Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, February 6, 2014

2-6-14 GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com

GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com:



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Horrifying! Testing culture – Over the edge…
Family of dying Orange County student asked for proof from hospice to exempt him from FCAT test… WFTV-9  in Orlando, Florida… Read it. What do you think? Read and share comments here… The post Horrifying! Testing culture – Over the edge… appeared first on GoPublicSchool.com.
Portland teachers vote to walk out Feb. 20
From Newschannel 8′s KGW.com “Teachers at Portland Public Schools voted to strike Wednesday night. A spokesman for the Portland Association of Teachers told KGW the vote was nearly unanimous. Teachers are required to give the district at least 10 working days notice before they could walk off the job. They voted to set the walkout date for Thursday, Feb. 20. If the district’s teachers walk off th

Blame and bully – Teachers unfairly forced out…
Kurt Kuban in Michigan’s Observer and Eccentric… “… The implication was the teachers informed their students to do poorly on the test so they would show improvement when they took the test again in the spring. As a result of this conclusion, the district offered Warnock and Traxler a deal – resign and get paid for the rest of the year. With little union backing, they decided to accept the deal, wh


Vergara v. California: The agendas, the facts…
Ben Spielberg at 34Justice… “Ted Boutros believes corporations that destroy lives with reckless policies should suffer minimal financial penalties in court.  Boutros’s partner, Marcellus McRae, proudly defends white-collar criminals.  Eli Broad pretended to support Proposition 30, a ballot initiative designed to prevent massive cuts to public education, while secretly funding the No on 30 movement
Teacher commitment that cannot be evaluated…
John Nichols in The Nation… “Teachers, parents and students are pushing back against high-stakes testing, over-testing and the fantasy that education is made better by preparing for, conducting and evaluating tests…” Read it. What do you think? Read and share comments here… The post Teacher commitment that cannot be evaluated… appeared first on GoPublicSchool.com.
NJ – First ratings for 20,000 teachers
Leslie Brody at NorthJersey.com… “The New Jersey Department of Education ushered in a new era for teacher evaluations statewide Tuesday by issuing ratings for roughly 20,000 teachers tied to students’ growth on state tests. Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said these ratings served as a “trial run” and would not count this year. Even so, many teachers in tested subjects have been anxious to see t
Truth about Shanghai schools: They’re terrible
Saga Ringmar in The Guardian… “The western world watches China’s rise as a formidable world-power with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Sci-fi films depict a futuristic world where Baidu.com is the new Google and Mcdonalds has been replaced by Grandma Wang’s Dumpling Emporium. And yet again Shanghai is number one on the Programme for International Student Assessment’s (Pisa) 2012 ranking list of
Many teachers blame students’ study habits…
Donna St. George in The Washington Post… “Many Montgomery County teachers blame student study habits for the high failure rates on math exams, according to a survey that also revealed educators’ concerns about grading policies that make it possible to fail a final exam but still pass a course. As county schools officials continue to delve into the causes of students failing some math finals at a r
A call to ignore exams when evaluating educators…
Al Baker in The New York Times… “A year after a switch to new standardized tests for public school students caused passing rates to plummet, leaders of both political parties in the New York Legislature on Tuesday called on the state to back away from plans to use those exams to grade teachers. In synchronized statements, Democratic leaders of the State Assembly joined Republicans in the State Sen
So just who is Tiffany Hardrick?
From Bob Braun’s Ledger… “Daryn Martin, the leader of the parent-teacher organization at Ivy Hill School, may go to jail because of a criminal complaint filed by Tiffany Hardrick, an assistant superintendent of schools in Newark who co-founded a New Orleans charter school.  So it’s a good time to ask just who this Dr. Hardrick is, why is she in Newark, and why she left New Orleans. The answer is–s


2-5-14 GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com
GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com: Tech’s diversity problem Is apparent as early as high school…Claire Cain Miller in The New York Times… “In three states, not a single girl took the Advanced Placement exam in computer science last year. In eight states, no Hispanic students took it. And in 11 states, no black students took the test…” Read it. What