Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Afternoon Posts 2-12 #ows #edreform


OCCUPY EDUCATION - Below is an announcement and background info on an... #edchat #p2 #ows

OCCUPY EDUCATION - Below is an announcement and background info on an...:Below is an announcement and background info on an upcoming,...Below is an announcement and background info on an upcoming, southern California regional student conference in support of protest against the dismantling of post-secondary education in the state. These details are provided by a CSULA student actively supporting the Occupy movement in solidarity with this effort to gain more support for university and college education in California. Please feel free ... more »

The Innovative Educator: I don't support daddy laptop shooter Tommy Jordan

The Innovative Educator: I don't support daddy laptop shooter Tommy Jordan:I don't support daddy laptop shooter Tommy Jordanby noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)Message to Tommy Jordan's daughter: Hannah, I can relate to how you might have felt. It must be heartbreaking to have your Dad see you as his adversary. It is frustrating when there is someone else who seems to be controlling and dictating everything you do. Like you, I wanted to be trusted and empowered to make and be responsible ... more »

In most Bay Area schools, high-profile school reform ideas remain hypothetical - ContraCostaTimes.com

In most Bay Area schools, high-profile school reform ideas remain hypothetical - ContraCostaTimes.com:In most Bay Area schools, high-profile school reform ideas remain hypotheticalBy Katy MurphyOakland TribunePosted: 02/12/2012 12:00:00 AM PSTOAKLAND -- Members and supporters of the Oakland teachers union picketed outside the Paramount Theatre this week. Michelle Rhee, one of the nation's most prominent school reformers, was about to address a sold-out crowd of 3,000 about the failures of the nation's education system and the importance of effective teachers."No Rhee-forms," ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader Visual Soundbites for 02.10.12

Missouri Education Watchdog: Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader Visual Soundbites for 02.10.12:Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader Visual Soundbites for 02.10.12by stlgretchenWelcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader. The visual soundbites from Twitter for 02.12.12:As Scott Joftus said, it IS the Wild West in Education. Scads of money to be made in education...those dot.com investors had to go somewhere.....For those of you following the explosion of education startups, an interactive map of the new playershttp://www.newschools.org/entrepreneurs/edtechmapFrom... more »

Union accepts district assurance that teachers can return to Miramonte - latimes.com

Union accepts district assurance that teachers can return to Miramonte - latimes.com:Teachers want moratorium on layoffs and a new evaluation systemLos Angeles teachers have approved a much-watched initiative that calls for a moratorium on layoffs as well as a new teacher-evaluation system.Organizers of the initiative, which passed with 56% of the vote, immediately hailed the results as suggesting that teachers were willing to accept student test scores as part of a new evaluation system.“Teachers will now take the lead on ... more »

Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacher - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacher - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacherby Valerie StraussHere is a eulogy for a pioneering scientist that says more about the lifelong effects of a dynamic teacher on his students than any “value-added” formula ever could.The eulogy was delivered by Jeffrey Ravetch, head of the Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller University in New York, at a memorial service last week for ... more »

School Tech Connect: The Clarion Whisper of Alarm

School Tech Connect: The Clarion Whisper of Alarm:The Clarion Whisper of Alarmby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I saw this tweet over at Small Talk.Remember when Cher slapped Nicholas Cage and told him to snap out of it? I always feel that way about the president of my national federation*. In my view, she's always speaking in these muted terms instead of letting

Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentives | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentives | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentivesby Larry FerlazzoAs regular readers know, I’m not a fan of teacher merit pay (see The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea).Some school reformers and researchers have suggested that providing merit pay for entire schools is an alternative, though I’m not a supporter of those kinds of group incentives for similar reasons why ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 2-11 #edreform #ows

RIP Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You - LyricsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-26 minutes agoA Father. « Student ActivismBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-26 minutes agoA Father. « Student Activism:A Father.by Angus JohnstonImagine a father gives his teenaged daughter a lovely carved wooden box. Imagine she puts her diary in it, and letters she’s written to her friends, and letters they’ve written to her. Imagine she puts photos in it, and keepsakes, and mementoes. Imagine ... more »

School Tech Connect: The Other Learning Problem

School Tech Connect: The Other Learning Problem:The Other Learning Problemby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Go read this, including the comments.I agree. Incidentally, technology is not going to change the fact that we have a nation full of kids who are strangely not looped into the fact that k-12 education is now the frontline of national security and economic prosperity. It's not even going to make a dent in the problem, as long as we have standardization and ever-mounting pressure on test scores, even ... more »

A Father. « Student Activism

A Father. « Student Activism:A Father.by Angus JohnstonImagine a father gives his teenaged daughter a lovely carved wooden box. Imagine she puts her diary in it, and letters she’s written to her friends, and letters they’ve written to her. Imagine she puts photos in it, and keepsakes, and mementoes. Imagine it’s where she keeps her camera, and her iPod.Imagine he overhears her once with her friends, looking at stuff from the box, giggling. Reading diary entries aloud, sharing photos. Private ... more »

School Tech Connect: "Shills and Cruel Jokes"

School Tech Connect: "Shills and Cruel Jokes":"Shills and Cruel Jokes"by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Feeling kind of wobbly here but on the mend. I'll be flopping around in no time. Meanwhile, here's Labor Beat's review of the CPS show trials. I'll only say this--- I work in the suburbs with people who mostly live in the suburbs. One of my colleagues was recently reading in the Trib about the NCLB waivers and he told me that it sounded like a good idea.I guess ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: The Joke’s on Us

NYC Public School Parents: The Joke’s on Us:The Joke’s on UsFebruary 11, 2012 (GBN News): In a stunning development, GBN News has learned that Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s signature “Race to the Top” program was originally conceived as a practical joke on President Obama. According to a source in the Education Department, the Secretary was merely looking to embarrass the President after a particularly humiliating loss on the basketball court.Apparently, Mr. Duncan never really expected to carry the hoax quite ...more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 2-11 #ows #edreform

Facebook Emails « DFER WatchBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-14 minutes agoFacebook Emails « DFER Watch:FACEBOOK EMAILSPosted by ken libby on February 11, 2012 · Leave a Comment From a January 27, 2012 ACLU-NJ blog post:NEWARK - A Superior Court judge today ordered a lawsuit to proceed against the City of Newark (151k PDF) over documents related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation for the city’s schools, and ordered the city to produce a list of the ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Dmytro Fedkowskyj on why he voted "No" on the 23 school closings

NYC Public School Parents: Dmytro Fedkowskyj on why he voted "No" on the 23 school closings:Dmytro Fedkowskyj on why he voted "No" on the 23 school closingsby Leonie HaimsonHere is the statement made by Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Queens representative on the Panel for Educational Policy, before voting against the 23 school closings and numerous co-locations. The vote was 9-4, with the 8 mayoral appointees plus the Staten Island rep Diane Perrugia, voting lockstep in favor of each proposal by the DOE, ... more »

Mother Crusader: No Transparency At NJDOE Or For-Profit White Hat. What Are They Hiding?

Mother Crusader: No Transparency At NJDOE Or For-Profit White Hat. What Are They Hiding?:NJDOE Released Charter Application Reviewer's Names, But What We Need Are The Reviewer's Scores And Commentsby darciecimaTen charter schools in Ohio that contract with White Hat Management, aren't too happy. The saga is beingcovered extensively by StateImpact Ohio.White Hat has been sued by the governing boards of some of the schools it manages. According to the lawsuit, White Hat collects at least 95 percent of the schools’ ... more »

Blue Jersey:: The New Teacher Evaluation Policy

Blue Jersey:: The New Teacher Evaluation Policy:The New Teacher Evaluation Policyby newschoolboardmemberpromoted by RosiI attended a meeting last night and learned a few things about the new teacher evaluation policy set to roll out for all districts in the 2013-2014 school year.Our district will join the pilot program for one of our schools next year (2012-13). We will apply for a grant, but the cost of implementing this plan will cost upwards of $50,000. Other districts will have different costs, ... more »

Outsourcing Gym Class - The Bay Citizen

Outsourcing Gym Class - The Bay Citizen:Outsourcing Gym ClassWith budgets tight, schools look for new ways to pay for physical educationTEXT SIZE A A ABy KATHARINE MIESZKOWSKI on February 11, 2012 - 11:57 a.m. PSTstart discussionThor Swift for The Bay CitizenJessica Mazeau (center in blue sweater), a physical education teacher, works with fourth grade students at Clifford Elementary in Redwood CityREDWOOD CITY — On the blacktop at Clifford School recently, a fourth-grade class played two-on-two keep-away with basketballs. Jessica Mazeau, ... more »

Facebook Emails « DFER Watch

Facebook Emails « DFER Watch:FACEBOOK EMAILSPosted by ken libby on February 11, 2012 · Leave a Comment From a January 27, 2012 ACLU-NJ blog post:NEWARK - A Superior Court judge today ordered a lawsuit to proceed against the City of Newark (151k PDF) over documents related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation for the city’s schools, and ordered the city to produce a list of the documents in its possession. Judge Rachel N. Davidson denied a motion by ... more »