Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 2-7 #edreform #ows

An essay on what our children need | Seattle Education

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

An essay on what our children need | Seattle Education:An essay on what our children needby seattleducation2011“When will the conversation shift away from non-issues like choice, competition, bad teachers, and test scores, to finally focus on the kinds of reform that would actually make a difference in these kids’ lives?”I am re-posting an excerpt of an essay written by Katie Osgood who is a special education teacher working in a psychiatric hospital in Chicago. The original post is on Anthony ... more »

SCHOOL FUNDING – WHEN WILL WE GET CREATIVE ? « Teachers Fight Back

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SCHOOL FUNDING – WHEN WILL WE GET CREATIVE ? « Teachers Fight Back:SCHOOL FUNDING – WHEN WILL WE GET CREATIVE ?by alkleenShame on our politicians, parents, community leaders, business leaders, teacher unions, school administrators and everyone else for being so brain-dead when it comes to public school funding. We clearly must find an alternative to the way schools are funded today and have been since the children of cavemen started going to school. There must be alternative streams of revenue ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Charter Back-and-Forth on KUOW

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Charter Back-and-Forth on KUOW:Charter Back-and-Forth on KUOWby Melissa WestbrookThe last couple of days have seen interviews with Senator Rodney Tom (one of the sponsors of the charter bill) and Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (who chairs the House Education committee). I note that the Tom interview was longer than the Tomiko Santos interview and it would have been nice to allow the Representative equal time.Senator Tom certainly had a lot to say including:"It's another option" - again, ... more »

Four charters schools in the Wilmington area can bring profits - WECT TV6 - WECT.com - Wilmington, NC news and weather -

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Four charters schools in the Wilmington area can bring profits - WECT TV6 - WECT.com - Wilmington, NC news and weather -:Charter schools can bring big profitsPosted: Feb 06, 2012 11:13 AM PSTUpdated: Feb 06, 2012 7:55 PM PSTBy: Ann McAdams - email Now that the cap has been lifted, dozens of applications to start new charter schools have been submitted. While there is still a profit to be made, charter schools operate on a significantly smaller budget than their ... more »

Schools Matter: Evolution (?) of Arne Duncan's position on the use of standardized tests for teacher evaluation

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

Schools Matter: Evolution (?) of Arne Duncan's position on the use of standardized tests for teacher evaluation:Evolution (?) of Arne Duncan's position on the use of standardized tests for teacher evaluationby skrashenArne Duncan’s position on the use of value-added test scores seems to have changed in the last two years. In August, 2010, he seems to be saying that test score gains are a measure of teacher effectiveness. In May, 2011, he seems to want to use value-added measures as ... more »

Diane Ravitch: Do politicians know anything at all about schools and education? Anything?

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Do politicians know anything at all about schools and education? Anything?:Do politicians know anything at all about schools and education? Anything?ASK THIS | February 07, 2012Diane Ravitch poses a dozen piercing questions on education and school policy. Some of them turn conventional thinking on its ear, and each could be a starting point for reporting on elections, from the presidency on down to local school boards. Twitter FaceBookBuzz Email ShareThisBy Diane Ravitchgardendr@gmail.com1. Both Republican candidates and President Obama are enamored ... more »

Obama proposes money for math, science education | Reuters

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Obama proposes money for math, science education | Reuters:Obama proposes money for math, science educationWASHINGTON | Tue Feb 7, 2012 10:58am EST(Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek $80 million in new funding for a program to boost science and math education in U.S. schools, the White House said on Tuesday.Obama, who is running for re-election in November at a time when the economy is voters' top concern, has sought to emphasize math and science education as one of the ... more »

Appeals Court Strikes Down Prop. 8 - The Bay Citizen

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Appeals Court Strikes Down Prop. 8 - The Bay Citizen:Appeals Court Strikes Down Prop. 8Judges rule 2-1 against the ban on same-sex marriages; appeal expectedTEXT SIZE A A ABy BAY CITIZEN STAFF on February 7, 2012 - 10:07 a.m. PSTstart discussionJustin Sullivan/Getty ImagesAn opponent of Proposition 8 holds a gay pride flag outside San Francisco City Hall to celebrate U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling to overturn Prop. 8 on Aug. 4, 2010A federal court ruled Tuesday that California's voter-approved ... more »

$1.5 Billion Wasted in One Year Alone « PWC Education Reform Blog

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$1.5 Billion Wasted in One Year Alone « PWC Education Reform Blog:$1.5 Billion Wasted in One Year AloneFebruary 7, 2012 — pwceducationreformIs it possible to waste $1.5 billion in one year? If you work in public education, apparently it is. In fact, if you work in public education you can waste $1.5 billion in one year, and then demand more money the next year because the $1.5 billion wasn’t enough. And yes, billion, with a B.Where was this money wasted? ... more »

Productivity Agenda Yes! But based on real research & rigorous analysis! « School Finance 101

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Productivity Agenda Yes! But based on real research rigorous analysis! « School Finance 101:Productivity Agenda Yes! But based on real research rigorous analysis!by schoolfinance101Pau Hill and Marguerite Roza’s response to my recent report – with Kevin Welner – and series of blog posts seems to offer as its central argument that we’re simply a curmudgeons, offering lots of complaints about the rigor of their arguments and their suggestions for improving schooling productivity and efficiency, but providing no creative or immediately ... more »

Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive Reform | News | The Harvard Crimson

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Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive Reform | News | The Harvard Crimson:Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive ReformBy ELIZABETH S. AURITT, CRIMSON STAFF WRITERPublished: Tuesday, February 07, 2012COMMENTEMAILPRINT During a speech at the Graduate School of Education on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne S. Duncan ’86 said that schools should not limit the scope of their focus and support to a child’s life within the classroom.“Educators should be attacking both in-school and out-of-school problems,” said Duncan to an ... more »

Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schools | MLive.com #edchat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schools | MLive.com:Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schoolsPublished: Tuesday, February 07, 2012, 5:00 AM By Blake Thorne | bthorne1@mlive.com GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Your local charter school is most likely not really locally operated.Most are for-profit companies based in far-off locales, operating behind-the-scenes and calling the shots on everything from teacher pay to school policy to pencil purchases.View full sizeHere's a look at ... more »

Budget overshadows push for local control over schools | UTSanDiego.com

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Budget overshadows push for local control over schools | UTSanDiego.com:Budget overshadows push for local control over schoolsEducators like Brown's focus, but worry about the money Gov. Jerry Brown’s education agenda is framed by an underlying commitment to hand off more control to local school officials, whether it’s over budgets or tests.“To me, we should set broad goals and have a good accountability system, leaving the real work to those closest to the students,” Brown told Californians in his State of ... more »

Schools Matter: Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.

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Schools Matter: Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.:Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.by skrashenNeed for better evaluation systemPublished in USA Today, Feb. 7, 2012The article "States weaken tenure rights for teachers" emphasizes the importance of evaluating teacher effectiveness. A major problem is that these evaluations are often based on students' ... more »

Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we. « Fred Klonsky

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Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we. « Fred Klonsky:Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we.by Fred KlonskyTRS Trustee Bob Lyons’ report, published here yesterday, pretty much lays out what is going to happen this year.Another assault on teacher pensions in Illinois.The IEA leadership has decided not to have teachers go to Springfield this May for ... more »

The Lives and Dreams of Our Children « City School Stories

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The Lives and Dreams of Our Children « City School Stories:The Lives and Dreams of Our Childrenby fmurphyTeacher StoriesSubmitted by Angela Chan on February 7, 2012As a classroom teacher, my position would likely not be among those eliminated within the next weeks to close the $61 million budget gap by June. Still, it was painful to read the list of items on the SRC’s “Options Menu” during that Thursday, January 19th meeting. How many more colleagues’ lives will be affected ... more »

Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up | Thoughts on Public Education

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Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up | Thoughts on Public Education:Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up - by Kathryn Baronby Kathryn BaronIt’s getting so that understanding the budgetary machinations of Transitional Kindergarten requires a master’s degree, or maybe a Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pin. In the month since Gov. Brown released his 2012-13 budget plan and recommended canceling Transitional Kindergarten (TK), supporters have found it hard to keep track of what the administration is proposing and [...]LAO ... more »

How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

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How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3)by larrycubanUsing high-tech devices smartly can customize the age-graded school out of existence. But it won’t happen.Nowhere in Parts 1 and 2 on age-graded schools did I mention the uses of technology. I have claimed in those two posts that, first, as a mid-19th century reform the K-12 organization has been a resounding success. It ... more »

School Tech Connect: Books Before Bytes

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 6 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Books Before Bytes:Books Before Bytesby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I don't disagree with this, and I'm a huge tech fan. There's no reason why we can't have both. This blog is written on a $300 netbook running open source software; if anything in the world were ever scalable, it's this kind of thing.I hate that word, by the way. Scalable. You know you're talking to someone who isn't actually working with kids when you hear the word scalable. Except when ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!:NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!by Leonie HaimsonIT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, 5:30PMBrooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Greene Pl (between Fulton and Dekalb) in BrooklynNear the Nevins 2/3/4/5 or the Dekalb B/D/N/Q/R BackgroundOn Thursday, February 9th, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) will hold an open meeting and then a vote to close down dozens more schools. The ... more »