Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Engaging Parents In School…

Engaging Parents In School…:


“A Few Highlights From #Teaching2030 Chat On Parent Engagement”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 12 hours ago
The Center For Teaching Quality regularly organizes Twitter chats on education issues. Here are a few highlights from their late April, 2012 chat on parent engagement. [View the story "A Few Highlights From #Teaching2030 Chat On Parent Engagement" on Storify]

“‘Parent Engagement’ Questions Create Buzz”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 13 hours ago
‘Parent Engagement’ Questions Create Buzz is an Ed Week post by Michele Molnar that gives a good summary with links of several recent Ed Week posts and articles on parent engagement. As I’ve said before, if you’re interested in parent engagement issues, then you should be reading Michele’s blogs.

“What Parents & Educators Want from Student Assessments”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 days ago
I’ve previously posted about recently released survey results from the Northwest Evaluation Association — see “Parents Agree – Better Assessments, Less High-Stakes Testing.” Marilyn Price-Mitchell has just written a more thorough review of the survey in a post titled “What Parents & Educators Want from Student Assessments.” It’s worth a visit.

Upcoming Twitter Chat On Ed Week Parent Engagement Series

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 3 days ago
I previously posted about the two-week parent engagement discussion over at Education Week and my contribution to it. As part of that conversation, the Center For Teaching Quality is organizing a Twitter chat on the topic this Thursday. Here’s their announcement: Join @teachingquality for a live twitter chat about parent involvement, Thursday, 4/19/12, 8:30-9:30 p.m. [...]

What Can We Learn About Parent Engagement Today From What Happened In West Virginia 100 Years Ago?

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 3 days ago
If you want to know the answer to that question, you’ll have to read my post over at Education Week titled ‘Back To The Future’ For Parent Engagement. It’s part of a series of posts Ed Week is publishing this week and next on parent engagement under the theme: Is Parent Involvement The Missing Link [...]

“Emanuel backs 7-hour school day after parents protest longer plan”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
Maybe, just maybe, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel might be learning he can’t unilaterally make major decisions about schools without engaging with stakeholders like parents and teachers. He certainly doesn’t have a history of listening to them. Last week, though, he blinked. See Emanuel backs 7-hour school day after parents protest longer plan.

“This Week’s #PTchat – Taking You Through Each Awesome Educational Chat & Hashtag”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
Guest Post by Joe Mazza: This Week’s #PTchat – Taking You Through Each Awesome Educational Chat & Hashtag *Special Time* Wednesday, 4/18 – 8PM EST / 5PM PST Join #PTchat this Wednesday night from 8-9PM EST (Special Time) as we discuss many of the educational and parenting hashtags, what they stand for and when you [...]

“School Reformers” Steal PTA’s Name

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 6 days ago
I have a lot of issues with what some people do in the name of school reform — like stealing the PTA’s name. A group of hedge fund managers — I’m not kidding, that’s who’s on their board — started a New York City organization called… PTA Now. Here’s their flyer: Thanks to Ed Wize [...]



“When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 hours ago
When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say is the New York Times’ “take” on the bizarre talking pineapple standardized testing question I wrote about last night (see Most Bizarre Standardized Test Question Ever?). I’ll add it … Continue reading →

“Round-Up” Of Recent Good Articles On School Reform

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 9 hours ago
Here are a few recent good posts and articles on school reform issues: Teacher: I dare you to measure my ‘value’ is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards … Continue reading →

“Teachers must drive education reform – not just go along for the ride”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 11 hours ago
Teachers must drive education reform – not just go along for the ride is the title of a profile/interview that Microsoft just published about me. You might or might not find it interesting….

Easily Make Resumes With Resumonk

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 12 hours ago
Resumonk lets you easily create resumes. It’s one of the easiest tools out there that I’ve seen — students can quickly make a PDF. I’m adding it to The Best Places For Students To Write Their Resumes.

The Best Posts About The Most Bizarre Standardized Test Question Ever

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 12 hours ago
You may have already heard about the incredibly bizarre question that appeared on New York’s standardized test — it’s about a talking pineapple. If you haven’t already seen them, here are a few posts that will give you all the … Continue reading →

You Can Vote Now For The 2012 Vimeo Awards

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 12 hours ago
Vimeo, the more “artsy” alternative to YouTube, has just opened voting for their 2012 Awards. It looks like they have quite a number of excellent videos, though I really wish they had provided each one with a sentence or two … Continue reading →

“Persuasion isn’t always here’s the facts….”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Here’s a short video of Neil deGrasse Tyson sharing some important wisdom for teachers and others. The last line contains language inappropriate for classroom use (I’ve used TubeChop to cut it out of this version and you’ll have to click … Continue reading →

BBC Interactives & Infographics

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
I’ve previously posted about many interactives and infographics from the BBC. Recently, I discovered that they have two pages where they collect them. You can visit their Interactive and Graphics page, which appears to be regularly updated. Their other site … Continue reading →

Stanford Launches “Understanding Language” Initiative

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Stanford has just launched an “Understanding Language” Initiative designed to help teachers integrated the new Common Core Standards into English Language Learner instruction. It’s got a lot of plans, and right now it has published a bunch of papers. It … Continue reading →

Neat Panoramas Of National Parks

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Nature Valley Trail View offers neat panoramic tours of the Grand Canyon, Great Smokies and Yellowstone. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Yosemite & Other U.S. National Parks.

“How Can We Teach Social Studies More Effectively?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
How Can We Teach Social Studies More Effectively? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Please share your response there or in the comments section here…

World Malaria Day Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
April 25th is World Malaria Day. I’ve recently updated The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day. Additional suggestions are always welcome.

Two Articles In This Week’s NY Times Magazine — One Useful, One Relatively Useless

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
This Sunday’s New York Times Magazine theme is on the “mind,” and they’ve published two articles early. How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain seems quite interesting and useful. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On How Exercise … Continue reading →

More Earth Day Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Here are the newest additions to The Best Earth Day Sites: Earth Day and All Days: 10 Ways to Learn About the Environment is from The New York Times Learning Network. Earth Day Over the Years is a slideshow from … Continue reading →

“Merit pay systems in the private sector have been found to hurt job performance”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Source: pinaquote.com via Larry on Pinterest This comes from an article in The Atlantic titled Should Teachers Get Bonuses for Student Achievement? Here’s the full quote: A 2009 report on teacher performance pay and accountability from the Economic … Continue reading →

Holocaust Remembrance Day Is Tomorrow

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Holocaust Remembrance Day is tomorrow (Thursday, April 19th) in the United States. You might find The Best Sites For Learning About The Holocaust useful. Additional suggestions are welcome.

Updated Collection Of 75 Articles I’ve Written

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
As regular readers know, I do a fair amount of writing on education issues for other publications (in addition to my blog and my Education Week Teacher column) — The Washington Post, The New York Times, Education Week, Edutopia, Language … Continue reading →

Repinly Shows What’s Popular On Pinterest

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Repinly shows you what boards, “pinners,” and categories are most popular on Pinterest. They don’t seem to have an Education category — not yet, at least. It does seem somewhat interesting, though. Boy, some of the most popular boards have … Continue reading →

“Monkey See, Monkey Read”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
I’ve previously posted about the recent study that demonstrated baboons could distinguish between genuine English words and fake ones (see Does Intensive Phonics Instruction Treat Students Like Baboons?). Here is a short and very interesting video describing how scientists did … Continue reading →

“Several Kinds Of Grading Systems”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Several Kinds Of Grading Systems is my newest Education Week Teacher column. In it, I describe the grading system I use in my classes, which is primarily based on student self-assessment, and several other authors and educators describing standards-based grading … Continue reading →