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
NYC Educator: What's With Mayor Mike?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
NYC Educator: What's With Mayor Mike?: What's With Mayor Mike? by NYC Educator Mayor4Life is shooting his mouth off again, saying he won't accept any evaluation system that doesn't hold teachers' feet to the fire. He also says he wants all teacher evaluation reports released to the public. This is ironic, because Mayor Mike is currently applying to the Supreme Court to make sure his correspondence with failed Chancellor Cathie Black is not made public. After all, accountability is for the little people. The interesting point, though, is that his combativeness does not actually ind... more »
Sen Durbin to hold hearing on school-to-prison pipeline Parents United for Responsible Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Sen Durbin to hold hearing on school-to-prison pipeline: Sen Durbin to hold hearing on school-to-prison pipeline by admin Testimony is due today for Wednesday hearing. From Dignity in Schools: *Ending the School to Prison Pipeline* *Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights* For the first time ever, Congress is holding a hearing on the School to Prison Pipeline (12/12/12, 2pm et at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC). If you are anywhere near DC, p... more »
Thirteen Things Nick Kristof Should Know About American Families “Profiting From Iliteracy” « Student Activism
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Thirteen Things Nick Kristof Should Know About American Families “Profiting From Iliteracy” « Student Activism: Thirteen Things Nick Kristof Should Know About American Families “Profiting From Iliteracy” by Angus Johnston This weekend Nick Kristof wrote a column called “Profiting from a Child’s Illiteracy” in which he suggested — without evidence — that a significant portion of American children who are receiving Social Security disability are doing so because their parents find it “easier” to collect government checks than to find and keep gainful employment. Describing their di... more »
The Ghettoization of Public Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
The Ghettoization of Public Education: The Ghettoization of Public EducationMonday, 10 December 2012 15:09By Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks, The Daily Take | Op-Ed [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] Quick - when you hear "public housing," what picture jumps into your mind? Or "public hospital"? All around us, our public institutions are disintegrating, and the most important public institution of all – our public education system – is the next to be ghettoized. Despite several progressive victories this Election Day, there was one significant defeat in Georg... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Put Up The Proof, TFA
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman: Put Up The Proof, TFA: Put Up The Proof, TFA by Duke Anthony Cody points us to a remarkable claim from Teach For America's Wendy Kopp: In this interview, Wendy Kopp states: *"On average, our corps members stay in the classroom for eight years." Honestly, I find this claim incredible.* I have firsthand experience with Teach For America. I worked in high poverty schools in Oakland, California, for 24 years. In my last four years (2007 to 2011) I led a mentoring program that was developed to provide support to the many new science teachers we had in the District. Th... more »
Student Loan Asset Backed Securities and the $1 trillion dollar student loan debt
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Student Loan Asset Backed Securities and the $1 trillion dollar student loan debt: Student Loan Asset Backed Securities and the $1 trillion dollar student loan debt by Danny Weil *“In times of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”* *George Orwell* I was fortunate enough to be a guest on the radio show Clearing the FOG – Speaking truth to expose the forces of greed. http://www.facebook.com/ClearingtheFogRadioShow. The show originates from Washington DC on 1480 AM. The issue that was addressed was the spiraling student loan debt, now over $1 trillion and rising... more »
Daily Kos: Clones, Assembly-line Capitalism, and Wage-Slaves
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Daily Kos: Clones, Assembly-line Capitalism, and Wage-Slaves: Clones, Assembly-line Capitalism, and Wage-Slaves by rss@dailykos.com (plthomasEdD) Beyond its flair for the fantastic, science fiction (SF) almost always offers the allegorical. In SF, humankind literally masters cloning and produces not quite human slaves, facilitating some sort of truce between the long history of human conquering human to enslave and the contemporary illusion that eradicating institutional slavery absolves us of culpability in the de facto wage-slavery of assembly-line capitalism. David Mitchell's o... more »
Transitioning to Standards-Based Learning — Whole Child Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Transitioning to Standards-Based Learning — Whole Child Education: [image: ASCD Whole Child Bloggers] Transitioning to Standards-Based Learning December 10, 2012 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers Cathy Vatterott began her ASCD Conference on Teaching and Learning session, "Not Your Mother's Gradebook: Transitioning to Standards-Based Learning," by asking participants to think about the reasons that conventional tests may not be the best method to assess student learning. Participants shared that - Tests can be rigid, covering only specific goals and objectives as taught in a particu... more »
UPDATE: Connecticut’s Holiday “Budget Deficit Roadmap” uses state credit card for (again) - Wait, What?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Connecticut’s Holiday “Budget Deficit Roadmap” uses state credit card for (again) - Wait, What?: Connecticut’s Holiday “Budget Deficit Roadmap” uses state credit card for (again) by jonpelto On December 19, 2012, the 2011-2012 Connecticut General Assembly will meet one more time, this time for a special session to deal with Connecticut’s growing budget deficit. Call it the Holiday Special Session, or perhaps more aptly, it should be called the, “let’s cut vital human services the week before Christmas” Special Session. In addition to the $123 million the Governor already cut fro... more »
Can This Claim Be True? TFAers in the Classroom for 8 Years? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Can This Claim Be True? TFAers in the Classroom for 8 Years? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Can This Claim Be True? TFAers in the Classroom for 8 Years? by Anthony Cody The Huffington Post this morning features an interview with Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp, focused on how much TFA has to offer the poor of the world. Five years ago, Kopp founded Teach For All, in order to export the TFA model to other countries around the world. In this interview, Wendy Kopp states: "On average, our corps members stay in the classroom for eight years." Honestly, I find this... more »
Schools Matter: The Eternal Failure of a NAEP Mind
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Schools Matter: The Eternal Failure of a NAEP Mind: The Eternal Failure of a NAEP Mind by P. L. Thomas After Sandy Banks in the *Los Angeles Times* stated, "We see what we are looking for—and that sends a message to students at schools like Jordan. They know we don't expect much of them," David B. Cohen replied: "Do you think that the same lesson applies to the public, or journalists, or legislators, and the messages they send to the faculty and staff at struggling schools? I don’t mean to make excuses for anyone, but is it possible that an honest assessment of the challenges the... more »
Gov. Brown’s top education advisor to retire | EdSource Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Gov. Brown’s top education advisor to retire | EdSource Today: Gov. Brown’s top education advisor to retire ** December 10th, 2012 | Add a Comment | By Kathryn Baron Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on google_plusone More Sharing Services Sue Burr Sue Burr, executive director of California’s State board of Education and a key force at local and state levels in guiding California through decades of education reform, is stepping down at the end of this year. Burr, who in her current position also serves as Gov. Jerry Brown’s top advisor on education policy, announce... more »
Shanker Blog » Cheating, Honestly
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Shanker Blog » Cheating, Honestly: Cheating, Honestly by Matthew Di Carlo Whatever one thinks of the heavy reliance on standardized tests in U.S. public education, one of the things on which there is wide agreement is that cheating must be prevented, and investigated when there’s evidence it might have occurred. For anyone familiar with test-based accountability, recent cheating scandals in Atlanta, Washington, D.C.,Philadelphia and elsewhere are unlikely to have been surprising. There has always been cheating, and it can take many forms, ranging from explicit answer-changing to ... more »
solidaridad: Open letter to Los Angeles County Federation of Labor on School Privatization and Ms. Mónica García
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
solidaridad: Open letter to Los Angeles County Federation of Labor on School Privatization and Ms. Mónica García: Open letter to Los Angeles County Federation of Labor on School Privatization and Ms. Mónica García by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene [image: Robert D. Skeels, a Social Justice Schoolboard Candidate] *"I can't wait until all contracts are thin contracts." — LAUSD President Mónica García on Unions* School Privatization Hurts EveryonePrivatization via charter schools removes agency from communities and encourages the lowest wages possible. Aside from eschewing organized l... more »
New York Teacher | Edwize
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
New York Teacher | Edwize: New York Teacher by W.J. Levay [image: New York Teacher, Dec. 6, 2012]Highlights from the latest issue of *New York Teacher*: UCAN uniting communities and neighborhoods — and they do UCAN. It stands for Uniting Communities and Neighborhoods, and it’s a new good-will project in the Bronx that has dozens of UFT members hammering or cleaning or beautifying or just playing games with children at a shelter. Stress takes a holiday Thanksgiving took on new meaning for the students and staff from PS/MS 105 in storm-ravaged Far Rockaway when their welcoming hosts at... more »
Teachers need to be accountable, but to whom? | Sweat to Inspire
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Teachers need to be accountable, but to whom? | Sweat to Inspire: Teachers need to be accountable, but to whom? On Thursday night, after working all day and attending a union round table discussion about education, I met up with an old college friend at the bar to catch up. He is a vice-president of a small financial services company, lives in an affluent community, and enjoys the finer things in life. After getting past the normal pleasantries and catching up with news about each others families, he asked me Why I was on his “side” off town. As I attempted to explain about the “e... more »
Inside ALEC's Education Task Force: Private Players Manipulating Public Education | Alternet
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Inside ALEC's Education Task Force: Private Players Manipulating Public Education | Alternet: Inside ALEC's Education Task Force: Private Players Manipulating Public Education The author infiltrated ALEC's inner sanctum -- and what she saw was chilling. *December 6, 2012* | *EDITOR'S NOTE: On Monday. we published this video of educator-activist Sabrina Stevens confronting members of ALEC's education task force over their destructive plans for America's schools. Below, she shares more about her experience inside the doors of ALEC's highly secretive proceedings.* *“When plund... more »
Taylor Graham – The Privacy Dilemma: Putting Power Back In the User’s Hands | Student Voice
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Taylor Graham – The Privacy Dilemma: Putting Power Back In the User’s Hands | Student Voice: Taylor Graham – The Privacy Dilemma: Putting Power Back In the User’s Hands by admin [image: IMG_2738] Each Sunday night, an average audience of 100 million people tune in to NBC to watch Sunday Night Football, allowing the network to charge over $500,000 for a 30 second commercial slot during that time (Ludwig, 2012). Now, imagine the amount of advertising revenue that social media giant Facebook commands during that same evening with over one billion active users. Websites suc... more »
Moco schools chief calls for three-year moratorium on standardized testing
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Moco schools chief calls for three-year moratorium on standardized testing: Moco schools chief calls for three-year moratorium on standardized testing Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 10, 2012 at 12:35 pm - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » (Katherine Frey — The Washington Post) Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr said Monday that the country needs a three-year moratorium on standardized testing and needs to “stop the insanity” of evaluating teachers according to student test scores ... more »
JFK Was First to Acknowledge Latino Voting Bloc, Hours Before He was Killed - COLORLINES
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
JFK Was First to Acknowledge Latino Voting Bloc, Hours Before He was Killed - COLORLINES: JFK Was First to Acknowledge Latino Voting Bloc, Hours Before He was Killed by *Jorge Rivas*, Tuesday, December 4 2012, 2:25 PM EST 39 Comments The night before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the president visited with Mexican American civil rights leaders at a League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) gala in Houston, Texas. Historians believe this was the first time a sitting president ever met with or acknowledged Latinos as a new voting block. Russell Contreras, an Assoc... more »
Equitable staffing of our Seattle schools demanded by Nova High School | Seattle Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Equitable staffing of our Seattle schools demanded by Nova High School | Seattle Education: Equitable staffing of our Seattle schools demanded by Nova High School by seattleducation2011 [image: Nova High School Relocated] It has been brought to my attention that four of our schools in Seattle have been chronically underfunded and therefore understaffed. The schools are Nova High School, the Center School, South Lake and the World School. There has been no explanation given as to why these schools have never been allocated sufficient staff except that they were termed “non-traditiona... more »
Parent Trigger Laws Coming To Georgia This Year – The Privatization of Education Marches On | Black Agenda Report
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Parent Trigger Laws Coming To Georgia This Year – The Privatization of Education Marches On | Black Agenda Report: Parent Trigger Laws Coming To Georgia This Year – The Privatization of Education Marches On Wed, 12/05/2012 - 03:00 — Bruce A. Dixon - school privatization Printer-friendly version *A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Bruce A. Dixon* The forces of education privatization scored a major victory this November in Georgia, thru passage of a cleverly written constitutional amendment back by a multiimillion dollar deceptive ad campaign, and the active backing or complicit... more »
SI&A Cabinet Report – Accreditation fees on teacher prep programs moving forward
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources: Print this articleAccreditation fees on teacher prep programs moving forward *By Tom Chorneau* Monday, December 10, 2012 Despite some misgivings tied to robbing Peter to pay Paul, the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing gave its consent late last week to to moving ahead on imposing a fee for accrediting university preparation programs. As one of the few state agencies that is self-funding, the CTC is under pressure from the Brown administration and legislative leaders to find ways to streamline operations and recover more of its ope... more »
Union! I'm Stickin' to the Union! - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Union! I'm Stickin' to the Union! - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: [image: Teacher in a Strange Land] Union! I'm Stickin' to the Union! by Nancy Flanagan Well, it's official. Come tomorrow, Michigan teachers will live and work in a Right to Work state. In thirty-odd years of working as a Michigan educator, the one boundary I was sure would never be crossed has been swept away by a group of short-sighted legislators and One Tough Nerd. As I type this, rumors are swirling. State employees planning a walkout! State police instructed to barricade the city of Lansi... more »
Introducing Iowans for Local Control | Truth in American Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Introducing Iowans for Local Control | Truth in American Education: Introducing Iowans for Local Control by Shane Vander Hart [image: logo-FB-Twitter]I started up Iowans for Local Control as a Facebook page, and now it joins Hoosiers Against Common Core with a brand new website. Please also follow on Twitter. This entity is now a TAE participant. Be sure to let your friends know – especially the ones who live in Iowa! It’s a work in progress so new content will be continually added. Also if you live in Iowa be sure to sign-up for the legislative alerts email (form on the front p... more »
Gabby Pacheco: Student, Dreamer and Rabble Rouser - Lily's Blackboard | Lily's Blackboard
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Gabby Pacheco: Student, Dreamer and Rabble Rouser - Lily's Blackboard | Lily's Blackboard: [image: Lily's Blackboard Rotating Header Image] Gabby Pacheco: Student, Dreamer and Rabble Rouser Dec 10th, 2012 by Lily. Gaby was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She doesn’t remember much of her city, but her family was close. She remembers her grandmother saying, “If everything else is taken from you, you will always have family.” When Gaby was eight years old, her parents came to the United States where they believed their children would be safer and be able to get a good education. They didn... more »
UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, December 10, 2012
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: *Darling-Hammond elected new chair of Credentialing Commission | EdSource Today* Education Headlines *Monday, December 10, 2012* Change in the wind as Stockton USD nears 2013A variety of factors appears to make conditions ripe for change in a wide range of central-office and school-site leadership positions in 2013, say several Stockton Unified officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Long Beach USD high school projects will exemplify `smaller is better'For a string of new high schools slated to open in the Long Beach Unif... more »
MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-10-12 Diane Ravitch's blog
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] What’s the Deal with Students for Education Reform? by dianerav Students for Education Reform thinks teachers should promptly agree to be evaluated by student test scores. They like standardized tests and want them to be the determinant of their teachers’ careers. They even held a demonstration at New York City’s City Hall to say so. But not so fast. Bruce Baker has studied and critiqued the New York State educator evaluation plan. He says it is so inaccurate that it should be rejected. He calls SFER “Sockp... more »
UPDATE: The in box. Glen Brown on defending our pensions from a legislative siege. « Fred Klonsky
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
The in box. Glen Brown on defending our pensions from a legislative siege. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Glen Brown on defending our pensions from a legislative siege. by Fred Klonsky *“[Nonetheless, there are those among us who want to abandon] “the fundamental principle that the rules of the game for contracting parties are not to be changed midstream… This is especially hard to comprehend when public employees have diligently and faithfully paid their contributions while their government employers have failed to pay their required share. Indeed, for decades, states have treated ... more »
Time in school: How does the U.S. compare?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Time in school: How does the U.S. compare?: *TIMMS and PIRLS Results: Center for Public Education Available for Interview* * * * **Contact:* Linda Embrey National School Boards Association Office: (703) 838-6737 lembey@nsba.org Researcher Jim Hull, Senior Policy Analyst at the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, is available to discuss results of the international assessments TIMSS and PIRLS that are being released today. Hull has written reports on how the U.S. compares internationally on a variety of measures: - More than a horse race: A guide to... more »
Common Core for Teachers- Education Experts
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
- Education Experts: Common Core for Teachers By *Fawn Johnson* December 10, 2012 | 8:30 a.m. - - - - - 2 The American Federation of Teachers proposed a universal "bar exam" for teachers last week, arguing that the profession deserves to be associated with high standards and the rigorous training needed to meet them. "There's this one universal assessment that would be available for adaptation. ...It would be so aligned with what new teachers need to know and be able to do. Just like the Common Core, many, many states would adopt it," said AFT President Randi W... more »
» STUDY: Rigged ALEC Research “Provides a Recipe for Economic Inequality, Wage Suppression”
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
» STUDY: Rigged ALEC Research “Provides a Recipe for Economic Inequality, Wage Suppression”: STUDY: Rigged ALEC Research “Provides a Recipe for Economic Inequality, Wage Suppression” by Chaz Bolte A new study suggests that proposed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) policies do more harm to state economies than good. *Selling Snake Oil to the States*, from Good Jobs First and the Iowa Policy Project, shows that states ranked high on ALEC’s annual “Rich States, Poor States” list actually do worse than those ranked low, especially in terms of economic inequality. Claims... more »
Op-Ed: CREDO’s Study of Charter Schools in NJ Leaves Many Unanswered Questions - East Windsor, NJ Patch
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Op-Ed: CREDO’s Study of Charter Schools in NJ Leaves Many Unanswered Questions - East Windsor, NJ Patch: Op-Ed: CREDO’s Study of Charter Schools in NJ Leaves Many Unanswered Questions Julia Sass Rubin, Ph.D., is an associate professor of public policy at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and a member of Save Our Schools NJ. - By NJ Spotlight - Email the author - 5:32 am Email Print Comment Upload Photos and Videos By Julia Sass Rubin, Ph.D. Last week, with much fanfare, a study comparing standardized test scores of New Jersey’s charter... more »
What High School Parents Should Know About Common Core - High School Notes (usnews.com)
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
What High School Parents Should Know About Common Core - High School Notes (usnews.com): *What High School Parents Should Know About Common Core* By KELSEY SHEEHY December 10, 2012 RSS Feed Print [image: The Common Core standards require high school students to collaborate to solve problems.] The Common Core standards require high school students to collaborate to solve problems. When the Common Core State Standards take full effect in 2014, they will impact more than 42 million K-12 students. While some schools and districts are holding information sessions to educate parents on th... more »
Missouri Education Watchdog: WHY Can't Students Read "Catcher in the Rye" in School? Meet David Coleman.
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: WHY Can't Students Read "Catcher in the Rye" in School? Meet David Coleman.: WHY Can't Students Read "Catcher in the Rye" in School? Meet David Coleman. by stlgretchen The only item David Coleman requires now is a crown. The big news in education last week was the reduction of fiction reading in schools thanks to Common Core State standards. Many writers bemoaned the fact that *Catcher in the Rye* was being pulled from the approved list of literature by the centralized education system present in the United States. So much for local control. Under re... more »
The Education Advocates' Battle Cry: "Let's Push the Kids Off the Fiscal Cliff!" :: Frederick M. Hess
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
The Education Advocates' Battle Cry: "Let's Push the Kids Off the Fiscal Cliff!" :: Frederick M. Hess: The Education Advocates' Battle Cry: "Let's Push the Kids Off the Fiscal Cliff!" *by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 10, 2012 at 6:22 am * Look, let's keep this simple. As a nation, we're spending vast sums we don't have. In every year of President Obama's first term, we borrowed more than a $1 trillion. Today, the federal debt stands at $16.4 trillion (we spend $220 billion a year just paying interest on the debt.) If we extend the Bush tax cuts, once again prolong unfunded "patches"... more »
DeKalb parents gird for battle tonight: Redistricting redux | Get Schooled
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
DeKalb parents gird for battle tonight: Redistricting redux | Get Schooled: DeKalb parents gird for battle tonight: Redistricting redux by Maureen Downey The DeKalb Board of Education votes tonight on a *controversial draft five-year facilities plan* from Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson. *You can read the AJC story about today’s 6 p.m. meeting here*. The story quotes a parent from Midway Elementary School who was shocked that her south DeKalb school is slated to close in the plan. And the story talks about unhappy parents at Evansdale Elementary in north DeKalb whose children shift... more »
New Jersey charter schools: What’s real and not real
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
New Jersey charter schools: What’s real and not real: New Jersey charter schools: What’s real and not real Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 10, 2012 at 5:00 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] A new report on charter schools in New Jersey was hailed as proof that charters in the state on average produce better standardized test scores than traditional public schools. Which would be fine, if that’s what the report really said. It tur... more »
Can an SB 736 Compromise Be Found in Los Angeles? | Scathing Purple Musings
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Can an SB 736 Compromise Be Found in Los Angeles? | Scathing Purple Musings: Can an SB 736 Compromise Be Found in Los Angeles? by Bob Sikes From the *Los Angeles Times*: The recent groundbreaking agreement over evaluations for educators in the Los Angeles school district is a major victory for the teachers union because it limits the use of a controversial — but increasingly widespread — measurement of teacher effectiveness. The tentative pact puts the nation’s second-largest school system at odds with a national trend to gauge the effect of teachers on student achievement by us...more »
Darling-Hammond elected new chair of Credentialing Commission | EdSource Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Darling-Hammond elected new chair of Credentialing Commission | EdSource Today: Darling-Hammond elected new chair of Credentialing Commission ** December 10th, 2012 | Add a Comment | By John Fensterwald Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on google_plusone More Sharing Services Linda Darling-Hammond The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has elected Linda Darling-Hammond as its chair, placing one of the nation’s foremost authorities on education in a position to shape the state’s policies affecting the recruitment and training of teachers and principals ... 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 Sen. Jacqueline Collins *"I voted against restoring Tamms' funding, and I urge the governor to proceed in closing this troubled and controversial facility, transferring its inmates to other prisons and respecting their human rights through responsible correctional practices." --* Chicago Reporter Chicago teacher Michael Doyle *“I’m a teacher. I’m a parent. So I understand this game. When I hear this word utilization, I’ve never heard that word used before in education.”* -- Sun-Times Kelly Hi... more »
Daily Kos: Today is International Human Rights Day
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Daily Kos: Today is International Human Rights Day: Today is International Human Rights Day by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) because on this date in 1948, at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The history is well covered in this Wikipedia article, so I will not recapitulate it. This page at the UN website provides the text and other information, including the history and the drafters. As Americans, it is worth our remembering that the chair of the committee that did the drafting was Eleanor Roosevelt. As ... more »
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Chicago's version of 'choice'
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Chicago's version of 'choice': Chicago's version of 'choice' by Mike Klonsky Excelon CEO John Rowe, former COMED CEO Frank Clark, Senator Dick Durbin, and Senate Pres. John J. Cullerton, celebrate the grand opening of Excelon Gymnasium on the campus of Rowe-Clark charter school. A CPS-promoted school fair featuring "some of Chicago's great public school options, including charter schools," advertised almost no traditional schools -- but still found space for dozens of charter schools with the district's lowest ranking. -- Gapers Block To Rahm's... more »
LAUSD: LET'S MAKE UP THE RULES AS WE GO ALONG TARGETING TEACHERS - Perdaily.com
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago
LAUSD: LET'S MAKE UP THE RULES AS WE GO ALONG TARGETING TEACHERS - Perdaily.com: LAUSD: LET'S MAKE UP THE RULES AS WE GO ALONG TARGETING TEACHERS by Leonard Isenberg [image: No to Bullying.jpg] (Mensaje se repite en Español) Any parent or teacher can tell you that if you fail to timely, reasonably, and proportionally discipline a child, they will continue to act in an anti-social and disruptive manner that precludes the calm environment where learning and growth can take place. By logical extension, if people become adults without have learned how to respect others and the legal s... more »
Ed Notes Online: The Worm is Turning: Ravitch with Smiley and West
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: The Worm is Turning: Ravitch with Smiley and West: The Worm is Turning: Ravitch with Smiley and West by ed notes online [image: diane-ravitch] Must listen radio where 2 leading Black commentators spend a half hour with Diane. I remember Tavis Smiley maybe a year ago praising aspects of ed deform. They talk about Chicago, Karen Lewis, the money to be made and the whitening of the teaching staff. Tavis Smiley and Cornell West Radio show: Cornell West to Diane Ravitch: “What force for good you’ve been in struggle for children of all colors” Diane: “I’m happy to be... more »
One Teacher's Perspective: Dressing Up and Dressing Down Teachers
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
One Teacher's Perspective: Dressing Up and Dressing Down Teachers: Dressing Up and Dressing Down Teachers by Imagine Wisconsin *Much ado has been made about a proposed teacher dress code for my school district as non-teacher leaders formulate a new employee handbook to replace the expiring teacher contract. A few weeks ago, school leaders unveiled a three-page draft of a proposed dress code for school employees to replace the current one-line (“wear appropriate dress”) policy. The proposed draft has been met with some push back from educators. The push back has been met with some p... more »
Keep Families Together - Moms Rising Blog
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago
MomsRising Blog: Embracing Our American Values: A MomsRising Blog Carnival on Protecting Family Unity, Strengthening Communities and Ensuring a Thriving Economy with the Contributions of Immigrants Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner at MomsRising Blog - 1 minute ago As we commemorate today’s anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, MomsRising is pleased to launch a blog carnival to further the national dialogue on the urgent need for making our immigration system humane and workable. With the participation of over 30 voices, ranging fro... more »
Blog | Student Voice | Connecting the Leaders of Tomorrow by Giving them a Voice Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago
Blog | Student Voice | Connecting the Leaders of Tomorrow by Giving them a Voice Today: THE EDUBLOG Awards – Vote for Stuvoice.org as Best New Blog admin at Student Voice - 7 hours ago Please show your support for Student Voice by voting for us as the “Best New Blog 2012″ in the EduBlog Awards. Voting is open until 11:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, December the 9th! Step 1: Go to http://edublogawards.com/vote-here/ Step 2: Select “New Blog” in the drop down menu Step 3: Scroll down [...] Resolution for Youth Voices Reaches the Senate admin at Student Voice - 3 days ago O... more »
An Argument For Teacher Tenure | toteachornototeach
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago
An Argument For Teacher Tenure | toteachornototeach: An Argument For Teacher Tenure by aristotlethewise *An Argument For Teacher Tenure* [image: resumejpg-6dc43b007e2ba02d] by Randy Turner In about a month the 2013 legislative session will be upon us and the attacks on teacher tenure will begin anew. One of the enduring myths propagated by the so-called reformers is that there are thousands upon thousands of bad teachers in this country who cannot be fired because they have been given tenure and their jobs are being protected at the expense of brilliant young teachers who could have ... more »
The Educated Reporter: Word on the Beat No. 3: Differentiated Instruction
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago
The Educated Reporter: Word on the Beat No. 3: Differentiated Instruction: Word on the Beat No. 3: Differentiated Instruction by Emily Richmond [image: a]http://plaidcircuitry.com/gt/index.html *Each week, The Educated Reporter will feature a buzzword or phrase that You Need To Know (yes, this designation is highly subjective but we're giving it a shot). Send your Word on the Beat suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org.* *Word on the Beat*: Differentiated instruction. *What it means*: Differentiated instruction is when a teacher adjusts the content, instructional process, and even the ... more »
'No-Excuses' Charters Grapple with Attrition – SchoolBook
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago
'No-Excuses' Charters Grapple with Attrition – SchoolBook: * * *'No-Excuses' Charters Grapple with Attrition* [image: Students at Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School must remain silent when they transition from one classroom to the next, or they could lose points that can spent on rewards.] Beth Fertig Students at Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School must remain silent when they transition from one classroom to the next, or they could lose points that can spent on rewards. Dec. 9, 2012, 10:22 p.m. By *BETH FERTIG* At Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School, a sixth grade math teacher sta... more »
The Conversation: Diane Ravitch | Smiley & West
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
The Conversation: Diane Ravitch | Smiley & West: The Conversation: Diane Ravitch [image: diane-ravitch] Former U.S. Assistant Education Secretary Diane Ravitch tells Smiley and West why she is now a fierce opponent of privatization within public education. Diane Ravitch’s Official BlogDiane Ravitch’s Official WebsitePost a comment
What went wrong with this quiz? « JD2718
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
What went wrong with this quiz? « JD2718: What went wrong with this quiz? by jd2718 I have been doing math with kids for a while. Sixteen years paid. And more before that. Why did this system of linear equations take kids more than triple the time I anticipated? Writing good questions for the classroom, designing homework, making tests and quizzes. And when I offer a question, I expect a response. Sometimes I set up a mistake, prepared to talk about it. Sometimes I introduce a small twist, to take something that is easy for the kids, and make it challenging. I chose problems to... more »
What's the Point of Being "Smarter" Than a 5th Grader? DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: What's the Point of Being "Smarter" Than a 5th Grader?: What's the Point of Being "Smarter" Than a 5th Grader? by Lisa M I used to play the game, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?", on my Iphone. But than I realized that I really didn't have enough hours in the day to play the game, and quickly gave it up. However, I do know how it works. And if you provide me with any device that can grant me access to the Internet, than I can defiantly state that, "Yes, I am smarter than a 5th grader!" And therein lies my point. If to be smarter means that ... more »
Once again, TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram says we need sacrifice. What he doesn’t say? Teachers already have. « Fred Klonsky
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Once again, TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram says we need sacrifice. What he doesn’t say? Teachers already have. « Fred Klonsky: Once again, TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram says we need sacrifice. What he doesn’t say? Teachers already have. by Fred Klonsky Teacher Retirement System’s Richard Ingram pens a commentary in the Trib calling on sacrifice to make TRS solvent. Sacrifice by whom? He only hints at what he thinks is the answer. But by refusing to say, one must assume he is doing what all politicians do when they call for sacrifice. Sometimes they say “shared sacrif... more »
Unions and Industry Responsibility « Deborah Meier on Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Unions and Industry Responsibility « Deborah Meier on Education: Unions and Industry Responsibility by debmeier A thought. Why do we assume that teacher’s unions have a responsibility for the state of eduction? As one who is a believer in unions as a force for social good that seems like an odd question. Of course they have a responsibility! On the other hand do we hold the policemen’s union responsible for the state of crime in America? Or the mineworkers union for the problems caused by coal? Surely their voice on these matters has special interest given the work their memb... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15 by Melissa Westbrook Very busy week. *Monday, December 10th* Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m. Agenda Some interesting issues but there is not enough detail to know what they are specifically going to cover. Work Session on Weighted Staffing Standards from 6-7:30 p.m. Agenda *Tuesday, December 11th * Work Session on Creative Approach Schools from 5-6:30 p.m. Agenda Special Ed Advocacy & Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m., R...more »
Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson: Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure by Jose Michael Jackson asks Manny Pacquiao If He’s OK A few notes: - I’ll be writing lots on the Future of Teaching blog. Here’s my first offering of the week, a congratulatory note for Dr. John Holland. [Future of Teaching] - We need you to take action. If you’re against the continuing proliferation of testing, please sign. Thank you! [AFT] - What does it mean to be an authentic leader? This also works for anyone looking for authenticity in their
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