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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank #WIUnion #TCH11 #p2 #pfla #1u

Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank



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Cheating scandal: A teacher's take | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

2011-Jul-15
Cheating scandal: A teacher's take | Philadelphia Public School NotebookCheating scandal: A teacher's takeby Timothy BoyleThe unfolding story of possible cheating on the 2009 PSSA exam is terrible news. It likely means educators acted unethically. It almost certainly means that the level of trust between the public and schools is even worse than it has been. And it could mean that those who confuse evidence of real learning with standardized test score results will yell even louder about the failings ...
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Diane Ravitch, Champion of Public Education, Leads SOS Teach-in on July 21st

2011-Jul-15
Diane Ravitch, Champion of Public Education, Leads SOS Teach-in on July 21stDiane Ravitch, Champion of Public Education, Leads SOS Teach-in on July 21stby AnthonyCodyJuly 13th, 2011[Translate]Dr. Diane Ravitch has emerged as a true champion of public education over the past few years. She recently used her blog to explain why she has been such an active supporter of the Save Our Schools March:I am marching to protest the status quo of high-stakes testing, attacks on the education profession, and creeping ...
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Sorry kissfan. Senate Bill 7 is still bad news. « Fred Klonsky's blog

2011-Jul-15
Sorry kissfan. Senate Bill 7 is still bad news. « Fred Klonsky's blogSorry kissfan. Senate Bill 7 is still bad news.by Fred KlonskyThere is a good report on the Edelman affair by David Singiser at Daily Kos.In the comment section, an anonymous poster with the handle “kissfan” writes:I urge you all to read the statement issued jointly by the IEA, IFT and the CTU (pdf). Don’t rely solely on the “Fred Klonsky Blog.” Fred is a disgruntled IEA member intent ...
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Ed “reformers” throw Edelman overboard. « Fred Klonsky's blog

2011-Jul-14
Ed “reformers” throw Edelman overboard. « Fred Klonsky's blogEd “reformers” throw Edelman overboard.by Fred KlonskyEd Sector, a leading voice for education “reformers” have tossed Stand for Children’s Jonah Edelman overboard.Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down.Many self-styled reformers are now mortified by Edelman. Despite his self-renunciation, it is the first version of his comments that activist teachers and their advocates are seizing on as accurate. They seem to confirm their worst fears that all reform policies and legislation focused ...
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Douglas County district's plan for "school" puts it further into uncharted charter territory - The Denver Post

2011-Jul-14
Douglas County district's plan for "school" puts it further into uncharted charter territory - The Denver PostDouglas County district's plan for "school" puts it further into uncharted charter territoryBy Karen AugeThe Denver PostPOSTED: 07/14/2011 01:00:00 AM MDTUPDATED: 07/14/2011 01:03:50 AM MDTRELATED ARTICLESJul 6:Taxpayer group asks court to stop Douglas County voucher program before it startsJun 29:Douglas County parents sue to keep new school voucher programJun 28:National group enters Douglas County voucher fightJun 23:Group of parents also files suit over Douglas ...
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Michelle Rhee says push to do away with public schools is wrong | jacksonville.com

2011-Jul-13
Michelle Rhee says push to do away with public schools is wrong | jacksonville.comMichelle Rhee says push to do away with public schools is wrongSubmitted by Mary Kelli Palka on July 13, 2011 - 5:25pmEduJaxResponding to a comment made to a New Jersey newspaper that public schools should go away, former Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said that's not so. She said public schools are here to stay, but will be stronger with reforms.Rhee, CEO of StudentsFirst, blogged in ...
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To Improve Schools, Fight Poverty, Education Expert, Stephen Krashen, Says

2011-Jul-13
To Improve Schools, Fight Poverty, Education Expert SaysTo Improve Schools, Fight Poverty, Education Expert SaysContact: Chris Gosier(646) 312-8267gosier@fordham.edu Stephen Krashen, Ph.D.Photo by Bruce GilbertIn a July 7 lecture at Fordham, an education expert disputed the notion of "our failing schools" and said the real problem facing American schoolchildren is poverty."There's nothing wrong, seriously wrong, with our schools. There is no crisis," said Stephen Krashen, Ph.D., professor emeritus of learning and instruction at the University of Southern California. "The crisis is ...
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Did Edelman really get the IEA to do what it didn’t already want to do? Let’s look. « Fred Klonsky's blog

2011-Jul-13
Did Edelman really get the IEA to do what it didn’t already want to do? Let’s look. « Fred Klonsky's blogDid Edelman really get the IEA to do what it didn’t already want to do? Let’s look.by Fred KlonskyYou might say that, in spite of Jonah Edelman’s bragging about how he manipulated the state’s union leadership, it was they who used him.In fact, everybody in this story seems to have used, or were thinking they were using somebody else. Madigan, ...
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Mercury News editorial: Board of education should approve parent trigger regulations - San Jose Mercury News

2011-Jul-13
Mercury News editorial: Board of education should approve parent trigger regulations - San Jose Mercury NewsMercury News editorial: Board of education should approve parent trigger regulationsMercury News EditorialPosted: 07/12/2011 08:00:00 PM PDTThe contentious debate over California's parent trigger law is finally nearing an end that ought to satisfy most everyone -- if the state board of education, at its meeting Wednesday in Sacramento, can muster the six votes needed to approve draft regulations to implement the law.Passed in January 2010, ...
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What a revolting development this is - NorthJersey.com

2011-Jul-13
What a revolting development this is - NorthJersey.comWhat a revolting development this isWEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011By NANCY RUBENSTEINCOLUMNISTPRINT | E-MAILIt's pretty clear why Jamie Oliver - British chef promoting healthful foods in school lunches (the force behind TV's Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution) - has been banned from filming in a Los Angeles school.The food advertising world, like L.A. school officials, seem to believe that kids automatically reject eating what's good for them. We see the anti-Jamie-theory effect in TV commercials ...
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Moving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowd - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2011-Jul-13
Moving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowd - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostMoving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowdby Valerie Strauss--This was written by Barnett Berry, founder and president of the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc., based in Hillsborough, N.C., which seeks to improve student achievement by advancing teaching as a 21st-century, results-oriented profession.Read full article
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Rhee had notice of highly-touted Principal Ryan and his suspicious high erasures before she promoted him

2011-Jul-13
Rhee had notice of highly-touted Principal Ryan and his suspicious high erasures before she promoted himRhee had notice of highly-touted Principal Ryan and his suspicious high erasures before she promoted himby adminMichelle Rhee held Principal Wayne Ryan up as the gold standard for “radical education reform.” Her recruitment ads aimed at principals asked “Can you build a school that works from the ground up? Wayne Ryan did. Are you the next Wayne Ryan?” (see the ad here)But even as she ...
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Publicopoly Exposed -- In These Times

2011-Jul-12
Publicopoly Exposed -- In These TimesThis article is permanently archived at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/main/article/11603/Publicopoly ExposedHow ALEC, the Koch brothers and their corporate allies plan to privatize government.By Beau HodaiJuly 11, 2011On February 25, 2011, Florida State Representative Chris Dorworth (R-Lake Mary) introduced HB 1021. The bill sought to curtail the political power of unions by prohibiting public employers from deducting any amount from an employee's pay for use by an employee organization (i.e., union dues) or for any political activity (i.e., the ...
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Utterly feckless, lethargic D.C. cheating probe exposed, WaPost

2011-Jul-12
Utterly feckless, lethargic D.C. cheating probe exposed, WaPostUtterly feckless, lethargic D.C. cheating probe exposed, WaPostby adminWritten by Jay Mathews for the Washington Post. Read the entire article here. Also read the comment on US DOE Arne Duncan’s statement that appears to clear DCPS in advance.“Turque exposed the utter fecklessness and lethargy of the D.C. investigation of unusual numbers of wrong-to-right erasures on answer sheets for the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System tests. He compared what D.C. has been doing to what ...
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NYC Educator: Gee Mister, Can I Have My Ball Back?

2011-Jul-12
NYC Educator: Gee Mister, Can I Have My Ball Back?Gee Mister, Can I Have My Ball Back?by NYC EducatorYou hear the most remarkable things about the "Children First" crowd. For the last few days the blogosphere has be abuzz with news of Jonah Edelman's smarmy boasts about how he tricked unions into making ridiculous deals. Edelman simply forgot to mention those dear children he cared about so much. Sure.Now Keith Olberman tweets about uber-"reformer" Joel Klein stealing a foul ball ...
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This Week In Education: Cheating: Is NAEP Next?

2011-Jul-12
This Week In Education: Cheating: Is NAEP Next?Cheating: Is NAEP Next?by Alexander RussoIncreasingly, NAEP scores are being used by big-city district leaders like former ATL head Beverly Hall as a defense against cheating allegations or other forms of gaming the accountability system. Former NYC head Joel Klein and former DC head Michelle Rhee have also used the scores as a key statistic supporting their impact. The increasingly public use of NAEP scores raises the question whether "juking" NAEP is next.In ...
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Jonah Edelman on outfoxing teachers’ unions: Transcribed remarks « Parents Across America

2011-Jul-12
Jonah Edelman on outfoxing teachers’ unions: Transcribed remarks « Parents Across AmericaJonah Edelman on outfoxing teachers’ unions: Transcribed remarksby CarolineSFJonah Edelman, son of revered children’s advocate Marian Wright Edelman, leads the organization Stand for Children, which began as a grassroots children’s advocacy organization in Portland, OR, but has evolved into a billionaire-funded operation moving into other states to support corporate education reform. Edelman spoke on a panel at the recent Aspen Ideas Festival (June 27-July 3, 2011) about how Stand ...