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BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS
BEFORE NOON HONEST!
Chicago Uses Math to Ease Budget Problems
The only thing more alarming than the $700 million dollar deficit the Chicago Public Schools is running this year, is the fact it's had these budget deficits for many years before miraculously getting saved by founding money in Springfield, Washington, or by searching the lobby furniture in Hyatt hotels for loose change. However, this isn't a depressing story about budget woes because CPS has found a way to extend the school day and save money at the same time.
Currently CPS students have a 5 hour and 45 minute day, which is about 45 minutes less than the state average. This is because over 30 years ago, the Board asked the teachers to move their lunch to the end of the day and have a closed campus schedule. While many suburban districts go 6 and a half hours with a study hall, CPS has a day that is intense, but short.
Next year, CPS will go to a 7 hour day for students that will require teachers to do 35 minutes more teaching a day and 15 minutes more supervision at the elementary level. They are expected to this for a 2% pay increase.
My first (and last) AP class
I made it through 14 years teaching without dealing with Advanced Placement. My first five, at Columbus, no way was I getting near even Course III (sort of Algebra 2 + Trig). And my last ten, I didn’t want AP Calculus, even though, had I requested it, I should have, probably would have, gotten it.
But this year I asked, and I got it, and, oh, boy.
I resented the dozens of small ways the College Board impinged on the course. I resented the test prep, even as I minimized it (two weeks, at the end. One prep book that we rarely referred to). I resented the weirdness of some of the word problems. I resented the calculator, and the problems written for Texas Instruments.
I resented that my talents were not pulled into play in the way I like them to be. Those students who were well-prepared, they could learn it all from the book (and on some topics, the book may have been a better resource
But this year I asked, and I got it, and, oh, boy.
I resented the dozens of small ways the College Board impinged on the course. I resented the test prep, even as I minimized it (two weeks, at the end. One prep book that we rarely referred to). I resented the weirdness of some of the word problems. I resented the calculator, and the problems written for Texas Instruments.
I resented that my talents were not pulled into play in the way I like them to be. Those students who were well-prepared, they could learn it all from the book (and on some topics, the book may have been a better resource
Expert Recognizes Issues in Puerto Rican Bilingual Education Program
The academic director of Spain’s Cervantes Institute noted here the problems involved in establishing public bilingual education in Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the mother tongue of the vast majority.Francisco Moreno, on a visit to Puerto Rico to take part in a meeting of the International Certification System for Spanish as a Second Language, or SICELE, told Efe that the first obstacle will be finding teachers trained well enough to achieve that goal.
Moreno’s words follow comments by Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño on the need for Puerto Ricans to improve their knowledge of English and his promise to provide more funds to achieve the goal of bilingual education.
In that regard, the administration announced last month that the new “Bilingual Generation” program is being established so that in 10 years all children on the Caribbean island will be able to express themselves both in
Wobblies Lose Free Speech Fight at Starbucks
The Industrial Workers of the World (AKA IWW or Wobblies) have been trying to organize Starbucks for much of the past decade and many baristas have become dues-paying members of the union as a result of these efforts. At least one barista was coming to work wearing several pro-IWW buttons. Starbucks argued that by wearing more than one button they were converting themselves into “personal message boards” for the union. The 2nd U.S. Circuit
Anthony Cody: Building the Common Ground
Anthony Cody, one of the organizers of last summer's SOS march in D.C., shares some tactical advice and raises good questions about movement-building. His latest EdWeek blog piece ("Finding Common Ground to Build the Movement Against High Stakes Tests") should be read as companion piece to Deb Meier's post yesterday on her Bridging Differences blog ("The Left Wing of the Possible"). As a lead up to the Aug. 3-5 Peoples Platform Convention in August, both Cody and Meier express concern over the sectarian tone taken and some tendencies of movement people to confuse friends and foes in arguing for their positions.
Making the Grade
So robo-readers can grade student essays faster and more "accurately" than actual humans--if you're willing to overlook a few minor details, such as logic and coherence? I have to admit, being able to grade 16,000 essays in twenty seconds is pretty impressive. That's about 15 years' worth of old-fashioned assessing, sitting at the kitchen table with a red pen and pot of coffee, for the capable and conscientious HS English teacher who regularly assigns writing. And of course, you actually have to pay the teacher, a major drawback.
Education Testing Service, its developer, calls the program an automated "reader." A misnomer. Machines can scan documents, rate items using an algorithm, and even "grade," but they can't read, if we're talking about making meaning, using real words. Nor can they "give immediate feedback"--as claimed--unless that feedback is: write longer sentences, including the word "moreover" whenever possible.
The language matters here--let's define the terms.
There's assessment. Which is a combination of evaluating students' work and acquired knowledge, providing
Education Testing Service, its developer, calls the program an automated "reader." A misnomer. Machines can scan documents, rate items using an algorithm, and even "grade," but they can't read, if we're talking about making meaning, using real words. Nor can they "give immediate feedback"--as claimed--unless that feedback is: write longer sentences, including the word "moreover" whenever possible.
The language matters here--let's define the terms.
There's assessment. Which is a combination of evaluating students' work and acquired knowledge, providing
PBL tackles spring fever
One more reason to love project-based learning: as the weather gets warmer and the kids’ minds wander to summer, my students stay focused, working hard to complete projects that are due at the end of the semester. Of course one reason they continue to work so hard in spite of rampant spring fever is that their semester grade depends on their performance on these projects. But I know they are also working hard because they are engaged in meaningful work of which they are very proud.
This is how we stay focused and learning at the end of the school year in my 8th grade English language arts classroom:
Online Portfolios: rather than assigning a paper portfolio of my students’ best work, this year I taught them to
This is how we stay focused and learning at the end of the school year in my 8th grade English language arts classroom:
The Magazine Project: my students have been writing, editing, designing, formatting, and printing their own magazines since February. Along with learning to write academic essays, they are also building their word-processing, graphic design, and new technology skills. Each student’s magazine centers on a topic of his/her choice, which helps them stay engaged in this semester-long project. The final product is a glossy, multi-page publication that looks like a professional magazine. The students glow with pride when they turn them in, and very few fail to complete the project.
Corrupt, Unethical, Inept: Boycott Pearson
Seems as Merryl Tisch has come out her coma. From NY1:
Officials with the company responsible for this year's state English and math tests have not commented publicly on recently-discovered errors in the exams, but a memo obtained exclusively by NY1 and displayed below shows the company has admitted mistakes internally. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.
The state's highest education official is no longer downplaying the errors in the high stakes English and math exams.
"The mistakes that have been revealed are very disturbing," said New York State Schools Chancellor Merryl Tisch.
Almost 30 different test questions have now been declared invalid because they're confusing or have outright errors. And now Pearson Publishing is scrambling to explain what went wrong and
Big Education Ape Nite Cap 5-11-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best:
"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."
A Big Education Ape Nite Cap
