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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts 1-18 #edreform #ows


Message from Connecticut: do not expect real funding reform « Parents Across America

Message from Connecticut: do not expect real funding reform « Parents Across America:Message from Connecticut: do not expect real funding reformby leoniehaimsonThe pro-charter organization Conn-Can is expanding nationwide as 50-CAN, including into NY State where it is pushing the Parent Trigger. Wendy Lecker is a public school parent, former president of the Stamford Parent Teacher Council, and was staff attorney at the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, plaintiffs in a school funding lawsuit in New York. She writes below about need ... more »

Capitol Alert: Gov. Jerry Brown to call for less state testing in schools

Capitol Alert: Gov. Jerry Brown to call for less state testing in schools:Gov. Jerry Brown to call for less state testing in schoolsGov. Jerry Brown will call for less statewide testing and expanding classroom focus beyond math and English in his annual State of the State address tomorrow, according to his top education adviser.Sue Burr, executive director of the State Board of Education, told hundreds of school finance officials today that Brown will seek to reduce student testing and push ... more »

Florida is Most Charter School Friendly State but Charter School Lobby Complains About School Board Oversight | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida is Most Charter School Friendly State but Charter School Lobby Complains About School Board Oversight | Scathing Purple Musings:Florida is Most Charter School Friendly State but Charter School Lobby Complains About School Board Oversightby Bob SikesWhat better expert on charter-school friendly legislation can there be than a billionaire-funded national charter school lobby? And, of course, its naturally biased, um, researcher. From StateImpact:Todd Ziebarth is the author of the study. He said Florida can do “a better job in holding ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-17

Public Urged to Observe Korematsu Day - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-8 minutes agoPublic Urged to Observe Korematsu Day - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson UrgesPublic to Observe Fred Korematsu Day SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today encouraged all Californians to observe the annual Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution on Korematsu's birthday, Monday, January 30, 2012."It's critical for Californians to know the ... more »

Can Schools Solve Societal Problems? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Can Schools Solve Societal Problems? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:Can Schools Solve Societal Problems?by obrienaEarlier today a press release for a study in the January 2012 issue of Sociology of Education caught my eye: Study Suggests Junk Food in Schools Doesn’t Cause Weight Gain Among Children.According to the press release (I’m not a subscriber of the journal, so I didn’t have access to the full text of the study), “While the percentage of obese children in ... more »

Modern School: Which Side Are You On—Ruling Elite Turns On Itself

Modern School: Which Side Are You On—Ruling Elite Turns On Itself:Which Side Are You On—Ruling Elite Turns On Itselfby Michael DunnMy Super PAC Can Beat Up Your Super PAC (Image by Mike Licht, NotionCapital.com)Mitt Romney has recently come under fire by his opponents for the Republican presidential nomination for his record at Bain Capital, where he led the restructuring of numerous companies resulting in hundreds of job losses. His rivals have accused him of being a “job killer,” an epithet ... more »

76 Percent of For-Profit College Students Attend Schools that are Wall Street Owned: Drive-by predatory colleges fueled by private and public debt | Dailycensored.com

76 Percent of For-Profit College Students Attend Schools that are Wall Street Owned: Drive-by predatory colleges fueled by private and public debt | Dailycensored.com:76 Percent of For-Profit College Students Attend Schools that are Wall Street Owned: Drive-by predatory colleges fueled by private and public debtWritten by Danny WeilBusiness, EducationJan 17, 20120diggShareDid you now that 76 Percent of For-Profit College Students Attend Schools that are Wall Street Owned? Did you know that 86 Percent of Revenues Come from Federal Taxpayer Dollars? ... more »

Independent Learning is Out – Group Think is In « PWC Education Reform Blog

Independent Learning is Out – Group Think is In « PWC Education Reform Blog:Independent Learning is Out – Group Think is InJanuary 17, 2012 — pwceducationreformOn the lists of “What’s in / What’s out” that I saw at the end of the year, education trends seems to be consistently missing. One trend in particular, group learning, was conspicuously absent.From Susan Cain, author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” in her op-ed The Rise ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Where Do They Find These Guys?

Jersey Jazzman: Where Do They Find These Guys?:Where Do They Find These Guys?by DukeWould it be OK if the people in charge of ensuring the quality of airline pilots had never flown a plane before?Would it be fine if the folks who made sure dentists maintain high standards had never filled a cavity?Would you be happy if you knew your accountant had been licensed by people who didn't know how to balance a checkbook?Well...The man in charge of New Jersey’s ... more »

Public Urged to Observe Korematsu Day - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Public Urged to Observe Korematsu Day - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson UrgesPublic to Observe Fred Korematsu Day SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today encouraged all Californians to observe the annual Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution on Korematsu's birthday, Monday, January 30, 2012."It's critical for Californians to know the story of Fred Korematsu: his fight against racism and wrongful internment and his devotion to righting a great wrong," said ... more »

My Love/Hate Relationship with Educational Numbers | IDEA

My Love/Hate Relationship with Educational Numbers | IDEA:My Love/Hate Relationship with Educational Numbersby Kristan Morrison in democracy.eduA few months back, I wrote about how my college was going through the NCATE accreditation process. The outcome of that long event was a report about how we are doing. One area in which we were “dinged” was in our assessments of our graduate programs. This report finding means that as director of one of our biggest graduate programs, I am now under ... more »

6 Reasons Michelle Rhee is Bad for Students and Schools « educationclearinghouse

6 Reasons Michelle Rhee is Bad for Students and Schools « educationclearinghouse:6 Reasons Michelle Rhee is Bad for Students and SchoolsJanuary 17, 2012 2 VotesAnyone who has read my blog over the past year is well aware of the fact that I am definitely no fan of Michelle Rhee. I feel that she is “climber” – someone who will do anything to advance her own narcissistic goals and ambitions.So, you will not be surprised when I came across the below ... more »

Parent Involvement is Smart. Don’t Turn it Into Something Stupid - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Parent Involvement is Smart. Don’t Turn it Into Something Stupid - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard:Parent Involvement is Smart. Don’t Turn it Into Something StupidJan 17th, 2012 by Lily.I have parents. I am a parent. I love parents. So, don’t get me wrong, but what’s up with the rash of stupid ideas on parent involvement in education?When I was teaching in Utah, one legislator, one of our friends, one of our champions, someone who had fought beside teachers for class ... more »

Education Research Report

Education Research Report:Food Sales in Schools and Childhood ObesityJonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 36 minutes agoΩ The vast majority of American middle schools and high schools sell what are known as “competitive foods,” such as soft drinks, candy bars, and chips, to children. The relationship between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and snacks and childhood obesity is well established, but it remains unknown whether competitive food sales in schools are related to unhealthy weight gain among children. The authors ... more »

School Tech Connect: Focus on the Math

School Tech Connect: Focus on the Math:Focus on the Mathby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Dick Ingram in SJR:Too much effort has been spent, by everyone, trying to pin the blame. We are at the point where how we got here matters very little. The numbers have grown to a point where all that matters is where we go from here.The facts are indisputable. Over the next 30 years, the state will owe retirees in excess of $140 billion, but Illinois has less than ... more »

RheeFirst! » GFBrandenburg’s updates on Rhee cheating scandals in DC

RheeFirst! » GFBrandenburg’s updates on Rhee cheating scandals in DC:GFBrandenburg’s updates on Rhee cheating scandals in DCby adminCites three must-read articles.Written by Guy Brandenburg for his blog. Read the entire post here.“The only conclusion I can draw is that AT A MINIMUM a lot of individuals personally and collectively benefited from large scale cheating in DCPS, and also worked together to resist any inquiries that would prove cheating, as much as they could. There was no desire to seek out ... more »

Occupy On Campus — Building a National Database « Student Activism #ows

Occupy On Campus — Building a National Database « Student Activism:Occupy On Campus — Building a National Databaseby Angus JohnstonAs the spring semester gets underway, I’ll be launching a major new project — a national database of campus Occupy projects. The database will include links to each occupation’s social media presence, as well as to press coverage of their work.To start with, I’ll be concentrating on Occupy groups that have established campus occupations lasting for at least one overnight, though ... more »

Digital | School finance in the digital-learning era: A review

Digital | School finance in the digital-learning era: A review:School finance in the digital-learning era: A reviewby Michael HornThe Fordham Institute continued its critical series exploring how to create sound policy for digital learning in November with two new papers, “Teachers in the Age of Digital Instruction” by Bryan C. Hassel and Emily Hassel, and “School Finance in the Digital-Learning Era” by Paul T. Hill. And more are on the way soon, including important ones exploring local control in the ... more »

Shanker Blog » Trial And Error Is Fine, So Long As You Know The Difference

Shanker Blog » Trial And Error Is Fine, So Long As You Know The Difference:Trial And Error Is Fine, So Long As You Know The Differenceby Matthew Di CarloIt’s fair to say that improved teacher evaluation is the cornerstone of most current education reform efforts. Although very few people have disagreed on the need to design and implement new evaluation systems, there has been a great deal of disagreement over how best to do so – specifically with regard to ... more »

Daily Kos: Universal Public Education Is Dead: The Rise of State Schools

Daily Kos: Universal Public Education Is Dead: The Rise of State Schools:Universal Public Education Is Dead: The Rise of State SchoolsbyplthomasEdDFollowShare3 PERMALINK4 COMMENTSPoet Adrienne Rich in Arts of the Possible made this claim on the cusp of No Child Left Behind (NCLB):“Universal public education has two possible—and contradictory—missions. One is the development of a literate, articulate, and well-informed citizenry so that the democratic process can continue to evolve and the promise of radical equality can be brought closer to realization. ... more »