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

Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily Beast

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 7 minutes ago

Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily Beast:Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted EducationJan 9, 2012 6:53 AM ESTExpecting all students to be college ready is a hopeless utopian goal that inevitably produces test-score inflation and bad results.PrintEmailComments (2)When George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind legislation into law 10 years ago this week, it seemed like the perfect expression of his brand of “compassionate conservatism,” while also ... more »

Governors Association Examines Teacher Merit Pay - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 7 minutes ago

Governors Association Examines Teacher Merit Pay - High School Notes (usnews.com):Governors Association Examines Teacher Merit PayGovernors Association Examines Teacher Merit PayBy JASON KOEBLERJanuary 9, 2012 RSS Feed PrintMany pro-reform education experts, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will tell you that one of the most important factors in a child's education is the quality of the teacher—and the way to retain the best teachers is to pay them more. But states and teachers unions nationwide are having trouble agreeing ... more »

Education Reform Now’s 2010 IRS 990 Form « DFER Watch

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Education Reform Now’s 2010 IRS 990 Form « DFER Watch:Education Reform Now’s 2010 IRS 990 Formby ken libbypEducation Reform Now’s IRS 990 form and audited financial statement were recently posted on the NY Charities Bureau a href=”http://bartlett.oag.state.ny.us/Char_Forms/show_details.jsp?id={D4BB3F84-544C-4371-A9D0-05EB216A4445}”website/a. Below is a summary of relevant information. This post then concludes with a few brief notes./p pstrongSummary:/strong/p pERN’s total revenue and total expenses grew between 2009 and 2010:/p pimg style=”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-r... more »

NJ Spotlight | In the Suburbs, Charter Schools Raise Concerns About Local Control

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NJ Spotlight | In the Suburbs, Charter Schools Raise Concerns About Local Control:In the Suburbs, Charter Schools Raise Concerns About Local ControlCan a local school district block a charter from opening or refuse to fund it? print | email | shareBy Marilyn Joyce Lehren, January 9, 2012 in Education |1 CommentCredit: Marilyn Joyce LehrenLili Meddahi, a Maplewood third grader, decorates a protest sign against charters.When a charter school opens in a gritty urban neighborhood, few parents and officials argue that ... more »

Sacramento Press / "Strong Mayor" Proposal at Secret Public Meeting

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 7 minutes ago

Sacramento Press / "Strong Mayor" Proposal at Secret Public Meeting:"Strong Mayor" Proposal at Secret Public Meetingby William BurgOn January 7, 2012, Sacramento city staff held a public meeting about the newest proposal to change the city charter, the “Checks and Balances Act of 2012.” However, this public meeting was not announced to the general public—instead it was directed at a small group of neighborhood leaders.I found out about the meeting via the chair of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, who received ... more »

Application for Hebrew Charter School in New Jersey Raises Concern - NYTimes.com

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Application for Hebrew Charter School in New Jersey Raises Concern - NYTimes.com:Rejected 3 Times, School May Still Open Soon, and With a Grant, TooBy MICHAEL WINERIPPublished: January 8, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINCOMMENTS (4)E-MAILPRINTSINGLE PAGEREPRINTSSHAREIn the last couple of years, Sharon Akman, a real estate agent, applied to the state of New Jersey three times to open a new charter school in the Highland Park area, to be called Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School.RelatedTimes Topics: Charter Schools |Michael WineripNews, data and conversation ... more »

NYC Educator: A Message from the Mayor

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NYC Educator: A Message from the Mayor:A Message from the Mayorby NYC EducatorGood morning, New York. It's me, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. You know, a lot of people ask me what I'm up to nowadays. Well, I've got my eye on this new teacher evaluation system. I'm sure you know that last year I tried to get rid of that seniority clause when firing teachers. I say, let's keep the best teachers. The most effective teachers. And by that, I mean ... more »

Mandated community service: Risks and potential - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

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Mandated community service: Risks and potential - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Mandated community service: Risks and potentialby Valerie StraussThis was written by Alfie Kohn, the author of 12 books about education and human behavior, including “The Schools Our Children Deserve,” “The Homework Myth,” and the newly published“Feel-Bad Education . . . And Other Contrarian Essays on Children Schooling.” He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.com. .Read full article Putting New York’s testing program on ... more »

How weighted funding would work | Thoughts on Public Education

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How weighted funding would work | Thoughts on Public Education:How weighted funding would workShare$3,000 more per student in low-income districtsPosted on 1/09/12 • Categorized as Equity issues, Finance, Jerry Brown, Poverty, State Budget, Student spendingBy John Fensterwald - Educated GuessDistricts in which nearly 90 percent of students are either low-income or English learners (such as Long Beach Unified and Los Angeles Unified) will get $3,000 more per student than districts where only 20 percent of students are disadvantaged (like Poway ... more »

Commentary: New paradigm needed for teacher training | EdNewsColorado

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Commentary: New paradigm needed for teacher training | EdNewsColorado:Commentary: New paradigm needed for teacher trainingby Mark SassMark Sass, a teacher since 1994, teaches at Legacy High School in the Adams Five Star School District. He is a member of the Denver New Millennium Initiative.Many years ago, as I navigated my way through different careers before settling on education, I was a truck mechanic for Ford. I started right out of high school prepping new cars and then worked my way ... more »

Oregon seeks OK to judge schools on overall performance, not success with small groups that typically struggle | OregonLive.com

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Oregon seeks OK to judge schools on overall performance, not success with small groups that typically struggle | OregonLive.com:Oregon seeks OK to judge schools on overall performance, not success with small groups that typically strugglePublished: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 3:00 PM Updated: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 5:14 PMOregon schools that serve a concentration of low-income students will face a distinctly different accountability system this fall if the U.S. Department of Educationapproves the state's plan. Under the federal No Child Left ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Would I Send My Child To This School? by Bari L. Katz

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: Would I Send My Child To This School? by Bari L. Katz:Would I Send My Child To This School? by Bari L. Katzby Leonie HaimsonThis article was written by a member of the team that founded the Achievement First charter high school in NYC, cross-posted with minor changes from the WE-CAN website, an organization opposed to the opening of a new Achievement First school in Providence RI. See also the recent articles in the Providence Journal, ...more »

After 10 Years, It’s Time for a New NCLB | ED.gov Blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

After 10 Years, It’s Time for a New NCLB | ED.gov Blog:After 10 Years, It’s Time for a New NCLBPosted on January 8, 2012 by Arne DuncanThe following op-ed appeared in the January 8, 2012 edition of the Washington Post.Ten years ago today, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. The law has improved American education in some ways, but it also still has flaws that need to be fixed.No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the first time ... more »

The Politicization Of Educational Research | Edwize

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

The Politicization Of Educational Research | Edwize:The Politicization Of Educational Researchby Leo CaseyLast Friday, an analysis of the “value-added” contributions of public school teachers authored by a trio of economists, Harvard’s Raj Chetty and John Friedman and Columbia’s Jonah Rockoff, was unveiled with great fanfare, receiving prominent coverage by both the New York Times and the PBS’ Newshour. By all accounts, this study (hereafter, CFR) is both substantial, employing a database unprecedented in such work by its sheer size, and ... more »

The “$4700 value added” study: Why no peer review? « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

The “$4700 value added” study: Why no peer review? « Fred Klonsky:The “$4700 value added” study: Why no peer review?by Fred KlonskyWe’ve been following the response to the report of a massive $2.5 million, 20 year study of teacher value added measures that appeared in Saturday’s NY Times.The United Federation of Teachers leader Leo Casey asks why was the study released now, without the usual peer review?Good question.The choice of this particular moment, with the NYC DoE walking out of ... more »

School Tech Connect: You Need To Read

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

School Tech Connect: You Need To Read:You Need To Readby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I'm just going to come out and admit this. Last night, I got to page 404 in Stephen King's 11/22/63 and I was so scared that I walked around the flat to make sure all the windows were locked. I also spot-checked the readiness of my self-defense kit, if you know what I mean. What a magnificent, touching, and occasionally terrifying story this is!Need a good book? Go get ... more »

Shanker Blog » The Persistence Of Both Teacher Effects And Misinterpretations Of Research About Them

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Shanker Blog » The Persistence Of Both Teacher Effects And Misinterpretations Of Research About Them:The Persistence Of Both Teacher Effects And Misinterpretations Of Research About Themby Matthew Di CarloIn a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper on teacher value-added, researchers Raj Chetty, John Friedman and Jonah Rockoff present results from their analysis of an incredibly detailed dataset linking teachers and students in one large urban school district. The data include students’ testing results between 1991 and 2009, as ... more »

Race To Utopia: How A Public Servant Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Market | Dailycensored.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Race To Utopia: How A Public Servant Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Market | Dailycensored.com:Race To Utopia: How A Public Servant Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Marketby Adam BessieNo Child Left Behind just celebrated it’s tenth anniversary: while educators, children and parents have generally loathed President George W. Bush’s signature legislation, and while studies have shown that it has failed to improve learning despite its immense cost, NCLB’s free-market policies – high-stakes standardized testing, ... more »

Teen who killed bully to go free under ‘Stand Your Ground’ law - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Teen who killed bully to go free under ‘Stand Your Ground’ law - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Teen who killed bully to go free under ‘Stand Your Ground’ lawby Valerie StraussA judge has dropped a second-degree murder charge against a 15-year-old who fatally stabbed another teenager after he was attacked, citing a law in Florida that allows an individual to meet force with force if they fear for his/her life.The “Stand Your Ground” law says that a person ... more »

A Letter to Marquette Elementary School Teachers from a Former Colleague | The Classroom Sooth

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A Letter to Marquette Elementary School Teachers from a Former Colleague | The Classroom Sooth:A Letter to Marquette Elementary School Teachers from a Former Colleagueby classroomsoothRecently I visited a teacher friend of mine who used to work at Marquette Elementary School on the southwest side of Chicago. Upon hearing the news that Marquette was to be turned around by AUSL, she felt compelled to write the following letter.Adam On Behalf of my Former Colleagues at Marquette Elementary, I am a ... more »