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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 3-8 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform


Improvements to Testing Agreement - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Improvements to Testing Agreement - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Torlakson and School Board PresidentKirst Applaud Improvements to Testing AgreementCSTs and CMA Results Available in 10-12 Days Rather than Three MonthsSACRAMENTO—Following approval of changes to the state's agreement with Educational Testing Service regarding the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and State Board of Education President Michael Kirst issued the following statements:"In keeping with the Governor's State of ... more »

The Global Whole Child — Whole Child Education

The Global Whole Child — Whole Child Education: The Global Whole ChildbySean SladeA whole child approach to education is not something that is unique to the United States, or even to North America. It is an approach to education that has been taken up by many communities, regions, and countries. It is an approach that understands that education is more than just academic achievement and that ensuring that each child is healthy, safe, and engaged is a necessity if we ...more »

Education Week: 'Parent Unions' Seek to Join Policy Debates

Education Week: 'Parent Unions' Seek to Join Policy Debates: 'Parent Unions' Seek to Join Policy DebatesGwendolyn Samuel, 46, at laptop, founder of Connecticut Parents Union, works with student volunteers at her Meriden, Conn., home, in preparation for an education rally on March 14.—Christopher Capozziello for Education WeekBySean CavanaghPremium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.Read moreFREE content!Printer-FriendlyEmail ArticleReprintsCommentsWhether they're organizing events, buttonholing legislators, or simply trading ideas and information, a growing number of "parent unio... more »

School Tech Connect: Take Five For Abdolreza Ghanbari

School Tech Connect: Take Five For Abdolreza Ghanbari: Take Five For Abdolreza Ghanbaribynoreply@blogger.com (Tim)Do you have five minutes to call/write your representative in Washington?Iran is going to execute another teacher. Please help. This is my urgent email to my congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky.Dear Jan,I am writing to ask if there is anything you can do to assist in alife or death situation in Iran.As you may know, the regime leading Iran has shown zero tolerance for dissent, including activities sponsored by ... more »

KONY 2012

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.HOW TO HELP:Visit:http://kony2012.comDonate to Invisible Children:https://stayclassy.org/checkout/set-donation?eid=14711For info on Invisible Children:http://invisiblechildren.comFor official MEDIA and artist REPRESENTATION ONLY: Christina Cattarini cattarini@sunshinesachs.comDIRECTOR: Jason Russell LEAD EDITOR: Kathryn Lang EDITORS: Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Jesse Eslinger LEAD ANIMATOR: ... more »

This Budget Blows - Educate Our State

This Budget Blows - Educate Our State: This Budget BlowsThe Message:Don’t Blow It! Pass a budget that fully funds education NOW.Our California leaders are on the verge of blowing it, and our children are going to pay the price. The current budget proposal depends on revenue generated from a not-yet-passed November initiative -- but even Kindergartners know the school year starts months before that. Our schools can’t pay for teachers and programs with money they don’t have and might never ... more »

From the PAA Store: I test under duress « Parents Across America

From the PAA Store: I test under duress « Parents Across America: From the PAA Store: I test under duressbyandreameridaI test under duress: say no to standardized testinbyParentsAcrossAmericaBrowse othert-shirt designsmade on zazzle.comWith great thanks to Colorado opt-out activist, Conny J., here’s a great t-shirt for your kid, and maybe yourself, to express your opposition to the high-stakes decisions made with standardized test scores.We know that schools are teaching to the test, and it’s time to make your voice heard. Kids ... more »

Discuss Hispanic Educational Excellence in San Antonio Thursday La Casa Blanca, la comunidad hispana Acción de la Cumbre en San Antonio, Texas | The White House

White House Hispanic Community Action Summit in San Antonio, Texas | The White House: Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Discuss Hispanic Educational Excellence in San Antonio Thursday; White House to Hold Hispanic Community Action Summit FridayWASHINGTON, DC– The White House will hold a Hispanic Community Action Summit at Fox Tech High School in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, March 9th. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will deliver a keynote speech on the shared commitment needed to educate our way to an ... more »

State laws leave room for interpretation when it comes to school suspensions | EdSource Extra!

State laws leave room for interpretation when it comes to school suspensions | EdSource Extra!: State laws leave room for interpretation when it comes to school suspensionsMarch 8th, 2012 |2 CommentsBySue FreyandLouis Freedberg~ EdSource ExtraOne of the main reasons students are suspended from California schools is for “disrupting school activities” or “willfully defying” school authorities, which are largely undefined terms open to substantial interpretation, or misinterpretation, by school officials.“Willful defiance” has proven to be among the most problematical of the ... more »

Shanker Blog » The Charter School Authorization Theory

Shanker Blog » The Charter School Authorization Theory: The Charter School Authorization TheorybyMatthew Di CarloAnyone who wants to start a charter school must of course receive permission, and there are laws and policies governing how such permission is granted. In some states, multiple entities (mostly districts) serve as charter authorizers, whereas in others, there is only one or very few. For example, in California there are almost 300 entities that can authorize schools, almost all of them school districts. In ... more »

Ed Reform in Louisiana. Coming Soon to Your State? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Ed Reform in Louisiana. Coming Soon to Your State? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Ed Reform in Louisiana. Coming Soon to Your State?byNancy FlanaganWhat has happened down here is the winds have changedThe river rose all day; the river rose all night.Some people got lost in the flood. Some people got away all right.Louisiana 1927, Randy NewmanDiane Ravitch's brilliant, must-read blog,Bobby Jindal vs. Public Education, caused me to pull out an e-mail I got from ... more »

How Parent Revolution’s Adelanto Saga Shows Parent Trigger is Wrong for Florida | Scathing Purple Musings

How Parent Revolution’s Adelanto Saga Shows Parent Trigger is Wrong for Florida | Scathing Purple Musings: How Parent Revolution’s Adelanto Saga Shows Parent Trigger is Wrong for FloridabyBob SikesWashington PostreporterLyndseyLayton and a photographer made the trip to Adelanto, California for a first hand look at thehotly contested parent trigger petition battle going on there. Layton’s reporting reveals details of therealities that exist at Desert Trails Elementary and the astonishing lengths that charter school advocacy group Parent Revolution go to achieve ... more »

Video Shows Law Student Obama Introducing Professor Derrick Bell at 1990 Campus Rally « Student Activism

Video Shows Law Student Obama Introducing Professor Derrick Bell at 1990 Campus Rally « Student Activism: 'Video Shows Law Student Obama Introducing Professor Derrick Bell at 1990 Campus RallybyAngus JohnstonVideo has surfaced from a speech President Obama gave at a campus rally in 1990, the first of a series of videos that conservative activist Andrew Breitbart claimed would reveal the president’s true radicalism to the American people.Only a little over a minute of the speech has appeared so far, but ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Update: Happy "Where's Cerf's Charter Report?" Day!

Jersey Jazzman: Update: Happy "Where's Cerf's Charter Report?" Day!: Update: Happy "Where's Cerf's Charter Report?" Day!byDukeProfessor Bakerrightly chides me for not being clear in my message about"Where's Cerf's Charter Report?" Day.@jerseyjazzmanI beg of you. Please don't push for an analysis to be done that can't be done well with current data. You know what we'll getIt's a good point, and I need to be clear about this: another b.s. report from the NJ DOE about the wonders of charters is ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Afternoon Posts 3-7 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts 3-7 #edreform #soschatBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-14 minutes agoDirectory Scholarships, Internships, Programs for Latino Students - Hispanically Speaking NewsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-10 minutes agoDirectory Scholarships, Internships, Programs for Latino Students - Hispanically Speaking News:Check Out: Directory of Scholarships, Internships and Programs for Latino StudentsMarch 6, 2012 | by HS News StaffPhoto Credits: CHCI Scholarships ResourceCheck Out “Directory of Scholarships, Internships ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: NYC parents boycotting the state tests ask other parents to join them

NYC Public School Parents: NYC parents boycotting the state tests ask other parents to join them:NYC parents boycotting the state tests ask other parents to join themby Leonie HaimsonAnne StoneStandardized testing has become an obsession for those in charge our our schools at DOE; as they increasingly base nearly all important decisions on the unreliable results of these exams. The new NY state teacher evaluation system will just make matters worse. To add insult to injury, this year'sstate tests will ... more »

Bang for the buck? « Fred Klonsky

Bang for the buck? « Fred Klonsky:Bang for the buck?by Fred KlonskyA year ago I was standing in front of the IEA state offices on Edwards Street in Springfield talking to IEA President Cinda Klickna.“It’s not like it was in the old days,” Klickna said. “Back then we could walk across the street to the legislative offices and tell them what we wanted. And for the most part, we got it. What’s different now is that we don’t have

Data Analysis of Value Added Teacher Model Shows No Correlation | FDL News Desk

Data Analysis of Value Added Teacher Model Shows No Correlation | FDL News Desk:Data Analysis of Value Added Teacher Ratings Shows They’re Uselessby David DayenWould you use this data to rate a teacher’s performance?The New York Times released “value-added” data for 18,000 elementary school teachers in New York City recently, joining the Los Angeles Times, which released data for LA teachers last year. But unlike in LA, the New York Times allowed the data itself to be released, allowing analysts ... more »

What Works — Whole Child Education

What Works — Whole Child Education:Making Learning Relevant for the Whole ChildASCD Whole Child Bloggers at Whole Child Education » The Whole Child Blog - 16 minutes ago21st century skills development can offer new platforms for students to explore through project-based learning, to integrate the use of real world information, and apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to address the most pressing problems of our time; the very challenges our young people are already engaged in and will need to ... more »

Firing of D.C. teacher reveals flaws in value-added evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Firing of D.C. teacher reveals flaws in value-added evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Firing of D.C. teacher reveals flaws in value-added evaluationby Valerie StraussThe firing of a D.C. teacher called “creative,” “visionary” and “motivating” is the latest example of the many things wrong with value-added methods to evaluate teachers, the newest trend in school reform that is sweeping states with a push from the Obama administration.Read full article