Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Hmm, that’s one way to look at it…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Hmm, that’s one way to look at it…:

Hmm, that’s one way to look at it…

 

“All too often, supporters and opponents of charter schools claim that bad charter schools don’t close,” said Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform. “The truth is charter schools that don’t measure up are closing at a rate of 15 percent. Regrettably, the same can’t be said for traditional public schools.”

– from Charter School Closure Rate Tops 15%

This is classic “marketplace” thinking that really isn’t. It’s like when GM was 

Democurmudgeon: K12 Inc. Virtual Charter Schools sued for "deceptive recruiting" and passing students with poor or nonexistent performance."

Democurmudgeon: K12 Inc. Virtual Charter Schools sued for "deceptive recruiting" and passing students with poor or nonexistent performance.":

K12 Inc. Virtual Charter Schools sued for "deceptive recruiting" and passing students with poor or nonexistent performance."

Scott Walker wants to expand virtual and vouchers schools, both parallel educational systems that under perform and undermine public schools. This shocking lawsuit against the biggest virtual school, K12, exposes what I've been saying all along; for profit schools are after the money and will destroy public education. From eSchool News (subscription):

After a recent New York Times article implied that online learning giant K12 Inc. focuses more on its bottom line than student performance, the company now faces a class action lawsuit alleging that it violated securities laws by issuing false and misleading statements regarding its business prospects. The Times published numerous improper practices at K12’s virtual charter schools. After the article appeared, the price of K12 stock plunged.

The lawsuit, aimed at the country’s largest operator of full-time public virtual schools, alleges that:
• K12 engaged in improper and deceptive recruiting and sales strategies, aimed at enrolling students regardless of their ability to successfully complete the curriculum;

• K12 failed to disclose administrative pressure from upper management

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 4-4 #soschat #EDReform

A Trifecta Of Sins | Taking Note

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A Trifecta Of Sins | Taking Note: A Trifecta Of SinsbyJohn MerrowA comprehensive report in late March by theAtlanta Journal-Constitutionprovides strong evidence that adults in as many as 200 school systems have been cheating on their students’ standardized tests.We looked at this forNewsHourin 2011:BecauseI spent three years chronicling the tenure of Michelle Rhee in Washington, DC– another city with a spate of thus-far-unexplained ‘wrong to right’ erasures on standardized tests — I am interested in this story. I’d like to ... more »

GOP Budget Guts Education Spending To Benefit The One Percent | OurFuture.org

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GOP Budget Guts Education Spending To Benefit The One Percent | OurFuture.org: GOP Budget Guts Education Spending To Benefit The One PercentbyJeff BryantThis weekPresident Obamaderided the draconian budget conceived by Rep. Paul Ryan and endorsed by the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney, as “laughable,” a “radical vision,” and "nothing but thinly veiled Social Darwinism.”But let's be clear. When it comes to how America advances the interests of school children and college students, Obama's assessment of the ... more »

Portland went too far in requiring high school teachers to work harder, must pay them $1.5 million, limit their student loads | OregonLive.com

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Portland went too far in requiring high school teachers to work harder, must pay them $1.5 million, limit their student loads | OregonLive.com: Portland went too far in requiring high school teachers to work harder, must pay them $1.5 million, limit their student loadsPublished: Wednesday, April 04, 2012, 2:12 PM Updated:Wednesday, April 04, 2012, 2:18 PMView full sizeThe OregonianPortland high schools created huge study halls, like this one at Benson High, to try to give teachers some relief from large ... more »

RheeFirst! » Rhee et al. forms yet another group to wage more war against teachers

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RheeFirst! » Rhee et al. forms yet another group to wage more war against teachers: Rhee et al. forms yet another group to wage more war against teachersbyadminWritten by Anna Phillips for the New York Times. Read theentire article here.“’If these 1-percenters want to mount an AstroTurf campaign with their deep pockets, they’ve done this before,’ [union president Mulgrew] said. ‘But let’s be clear: the public school parents have not bought into the Bloomberg education reform movement.’…Ms. Rhee and Mr. ... more »

What Atlanta newspaper cheating investigation says about Philadelphia | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

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What Atlanta newspaper cheating investigation says about Philadelphia | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: What Atlanta newspaper cheating investigation says about PhiladelphiabyDale Mezzacappaon Apr 04 2012 Posted inLatest newsCOMMENTS (0)PRINTEMAILTags:cheatingINN feedTheAtlanta Journal-Constitution, whose investigation of test score anomalies in Atlanta exposed a culture of cheating and led to the departure of former superintendent Beverly Hall, has expanded its reach toanalyze test score results across the country.According to the AJC, Philadelphia shows up on a list of196 sch... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Noble Charter Update

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Jersey Jazzman: Noble Charter Update: Noble Charter UpdatebyDukeEarlier this week, I took a look at the exercise in union-bashing propaganda that Juan Williams and Kyle Olson put out, disguised as a documentary about Noble Street Charter Network schools in Chicago. It turns out Noble is serving a substantially different student population than the rest of the CPS public high schools, which may well account for its higher test scores. There's also evidence that Noble has very high attrition rates.Two days ... more »

State burdened by oversight(or lack thereof) of more charter schools | EdSource Extra!

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State burdened by oversight of more charter schools | EdSource Extra!: State burdened by oversight of more charter schoolsSeptember 28th, 2011 |13 CommentsByLouis Freedberg~ EdSource ExtraPhoto by Seth SawyersThe closure and bankruptcy of a West Sacramento charter school this fall highlights the State Board of Education’sincreasing role in granting charters to charter schools—and its limited ability to oversee those schools.As charter schools continue to expand dramatically across the state, the number authorized and overseen by the board has grown from ... more »

Can giving parents a voice actually improve schools? - latimes.com

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Can giving parents a voice actually improve schools? - latimes.com: Can giving parents a voice actually improve schools?Comments0Share8Members of Desert Trails Parent Union are shown Jan. 12 carrying signed petitions as they march towards Desert Trails Elementary in Adelanto.(Los Angeles Times/April3, 2012)By Karin KleinApril 3, 2012,2:50 p.m.The latest setback for the parent-trigger reform -- when the Adelanto School District last week rejected a petition to ... well, it’s not exactly clear what the parents sought, but more on that later ...more »

Integrating Technology into a Math Lesson | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

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Integrating Technology into a Math Lesson | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Integrating Technology into a Math Lessonbylarrycuban“I’m petrified that we’ll apply new technology to old pedagogy,” Professor Elliot Soloway at the University of Michigansaid…. “We are not exploiting the affordances of the new technology to give kids new kinds of learn-by-doing activities….What a waste!”Soloway expresses in vivid language a fixed belief among many high-tech advocates that new technologies such as tablets, smart phones, and similar devices ... more »

This Week In Education: Quotes: "I Don't Live In Other Nations"

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This Week In Education: Quotes: "I Don't Live In Other Nations": Quotes: "I Don't Live In Other Nations"byAlexander RussoRavitch: Interesting that top-performing and most equitable nations in world do not have vouchers or charters.Fuller: I don't live in other nations I live here I believe we need choice for poor families. If this is Diane u used to believe it too.Exchange between Diane Ravitch and Howard Fuller, via Whitney Tilson. See full Tilson clip below.Fuller: Diane, how long has the ... more »

Just When I Almost Forget I Live in LA, the State Senate Slaps up a Reminder | The G Bitch Spot

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Just When I Almost Forget I Live in LA, the State Senate Slaps up a Reminder | The G Bitch Spot: Just When I Almost Forget I Live in LA, the State Senate Slaps up a ReminderbyG BitchLimit to contract clauses proposed, The (Baton Rouge, LA) Advocate, 4/2/12The headline is oddly flat and uninformative, considering what the bill was sparked by and is aimed at: anti-discriminationlanguagein charter school contracts. I think the answer to this “dilemma” is that theorganizationor individual ... more »

PISA: What can parents do to help their children succeed in school?

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PISA: What PISA IsPISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an international study which began in the year 2000. It aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating countries/economies. Since the year 2000 over 70 countries and economies have participated in PISA.What's newPISA: What can parents do to help their children succeed in school?08-Nov-2011'PISA in Focus N°10' looks at the impact of parents' participation in their children's learning.PISA: School autonomy and ... more »

Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountability | Seattle Education

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Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountability | Seattle Education: Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountabilitybyseattleducation2011Rethinking Schools has just come out with its latest publicationPencils Downedited byWayne AuandMelissa Bollow Tempel.To follow is theintroductionto the book.In 2000,Rethinking SchoolspublishedFailing Our Kids: Why the Testing Craze Won’t Fix Our Schools. In that volume, editors Kathy Williams (then Swope) and Barbara Miner pulled together a groundbreaking col... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unions

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Schooling in the Ownership Society: Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unions: Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unionsbyMike KlonskyRhee Canada lead the war on teacher unions.“Folks are genuinely looking for opportunities to make peace and not war,” Mr. Canada said. “And I think that’s terrific. But someone has to make war.”-- Geoffrey Canada Canada's war declaration comes at the end of aTimes storyannouncing the formation of a well-financed and politically connected alliance aimed at nothing less than smashing teacher ... more »

Schools Matter: Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes Testing

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Schools Matter: Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes Testing: Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes TestingIt's only fitting that the most sustained and widespread effort to stop the abusive testing frenzy would come from Texas, which is, after all, the birthplace of testing on steroids and the home of the only former American president who cannot travel abroad for fear of being arrested as a war criminal.The post ... more »

Daily Kos: on religion, belief, political participation and more

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Daily Kos: on religion, belief, political participation and moreon religion, belief, political participation and morebyrss@dailykos.com (teacherken)in light of the dueling diaries on the rec list on the subject of belief versus atheism etc., I thought it might be relevant for me to repost this, written almost 7 years ago on April 16, 2005. It might be worthwhile noting that progressives of faith were very much a part of the early days of this site, and we had worship services at ... more »

Can Arts Education Help Close the Achievement Gap? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

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Can Arts Education Help Close the Achievement Gap? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights: Can Arts Education Help Close the Achievement Gap?byobrienaArecent reportfrom the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) suggests that arts education can help narrow the achievement gap that exists between low-income students and their more advantaged peers. Butnew datafrom the federal government suggests that low-income students are less likely to have access to arts education than their higher-income peers.Certainly arts education is important for ... more »

Billionaire-financed Astroturf Group Coming to N Carolina « Parents Across America

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Billionaire-financed Astroturf Group Coming to N Carolina « Parents Across America: Billionaire-financed Astroturf Group Coming to N CarolinabypagrundyPAA affiliate Mecklenburg ACTS just learned that the astroturf “Campaign for Achievement Now” has targeted our state for its next legislative drive.According to the website, the Campaign plans to spend more than $700,000 in our state to advance its charter and testing-focused agenda in 2012 alone, most of it apparently financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is in addition to ... more »

School Tech Connect: Dick Ingram Revisited

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School Tech Connect: Dick Ingram Revisited: Dick Ingram Revisitedbynoreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)I'm going to re-run Dick Ingram's presentation from last October during the SB 520 debacle. I'm trying to figure out what has changed, other than that the TRS Board has declared a looming insolvency. I'm also getting ready to film the new round of presentations.I've read itfour or five times, and I'm not sure what the objective of the new TRS position is, or how it squares with what Dick ...more »

ROCKFORD TEACHERS’ “VICTORY” A SIGN OF THE TIMES « Teachers Fight Back

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ROCKFORD TEACHERS’ “VICTORY” A SIGN OF THE TIMES « Teachers Fight Back: ROCKFORD TEACHERS’ “VICTORY” A SIGN OF THE TIMESbyalkleenRockford teachers voted overwhelmingly to approve the contract offer that ended the strike. The details of the contract show how anything short of a “give-back” for teachers is considered a win these days.The salary settlement for year one included no base pay increase and only half of the normal step and lane payments. Employees with a bachelor’s degree who are maxed ... more »

Teacher-Prep Rulemaking: Is Consensus in Jeopardy? - Teacher Beat - Education Week

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Teacher-Prep Rulemaking: Is Consensus in Jeopardy? - Teacher Beat - Education Week: Teacher-Prep Rulemaking: Is Consensus in Jeopardy?byStephen SawchukThe panelists charged with rewriting federal teacher-preparation rules faced a grueling day today during which major tension points emerged with little resolution, all of which served to call into question whether they will be able to reach consensus by Thursday.You don't have to take my word for it: During some of the breaks, I spoke to a handful of negotiators—they all, reasonably, ... more »

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. A problem with democracy. « Fred Klonsky

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Life in Rahm’s Chicago. A problem with democracy. « Fred Klonsky: Life in Rahm’s Chicago. A problem with democracy.byFred KlonskyFromRolling Stone:What Rahm seems to be doing is building a new machine for our age of union busting and austerity. His budget, which the City Council passed 50 to 0 like it was some Soviet Party Congress (maybe it had something to do with the hundreds of thousands Goldner’s PAC had to spend), killed six community mental health clinics, saving $2.3 ... more »

The Dreamer, The Believer [The Race Man Cometh] | The Jose Vilson

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The Dreamer, The Believer [The Race Man Cometh] | The Jose Vilson: The Dreamer, The Believer [The Race Man Cometh]byJoseThis is what I getfor reading comments on CNN blogs. Or anywhere else but my blog anyways.The trolls spew racism all over a post that’s simply meant to help progress the conversation about race, not get us stuck in the same epitaphs of indifference and conservatism. For once, I’d like to see people who normally settle upon their asses when it ...more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: New Missouri charter-school law would improve profitability tability

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New Missouri charter-school law would improve accountability - KansasCity.com: New Missouri charter-school law would improve accountabilityBY MICHELLE RHEESpecial to The StarMichelle Rhee is the founder and CEO of StudentsFirst, a bipartisan grassroots movement that is working to improve the nation’s schools. She previously served as chancellor of Washington D.C., schools and before that founded the New Teacher Project, which helps districts recruit effective teachers to challenging schools. She splits her time between Sacramento, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn.More NewsNew Missouri ch... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Hearings and my testimony on the DOE's woefully inadequate preliminary capital budget

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NYC Public School Parents: Hearings and my testimony on the DOE's woefully inadequate preliminary capital budget: Hearings and my testimony on the DOE's woefully inadequate preliminary capital budgetbyLeonie HaimsonThe NY City Council Education Committee held hearings on the Mayor’s Fiscal 2013 Preliminary Capital Budgeton March 26, 2012 at 250 Broadway. Education Chair Robert Jackson called the meeting to order at 10 am andread opening testimony, focused on how there are only 38,000 seats in the plan, though the DOE admits ... more »

RHEE-Divided Two D.C. school reform events, competing visions - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post

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Two D.C. school reform events, competing visions - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post: Two D.C. school reform events, competing visionsbyBill TurqueThe two education gatherings last Thursday evening were only two miles apart on the map. But in the philosophy and agendas, the expanse separating them is vast.In the spare, concrete-and glass chapel at Metropolitan Community Church in Shaw, about 100 community activists met to discuss the future of D.C. public education in a symposium called a “A Fork ... more »

Hechinger Report | Q&A with Steve Barr: Lessons from charter schools in L.A. and New Orleans

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Hechinger Report | QA with Steve Barr: Lessons from charter schools in L.A. and New Orleans: QA with Steve Barr: Lessons from charter schools in L.A. and New OrleansbySarah CarrSteve Barr has often found himself in the minority as a charter school founder who supports teacher unionization, albeit of a transformed nature. About 12 percent of charter schools nationally employ unionized teachers, according torecent datafrom the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.Barr is probably best known for the 2008 takeover ... more »

Ready for Inspection! The Problem with “Quality Reviews” | Mr. D's Neighborhood

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Ready for Inspection! The Problem with “Quality Reviews” | Mr. D's Neighborhood: Ready for Inspection! The Problem with “Quality Reviews”byldorazio1“No matter how nitpicky, how fastidious a reviewer can be, he (she)’ll never, ever come close to what you actually do in yourclassroom.”Some time ago, an acquaintance I knew from the Department of Education, a science specialist, told me this when I was complaining about State Quality Reviews (SQRs).As true as this is (and he should know—he actually does SQRs for ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-3 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 19 hours ago

Chris Norby: Too many kids stuck with label of English Language Learner | english, language, ell - Opinion - The Orange County RegisterBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-8 minutes agoChris Norby: Too many kids stuck with label of English Language Learner | english, language, ell - Opinion - The Orange County Register: By CHRIS NORBY/ Republican Assemblyman representing FullertonCalifornia kindergartners are being routinely designated as "Limited English" and placed into costly and ineffective programs for years before they're able ... more »