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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/16/15



CORPORATE ED REFORM







With A Brooklyn Accent: Exposing Young People to Beauty Is Giving them Hope:
With A Brooklyn Accent: Exposing Young People to Beauty Is Giving them Hope:: Exposing Young People to Beauty Is Giving them Hope:I was driving in from Eastern Long Island this morning listening to James Taylor and Carol King and when "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Up On the Roof" came on, I felt tears coming into my eyes.And it got me to thinking. Rock and Roll songs l
Transitional Kindergarten Data - Student & School Data Files (Downloadable) (CA Dept of Education)
Transitional Kindergarten Data - Student & School Data Files (Downloadable) (CA Dept of Education): Transitional Kindergarten DataDownloadable data files for school-level transitional kindergarten program participation data racial/ethnic designation and subgroup (i.e., gender, English learner, migrant, and socio-economically disadvantaged status).Files include state, county, district, and scho
The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring
The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring: The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still IgnoringOne of the more telling combinations of news stories from the past week found education policy insiders in Washington, DC rejoicing over the passage of a new law rewriting federal education policy while at the same time a new report revealed how political leadership is continuing to fa
A Teachable Moment: Frustrated California Online Charter Teachers Educate Shareholders of Controversial K12 Inc
A Teachable Moment: Frustrated California Online Charter Teachers Educate Shareholders of Controversial K12 Inc. at Annual Washington, D.C. Meeting Today - California Teachers Association: A Teachable Moment: Frustrated California Online Charter Teachers Educate Shareholders of Controversial K12 Inc. at Annual Washington, D.C. Meeting TodayTo Protect Their 15,000 Students, Teachers Deliver Report
Bid to Spike Federal Teacher-Preparation Regs Fails - Teacher Beat - Education Week
Bid to Spike Federal Teacher-Preparation Regs Fails - Teacher Beat - Education Week: Bid to Spike Federal Teacher-Preparation Regs FailsUPDATEDAn attempt by advocates to stop the U.S. Department of Education's proposed teacher-preparation regulations from going into effect seems to have failed, for now.Groups like the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education had lobbied hard for the
All in the Family | EduShyster
All in the Family | EduShyster: All in the FamilyHas Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser been lobbying himself?Reader: having now corresponded from the wilds of education reform land for some three years now (!), I’ve grown more or less inured to the conflicts of interest that seem to bloom like algae wherever homo reformus sets up shop. But when a tipster contacted me, asking if I was
CURMUDGUCATION: Homework and Flipping
CURMUDGUCATION: Homework and Flipping: Homework and FlippingIt was an odd juxtaposition. There on my twitter feed, side by side, a link to an article arguing against homework, and a link to an argument favoring the flipped classroom.The arguments against homework are many-- as many as there are different types of homework. Students don't really benefit from it. Students don't really do it. And tho
Don't grade us like school districts, charter school sponsors say; state might do it anyway | cleveland.com
Don't grade us like school districts, charter school sponsors say; state might do it anyway | cleveland.com: Don't grade us like school districts, charter school sponsors say; state might do it anywayCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Charter school supporters want the state to kill a proposal that would grade their "sponsors" just like school districts.But they haven't won over the Ohio Department of Ed
Report finds school segregation not simply a result of housing | POLITICO
Report finds school segregation not simply a result of housing | POLITICO: Report finds school segregation not simply a result of housingNew York Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, center, visits a class in Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)New York City's public school system is not the most segregated in the nation simply because of housing segregation, since many high-poverty elementary school
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Hidden Costs of Gentrification and Rising Rents on Educational Opportunity
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Hidden Costs of Gentrification and Rising Rents on Educational Opportunity: The Hidden Costs of Gentrification and Rising Rents on Educational OpportunityIt is tempting to think with the crack epidemic having passed and violence levels down in most, but not all, inner city and poor communities, we have a precious moment of opportunity to rebuild public schools in those
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Debating Rahm's viability
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Debating Rahm's viability: Debating Rahm's viabilityAsked the next day about when he first learned of the McDonald case and who informed him, the mayor responded, “Probably read it in the paper. Uhm and some of the staff, uhm could have informed me. --NBC5 NewsEven among my friends (across the political spectrum) there's widely varying estimates about Rahm Emanuel's 
Politics In The Classroom: How Much Is Too Much? : NPR Ed : NPR
Politics In The Classroom: How Much Is Too Much? : NPR Ed : NPR: Politics In The Classroom: How Much Is Too Much?Gun control. Climate change. Donald Trump. Affirmative action.The first presidential primaries are just weeks away and with all these debates and issues in the headlines, there's no question that students are going to want to talk about them.But how should teachers handle these discussi
Success Academy Network to Shorten Its School Day Next Year - The New York Times
Success Academy Network to Shorten Its School Day Next Year - The New York Times: Success Academy Network to Shorten Its School Day Next YearSuccess Academy, the high-achieving charter school network, told employees this week that it would shorten its school day next year, altering a feature that has distinguished the network from New York City’s regular public schools but has also made it hard to
At the Intersection of Money and Reform Part III: On Cost Functions & the Increased Costs of Higher Outcomes | School Finance 101
At the Intersection of Money and Reform Part III: On Cost Functions & the Increased Costs of Higher Outcomes | School Finance 101: At the Intersection of Money and Reform Part III: On Cost Functions & the Increased Costs of Higher OutcomesIn my 2012 report Does Money Matter in Education, I addressed the education production functionliterature that seeks to establish a direct link between r
Ohio: Where Theft of Public Money is OK | Diane Ravitch's blog
Ohio: Where Theft of Public Money is OK | Diane Ravitch's blog: Ohio: Where Theft of Public Money is OKBill Phillis, former deputy Commissioner of Education in Ohio, runs the Equity and Adequacy Coalition.Highway robbery is legal in the Ohio charter industryThe charter industry has been largely deregulated from the beginning. The charter promoters and operators have had unrestrained freedom to use
PSAT score delay spells more bad news for Connecticut SAT mandate - Wait What?
PSAT score delay spells more bad news for Connecticut SAT mandate - Wait What?: PSAT score delay spells more bad news for Connecticut SAT mandateConnecticut high school juniors and their parents – LOOK OUT!The new Connecticut state mandate that all 11th graders take the NEW SAT this coming March is getting more absurd by the day.Last spring, in the face of mounting opposition to the unfair, inappr
School Reform, Passion and Mic Drops | Cloaking Inequity
School Reform, Passion and Mic Drops | Cloaking Inequity: School Reform, Passion and Mic Drops The definition of “Drop the Mic” from the classic Eminem Hip Hop film 8 mile is…Calling someone out so hard that you just walk away indisputably victorious.A few days ago I had the opportunity to visit Annapolis, MD for the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) policy conference. MSEA’s second annu
Guest Blog: Renaissance at Rogers High School - Lily's Blackboard
Guest Blog: Renaissance at Rogers High School - Lily's Blackboard: Guest Blog: Renaissance at Rogers High SchoolBy John C. Stocks, NEA Executive DirectorRogers High School is located in the poorest ZIP code in the state of Washington. It serves 1600 students, of which at least 200 are homeless. The student population is very diverse: African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Caucasian, as w
How should schools respond to anti-Muslim actions against students? - The Washington Post
How should schools respond to anti-Muslim actions against students? - The Washington Post: How should schools respond to anti-Muslim actions against students?Students took part in a Texas Muslim Capitol Day rally at the Texas Capitol in Austin earlier this year. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)The call by Donald Trump, the presumed frontrunner in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, to ban
How students reacted when their beloved school librarian was let go - The Washington Post
How students reacted when their beloved school librarian was let go - The Washington Post: How students reacted when their beloved school librarian was let go"Chicao School Librarian Layoff Inspires Outrage—& Support" https://t.co/FchGmEO7pq via @sljournal #SaveOurLibrary pic.twitter.com/8Iug7RVzuU— ChiTeacherSolidarity (@CTSCampaign) December 15, 2015Students at a public school in C
Affirmative Action exists because the US educational system was built for white kids - Quartz
Affirmative Action exists because the US educational system was built for white kids - Quartz: IT’S A WASP’S WORLDAffirmative Action exists because the US educational system was built for white kids I was recruited to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, one of the top private schools in the United States, as a black-Korean kid from Ohio. The group A Better Chance (ABC) brought me there in
Emailed threats to NY, LA highlight worries schools face - Yahoo News
Emailed threats to NY, LA highlight worries schools face - Yahoo News: Emailed threats to NY, LA highlight worries schools face ssociated Press VideosL.A. Authorities: Community Unified Over Schools News 1 1:37 L.A. Authorities: Community Unified Over Schools2 2:00 Bomb Threat Shutters 2nd Largest School District3 1:27 Los Angeles Mayor, Police Defend School Shutdown4 2:17 NYC Officials: School Bo
Politicians spar over education reform at the Capitol | Sacramento News - KCRA Home
Politicians spar over education reform at the Capitol | Sacramento News - KCRA Home: Politicians spar over education reform at the Capitol FORMULATED IN JANUARY. GULSTAN: FIXING CALIFORNIA'S BROKEN EDUCATION SYSTEM WAS THE CAPITOL TODAY. BUT AS KCRA 3'S MIKE LUERY SHOWS DEMOCRATS ARE STILL FIGHTING OVER REFORM WITH PARENTS AND STUDENTS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDL NOT INVITED TO TODAY'S CAPITAL HEARING BUT
Rolling back school reform in New York City - The Washington Post
Rolling back school reform in New York City - The Washington Post: Rolling back school reform in New York CityNEW YORK Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) wasted no time dismantling the education policies of three-term mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), and his administration claims schools have improved as a result. Well, jettisoning data-driven accountability, transparency and standards certainly makes it eas
How Charter School Governance in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Measures Up
How Charter School Governance in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Measures Up:How Charter School Governance in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Measures UpCharter schools are tuition-free, taxpayer-supported institutions that are granted the right to operate without many of the rules that govern traditional public schools. Most hold classes in buildings, but some, known as cyber or virtual charters, ope
Charter schools remain a bad investment for students and taxpayers
Charter schools remain a bad investment for students and taxpayers | StAugustine.com: Charter schools remain a bad investment for students and taxpayersAn Associated Press study of Department of Education records published last week showed that taxpayers have funded these privately-run, but publicly-funded schools to the tune of $760 million since 2000.Of that, $70 million has been spent on charte

YESTERDAY

Jersey Jazzman: Dear Reformies: You Got Nothing
Jersey Jazzman: Dear Reformies: You Got Nothing: You Got NothingWe haven't played Spot The Pattern™ in quite a while. Who's up for a round [all emphases mine]?The Washington Post, 12/12/15A nonprofit group has begun a public relations campaign to defend Teach for America against critics of the program that places newly minted college graduates in teaching jobs in some of the country’s most challen
Cerf finds a “tremendous” job done by his staff in dismal test scores | Bob Braun's Ledger
Cerf finds a “tremendous” job done by his staff in dismal test scores | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cerf finds a “tremendous” job done by his staff in dismal test scoresFormer state testing director, Bari Erlichson, right,  now working in Newark,  talks about the city’s PARCC scores.The scores on the latest round of statewide tests–the so-called PARCC tests–were bad everywhere, but Newark’s fell far behin
The College Board under David Coleman: Another Delay– This Time, PSAT Scores | deutsch29
The College Board under David Coleman: Another Delay– This Time, PSAT Scores | deutsch29: The College Board under David Coleman: Another Delay– This Time, PSAT ScoresDavid Coleman was at the center of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) development, a position about which he publicly declared post-CCSS that he and others in his Student Achievement Partners (SAP) nonprofit were “unqualified.” (See t
School Segregation Persists in Gentrifying Neighborhoods, Maps Suggest - The New York Times
School Segregation Persists in Gentrifying Neighborhoods, Maps Suggest - The New York Times: School Segregation Persists in Gentrifying Neighborhoods, Maps SuggestAt the Margaret Douglas school in Morningside Heights, near Columbia University, the median income in 2014 was $36,000, and the student population was 96 percent black and Hispanic. Credit John Taggart for The New York TimesThe segregati
Tale of two cities – to close or not to close schools? | EdSource
Tale of two cities – to close or not to close schools? | EdSource: Tale of two cities – to close or not to close schools?What would you do if you were a superintendent of a school district with hundreds of thousands of children – actually any number of children – and received a bomb threat that you weren’t 100 percent sure was a hoax?And the threat came less than 10 days after the worst terrorist
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/15/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMChilling Words | Save Maine SchoolsChilling Words | Save Maine Schools:Chilling Wordsst spring, before my fourth graders took the Smarter Balanced Assessment, I knew that it would not be a test worth administering.In addition to knowing that it would be long, developmentally inappropriate, and unlikely to inform my instruction in any meaningful way, I also knew that I would be r