Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top 2-17 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago

Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch:Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest CutsBudget cuts and potential school closures are contested.By Cody KitauraEmail the author6:45 pm Email Print Comment PHOTOS (5) Upload Photos and VideosThursday's Sacramento City Unified School District board meeting hadn't even started yet, and it was already clear what the mood of the evening would be.Hundreds of protestors circled the district's headquarters in Sacramento prior to the meeting to protest proposed cuts to extra-curricular ... more »

Peer Review (and some words I never thought I’d write) | Outside the Cave

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago

Peer Review (and some words I never thought I’d write) | Outside the Cave:Peer Review (and some words I never thought I’d write)by Stephen LazarEric Nadelstern is right (I really can’t believe I just admitted that publicly):However, you can’t empower kids until you’ve empowered their teachers to exercise leadership in classrooms, and extend their leadership to matters of curriculum, instruction and assessment.The entire column is worth reading, and is the best concise argument for instituting peer review that I’ve seen. ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 2-16 #soschat #ReclaimingReform

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago

RheeFirst! » A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from RheeBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-19 minutes agoRheeFirst! » A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from Rhee:A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from Rheeby adminWritten by Joshua Bujes. Read the entire post here.“Here’s what I took away from the lecture that might be useful going forward:…5. Her overt message is framed in such a way that it is impossible not to applaud (unless one looks under the covers): who would deny that education ... more »

Sacramento City Unified school board meeting: Tweets from Melody Gutierrez | Sacramento Bee #soschat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago

Sacramento City Unified school board meeting: Tweets from Melody Gutierrez - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:Sacramento City Unified school board meeting: Tweets from Melody GutierrezSharePublished: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 - 5:06 pmMelody Gutierrez is at the Sacramento City Unified school board meeting, where trustees will vote on whether to close A.M. Winn, Freeport and C.P. Huntington elementary schools.Melody GutierrezMELODYGUTIERREZMelodyGutierrez Sacramento City Unified board members will vote tonight on whether to close three elementary sc... more »

Schools Matter: Microsoft Among Corporate Whales Paying for Right-Wing Anti-Science in Schools #soschat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago

Schools Matter: Microsoft Among Corporate Whales Paying for Right-Wing Anti-Science in Schools:Microsoft Among Corporate Whales Paying for Right-Wing Anti-Science in Schoolsby Jim HornThe NYTimes has a story today about confidential documents obtained from the ultra right wing Heartland Institute, which has a new program to bring propaganda to schools to counter the climate science that children are learning that might, just might, help save human civilization and most other species from extinction.Below is the listing of the $10,000+ club, all ... more »

Modern School: The Sky is Not Falling After All: US Schools Rank High Internationally

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Modern School: The Sky is Not Falling After All: US Schools Rank High Internationally:Virginia House Approves Abolition of Teacher Tenureby Michael DunnBound and Gagged (Image from Flickr by Kouk)The Virginia House of Delegates voted to end tenure-related job protections for public school teachers on Monday, the Washington Post reported, a measure that was pushed by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell in order to “improve” public education. The Senate, however, rejected the measure on Tuesday. The Senate could still vote on the ... more »

Support PURE! » CTU vision for a quality education for all children

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Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » CTU vision for a quality education for all children:CTU vision for a quality education for all childrenby adminThis morning the Chicago Teachers’ Union presented a comprehensive set of research-based proposals to strengthen the Chicago Public Schools, called “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve.”I was pleased to be asked to say a few words on behalf of PURE. This is what I said:I’m very glad to be here. First of all, as a ... more »

RheeFirst! » A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from Rhee

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

RheeFirst! » A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from Rhee:A parent’s excellent analysis: Learning from Rheeby adminWritten by Joshua Bujes. Read the entire post here.“Here’s what I took away from the lecture that might be useful going forward:…5. Her overt message is framed in such a way that it is impossible not to applaud (unless one looks under the covers): who would deny that education is important? who would deny that children need good teachers? who would deny that we live ... more »

Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learning « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

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Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learning « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learningby ASCD Whole Child BloggersPost submitted by Andrew Miller, is a national faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education as well as for ASCD. He is also a regular blogger for Edutopia. Connect with Miller on Twitter @betamiller.Project-based learning (PBL) can create engaging learning for all students, but that depth of learning requires careful, specific design. Part of this engagement ... more »

As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New York

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New York: As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New YorkAndrew Cuomo. saebaryo via flickrRELATED STORIESA teacher-evaluation issue heads to Albany to kick off Cuomo's Year 2Former 'Times' editor: Campaign finance reform means TV reformThe BookCourt bestseller list, annotatedSavino: Cuomo 'needs' to raise some money for the state through taxesBY AZI PAYBARAH3:25 pm Feb. 16, ... more »

School Tech Connect: The Tribune is So Stupid... It Hurts The Brain!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

School Tech Connect: The Tribune is So Stupid... It Hurts The Brain!:The Tribune is So Stupid... It Hurts The Brain!The Tribune editorial page is so idiotic. I won't link to it. Julie Woestehoff has been stepping on some very sensitive toes indeed to merit her own editorial.By the way, the straw man here that the Trib has created is the idea the critic's of Noble's discipline tax are opposed to school discipline.What sanctimonious a*sholes they are!Nobody is opposed to orderly ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Program Placement - the reality

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Program Placement - the reality:Program Placement - the realityby Charlie MasThe District's program placement practice used to be something of a mystery. A committee, the Program Placement Committee, used to meet, discuss the program placement proposals, and make recommendations to the superintendent. Then the superintendent would decide which proposals to accept, which to reject, and which to amend. We didn't know who was on the committee, when they met, or what they discussed. I once requested ... more »

RICK SANTORUM SUGGESTS OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC EDUCATION: Some scary thinking + a scary picture!

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4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: RICK SANTORUM SUGGESTS OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC EDUCATION: Some scary thinking + a scary picture!:RICK SANTORUM SUGGESTS OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC EDUCATION: Some scary thinking + a scary picture!BY BRIAN MONTOPOLI | CBS NEWS | HTTP://BIT.LY/WRWHDW (Credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)Updated 12:47 p.m. ThursdayCampaigning in Idaho on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum suggested that he is opposed to a public school system overseen by the government."We didn't have government-run schools for a long ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: My take on the teacher evaluation deal announced today in Albany

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: My take on the teacher evaluation deal announced today in Albany:My take on the teacher evaluation deal announced today in Albanyby Leonie HaimsonFrom what I can tell, the part of the deal that was struck between the city and the UFT seems to be a good one: an external arbiter for principal ratings, which is necessary considering the number of unfair "U" ratings we have seen from abusive principals in recent years.The rest of the deal ...more »

NYC Public School Parents: Panel discussion Saturday: Parents As Educators & Putting the Public Back into Public Education

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: Panel discussion Saturday: Parents As Educators Putting the Public Back into Public Education:Panel discussion Saturday: Parents As Educators Putting the Public Back into Public Educationby Leonie HaimsonI will be speaking on a panel Saturday morning, sponsored by Assemblymember Keith Wright and organized by the Urban League, as part of the Black and Puerto Rican caucus meeting in AlbanyThe details are below. It is unfortunate that I will be the only parent on the panel, but you ... more »

Parental Engagement Helps Lead to School’s Blue Ribbon Success | ED.gov Blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Parental Engagement Helps Lead to School’s Blue Ribbon Success | ED.gov Blog:Parental Engagement Helps Lead to School’s Blue Ribbon SuccessPosted on February 16, 2012 by Guest BloggerArriving at Anchorage’s Chugach Optional Elementary School last month for a Blue Ribbon School celebration, I was greeted by an excited group of staff, students and parents. During our student-led tour, parent and teacher cooperation were on display amid colorful classrooms set up to resemble a comfortable home environment with couches, curtains and rugs.A ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: School Choice Week in Chicago: Pay Fines or Be Scruntinized by Police Surveillance Cameras.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: School Choice Week in Chicago: Pay Fines or Be Scruntinized by Police Surveillance Cameras.:School Choice Week in Chicago: Pay Fines or Be Scruntinized by Police Surveillance Cameras.by stlgretchenCharters are privately run government schools. In Missouri, they are under the same mandates and common core standards as traditional public schools. They are taxpayer funded which means the taxpayer is paying private companies to deliver education.Do they do a better job than traditional schools? Some do, some don't. But ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Good Things at the Board Meeting

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 21 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Good Things at the Board Meeting:Good Things at the Board Meetingby Melissa WestbrookThe kids from Maple Elementary came and did a wonderful dragon dance to welcome in the new year. Great fun.Also, 38 more teachers were recognized for being board-certified. According to the Board, our district is 5th in the nation for the number of board-certified teachers. Good for all those teachers. (I will try to give a breakdown of where all these newly-certified teachers come ... more »

Modern School: Extrinsic Motivation: Chitown Charter Implements Stiff Fines for Student Infractions

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 21 hours ago

Modern School: Extrinsic Motivation: Chitown Charter Implements Stiff Fines for Student Infractions:Extrinsic Motivation: Chitown Charter Implements Stiff Fines for Student Infractionsby Michael DunnImage from Flickr, by Sebastian BergmannThe Noble Network, which runs 10 charter high schools in Chicago, raised nearly $200,000 last year (and $400,000 since 2008) from discipline penalties, the Chicago Tribune reported this week. The Network, which has been praised by Ed Deformer Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has been charging students $5 per violation for such trivial infractions as ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: The Pie-Crust Promises of Chris Cerf

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 21 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: The Pie-Crust Promises of Chris Cerf:The Pie-Crust Promises of Chris Cerfby DukeAs Mary Poppins said: "Easily made, easily broken":The UFT has lost its lawsuit and the DOE says it will release the teacher data reports to the media within weeks, with all the major newspapers expected to print them. These reports, which rate 12,700 NYC teachers by means of numerical ratings of 1 to 100, are based solely on the 2010 test scores of their students, filtered through ...more »