Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
CA Governor Jerry Brown Deemphasizes State Tests in Revised School Rating System
Mitt Romney Supports High-Stakes Standardized Testing
Bill Introduced: S.3578 An original bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
An original bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
“Engaging Every Secondary School Family”
Engaging Every Secondary School Family is a useful post by Steve Constantino. Here’s an excerpt:
At the secondary school level, the plan to engage families should emanate from the families themselves. Understanding their perspectives and needs and then crafting a plan based on that information helps to make engagement efforts more meaningful and relevant to individual parents. It is important to respect families as equal partners in the education of their children and to recognize the potential in their contributions to the process of learning. Most importantly, welcoming them to the school goes a long way to creating a culture where every family feels accepted and is engaged.
At the secondary school level, the plan to engage families should emanate from the families themselves. Understanding their perspectives and needs and then crafting a plan based on that information helps to make engagement efforts more meaningful and relevant to individual parents. It is important to respect families as equal partners in the education of their children and to recognize the potential in their contributions to the process of learning. Most importantly, welcoming them to the school goes a long way to creating a culture where every family feels accepted and is engaged.
My Stance on “Ed Reform”
(I was asked a few questions on my involvement with the Student Voice movement and my opinions on edreform for a documentary. Here’s what I said)
I think education is extremely important, but that the definition of what education entails, is changing as we speak. To me, getting an education is still the means of acquiring the knowledge to succeed and survive once you leave school and enter the “real world” with all the “big kids.” education, in countries less fortunate than the U.S, is a ticket up and out if you take advantage of it. Education can, and should continue to, be revolutionary.
Initially, I simply focused on using technology to maximize our learning potential. This interest on maximizing learning in school evolved into thinking about an ideal school containing a mix of elements picked up from my
I think education is extremely important, but that the definition of what education entails, is changing as we speak. To me, getting an education is still the means of acquiring the knowledge to succeed and survive once you leave school and enter the “real world” with all the “big kids.” education, in countries less fortunate than the U.S, is a ticket up and out if you take advantage of it. Education can, and should continue to, be revolutionary.
Initially, I simply focused on using technology to maximize our learning potential. This interest on maximizing learning in school evolved into thinking about an ideal school containing a mix of elements picked up from my
A look at KIPP, Michael Feinberg, NCTQ and Bill Gates
KIPP is in a rush to now dumb down education in New Zealand even though New Zealand and Australia have higher international test scores than the US and the majority of other nations.
KIPP is trying to worm their way into New Zealand using the same old phrasing such as “failing schools” and “ineffective teachers” and pushing the idea of hiring “unregistered” (cheap) staff to populate charter schools.
PAA member Karran Harper-RoyalFortunately in New Zealand they are having an open national debate on charter schools something that never
Back on the KeyTrain Gang
At The Common Errant, I have frequently offered detailed reports on the fraudulent nature of the corporate reforms in "education." Shining a bright light (unfortunately lacking the sterilizing power of the sun) on human malfeasance and corruption is a worthy endeavor if, in the end, it is only a human truth in the age characterized by mechanical tyranny and bureaucratic death squads. It is our current "ground of being." It is because of this that I have come to feel a futility in opposition. But...Saying NO to the technological horror so mindlessly accepted and promulgated as a kind of pinnacled position
George Norcross Isn't Gonna Like This...
Oh, my:
The Camden Board of Education, in a move that surprised everyone including its own members, rejected all four proposals to build renaissance schools in the city.The early morning decision (just after midnight) came after a closed session meeting in which the board discussed the four applications.The proposals for Ben Franklin Academy, Camden Center for Youth Development and Universal Company were voted down by every member.The Kipp Cooper Norcross Academy, which scored highest on the rubric and was rumored to be the chosen one, was rejected by a lack of majority vote. Board members Felicia Reyes-Morton an
Perth Amboy Update
Because we just can't get enough news from the soap opera that is Perth Amboy's schools:
A number of ethics complaints filed against city Board of Education members appear headed to hearings before a state administrative law judge following decisions announced Tuesday by the state School Ethics Commission.Some of the ethics complaints brought by Superintendent of Schools Janine Walker Caffrey against Board President Samuel Lebreault, Vice President Kenneth Puccio and
electoral votes counts courtesy of Nate Silver
Let's set the stage
Obama won 365 EVs in '08. Those states currently have 359.
Subtract 12 IN with 11 and for now the 2nd CD of NE
that gives a baseline of 347 electoral votes.
What I am going to do is list the battlegrounds of the states that Obama won in increasing probability of Obama winning, in each case showing the percentage that Nate Silver now shows and the electoral vote and giving a running total of EVs switched to Romney and the EV O v R
STATE O% EVs Running EVS O R
NC 35 15 15 332 206
FL 67 29 44 303 235
CO 72 9 53 294 244
VA 74 13 66 281 257
IA 77 6 72 275 263
NH 79 4 76 271 267
NOTE - those are ALL of the battleground states where currently Obama's
Obama won 365 EVs in '08. Those states currently have 359.
Subtract 12 IN with 11 and for now the 2nd CD of NE
that gives a baseline of 347 electoral votes.
What I am going to do is list the battlegrounds of the states that Obama won in increasing probability of Obama winning, in each case showing the percentage that Nate Silver now shows and the electoral vote and giving a running total of EVs switched to Romney and the EV O v R
STATE O% EVs Running EVS O R
NC 35 15 15 332 206
FL 67 29 44 303 235
CO 72 9 53 294 244
VA 74 13 66 281 257
IA 77 6 72 275 263
NH 79 4 76 271 267
NOTE - those are ALL of the battleground states where currently Obama's
Board Of Ed Boot Licker
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| Alexander Russo Board Of Ed Boot Licker |
It occurs to me that some of you reading this site lately might think (or have been told by others to think) that I am a reliable union critic who regularly takes City Hall's side -- an Emanuel defender, a Board of Education boot licker. (No one's actually said that, but I like the sound of it.) For those of you who are new to the site, that would be somewhat understandable. But the site's been around a long time, and filled a variety of useful functions over the years. Read on for my thoughts, then share your own. (Or read on but pretend you didn't, so that nobody thinks you're soft.) I've made no real attempt to hide the fact that I thought the strike was unnecessary and
Editorial Blasts VAM
From the Lake Charles “American Press,” Tuesday, 9-25-12
State superintendent of Education John White. (Donna Price / American Press)
Editorial: Value-added model rating system unfair to teachers
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 8:59 PM
Contemplate this scenario: The CEO of the company you work for decides to implement an employee evaluation system in which only about 10 percent of the total employees will receive
“Hubble captures extraordinary view of Universe”
Hubble captures extraordinary view of Universe is an article from the BBC. Here’s an excerpt, and a video:
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has produced one of its most extraordinary views of the Universe to date.
Called the eXtreme Deep Field, the picture captures a mass of galaxies stretching back almost to the time when the first stars began to shine.
But this was no simple point and snap – some of the objects in this image are too distant and too faint for that.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has produced one of its most extraordinary views of the Universe to date.
Called the eXtreme Deep Field, the picture captures a mass of galaxies stretching back almost to the time when the first stars began to shine.
But this was no simple point and snap – some of the objects in this image are too distant and too faint for that.
Pallets for Pedagogues
Georgia - "It's not good for my back," winced forty-two-year-old Sara Freeman of Mason, GA as she pulled herself up from her cot. "But at least I can get some sleep." For the second time this week, Sara slept at her school.
Sara teaches third graders at a Power Is Power (PIP) charter school, one of a growing number of schools offering cots for teachers who want to sleep in the building so they don't waste time going home. "I would rather be home in my own bed but that's not always possible. By the time I'm done grading homework and tests and updating my bulletin boards and reviewing student data and writing my lesson plans and individualized education plans, it can be very late. So I just pull the cot out of the closet and try to catch a few winks."
Sara is not alone. Teachers in Arizona began sleeping at their schools last year after their districts began
Sara teaches third graders at a Power Is Power (PIP) charter school, one of a growing number of schools offering cots for teachers who want to sleep in the building so they don't waste time going home. "I would rather be home in my own bed but that's not always possible. By the time I'm done grading homework and tests and updating my bulletin boards and reviewing student data and writing my lesson plans and individualized education plans, it can be very late. So I just pull the cot out of the closet and try to catch a few winks."
Sara is not alone. Teachers in Arizona began sleeping at their schools last year after their districts began