Sunday, October 10, 2010
Race to the Top Reauthorization Bill � DFER Watch
Race to the Top Reauthorization Bill � DFER Watch
Race to the Top Reauthorization Bill
The Race to the Top reauthorization bill (HR 6244) introduced by CO Rep. Jared Polis is now available on Thomas.gov. Here’s a link to the xml copy. Joe Lieberman introduced the Senate version.
NYC Public School Parents: DOE hiring for highly confidential post of Portfolio Data Analyst
NYC Public School Parents: DOE hiring for highly confidential post of Portfolio Data Analyst
The most interesting aspect of this just-postedDOE job description is the extreme emphasis on confidentiality:
DOE hiring for highly confidential post of Portfolio Data Analyst
The most interesting aspect of this just-postedDOE job description is the extreme emphasis on confidentiality:The Portfolio Data Analyst will be privy to confidential information, as either part of the regular assignment or on a project basis, and will participate in decisions related to the development and implementation of Portfolio Planning policies, plans and initiatives. This work includes suc
Queens Teacher: Education Communication day ~ Oct. 29, 2010
Queens Teacher: Education Communication day ~ Oct. 29, 2010
Education Communication day ~ Oct. 29, 2010
Popout
Make a mission to contact your elected officials and let them hear you are NOT happy with the direction our public schools are headed in.
Make a mission to contact your elected officials and let them hear you are NOT happy with the direction our public schools are headed in.
Civil rights groups to hold 'black Boston' forum - Boston.com
Civil rights groups to hold 'black Boston' forum - Boston.com
Civil rights groups to hold 'black Boston' forum
October 10, 2010
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BOSTON—A coalition of civil rights groups has scheduled a forum on African Americans in Boston.
The "State of Black Boston" will be held Tuesday at United Way of Mass Bay in Boston. Organizers say the event will be aimed at discussing the causes of racial inequality and disparity in the city of Boston and how to tackle different solutions.
Among those taking part are Darnell Williams, president & chief executive of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and James Jennings, professor of
Slow math? | School Zone | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Slow math? | School Zone | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Slow math?
JENNIFER S. ALTMAN/The New York Times Students work with numbers in Kerri Gega's fourth grade class, which she teaches using Singapore math, at the Quaker Ridge School in Scarsdale, N.Y. Singapore math, an increasingly popular approach to teaching mathematics, emphasizes visual aids and a slow pace, with kindergartners spending a week on the numbers 1 and 2. |
The New York Times has an interesting article about a new math curriculum making its way to the United States. It's called "Singapore math" or "slow math." By introducing topics slowly and covering them deeply, Singapore has managed to produce consistently top-scoring students.
The pace is so slow, the article says, that teachers spending days teaching children about the number 1. (Here's a little more about the curriculum from the company that makes U.S.
Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (2003)
US soul singer Solomon Burke, who wrote the classic song Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, has died at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport aged 70
NYC Public School Parents: Arianna Huffington Sells Out on American Education
NYC Public School Parents: Arianna Huffington Sells Out on American Education
Click on Huffington Post these days, and you are immediately inundated by the presence of Arianna Huffington. Watch Arianna on MSNBC's "Hardball" or "Countdown"! See Arianna on "Meet the Press" or CNN! Laugh as Arianna makes a (very teeny) funny on "Real Time with Bill Maher"! Read about Arianna's new book! See how Arianna sums up the previous week's news! Who cares about politics or the news when there's Arianna and her opinions to read or watch? It's wall-to-wall, 24/7, all-Arianna-all-the-time, in a self-promotional onslaught that would make Donald Trump blush.
Never one to let her principles, such as they might be (a former rabid conservative, she was an active supporter of Newt Gingrich and a strident caller for Bill Clinton's impeachment until she noticed the talking heads vacuum on the left), stand in the way of self-promotion and making a buck, Arianna has apparently taken the pulse of the current education debate. Seeing where the money and the
Arianna Huffington Sells Out on American Education
Click on Huffington Post these days, and you are immediately inundated by the presence of Arianna Huffington. Watch Arianna on MSNBC's "Hardball" or "Countdown"! See Arianna on "Meet the Press" or CNN! Laugh as Arianna makes a (very teeny) funny on "Real Time with Bill Maher"! Read about Arianna's new book! See how Arianna sums up the previous week's news! Who cares about politics or the news when there's Arianna and her opinions to read or watch? It's wall-to-wall, 24/7, all-Arianna-all-the-time, in a self-promotional onslaught that would make Donald Trump blush.Never one to let her principles, such as they might be (a former rabid conservative, she was an active supporter of Newt Gingrich and a strident caller for Bill Clinton's impeachment until she noticed the talking heads vacuum on the left), stand in the way of self-promotion and making a buck, Arianna has apparently taken the pulse of the current education debate. Seeing where the money and the
The Education Optimists: Misleading Manifesto
The Education Optimists: Misleading Manifesto
I'm sorry, but the "manifesto" published in today's Washington Post really pisses me off because it is built upon a false premise. It is authored by a number of urban school superintendents, including Chicago's Ron Huberman, New York City's Joel Klein, Washington DC's Michelle Rhee, and New Orleans' Paul Vallas. And it -- intentionally? -- misstates educational research.
Now, listen here. I work for a teacher-focused, non-profit organization, the New Teacher Center (NTC). Wouldn't it be powerful to go out and say that teachers matter more than ANYTHING else? But they don't. In terms of school-based variables, they do. But in terms of all variables that impact students, they simply do not. No research says that. In our messaging at the NTC, we are always careful to say that teacher quality is the most important school-based variable for student achievement (examples here and here (on page 4)). That's accurate, honest and powerful in its own right.
So why not make the case for improving teaching in a honest fashion? There is an incredibly strong case to make that improving teaching quality is a critically important and policy amenable part of the solution to increasing student achievement and closing achievement gaps for disadvantaged students. But it's only part of the answer which
Misleading Manifesto
I'm sorry, but the "manifesto" published in today's Washington Post really pisses me off because it is built upon a false premise. It is authored by a number of urban school superintendents, including Chicago's Ron Huberman, New York City's Joel Klein, Washington DC's Michelle Rhee, and New Orleans' Paul Vallas. And it -- intentionally? -- misstates educational research."[T]he single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is not the color of their skin or their ZIP code or even their parents' income -- it is the quality of their teacher."No. That is patently false.
Now, listen here. I work for a teacher-focused, non-profit organization, the New Teacher Center (NTC). Wouldn't it be powerful to go out and say that teachers matter more than ANYTHING else? But they don't. In terms of school-based variables, they do. But in terms of all variables that impact students, they simply do not. No research says that. In our messaging at the NTC, we are always careful to say that teacher quality is the most important school-based variable for student achievement (examples here and here (on page 4)). That's accurate, honest and powerful in its own right.
So why not make the case for improving teaching in a honest fashion? There is an incredibly strong case to make that improving teaching quality is a critically important and policy amenable part of the solution to increasing student achievement and closing achievement gaps for disadvantaged students. But it's only part of the answer which
The potential curse of money deferred | Thoughts on Public Education
The potential curse of money deferred | Thoughts on Public Education
The potential curse of money deferred
The potential curse of money deferred Districts will feel pressure to spend what may soon vanish
October 8, 2010
Even in suspending Proposition 98, after hemming and hawing all night long, for only the second time, the Legislature approved Prop 98 spending of $1.2 billion more than Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed in May. And
Yes, we now have a budget!
Yes, we now have a budget! Governor gets pension reform as part of the deal
October 8, 2010
The deed is done. At 8:26 am, the State Senate passed the last bills connected with the budget and went home. The $87.5 billion budget is headed to Gov. Schwarzenegger for his signature later today. It happened two hours after the Assembly finished its work and only after Republican Sen. Jeff Denham changed sides to vote to suspend Prop. 98, and Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth crossed over on another part of the […]
What the LA Seniority Settlement Does and Doesn’t Do � The Quick and the Ed
What the LA Seniority Settlement Does and Doesn’t Do � The Quick and the Ed
What the LA Seniority Settlement Does and Doesn’t Do
There has been much concern that somehow the proposed LA Seniority Settlement is eliminating seniority. Lets be clear here – this settlement does not eliminate seniority either at the protected school sites or in the district. This settlement simply means that some schools would be protected from experiencing the mass layoff when budget cuts are required. These schools will not even be protected from cuts. When the district has a cut, say 5 percent of staff in the district, this settlement will mean that only 5 percent of teachers at a protected site can be cut. And, those teachers would be selected based on seniority. What will this mean for other schools at the district? It will mean that more senior teachers will be laid off in the wealthier parts of the district, but isn’t that fair? And how will those layoff decisions be
Sunday links. � Fred Klonsky's blog
Sunday links. � Fred Klonsky's blog
Sunday links.
Logan Square. 10.10.10
“Die-in.” Friday rush hour. Grand Central Station, New York. Homophobia kills.
When LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was first running for the California Assembly he was a wuzza. “I wuzza a labor union organizer. I wuzza union guy.” Blah. Blah. Now when it’s politically expedient and he wants to drive a stake into the heart of teacher union seniority rules to get rid of higher paid teachers, it’s another story.
If this is the Democratic Party strategy for winning, stamp the “L” on their foreheads now.
The Wall.
Argentina.
Get Congress Out of the Classroom - New York Times
Get Congress Out of the Classroom - New York Times
Get Congress Out of the Classroom
DESPITE the rosy claims of the Bush administration, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 is fundamentally flawed. The latest national tests, released last week, show that academic gains since 2003 have been modest, less even than those posted in the years before the law was put in place. In eighth-grade reading, there have been no gains at all since 1998.
The main goal of the law — that all children in the United States will be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 — is simply unattainable. The primary strategy — to test all children in those subjects in grades three through eight every year — has unleashed an unhealthy obsession with standardized testing that has reduced the time available for teaching other important subjects.
What Teachers Make Final Moviebk2 0001
Taylor Mali's inspirational poem cleaned up a bit (aka censored) for a teacher's inservice audience.
Widespread problems reported at Newark's Barringer High School | NJ.com
Widespread problems reported at Newark's Barringer High School | NJ.com
A file photo of students protesting outside Newark's Barringer High School during a health scare. This year, the problem is a deteriorating building and a lack of leadership, parents and school officials contend.
Widespread problems reported at Newark's Barringer High School
Published: Sunday, October 10, 2010, 11:30 AM Updated: Sunday, October 10, 2010, 11:57 AM
A file photo of students protesting outside Newark's Barringer High School during a health scare. This year, the problem is a deteriorating building and a lack of leadership, parents and school officials contend.One month into the school year, Newark’s Barringer High School is in a state of chaos due to scheduling fiascoes, deteriorating building conditions and a lack of leadership, according to parents and a former school leader.
Interviews with parents, school officials, school advisory board members and former Principal Jose Aviles describe a breakdown that is leaving students vulnerable to violence and depriving them of a basic education.
On Thursday, about 50 students expressed their dissatisfaction with the conditions by staging a staggered walkout stretching over several hours.
The Record: Schundler talks - NorthJersey.com
The Record: Schundler talks - NorthJersey.com
The Record: Schundler talks
THE RECORD
THERE IS a two-front war being fought by Governor Christie and the New Jersey Education Association, the 200,000-member-strong teachers union that has long held the title of the state’s most formidable lobby. On one front: politics. On the other: policy.
We have supported the governor’s political goal of knocking the wind out of the deep-pockets NJEA. It is in step with a national agenda to improve education and question some of the assumptions that the NJEA holds dear, such as the benefit of tenure and the difficulty of holding teacher performance up to standard measure. A year ago in New Jersey, it would have been difficult to discuss these issues publicly, since anyone doing so would risk the union’s ire.
But we remain critical of the governor’s battle strategy. He has tarred and
Etan Thomas: Waiting for "Superman": It's Time to Act
Etan Thomas: Waiting for "Superman": It's Time to Act
We are a nation at war, and if we lose this war, our nation is in grave danger. But we're not talking about the war in Afghanistan, we're talking about the war going on here in our country, the war of education. In the new documentary Waiting for "Superman" we get an up close look at the battleground through the eyes of 5 young kids, who along with their parents, are in a battle to find a school that can offer them a quality education. At first glance, most people would assume that these kids are nothing like them, but the opposite is true. These kids represent you, me, and every kid and parent who is in search of hope and opportunity to make their lives better. That is what America is built on, its what people have sacrificed and died for throughout our history as a nation, the opportunity to reach the elusive "America Dream." Throughout this film