Friday, October 19, 2012

UPDATE: Diane in the Evening 10-19-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:





The Catholic Version of TFA

Samuel Freedman has a lovely article in the New York Times about young Catholic teachers working together in Tucson.
They are part of a program called the Alliance for Catholic Education, which was created at Notre Dame. They spend a summer at Notre Dame preparing to teach and another summer reviewing what they have learned and sharpening their skills. Notre Dame teaching coaches are available to them during their time on the job.
When I visited Notre Dame last spring, I met Father Tim Scully, the founder of ACE, who is truly a spiritual 

About That Newark Teachers Union Deal

I don’t understand all the details of the deal reached by the Newark Teachers Union and the Christie administration. The final details were hammered out by Randi Weingarten, NTU president  Joseph Del Grosso, Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson, Acting State Commissioner Chris Cerf, and perhaps Governor Chris Christie as well.
Some people (and I include myself) worry that the deal includes merit pay tied to “performance” (test scores). I don’t think that is ever a good idea. It produces perverse incentives for cheating, narrowing the curriculum, and gaming the system.
But the odd thing about this agreement is that there is so much money for almost every one of Newark’s 3,100 

Small Minority of Parents at “Trigger” School Choose Charter Operator

According to the latest news, the parents at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, California, have chosen a charter operator to take over their low-performing public school.
This is the first instance in the nation where the “parent trigger” has been put into effect.
But it is not a demonstration of parent empowerment or democracy.
There are over 600



Cuomo Appoints TFA-er as Deputy Secretary of Education

The ascent to power of anyone connected to Teach for America continues.
Governor Cuomo just appointed De’Shawn Wright as Deputy Secretary of Education for the state of New York.
Wright spent two or four years (it’s not clear) teaching in New York City as a member of TFA. Then he quickly ascended to big jobs in the Mayor’s office and the New York City Department of Education. From there he 


Why Foist an Unproven Method on the Entire Nation All at Once?

The U.S. Department of Education is doing something to the nation’s schools that has never been done before.
Through the leverage of its Race to the Top program, it has persuaded, pushed, and prodded at least 36 states to evaluate teachers by the test scores of their students.
There is no evidence that this will improve education or teaching. There is reason to believe it will incentivize narrowing the curriculum, cheating, and teaching to the test.
There is plenty of evidence from sources like the National Academy of Education and the American Educational




Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-19-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Another Superintendent Joins the Honor Roll by dianerav On my trip to the Midwest this past week, I met the superintendents of 86 districts in Michigan who belong to the Tri-County Alliance, which enrolls almost half the children in the state. Every one I spoke to (and I had a private dinner with a dozen leaders of the group) told me of the state’s efforts to destroy public education and to create a free market of schools, where schools compete for “customers” (students). One of the members is already on ... more »