Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #ows #edreform


Shared Governance Is Awesome, But It Wouldn’t Have Saved Penn State « Student Activism

Shared Governance Is Awesome, But It Wouldn’t Have Saved Penn State « Student Activism:Shared Governance Is Awesome, But It Wouldn’t Have Saved Penn Stateby Angus JohnstonMichael Bérubé, an incisive observer of the American campus scene, observes the Penn State scandal from an extraordinary perspective. Berube is not just a Penn State scholar, he holds a professorship endowed by Joe Paterno. He has discussed Moby Dick with JoePa, and disability issues with Paterno’s wife — a longtime supporter of the Special ... more »

Robert Reich (Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest...) #ows

Robert Reich (Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest...):Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest question right...PopoutStop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest question right now on Planet Washington is whether the congressional supercommittee will reach an agreement. That’s the wrong question. Agreement or not, Washington is on the road to making budget cuts that will slow

Momsrising: Momsrising

Momsrising: Momsrising:Expanding Access to Care for Young Adults Through the Right Outreach and Enrollment StrategiesBrian Burrell at MomsRising Blog - 3 minutes agoThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) marked a historic expansion of access to health care for many people, and the federal and state exchanges will be a large part of that reform. Ideally, low- and middle-income consumers will buy insurance with subsidies through online health benefit exchanges, where they can compare the price, quality, and benefits [...]SC Medicaid Director ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the Church

Missouri Education Watchdog: MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the Church:MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the ChurchEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookTalk about being late to the party. The MO Chamber of Commerce announced it's 2012 legisltive agenda. With an overall focus on the worker they have also announced the need to focus on education,“We can pass business friendly ... more »

“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gap | EdSource Extra!

“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gap | EdSource Extra!:“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gapNovember 17th, 2011 | 5 CommentsBy Louis Freedberg ~ EdSource ExtraPhoto by Jennifer KiernanIn a dramatic illustration of the impact of income inequality on how children do in school, the achievement gap between children from high and low income families is far higher than the achievement gap between black and white students, a pathbreaking research report from Stanford University has shown.The report by ... more »

All Things Education: In Defense of Flipping the Classroom & the Lecture

All Things Education: In Defense of Flipping the Classroom the Lecture:In Defense of Flipping the Classroom the Lectureby Rachel LevyThere's been a lot lately about "flipping the classroom," a teaching method where students are to view a lecture at home --ostensibly on-line--of their teacher presenting key concepts while saving doing harder and trickier homework-type assignments for in class. This idea appeals to me and I've been somewhat surprised that so many other education peeps out there whom I follow don't ... more »

Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choice

Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choice:Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choiceby Marian Wright EdelmanAristotle got it right when he said, “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” Once upon a time America professed to believe in a strong public education system—at least for some children. And we still talk about public education as the great equalizer and ... more »

Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries

Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries:Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other CountriesFirst Posted: 11/18/11 12:33 PM ET Updated: 11/18/11 01:24 PM ETIntuitively, a child's academic performance is likely higher if he or she has highly educated parents, and lower if the child has less educated parents. A new report confirms that's true, but reveals that American children of poorly educated parents do a lot worse than their ...more »

Don’t believe the education “reformers” - Salon.com

Don’t believe the education “reformers” - Salon.com:Don’t believe the education “reformers”Public schools are better than we think and efforts to quantify teacher performance are typically destructiveBY GENE LYONS (Credit: iStockphoto/RonTech2000)TOPICS:EDUCATIONThree mildly heretical thoughts about American education: First, given the impossible assignment we’ve given them—an egalitarian mission in a nation rapidly growing more stratified by income and class—American public schools are probably doing a better job than they ought to be. One big reason is greater professionalism amon... more »

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:We Aren't the Only Ones Concerned About MovementNovember 18th, 2011 by Sean SladeInterestingly, yesterday ASCD SmartBrief came out with the results of an Ed Pulse survey on which school health issue is of primary concern for schools and districts. The results showed physical activity and movement during the school day as a key concern among ASCD SmartBrief readers, second to bullying and other safety concerns. Just over 20 percent of respondents listed physical ... more »

Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use. « Fred Klonsky #OWS

Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use. « Fred Klonsky:Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use.by Fred KlonskyInstead of some right-wing anti-union cult like Kyle Olson’s Education Actin Group using the Freedom of Information Act to go through an elementary teacher’s emails and personnel file (that would be me), David Lane, a well-known civil rights attorney in Denver ... more »

This Week In Education: Update: What Reformers & Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Street #OWS

This Week In Education: Update: What Reformers Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Street:Update: What Reformers Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Streetby Alexander RussoIt seems like no one can resist making comparisons between what's going on at Occupy Wall Street and what's going on in education reform. And you can't blame them. Some of school reform's most well known names -- Mike Bloomberg, Whitney Tilson, Boykin Curry, Bill Gates, Eli Broad -- are quite literally members of ... more »

License to Experiment on Low Income & Minority Children? « School Finance 101

License to Experiment on Low Income Minority Children? « School Finance 101:License to Experiment on Low Income Minority Children?by schoolfinance101John Mooney at NJ Spotlight provided a reasonable overview of the NJDOE waiver proposal to “reward” successful schools and sanction and/or takeover “failing” ones.The NJDOE waiver proposal includes explanation of a new classification system for identifying which schools should be subject to state intervention, ultimately to be managed by regional offices throughout the state. This new targeted intervention system classifies districts ... more »

Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter school | GothamSchools

Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter school | GothamSchools:Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter schoolby Geoff Decker, at 10:43 amOne of the city’s oldest and highest-performing charter schools is being evicted by an unlikely landlord: the community organization that founded it.Harbor Science and Arts Charter School, which opened in 2000, will have to find a new space in coming years after Boys Girls Harbor, a 74-year old nonprofit that serves East Harlem youth, told the school’s board that ... more »

Opinion | Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the test | Seattle Times Newspaper

Opinion | Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the test | Seattle Times Newspaper:Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the testEducation historian Diane Ravitch has amassed a devoted following, and impressive book sales, with searing polemics about the horrors of education reform. Wade beneath the rhetoric and Ravitch is still a reformer at heart.By Lynne K. VarnerSeattle Times editorial columnistEducation historian Diane Ravitch has amassed a devoted following, and impressive book sales, with searing polemics about billionaires privatizing public schools ... more »

State Education Reforms (SER) - Welcome to the Website on State Education Reforms

State Education Reforms (SER) - Welcome to the Website on State Education Reforms:Welcome to the Website on State Education ReformsThis site, which draws primarily on data collected by organizations other than NCES, compiles and disseminates data on state-level elementary and secondary education reform efforts in the five areas indicated below.School finance is also an important area of educational reform. A few tables on this topic are included in the Accountability section. Additional state-level information on school finance is available in ... more »

Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation » The Commercial Appeal

Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation » The Commercial Appeal:Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulationBy Jane RobertsPosted November 18, 2011 at midnightCyberschools, the fastest-growing alternative to K-12 public education, are almost totally unregulated and in immediate need of oversight, according to research from the University of Colorado.More than 30 percent of the nation's 16 million high school students have taken at least one online class -- Memphis City ... more »

We are the 99%. | Seattle Education #OWS

We are the 99%. | Seattle Education:We are the 99%.by seattleducation2011If you are unemployed, underemployed or concerned about being next in line to lose your job, if you have given up on finding a job, if you are the sole provider in your family because your partner/spouse lost their job, if your children don’t have enough teachers, resources, materials in their schools and the PTA or parents have to pitch in financially just so that your children can have what ... more »

Last Day To Get Your Stuff Back | OccupyWallSt.org #OWS

Last Day To Get Your Stuff Back | OccupyWallSt.org:Last Day To Get Your Stuff Backby OccupyWallStIf you were present when the NYPD attacked Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) in the middle of the night to raze our encampment and destroy our homes, today is the last day the city is willing to return the personal possessions they stole.Date/TimeDate(s) - 18 Nov 20118:00 AM - 4:00 PMLocationManhattan District 7 Garage (Map)650 West 56th St.Manhattan, NYTips From The Screen Printing GuildNYC Sanitation facility ... more »

Tweed serves as “#Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protest | GothamSchools #ows

Tweed serves as “Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protest | GothamSchools:Tweed serves as “Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protestby Geoff DeckerPopoutIt’s been two months since anti-inequality protesters first settled in at Zuccotti Park in a movement that became known as “Occupy Wall Street.” To commemorate education’s unique role in the activism, protesters chose the Department of Education’s headquarters, Tweed Courthouse, as a meeting point for a much larger rally taking place tonight in Lower Manhattan.Just as ... more »