Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Morning Wink 4-2-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2


BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS




LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-2-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: How to Locate United Opt OutAs you may know, the website for United Opt Out was hacked yesterday, and many of its internal files were destroyed. What you will find if you go there is a “ghost site,” not the real thing. In the meanwhile, here is an alternative site to visit as efforts to reatore the original continue: “Diane – do yo
4-2-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Bus Boycott “Choose Your Own Adventure” GameThe National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is reopening this weekend after a $28 million renovation (see the NY Times article, From Slave Ship Shackles to the Mountaintop). That’s great news for people who live nearby or who can travel there for a visit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t
4-2-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: What the hell is wrong with SEIU’s Christine Boardman?Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey. The union response to Rahm Emanuel’s attack on public employee pensions was swift and tough. At least from most of the union leadership representing affected pension members. Bill Dougherty of th
4-2-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Janine Sopp, Opt-OuterIt was an incredible honor to stand with all of the parents, elected officials and press in Brooklyn today. It felt like a real movement, with the most lively opt out signs to decorate our celebration!.. Janine Sopp Some press on the Press Conference: Brooklyn Parents Opt Out of State Testshttp://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/education&id=948778
What’s $30 Million Among Friends? | PWC Education Reform Blog
What’s $30 Million Among Friends? | PWC Education Reform Blog: What’s $30 Million Among Friends?April 2, 2014 — pwceducationreformAt last night’s BOCS meeting, Supervisor Pete Candland mentioned some savings PWCS had carried forward.  The savings he noted ranged from $8 million in the 2010 school year to nearly $31 million in the 2014 school year.  Supervisor Candland said he wouldn’t stake his li
4-2-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Merging Church and State – The Booker T. Washington Charter SchoolGovernor Malloy’s State Board of Education is expected to approve the New Haven charter school application proposed by Jumoke/FUSE Inc. at its meeting today. The cost to Connecticut taxpayers over the first five years of the school exceeds $27 million. In addition, the taxpayers of New Haven will continue to pay for the
“Charter School Teachers on a Mission for Change” | The Classroom Sooth
“Charter School Teachers on a Mission for Change” | The Classroom Sooth: “Charter School Teachers on a Mission for Change”Posted on April 1, 2014 | Leave a commentWhen I first started teaching it was in a charter school, and I quickly learned what Right to Work meant, when I attempted to stand up for my students against oppressive Zero Tolerance policies and was summarily relieved of my teaching p
The Answer Sheet 4-2-14
The Answer Sheet: Why the SAT drives us N.U.T.S.What is it about the SAT that drives people nuts?  Ned Johnson explains. Johnson is president and self-described tutor geek at Prep Matters, a tutoring and test prep company with offices in Bethesda, Md., McLean, Va., and Washington D.C. By Ned Johnson Did you ever feel a bit of stress when you took the SAT […]    by Valerie Strauss / 51min hide  // 
No Questions for You! - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher
No Questions for You! - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: No Questions for You!By Nancy Flanagan on April 1, 2014 9:21 PMI remember the first time I heard teachers talk about scripted lessons and pacing charts. It was a group of Detroit teachers who were pursuing National Board Certification, and I had a hard time comprehending what they were telling me--every teacher on the same
4-2-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Portables; Here to Stay (and Preschool, What about That?)A hilarious article about portables in NYC by the NY Times.  We're not alone.But eight years later, Mr. Cosby, 46, is busier than ever as an all-around handyman for the seven timeworn trailers that house 283 students outside the crowded main school building.He has chased opossums, raccoons and turtles from th
4-2-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: SAMS Academy of Corruption, AlbuquerqueALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Scott Glasrud oversees about 800 public school students grades 4 through 12, but he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing it.That has the state’s attention.The SchoolsGlasrud’s charter schools are high-performing. Southwest Learning Center in the Heights and SAMS Academy, located next to Double Eagle, focus o
4-2-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Step Up For Student’s Desperate Spin to Save Florida Voucher ExpansionOne would think that an entity which assumed to be the primary steward of almost $1 billion dollars in money belonging to Florida taxpayers would have their numbers straight. Whatever number families o
NYC Public School Parents: Parent power wins! NY severs its relationship with inBloom, which has no known clients left; but the threat to student privacy remains
NYC Public School Parents: Parent power wins! NY severs its relationship with inBloom, which has no known clients left; but the threat to student privacy remains: Parent power wins! NY severs its relationship with inBloom, which has no known clients left; but the threat to student privacy remainsThis morning, Stephanie Simon of Politico Pro reports that indeed, after a long battle, the NY State Ed
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-2-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Nutritious but uneaten: SOLUTIONS SOUGHT TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE IN SCHOOLSFederal rules require students to take at least three items each day, but an L.A. Unified manager wants to change the policy to reduce the $100,000 in food thrown away daily. By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/PirlMW ●●smf: With the line that long, why is the service wind
4-2-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: On Children and ChildhoodOn Children and Childhood. via On Children and Childhood.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical1 by plthomasedd / 52min hide  //  saveYESTERDAYSome High-profilers Gunning for Common CoreSome High-profilers Gunning for Common CoreThe Common Core State Standards (CCSS) surely are causing quite a stir. That is what happens when non-teachers try to impose
4-2-14 the becoming radical A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD
the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): On Children and Childhoodchildren guessed(but only a few and down they forgot as up they grew “[anyone lived in a pretty how town],” e.e. cummings In one of those early years of becoming and being a teacher, when I was still teaching in the exact room where I had been a
empathyeducates – The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool
empathyeducates – The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in Preschool: The School-to-Prison Pipeline Starts in PreschoolPhotograph; (Courtesy of Steven Depolo, CC BY 2.0)By Mychal Denzel Smith | Originally Published at The Nation. March 28, 2014 – 2:46 PM ETThe school-to-prison pipeline, to my mind, is the most insidious arm of this country’s prison-industrial complex. Under the guise of protecting
4-2-13 Curmudgucation
CURMUDGUCATION: Bubble Answers for an Essay WorldI have had the same conversation multiple times in the last week. I have had it with elementary teachers, secondary teachers, someone who works with young teachers, someone who works with college students. The crux of the conversation is something like this:I do not know what to do with these [persons]. They do not want to understand. They do not wa
4-2-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Don't Accept Minor Tweaks To APPR Teacher EvaluationsAndrew Cuomo issued a statement yesterday saying he and the legislature will revisit the APPR teacher evaluation component that is tied to Common Core tests now that the CCSS tests have been de-linked from high stakes for children for a couple of years.There was much surprise around the Internets and the Twitterverse and n
Help Recruit Cosigners for Grassley and King’s Common Core Defunding Letters | Truth in American Education
Help Recruit Cosigners for Grassley and King’s Common Core Defunding Letters | Truth in American Education: Help Recruit Cosigners for Grassley and King’s Common Core Defunding LettersFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on April 2, 2014 • 0 CommentsU.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) needs our help.  He is leading the charge in the U.S. Senate to defund the Common Core State S
Some High-profilers Gunning for Common Core | deutsch29
Some High-profilers Gunning for Common Core | deutsch29: Some High-profilers Gunning for Common CoreApril 1, 2014The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) surely are causing quite a stir. That is what happens when non-teachers try to impose their wills upon the American classroom.(I have written extensively on CCSS, including its creation, promotion and funding. For hours of enlightening CCSS reading
NYC Educator: The Moskowitz Budget, its Predecessors, and What We Do About It
NYC Educator: The Moskowitz Budget, its Predecessors, and What We Do About It: The Moskowitz Budget, its Predecessors, and What We Do About ItThe grab-bag of goodies we've given Eva Moskowitz is very disturbing. Most disappointing to me is Cuomo has more or less neutered the great progressive hope of these United States, Bill de Blasio. De Blaiso was elected on a platform of stopping colocations,
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A look at who's being left behind in the 'Race for Results'
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A look at who's being left behind in the 'Race for Results': A look at who's being left behind in the 'Race for Results'An important new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation highlights the widening gap in opportunity between white and children of color. The report, called "Race for Results,"created a new index that uses 12 educational, health, and econ

YESTERDAY

Nite Cap 4-1-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensionsMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensions: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensionsDear Mik
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensions
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensions: From Stacey Gates at the CTU: We must protect our pensionsDear Mike,In carefully examining the pension "deal" put forth recently by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, we have found that the plan does not, in any way, solve Chicago's pension problem. As we have said many times before, over and over and over again:
4-1-14 The Whole Child Blog — Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global Curriculum — Whole Child Education
Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global Curriculum — Whole Child Education: Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global CurriculumPost written by Kerry Dunne and AnitaCristina Calcaterra We are so proud of the Arlington, Massachusetts, global education unit of study on our sister city of Teosinte, El Salvador! But before you read about it from us, please let three of our 4th graders te
4-1-13 Curmudgucation
CURMUDGUCATION: Open Ended and Close MindedWe build cages for students to protect ourselves.Too many teachers (and others) are way too afraid of open-ended exploration for any number of reasons. Perhaps most commonly, the problem is not knowing the territory.If I want to allow my students true open-ended exploration of a novel, ten I have to know the territory. It's a big sprawling place, like a g
Russ on Reading: The Education Reformer Field Test: New from BARCC
Russ on Reading: The Education Reformer Field Test: New from BARCC: The Education Reformer Field Test: New from BARCCAcross the nation this past week students took a field test of the new PARCC standardized tests designed to provide a “checkup for our schools and allow educators to identify kids who are falling behind and need extra help.” In the spirit of testing kids to see if your test is a pro
Backers of initiative to limit teacher tenure hold off until 2016
Backers of initiative to limit teacher tenure hold off until 2016: Backers of initiative to limit teacher tenure hold off until 2016Few political fights would have been as bitter, or potentially as expensive, in 2014 as one to change -- and limit -- the tenure rules that have made firing some teachers more complicated.But it's not to be.On Tuesday, backers of the nascent campaign announced they ha
NYC Public School Parents: The state tests started today; how did it go? Any pineapples on the exams?
NYC Public School Parents: The state tests started today; how did it go? Any pineapples on the exams?: The state tests started today; how did it go? Any pineapples on the exams?Today is the first day of the state ELA exams for grades 3-8.  We have heard that many thousands of students are refusing the tests, especially on Long Island, where there are more than 11,000 reported as opting out so far.
4-1-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Deasy at USC: Vergara is the next big civil rights caseJohn Deasy, with fellow panelist, Susan Estrich More than two months ago LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy took the stand as the first witness for the plaintiffs in Vergara v California, a lawsuit challenging teacher protections. He testified for t
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-1-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: The “other” CORE: TEACHERS UNION FIGHTS NEW PLAN BY SACRAMENTO, LAUSD AND OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ADDRESS LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢By Loretta Kalb The Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/1dKwbh5 Sunday, Mar. 30, 2014 - 12:00 am/Modified: Sunday, Mar. 30, 2014 - 10:40 am  ::  In the seven months since Sacramento City Unified School District won unpr
4-1-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: Why Did Raj Chetty Allow His Research to Be Used Against Teachers in Vergara?An expert witness for the plaintiffs in Vergara v California, Tom Kane, argued that effective teaching, and presumably ineffective teaching, in the Los Angeles schools can be measured. Vergara, of course, seeks to strike down teacher due process and it is about as overtly anti-teacher of an action as can
John Romano: The House's hypocrisy on school vouchers — accountability | Tampa Bay Times
John Romano: The House's hypocrisy on school vouchers — accountability | Tampa Bay Times: John Romano: The House's hypocrisy on school vouchers — accountabilityGive them credit, your representatives in the state House. They don't know the meaning of the word "quit."They also don't seem to know the meaning of shame. Or hypocrisy. Or fairness. Or equality.Yes, after the state Senate was am
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, April 1, 2014
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Education HeadlinesTuesday, April 1, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policiesTeacher-tenure debate ends in court; decision likely months offAttorneys for a group seeking to eliminate tenure protection for Cali
4-1-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: TN BATs Out of the Cave and Into the LimelightDemocracy is alive and well in those organizations that truly advocate for children and public education.  Two such organizations are Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (TREE) and Badass Teachers of Tennessee (BATS).  Jim Horn and Denise Wilburn, authors of The Mismeasure of Education, were the guest speakers on March 1 at a
Morning Wink 4-1-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSBill Gates and Arne Duncan Agree to Debate Me! | Diane Ravitch's blogBill Gates and Arne Duncan Agree to Debate Me! | Diane Ravitch's blog: Bill Gates Agrees to Debate Anthony Cody!April Fool’s Day!by dianeravitch / 7:36 AM UTC-7 hide  //  saveBill Gates and Arne Duncan Agree to Debate Me!April’s Fool’s Day!by dianeravitch / 0min by mike simpson / 0min Akr