BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS
The heat is on. « Fred Klonsky
The heat is on. « Fred Klonsky: The heat is on. by Fred Klonsky *Illinois State Representative Darlene Senger.* It is getting harder and harder for Illinois legislators to hide. And pressure from active and retired teachers is not just coming in the form of traditional IEA lobbying. For example, Naperville tomorrow from 4 to 6 PM. Folks will gather at the Free Speech Pavillion at the corner of Webster and Jackson and march to *Darlene Senger’s* office a block away. Senger is a State Representative and sits on the Governor’s Pension Panel. Senger is one of those who put her name on th... more »
Ay, caramba! Foreign language versions of school exams riddled with errors - NY Daily News
Ay, caramba! Foreign language versions of school exams riddled with errors - NY Daily News: Ay, caramba! Foreign language versions of school exams riddled with errorsState throws out 20 questions, blaming bad translations, from test versions in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian creole, Korean and Russian *GO TO * *National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing* STATE OFFICIALS tossed out 20 questions from the foreign-language versions of the state math exam, citing sloppy translations, the Daily News has learned. The latest revelations brought the total number of discredited state exam ques... more »
ALEC Gets a Break From State Lobbying Laws | Mother Jones
ALEC Gets a Break From State Lobbying Laws | Mother Jones: ALEC Gets a Break From State Lobbying Laws The American Legislative Exchange Council says it's not a lobbying group. Then why have three states specifically exempted it from their rules for lobbyists? —By Paul Abowd | Tue May. 8, 2012 3:00 AM PDT 16 - - On April 20, Common Cause submitted awhistleblower complaint to the IRS, claiming that the American Legislative Exchange Council is "a corporate lobbying group masquerading as a charity." The move was the latest salvo in progressive groups' campaign to limit the inf... more »
Senator Mary Landrieu: Please Investigate! « Diane Ravitch's blog
Senator Mary Landrieu: Please Investigate! « Diane Ravitch's blog: Senator Mary Landrieu: Please Investigate! by dianerav My last two posts about the alleged miracle in New Orleans referred to a good news story that appeared–at least online, if not in print–in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The story included a photograph of Senator Mary Landrieu standing with a group of students from the New Orleans College Prep Charter School. Something about that school rang a bell. I remembered that the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a complaint against the Louisiana Department of Educatio... more »
Modern School: The Pendulum of Stupidity: All Reforms Lead to Broken Schools
Modern School: The Pendulum of Stupidity: All Reforms Lead to Broken Schools: The Pendulum of Stupidity: All Reforms Lead to Broken Schools by Michael Dunn Are We There Yet? (Image from Flickr, by Phillie Casablanca) I’ve written a lot about the Common Core Standards movement recently and its corporate benefactors (click here, here and here). Anthony Cody just published a wonderful interview withYong* *Zhao (Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education, College of Education at the University of Oregon) on the topic. Rather than republish the entire interview (you can... more »
The CHE's Craven Blow Against Honest Speech :: Frederick M. Hess
The CHE's Craven Blow Against Honest Speech :: Frederick M. Hess: The *CHE*'s Craven Blow Against Honest Speech*by Frederick M. Hess • May 9, 2012 at 9:02 am* *Cross-posted from Education Week* Last week, the *Chronicle of Higher Education* blogger Naomi Schaefer Riley posted a tough, skewering (dare we say "mean-spirited") item blasting what she sees as a lack of academic rigor in black studies departments (hardly an earth-shattering observation, given that similar complaints have been made about all sorts of race and gender studies programs). For her trouble, on Monday she wa... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Tenure Hypocrisy Update
Jersey Jazzman: Tenure Hypocrisy Update: Tenure Hypocrisy Update by Duke Here's your latest update on the Perth Amboy tenure hypocrisy case: When we last checked in, ACTING NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf had reinstated anti-tenure superintendent Janine Caffrey, overriding the vote of the PA school board. In other words, Caffrey used an appeal to a third-party to protect her right to due process - which is *exactly* the definition of tenure. The hypocrisy here is stunning. NJ Spotlight has posted Cerf's decision. You'll notice that he's very slick here (he is, after all, a lawyer)... more »
The Dangerous Facts About New Orleans « Diane Ravitch's blog
The Dangerous Facts About New Orleans « Diane Ravitch's blog: The Dangerous Facts About New Orleans by dianerav I wrote in a blog yesterday about a balanced news story about the New Orleans story. It began with the usual paeans of praise to the charter miracle and the miracle of having great (inexperienced TFA) teachers, but then shifted gears and gave time to critics of this narrative. This is the link: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/05/sen_mary_landrieu_touts_new_o r.html However, the story did not appear in the print edition, and critics of the miracle in New Orlea...more »
Telling Lies About US Education « Diane Ravitch's blog
Telling Lies About US Education « Diane Ravitch's blog: Telling Lies About US Education by dianerav Someone sent me a link to an organization I had not previously heard of. It’s called the State Government Leadership Foundation, and it sounds a lot like ALEC. It takes positions and offers policy advice on many different issues, all from a conservative point of view. After much scouring of the site, I discovered that SGLI is a 501(c)(4) organization associated with the Republican State Leadership Committee. When I went to the section of the website on education reform, I was not ... more »
Bullets, marijuana and other barriers to school reform in East Oakland - Inside Bay Area
Bullets, marijuana and other barriers to school reform in East Oakland - Inside Bay Area: Bullets, marijuana and other barriers to school reform in East Oakland By Katy Murphy Oakland Tribune Posted: 05/08/2012 04:01:47 PM PDT Updated: 05/09/2012 04:56:49 AM PDT Click photo to enlarge Principal Daniel Hurst asks some direct questions of local law enforcement, school district... - - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - » OAKLAND -- East Oakland's Fremont High School campus is undergoing a transformation this year -- the second major reform effort in a decade. Its three... more »
Philly School District goes to Supreme Court in charter case - Philly.com
Philly School District goes to Supreme Court in charter case - Philly.com: Philly School District goes to Supreme Court in charter case May 08, 2012|By Martha Woodall, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER - - - Share on emailShare on printShare on redditMore Sharing Services - - - - [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] The Philadelphia School District has asked the state Supreme Court to consider overturning a recent Commonwealth Court ruling about charter schools that could have dire consequences for Philadelphia and oth... more »
Students must summon our inner superheroes for educational justice | Thoughts on Public Education
Students must summon our inner superheroes for educational justice | Thoughts on Public Education: Students must summon our inner superheroes for educational justice Share Posted on 5/08/12 • Categorized as Achievement Gap By *Citlali Hernandez* When I was a young child, every Saturday morning I would watch cartoons, especially Batman. Although people may think it’s a cliché for children to be inspired by superheroes, the feeling children get from watching people who can change the world into a better place touches a true emotion. I don’t have superpowers, but I do have the power t... more »
Cerf Enters Perth Amboy Superintendent Fight
NJ Spotlight | Fine Print: Cerf Enters Perth Amboy Superintendent Fight: Fine Print: Cerf Enters Perth Amboy Superintendent Fight Acting commissioner's ruling puts embattled school administrator back to work print | email | share By John Mooney, May 9, 2012 in Education |3 Comments *What it is:* New Jersey’s acting education commissioner, Chris Cerf, yesterday ruled on a legal challenge that Perth Amboy superintendent Janine Caffrey must be reinstated to her job, at least for now, after the district’s school board voted in April to dismiss her over a number of political differences... more »
Daily Kos: A brief moment of personal reflection
Daily Kos: A brief moment of personal reflection: A brief moment of personal reflection by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) In exactly two weeks I will turn 66. Each year as May 23 approaches, I find myself reflecting, looking back on the year that has passed, wondering what if anything I might have to offer on that date itself. Certainly in the year that I turned 60 that seemed most appropriate. This year is somewhat different. My birthday will occur less than 3 weeks before I leave the school at which I have taught, except for one year, since 1998. It will be exactly one week ... more »
Teacher evaluation: What it should look like - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post
Teacher evaluation: What it should look like - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: Teacher evaluation: What it should look like Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 hours ago A new report from Stanford University researcher Linda Darling-Hammond details what the components of a comprehensive teacher evaluation system should look like at a time when such assessments have become one of the most contentious debates in education today. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon] Ben Carson's creationist...more »
FINALLY MAKING A STAND AGAINST LAUSD IN THE OAH - Perdaily.com
FINALLY MAKING A STAND AGAINST LAUSD IN THE OAH - Perdaily.com: FINALLY MAKING A STAND AGAINST LAUSD IN THE OAH by Leonard Isenberg [image: Case dismissed with prejudice.jpg] *(Mensaje se repite en Español) (For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post) *For years the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has been running roughshod over teachers, who they have succeeded in removing from their livelihood as professional tenured teachers as if they had no rights under collective bargaining or to due process of law. With the Miramonte Child Abuse ... more »
The Innovative Educator: Parent opts child out of field test and opts into meaningful learning
The Innovative Educator: Parent opts child out of field test and opts into meaningful learning: Parent opts child out of field test and opts into meaningful learning by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen) *Opt Out of Field Tests*Students across the nation have been unnecessarily subjected to the most expensive and least effective assessments possible over the past few months...standardized tests. While in all cases this resulted in stolen instructional time, in many cases it was even worse and also resulted in students forced to take tests against parental will even if it meant emot... more »
Arts high school students walk out to protest proposed budget cuts - latimes.com
Arts high school students walk out to protest proposed budget cuts - latimes.com: Arts high school students walk out to protest proposed budget cuts [image: Cortines school student protest] More than 1,000 students from the Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts walked from their downtown campus to school district headquarters Tuesday afternoon to protest budget cuts that have the potential to devastate the school’s arts program. The high school opened three years ago as the district’s flagship arts program in a gleaming, high-tech campus on the north edge of downtown. The s... more »
NYC Educator: Obama to Teachers--Drop Dead
NYC Educator: Obama to Teachers--Drop Dead: Obama to Teachers--Drop Dead by NYC Educator To show how much he appreciates the endorsements of NEA and AFT, President Barack Obama declared this week, Teacher Appreciation Week, to be National Charter School Week. So all you public school teachers wasting your time with kids who don't speak English, kids who have special needs, kids who need alternate assessment, and all the other kids who don't improve the test scores can go straight to hell. The President has taken your week and given it to Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Michelle Rhee and the... more »
Peg with Pen: Mind Trust's David Harris: His Next Step Will Be Over You
Peg with Pen: Mind Trust's David Harris: His Next Step Will Be Over You: Mind Trust's David Harris: His Next Step Will Be Over You by Peggy As a former public school teacher who knows a lot about authentic assessment, I am always fascinated to read directives given by the likes of Mr. Harris, who hasn't taught - yet can suggest a school closing based on standardized test data - data that quite honestly, is worthless – if indeed you wish to know about real student learning. Mr. Harris, CEO of Mind Trust, recently stated that The Project School (as well as three other schools) in I... more »
Big Education Ape Nite Cap UPDATE 5-8-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
Big Education Ape: Big Education Ape Nite Cap 5-8-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2: *UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* *BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS* *BEFORE NOON HONEST!* North Hollywood school is part of Maurice Sendak's legacy by By C.J. Lin, Staff Writer Former North Hollywood elementary school Principal Nancy Oda took the news of beloved children's author Maurice Sendak's death especially hard. Original enclosure (20120508_071913_do08 maurice sendak obit 1.jpg) DOE Response on Opting Out of State Tests by Patrick J. Sullivan *After reports of some families receiving harsh treatme... more »