Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-17 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

Louisiana Educator: Ed Reform May Increase Segregation

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Louisiana Educator: Ed Reform May Increase Segregation: byMichael DeshotelsEd Reform May Increase SegregationOptions galore!That's how theBaton Rouge Advocate describes school optionswithin the next few years for Baton Rouge public school parents. Now in addition to expanded charters and vouchers, a new breakaway district is in the process of being approved by the legislature for another mostly white section of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. One would assume that expanded school choice, should increase the racial mixing of all ... more »

Florida Diversity and Leadership Conference

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Florida Diversity and Leadership Conference: RegisterSessionsSpeakersSponsorsSessionsRead moreDiversityFirst JobsLooking for that perfect candidate? Post your jobs on DiversityFIRSTjobs.com!Visit DiversityFIRSTJobs!Florida DiversityVisitFlorida Diversity, our new magazine publication catering to the state's business professionalsRead moreHomeFounder's WelcomeConference Co-ChairOrganizersGet InvolvedKeynote SpeakersAgendaSessionsNominationsRegistrationPartnership OpportunitiesVenueFlorida Diversity Council2011 ConferenceContact UsWhy Attend?We've got a thousand reasons why, butclick ... more »

Bullying Is Not a Rite of Passage—Theme of White House LGBT Safe Schools Conference | ED.gov Blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Bullying Is Not a Rite of Passage—Theme of White House LGBT Safe Schools Conference | ED.gov Blog: Bullying Is Not a Rite of Passage—Theme of White House LGBT Safe Schools ConferencebyGuest BloggerWith the goal of empowering and informing advocates on the ground about the federal resources available to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community, White House officials joined federal and local partners at the first LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities on March 20that the University of ... more »

Schools Matter: Protect Your Children And Stop the Orgy of Tabulation: Opt Out!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Schools Matter: Protect Your Children And Stop the Orgy of Tabulation: Opt Out!: Protect Your Children And Stop the Orgy of Tabulation: Opt Out!byJim HornGreat resource guide below--do have a look and get involved. This movement can bring an end the madness of high stakes standardized testing.Tuesday, April 17, 2012MEASURING SUCCESSOpting Out: Families and Advocates Against Standardized TestingEducation Perspectives for the Central ValleyPursuant to California Education Code 60615, parents have the right to opt their children out of the Standardized ... more »

The Washington State PTA Convention: Be There | Seattle Education

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

The Washington State PTA Convention: Be There | Seattle Education: The Washington State PTA Convention: Be Therebyseattleducation2011There is a movement underfoot to take our rogue PTA back in the state of Washington.It has been taken over withthe likes of Stand for Children and the League of Education Voters(LEV) who have been setting the agenda for the WSPTA for the last two years, an agenda which includes merit pay for teachers, evaluating a teacher’s performance based on test scores and the ... more »

Huge Quebec Student Strike Enters New Phase « Student Activism

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Huge Quebec Student Strike Enters New Phase « Student Activism: Huge Quebec Student Strike Enters New PhasebyAngus JohnstonQuebec’s ten-week student strike, now the longest in the province’s history, is reaching a critical point.Although government officials continue to reject students’ demand that they reverse a planned tuition increase, Quebec education minister Line Beauchamp said Sunday that she is willing to meet with student leaders to discuss demands forreform in university governance.That concession was echoed the next day byQuebec’s premier, Jean Charest. ... more »

Time to take a hard look at charter schools (Letter) | MLive.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Time to take a hard look at charter schools (Letter) | MLive.com: Time to take a hard look at charter schools (Letter)Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 6:00 AMByletter writersFollow1ShareEmailPrintI am not in the least surprised to hear that charter schools spend more on administration than they do on instruction. Here in Michigan, I would expect that result since 80 percent are for-profit charters.How lovely to think that charter schools’ use of our tax money not only goes for more administrative ... more »

Connecticut teachers' unions battles powerful outsiders over reform - Hartford Courant

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Connecticut teachers' unions battles powerful outsiders over reform - Hartford Courant: Teachers Union Battles Powerful InterestsOTHER OPINIONApril 16, 2012|By PHIL APRUZZESE and MARY LOFTUS LEVINE,The Hartford Courant"There is something awful going on in America. It has to do with scapegoating teachers, demonizing unions, and undermining education." That commentary is from former U.S. Assistant Commissioner of Education Diane Ravitch. Ravitch, who today is a professor and author, also is concerned about excluding teachers through top-down reforms. But that's exactly what anti-union... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: GAM vs. Tiger Moms

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 52 minutes ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: GAM vs. Tiger Moms: GAM vs. Tiger MomsbyAnngieLast year Amy Chua started a national debate about how hard parents should push their children to succeed. Her bookBattle Hymn of the Tiger Motherput a spotlight on the practices Chinese mothers used to get their children to the top of the success heap. Many Americans were appalled, but a slight note of worry was also struck by her comment to Meredith Vieira,"To be perfectly honest, I know that a ... more »

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Royko would have loved Rahm. « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Royko would have loved Rahm. « Fred Klonsky: Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Royko would have loved Rahm.byFred KlonskyFrom theSouthtown.That brilliant chronicler of the verities of Chicago’s corrupt politicians, Mike Royko, would see Rahm Emanuel, the Dimunitive Despot, as a columnist’s dream come true.The scenario of a former suburbanite and D.C insider, whose campaign was well funded by charter-school lobbyist money, destroying the Chicago Public Schools and the careers of dedicated teachers for political gain, would be ... more »

Equal Pay Day 2012 | The G Bitch Spot

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Equal Pay Day 2012 | The G Bitch Spot: Equal Pay Day 2012byG BitchThis year, it’s also Tax Day.Did your senators and/or representative support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009? Do they even acknowledge the wage gap? Do you live inWY where women earn 64% of what men do? Or are you lucky enough to have a federal job where the pay gap is less extreme—notabsentbut less extreme?Today’s reading: the National Committee on Pay Equity’spay equity info page. ...more »

The MomsRising blog is a soapbox where people across our nation can talk politics, policy, and parenting.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

MomsRising Blog: "The MomsRising blog is a soapbox where people across our nation can talk politics, policy, and parenting."Equal Pay Day: A Joint Blog Carnival With National Women’s Law CenterRuth MartinatMomsRising Blog-17 minutes agoToday is not just Tax Day. It is also Equal Pay Day – the day that symbolizes how far into 2012 women must work to earn what men already earned in 2011. That’s right. Women have to work for 16.5 months to earn what men make in ... more »

This Week In Education: Thompson: Refocus On Classroom Instruction, Brookings Urges

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

This Week In Education: Thompson: Refocus On Classroom Instruction, Brookings Urges: Thompson: Refocus On Classroom Instruction, Brookings Urgesbyjohn thompsonThe contemporary data-driven "reform" movement, fundamentally, is a theoretical bank shot, where in the name of "output-based" accountability non-educators'change the subject away from teaching and learningin order tosomehow improve teaching and learning. "Choosing Blindly," by the Brookings Foundation's Grover Whitehurst and Matthew Chingos, is a reminder that the best wayto improve classroom outcomes is to concentrate on the... more »

Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone Investigated - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone Investigated - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone InvestigatedbyAnthony CodyFollow me onTwitter at @AnthonyCodyAs our public schools are systematically re-engineered for dubious reasons, with questionable results, by people of uncertain motives, there is a disturbing lack of skepticism on the part of our watchdogs for the public good, journalists. One of the basic principles of reporting is to ask "cui bono" - who ... more »

Some teachers feel frustrated, devalued by LA Unified | 89.3 KPCC

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Some teachers feel frustrated, devalued by LA Unified | 89.3 KPCC: Teacher: Cuts to arts education are a 'great tragedy'Pass / Fail-8 hours agoAt Peary Middle School in Gardena, visual arts teacher Valerie Davidson teaches drawing and painting to about 175 students. She is the only arts teacher in a school of nearly 2,000 students. "Less than 30 percent of the kids in school have access to the arts," Davidson said Monday at the RIF notice hearings at California Market ... more »

What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reformByValerie StraussFinland’shigh-achieving public school system is now part of the conversation about U.S. education reform these days. What, it is often asked, can we learn from Finland? (Plenty, actually, though U.S. reformers consistentlyignore the lessons.)The queryhas been asked and answered so often that it seems like a good time to ask what the ... more »

Asking Questions | Taking Note

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Asking Questions | Taking Note: Asking QuestionsbyJohn MerrowHow does one run a panel? John has some ideas.Question:You moderate a lot of panel discussions at education meetings, and you have a reputation for doing a pretty good job at it. In fact, some of those appearances are embedded above in this post. Can you pass along some tips to the rest of us?John:Sure, but why are you asking me now?Question:Well, you’re not getting any younger, are you?John:Fair enough. There’s really just ... more »

http://www.southbronxschool.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

http://www.southbronxschool.com: Right Now In New York Statebynoreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)Right now as I am typing this it is Monday, April 16, 2012 at approximately 9:24 PM. My 5th grade son is watching the Yankees and the Twins as his normal 10 PM bedtime approaches. He had a long day today. School, then a baseball game tonight. We are treating things as normal this evening, as well as the upcoming evenings, even though this coming week will not be normal for thousands ... more »

An Ode To The Big Tests | The Jose Vilson

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

An Ode To The Big Tests | The Jose Vilson: An Ode To The Big TestsbyJoseHere’s to you.Here’s to the students who will be pelted with Scantron sheets and test booklets emblazoned with the shape of New York State, a place they’ve explored so little.Here’s to the students who, after 140 days of mixed concentration for varied reasons, will be asked to focus all their energies on answering 50+ multiple choice and 9+ extended response questions they’ll have to take ... more »

Modern School: Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Modern School: Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”: Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”byMichael DunnEvery year teachers are asked to add more to their repertoire of teaching techniques, to work harder and longer to implement reforms that are supposed to improve student learning. If these reforms actually improved learning outcomes, the investment in professional development and teacher’s time might be worth it.Teachers should be wary.Administrators and proponents typically claim reforms are based on solid evidence and ... more »

How to Destroy the Educational System » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

How to Destroy the Educational System » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names: Take Away Their Funding, Terrorize Teachers, and Send Kids Somewhere ElseHow to Destroy the Educational Systemby ELIZABETH WALTERSHow can we improve public education for our children?The answers to this question–and the perspectives on the current quality of public education in the United States–are as varied and individualized as the 55 million students who attend public school in this country. Recently, legislators in Louisiana, like their counterparts ... more »

School Tech Connect: Totally Not A Rant

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Totally Not A Rant: Totally Not A RantSo... here's a cautionary tale, not a rant. It's going to sound like a rant. I'm not ranting, swear to God.Anyway I get an email from my state representative, and it turns out she's having office hours at a place I can get to and I time I can make, if I A) drive instead of biking and B) haul ass. Here's the relevant bit of email...This email irks me ... more »

Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public Education « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public Education « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public EducationbymillerlfRemoving the Walker regime is within the grasp of Wisconsin voters. Walker’s policies, if allowed to continue, will make pain and suffering the order of the day for many people, while corporations and the wealthy will flourish.As an advocate of public education, working for over 80,000 Milwaukee students, my goal is to steer education ... more »

Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying | The New York World

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying | The New York World: Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbyingPosted onApril 16, 2012 byAlice BrennanandCurtis SkinnerThe schools group chaired by former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein was last year's fourth-biggest Albany lobbyist. Photo: Gotham SchoolsWith this story, The New York World launchesThe Lobbies at the Top, a guide to spending on political influence in New York State. The first edition takes a look at the power players of 2011, ... more »

Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA Support | Scathing Purple Musings

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA Support | Scathing Purple Musings: Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA SupportbyBob SikesWhile the American Left rose to the defense of Hilary Rosen’s smear of Ann Romney, the lobbying firm who pays Rosen’ssalary was cashing in on her contacts with the Obama White House. According to Lee Fang ofThe Nation, among Rosen’s clients isMichelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst:SKDKnickerbocker representsconsultingforStudents First, a lobbying group aimed at destroying collective bargaining, ... more »