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Sunday, June 8, 2014

SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174

SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174:



LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174



" Over the last 16 years, academic research has largely found that good bilingual programs are just as effective at teaching English skills, and often slightly better at it, than classes that immerse students in English."
This is better coverage than we usually get. But the research 16 years ago was quite positive about bilingual education. And too bad the LA Times is not aware of the McField and McField study. We need to do a better job of spreading the word.  Amazing that they published the ignorant Chris Daley "flat earth" letter.

EDITORIAL LOS ANGELES TIMES:  IS BILINGUAL EDUCATION WORTH BRINGING BACK?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-bilingual-education-proposition-227-repeal-20140605-story.html
A lot has changed since 1998, when Proposition 227 all but wiped out bilingual instruction in California public schools. The matter is due for reconsideration; a bill that passed the state Senate last week would allow that to happen.
SB 1174, by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), would place a measure on the November 2016 ballot to repeal Proposition 227 and allow local school districts to decide whether they want to bring back bilingual education rather than continue with the current system, which aims to move students toward full-time English use as quickly as possible.
Over the last 16 years, academic research has largely found that good bilingual programs are just as effective at teaching English skills, and often slightly better at it, than classes that immerse students in English. Along the way, they also teach students literacy in their native language.
Another reason to consider bilingual education: Shortly after Proposition 227 passed, testing and accountability requirements were imposed on schools. The academic skills of students, including those who aren't fluent in English, are now measured every year. That means that if bilingual SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174:

Spring Cleaning at the NYCDOE southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:



Spring Cleaning at the NYCDOE

Come one, come all to the;



 NYCDOE SPRING CLEANING RALLY!


This Tuesday, June 10, 2014 from 4:30-5 PM EDT in front of the Tweed Courthouse on Chambers St. (Take 4, 5, or 6to City Hall or A train toChambers St.)



Endorsed by DTOEMORE, Change the Stakes, and the Badass Teacher's Association.



The hundreds of lawyers hired by the Bloomberg administration are still ensconced at the DOE. Isn't it time the look for jobs in the private sector?



Show up, meet The Crack Team and tell them Frank Sinatra Jr sent you and get a glass of wine on the house!




To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29

To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29:



To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC,and White

June 8, 2014


Governor Bobby Jindal is apparently trying to muster up the courage to remove Louisiana from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) assessments that he signed Louisiana on for in the first place.
Of course, Jindal has changed his position due to his national political ambitions.
Jindal is under pressure from Louisiana businesses to Keep the Core.
He is also at odds with Louisiana State Board of Education (BESE) President Chas Roemer and Jindal’s own appointee for state superintendent, John White.
These two are willing to stand against Jindal in support of CCSS and PARCC. As Susan Berry of Breitbart reports:
Both state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education president Chas Roemer and State Superintendent of Education John White are ardent supporters of the Common Core standards, which are due to take full effect in the 2014-2015 school year.
Regarding Jindal, Roemer said, “He challenged the legislature, and the legislature didn’t agree with him. Our children deserve better than a Plan B.”
Similarly, White said Common Core has been in the planning stage for teachers and students for four years.
“They do not need a last-minute change,” White wrote“They do not need chaos in the classroom.” [Emphasis added.]
White is such a hypocrite. That brings me to the point of my post.
In October 2013, Jindal appointed “long time ally” Jane Holland Smith to a BESE To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29:

Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet

Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet:



Can you get fired for talking to a reporter?

So, what’s it like working for the clampdown?
For the past few weeks, I’ve wanted to pose this question to my friends and contacts who work for the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).
Why? Because the district, via communications chief Stan Alleyne, sent out an internal email to all employees, with this subject line: “MPS Media Relations policy and procedures.” Alleyne’s email included this instruction:
I’m reaching out to ask that you direct members of the media to me or my staff when they ask you to speak as a representative of MPS. We want to ensure that all MPS personnel deliver clear, consistent and effective messages to students, parents and the general public. Remember that failure to contact the Office of Communications in advance of participation in media interviews conflicts with district policy and could lead to disciplinary action. [emphasis added]
I know, I know—the email, which includes a link to MPS Policy 1150 about “Media Relations,” is probably an innocent, justifiable warning to employees who may be tempted to speak out as representatives of MPS. If they do this, without first contacting Alleyne’s office for “story management” tips, then they can be punished. How? I am not sure. Perhaps they would be required to write “I do not represent MPS” on a chalkboard five hundred times?
Anyway, the district may have a perfectly valid reason for sending this email out, but most MPS people I talked to had no idea what that might be. Some described the email as “chilling.” Some assumed it had something to do with me (can’t imagine why), and others threw out multiple theories connected to principal searches, internal employee shuffling, lay offs, or new admin structures. It appears the possibilities are endless.
Others read through the entire email, and then clicked the link to MPS Media Relations policy. Once there, they discovered an important point to remember:
Nothing in this policy shall imply or impose restrictions on media contact with district employees or district students if such contact is initiated and completed at non-school locations and at non-district related events and the employee is not portrayed as or 
Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet:

The “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation

The “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation:



THE “ALMOST OUTRAGEOUS” OPPOSITION TO BILL GATES’ MARKET-BASED ED REFORM

Lindsey Layton inteviewed Bill Gates about his involvement in the Common Core,ending her article with Bill and Melinda’s motivation behind their financial backing of it. Lindsey reports:
“Gates dismissed any suggestion that he is motivated by self-interest.” ~ Lindsey Layton
Then Bill tells us in his own words what motivates his investments in Common Core and calls any opposition to his motivation “almost outrageous”:
“I believe in the Common Core because of its substance and what it will do to improve education,” he said. “And that’s the only reason I believe in the Common Core.”
This is about giving money away,” he said of his support for the standards. “This is philanthropy. This is trying to make sure students have the kind of opportunity I had . . . and it’s almost outrageous to say otherwise, in my view.” ~ Bill Gates
Okay.  Let’s go with Bill and Melinda’s best intentions.  Why the opposition then?
As educators and parents of public school children we used critical thinking to consider the impacts of  the market-based corporate reforms the Gates promote.  Do they really help improve education, social problems, and the real gaping inequity Bill mentions?  We considered the following questions about some of the  key ingredients of fundamentalist market-based reforms:
  1. High tech devices promoted by Bill Gates as “personalized learning” via Common Core Pearson/Gates’ Surface Tablets competing with Apple iPadsThe “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation:

6-8-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Will politics prevent justice from being served – the Kenneth Moales Story Continues - Wait What?:



  Wait What? All Week







Will politics prevent justice from being served – the Kenneth Moales Story Continues

The controversy surrounding Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. expands even further Documents on file with the Connecticut Superior Court and the City of Bridgeport reveal that while Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. and his family collected more than $8 million dollars from a Midwestern mortgage company that specializes in providing construction loans to evangelical and other churches, […] The post Will pol


6-7-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy
Wait What?:  Wait What? All WeekIpswich, Mass sixth grade students demand payment for taking Common Core Field TestsIn a Boston Tea Party like moment, a group of sixth-grade students from Ipswich, Massachusetts are making a stand.  Like Connecticut’s public schools students, they were used as unpaid lab rats in this spring’s Common Core test of the test. Under the laws and regulations of the Unite

On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger

On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger:



On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June

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The fiction
The fiction
The reality
The reality

By now, hundreds of teachers throughout the state, most non-tenured, have received non-renewal notices. A few tenured teachers also are likely to lose jobs because their positions have been eliminated. But thousands of older, more experienced teachers have decided to retire because they  cannot put up with the stress created  by New Jersey’s governor and those who convert his bullying, vengeful and know-nothing attitude toward teachers into state policy.
In other words, it was a good day today to broadcast “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” a 1995 movie about a dedicated music teacher who is fired from the position he held for 30 years after his music program is cut for budget reasons.
There are a few lines toward the end of the movie that say it all. Glenn Holland, the teacher, is leaving and he is talking to his friend, the football coach. He says:
“You work for 30 years because you think that what you do makes a difference, you think it matters to people, but then you wake up one morning and find out, well no, On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Nite Cap 6-8-14 #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 CAP




6-8-14 Jersey Jazzman Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee Grade
Jersey Jazzman: Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee Grade: Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee GradeYou know what really bugs me these days? Especially in the world of education "reform"?Smugness.I'm not talking about pride. Pride is great (to a point). Everyone who works at a school should be proud of their students, their staff, their leaders. If you talk up the good things happening at your schoo
Common Core Does Include Data Collection. It’s the Foundation for the Data & Accountability Systems. | Missouri Education Watchdog
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Just My Imagination Running Away With Me (A Post-CCSS World) - The Jose Vilson
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Rift Deepens Over Claims of Infiltration by Islamic Extremists in British Schools - NYTimes.com
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Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education Association | Reclaim Reform
Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education Association | Reclaim Reform: Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education AssociationPosted on June 8, 2014by Ken PrevitiPart of continuing conversation among retired teachers, activists and bloggers Fr
Stop Holding Us Back - NYTimes.com
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6-8-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
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Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children? | Cloaking Inequity
Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children? | Cloaking Inequity: Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children?Today I am blogging about two parent horror stories from BASIS. Let me just warn you, after hearing parents talk about what happened to their children at BASIS, you will likely be in a surly mood learning about this corporate (quasi-for pro
Capitalism vs. education: Why our free-market obsession is wrecking the future - Salon.com
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Mother Crusader: Guest Post: Melissa Katz Debunks JerseyCAN's Common Core Cheerleading
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Teachers Putting Reforms into Practice: “The Implementation Problem” | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
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Morning Wink 6-8-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-8-144LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SCHOOL BOARD RIVALS MUST ACT QUICKLY: George McKenna, Alex Johnson seek funding, endorsements in L.A. Unified race; Two unions face tough choiceBY HOWARD BLUME, LA Times |  http://lat.ms/1uEMAYH George McKenna, above, and Alex Johnson are headed for a runoff. Pub
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-8-14
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6-8-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
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6-7-14 @ The Chalk Face
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Answer Sheet 6-8-14
Answer Sheet: Just ask the teachersOne of the central features of corporate school reform is that those driving it haven’t bothered to seriously ask teachers to offer their solutions to improving public education. Meg White, an assistant professor in the School of Education at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, looks at this omission in the following post.   […]by Valerie Strauss / 30min 
6-8-14 Schools Matter
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6-8-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
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6-8-14 With A Brooklyn Accent:
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Stephen Krashen Blog 6-8-14
SKrashen:Say What?" (Bill) Gates has said that one of the benefits of common standards would be to open the classroom to digital learning, making it easier for software developers — including Microsoft — to develop new products for the country’s 15,000 school districts. In February, Microsoft announced that it was joining Pearson, the world’s largest educational publisher, to load Pearson’s C
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6-8-13 Curmudgucation
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6-8-14 Perdido Street School
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Schooling in the Ownership Society: How world's richest man bought school reform
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NYC Educator: But Mister, I'm Not Using the Phone for That
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YESTERDAY

How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolution - The Washington Post
How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolution - The Washington Post: How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolutionThe pair of education advocates had a big idea, a new approach to transform every public-school classroom in America. By early 2008, many of the nation’s top politicians and education leaders had lined up in support.But that wasn’t enough. The duo needed money
Nite Cap 6-7-14 #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 CAPMore questions on evals’ accuracy | Albuquerque Journal NewsMore questions on evals’ accuracy | Albuquerque Journal News:More questions on evals’ accuracyPrincipal Robin Hoberg had no answers when teachers at Double Eagle Elementary School asked