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Monday, October 22, 2012

Big Education Ape - Late Day Banana Break 10-22-12 #lynndebate #soschat #edreform



Big Education Ape - Late Day Banana Break


More Special Ed Coverage

KUOW also has a report on Special Education in SPS.  It is heartbreaking and, to me, confusing.

Confusing because in the first story, about a little boy named Ryder, it labels him as being on the "autism spectrum."  It states he received services in  preschool and yet, he can't get them in SPS?  If he has a diagnosis, then he should be receiving services.

Then there is another child in the story, Tenzin, who also has autism and yet he can't get something simple like instructions in a written form.  (I was able to get that for my son in high school and that was multiple teachers 

Reuters-Ipsos national now tied

at 46-46 as you can read here  On Saturday they had Obama 1 point up.
However, before you hyperventilate, read this:
However, Obama still holds a substantial advantage in the battleground states that will determine the outcome of the election. Ipsos projects Obama will carry hotly contested states such as 

Washington Post - ABC tracking: Obama +1

just posted, a new player in the tracking poll, which can be seen here.
A few quick comments
Obama leads among likely voters 49-48
on Medicare 53-41
on taxes

Imagine an alternative scenario in 2008

Imagine the switch that some thought would occur this cycle.
Imagine that the President kept Joe Biden in mind for Secretary of State and had picked Hillary Clinton as his running mate.
Yes, I know, there would have been the problem of what role Bill Clinton would have played.
And yes, I know, some would have worried about the impact of the ticket of a Black man and a woman, although 

Oakland teacher goes to Finland to research school system

Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 7:00 am in No Comments
This piece by Skyline High School teacher Dave Orphal was originally published on TransformED, the group blog for the Center for Teaching Quality, and is being posted here with his permission. You can read more from Dave and other teacher leaders at TransformED.
If you are like me, you have been following Barnett Berry’s posts about his recent trip to 

Another attendance boundary change?

Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 9:13 am in
The Oakland school board on Wednesday considers whether to put a motion on the Dec. 12 agenda that would address the oversubscription of students at Crocker Highlands Elementary School. One option would be moving the western boundary from Grand Avenue to Lakeshore.
Approval by Board of Education of a directive to the Superintendent of Schools to report to the 

Mitt Romney, Barack Obama Campaigns Fall Short On Specifics For Early Education

During Mitt Romney's tenure as governor, he had one-on-one meetings with Patricia Haddad, the Massachusetts Democratic House Speaker Pro Tempore, precisely two times. The first time, he congratulated her on achieving her position. The second time, he arranged the meeting because he couldn't get what he wanted.

So in 2006, at Romney's behest, Haddad walked past a velvet rope and into Romney's office. The governor had 

Teaching and Predictability

This is the continuation of our exploration of the baseline downside of teaching; Tedium, the Bell and Chain, and No Career Path. These are things that I personally didn’t like like about teaching that would have been there even if Michelle Rhee had never been born. Every teacher, in even the best of circumstances, must deal with these things. We started with Tedium and a discussion of Grading: Part I and Part II. A close cousin of tedium is our good friend predictability. Predictability means Read more […]

Excessive daytime sleepiness common in high school students



New research shows that high school students experience excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), with most students sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night.

Researchers from West Virginia University surveyed 141 high school students, of which 28.4% were either obese or overweight. Overall, 39% of the students surveyed experienced EDS with an Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) of >10, and were more likely to report perception of inadequate or nonrefreshing sleep than those with ESS < 10. However, the duration of sleep was less than 7 hours per night in both groups. There was no difference in the incidence of obesity or overweight, snoring, or number of hours per week spent performing physical activity, 

Charts: CA’s Large & Growing Spending Gap

Here’s a chart from the folks at UCLA IDEA that tells a familiar story in a particularly stark visual way:
See: The Education Battle that All Sides Could Lose

Idaho secretary of state seeks donor information from education reform group

Education Voters of Idaho hasn't said where it got its money, maintaining it's a nonprofit whose supporters' identities enjoy federal protections.

Diane in the Evening 10-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: The Referendum in Bridgeport, Connecticut by dianerav Bridgeport will be voting on whether the mayor should control the schools. Mayoral control is high on the agenda of the privatization movement, because it allows one official to close public schools and hand them over to private corporations without paying attention to public opinion. Often there are hearings, but members of the public are limited to two minutes, and no one listens to them anyway. The mayor’s appointed board does whatever he wants them to do. It is not as if mayoral control has a grea... more »