Audience Trumps Structure Every Time � Chalkdust101

Audience Trumps Structure Every Time � Chalkdust101

Audience Trumps Structure Every Time

by pjhiggins

Last week, in my reading of Kate Glass’ article at ASCD Express “ReThinking Five Paragraphs,” I related to much of what Kate portrayed in her writing. The staid structure of writing that we’ve all been exposed to as students, and perhaps perpetuated as teachers needs some close scrutiny. When, other than on standardized tests, do we read arguments that wrap up neatly in five formulaic paragraphs? This is, as Dan Meyer put it in his 2010 TEDxNYED talk, akin to an impatience with irresolution. And Glass notes that:

Freedom can be a little scary. Kids sometimes even panic when they are told they can decide how

Schools Matter: NOLA Regular Public Schools Outgain NOLA Charters Two to One

Schools Matter: NOLA Regular Public Schools Outgain NOLA Charters Two to One

NOLA Regular Public Schools Outgain NOLA Charters Two to One

by Jim Horn

The corporate charter school movement in New Orleans has cooked up a great deal of PR to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Katrina, and much of it has been swallowed and regurgitated by newspapers, blogs, and television news stories, all looking for something positive to write about in the continuing, sad saga of the Big Uneasy. NBC’s Nightly News, for instance, has gushed in at least two separate pieces this week about the

Floor Vote On Brownley Bag Ban Expected Monday | California Progress Report

Floor Vote On Brownley Bag Ban Expected Monday | California Progress Report

Alan Simpson: Not a Gentleman or a Scholar

by christine

By Anthony Wright
Health Access

Some of the most outrageous remarks in recent memory were made yesterday by former Senator Alan Simpson to the national leader of the Older Women's League (OWL) regarding entitlement to Social Security. Specifically, Mr. Simpson took it upon himself to respond to OWL in a very insulting and derogatory manner that 350 million women were in essence "sponging off" Social Security.

We took more attention than most because we value the membership of OWL of California as a Health Access California member, and active participant on our board. The great Betty Perry of OWL is the immediate past president of our board, and a longtime friend and ally of our organization. An insult to her is an insult to us. But even if we look beyond Senator Simpson's sexist and shameful language, was he right?

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Floor Vote On Brownley Bag Ban Expected Monday

by kaldveer

By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

In what may turn out to be this year's most memorable legislative fight in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1998, the single-use plastic bag ban introduced by Democrat Julia Brownley of Santa Monica, is scheduled for a Senate floor vote Monday, just one day before the legislature wraps up.

If a legislator managed to miss the huge statewide ad buy of AB 1998's opposition, a coalition led by the American Chemistry Council representing plastic bag manufacturers, there was no missing the giant blow-up turtle exhibit on the West Steps of the Capitol Friday, part of the bill sponsor, Heal the Bay's, last minute efforts to garner the two-thirds Senate vote required to pass the legislation.

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Danville student chooses online college classes

Danville student chooses online college classes Sunday, August 29, 2010 Print E-mail Share Comments (44) Font | Size: 10 8 Michael Macor / The Chronicle 18-year-old, Katrina Howell, on Wednesday August 25, 2010, is working towards an online college degree from her home in Danville, Calif.18-year-old, Katrina Howell, on Wednesday August 25, 2010, is working towards an online college degree from her home in Danville, Calif. View Larger Image MORE EDUCATION DNA test flip-flop stirs debate at UC08.28.10 Oakland keeping 5 child care centers open 08.28.10 S.F. State student sues over late fee increase 08.28.10 With the Internetemerging as the world's largest classroom, debate over the value of an online university education has never run hotter. The University of California hopes to develop a top-tier cyber bachelor's degree program, while some faculty worry that doing that would diminish UC's quality. Some schools, like the University of Massachusetts, offer some degree courses online. Others, like the for-profit University of Phoenix, offer all degree courses online. Katrina Howell, 18, graduated from high school in June and will study psychology this fall at the University of Phoenix. Her classroom will be her bedroom at home in Danville. She spoke recently to reporter Nanette Asimov. Q: Will you miss campus life?

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/BAQ91F0TFS.DTL&type=education#ixzz0y21ZJqdW

Sec. Duncan to visit Mass. to tout school grants - Boston.com

Sec. Duncan to visit Mass. to tout school grants - Boston.com

Sec. Duncan to visit Mass. to tout school grants

August 29, 2010

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BOSTON—U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is planning to visit Springfield to highlight the state's recent award of $250 million in federal education grants.

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Massachusetts won the funding boost as part of the Obama administration's Race to the Top program.

Duncan is planning to visit the High School of Commerce in Springfield on Monday to participate in an education forum with Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray.

Under the funding program, states were rewarded for reforms intended to turn around low-performing schools through better student testing and teacher

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National Education Association leader opposes more Texas money for charter schools | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Politics | The Dallas Morning News

National Education Association leader opposes more Texas money for charter schools | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Politics | The Dallas Morning News

National Education Association leader opposes more Texas money for charter schools

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, August 28, 2010

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Texas will be headed down the wrong path if it invests more money in its network of independent charter schools, the president of the National Education Association said Friday, citing mixed student achievement results in those schools.

NEA president Dennis Van Roekel said efforts to expand the charter school program in Texas and other states ignore the track record of those schools and their lack of success with many students.

"If you look at the research for charters, the results are not there. You cannot make a case that we ought to invest more money in charter schools based on the research," said Van Roekel, a former math teacher from Arizona who heads the 3.2 million-member teacher union. He visited schools in Austin and San Antonio on Friday as part

Teachers strike remains possible; Harmony-Emge leaders, union still have no deal - From the online desk - bnd.com

Teachers strike remains possible; Harmony-Emge leaders, union still have no deal - From the online desk - bnd.com

Teachers strike remains possible; Harmony-Emge leaders, union still have no deal

BY MIKE FITZGERALD - News-Democrat

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BELLEVILLE -- A teachers strike looms on the horizon for the Harmony-Emge School District 175 after negotiators for the district and its teachers union met for five hours Saturday without a breakthrough.

Both sides have agreed not disclose the status of negotiations until after a meeting of the Illinois Federation of Teachers bargaining unit for District 175, said Christi Flaherty, the lawyer representing the school district.

Flaherty noted that District 175 school board is set

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2010/08/29/1380211/teachers-strike-remains-possible.html#ixzz0y1F6ydDa

Schundler’s blunder - NYPOST.com

Schundler’s blunder - NYPOST.com

Schundler’s blunder

Last Updated: 5:13 AM, August 29, 2010

Posted: August 29, 2010

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Just two days after promising not to scapegoat anyone over the bureaucratic bungle that cost New Jersey federal Race to the Top money, Gov. Christie last week jettisoned Education Commissioner Bret Schundler.

Sad to say, he had no choice.

The problem wasn’t the initial foul-up, in which Schundler’s department included the wrong year’s budget figures on a single page of Jersey’s 10,000-page submission. That mistake put Trenton just behind the lowest state qualifier.

It was that Schundler lied to Christie, claiming he’d tried to give the feds the correct information and was rebuffed — though a video clearly showed otherwise.

ANNIE MCCORMICK

Bret Schundler

“I never promised the people of New Jersey that this would be a mistake-free administration,” said Christie. “However, I did promise that the people in my administration would be held accountable.”

Unfortunately, the fiasco will only further embolden Christie’s enemies — and particularly the teachers union.

From the moment it was learned that New Jersey had lost out on Race to the Top, union officials gleefully noted that the state had also been penalized because the union — the New Jersey Education Association — didn’t back its reforms.

That cost Trenton 14 points on its

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/schundler_blunder_tA8BCWPQWjTRsKEKv3heNP#ixzz0y1EaybhF

“The Power Of Positive Relationships” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“The Power Of Positive Relationships” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“The Power Of Positive Relationships” I’m a big believer in the importance of developing relationships. Organizers say community organizing is just another word for relationship-building, I have a chapter on developing relationships with students in my book on teaching English Language ...

More On The Trapped Miners In Chile Here are the latest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Trapped Miners In Chile: Facing Long Mine Rescue, Chile Spares No Expense is a good NY Times article that would have to be modified for ELL’s. How Will Chilean Miners Stay Sane? ...

“What Makes Me” Is A Neat Site At What Makes Me, you can create a “cube” using photos, video, and audio (you can easily grab them off the web our upload your own). Your creation is supposed to be a representation of “you.” It’s from the Australia Council For The Arts and, ...

This Week In Education: Value-Added: LA Times Releases List of Teachers And Schools

This Week In Education: Value-Added: LA Times Releases List of Teachers And Schools

Value-Added: LA Times Releases List of Teachers And Schools

by Alexander Russo

The LA Times' much-debated list of teachers and schools is now finally online -- you can check it out here. Will this ultimately serve the greater good and push districts and schools to do a better job evaluating, supporting, and screening teachers? I hope so. Will it earn the LA Times some sort of notoriety and recognition on the journalism front? Probably. (That's what happened in Season Five of The Wire, as you may recall.) In the short run, however, it's going to raise a LOT of questions about the whole standardized

Schools Matter: More Evidence Against Using Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers

Schools Matter: More Evidence Against Using Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers

More Evidence Against Using Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers

by Jim Horn

Last year it was the Division of Behavioral and Social Science from the National Academies of Science that wrote Arne Duncan a long, long letter waving the red flag on the Oligarchs' idea of using test score gains to make high stakes judgments on teacher hiring and firing. (Look to the top right on this page for the link).

Now another prestigious group of scholars has weighed in, offering another warning message with some increased urgency built in. Here is the list of scholars:

EVA L. BAKER is professor of education at UCLA, co-director of the National Center for Evaluation Standards and Student Testing (CRESST), and co-chaired the committee to revise testing standards of the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education.

PAUL E. BARTON is the former director of the Policy Information Center of the Educational Testing