Sunday, May 6, 2012

YESTERDAY’S TEACHING METHODS WOULD BE CHILD ABUSE TODAY « Teachers Fight Back

YESTERDAY’S TEACHING METHODS WOULD BE CHILD ABUSE TODAY « Teachers Fight Back:


YESTERDAY’S TEACHING METHODS WOULD BE CHILD ABUSE TODAY

The following story was taken from Dawn Turner Trice’s column in the Tribune.
One day in the early 1960s, when Marilyn Johnson was a first-grader at a Chicago Catholic school, her teacher announced that she would call the “good readers” to the front of the class.
One by one, students left their seats and stood proudly by the chalkboard.  When the nun finished calling names, only Johnson and a little boy remained at their desks.
“I ran home and told my mother, and she went out and bought a bunch of flash cards,” said Johnson, 57.  “And I went from the nun telling my mother that I was going to be ‘slow’, to reading everything that wasn’t moving, including the Kellogg’s cereal box.”
Johnson is now a Cook County Circuit Court judge.
I can’t imagine a teacher today that would leave only two students to be seated while all others were rewarded. Today that borders on child abuse. What about the two unfortunate children’s embarrassment? What about their 

Jersey Jazzman: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Buys Herself Some Legislators

Jersey Jazzman: Rhee Buys Herself Some Legislators:


Rhee Buys Herself Some Legislators

Teachers, Missouri shows you the future - pay heed:
Two Democratic legislators, including Minority Leader Mike Talboy, D-Kansas City, who received campaign contributions from Michelle Rhee's Students Firsthelped give the organization its first legislative victory in Missouri Thursday.

A watered down HB 1526 eliminating the use of seniority in determining teacher layoffs passed by an 83-78 margin, one vote more than necessary, with Talboy, who received a $1,000 contribution from Students First on March 27, and Penny Hubbard, D-St. Louis, who banked a $500 check the same day, voting on the winning side. 
How the winning majority was obtained was described in a legislative report issued 


Useless Vouchers

So Cory Booker, George Norcross, and Chris Christie spent the week going on and on about how vouchers will "save" our failing children schools. The facts seem to matter little to these three, so rather than go over them yet again, let's see if what they are saying makes any sense whatsoever.

Booker:
"We have created a system that chokes out potential of millions of children trapped in schools that deny the beauty of their genius," Booker said. "We need to get the Opportunity Scholarship Act passed because we need to lift the bar higher."
Mr. Mayor, there are a scant few parochial schools left in your city or elsewhere in New Jersey. The very elite private schools are pretty much full. How will putting a very few children into the few seats available "lift the bar 





Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER


Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers


Other Astroturf lobbying groups






Founding Fathers Appalled At Attacks On Public Education - The Winning Words Project

Founding Fathers Appalled At Attacks On Public Education - The Winning Words Project:


Founding Fathers Appalled At Attacks On Public Education

by Karoli
As I prepare to send my youngest child off to a state university, recent Congressional kerfuffles over student loan interest rates have left me wondering when our nation abandoned our core values. When conservative pundits like George Will actually call student loans "entitlements" and Cal Thomas of the Baltimore Sun says student debt problems are simply a failure of the students themselves, something distinctly un-American is happening. Here's a dose of truth for those so-called conservative values types: Public education paid for by all citizens was one of the core values our Founding Fathers named as fundamental to a free, democratic society.
In April 1776, John Adams put his Thoughts on Government in writing in response to a resolution by the North Carolina Provincial Congress. He begins by making a case for the purpose of government, writing "the happiness of society is the end of all government" which naturally follows his belief that "the happiness of the individual is the end of man." Using these as guiding principles, Adams then sketches an outline of what he believes good government should be.
After outlining a legislative framework, Adams moves on to specifics. After a well-armed militia, Adams wrote, "Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially of the lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a human and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought 

No education reform without tackling poverty, experts say

Education Votes:


No education reform without tackling poverty, experts say


 
If many so-called education reformers really want to close the student achievement gap, they should direct their fire away from public school educators and take aim at the real issue—poverty. This was the consensus of a panel of policy advocates and academics that convened recently on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to discuss the impact of poverty on student learning over the past 40 years. The panelists presented data that showed the current state of student achievement and discussed what changes needed to be made to address the needs of students and schools in low socio-economic areas.
“It’s time to stop arguing whether schools prepare students for the future and launch a full scale attack on poverty,” said panelist Peter Edelman of the Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy.
Joining Edelman on the panel were Sean Reardon, Professor of Education and 

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 5-6-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


A Big Education Ape Nite Cap


Going Down the Rabbit Hole: The Mad World of Bill Gates and Pearson Publishing « Living Behind the Gates

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 minutes ago
Going Down the Rabbit Hole: The Mad World of Bill Gates and Pearson Publishing « Living Behind the Gates: Going Down the Rabbit Hole: The Mad World of Bill Gates and Pearson Publishing By livingbehindthegates Mad World… getting madder every day… *“In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw round, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March *


Seattle Schools Community Forum: Career + Technical Education in SPS

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 minutes ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Career + Technical Education in SPS: Career + Technical Education in SPS by Melissa Westbrook This is a long overdue thread but one that deserves two threads. This first one is about what SPS is doing and their great director, Shep Siegel. The other one will be about national CTE and new efforts to revive. Vocational ed? Do we all remember this from high school? The shop teacher with the missing fingers? The guys who took auto shop to learn to rev up their cars? We have come a long way and luckily Mr. Siegel is creating the SPS program to h... more »

Educator Musing: Parent Revolution's Two Petition Strategy - Confusing or Misleading?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 minutes ago
Educator Musing: Parent Revolution's Two Petition Strategy - Confusing or Misleading?: Parent Revolution's Two Petition Strategy - Confusing or Misleading? by Educator Musing For our first strategy, and this was and remains our first choice, we knew we could achieve our goals within the district, but the district would have to formally make changes and just as important the teacher's union would have to make changes to their operations. This model became petition #1. And it calls for the district to give certain powers to Desert Trails Kids First and for the union to enter ... more »

Social Media For Administrators (Blog Posts) | Connected Principals

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Social Media For Administrators (Blog Posts) | Connected Principals: Social Media For Administrators (Blog Posts) by George Couros cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by Ken Whytock *I recently decided to compile some of the blog posts that I have written regarding social media and administrators on my own blog site. I have created a “page” for these articles that I will continue to update as I write posts that may be helpful, but I just wanted to share this as a blog post to those people who may subscribe to this through an RSS feed or email subscription. There are so many... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Update to Lake City Property Issue

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Update to Lake City Property Issue: Update to Lake City Property Issue by Melissa Westbrook Via Director Peaslee, new info from Ron English, legal counsel for the district about the Lake City property (and thank you to Mr. English for this detailed explanation). It's quite long and detailed and I am printing it in its entirety. I still have my three main issues with this idea: - *should the district be in the property management business at all?* It is not a core purpose of the district. - Mr. English's statement says that the district's real e... more »

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - The Port Huron Statement: A manifesto reconsidered

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - The Port Huron Statement: A manifesto reconsidered: THE PORT HURON STATEMENT: A MANIFESTO RECONSIDERED [image: Date]SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2012 AT 12:01PM | [image: Print Article]PRINT ARTICLE | [image: Email Article]EMAIL ARTICLE | [image: Comment]POST A COMMENT *This op-ed originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 6, 2012.* *An Occupy protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask is shown in Oakland, Calif. Occupy Wall Street's insistence that 1% of the population shouldn't control such a vast portion of the country's wealth feels like a direct ...more »

Louisiana Educator: More on the 10% factor

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Louisiana Educator: More on the 10% factor: More on the 10% factor by Michael Deshotels Many of my readers are still struggling to understand exactly which teachers are expected to be rated ineffective by the Act 54 teacher evaluation plan. So I submitted the following questions to Superintendent White in an email recently: Mr White: The readers of my blog at louisianaeducator.blogspot.com have asked several questions that I have not been able to answer. I would appreciate very much if you could answer the following questions. - Will the 10% of teachers deemed to be ineffect... more »

Dear Charlie. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Dear Charlie. « Fred Klonsky: Dear Charlie. by Fred Klonsky *Sixty IEA members travel from the north suburbs of Chicago to Springfield to fight for pensions, but nobody from the IEA Communications office takes notice.* Dear Charlie McBarron, Just because you’re pissed at me, Charlie, don’t take it out on everyone in Region 36. I knew things had gotten bad when you unfriended me from Facebook. That was when you mistakenly mentioned on one of your status updates that IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin was a member of the Advisory Board of the National Council on Teacher Quality. O... more »

“If Teachers Were Treated Like Celebrities!” 2012 Version « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
“If Teachers Were Treated Like Celebrities!” 2012 Version « Diary of a Public School Teacher!: “If Teachers Were Treated Like Celebrities!” 2012 Version by Oldschoolteach *Can you imagine what it would be like if teachers were treated like actors, athletes, singers, or even “reality tv “stars?” Wow!* *Mrs.Smith, Celebrity Teacher* “Mrs.Smith, Mrs.Smith, can I get your autograph?” She turned and smiled brightly at the young woman running towards her. “Mrs.Smith”, the young woman gasped, “I have been following your career for years! I’m about to start teaching myself, and I would ... more »

I Went Through Hell, So I’m Expecting Heaven [On Speaking Up Again] | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
I Went Through Hell, So I’m Expecting Heaven [On Speaking Up Again] | The Jose Vilson: I Went Through Hell, So I’m Expecting Heaven [On Speaking Up Again] by Jose Colleague Carrie Kamm commented on my last post with this: “Something prompted this blog post from you. I am sure these thoughts and ideas have dwelled within you, but I’d love to know what you observed, heard, or felt that made you need to write this post this week. For me, reading Lisa Delpit’s latest book has brought many of these same sentiments to the surface for me in a way that feels more present and urgent.” She... more »

An Urban Teacher's Education: Whatever It Takes

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
An Urban Teacher's Education: Whatever It Takes: Whatever It Takes by James Boutin "Are you willing to do whatever it takes to ensure each child succeeds?" Recently, Highline School District (the district I work in, just south of Seattle) conducted something of an audit around their devotion to equity. The question above was among many considered by the "auditors" in determining the commitment of the district's staff to equity. That this question was considered by such a group strongly implies that equity is only served when school personnel answer yes. Six years ago, when I wa... more »

You Can't Be a Feminist and Have Kids (Or: Everything You Do Is Wrong) | Inside Higher Ed

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
You Can't Be a Feminist and Have Kids (Or: Everything You Do Is Wrong) | Inside Higher Ed: You Can't Be a Feminist and Have Kids (Or: Everything You Do Is Wrong) by Susan O'Doherty Blog: Mama PhD This week, The New York Times is running a series on the benefits and pitfalls of attachment parenting in its Room for Debate section, inspired by Elisabeth Badinter's "The Conflict." For the most part, the essays are thoughtful and measured, and some of them (Erica Jong's and Annie Urban's in particular, I think) discuss important factors in child-rearing. But the title of the seri... more »

Final push to save teacher pensions. Keep the pressure on everyone. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Final push to save teacher pensions. Keep the pressure on everyone. « Fred Klonsky: Final push to save teacher pensions. Keep the pressure on everyone. by Fred Klonsky *The only time you will read me quoting Ronald Reagan: “Trust, but verify.”* As we head back to school tomorrow, we are heading into the final month of the Illinois General Assembly session. Crunch time on the pension issue. Active and retired teachers have to step up. A contact a day. Every day. And the pressure must be put on both the legislators and our IEA leadership. Some argue that the IEA should be at the table. ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Good, the Bad, and the Dumb

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Good, the Bad, and the Dumb: The Good, the Bad, and the Dumb by Melissa Westbrook Great article in the Times this morning about almost-*Superintendent Banda.* Makes me think the Board picked the right person at the right time for this district. I note that the Times is also trying to push this *A+Washington initiative*. LEV has a full-court press at their website. There is nothing wrong with various groups joining together to push for better education but what they are saying is nothing new: - great teachers - flexibility - m... more »

This Week In Education: Events: Weekend Thoughts On NSVF 2012

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
This Week In Education: Events: Weekend Thoughts On NSVF 2012: Events: Weekend Thoughts On NSVF 2012 by Alexander Russo [image: Nsvf2012 logo]We're still waiting for the Howard Fuller and Rahm Emanuel videos but, with the benefit of a couple days to reflect, here are some thoughts about last week’s NSVF summit that I haven't seen elsewhere: the newfound prominence given to the parent trigger, the honest self-criticism about public engagement, the choice of Howard ("Storm The Bastille") Fuller as opener, the general disappointment following Emanuel's speech. Plus a reward video at ... more »

Corporate #EDReform Issues New Warning Message

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
*Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991* CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavor... more »

Ultra-Right Heartland Institute Compares Belief in Global Warming to Mass Murder « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Ultra-Right Heartland Institute Compares Belief in Global Warming to Mass Murder « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Ultra-Right Heartland Institute Compares Belief in Global Warming to Mass Murder by millerlf *The ultra conservative Heartland Institute is holding its 7th annual anti-scientific “international conference on climate change” in Chicago on May 21st to the 23rd. (See http://heartland.org/events/seventh-international-conference-climate-change) To draw attention to the conference, the well-funded Heartland started an ad campaign comparing people who believe in g... more »

Major groups beg Congress to rewrite NCLB - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Major groups beg Congress to rewrite NCLB - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: Major groups beg Congress to rewrite NCLB By Valerie Strauss A coalition of 10 major organizations of state and local government officials just sent a letter asking — or, rather, effectively begging — Congress to *finally* do its job and reauthorize No Child Left Behind. It is a sharp reminder of the stunning failure of Congress over years to find the legislative will to pass a new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known in its current form as No Child Left Behind. The letter (f... more »

Parents urge state Education chief to visit charter school in Pleasantville ordered to close - chicagotribune.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Parents urge state Education chief to visit charter school in Pleasantville ordered to close - chicagotribune.com: Parents urge state Education chief to visit charter school in Pleasantville ordered to closeDiane D'Amico The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J. 7:00 a.m. CDT, May 5, 2012 [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] PLEASANTVILLE — Parents of students at the PleasanTech Charter School want acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to visit the school to see why it should be allowed to stay open. "We want him to visually see our children in actio... more »

Free Bus Trips + Call to Action for People’s Summit in Chicago 5/18 | OccupyWallSt.org #ows #soschat

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Free Bus Trips & Call to Action for People’s Summit in Chicago 5/18 | OccupyWallSt.org: Free Bus Trips & Call to Action for People’s Summit in Chicago 5/18 Posted 4 hours ago on May 6, 2012, 9:16 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt [image: chicago 99 solidarity] *via 99% Solidarity:* 99% solidarity is excited to participate in nonviolent direct actions in Chicago from May 18 to 22, 2012. We have secured buses to bring people to these actions from several U.S cities. We are currently working on the travel schedule, agenda and other important details of this trip. We will be contacting you with u...more »

AP Interview: URI says nonprofit drained resources - Boston.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
AP Interview: URI says nonprofit drained resources - Boston.com: AP Interview: URI says nonprofit drained resources By Laura Crimaldi Associated Press / May 6, 2012 - E-mail| - Print| - Comments (0) Text size – + - 0 - - 0 - - ShareThisNew SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—The president of the University of Rhode Island says the school's 26-year partnership with a sports nonprofit now facing a police probe was a drain on university resources that could have been better spent elsewhere than on the ill-fated collaboration that faced financial difficulties right ... more »

PENCILS DOWN – End High Stakes Testing - Mecklenburg ACTS News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Mecklenburg ACTS News: PENCILS DOWN – End High Stakes Testing Posted on May 5, 2012 Testing Season is at hand. We’re fighting back. Please join us! *GO TO * *National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing* *Tuesday, May 8, Board of Education meeting, Government Center, 6 p.m* We will be asking the CMS School Board to endorse the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing. If you plan to come, we’ll be in the lobby of the Government Center starting at about 5:45 with signs and giant pencils to wave. We expect to present at about 6:15. We’d love to have you. If you can’t come, please ... more »

Mother Crusader: Christie and Cerf: CLUELESS About Public Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Mother Crusader: Christie and Cerf: CLUELESS About Public Education: Christie and Cerf: CLUELESS About Public Education by darciecima I've been spending a fair amount of my time thinking and reading about the proposals Acting Commissioner Cerf has put before the State Board of Education. To date, the changes to high school testing requirements have gotten the most press attention, and the changes to the charter school regulations have taken a back seat. I am sure this will change in the coming weeks, and if nothing else I certainly plan on addressing the proposed changes to ch... more »

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky: Sunday links. by Fred Klonsky *Cairo, Egypt. May 4th.* *John Dillon’s Pension Vocabulary Word of the Week*: *Misinformation. “Working as a hand puppet for the Illinois Policy Institute, ABC’s Chuck Goudie, the crack investigative reporters for the “I” Team (Eyewitness News) on Channel 7 Chicago, announced that he and the IPI had uncovered a “brand new and improved” pension scam as Illinois face “a financial cliff.” Goudie’s sober delivery and impeccable report would have made William Randolph Hearst Proud. I found my own heart racing and anger escala... more »

Gerard Robinson Testy, Defensive in Tampa Bay Times Interview | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Gerard Robinson Testy, Defensive in Tampa Bay Times Interview | Scathing Purple Musings: Gerard Robinson Testy, Defensive in Tampa Bay Times Interview by Bob Sikes Florida’s Commissioner of Education Gerard Robinson has apparently been designated as the one who will be taking the tough questions on education policy so Rick Scott and Jeb Bush won’t have to. His rambling and often sarcastic answers for reporter Jeff Solochek were indicative of a man who realizes he’s defending the indefensible. Writes Solochek: *Earlier in the discussion, Robinson delayed answering a question abou... more »

Minority legislators back Malloy -- to a point | The Connecticut Mirror

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Minority legislators back Malloy -- to a point | The Connecticut Mirror: Minority legislators back Malloy -- to a point 2 Comments - [image: Printer-friendly version]Printer-friendly version - [image: Send to a friend]Send to a friend May 3, 2012 By Mark Pazniokas and Jacqueline Rabe Thomas With time running short, the legislature's Black and Puerto Rican Caucus tried Thursday to nudge forward some of the education reforms that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says are needed to turn around troubled urban schools. But the caucus, which includes 22 of the General Assembly's 187 membe... more »

Are Test Scores the Point? « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Are Test Scores the Point? « Diane Ravitch's blog: Are Test Scores the Point? by dianerav We have reached a point in our public life where the only way to demonstrate the success of a school is to say it has higher test scores than some other school. But we all know–or should know–that there are many ways to get higher test scores without having a better school. Some schools get higher test scores because they have a selection mechanism. The selection mechanism might be as simple as a test for entry. That screens out low-scoring students. But no one would be so brazen as to say t... more »

Hunting or Gathering? | Connected Principals

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Hunting or Gathering? | Connected Principals: Hunting or Gathering? by Lynn Hardin *Amongst your students and the staff you work with reflect on who is “Hunting” and who is a “Gathering.” This awareness will give you a better understanding of how to differentiate instruction, how to teach certain students, see where a parent is coming from, and have empathy for others. This awareness will create better relationships!* *Purpose of hunting and gathering* o For Both is Survival. That means there is a lot of intensity and energy around it. *Version* o Hunting is the masculine.... more »

The in box. From Glen Brown (a wonderful poet himself), a poem for Teacher Appreciation Week. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
The in box. From Glen Brown (a wonderful poet himself), a poem for Teacher Appreciation Week. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. From Glen Brown (a wonderful poet himself), a poem for Teacher Appreciation Week. by Fred Klonsky *For Fred Klonsky and all teachers* * * *The Thing You Must Remember by Maggie Anderson* *The thing you must remember is how, as a child,* *you worked hours in the art room, the teacher’s* *hands over yours, molding the little clay dog.* ** *You must remember how nothing mattered* *but the imagined dog’s fur, the shape of his ears* *and his paws. The gray clay felt ... more »

Schools Matter: Walking Man, Jesse Turner: "Arne Duncan, You're a Failure"

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Schools Matter: Walking Man, Jesse Turner: "Arne Duncan, You're a Failure": Walking Man, Jesse Turner: "Arne Duncan, You're a Failure" Any day you are feeling down and dispirited, just click back here and play Jesse Turner's beautiful harangue from the UOON's Occupy the DOE last month: califather on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

The Broad Foundation | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
The Broad Foundation | Seattle Education: The Broad Foundation *A Parent Guide to the Broad Foundation’s training programs and education policies* This guide can also be downloaded as a pdf fact sheet. *The question I ask is why should Eli Broad and Bill Gates have more of a say as to what goes on in my child’s classroom than I do? – Sue Peters in NYC* In recent months, three prominent school district superintendents resigned or were fired, after allegations of mismanagement, autocratic leadership styles, and/or the pursuit of unpopular policies. All three were trained by the Broa... more »

Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 5-6 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
*BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS* Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans - NorthJersey.com coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 minutes ago Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans - NorthJersey.com: Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans by Nancy Kearney Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans SUNDAY MAY 6, 2012, 9:49 AM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS PAGES: 1 2 > DISPLAY ON ONE PAGE | PRINT | E-MAIL WASHINGTON — The Senate is the newest arena in the election-year face-off over federal student loans, and both sides are start... more »

Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans - NorthJersey.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans - NorthJersey.com: Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans by Nancy Kearney Senate turns to partisan fight over student loans SUNDAY MAY 6, 2012, 9:49 AM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS PAGES: 1 2 > DISPLAY ON ONE PAGE | PRINT | E-MAIL WASHINGTON — The Senate is the newest arena in the election-year face-off over federal student loans, and both sides are starting out by pounding away at each other. [image: The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington.] AP PHOTO The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington. With Co... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Yong Zhao: Common Core = Uncommon Profits

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Yong Zhao: Common Core = Uncommon Profits: Yong Zhao: Common Core = Uncommon Profits by Mike Klonsky University of Oregon professor Yong Zhao is an author and critic of current corporate reform policies in education. His new book, *World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students,* will released by Corwin Press in August. The book includes three elements of an excellent education: personalized learning/student autonomy, product-oriented learning, and the globe as the campus. Anthony Cody interviews Yong on his Living in Dial... more »

Local superintendents voice concern about state commission - chicagotribune.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Local superintendents voice concern about state commission - chicagotribune.com: Local superintendents voice concern about state commission - [image: Email] - [image: print] - Comments 0 - Share0 - - - Reena SinghWatertown Daily Times, N.Y. 6:50 a.m. CDT, May 5, 2012 School districts and the state government have been butting heads for the past three years as aid dropped and standards rose. However, officials in Albany may make more of an effort to address the issues superintendents face daily. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a new education commissio... more »

Private interests vs. school reform: It’s time to fight - Philly.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Private interests vs. school reform: It’s time to fight - Philly.com: Private interests vs. school reform: It’s time to fight May 04, 2012 - - - Share on emailShare on printShare on redditMore Sharing Services - - - - LAST WEEK, the Philadelphia School District announced plans to completely overhaul itself and close more than 40 public schools next year. By closing the schools, for what it describes as considerable financial, academic, and safety concerns, the district claims that it will be able to restructure in ways that are m... more »

Yong Zhao Interview: Will the Common Core Create World-Class Learners? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Yong Zhao Interview: Will the Common Core Create World-Class Learners? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Yong Zhao Interview: Will the Common Core Create World-Class Learners? By Anthony Cody on May 6, 2012 10:32 AM University of Oregon professor Yong Zhao's 2009 book Catching Up or Leading the Way sent a jolt through our educational system. He questioned the use of tests and "accountability" from the unique perspective of someone educated in China, now living - and raising children - in the USA. His next book is due out soon, so I asked him to share some thoughts about... more »

Why Local Public Schools Should Not Be Turned Over to Charter School Companies to Run - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Why Local Public Schools Should Not Be Turned Over to Charter School Companies to Run - Wait, What?: Why Local Public Schools Should Not Be Turned Over to Charter School Companies to Run by jonpelto Late last week, Representative Gary Holder-Winfield of New Haven and most of the members of the General Assembly’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus held a press conference to speak out about Governor Malloy’s “education reform” legislation. These legislators, some of the finest and most dedicated in the General Assembly, had important things to say about the “education reform” debate. D... more »

Education Report: Election week and political dissent within the Oakland teachers union - Inside Bay Area

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Education Report: Election week and political dissent within the Oakland teachers union - Inside Bay Area: Education Report: Election week and political dissent within the Oakland teachers union By Katy Murphy Oakland Tribune Posted: 05/06/2012 12:00:00 AM PDT This is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more atwww.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy. May 1: It's election week for the Oakland teachers union, and that has extra significance this year. Betty Olson-Jones, the Oakland Education Association president sin...more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Do you have customers, or students in your classroom and school?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Do you have customers, or students in your classroom and school?: Do you have customers, or students in your classroom and school? by alicemercer [image: House Rules] Someone on #edchat on twitter posted a quip that was hard to figure out about auto repair shops and how we didn’t get to know our “customers” in education. Twitter is like a cocktail party, and I definitely walked into that conversation mid-way, so he might have been making an excellent point, but I really do not like using the word “customer” to describe the families that we s... more »

Daily Kos: An Alternative to the Common Core

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Daily Kos: An Alternative to the Common Core: An Alternative to the Common Core by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) For much of our modern era, our culture thought of the human heart as a machine that would wear out after a given number of heart beats. People with heart disease were put in bed to prolong their lives. That is a quote from this op-ed in the Ogden Utah Standard-Examiner, which I am going to urge you to read. The author is Lynn Stoddard, a retired educator from Utah now in his 80s, who is perhaps best known for his development some 25 years ago of an approach called Edu... more »

A City Education: Teaching the Value of Education Beyond State Tests - Education - GOOD

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
A City Education: Teaching the Value of Education Beyond State Tests - Education - GOOD: A City Education: Teaching the Value of Education Beyond State Tests by Liz Dwyer [image: testpreptutoring] *In our A City Education series, two City Year corps members share their experiences working as tutors and mentors in schools in hopes of closing the achievement gap and ending the dropout crisis.* "Why are we still meeting? The test is over," one of my English Language Arts students asked me during a recent tutoring session. He and his classmates had completed three days of New York State... more »

The Innovative Educator: Using Cell Phones to Support Student Engagement & Achievement in Speaking and Listening

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
The Innovative Educator: Using Cell Phones to Support Student Engagement & Achievement in Speaking and Listening: Using Cell Phones to Support Student Engagement & Achievement in Speaking and Listening by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen) Cell phones are a terrific tool to support student engagement and achievement in speaking and listening. Here are some ways that teachers are using cell phones to do just that by using tools like Google Voice and Voki and functions like video. *Oral Reports* There are many great tools to capture voice with cell phones. Google voice is one such... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Stanford Business Common Sense Study, Innovative Teachers (Homeschooling Parents) and #firearneduncan in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 05.06.12

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: Stanford Business Common Sense Study, Innovative Teachers (Homeschooling Parents) and #firearneduncan in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 05.06.12: Stanford Business Common Sense Study, Innovative Teachers (Homeschooling Parents) and #firearneduncan in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 05.06.12 by stlgretchen Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader for 05.06.2012. Some visual soundbites from twitter: - Stanford Business creates video on how intervention strategies can help children in school. *Listen carefully.* Parse it down into co... more »

“the period of invisible punishment” | The G Bitch Spot

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
“the period of invisible punishment” | The G Bitch Spot: “the period of invisible punishment” by G Bitch One theorist, Iris Marion Young, relying on a famous “birdcage” metaphor, explains it this way: If one thinks about racism by examining only one wire of the cage, or one form of disadvantage, it is difficult to understand how and why the bird is trapped. Only a large number of wires arranged in a specific way, and connected to one another, serve to enclose the bird and to ensure that it cannot escape *[184]*. This, in brief, is how [the system of mass incarceration] works: The W... more »

From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk | University of Illinois at Chicago | College of Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk | University of Illinois at Chicago | College of Education: From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk *Professor Michael Klonsky teaches in the College of Education at DePaul University in Chicago. He also serves as the national director of the Small Schools Workshop, and on the national steering committee of Save Our Schools, a national movement dedicated to supporting public schools. Klonsky has blogged, spoken and written extensively on school reform issues with a focus ... more »

Inside the Academy: Diane Ravitch

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
DIANE RAVITCH is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is also a nonresident senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Ravitch, a member of the National Academy of Education, has previously taught at Teachers College, Columbia University and lectured widely in Europe and Asia on issues of democracy and civic education. Serving as an advocate for public education through government service, Ravitch championed the creation of voluntary state and national standards as the Assistant Secretary of Education ... more »

Schools Matter: ExxonMobil Ads for Corporate Education Reform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
Schools Matter: ExxonMobil Ads for Corporate Education Reform: ExxonMobil Ads for Corporate Education Reform by Jim Horn ExxonMobil is one of the chief sources of ad revenue that feeds the obscenely-inflated cash prizes of the PGA. The Masters--brought to you by ExxonMobil, Jim Nance croons, from all the Augusta National Golf Club, the entirely pristine, manicured, and all-male bastion just miles from a ghosty and deserted streets downtown Augusta that even the panhandlers have deserted. During the past week, I've seen 2 ads during PGA events from ExxonMobil's new campaign... more »

Back at the Red Line. Why I’m a sucker to Tony. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Back at the Red Line. Why I’m a sucker to Tony. « Fred Klonsky: Back at the Red Line. Why I’m a sucker to Tony. by Fred Klonsky On Friday I’m back at the Red Line Tap. There’s Tony at the bar. Tony is always at the bar, so that’s not a surprise. “You look like crap,” says Tony. “Let me buy you one.” “Long week,” I say. “Seven days, like always,” says Tony, who has no permanent relationship with the capitalist system that I am of

Opportunity Knocks - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Opportunity Knocks - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Opportunity Knocks by Nancy Flanagan Here's a new one for the ol' Reformy Thesaurus: the "Opportunity Culture" in education. Sure sounds good, doesn't it? Who doesn't want our American kids to have more opportunities in life? Except--oops--this campaign, rolled out by Public Impact, is actually about opportunities for "teacherpreneurs" to make more money by teaching oversized classes--and of course, for school districts to seize that same opportunity to save money through "innovative" staffing models. How di... more »

In controversial move, LAUSD's Deasy wants to raise high-school graduation requirements - LA Daily News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
In controversial move, LAUSD's Deasy wants to raise high-school graduation requirements - LA Daily News: In controversial move, LAUSD's Deasy wants to raise high-school graduation requirements By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer Posted: 05/05/2012 05:22:47 PM PDT Updated: 05/05/2012 05:24:44 PM PDT Students in teacher James Schwagle's physics lab at Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley do an experiment to graph velocity vs. time. The LAUSD board is set next week to consider a change in the curriculum that would require every student to take college-prep classes to graduate.... more »

Paul Vallas, vassal and executioner of public schools: Dateline New Orleans, Haiti and Philadelphia | Dailycensored.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Paul Vallas, vassal and executioner of public schools: Dateline New Orleans, Haiti and Philadelphia | Dailycensored.com: Paul Vallas, vassal and executioner of public schools: Dateline New Orleans, Haiti and PhiladelphiaWritten by Danny WeilEducation, World NewsMay 5, 2012 0digg Share Readers might remember the distasteful case of gun-for-hire, former Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District and New Orleans School District, Paul Vallas and his erstwhile dismantling of New Orleans’ school district after Hurricane Katrina. Vallas was on hand to help fire the entire New Or... more »

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