Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank #OCCUPYTOGETHER #ows #OCCUPYWALLSTREET #sosmarch #p2 #1u

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

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"Tests" for Kindergarteners? - Dana Goldstein

2011-Nov-4

"Tests" for Kindergarteners? - Dana Goldstein:"Tests" for Kindergarteners?I'll be in Mexico from Sunday through Wednesday, so this will be my last post until late next week. In the meantime, check out my new piece at Slate, which examines the best and not-so-great practices in "kindergarten readiness assessment"--yes, the so-called kindergarten "tests" the Obama administration is asking states to develop, and which have dusted up some controversy. Read it!

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Occupy Oakland Meets Their Goals | Seattle Education #OWS

2011-Nov-4

Occupy Oakland Meets Their Goals | Seattle Education:Occupy Oakland Meets Their Goalsby seattleducation2011Occupy Oakland demonstrators stand atop a railroad scaffold at the Port of Oakland on Wednesday.I am going to start with an e-mail that my daughter sent me about her experiences during the General Strike in Oakland.The day was wonderful, but the cops came in force at midnight; check out what I posted on your

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Some High-Performing Florida Charter Schools “Run by or Connected” to Legislators | Scathing Purple Musings

2011-Nov-3

Some High-Performing Florida Charter Schools “Run by or Connected” to Legislators | Scathing Purple Musings:Some High-Performing Florida Charter Schools “Run by or Connected” to Legislatorsby Bob SikesFrom Jeffrey Solochek at GRADEBOOK:Keeping with new state law, the Florida Department of Education has blessed 104 charter schools as “high performing” this year. The appellation grants these schools added powers, making it even more difficult for local school boards to govern them. (See Pasco County’s recent deliberations over a Charter Schools USA application.)The ...

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Schools Matter: Save Diversity in Wake County Schools: Vote on Tuesday

2011-Nov-3

Schools Matter: Save Diversity in Wake County Schools: Vote on Tuesday:Save Diversity in Wake County Schools: Vote on Tuesdayby Jim HornFrom NPR:Not long ago, I posted on the challenge North Carolina represents for President Obama who won the state in 2008 and badly needs it in his column again.I mentioned a New Yorker piece by Jane Mayer on Art Pope, the conservative North Carolina businessman who has reshaped his state's politics more towards his GOP leanings by bankrolling a number ...

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In Which I Cite My Sources in an Attempt to Deflate the Hot Air from the Teacher Quality Debate - Dana Goldstein

2011-Nov-3

In Which I Cite My Sources in an Attempt to Deflate the Hot Air from the Teacher Quality Debate - Dana Goldstein:In Which I Cite My Sources in an Attempt to Deflate the Hot Air from the Teacher Quality Debateby Dana GoldsteinThere is so much hot air in education reform, and it's extremely frustrating when one's arguments and supporting research are misconstrued. RiShawn Biddle writes the following:A penchant among far too many education writers who embrace the Poverty Myth of ...

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John Thompson: Why Can't School "Reformers" Listen to Education Experts?

2011-Nov-3

John Thompson: Why Can't School "Reformers" Listen to Education Experts?:John ThompsonAward-winning Historian, Lobbyist and Guerilla-gardener, and Inner City TeacherGET UPDATES FROM JOHN THOMPSON Like131Why Can't School "Reformers" Listen to Education Experts?Posted: 11/3/11 02:09 PM ETThis week's debate between Eric Hanushek and Diane Ravitch, exemplifies the tendency of true believers in data-driven policies to refuse to communicate with educators. Hanushek became so preoccupied with name-calling that he forgot that advocates of risky policy gambles have just as much of a burden ...

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Because I'm Worth It? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

2011-Nov-3

Because I'm Worth It? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:Because I'm Worth It?by Nancy FlanaganI worked for two years at a non-profit whose mission centered on improving teaching. The first and most important thing I learned there was that nobody--not the most supportive policy wonk, not the most effusive public education proponent--understands the sheer hard work and complexity of teaching, unless they've chosen classroom teaching as a long-term career.About a month after I started at the ...

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NYC Public School Parents: Eva Occupies #OWS

2011-Nov-2

NYC Public School Parents: Eva Occupies OWS:Eva Occupies OWSby Gary BabadNovember 2, 2011 (GBN News): NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg believes he has found a sure-fire way of evicting those nettlesome Occupy Wall Street protesters, GBN News has learned. According to City Hall sources, the Mayor will employ the same methods he uses in the public schools, and will dislodge the protesters by siting a charter school in Zuccotti Park.The Mayor is said to have had no trouble bringing the ...

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Boston's "Golden Era" 1995-2005 | The Forum for Education and Democracy

2011-Nov-2

Boston's "Golden Era" 1995-2005 | The Forum for Education and Democracy:Boston's "Golden Era" 1995-2005November 2, 2011 - Larry MyattIn the context of big-city school systems, beset as they are by the challenges of budget, leadership stability, struggling families, political in-fighting, union-management disaccord and the legacy of racism and poverty, Boston experienced what one might call a decade of unique opportunity and favorable circumstances. From 1995-2005 the city was home to a ground-breaking union contract, the schools had the support and ...

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Schools Matter: Hundreds of Oakland Teachers Support General Strike in Oakland Today #OWS

2011-Nov-2

Schools Matter: Hundreds of Oakland Teachers Support General Strike in Oakland Today:Hundreds of Oakland Teachers Support General Strike in Oakland Todayby Jim HornTeachers are joining the rest of the 99%ers who are demanding a return to democracy in the U. S. From the AP:The Associated PressPosted: 11/02/2011 11:31:21 AM PDTUpdated: 11/02/2011 11:31:23 AM PDTOAKLAND, Calif.—Oakland school officials say about 360 teachers didn't show up for work, as thousands of people joined anti-Wall Street protests throughout the city. Oakland Unified School ...

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School Tech Connect: From the Vault: Jonathan Kozol

2011-Nov-2

School Tech Connect: From the Vault: Jonathan Kozol:From the Vault: Jonathan Kozolby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)PopoutIt's more of a soundtrack with pictures than a video--- but his speech was so great that day, I just started thinking about it again this morning. Prior to Diane Ravitch's Death and Life of the Great American School System, Kozol's Letters to a Young Teacher was the finest book on public education that I'd read in years. At

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Teacher evaluation systems getting nutty - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2011-Nov-2

Teacher evaluation systems getting nutty - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Teacher evaluation systems getting nuttyby Valerie StraussHow’s this for nutty? A teacher who has a chance encounter with a parent at a grocery store and chats about school can earn credit toward a financial bonus.That is the way it is in the Challis School District in Idaho, a state where nearly 30 school systems have adopted teacher evaluation systems that include as one measure how well teachers get ...

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Schools Matter: Tennessee's Milken Plan for Teacher Evaluation Ready to Collapse

2011-Nov-2

Schools Matter: Tennessee's Milken Plan for Teacher Evaluation Ready to Collapse:Tennessee's Milken Plan for Teacher Evaluation Ready to Collapseby Jim HornWhat does a corporate attorney with hundreds of millions of dirty money do when "banned for life from working in the securities industry?" These days he stops gambling in Wall Street casinos and puts his money on a sure thing: taxpayer dollars.And so goes the story (told by James Stewart) of Lowell Milken, whose more infamous business partner/brother, Michael, took ...

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Eduwonk » Blog Archive » Ignoring Red Herrings

2011-Nov-2

Eduwonk » Blog Archive » Ignoring Red Herrings:Ignoring Red HerringsEd Note – This week Eric Hanushek and Diane Ravitch are discussing whether removing the lowest-performing teachers is a good idea. Hanushek started the debate on Monday and Ravitch responded yesterday. Here’s Hanushek’s response below. Ravitch will finish the conversation with a post tomorrow.By Eric HanushekDiane comes back to a simple prescription: We should pursue business as usual with a few extensions of current policy. Unfortunately that is not serving us ...

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Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strike - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog #ows

2011-Nov-2

Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strike - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strikeTuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 3:57 pm in OEANo CommentsI’ll be blogging about the general strike for the Tribune tomorrow, and I’d love to hear how the day is shaping up for staff and families in the city’s schools. If you think of it, send me an email

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Engaging Parents In School… - The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement

2011-Nov-2

Engaging Parents In School… - The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement:The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagementby Larry FerlazzoThere are lots of ideas out there about effective parent engagement/involvement. Here are a few resources that provide useful overviews of the field. You might also be interested in seeing all my parent engagement-related “The Best” lists here.Here are my choices for The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement:Involvement or Engagement? is the title of my lead article in an issue of ASCD Education ...

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Ravitch: A place where public education is working - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2011-Nov-1

Ravitch: A place where public education is working - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Ravitch: A place where public education is workingBy Valerie StraussThis was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great ...

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“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELL « Teachers Fight Back

2011-Nov-1

“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELL « Teachers Fight Back:“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELLby alkleenMonths after Illinois officials closed a loophole used to keep academically weak 11th-graders from taking state exams, high school scores plummeted to the lowest level in a decade. Why did those nasty state officials close that loophole ? Didn’t they realize that “academically weak students” don’t test well ? The various high school administrators certainly knew that.I wonder who the “academically weak students” were ? ...

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NYC Public School Parents: Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty & the diagnosis bizarre

2011-Nov-1

NYC Public School Parents: Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty the diagnosis bizarre:Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty the diagnosis bizarreby Leonie HaimsonWe have had nine long years during which NY state and city education officials have relentlessly focused on high stakes testing, with school closings, grade retention, and teacher bonuses all linked to test scores. So according to data released today, what has been the

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Are teachers paid too much? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2011-Nov-1

Are teachers paid too much? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Are teachers paid too much?by Valerie StraussI never thought I’d do this, but I’m going to call Michelle Rhee, superstar school reformer who can’t do enough to diminish the role of teachers unions, as an expert witness on the subject of teachers.Yet another report has been published purporting to tell us something new about the world of education. This one, called “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers,” makes ...

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Schools Matter: Vander Ark getting cranky regarding negative NEPC report

2011-Nov-1

Schools Matter: Vander Ark getting cranky regarding negative NEPC report:Vander Ark getting cranky regarding negative NEPC reportby Robert D. Skeels * rdsatheneThe true path to higher test scores is reading. — Dr. Stephen KrashenLook up the word charlatan in any lexicon and it would be of no surprise if it features a photograph of Tom Vander Ark as the accompanying illustration. The former Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation executive has been a major player in the corporate education reform onslaught ...

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The lies the one percenters tell about teacher pensions. « Fred Klonsky's blog

2011-Oct-31

The lies the one percenters tell about teacher pensions. « Fred Klonsky's blog:The lies the one percenters tell about teacher pensions.by Fred KlonskyLast week the media gave some space to a report from the Illinois Policy Institute, a right-wing corporate think tank, that claimed that 48 percent of teachers in the state have their pension contributions paid for by their local board.The only people in the state of Illinois who have met their commitment to the state’s pension fund are ...

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Imagine schools' real estate deals fuel company growth

2011-Oct-31

Imagine schools' real estate deals fuel company growth:Imagine schools' real estate deals fuel company growthShare|StoryDiscussionImage (2)BY ELISA CROUCH • ecrouch@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8119 | Posted: Sunday, October 30, 2011 9:00 am | (9) CommentsFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizeShare76Students arrive for school at Imagine Academy for success Friday Oct. 21, 2011. Parents rave about the approach of Imagine schools in the St. Louis area despite their low performance compared to St. Louis Public Schools; which could hasten their closure. Photo by Christian ...

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Big Education Ape: 10-31-11 AM Why I did TFA, and why you shouldn’t EDition #OWS #CNN

2011-Oct-31

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:Published by Coopmike48 – 5 news spotters todayNext update in about 11 hoursSee all articlesHEADLINESEDUCATIONSOCIETYSTORIESPOLITICSWORLDART ENTERTAINMENT#OWS#CNNCapitol Confidential » Cuomo Compares Sticking Up For Rich People To Battling The Death Penaltyblog.timesunion.com - Posted on October 17, 2011 at 5:48 pm by New York Observer in Governor Andrew Cuomo (Getty)For New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, standing up for his richest constituents is a matter of life and death...leoniehaimsonWhy I did TFA, and why you shouldn’tgaryrubinstein.teachforus.org - There ...

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Antitrust: The New Monopoly Frontier – Education and The Legacy of Bill Gates « Living Behind the Gates

2011-Oct-31

Antitrust: The New Monopoly Frontier – Education and The Legacy of Bill Gates « Living Behind the Gates:Antitrust: The New Monopoly Frontier – Education and The Legacy of Bill GatesBy livingbehindthegatesIn a 2001 film loosely based on the life of mega-mogul Bill Gates, “Antitrust” packs a punch against the very idea of a “MONOPOLY”. I can’t help but think about Steve Job’s recent death and do a little comparison of personality traits between rival tycoons Gates and Jobs; how one ...

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Schools Matter: Tata Pushing Rejected Right Wing Agenda #ows

2011-Oct-30

Schools Matter: Tata Pushing Rejected Right Wing Agenda:Tata Pushing Rejected Right Wing Agendaby Jim HornWhen the Resegregationist Gang of Five chose Michelle Rhee's COO, Gen. Tony Tata, as superintendent of Wake County Schools, they could have have chosen a more loyal general to carry out the orders of the social antiquarians, John Birchers, and efficiency zealots who would like to return to an era of single gender schooling and class and racial segregation. Nothing, it seems, can stand in the ...