Saturday, August 20, 2011

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



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


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Henderson: Gray ‘exceeded expectations’ - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post

2011-Aug-19
Henderson: Gray ‘exceeded expectations’ - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington PostHenderson: Gray ‘exceeded expectations’by Bill TurqueThe words “Mayor Vincent C. Gray” and “exceeded expectations” haven’t spent much quality time in the same paragraph lately, but they did Friday, when DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson said fears that he would abandon Michelle Rhee’s agenda have proven unfounded. On WAMU’s “Politics Hour” Friday, Henderson sounded like her predecessor rhapsodizing about Adrian Fenty.“Mayor Gray has been absolutely phenomenal. ... His commitment to school ...
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Racial gap in DC pass rates unchanged despite Rhee's rheeforms

2011-Aug-19
Racial gap in DC pass rates unchanged despite Rhee's rheeforms Racial gap in DC pass rates unchanged despite Rhee's rheeforms Written by Guy Brandenburg for GFBrandenburg’s blog. Read the entire article here. *“On the whole, it is clear that the enormous gap in ‘pass’ rates in both math and reading between white students and black students has essentially not changed a ... For-profit charter buses employees to Rhee rally, despite claiming inadequate funding Written by Dave Weber for the Orlando ...
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Five People I Wish Would Write A Damn Book Already | The Jose Vilson

2011-Aug-19
Five People I Wish Would Write A Damn Book Already | The Jose VilsonFive People I Wish Would Write A Damn Book Alreadyby JoseBefore I begin, I’d like to dedicate this space to one of my first students ever, Bianca Espinal. She’s part of a program called “Broadway’s Next Star” and I would love it if you visited the site, watch her perform “Rolling In The Deep,” and hit “Like!” Because I’m positive you’ll love that voice of hers.In the ...
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Like BART protests, Internal Documents Reveal UC Has Spied on Student Fee Hike Demonstrations | California Progress Report #UCDavis

2011-Aug-19
Like BART protests, Internal Documents Reveal UC Has Spied on Student Fee Hike Demonstrations | California Progress ReportLike BART protests, Internal Documents Reveal UC Has Spied on Student Fee Hike Demonstrationsby meganBy Eric LeeDAVIS, Ca. – BART actions to inhibit free speech activity isn't new to University of California students who earlier this year uncovered internal documents showing officials has conspired to monitor and control constitutionally-protected fee hike protests at UC Davis. High-ranking University of California, Davis administrators including Chancellor ...
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All Education Matters: Student Loan Debtors Band Together To Support Suicidal Woman

2011-Aug-19
All Education Matters: Student Loan Debtors Band Together To Support Suicidal WomanStudent Loan Debtors Band Together To Support Suicidal Womanby C. Cryn JohannsenI asked people to offer their support to a young woman who recently said, if she doesn't find a job by Valentine's day, she will commit suicide. She is, like so many of my readers, over $100,000 in debt, and at this point cannot see a future. She's not alone. Millions of educated, student debtors feel that their ...
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NYC Public School Parents: Karen Sprowal talks about class size at last night's PEP and Verizon vote followed by audience yelling "Shame!"

2011-Aug-19
NYC Public School Parents: Karen Sprowal talks about class size at last night's PEP and Verizon vote followed by audience yelling "Shame!"Karen Sprowal talks about class size at last night's PEP and Verizon vote followed by audience yelling "Shame!"by Leonie Haimson Karen Sprowal,whose son, Matthew, was kicked out of Harlem Success charter school in Kindergarten, speaks for Class Size Matters about the devastating school budget cuts and the harsh effect on class size at last night's Panel for Educational Policy ...
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solidaridad: Open Letter to DFER's Gloria Romero regarding her recent reactionary letter to the AFT

2011-Aug-18
solidaridad: Open Letter to DFER's Gloria Romero regarding her recent reactionary letter to the AFTOpen Letter to DFER's Gloria Romero regarding her recent reactionary letter to the AFTby Robert D. Skeels * rdsatheneI think about former Senator Gloria Romero comparing Compton educators to "batterers" and wondered whether the writers of those words ever stop to think about the consequences of their prose. — Martha Infante Photo by Mark Warner (CC BY-SA 2.0)Sen. Romero: Here are some questions I'd like to ...
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Free Schools Revisited: Revolution vs. Transformation « Cooperative Catalyst

2011-Aug-18
Free Schools Revisited: Revolution vs. Transformation « Cooperative CatalystFree Schools Revisited: Revolution vs. Transformationby daretheschool“The public school exists to turn out manageable workers, obedient consumers, manipulable voters, and if need be willing killers” -Jonathan Kozol author of Free SchoolsThe most notable and recent movement for alternative education occurred in 1960’s to the early 1970’s, and was known as the “free school” movement. The free school movement was an effort to build small alternative schools where students participated equally in governance ...
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Leaving Behind "No Child Left Behind": Michele Bachmann and the changing Republican education agenda. - By Dana Goldstein - Slate Magazine

2011-Aug-18
Leaving Behind "No Child Left Behind": Michele Bachmann and the changing Republican education agenda. - By Dana Goldstein - Slate MagazineThe GOP'S New War on SchoolsThe rise of Michele Bachmann reflects a shift in the party's education agenda.By Dana GoldsteinPosted Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011, at 6:04 PM ETMichele Bachmann represents a shift in the GOP agenda on educationMichele Bachmann's victory in the Iowa straw poll Saturday represents many obvious things: the mainstreaming of the Tea Party, the overnight ordinariness of ...
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Why One-Size-Fits-All Could Save Public Education « Cooperative Catalyst

2011-Aug-17
Why One-Size-Fits-All Could Save Public Education « Cooperative CatalystWhy One-Size-Fits-All Could Save Public Educationby johntspencerOne-size-fits-all is vanilla ice cream. It’s plain white athletic socks. It’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb” with a recorder. One-size-fits-all is an assembly line and a Model-T Ford and a straight line of school children marching to their class. It’s industrial. It’s lock-step. It’s mechanistic.And it just might save public education.Sometimes I use one-size-fits-all synonymously with standardization, when, in fact, they are entirely different. One-size-fits-all is ...
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CONFIRMED: Rhee funded by Rupert Murdoch RheeFirst!

2011-Aug-17
RheeFirst! CONFIRMED: Rhee funded by Rupert Murdoch In his new book, Class Warfare, Steven Brill confirms that Michelle Rhee is being funded by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., is currently embroiled in a growing cell phone hacking scandal. Rhee’s mentor, Joel Klein, serves as Murdoch’s ... ''Value-added'' measurements show that Rhee-style 'reform' doesn't work Written by Guy Brandenburg for GFBrandeburg blog. Read the entire post here . “*When you follow a cohort of students through the grades for ...
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ACT Readiness Report for 2011 - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

2011-Aug-17
ACT Readiness Report for 2011 - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Issues Statement on Latest ACT ScoresSACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today issued the following statement after the release by ACT of its annual report The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2011:"While we've made some progress over the last few years, today's ACT report provides more evidence that California has some work to do to make sure every student graduates ...
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Schools Matter: By Any Means Necessary: Stop Sanctioned Child Abuse in Schools

2011-Aug-17
Schools Matter: By Any Means Necessary: Stop Sanctioned Child Abuse in SchoolsBy Any Means Necessary: Stop Sanctioned Child Abuse in Schoolsby Jim HornThe testing hysteria has reached levels in schools that require parents and teachers to take action to protect children from further harm. Teachers, parents, and children should feel justified to take whatever nonviolent actions are necessary to promote healthy learning environments and healthy children and to stop the testing abuse that is destroying the capacity of children to ...
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More Ravitch Versus Brill | Dropout Nation: Coverage of the Reform of American Public Education Edited by RiShawn Biddle

2011-Aug-17
More Ravitch Versus Brill | Dropout Nation: Coverage of the Reform of American Public Education Edited by RiShawn BiddleMore Ravitch Versus Brillby RiShawn BiddleApparently, Diane Ravitch is miffed at Steven Brill for estimating in the new book, Class Warfare, that she earned as much as $200,000 in speaking fees from appearances before the National Education Association and other forums for education traditionalists, Ravitch sicced her lawyers on Brill and his publisher, Simon Shuster,claiming that Brill’s estimate was “defamatory”, “fictitious” and ...
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Pension reform. How to turn a blue state red. « Fred Klonsky's blog

2011-Aug-17
Pension reform. How to turn a blue state red. « Fred Klonsky's blogPension reform. How to turn a blue state red.by Fred KlonskyThere are more than just late summer thunderstorms moving up from Springfield as the school year approaches.Once again, the public service worker pension battle is heading our way. Once again, teachers are being targeted by the Chicago money bags of the Civic Committee and their President, Ty “the shark” Fahner.At the conclusion of the Illinois General Assembly session ...
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All Education Matters: Lovebirds: Sallie Mae and Congresswoman Virginia Foxx

2011-Aug-17
All Education Matters: Lovebirds: Sallie Mae and Congresswoman Virginia FoxxLovebirds: Sallie Mae and Congresswoman Virginia Foxxby C. Cryn JohannsenOh! Isn't this generous of them?!? Sallie Mae and Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) are hosting a workshop on how to pay for college! (Also, don't get the wrong idea about her - she's no shill for the lenders or the banks!) I bet that's going to be a stellar event, and the (mis)information will be grand. On top of all the (mis)information ...
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UseYourTeacherVoice | The Classroom Sooth

2011-Aug-16
UseYourTeacherVoice | The Classroom SoothUseYourTeacherVoiceby classroomsoothYesterday I launched the Use Your Teacher Voice campaign. At this juncture it is solely a YouTube campaign. The goal is to have a viral video campaign of teachers talking into a camera in an effort to reclaim what has been lost: our authority in our vocation.When teachers need the attention of the students; when we claim our authority in the classroom, we use our teacher voice. We all know what it sounds like: it’s ...
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Schools Matter: Gabriella Charter Corporation further encroaches Logan Street Public Elementary School

2011-Aug-16
Schools Matter: Gabriella Charter Corporation further encroaches Logan Street Public Elementary SchoolGabriella Charter Corporation further encroaches Logan Street Public Elementary Schoolby Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene"Colocation is eviction... It doesn't mean sharing, it means displacement." — NY State Sen. Bill Perkins Gabriella Charter School Corporation continues to blatantly disregard the rights of the public school community at Echo Park's Logan Street Elementary School. Not content with having exceeded their allotment of space by several rooms, last week the well heeled ...
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Education achievement gaps still remain amid gains - LA Daily News

2011-Aug-16
Education achievement gaps still remain amid gains - LA Daily NewsEducation achievement gaps still remain amid gainsBy Connie Llanos, Staff WriterPosted: 08/15/2011 09:55:55 PM PDTUpdated: 08/15/2011 09:59:22 PM PDT State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson visits Gita Amona's 10th grade science class at Reseda High School on Monday, Aug. 15, 2011. Torlakson was at the Reseda campus to announce the latest 2011 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer)Although they continue to improve, fewer than half the ...
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Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - How Incentives Can Be Productive (But Not In The Way You Might Think)

2011-Aug-16
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - How Incentives Can Be Productive (But Not In The Way You Might Think) How Incentives Can Be Productive (But Not In The Way You Might Think) I’ve written a whole lot in this blog and in my book about the dangers of contingent (if you do that, you will get this) and how they don’t work for promoting anything that requires higher-order thinking. However, in a new article by Dan Ariely, he ... ...
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CST results need an * | Thoughts on Public Education

2011-Aug-16
CST results need an * | Thoughts on Public EducationCST results need an *ShareFewer special ed students taking CSTsPosted on 8/16/11 • Categorized as Special education, Standardized tests, TestsBy John Fensterwald - Educated GuessSince 2008, increasing numbers of low-performing special education students have been taking a new and easier standardized test rather than the California Standardized Tests. While it’s appropriate for many of them to take the California Modified Assessment, the exclusion of 185,000 special education students this year had ...
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Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)

2011-Aug-14
Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Google Buzz At the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in New Orleans this past week, Jeb Bush's "progressive conservative" organization squashed effective discussion between legislators who wanted to discuss slowing down/stopping implementation of common core standards. Neal McCluskey writes: In this space, we’ve ...
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The Perry-Obama education fight - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2011-Aug-14
The Perry-Obama education fight - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostThe Perry-Obama education fightby Valerie StraussNo U.S. governor has been at public odds with President Obama’s education policies over the past few years more than Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), and it is a safe bet that tensions between Texas and the U.S. Education Department are only going to escalate now that Perry has joined the race for the Republican presidential nomination.Even as other Republicans around the country gave ...
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