Standardized tests Simpson style
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
http://unitedoptout.com/
Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 2-28 #soschat #ReclaimingReform
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
The Facts About Charter Schools - www.togetherwesoar.orgBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-21 minutes agowww.togetherwesoar.orgThe Facts About Charter SchoolsCharter schools are out-of-state, for-profit corporations that make personal profits from education tax dollars. The introduction of charter schools to Alabama will take nearly $200 million a year from our neighborhood public schools. Yet, major studies prove that charter schools fail to provide a better alternative to existing neighborhood public schools. Our kids can’t afford to lose another $200 million every year ... more »
School Tech Connect: Be Thankful For Your Pension
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
School Tech Connect: Be Thankful For Your Pension:Be Thankful For Your Pensionby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)A colleague tossed an email over the transom tonight. My colleagues was doing the virtual lobby thing, and he made a point in his correspondence with this representative that teachers don't get Social Security when they retire.This is part of the response. I'm keeping out the names because it's not a public statement per se.This is one of what I would call "the true believers," who thinks ... more »
Daily Kos: Education data matters when it can be used against teachers, but Michelle Rhee retains Teflon coat
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
Daily Kos: Education data matters when it can be used against teachers, but Michelle Rhee retains Teflon coat:Education data matters when it can be used against teachers, but Michelle Rhee retains Teflon coatbyLaura ClawsonFollowforDaily Kos LaborShareNew PERMALINK19 COMMENTS(Iris Harris—U.S. Department of Commerce)Two stories once again highlight how the supposedly data-driven corporate-style education reform is actually driven by ideology, with no data too shoddy and suspect to be held up against teachers or as a victory for "reform," and no amount ... more »
Ending Local Control of Schools Continues in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
Ending Local Control of Schools Continues in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings:Ending Local Control of Schools Continues in Floridaby Bob SikesSigns that the end of local board control of schools – and its own finances – continued today when the state board of education overruled Orange and Seminole counties rejection of two charter schools. From Leslie Postal in the Orlando Sentinel:TALLAHASSEE – Orange and Seminole school districts should be forced to allow two charter schools they turned down, the state ... more »
City Pushes Ahead on Plan to Close, Then Reopen 33 Schools – SchoolBook
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 44 minutes ago
City Pushes Ahead on Plan to Close, Then Reopen 33 Schools – SchoolBook: City Pushes Ahead on Plan to Close, Then Reopen 33 SchoolsFACEBOOKTWITTERPRINT0 CommentsRespondRelated SchoolsBanana Kelly High SchoolJ.H.S. 22 Jordan L. MottFordham Leadership Academy for Business and TechnologyAutomotive High SchoolSheepshead Bay High SchoolHigh School of Graphic Communication ArtsHarlem Renaissance High SchoolWilliam Cullen Bryant High SchoolFeb. 28, 2012, 6:12 p.m.By FERNANDA SANTOSThe New York City Education Department has set in motion its plan to restore federal grants to 33 struggling ... more »
A+ is new scarlet letter - State prohibits Philly teachers from administering PSSA to their own students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
State prohibits Philly teachers from administering PSSA to their own students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:State prohibits Philly teachers from administering PSSA to their own studentsby Dale Mezzacappa on Feb 28 2012 Posted in Latest newsCOMMENTS (7)PRINTEMAILTags:cheatingINN feedstandardized testingunionsIn the wake of concerns about cheating on state exams, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has prohibited Philadelphia teachers – but apparently not teachers in other districts across the state – from administering the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (... more »
What 'Black Cool' Looks Like in the Classroom - Education - GOOD
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
What 'Black Cool' Looks Like in the Classroom - Education - GOOD:What 'Black Cool' Looks Like in the Classroomby José VilsonIn 1926, Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week to ensure the contributions of black people would be taught and remembered. Woodson believed that eventually the week—which in 1976 become Black History Month—would eventually become unnecessary because everyone would learn black history.Seven years later, in his book The Mis-Education of the Negro, Woodson argued that America’s school system indoctrinated black ... more »
The Hyatt’s Penny Pritzker has seven bathrooms, appeals her taxes and screws her employees. « Fred Klonsky
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
The Hyatt’s Penny Pritzker has seven bathrooms, appeals her taxes and screws her employees. « Fred Klonsky:The Hyatt’s Penny Pritzker has seven bathrooms, appeals her taxes and screws her employees.by Fred KlonskyPenny Pritzker has seven bathrooms.H/T: Matt FarmerFor well over two years the employees of the Hyatt Hotels in Chicago and elsewhere have been in dispute over a contract.Hyatt is owned by the Pritzker family. Most prominently, Penny Pritzker. She served as chief fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 campaign and is ... more »
Support PURE! » MSNBC’s “Ed” turns up the heat on Noble Street.
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » MSNBC’s “Ed” turns up the heat on Noble Street.:MSNBC’s “Ed” turns up the heat on Noble Street.by admin“I don’t like what’s happening in Chicago.” Ed Schultz, MSNBCYesterday’s “Ed Show” featured our Tribune Op Ed on Noble charter’s discipline policy, along with parent Donna Moore, and Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Brown Dianis on “The Big Finish”.On his show last week, Ed brought in Karen Lewis to talk about the Board of Education’s ... more »
California's 'parent trigger' school rules need refining - latimes.com
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
California's 'parent trigger' school rules need refining - latimes.com:California's flawed 'parent trigger'Education reform benefits from parent involvement, but state rules on the so-called parent trigger need revision.Comments6Share0Parents of the Desert Trails Parent Union rally at Mgrdichian Park in Adelanto to submit Parent Trigger petitions. (Los Angeles Times / January 12, 2012)ALSOClimate denial in the classroomL.A.'s truancy trouble -- a fresh lookMichelle Rhee's advice: Stop overpraising kidsPatt Morrison Asks: Hard lessons with Michelle RheeDoes the Miramonte case argue f... more »
A Call for Parents' Say Over Co-Locations – SchoolBook
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
A Call for Parents' Say Over Co-Locations – SchoolBook:A Call for Parents’ Say Over Co-Locationsby Chelsia Rose MarciusMembers of the New York State Assembly and Senate, parents and education advocates called for state legislation on Tuesday to give local school advisory panels the power to veto school co-locations in their districts.The proposed legislation would ensure that no school could be co-located with another, reconfigured or moved to a different site unless the community education council for the area approves it.The ... more »
Missouri Education Watchdog: Excellence vs Equity in the Classroom. Inflammatory Classroom Techniques?
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: Excellence vs Equity in the Classroom. Inflammatory Classroom Techniques?:Excellence vs Equity in the Classroom. Inflammatory Classroom Techniques?by stlgretchen"Heresy! I say, "Heresy"! Focusing on "excellence" rather than "equity" in math education?"A fellow traveler in education circles sent and remarked (above) on an article from Educational Leadership praising the long discarded teaching technique of ability grouping in the classroom: A school in Arizona was able to curb the exodus of its top students to nearby charter schools by
Bush Education Foundation Had $1 Million in Assets at the End of 2010 | Scathing Purple Musings
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
Bush Education Foundation Had $1 Million in Assets at the End of 2010 | Scathing Purple Musings:Bush Education Foundation Had $1 Million in Assets at the End of 2010by Bob SikesI’d imagine the money is still coming in too, especially when you consider this line-up of cash cows. From Mary McGrory in the Miami Herald:There is little debate over the influence Bush and the foundation have had in driving the agenda.“They have huge sway in the Legislature, in part because ... more »
An Open Letter to Nick Hanauer from Bill Lyne | Seattle Education
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago
An Open Letter to Nick Hanauer from Bill Lyne | Seattle Education:An Open Letter to Nick Hanauer from Bill Lyneby seattleducation2011This post has been burning up the internet and I finally slowed down enough to read this brilliant piece thanks to my co-editor Sue Peters who suggested that we publish it.To follow is a post written by United Faculty of Washington State President Bill Lyne titled Who Breaks a Butterfly Upon a Wheel to Nick Hanauer, founder of the League ... more »
The Facts About Charter Schools - www.togetherwesoar.org
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
www.togetherwesoar.orgThe Facts About Charter SchoolsCharter schools are out-of-state, for-profit corporations that make personal profits from education tax dollars. The introduction of charter schools to Alabama will take nearly $200 million a year from our neighborhood public schools. Yet, major studies prove that charter schools fail to provide a better alternative to existing neighborhood public schools. Our kids can’t afford to lose another $200 million every year to fund an educational experiment that doesn’t even work.Charter Schools Don’t WorkStudies by Stanford ... more »
Documentary Lamblasts Mexico’s Failing School System (VIDEO) - Hispanically Speaking News
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Documentary Lamblasts Mexico’s Failing School System (VIDEO) - Hispanically Speaking News:Documentary Lambasts Mexico’s Failing School System (VIDEO)Mexican filmmaker, Juan Carlos Rulfo, and journalist, Carlos Loret de Mola, have joined forces to show México, as well as the world, the current state of their school system. ‘¡De Panzazo!’ the Spanish equivalent to the English saying, ‘barely passing,’ offers a glimpse into the failing Mexican education system. It’s a system in which 8 out of 10 students in secondary school enter without ... more »
Arizona's Education Debates Reflect Republican Candidates' Conservative Rhetoric
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Arizona's Education Debates Reflect Republican Candidates' Conservative Rhetoric:Arizona's Education Debates Reflect Republican Candidates' Conservative Rhetoricby Joy ResmovitsIn the last few months, Arizona's conservative state legislature has sparred over bills that would police teachers for profanity inside and outside the classroom and allow for the study of the Bible in public and charter schools. These debates follow the 2010 ban on teaching ethnic studies.According to critics, though, these arguments -- which primarily focus on social issues that can come up in ... more »
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Release to press of teacher data has become a rallying cry
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Release to press of teacher data has become a rallying cry:Release to press of teacher data has become a rallying cryby Mike KlonskyPublic debasing of teachers in N.Y.N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo may have won the legal battle to base teacher evaluations on student test scores and publish them in the press. But they may have also unwittingly awakened a sleeping giant of a resistance movement. Shades of what happened in Wisconsin in response to ... more »
You’ve Been VAM-IFIED! Thoughts (& Graphs) on the NYC Teacher Data « School Finance 101
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
You’ve Been VAM-IFIED! Thoughts ( Graphs) on the NYC Teacher Data « School Finance 101:You’ve Been VAM-IFIED! Thoughts ( Graphs) on the NYC Teacher Databy schoolfinance101Readers of my blog know I’m both a data geek and a skeptic of the usefulness of Value-added data specifically as a human resource management tool for schools and districts. There’s been much talk this week about the release of the New York City teacher ratings to the media, and subsequent publication of those data ... more »
Self-Organized Learning in the Standardized Classroom: Possible?! « Cooperative Catalyst
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Self-Organized Learning in the Standardized Classroom: Possible?! « Cooperative Catalyst:Self-Organized Learning in the Standardized Classroom: Possible?!POSTED BY JASON LACOSTE ⋅ FEBRUARY 28, 2012 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENTWork within the system for slow systemic change, or from without for idealistic radical change? This is one of the most exhausting choices facing modern alternative educators. I want to take a crack at how we might approach educational transformation from within a typical public charter school with all its focus on core curriculum ... more »
The charter school scam
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
The charter school scam:Charter to nowhereOne of the durable legacies of the Bush administration, aside from two miserable wars and the wreckage of a world-historical credit bubble, is the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, passed within months of George W's taking office. NCLB mandated the restructuring of American public education along the lines of what partisans like to call choice and accountability. That is, parents are supposed to be offered alternatives to traditional public schools (TPS)—and students and their ... more »
Who Are The 1%? | OurFuture.org
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Who Are The 1%? | OurFuture.org:Who Are The 1%?By Dave JohnsonFebruary 28, 2012 - 12:01pm ETPOPULAR THIS WEEKSatan Speaks to Santorum - and Has Some Words For Sarah Palin Tooby Richard (RJ) EskowFebruary 24, 20129 Crazy Things Mitt Romney Believesby Robert BorosageFebruary 27, 2012more» ALSO WORTH READINGThe GOP’s Michigan Giveawayby OurFuture.org Staff | February 27, 2012Oligarchy in the U.S.A.by OurFuture.org Staff | February 27, 2012Non-Aggression Tackby Digby | February 27, 2012The Payroll Tax Law's Best Measureby OurFuture.org Staff | February ... more »
Jim Broadway on Chicago charters and turnarounds. « Fred Klonsky
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
Jim Broadway on Chicago charters and turnarounds. « Fred Klonsky:Jim Broadway on Chicago charters and turnarounds.by Fred KlonskyJim Broadway, who publishes the authoritative Illinois School Policy Updates (subscription here), comments on recent developments in Chicago and the impact on Springfield.The Chicago public schools are a kind of laboratory for school “reform” efforts. The turnaround concept is one example. Most Illinois charter schools are also in Chicago (and generally not producing the kind of results they promised).The most successful reform of ... more »
On Education: Shedding Light on Teacher Data Reports – SchoolBook
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 10 hours ago
On Education: Shedding Light on Teacher Data Reports – SchoolBook:On Education: Shedding Light on Teacher Data ReportsFACEBOOKTWITTERPRINT0 CommentsRespondFeb. 28, 2012, 11:18 a.m.By MICHAEL WINERIPI’m delighted that the New York City education department has finallyreleased its teacher data reports.Finally, there are some solid numbers for judging teachers.Using a complex mathematical formula, the education department’s statisticians have calculated how much elementary and middle-school teachers’ students outpaced — or fell short of — expectations on annual standardized tests. They... more »
The Narrative of Poverty - Dana Goldstein
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago
The Narrative of Poverty - Dana Goldstein:The Narrative of Povertyby Dana GoldsteinWhen I was reading Katherine Boo's Beyond the Beautiful Forevers, about day-to-day life in the Mumbai slum of Annawadi, I couldn't stop thinking about how much the book had in common with one of my all-time favorites,Random Family, Adrian Nicole Leblanc's masterpiece about love and the drug trade in the South Bronx of the 19080s and 90s. So I wrote an essay for The Daily Beast about the two ...more »
Safe at School and Ready to Learn | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago
Safe at School and Ready to Learn | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:Safe at School and Ready to Learnby NEA Health Information NetworkQuestion: What is found throughout the school meal program that can be deadly dangerous?If you answered food allergens, you would be right. Six percent of students have a food allergy and the big eight of food allergies (soy, eggs, milk, fish, wheat, shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts) are found throughout school meal programs and family ... more »
Modern School: Fox Guarding Hen House: Rhee Buddies Up to Duncan During Investigation of DC Cheating Scandal
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago
Modern School: Fox Guarding Hen House: Rhee Buddies Up to Duncan During Investigation of DC Cheating Scandal:Fox Guarding Hen House: Rhee Buddies Up to Duncan During Investigation of DC Cheating Scandalby Michael DunnMichelle Rhee was the chancellor of Washington, D.C. schools from 2007 to 2010, during the time D.C. school officials cheated to raise test scores. The Office of the Inspector General in Arne Duncan’s Education Department has been investigating the case for the past six months. Considering how much ... more »
Schools Matter: Why Bill Gates Makes Me Throw Up
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago
Schools Matter: Why Bill Gates Makes Me Throw Up:Why Bill Gates Makes Me Throw Upby Jim HornThe chart above shows market capitalization trends for Apple and Microsoft over just two months in 2010.To show that this trend of Microsoft's failing hegemony is not a fluke, here is another showing operating income
How to Demoralize Teachers - Bridging Differences - Education Week
Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago
How to Demoralize Teachers - Bridging Differences - Education Week:How to Demoralize Teachersby Diane RavitchDear Deborah,Two weeks ago, New York state's highest court ruled that the New York City Department of Education could release for public scrutiny the value-added ratings of teachers of mathematics and English in grades 4-8. Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, joined by other media, had filed a "freedom of information" request to obtain the testing data, and the United Federation of Teachers opposed their release, saying ... more »