Tuesday, August 3, 2010

This Week In Education: Media: New Contest For USDE Briefing Room Spots

Media: New Contest For USDE Briefing Room Spots

by Alexander Russo

Hidden in the US Department of Education building there is a secret briefing room without enough chairs for every media outlet that wants to be there. [Click to enlarge]
Giving his own spin to yesterday's the

Sec. of Education Arne Duncan Reveals 2011 Budget: 100s of Millions More for Early Education on SIRIUS XM

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan conducted a national Teacher Town Hall on SIRIUS XM's P.O.T.U.S. channel on July 29 and broke the news that the 2011 budget will include "couple hundred million dollars" more for early childhood education. “We have to educate our way to a better economy," he says. “This is the answer for our country—this is the key. This is the civil rights issue of our generation.”

Secretary Duncan was joined by 35 Washington, D.C. area teachers and educators in-studio—as well as educators from around the country via phone---for a compelling and candid conversation about reforming our nation’s education system. The Teacher Town Hall was moderated by Tim Farley, host of P.O.T.U.S.’ Morning Briefing and broadcast live from SIRIUS XM’s Washington, D.C. state-of-the-art studios. P.O.T.U.S. (SIRIUS channel 110/XM channel 130), SIRIUS XM’s non-partisan channel dedicated to the “Politics of the United States.”

Sec. of Education Arne Duncan Reveals 2011 Budget: 100s of Millions More for Early Education on SIRIUS XM
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan conducted a national Teacher Town Hall on SIRIUS XM's P.O.T.U.S. and broke the news that the 2011 budget will include "couple hundred million dollars" more for early childhood education. "We have to educate our way to a better economy," he says. Learn more about P.O.T.U.S. -- Politics of the United States -- and get a free trial athttp://www.sirius.com/potus

School Tech Connect: The Rightward Lurch Of Basic Conversations

The Rightward Lurch Of Basic Conversations

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Fred has pointed out that apparently Arianna, too, thinks that the big problem in education is that you can't fire bad teachers. This is so far from being the big problem from education that it boggles the mind. There is no competently managed public school district in the United States that doesn't know how to fire people.

I have personally worked with people that I thought the administration should ride out of town but for some reason was not making the

Schools Matter: National Council of Teachers of English continues to support LEARN (sic) Act

National Council of Teachers of English continues to support LEARN (sic) Act

by skrashen

The NCTE website contains an action alert urging us to tell our legislators to vote for the LEARN Act (HR 4027; S2740). http://www.ncte.org/action/alerts.
I think the LEARN Act is a disaster. It will work against everything NCTE has ever stood for. It extends the

ETS Report: Achievement Gap Static During Last 20 Years of Test and Punish

by Jim Horn

So Obama and the Oligarchs are launched on another generation of the same edu-diversions and privatization schemes that pretend to treat the symptom, while ignoring the problem of poverty, racism, and the corrosive effects of capitalism run amok. Will it matter that the f-ing Educational Testing Service is now waving the red flag? What will it take?

From the ETS Press Release today (my bolds):

Chicago Teachers Union takes board to federal court. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Chicago Teachers Union takes board to federal court.

by preaprez

Hot town. Summer in The City.
The battle between The Mayor and his gofer Ron Huberman on the one hand and the Chicago teachers union on the other is burning up the town.

Following an exchange of heated letters, the CTU is taking CPS to federal court to stop what they are calling the arbitrary firing of hundreds of teachers.
From the CTU press release:

The suit alleges that the Board is dismissing some of the city’s most qualified

Bloom's Taxonomy According to Pirates of the Caribbean

The six levels of Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as found in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Music from Pirates I and III

State overturns one charter space-sharing plan, upholds another | GothamSchools

State overturns one charter space-sharing plan, upholds another

by Maura Walz

The city must start over its controversial plan to let a Lower East Side charter school expand in city space but may proceed with another, the state education department ruled yesterday.
State Education Commissioner David Steiner threw out the city’s plan to allow Girls Prep Charter School to expand its middle school grades in the building it shares with two district schools, ruling that the city did not properly report the plan’s impact on disabled students who attend school in the building.
But in a separate ruling, Steiner argued that the city did provide enough information about its plan to let Brooklyn’s PAVE Academy Charter School expand in the building it currently shares with P.S. 15.
Both plans have prompted bitter space battles this year between the charter schools and teachers and parents

Real Reform vs. Quick Fix: Meet the Coalition for Excellent Public Schools � EdVox

Real Reform vs. Quick Fix: Meet the Coalition for Excellent Public Schools

by edvoxny

Last week, on Wednesday July 28th, a new national coalition of community-based organizations, the Coalition for Excellent Public Schools, made up of parents and students in low-income communities from across the country went to Washington D.C! All the way to D.C.? Why such a big carbon foot-print?
Our nation’s capital has had a huge influence on what happens locally, since ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), later renamed as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) under Bush, has often dictated what local school districts need to do to reform their education system. ESEA is now under revision, creating an opportunity to do away with the negative effects that we’ve seen through the largely ‘one-size fits all’ NCLB strategies (rampant school closings, teaching to the test, high standards with little money, etc.) and through

What’s up at Huffington Post? � Fred Klonsky's blog

What’s up at Huffington Post?

by preaprez

I know that the left-of-center web site Huffington Post includes of range of opinions. But lately it’s a cold education wind that blows from that corner of the internet, including some nasty swipes at teacher unions from Arianna herself.
On Sunday Arianna ran a post on President Obama’s speech to the Urban League. Suddenly civil rights groups and teacher unions became Arianna’s punching bag. This from a usually progressive source who reserves her criticisms for the enemies of civil rights groups and teacher unions.

Teacher effectiveness is the single most important factor driving student

Cheating Inquiry in Atlanta Largely Vindicates Schools - NYTimes.com

CHEAT SHEET

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

By TRIP GABRIEL

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

Sarah Brookover, left, a senior at Rutgers University in New Jersey, with Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic, a reference librarian.

Many students simply do not grasp that using words they did not write is a serious academic misdeed.

Read Comments (481)

Cheating Inquiry in Atlanta Largely Vindicates Schools

By SHAILA DEWAN

An independent commission found no evidence of “any district-wide or centrally coordinated effort to manipulate” test scores.

WELL COLUMN

Summer Must-Read for Kids? Any Book

By TARA PARKER-POPE

A report says that for some children, the reading skills lost over the summer represent about two months' worth of schooling.

ON EDUCATION

Garner Moss, far right, with his cross-country teammates in Madison, Wis. He is not the fastest member of the team. But he does have his own style.

A School District That Takes the Isolation Out of Autism

By MICHAEL WINERIP

The public schools in Madison, Wis., are nationally known for including children with disabilities in regular classes.

Dr. William L. Pollard, President of Medgar Evers College, listens to students about the needs on campus.

For a College President, the Criticisms Pile Up

By LISA W. FODERARO

A year after being named president of Medgar Evers College, William Pollard is being accused by professors and others as dictatorial and detached from the community.

When 81% Passing Suddenly Becomes 18%

By SHARON OTTERMAN and ROBERT GEBELOFF

As passing rates plummeted under tighter standards, New York City principals contemplated the unraveling of achievements that they were suddenly informed were illusory.

Graphic: The Achievement Gap Gets Wider

Keeping Up, and Down, with the Joneses � The Quick and the Ed

Keeping Up, and Down, with the Joneses

by Chad Aldeman

Public- and private-sector workers’ retirements used to be structured similarly. Not that long ago, both groups were likely to have access to defined benefit pension plans that guaranteed monthly payments until death. Both sets of workers retired at about the same ages.
These things have changed over the last 25 years as private-sector employers have abandoned DB plans, private-sector workers have been retiring at older ages, and public-sector workers, including teachers, have been retiring younger. By 2009, only one in five private-sector workers had access to a DB plan, compared to 89 percent of teachers and 84 percent of all state and local government employees who are still

QUICK Hits

by Forrest Hinton

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading and viewing each day.

A community college funding formula based on student outcomes? (Community College Spotlight)
Charter school leaders are very often optimistic and academically-focused. But do these qualities make them expert budget managers? (Charter School Insights)
Budget cuts are forcing public colleges and universities to re-think the ways they educate students. Is online education the solution for much-needed revenue and increased student achievement? (Inside Higher Ed)
How do you Spot the TFA? (Not much, just chillin’)
Do competitive grants hurt equal opportunity? Should all Federal money be spread around like peanut butter? (National Journal)

The Educated Reporter: The $250,000 barber.

The $250,000 barber.

by Linda Perlstein

I love GAO reports! I always have. I used to want to work there. (I also, at various points, used to want to be an interior decorator, a teacher, an actress and a designer of confidence-building measures between the Pakistani and Indian armies.) Anyway, the latest education release from the GAO (which, yay, includes voicemails), details questionable practices that for-profit college representatives used on undercover “applicants”—among

This Week In Education: Thompson: Basics Are The Key, Not Gimmicks

Thompson: Basics Are The Key, Not Gimmicks

by john thompson

The real key to school reform is "blocking and tackling" not popular "reforms" like performance pay or breaking large high schools into smaller communities says Rick Hess, as he praised Heather Zedadsky's examination of five districts that have won the Broad Prize. For instance, creating kindergarten programs of real excellence takes high-quality implementation. Central offices must do the hard work of creating a culture of trust and service," rather than one of "gotcha." But I must question the

Mad At Huberman? - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Mad At Huberman?

from District 299 by Alexander Russo

Rumor -- nothing more than that -- is that the Mayor's at Huberman. Some insiders (rumor-mongerers) are even saying that Huberman might be out of his spot heading CPS not too long from now. I find that hard to believe, but the Mayor does seem pretty pissed off at the world lately and the two haven't been photographed together recently (were they at last weekend's back to school event together?). The youth violence issue is a constant thorn in the Mayor's side. And it occurs to me that Daley might want to be

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: STARS Charter School

STARS Charter School *CHARTER SCHOOL GRAPPLES WITH LOW TEST SCORES,* July 26, 2010, Richmond County (VA) Daily Journal A Moore County charter school with Richmond County students may take on a new look in the 2010-11 school year as it struggles to improve its performance ...

Cincinnati charter school cluster *TAYLOR RELEASES AUDITS OF RELATED CINCINNATI CHARTER SCHOOLS; AUDITS IDENTIFY $196,579 IN IMPROPER PAYMENTS, *June 1, 2010, Ohio Auditor of State press release Hamilton County - Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released audits for three Cincinnati ...

Brookwood Community Learning Center *COURT HEARS OPPOSITION TO CHURCH CHARTER SCHOOL; STATE, PRESBYTERIAN CENTER SPAR OVER 'EDUCATIONAL' VS. 'RELIGIOUS' ORIENTATION,* June 9, 2010, The Columbus Dispatch (OH) A Columbus church doesn't have the right to sponsor a public charter school

Schools Matter: Allergy to libraries continues

Allergy to libraries continues

by skrashen

Posted in reaction to: "Summer Must-Read for Kids? Any Book" (NY Times blog). Article is in favor of self-selected reading over the summer, but as usual, neglects to mention libraries.
My post:
This article confirms that providing children greater access to interesting reading material results in more literacy development.
The article also points out that children from low-income families are particularly unlikely to read over the summer. That’s because children of poverty have little access to books at home, at school and in their

This Week In Education: Blogs: Fake News Does Not Amuse Education Blogger

Blogs: Fake News Does Not Amuse Education Blogger

by Alexander Russo

Click here to read Matthew Tabor's roundup of the blogosphere's response to news that A & E was going to start showing a classroom version of Intervention -- a story I made up and posted last week. I've been posting the occasional fake news on the site since almost the beginning -- there's even a category called "Made Up News" in my sidebar

Mastery Charter summer school dilemma | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Mastery Charter summer school dilemma

by Samuel Reed III on Aug 03 2010 Posted in Parent perspectives

Tags:

If you have followed my posts about charter schools you may surmise that I am both a supporter and detractor of charter schools. Now, I have a personal dilemma with Mastery Charter Schools' summer school program and I am asking my readers for some advice.

In a previous post I wrote about my support of Mastery Charter School because it holds students to rigorous standards. My grasshopper son, Kagiso–he calls me Papa San--did not meet Mastery’s standards so he had to do a 5th year in high school.

While at Mastery’s Lenfest Campus he had an Achilles heel: math. He did not apply himself and had to repeat a math class. Because he had mastered all his other subjects, he was offered three Advanced Placement (AP) classes in addition

The Power of the Parent Voice: Secretary Arne Duncan's Remarks at the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Leadership Mega Conference | U.S. Department of Education

The Power of the Parent Voice: Secretary Arne Duncan's Remarks at the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Leadership Mega Conference

AUGUST 3, 2010

Related Resources
	Conference website

Good morning. When President Obama spoke to the Urban League last week, the one line that got by far the most applause was: "Parents are going to get more involved in their children's education."

It is well-documented—and plain common sense—that parental involvement in a child's education boosts student learning.

The President and I believe we have a lot of work to do in education. We need to raise our standards. We need to move beyond the bubble tests. And we need to better support our teachers.

But one thing is absolutely essential—and that's parent involvement. Parents of students with disabilities are some of the most determined advocates. Parents are key partners in policymaking and practice, pushing for greater access and better outcomes for their own and others' children. I want to applaud you for your dedication to children with disabilities—and their parents. I also want to say I wish it wasn't necessary for parents to be such fierce advocates. I understand that parents are compelled to advocate because they see that their sons and daughters aren't getting the free, appropriate public education that federal law guarantees them. President Obama and I believe that every child deserves a world-class education. When we say every child, it is not just rhetoric—we mean every child, regardless of his or her skin color, nationality, ethnicity, or ability. Over the past 37 years, with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, we've made great strides in delivering on the promise of a free, appropriate public education for children with disabilities.

Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics shared with me one story that I think is the perfect example of the power that promise has to transform lives. It came in an essay by a girl named Kaitlyn Smith from Conifer High

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