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Sunday, December 4, 2011

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


Engaging Parents In School… - A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement — 2011

Engaging Parents In School… - A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement — 2011:A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement — 2011from Engaging Parents In School... by Larry FerlazzoSince I have published so many “The Best…” lists, I thought it might be helpful to readers if I posted a few year-end collections.Here is A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement — 2011:The Best Ideas On How Parents Ca

Occupy Empire | Dissident Voice #ows

Occupy Empire | Dissident Voice:Occupy Empireby William BlumWhen the Vietnam War became history, and the protest signs and the bullhorns were put away, so too was the serious side of most protestors’ alienation and hostility toward the government. They returned, with minimal resistance, to the restless pursuit of success, and the belief that the choice facing the world was either “capitalist democracy” or “communist dictatorship.” The war had been an aberration, was the implicit verdict, a blemish on an otherwise ... more »

School Lunches and the Food Industry - NYTimes.com

School Lunches and the Food Industry - NYTimes.com:How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s LunchHeather Ainsworth for The New York TimesStudents at Gates Chili Middle School last month in Rochester. Forty percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.By LUCY KOMISARPublished: December 3, 2011RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTSINGLE PAGEREPRINTSSHAREAn increasingly cozy alliance between companies that manufacture processed foods and companies that serve the meals is making students — a captive market — fat and sick while pulling in hundreds of millions of ... more »

All Education Matters: Seriously Subversive: Why We Desperately Need a Debtors' Strike

All Education Matters: Seriously Subversive: Why We Desperately Need a Debtors' Strike:Seriously Subversive: Why We Desperately Need a Debtors' Strikeby Cryn JohannsenThis piece was published over at Hypervocal.com on November 22nd, and discusses the Occupy Student Loan Debt Campaign as well as my call for a debtors' strike.Here's a snippet:As a political activist for the indentured educated class, I frequently send out updates to congressional leaders, colleagues, fellow activists/authors, and friends. Last night I wrote something that has received a ... more »

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Letter to the Board about a Superintendent Search

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Letter to the Board about a Superintendent Search:Letter to the Board about a Superintendent Searchby Melissa WestbrookDear Directors,Not to be premature but it seems the vibe I am getting is that there will not be a superintendent search.I think Sue Peters did a great job in laying out issues about Superintendent Enfield. I am especially troubled by Dr. Enfield's rapid turnover at jobs as well as the silence from the last district where she was ... more »

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Los Angeles Teachers Please Welcome Little Evan Stone Of Educators4Excellence

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Los Angeles Teachers Please Welcome Little Evan Stone Of Educators4Excellence:Los Angeles Teachers Please Welcome Little Evan Stone Of Educators4Excellenceby noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)Hey Los Angeles teachers! Since Educators4Excellence has now slimed its way into the workings of the Los Angeles public schools, we here at SBSB feel it is time to learn more about your new overseers. Today we will learn more about E4E co-founder and co- executive officer Little Evan Stone.Evan offers a fascinating biography on his ... more »

EAG’s Kyle Olson exposes kindergarten teacher’s use of “Click Clack Moo. Cows that Type,” to indoctrinate students. « Fred Klonsky

EAG’s Kyle Olson exposes kindergarten teacher’s use of “Click Clack Moo. Cows that Type,” to indoctrinate students. « Fred Klonsky:EAG’s Kyle Olson exposes kindergarten teacher’s use of “Click Clack Moo. Cows that Type,” to indoctrinate students.by Fred KlonskyBack a few years, religious con-man Pat Robertson accused Sponge Bob Square Pants of being Gay.Of course, who knows? Maybe Bob is Gay. I don’t care.The latest right-wing loony accusation is delivered Kyle Olson of the Michigan-based grouplet, the Education Action Group.Olson parades ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Christie Criticizes Pro-Voucher Rally (Unless He's a Hypocrite)

Jersey Jazzman: Christie Criticizes Pro-Voucher Rally (Unless He's a Hypocrite):Christie Criticizes Pro-Voucher Rally (Unless He's a Hypocrite)by DukeThis past week, pro-voucher forces in New Jersey bussed kids in from local Catholic schools to rally in support of a school voucher bill. Chris Christie condemned that rally; he thinks it is wrong to take kids out of school for a protest:"The schools did a lousy job in really permitting all these students to walk out in the middle of the school ... more »

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

If by Rudyard KiplingBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-2 minutes agoIf by Rudyard Kipling:If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you;If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too:If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;If you can ...more »

Modern School: UTLA Gives Away Collectively Bargained Rights

Modern School: UTLA Gives Away Collectively Bargained Rights:UTLA Gives Away Collectively Bargained Rightsby Michael DunnHuck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsLos Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials and United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) have reached a tentative agreement that would increase the ability of LAUSD schools and their teachers to disregard collectively bargained rights and job protections. The agreement forces both LAUSD and UTLA to give up considerable authority to teachers and administrators at individual schools, according to the Los Angeles Times, including ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Rochester Leads the Way

Jersey Jazzman: Rochester Leads the Way:Rochester Leads the Wayby DukeOh dear; Eli Broad isn't going to like this:Can everyone understand now why the corporate reformers are pumping large wads of cash into school board elections? Why Jonah Edelman, money funnel to the obscenely wealthy, got himself involved in the Denver School Board race, which set records for campaign spending? Why the dictatorial Michael Bloomberg - who apparently now thinks of himself as a sort of stoned generalissimo - appoints corporatists ... more »

Rick Scott’s Week of Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies and Picking the Pockets of Public Education | Scathing Purple Musings

Rick Scott’s Week of Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies and Picking the Pockets of Public Education | Scathing Purple Musings:Rick Scott’s Week of Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies and Picking the Pockets of Public Educationby Bob SikesFlorida’s Department of Education has a blog. Even Commissioner Gerard Robinson posts occasionally in the curiously named Finding Common Ground. My colleagues in public education probably find my use of “curiously” to be a bit lacking. Perhaps “disingenuous” would be better. Especially if the time frame ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Hubris Of the Incompetent

Jersey Jazzman: Hubris Of the Incompetent:Hubris Of the Incompetentby DukeLet's leave aside Jersey for a sec and mix things up a bit.Down in Tennessee, the ruling elite have been waging a war on teachers, funded in large part by disgraced junk bond king Michael Milken. As regular visiter to this site "jcg" has pointed out in comments, the evaluation tool Tennessee uses assumes a standard distribution of scores; if the actual scores don't fit, they game the system to make ...more »

Daily Kos: Respect for teachers - Yes and No

Daily Kos: Respect for teachers - Yes and No:Respect for teachers - Yes and Noby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)is the title of this widely distributed blog post by Joe Nathan, Director of the Center for School Change at Macalaster College in St. Paul, MN. He begins by writingI was stunned. There were more than 36 million responses to a Google search for the phrase “teachers get no respect.” At the same time, a respected national poll shows widespread respect for teachers. And ... more »

If by Rudyard Kipling

If by Rudyard Kipling:If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you;If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too:If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;If you can think---and not make ... more »

Illinois charters lack transparency | catalyst-chicago.org

Illinois charters lack transparency | catalyst-chicago.org:Illinois charters lack transparencyIn Massachusetts, the public can easily find financial information forcharters, including how much money they bring in, where that moneycomes from—including private sources—and how much the schools spend onteacher salaries and other expenses. In Illinois, it is nearly impossible to get a good read on similarfinancial information from charters. Doing so, however, could helpdirect policy, serve as a guide for future charter schools and giveauthorizers specific information about which charter ... more »

Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task? | The Classroom Sooth

Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task? | The Classroom Sooth:Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task?by classroomsoothI teach law, and I try very hard to get my students to form solid arguments, often finding this challenging and frustrating. ”Why can’t they clearly articulate what I know they know?” or “why on earth would they use that piece of evidence when it doesn’t really coincide with what the ...more »

Programs Tying Federal Money to Policy Outcomes May Be at Risk - NYTimes.com

Programs Tying Federal Money to Policy Outcomes May Be at Risk - NYTimes.com:Programs That Tie Funds to Effectiveness Are at RiskNicole Bengiveno/The New York TimesThe Obama administration has expanded the home-visiting program created by the Bush administration.By ANNIE LOWREYPublished: December 2, 2011RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREWASHINGTON — Policy experts and academics consider home-visiting programs — where nurses counsel teenage mothers and other at-risk parents — to be among the most effective social interventions. The programs slash the incidence of negle... more »

Horrid Truths and Beautiful Lies: American Dis-Education « Cooperative Catalyst

Horrid Truths and Beautiful Lies: American Dis-Education « Cooperative Catalyst:Horrid Truths and Beautiful Lies: American Dis-Educationby Jabreel ChisleyThe American education system has become complacent with its failures, its atrocities, and its inadequacies. It’s become complacent with the system of hindrance and destruction that murders the potential that so many children who are hungry for equitable education posses. These atrocities and failures of gross amplitude are so habitually seen as acceptable and are often deemed as successes on the systems part ... more »

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

Schools Matter: Rsponding to the EconomistBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-6 hours agoSchools Matter: Rsponding to the Economist:Rsponding to the Economistby skrashenThe importance of quality libraries: What the research saysSent to The Economist, Dec 2“Checked out” (Dec 3) asks us not to “underestimate the symbolic role libraries play as a visible public good.” Libraries play much more than a symbolic role.Study after study has shown that reading achievement is higher when children have access to better school and public ... more »