Big Education Ape Special Early Evening Update
Pineapplegate continues, with 20 more errors, and finally an apologia from Pearson
It has been nearly three weeks since I first blogged about the absurd Pineapple story on the NY State 8th grade exam, produced by Pearson. Since then, even more errors have been found, and just yesterday twenty newly discovered mistakes in the math exams in foreign languages were announced. That brings this year's total to 29-30 errors in all, including six Pineapple questions, a question on the fourth grade math test with two correct answers, an error on the 8th grade math exam, and an error in the scoring guide that forced the rescoring of the sixth grade English exam.See this Daily News report and this account fromNY1. Regents head Merryl Tisch now says that thesemistakes are "inexcusable", and that Pearson should try to win back public trust; but how?
So far, the testing company has gained little support even after a coordinated PR campaign, including th
Caring for Every Child’s Mental Health
What does it take for children to be mentally healthy? Being mentally healthy is not just about emotional and behavioral difficulties. It's also about being mentally strong and resilient and having the skills and supports to deal with stressful issues when they arise. Today is National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, established and promoted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Awareness Day national event complements activities occurring across the country, such as community events, youth rallies, social media campaigns, and activities with children that promote community conversations about the importance of caring adults to enhancing resilience in children and youth following traumatic experiences.
We know that
- Abuse and neglect can disrupt attachment and stem the development of important relational capacities. Nearly 35 percent of children and youth who are reported for maltreatment demonstrate significant deficits in social skills.
Nation's Largest Governor Becomes New Jersey's Biggest Liar
If this kind of lying were not so commonplace among the governors owned by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, it would be astonishing. HT to Stan Karp:
One week after releasing new graduation rates that his Department of Education hailed as “a more complete and accurate way of calculating the high school graduation rate” Governor Christie ignored that data and made up his own numbers to attack the state’s urban public schools. He called state aid to struggling districts "an obscene waste of money,’’ citing as evidence what he called the “graduation rates” for Newark, Paterson, Jersey City, Asbury Park, Camden and Trenton.
However, instead of using NJDOE’s “more complete and accurate way “ of measuring grad rates, the Governor made up his own numbers. Christie has apparently decided that any student who
BEX Work Session Today.
Off to the BEX Work Session. Here's the presentation. Will Tweet if anything urgently good comes up.
CT education bill failed to meet Rhee’s corporate reform expectations
Written by Christine Stuart for CTNewsJunkie. Read the entire article here.
“Rep. Andrew Fleischmann, co-chairman of the Education Committee, said the tenure situation described by Malloy in his opening remarks back in February is not what he’s witnessed as he went on to describe the legislation on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. The bill requires teachers to be evaluated on an annual basis, and their tenure will be based on their performance evaluations.
…
Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst organization that spent as much as $790,000 on advertising in favor of the
“Rep. Andrew Fleischmann, co-chairman of the Education Committee, said the tenure situation described by Malloy in his opening remarks back in February is not what he’s witnessed as he went on to describe the legislation on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. The bill requires teachers to be evaluated on an annual basis, and their tenure will be based on their performance evaluations.
…
Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst organization that spent as much as $790,000 on advertising in favor of the
Rhee’s successor has a new 5 year plan that shows up what Rhee failed to accomplish in DC
Rhee’s successor has a new 5-year plan. Inherent in this plan is an important admission of what Rhee failed to deliver. Here it is: “increase enrollment, improve struggling schools, raise math and reading proficiency to 70 percent, and increase the high school graduation rate to 75 percent.”
If Rhee had delivered the DC miracle achievement scores as she keeps on claiming, why is there a need to raise
If Rhee had delivered the DC miracle achievement scores as she keeps on claiming, why is there a need to raise
LAUSD’s Rubber Room for Victims of Abuse Hysteria
Following the January arrest of former teacher Mark Berndt, who was charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct in the classroom, the entire staff was fired at Miramonte Elementary School, in Los Angeles. Last week, at least 40 displaced teachers and staff members rallied outside Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles, the “Rubber Room” where they have reported for the past three months while awaiting reassignment. (Hawkins High is not currently in operation). More than 150 students and parents also joined the demonstration.
Superintendent John Deasy said he was replacing the staff to restore confidence in the school. Yet only 2 staff members have been charged or even accused of misconduct. Teachers at the rally expressed anger and frustration at having “been publicly punished and humiliated for the
Superintendent John Deasy said he was replacing the staff to restore confidence in the school. Yet only 2 staff members have been charged or even accused of misconduct. Teachers at the rally expressed anger and frustration at having “been publicly punished and humiliated for the
The CTU on Rahm’s pension proposal and “shared sacrifice.”
The Chicago Teachers Union today responded to Mayor Emanuel’s pension proposal.
“The Mayor has talked repeatedly about “shared sacrifice” but in the pension proposals offered today he only asks for educators, librarians, firefighters and other city employees—the taxpaying base of our city—who earn modest pensions to sacrifice. Mayor Emmanuel touts the 401K option as the gold standard. Imagine if our public school educators only had the option of a 401K
“How Do We Help Long-Term ELL’s & How Does Having ELL’s Affect A Teacher’s Evaluation?”
How Do We Help Long-Term ELL’s & How Does Having ELL’s Affect A Teacher’s Evaluation? are the two questions of the week at my Education Week Teacher column.
I’m trying something a little different this week and having two questions instead of one…..
I’m trying something a little different this week and having two questions instead of one…..
Using A Lesson On Cognitive Dissonance To Help Students Learn To Take Responsibility
I have an extended lesson plan in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, on helping students learn to take personal responsibility and blame others less.
In addition, I have a related “The Best..” list called The Best Resources For Helping Students (& The Rest Of Us) Learn The Concept Of Not Blaming Others.
Today, I got an idea for an addition to those lessons.
First, NPR ran a story titled Partisan Psychology: Why Do People Choose Political Loyalties Over Facts? It discusses a study on cognitive dissonance — holding two conflicting opinions in your head at the same time. Even though the article was talking about it in the context of politics, it certainly happens in the classroom. F
