Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, January 16, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-16


Schools Matter: Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyranny

Schools Matter: Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyranny:Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyrannyby P. L. ThomasAccountability without Autonomy Is TyrannyWhen educational research reaches the public through the corporate media, the consequences are often dire. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff released "The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood" and immediately The New York Times pronounced in "Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gains":"Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores ... more »

Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test Era - NYTimes.com

Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test Era - NYTimes.com:Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test EraBy MICHAEL WINERIPPublished: January 15, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREMy four children have all attended public schools in our middle-class suburban district. When my oldest was in fourth grade, in 1998, he took the state tests, and I was not even aware of it. Later, he said the tests were kind of fun; he got to miss his regular classes.RelatedTimes Topic: Michael WineripNews, data ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elites

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elites:A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elitesby stlgretchenTo understand how and why American taxpayers are paying into an public education system that really isn't a public entity any longer, you should read this post from Potter-Williams Report detailing the privatization of public education. There is not much add to this excellent article on the total co-opting of

Jersey Jazzman: Content of Their Test Scores

Jersey Jazzman: Content of Their Test Scores:Content of Their Test Scoresby DukeHappy Martin Luther King Day!I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down ... more »

MLK’s prescient thinking on education reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

MLK’s prescient thinking on education reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:MLK’s prescient thinking on education reformby Valerie StraussMartin Luther King Jr. wrote repeatedly on the subject of education and some of his thinking on the subject, while decades old, is still relevant. Each year on the federal holiday that honors his life, I publish excerpts of King writings on education. Here they are:Read full article MLK digital archive goes live with nearly 200,000 documentsby Valerie StraussNearly 200,000 ... more »

NYC Educator: Martin Luther King's Legacy

NYC Educator: Martin Luther King's Legacy:Martin Luther King's Legacyby NYC EducatorI want to retch when I read Arne Duncan is going somewhere to pay tribute to MLK. In fact, King was assasinated while in Memphis, supporting striking workers. Duncan, conversely, is in the pocket of billionaires like Bill Gates and Eli Broad, tinkering withineffectual pipe dreams that target working people and do nothing whatsoever to help the kids it's, ostensibly at least, his job to represent.Four years ago, I voted ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts 1-16 #edreform #ows

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the GatesBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-3 hours agoDead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates:Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time MembershipBy livingbehindthegatesTruth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough.You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never ... more »

Daily Kos: of "quiet rooms" . . .

Daily Kos: of "quiet rooms" . . .:of "quiet rooms" . . .by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)Mitt Romney says that we should discuss income inequality, if at all, only in “quiet rooms.” There was a time when people said the same thing about racial inequality. Luckily, however, there were people like Martin Luther King who refused to stay quiet. And we should follow their example today. For the fact is that rising inequality threatens to make America a different and worse place ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: \WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: \WEEKEND QUOTABLES:\WEEKEND QUOTABLESby Mike KlonskyDr. King“...The richest nation on Earth has never allocated enough resources to build sufficient schools, to compensate adequately its teachers, and to surround them with the prestige our work justifies. We squander funds on highways, on the frenetic pursuit of recreation, on the overabundance of overkill armament, but we pauperize education.” -- Valerie Strauss, "MLK's prescient thinking on education reform."Bill MoyersIn an era of gross inequality there’s both irony and relevance

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates:Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time MembershipBy livingbehindthegatesTruth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough.You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never cover any of us.From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying,it’ll just cover your face as you wail and cry and ... more »

Bitter Politics of Envy? - NYTimes.com

Bitter Politics of Envy? - NYTimes.com:Bitter Politics of Envy?By CHARLES M. BLOWPublished: January 13, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINCOMMENTS (421)E-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREYou’re just jealous. At least that’s how Mitt Romney sees it. The millionaire who posed for a picture with the boys at Bain Capital with the long green clinched between their teeth and poking out of their collars and jackets now says that people who question what he did there, and what rich people do now, are just green with envy.Enlarge This ImageDamon Winter/The New ... more »

Peg with Pen: Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.

Peg with Pen: Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.:Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.by PeggyYou’ve already heard the Whos in Who-ville haven’t you? The Whos were always there, while many of us basked inthe Jungle of Nool, In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool…Yet, it’s not so easy to bask these days, because once youhave heard them in Who-ville, you cannot turn away. ... more »

Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connection | Dailycensored.com

Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connection | Dailycensored.com:Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connectionby susanoIt is not my custom to spent time on an article from American Thinker, a conservative publication whose political editor brags about appearances on the Dennis Miller show, but Unsolved Mystery: D.C. Public Schools Cheating Scandal by M. Catharine Evans and Ann Kane is informative and important. I’m interested not so much in the D. C. cheating scandal as I am in the exposure of ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-15

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-21 minutes agoCentury-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?by Valerie StraussHere’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service ... more »

The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Education | Miguel Angel Escotet

The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Education | Miguel Angel Escotet:The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Educationby Miguel Angel EscotetWhat are the bases of culture and society? What is the cultural and social context of education? How can the social forces that influence teaching and learning be adapted to enhance the educational process? What are the cultural and social foundations of education in America? What are the purposes of education in a global society? What higher ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.

Jersey Jazzman: Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.:Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.by DukeReliably, Jay Matthews at the Washington Post tells us why Teach For American is so awesome:I understand why many NEA members are bothered by TFA. They feel it demeans their profession to give classroom responsibilities to young people with so little preparation. They know that novice U.S. teachers need even more training than what they are getting in regular education school programs. Experts say new teachers should be closely ... more »

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid:It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupidby Jim HornIt’s theSocioeconomic Segregation, Stupid Jim HornIna piece for The Nation by a fewdays ago, Linda Darling-Hammond demolishes most of the remaining chunks of anysize within the crumbling structure of corporate education’s mostironically-titled reform ever—No Child Left Behind. NCLB is rubble, even though many unseen victims continue tobe buried beneath its mammoth pile. Darling-Hammond, who was recruited to get Team Obama up to speed oneducation issues following the 2008 ... more »

Occupy Zelig | California Father #ows

Occupy Zelig | California Father:Occupy Zeligby California FatherPopoutOne of the best things about Occupy? You get to meet a lot of great people.Here is ReFund California’s Jono Shaffer, legendary organizer, speaking at the January 1, 2012 Occupy the Rose Parade kick-off teach-in event. The guy to his (camera) right is my good friend blogger/agitator Marty Berg

Jersey Jazzman: High School Sr. Speaks Out on Charters

Jersey Jazzman: High School Sr. Speaks Out on Charters:High School Sr. Speaks Out on Chartersby DukeA reader at my Facebook page (you "like" me, don't you?) pointed me to this great letter in the Chicago Tribuneabout charters from a high school student:The charter school system is one of the biggest problems with our current education system. Charter schools are allowed to be privately operated yet publicly funded, which is a paradox. Instead of public tax dollars going solely to public ... more »

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?by Valerie StraussHere’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society and which gave me permission to republish it.Read full article Tim Tebow’s unusual educationValerie Strauss at The Answer ... more »