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Monday, December 5, 2011

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


Great Schools for Amerca — Great Teachers ##edreform

Great Schools for Amerca — Great Teachers:EdwatchEducation Watch is an evolving database constructed to illuminate the connections between wealthy individuals, the proliferation of newly formed tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, and the policy that diverts public money to these private ventures. Nearly all of these organizations were formed or co-opted within the past decade. If you know of an organization to add to Education Watch, please e-mail us atedwatch@greatschoolsforamerica.org. We'll check it out.Under the provisions of No Child Left Behind and through ... more »

Homeland Security Teacher Rating System Threat Advisory | Dailycensored.com

Homeland Security Teacher Rating System Threat Advisory | Dailycensored.com:Homeland Security Teacher Rating System Threat AdvisoryWritten by susanoDaily Journal (Opinion), Education, Media, PoliticsDec 5, 20110digg4SharePrint[1], using a #2 pencil. Submit copies to: U. S. Department of Education Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation National Governors Association Center for Best Practices Editorial Department New York Times ALECName: Last _______________First _______________Middle ____________Alias _______________Sex:MFOtherNot LatelyHomeland Security Teacher Rating System Threat Advis... more »

ASCD Inservice: What Does a Whole Child Education Look Like?

ASCD Inservice: What Does a Whole Child Education Look Like?:What Does a Whole Child Education Look Like?A whole child education is something that everyone agrees about in principle but few can articulate in detail. What exactly does it mean to say students should be "healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged?"ASCD Express is looking for short, 600 to 1,000-word essays on the theme "What Does a Whole Child Education Look Like?"We welcome articles that illustrate the elements of a whole child ... more »

Molly Munger’s challenge | California Progress Report

Molly Munger’s challenge | California Progress Report:Molly Munger’s challengeby meganBy Peter SchragYou have to hand it to Molly Munger – for courage, maybe, or maybe just for Quixotic dedication.Munger, a Los Angeles civil rights lawyer and former federal prosecutor, has devoted much of her career, and part of her considerable fortune, to expanding early childhood education and to equity for poor and minority children in our desperately underfunded schools.Last week she formally —and audaciously -- launched a campaign to raise ... more »

An Inconvenient Truth About Teacher Quality « The Core Knowledge Blog

An Inconvenient Truth About Teacher Quality « The Core Knowledge Blog:An Inconvenient Truth About Teacher Qualityby Robert PondiscioDecember 5th, 2011Tags: assessment, Assessment and Testing, Curriculum, Dan Willingham, David Grissmer, math, NAEP, reading, standards, teacher qualityPosted in Assessment and Testing, Curriculum, Education Practice, Literacy, Teaching,accountability | No Comments »If teacher quality is the most important factor in student outcomes, then why are math scores rising, while reading scores stay flat? Do we just happen to have really good math teachers and ... more »

Teachers For Social Justice: Call to Action: Fight CPS School Closings!

Teachers For Social Justice: Call to Action: Fight CPS School Closings!:Call to Action: Fight CPS School Closings!by Teachers For Social JusticeFor more information on school closings, go to ctunet.com/closings.To get involved, contact teachersforjustice@hotmail.com.

Killer apps and creative disruptions | Thoughts on Public Education

Killer apps and creative disruptions | Thoughts on Public Education:Killer apps and creative disruptions - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guessby John Fensterwald - Educated GuessYou’d have thought Salman Khan was George Clooney. After his keynote presentation and follow-up seminar at the California School Boards Association’s annual convention in San Diego on Friday, school trustees besieged him with question and requests. A few sought his autograph, others mugged for a photo with him. Eventually, the event moderator gently reminded them, ... more »

Should Portfolios Replace Placement Tests? - Education - GOOD

Should Portfolios Replace Placement Tests? - Education - GOOD:Should Portfolios Replace Placement Tests?by Liz DwyerHow do we know if a student is ready for high school algebra—or college-level English or math? Most K-12 schools and universities rely on placement tests, high-stakes standardized exams, to decide. And, if you don’t do well on that single test, you’re out of luck.At the college level, one third of students—even those who earned A’s and B’s in high school—have to take remedial courses that ... more »

When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:When an adult took standardized tests forced on kidsby Valerie StraussThis was written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.By Marion BradyA longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading testsfor 10th graders, ... more »

Why School Choice Fails - NYTimes.com

Why School Choice Fails - NYTimes.com:Why School Choice FailsBy NATALIE HOPKINSONPublished: December 4, 2011RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREWashingtonRelatedTimes Topic: EducationIF you want to see the direction that education reform is taking the country, pay a visit to my leafy, majority-black neighborhood in Washington. While we have lived in the same house since our 11-year-old son was born, he’s been assigned to three different elementary schools as one after the other has been shuttered. Now it’s time for middle school, and there’s been no neighborhood ... more »

CPS Closings Spark Outcry - Chicago News Cooperative

CPS Closings Spark Outcry - Chicago News Cooperative:CPS Closings Spark Outcryby REBECCA VEVEAMayor Rahm Emanuel’s education team made its first attempt at improving struggling schools last week, and the negative reviews came quickly. State legislators and community leaders called the proposed closing or restructuring of 21 schools “very troubling” and said administrators were violating the intent of a new state law.Chicago Public Schools designated 10 schools for turnaround — a controversial process in which existing staff members are fired and ... more »

All Education Matters: Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicide

All Education Matters: Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicide:Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicideby Cryn JohannsenI've written about and have been researching the relationship between student loan debt and suicide for well over a year. A fellow activist sent me this clip that dramatizes the crisis in a powerful way. Sadly, I heard from a mother recently who told me that her son killed himself in part because of the debt he owed. (More on that later). In ... more »

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - Pepper spray safe? We still don't know #ows

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - Pepper spray safe? We still don't know:PEPPER SPRAY SAFE? WE STILL DON'T KNOWSUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2011 AT 11:56AMThis article originally appeared at The Sacramento Bee on December 4, 2011.The pepper-spraying of 11 peaceful protesters at the University of California, Davis, provides an opportunity to reopen questions long ignored. Is oleoresin capsicum, the key ingredient of pepper spray, known to be safe? And if so, why have the authorities never performed the health risk assessments ... more »

Fatherhood In Patterns | The Jose Vilson

Fatherhood In Patterns | The Jose Vilson:Fatherhood In Patternsby JoseThere’s only two ways to really look at every decision you make as a father: either you’ll do it just like you’re father or nothing like him. That goes for everything in life, because the any choice in life we make is binary. With all the exposure I have to children via my godson, nephews, and my own students, I’ve gotten a good grasp of the ins and outs of what ... more »

The Turnaround Timeline Simplified | The Classroom Sooth

The Turnaround Timeline Simplified | The Classroom Sooth:The Turnaround Timeline Simplifiedby classroomsoothIn Chicago, and nationally, if schools don’t “work” we close them down or turn them around. If we take a look at why they do not “work” however, we see a pattern of strategic decision-making:1) Chronically under-resource a school.2) Declare it a “failure” after when you have a couple years of test-score results.3) Throw it away and tell the students and educators to go elsewhere.4) Re-open the building as ... more »

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN:Top Content this WeekTop Content Rank1A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4vAdded by Thomas Whitby on November 22, 20112Learning Styles Don't ExistAdded by Thomas Whitby on April 11, 20103Finland - An Inconvenient TruthAdded by andy mellor on December 3, 20114TED Talk: Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kidsAdded by Thomas Whitby on November 23, 20115No One Writes Alone: Peer Review in the Classroom, A Guide For StudentsAdded by Thomas Whitby ... more »

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

School Tech Connect: The Week in BooksBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-15 minutes agoSchool Tech Connect: The Week in Books:The Week in Booksby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)This week's haul from the Rogers Park branch library. My tech thought for the week is this: if your kids aren't reading a lot of books, on their e-readers or tablets or whatever, it doesn't matter what else you're doing: something has gone horribly awry.Here are my micro-reviews from last week. Each Litte Bird That ... more »

The best way to fight corporate education reform: New Triple Strength Prozac for Teachers | Dailycensored.com

The best way to fight corporate education reform: New Triple Strength Prozac for Teachers | Dailycensored.com:The best way to fight corporate education reform: New Triple Strength Prozac for Teachersby Danny WeilWith education boiled down to illiteracy, teachers are finding that what was once a profession is now serfdom. The pharaceutical corporations that brought you ‘boner pills’, anti-depressants and other research marvels, now have a new market to target for their ‘suicide drugs’: the disenfranchised teacher. Take a look at the ... more »