Big Education Ape: Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-19-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Monday, November 19, 2012

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-19-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best:

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

School Exclusion Policies Stigmatize Arrested Teens and Contribute to Educational Failure, - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 51 minutes ago

School Exclusion Policies Stigmatize Arrested Teens and Contribute to Educational Failure, - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News: School Exclusion Policies Stigmatize Arrested Teens and Contribute to Educational Failure, November 19, 2012 at 5:04 pm by Jonathan Kantrowitz [image: Comment] Comments | [image: Email] E-mail | [image: Print] Print [image: Jonathan Kantrowitz]“Zero- tolerance” policies that rely heavily on suspensions and expulsions hinder teens who have been arrested from completing high school or pursuing a college degree, according to a new study from The Universit... more »

“SQUEEZY – THE PENSION PYTHON” « Teachers Fight Back

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 52 minutes ago

“SQUEEZY – THE PENSION PYTHON” « Teachers Fight Back: “SQUEEZY – THE PENSION PYTHON” by alkleen *Squeezy and Wheezie (Gov. Quinn?)* Oh my ! Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, you are a hoot. All of you must go to the Governor’s new pension publicity website, www.thisismyillinois.com. Did you see the governor when he announced the new site ? There he was surrounded on stage by over a dozen children. There were the posters of the children, saying, ” thanks in advance”. Why the children, you might ask ? Didn’t you know this pension issue is about saving the future of our children her... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News from Around the Country

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 57 minutes ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News from Around the Country: Ed News from Around the Country by Melissa Westbrook I'm finally catching up on some backreading on education issues. Arne Duncan. According to this article in Ed Week on the first speech Secretary Duncan has made since the re-election of President Obama, it appears he will stay on if asked. His priorities? *In his first major postelection remarks, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that he will use his second term to continue to leverage education improvement at the state and local levels, with a new ... more »

OCCUPY EDUCATION - Be part of Documentary of Student Loan Debt

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

OCCUPY EDUCATION - Be part of Documentary of Student Loan Debt: Be part of Documentary of Student Loan Debt Be part of Documentary of Student Loan Debt

Walker Announces Voucher Expansion at California Speech « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Walker Announces Voucher Expansion at California Speech « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Walker Announces Voucher Expansion at California Speech by millerlf Scott Walker is ready to take another step on his mission to privatize public education in the state of Wisconsin. He announced his plans to expand the voucher program for private schools while limiting funding for public schools, including technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin System. Walker recently exposed his plans while speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Following... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Charterism Consumes Camden

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Jersey Jazzman: Charterism Consumes Camden: Charterism Consumes Camden by Duke The perks keep flowing to charter schools in Camden: As part of the $175 million state takeover fund given to Camden in 2002, $7 million was set aside for business lease grants to stimulate business growth throughout the city. So far, less than $3 million of the business grants has been spent, *the most recent and largest chunk to date being $495,990 to the nonprofit support group for the Knowledge A to Z (KATZ) Academy Charter School. * [...] At least one Camden board member has questioned her peers... more »

All Education Matters: SpareChange: Are There Viable Possibilities Now for Student Loan Reform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

All Education Matters: SpareChange: Are There Viable Possibilities Now for Student Loan Reform: SpareChange: Are There Viable Possibilities Now for Student Loan Reform by Cryn Johannsen Thanks to* Spare Change News* for inviting me to write an op-ed after the election results. This piece offers 9 solutions to solving the student lending crisis (mind you, that's the short list). Here's the piece in its *entirety*, and below is a snippet: It’s hard to avoid the clichéd statement—and every pundit has been saying it over and over again—this was truly an historic election. Not only wa... more »

Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform in Bridgeport! | Parents Across America

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform in Bridgeport! | Parents Across America: Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform in Bridgeport! by pureparents By Wendy Lecker Originally published on November 18, 2012 in the Stamford Advocate In this age of instantaneous global communication, it is incredible that a simple message sent by voters in Bridgeport has not reached leaders in Hartford, just 50 miles away. On Nov. 6, a rare event in modern politics occurred: democracy prevailed over money. Average citizens defeated a Bridgeport charter revision proposal backed by a... more »

Schooled by experts Parents United for Responsible Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Schooled by experts: Schooled by experts by admin This morning I attended an excellent symposium on a variety of education issues presented by CReATE (Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education), the nearly two-year-old group of 100 Chicago-area academic experts who have already created some excellent resources to help parents, community groups, students and others to better understand the truth about corporate school reform. CReATE’s first effort was a paper called “Chicago School Reform: Myths, R... more »

Open Letter to PWCS About CIP and Enrollment « PWC Education Reform Blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Open Letter to PWCS About CIP and Enrollment « PWC Education Reform Blog: Open Letter to PWCS About CIP and EnrollmentNovember 19, 2012 — pwceducationreform Tomorrow night the PWC School Board will participate in a work session on student enrollment and new school construction / expansion / renovation. The public is allowed to attend the meetings. The meeting will not be televised, and, as far as I can tell, there is no plan for minutes to be made available to the public. Below are the issues I’d like to see addressed and questions I’d like to have answered. If there are additi... more »

UPDATE: ConnCAN, StudentsFirst and Corporate Education Reformers roll out new Connecticut “pro-reform” blog? - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

ConnCAN, StudentsFirst and Corporate Education Reformers roll out new Connecticut “pro-reform” blog? - Wait, What?: In Greenwich, Malloy throws “heavy support behind the charter school movement” by jonpelto Categories: - Achievement First/ConnCAN - Charter Schools - Education - Malloy Tags: Achievement FirstCharter SchoolsConnCANMalloy At last week’s ConnCAN Block Party, in Greenwich (go figure), Governor Malloy “spoke about the dismal graduation rate in urban districts where he purportedly told the crowd that on average, four in 10 students never receive a diploma…”... more »

On the Rise of Pearson Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: On the Rise of Pearson *(oh, and following the money)* *A long post that is worth a read here on the rise and influence of Pearson and corporate influence in education reform. Take pause, friends. Take pause but feel free to share and post comments here. Thoughts?* *The Pearson Monopoly * Jennifer Job, *UNC Chapel Hill* If you haven’t heard of Pearson, perhaps you have heard of one of the publishers they own, like Adobe, Scott Foresman, Penguin, Longman, Wharton, Harcourt, Puffin, Prentice Hall, or Allyn & Bacon... more »

If you want better schools, rural or otherwise, improve motivation and discipline of students | Get Schooled

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

If you want better schools, rural or otherwise, improve motivation and discipline of students | Get Schooled: If you want better schools, rural or otherwise, improve motivation and discipline of students by Maureen Downey *My blog entry on rural schools,* prompted by an *AJC Sunday story on rural education in Georgia*, spurred a lot of comments, including this email from retired educator and school head Dennis Brown of Villa Rica. (I have shared other *responses by Brown on teacher quality*.) Here is his latest: There is always a need for more great teachers in the classroom. But... more »

Diane in the Evening 11-19-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Help This Small Community By Signing Its Petition by dianerav The town of Scottsburg, Indiana, has fewer than 10,000 residents. There is a proposal before the City Council to open a charter school. This will split the town. Some public school parents have started a petition to ask the City Council and the Mayor not to open a charter Why Local School Boards Are Targeted for Destruction by dianerav A local school board in Florida rejected the application of a for-profit charter operator. The board said they had had a bad experience with the last charter scho... more »

Critical Scholars Project @ Critical Theories in the 21st Century: "The Dictatorship of the Marketplace," and Academia

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Critical Scholars Project @ Critical Theories in the 21st Century: "The Dictatorship of the Marketplace," and Academia: "The Dictatorship of the Marketplace," and Academia by P. L. Thomas The second annual Critical Theories in the 21st Century conference did not unfold like the scripted plot arc traditional literature instruction teaches students about Shakespearean plays. If it had, the day would have peaked during the lunchtime performance of Hip Hop Psychology, and from there, the ideas would have worked themselves out into a nice and tidy denouement. Instead, the day ended ... more »

U.S. Department of Education Releases Early Snapshot of School Improvement Grants Data | U.S. Department of Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

U.S. Department of Education Releases Early Snapshot of School Improvement Grants Data | U.S. Department of Education: U.S. Department of Education Releases Early Snapshot of School Improvement Grants Data NOVEMBER 19, 2012 *Contact: * Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov The U.S. Department of Education today released an early snapshot of student performance data at schools that have received federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program funds, a key component of the Department’s blueprint for helping states and districts turn around the nation’s lowest-performing sch... more »

INSPIRE 2013: The First NISCE Conference on Student-Centered Education — National Institute for Student-Centered Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

INSPIRE 2013: The First NISCE Conference on Student-Centered Education — National Institute for Student-Centered Education: [image: National Institute for Student-Centered Education] INSPIRE 2013: The First NISCE Conference on Student-Centered Education SAVE THE DATEINSPIRE 2013 *The First NISCE Conference on Student-Centered Education* Friday, April 5, 2013 • Boston, MA Hilton Boston (Logan Airport) Student-centered education is both broad and deep in theory and in practice. From the many challenges of teaching students as individuals, to the neurological milestones of human develo... more »

From Michigan, Rephorm Turducken | EduShyster

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

From Michigan, Rephorm Turducken | EduShyster: From Michigan, Rephorm Turducken by edushyster2012 Reader: an idea for how to rescue our union-stifled public schools is generated roughly every 3.5 seconds. Most of these edu-ideas are almost nonsensically bad. Still, there is a special category of edu-idea so catastrophically ill-informed, so stuffed with rephorminess and drenched with what the French call *sauce privatisation* that deserves our attention today. I give you rephorm turducken. Lest you think that such a creature exists only in edu-mythology, I present to you exhibit A:... more »

Why some conservatives oppose vouchers

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Why some conservatives oppose vouchers: Why some conservatives oppose vouchers Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 19, 2012 at 11:59 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » [image: Andrew J. Coulson] I had an interesting e-mail conversation with Andrew Coulson, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. The Cato Institute is a Washington D.C.-based public policy research organization dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peac... more »

Part 4: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out:The Consequences | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Part 4: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out:The Consequences | Seattle Education: Part 4: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out:The Consequences Posted on November 19, 2012 by seattleducation2011 | Leave a comment *The Consequences* As long as policy and funding are determined by test results, we will be dealing with the consequences. There is the narrowing of focus to math and reading and less focus on history, social studies, the arts, foreign languages, writing, physical education, or developing research and critical thinking skills. The emphasis on test scores precludes looking more ... more »

Louisiana Educator: School Closings Not the Answer

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Louisiana Educator: School Closings Not the Answer: School Closings Not the Answer by Michael Deshotels Another elementary school (Delmont Elementary School) in East Baton Rouge Parish is being recommended for closing due to lack of academic improvement. The school had been reconstituted with a new principal and faculty just before the beginning of the last school session and has already been demonstrating several indications that it was well on its way to improving. Such indications included enthusiastic support from parents and children. But the LEAP scores (in less than one ye... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who is Paying in Washington State?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who is Paying in Washington State?: Who is Paying in Washington State? by Melissa Westbrook Following up on Charlie's post about Crosscut's article on how business says it cares about public education, here's more input from The Stranger Slog. David Goldstein has been laying out the case against the levy swap for our school districts and the supplied graphic says it all. *King County, with roughly 29 percent of the state population, produced 42 percent of state tax revenues, yet it received back less than 26 percent of state benefits. That's a ret... more »

School Board in 'Parent Trigger' Fight Could Face Shakeup - Charters & Choice - Education Week

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

School Board in 'Parent Trigger' Fight Could Face Shakeup - Charters & Choice - Education Week: School Board in 'Parent Trigger' Fight Could Face Shakeup By Sean Cavanagh on November 16, 2012 12:26 PM | No comments A potentially important postscript to the 2012 election is taking shape in Adelanto, Calif., home to a fierce battle over attempts to overhaul a struggling school through a "parent trigger" policy. The Adelanto district's school board president, Carlos Mendoza, who had strongly opposed a group of parents' effort to use California's trigger law to convert Desert Trails E... more »

Parents rally at City Hall, but their protest is directed elsewhere | GothamSchools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Parents rally at City Hall, but their protest is directed elsewhere | GothamSchools: Parents rally at City Hall, but their protest is directed elsewhere by Geoff Decker Keoni Wright, an East New York parent, speaks on Saturday at a StudentsFirstNY backing new teacher evaluations. The scene was familiar, but the rallying cries and signs were a departure. More than 100 parents and organizers from StudentsFirstNY filled the steps of City Hall on Saturday to demand that the teachers union cooperate with the city on an evaluation deal before a deadline that could cost the city $300 milli... more »

SI&A Cabinet Report – After more than a decade, districts, charters making peace over facilities

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources: After more than a decade, districts, charters making peace over facilities *By Kimberly Beltran* Monday, November 19, 2012 In the 12 years since a state law forcing districts to share facilities with charter schools took effect there are still turf wars but anecdotal evidence suggests the disputes are fewer and more often than not, beneficial relationships have instead replaced acrimony. Proposition 39, passed in 2000 and enacted the following year, requires a district to provide facilities for charter schools operating within it. Among oth... more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s right turn - Salon.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s right turn - Salon.com: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s right turn The school-reform advocate touts her "bipartisan" bona fides, but more and more of her allies are conservatives BY DANIEL DENVIR Nov. 6 was a good day for Michelle Rhee. The former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor, through her organization StudentsFirst, poured money into state-level campaigns nationwide, winning 86 of 105 races and flipping a net 33 seats to advocates of so-called school reform,** a movement that advocates expanding privately run public charter schools, ... more »

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, November 19, 2012

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Education Headlines *Monday, November 19, 2012* Hope Charter School petition deniedDuring its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Yreka Union School District (YUSD) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to deny a petition for the establishment of Hope Charter School in Yreka. Stockton USD plans to get jump on upcoming English, math standardsThe state-mandated implementation of virtually national academic standards will begin in less than two years, and Stockton Unified took a step this week toward preparing for that moment. Race to the... more »

Florida School Closures: Why Are High Poverty Schools Under the Gun? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Florida School Closures: Why Are High Poverty Schools Under the Gun? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Florida School Closures: Why Are High Poverty Schools Under the Gun? by Anthony Cody *Guest post by a Florida teacher.* On Election Day, residents in Brevard County, Florida, rejected a sales tax increase to support schools. According to the Florida Today, the sales tax would have raised about $32 million annually, which the district planned to use to buy new school buses, replace roofs and chillers and purchase new computers to meet a state mandate. Three days afte... more »

The Civic Committee overreaches on pensions. “Fahner made himself irrelevant.” « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

The Civic Committee overreaches on pensions. “Fahner made himself irrelevant.” « Fred Klonsky: The Civic Committee overreaches on pensions. “Fahner made himself irrelevant.” by Fred Klonsky Talk about a fall from grace. It was only a year ago. Ty Fahner, former Attorney General under Governor “Big Jim” Thompson and now head of the corporate Civic Committee, was considered important enough that he signed his name along with Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton to the letter announcing the withdrawal of the pension gutting SB512 from consideration in the lass Gen... more »

Obama Administration: What are the Next Steps in Education Reform? | NewsTaco

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Obama Administration: What are the Next Steps in Education Reform? | NewsTaco: Obama Administration: What are the Next Steps in Education Reform? by Voxxi By Hope Gillette, Voxxi President Barack Obama put an emphasis on education reform during his first term as president, and as he prepares to start off his second term, many people are wondering what the next education goals will be. According to Education News, the President has a number of initiatives yet to be implemented, and he will push for more education reform allotments within the budget. With debt at an all-time high, ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: YOLO Applied in Standardized Testing.

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: YOLO Applied in Standardized Testing.: YOLO Applied in Standardized Testing. by stlgretchen *Protesting against standardized tests that have nothing to do with individual student progress is a start. Don't be a widget in the managed workforce plan.* A student filled out a bubble sheet to standardized answers so the blocks read YOLO: "You Only Live Once". The student apparently was maxed out with the incessant testing mandated in common core and other governmental directives designed to track students. The Washington Post's Adam Heenan reports in *... more »

A must read - Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform by Wendy Lecker - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

A must read - Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform by Wendy Lecker - Wait, What?: A must read – Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform by Wendy Lecker by jonpelto Wendy Lecker, Education Advocate and columnist for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group, has a must read column in yesterday’s Stamford Advocate and CT Post… “In this age of instantaneous global communication, it is incredible that a simple message sent by voters in Bridgeport has not reached leaders in Hartford, just 50 miles away. On Nov. 6, a rare event in modern politics occurred: democracy prevaile... more »

Shanker Blog » When You Hear Claims That Policies Are Working, Read The Fine Print

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Shanker Blog » When You Hear Claims That Policies Are Working, Read The Fine Print: When You Hear Claims That Policies Are Working, Read The Fine Print by Matthew Di Carlo When I point out that raw changes in state proficiency rates or NAEP scores are not valid evidence that a policy or set of policies is “working,” I often get the following response: “Oh Matt, we can’t have a randomized trial or peer-reviewed article for everything. We have to make decisions and conclusions based on imperfect information sometimes.” This statement is obviously true. In this case, however, it’s als... more »

“TANKSGIVEN” School Sign Goes Viral and It Gets Ugly | NewsTaco

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

“TANKSGIVEN” School Sign Goes Viral and It Gets Ugly | NewsTaco: “TANKSGIVEN” School Sign Goes Viral and It Gets Ugly by Victor Landa By Latino Rebels File this one under the “unfortunate” files. As reported by the local Brownsville press, a school sign about the Thanksgiving holiday has gone viral on Facebook and it is eliciting responses that range from the humorous to the ugly. According to reports, officials at Cummings Middle School confirmed that the sign was real and that someone took a picture of it and posted it on Facebook before it was corrected. Most of the comments mock... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Brilliant Story on Education Hypocrisy

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Brilliant Story on Education Hypocrisy: Brilliant Story on Education Hypocrisy by Charlie Mas An absolutely brilliant story appears on Crosscut, Business support for education: Just big talk? by Dick Nelson. This story shines a bright light on the hypocrisy of Washington State business groups who decry the state of public education in Washington State - preK to college - but also adamantly refuse to pay any of the cost of improving it. It reveals them for the whiny babies they are. A few business organizations in particular are taken to task. The ... more »

Modern School: Obama’s Crushing Student Debt Repayment Scam

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Modern School: Obama’s Crushing Student Debt Repayment Scam: Obama’s Crushing Student Debt Repayment Scam by Michael Dunn The Department of Education recently enacted new rules for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) of student loans. The hallmark of this “reform,” according to the WSWS, is that a small fraction of students will now be able to repay their loans in 20 years instead of 25 and their rates will go down from 15% of their discretionary income to 10%. The change will have no effect on undergraduates and may end up costing more for those who go on to earn graduate degrees if the... more »

Articles: Education 'Change Agent' Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: The Left Connection

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Articles: Education 'Change Agent' Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: The Left Connection: Education 'Change Agent' Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: The Left Connection*By* *M. Catharine Evans and Ann Kane* * * Who would have thought the ubiquitous education superstar Michelle Rhee would be sitting next to Andy Stern on the board of the Broad Foundation? Yes, that's right. The Republican governors' siren and CEO of StudentsFirst works alongside the former SEIU leader, who's visited the White House more than anyone else in the past four years and who said "workers of the wor... more »

Loose ends, recurring partisan tensions to drive education agenda in Obama’s second term - The Washington Post

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Loose ends, recurring partisan tensions to drive education agenda in Obama’s second term - The Washington Post: Loose ends, recurring partisan tensions to drive education agenda in Obama’s second term (Carolyn Kaster, File/ Associated Press ) - FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama, accompanied by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, gestures while speaking in a building under construction in Washington. Loose ends and thorny partisan tensions on education await the next Congress and President Barack Obama’s second term. First up is ... more »

Schools Matter: Memphis Plans Big Cuts to Pay for Corporate Reform Schools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Schools Matter: Memphis Plans Big Cuts to Pay for Corporate Reform Schools: Memphis Plans Big Cuts to Pay for Corporate Reform Schools by Jim Horn Someone reading the Memphis Commercial-Appeal on the corporate plan for privatizing Memphis Schools would hardly know there is a 212 million dollar problem in the plan, itself. Stories about Memphis being among the top ten American cities to be overrun by the corporate reform school scammers make it to Page 1, while stories about the impending shuttering of public schools to pay for the $212 million deficit between over the next five ... more »

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-19-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Thank You, G.F. Brandenburg by dianerav One of the bloggers I admire most is G.F. Brandenburg. Compared to me, he is a veteran blogger. He has been chronicling the foibles of “reform” since 2009. His blog revealed that Michelle Rhee’s claims of having been a miracle teacher were bogus. He has followed her career since she left D.C.; do a search on his site and you will discover an interesting number of blogs about inflated claims in D.C. I don’t know Brandenburg but I do know he is a retired math teacher, w... more »

Engaging Parents In School… » This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Engaging Parents In School… » This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter: This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter by Larry Ferlazzo Guest Post by Joe Mazza Image credit: Great read! “Beyond the Bakesale”Join us on this week’s #PTchat as we take a look at the research on creating and building a home-school partnership, while sharing examples what this looks like in today’s schools. According to Henderson & Mapp (2006), four core beliefs must be firmly in place to have a true home-school partnership: *Core Belief 1:* All Parents Have Dreams for Their Children and Want the Best for Them Core Belief 2: Al... more »

Beyond Proposition 30: California’s education future | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Beyond Proposition 30: California’s education future | EdSource Today: Beyond Proposition 30: California’s education future ** November 19th, 2012 | Add a Comment | By Louis Freedberg Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on google_plusone More Sharing Services [image: Louis Freedberg] Louis Freedberg The passage of Proposition 30 represents a major victory for schools – and for Gov. Jerry Brown. Barring a further erosion of state revenues, Prop. 30 should bring stability to school districts after five years of budget devastation. Yet Prop. 30, while representing the f... more »

Daily Kos: A reminder from 149 years ago

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Daily Kos: A reminder from 149 years ago: A reminder from 149 years ago by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nati... more »

School vouchers: Should there be more quality controls? | Get Schooled

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

School vouchers: Should there be more quality controls? | Get Schooled: School vouchers: Should there be more quality controls? by Maureen Downey Georgia will likely see another legislative attempt at vouchers next session, something that thus far has failed to gain much traction in the General Assembly. An investigation by the Washington Post will likely revive the debate over whether we should allow parents to receive tax dollars to pay for private schools, especially religious schools. Most national discussions about vouchers assume that parents will use the vouchers for paroch... more »

What's Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: One Size Fits All — Whole Child Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

What's Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: One Size Fits All — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: James H. Stronge]What’s Wrong with Teacher Evaluation and How to Fix It: One Size Fits All November 19, 2012 by James H. Stronge Teachers matter. They have an extraordinary, positive, and lasting impact on their students. Students with high-performing teachers can progress three times as fast as students with low-performing teachers and each student deserves access to highly effective teachers in every subject. So, how do we know which teachers are effectiv... more »

Myths Come From Values, Not From Ignorance « The Core Knowledge Blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Myths Come From Values, Not From Ignorance « The Core Knowledge Blog: Myths Come From Values, Not From Ignoranceby w3bd0g *November 19th, 2012* Tags: Cedar Reiner, cognitive science, neuromyths, Teaching Posted in Education Theory, Literacy, Teaching | No Comments » *Today’s guest post is by Cedar Reiner, assistant professor of Psychology at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. It originally appeared at Cedar’s Digest, Reiner’s blog about “education reform, college teaching, history and philosophy of science” and other subjects. * Like many interested in how we apply basic c... more »

How can they know? « Cooperative Catalyst

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

How can they know? « Cooperative Catalyst: How can they know? by techkim Popout *How can they know, how hard the burden? How can they know, how heavy the load? Struggle finds a strong heart and tears, rivers of love and silence binds us all.* ~ Susan Herrick How can they know? That question has been an ongoing refrain in my head for some time now. Who are they? Students, all ages. What should they know? That is the question of our age, isn’t it? How can they know? At the Making Connections conference earlier this month, Zoe Weil said the teaching profession has the most influence on o...more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLES by Mike Klonsky Duncan remains *"We came out of the gates flying" in the first term, he said, and he plans to "replicate that as much as we can." -- *Edweek Michelle Rhee on Duncan *"The signaling by Secretary Duncan that he will continue for another term is an enormous win for children."* -- Huffington Bobby Jindal says something stupid *Republicans "need to stop saying stupid things... We're not the party of big—big businesses, big banks, big Wall Street, big bailouts."* -- The Hill School districts brace for ... more »

The Educated Reporter: Should Schools Set Sliding Scales For Student Achievement?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

The Educated Reporter: Should Schools Set Sliding Scales For Student Achievement?: Should Schools Set Sliding Scales For Student Achievement? by Emily Richmond It would be tough to find a slope that’s potentially more slippery than this one: public schools setting different achievement expectations for students based on their race and ethnicity. But that’s exactly what’s happening in dozens of states that have received waivers from the U.S. Department of Education, allowing them to replace the more onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind with more flexible accountability meas... more »

Creating The Conditions: Instructional Leadership | Connected Principals

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Creating The Conditions: Instructional Leadership | Connected Principals: Creating The Conditions: Instructional Leadership by Chris Wejr cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by anna_t: http://flickr.com/photos/anna/204267895/ *Cross-posted at “The Wejr Board Blog”. This is the 3rd part in the “Creating the Conditions” series; Part 1 was on Student Discipline, Part 2 was on Love of Reading.* I recently had the honour to present in the Leadership 2.0 MOOC series (in which I am learning alongside others) on “Providing Instructional Leadership” (To view the archive of the presentation... more »

School Tech Connect: Rogers Park Is Awake

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Rogers Park Is Awake: Rogers Park Is Awake by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) The great Jesse Sharkey dropped by Sullivan High School last week to meet community activists gathered in Sullivan's auditorium and describe the current threat facing neighborhood schools. The people of the city, and soon the legislature too, are about to be bombarded with messages about half-empty schools, as if that phenomenon were not part of a planned strategy to privatize the schools. They won't mention the other half of the equation, which is that the "half empty" schools ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Just Wondering

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Just Wondering: Just Wondering by Melissa Westbrook It is always my intention to learn so I read whatever is handy. So I was in a business office this past week and there was the Puget Sound Business Journal (which I don't regularly read). So I'm reading this article about how the EMP wants a break on its rent. (Apparently Paul Allen might not subsidize it forever.) EMP agreed with the City that there would be rent increases every five years from the time it opened in 2000. But now EMP is saying they are a non-profit (albeit fronted by one o... more »

Is Mulgrew About To Sell Us Out?.southbronxschool.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

http://www.southbronxschool.com: Is Mulgrew About To Sell Us Out? by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher) I got an email, as I am sure others have, from El presidente de por vida de UFT Mike Mulgrew thanking all for the Sandy clean up effort and stuff like that. Nice. However, towards the end of his email he reminded us that we still have to make up days that the students were out of school. OK, we know. The rumor floating around is that the days will be made up during the February vacation. What really got The Crack Team's knickers in a tizzy was these lines; *We will have to mak... more »

LAME DUCKS ARE QUACKING « Teachers Fight Back

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

LAME DUCKS ARE QUACKING « Teachers Fight Back: LAME DUCKS ARE QUACKING by alkleen Retired teachers and public employees in Illinois are being warned that the current “lame duck” session of the Illinois General Assembly is poised to undertake the “pension reform” issue. I’ve never seen so many warnings and also explanations of why most meaningful legislation occurs during lame duck sessions. The “lame ducks” of course are the legislators who have lost elections and or are leaving at the end of the year for some other reason. These are the people who supposedly are ready to conside... more »

Dear Deborah, - Bridging Differences - Education Week

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

- Bridging Differences - Education Week: by Pedro Noguera Dear Deborah, While we're still focused on pushing the Administration to promote a different plan, let's make sure that a commitment to equity is a central part of whatever we do. It is remarkable that despite all the rhetoric about education being the civil rights issue of the 21st century, our leaders make no mention of the need for equity, or conversely, the need to address the profound inequity, that characterizes so much of American education today. Many people do not realize that ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Educat... more »

Are we winning yet? A 365 million deficit this year, $1.1 billion shortfall next year… - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Are we winning yet? A 365 million deficit this year, $1.1 billion shortfall next year… - Wait, What?: Are we winning yet? A 365 million deficit this year, $1.1 billion shortfall next year… by jonpelto Last year, Governor Malloy raised income taxes only on those making less than $1 million. He left the wealthy completely untouched when it came having to pay higher income rates. Last week he reiterated his commitment to no new taxes. So when it comes to equity, where do we really stand? In Connecticut, since the mid-1990s (adjusted for inflation); Income for the wealthiest 20 pe... more »

Should Elementary Schools Be Modeled After Law Firms? | toteachornototeach

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Should Elementary Schools Be Modeled After Law Firms? | toteachornototeach: Should Elementary Schools Be Modeled After Law Firms? by aristotlethewise *Should Elementary Schools Be Modeled After Law Firms? * This past weekend, The Daily Beast held its Innovators Summit in New Orleans, which gathered 300 leading thinkers to discuss big ideas for changing the world. One of the most interesting innovations, according to senior reporter Jacob Bernstein, came from a former lawyer named Rafiq Kalam Id-Din, who has a radical idea for stemming the flood of more than 1 million kids who drop o... more »

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: A Teacher Accused!:When He Said/She Said Turns Ugly!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: A Teacher Accused!:When He Said/She Said Turns Ugly!: A Teacher Accused!:When He Said/She Said Turns Ugly! by Lisa M I learned about it by accident. I approached my principal about another child and she asked me not to get upset. I wondered why a simple response to a question about a situation with a student, could possibly upset me. And that's when she told me what a student had accused me of. I really think I was in shock, because I nodded, said, "What?", listened to what she was saying, and returned to the workshop I was attending. As the day... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: College Graduates Find Jobs!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: College Graduates Find Jobs!: College Graduates Find Jobs! by stlgretchen A representative list of jobs college graduates are landing in New Orleans. Wonder if these jobs require college degrees in New Jersey? What types of jobs are college graduates finding these days in New Orleans? Peter Schiff interviews recent graduates about their jobs and college debt. Is a college degree worth the cost? Those pedicab drivers on Bourbon Street sure have a great education. A great job? Not so much. Popout From the Schiff Report: President Obama promotes ... more »

NEA - Crazy Things People Say To Teachers -- And How To Respond

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

NEA - Crazy Things People Say To Teachers -- And How To Respond: Crazy Things People Say To Teachers -- And How To Respond TIRED OF PEOPLE ASSUMING YOUR JOB IS EASY AND YOUR SUMMERS ARE FREE? YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE IT. *By Cindy Long. Adapted from content by **We Are Teachers* Ah, the holidays. ’Tis the season to gather round the hearth, feast on turkey and pie, and enjoy the company and conversation of loved ones we see but a few times a year. And thank goodness for that! You love them dearly, but it's exhausting fielding all those annoying questions about the teaching profession ... more »