Zinn Education Project – ‘One Long Struggle for Justice’: An Interview with Historian Howard Zinn

Zinn Education Project – ‘One Long Struggle for Justice’: An Interview with Historian Howard Zinn

‘One Long Struggle for Justice’: An Interview with Historian Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn offering keynote at 2008 NCSS Conference in Houston, TX. Photo by Steve Puppe.

In early January of 2010, the Zinn Education Project joined with HarperCollins, publisher of Howard Zinn’s classic A People’s History of the United States, to sponsor an “Ask Howard” online radio interview, and invited teachers from around the country to participate. Sixty teachers and students submitted written questions to Professor Zinn. The Jan. 19 interview was conducted by Rethinking Schools Curriculum Editor Bill Bigelow.Here are excerpts from that interview, edited for length and clarity. The full audio version can be accessed at Authors on Air.

Bill Bigelow: Howard, thank you for agreeing to answer teachers’ questions about teaching a people’s history.

Howard Zinn: How could I refuse?

Bigelow: With the horrific events of the last week, I’d like to begin with Haiti. Randall Robinson, the founder of TransAfrica Forum, was on Democracy Now! recently, and he said that now

The Four Negotiables of Student Centered Learning - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

The Four Negotiables of Student Centered Learning - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

The Four Negotiables of Student Centered Learning

I spent most of last week guiding teachers on classroom walkthroughs. (Here's links to my protocol and some recent participant responses.) It's an effective approach to professional development - one that focuses on the students, not the teacher. Think of it as a roving Socratic seminar that provokes reflections on teaching and learning.

One of the subjects that often comes up during walk throughs is how to recognize a student-centered approach. I tell participants to watch the students and try to decide

Remainders: Snow day? Snaux day? Check at 5 a.m. | GothamSchools

Remainders: Snow day? Snaux day? Check at 5 a.m. | GothamSchools

Remainders: Snow day? Snaux day? Check at 5 a.m.

by Anna Phillips

• The wind is howling and more snow is on its way. Check at 5 a.m. for news of an off-day!
• Miss the State of the Union? Here’s a round-up of Obama’s ed remarks. (Early Ed Watch)
• Michelle Rhee, Diane Ravitch et al. grade the SOTU speech on its education angle. (NYT)
• Rachael Brown calls the speech a “victory lap” with little news. (The Atlantic)
• The Denver school mentioned in the SOTU isn’t as great as the president let on. (NPR)
• IBO report: The schools slated for closure have the most challenging students. (GS, NYT)
• The Alliance for Quality Education put out a video about edu inequality in New York. (Ed Vox)
• Rick Hess: Obama’s education comments were cliched, but not in a bad way. (EdWeek)
• A federal report sees hope for a “golden age” in science education. (Hechinger)
• Bill Gates says the hardest part of the MET study has been finding the right districts. (EdWeek)

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Apps just got smarter: introducing the Apps Marketplace’s new EDU category

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Apps just got smarter: introducing the Apps Marketplace’s new EDU category

Google Apps just got smarter: introducing the Apps Marketplace’s new EDU category

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 9:00 AM

The education technology space has seen an explosion of new offerings in the past few years. What has been missing is a centralized platform for schools and universities to easily evaluate and utilize web apps. Today we are excited to launch an education category in the Google Apps Marketplace designed specifically to help schools and universities easily discover and deploy new web applications that integrate with their existing Google Apps accounts.

The new education category includes over 20 applications from 19 vendors ranging from learning management systems (LMS) to student tools and teaching aids – all of which integrate with Google Apps for Education. Each app can be accessed through single sign-on and the Google universal navigation bar and many offer deeper integrations that synchronize with Google Calendar and Documents.

This new education category will make it easier for schools to have more web apps at their fingertips, including popular existing apps such as Aviary, Grockit, and LearnBoost as well as the new apps launching today.



Learning Management
Now faculty can bring their classroom management to the cloud with apps such as:

• Haiku: an LMS that allows teachers to create media-rich class websites, give and auto-grade assessments, annotate assignments and interact online with students.

Modern School: School Paid $6,000 to Private Eye to Spy on Black Mom

Modern School: School Paid $6,000 to Private Eye to Spy on Black Mom

School Paid $6,000 to Private Eye to Spy on Black Mom

by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Dunn)

Today I received a reply to my post, “Black Mom Jailed for Sending Kids to White School,” arguing that Kelly Williams-Bolar was in jail for refusing to admit guilt. This is not entirely true. Three others were found guilty of a similar offense and were offered the chance to pay the “tuition” they “stole” from the Copley Township School District. They chose to pay and did not have to go to jail. Had Williams-Bolar paid the $30,000, she too might have been off the hook.

It was not so much an issue of admitting guilt as one of extortion. After all, the courts do not generally allow

My Latest Post on The Future of Teaching 2030 — The Jose Vilson

My Latest Post on The Future of Teaching 2030 — The Jose Vilson

My Latest Post on The Future of Teaching 2030

by Jose

Excerpt:

Before policymakers and other key stakeholders can make decisions surrounding educational accountability, they would do well to focus their full attentions on the idea of trust. It’s the characteristic most lacking in every discussion about the word accountability in education, and with good reason. The present economic situation has many afraid that, like most industries, education departments will find ways to cut teaching jobs in the name of efficiency. They become dissonant when leaders will continue to cite faulty research about class size and success. They’re

Revelation of ROTC Classes on Stanford Campus Puts Debate in New Light - The Bay Citizen

Revelation of ROTC Classes on Stanford Campus Puts Debate in New Light - The Bay Citizen

Revelation of ROTC Classes on Stanford Campus Puts Debate in New Light

As the university considers reintroducing the military program, few were aware that classes have been offered for more than a decade

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By RYAN MAC on January 26, 2011 - 4:05 p.m. PST

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Courtesy of Jimmy Ruck

Students participate in an ROTC training exercise

When the Faculty Senate at Stanford University began to examine the possible return of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps to campus last year, the discussion was assumed to be purely hypothetical. Phased out from campus in 1973 amid anti-war sentiment, ROTC was thought to be a strictly off-campus option for Stanford students who still wanted to participate in the program.

Recent developments, however, reveal that the university reintroduced not-for-credit ROTC classes back to campus more than a decade ago, unbeknownst to most faculty and students. The classes, part of Santa Clara

Ebert recants his review of “Waiting for Superman.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

Ebert recants his review of “Waiting for Superman.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

Ebert recants his review of “Waiting for Superman.”

by Fred Klonsky

Who doesn’t like Roger Ebert?

First of all, he’s a local Chicago guy. I once took a class of his at the University of Chicago extension on silent movies.

He almost made it interesting.

In my book, his advocacy of small films, indie films, off-beat films and progressive politics places him along side

Lessons from School Closings « EdVox

Lessons from School Closings « EdVox

Lessons from School Closings

by edvoxny

by Jaritza Geigel

My name is Jaritza Geigel and I am a youth leader at Make the Road New York and a graduate of the Bushwick School for Social Justice.

Our community experienced the phase out of Bushwick High School Campus almost seven years ago and know directly the impact closing its doors had on students, teachers and community members. While the new small schools graduate a much higher percent of students, they serve less than half of the number of students that were on the original rolls. Nearby high schools felt the painful impact of receiving overflow in schools already struggling with the issue of overcrowding. Our community was making demands from the beginning about the removal of so many seats and were promised by the DOE they would be replaced. Seven years later we have not seen an increase in seats in Bushwick. District 32 has an average of 1,330 students enrolled in each grade level, but only 713 available ninth-grade seats.

Additionally, we found out with little advance warning that Bushwick High School was on the list slated for closure, allowing little time to inform the community. There were no community meetings with the DOE. There

Afternoon Udate: New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools 1-26-11 Get Involved- Read Education News

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

Get Involved- Read Education News

Parents 4 democratic Schools

• Jay Mathews: American Federation of Teachers Announces Innovation Fund – washingtonpost.com
• Common Application Won’t Add Questions on Sexual Orientation – NYTimes.com
• What Motivates Us – Not Merit Pay
• Boehner hopes to revive DC school voucher program – Boston.com
• “Voki For Education” Launches Today | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…
• Wednesday churn: Easley recall approved | EdNewsColorado
• This Week In Education: Washington: The Kids Are The Salmon
• Joe Mirabella: Just Say No to ROTC On College Campuses
• HechingerEd Blog | Obama pushes education investment in State of the Union speech; Calls Race to the Top ‘most meaningful reform’ in a generation
• Quick Hits (1.26.2011)
• Education Research Report: Food-Allergic Children May Feel Unsafe in Schools
• Georgetown Students Battle With D.C. Residents over University’s Future | Education | Change.org
• How to choose a school for your child – CNN.com
• Expected National Merger of Student Affairs Organizations Facing Opposition From Within
• Ramsey school board OKs exploration of privatizing custodial services – NorthJersey.com
• Alan Singer: New York Times Promotes Latest Educational ‘Gimmick of the Month’
• Abortion is for women…? « Being Latino Online Magazine
• This Week In Education: Movies: The School “Superman” Left On The Cutting Room Floor
• State of the Union: Education Excerpts – ED.gov Blog
• Magnets and money | School Zone | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
• Parents Across America launches in NYC on Feb. 7 with kick-off event featuring Diane Ravitch | Seattle Education 2010
• Duncan, Key Senators Sing Off Same Page on ESEA Renewal – Politics K-12 – Education Week
• ASCD Inservice: Impressions of Finnish Schools – A Week to Learn
• The Answer Sheet – How a single test can change a child’s life –a must-see video from Rhode Island
• Reporting for Real Life | Connected Principals

Too much drama-Rahma. Big bucks continue to flow. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Too much drama-Rahma. Big bucks continue to flow. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Too much drama-Rahma. Big bucks continue to flow.

by Fred Klonsky

You’ve already read about the $12 million that “Too-much-Drama-Rahma” had raised prior to the January one deadline that places limits on political contributions.

And you’ve read about who gave them those millions. These were not the folks he shakes hands with at the Brown Line stations. The millions came from a handful of members of Chicago’s elite like the Crowns, Pritzkers and Zells.

Not surprisingly, these are the same money bags that are funding the anti-union, teacher bashing Oregon-based

House Education Subcommittee Leader Foxx Calls for Cutting Federal Role in U.S. Higher Education

House Education Subcommittee Leader Foxx Calls for Cutting Federal Role in U.S. Higher Education

House Education Subcommittee Leader Foxx Calls for Cutting Federal Role in U.S. Higher Education

by Joyce Jones , January 26, 2011

Categories:

• Liberal Arts /
• Employment /

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) is the new chairwoman of the House Education and Labor’s subcommittee on higher education.

In advance of last night’s State of the Union address by President Obama, federal officials, including the incoming chair of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness, aired ideological differences over issues that are likely to be at the heart of major policy struggles during the new Congress. Discussion on for-profit schools, the controversial gainful employment regulation, college financial aid funding, and the evolving role of government in higher education emerged as top issues Tuesday morning at the 2011 annual conference of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The council is an association that represents more than 3,000 postsecondary institutions and helps set policies for the 60 accrediting organizations recognized by the council, including