar. 30, 2012|CommentsFILED UNDEROpinionWhen Register editorial writer Linda Fandel (now governor’s education aide) went to Finland to study education, she found out that teachers there get a bachelor’s degree in their content specialty, then a master’s degree in teaching — all before entering the classroom and all on the state’s dime. Based on that, plus a half-dozen other sound policies, ... more »

National Education Standards – A Confidence Game? - Rock The Schoolhouse's blog - Boston.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

National Education Standards – A Confidence Game? - Rock The Schoolhouse's blog - Boston.com: National Education Standards – A Confidence Game?Print|Comments (0)Posted by Jim StergiosMarch 30, 2012 04:35 PM231ShareThis64E-mailPublished on April 1, 1857,The Confidence-Man: His Masqueradewas Herman Melville’s last novel and one in which he coined a new term for American hucksters. Melville’s satirical tale has some relevance for better understanding the drive for national education standards, testing, and curricula, as well as the major players behind this movement.Here’s theWikipedia... more »

Journal Tribune: York County's Only Daily Newspaper > News > Obama: Education, innovation are key

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Journal Tribune: York County's Only Daily Newspaper News Obama: Education, innovation are key: Obama: Education, innovation are keyPresident Barack Obama delivers a campaign speech at the Southern Maine Community College campus in South Portland on Friday. JEFF LAGASSE/ Journal TribuneSupporters gather at SMCC for President’s campaign speechBy JEFF LAGASSEStaff WriterPublished:Saturday, March 31, 2012 6:00 AM EDTSOUTH PORTLAND — Throngs of New Englanders descended upon the Southern Maine Community College campus in South Portland on Friday to witness a campaign stump ...more »

Firing teachers based on bad (VAM) versus wrong (SGP) measures of effectiveness: Legal note « School Finance 101

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago

Firing teachers based on bad (VAM) versus wrong (SGP) measures of effectiveness: Legal note « School Finance 101: Firing teachers based on bad (VAM) versus wrong (SGP) measures of effectiveness: Legal notebyschoolfinance101In the near futuremy article with Preston Green and Joseph Oluwole on legal concerns regarding the use of Value-added modelingfor making high stakes decisions will come out in the BYU Education and Law Journal. In that article, we expand on various argumentsI first laid out in this blog postabout ... more »

Robert D. Skeels for Schoolboard #soschat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 21 hours ago

Robert D. Skeels for Schoolboard: Problem posing education does not and cannot serve the interests of the oppressor — Paulo FreireThe LAUSD Campaign for the 99%Robert D. Skeels, a Social Justice Schoolboard CandidateMy name is Robert D. Skeels. Over the course of many years as an activist and a social justice writer, I've witnesses many grave injustices perpetrated by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on our community. Sadly, a primary reason for this is that a majority of ... more »