Big Education Ape: Nov 29, 2012

Thursday, November 29, 2012

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

In a word, wow.

Raise Your Hand held the most remarkable forum tonight, called The Culture of Testing- Assessing the Assessments at CPS. I've been to a lot of forums in the past couple of years; this one was far and away the most... astonishing? poignant? I don't even know the word for what it was.

People from all over the city gathered to talk about an epidemic of testing that has gripped the students of CPS over the past couple of years. As a person working in schools for the better part of the past three decades, I can testify to the fact that the testing is out of control. And, it turns out that the poorer you are, the more you're impacted by it, which should come as a surprise to nobody and yet it still blows me away.

I'm wiped out tonight, but I'll have plenty of video of tonight's event over the next couple of days. I couldn't go to

Some Nights (What We Stand For) | The Jose Vilson

Some Nights (What We Stand For) | The Jose Vilson:

Some Nights (What We Stand For)

by Jose

fun., “Some Nights”

Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

Some nights, I call it a draw
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights, I wish they’d just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost

Oh Lord, I’m still not sure what I stand for oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don’t know anymore…

Dear You,
Confession: Some nights, I know why I do any of this, either.
Six years ago, I wondered if teaching actually made any sense for me. The constant bombardment by people who hadn’t been in the classroom in a while complaining about the unopened boxes in the classroom, my unorganized and hastily done bulletin board, and other nitpicky nonsense that wouldn’t help anyone as an educato.
The difference between an S and a U was all a matter of whether I acquiesced to their demands for a pretty classroom, never mind that students generally wanted to come to class because I cared more about making them feel welcome than whatever a checklist somewhere deep in a manual told us.
I didn’t believe, then, that teachers should only follow their hearts and minds when they taught. Yet, the students always made me feel like I was on the right track, and I just drew on my own intuition to address what I believed

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 11-29-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume One

by Larry Ferlazzo

I’ve been writing this blog for six or seven years. I thought readers might find it useful for me to dig back in the “archives” and highlight my choices for some of the best posts that appeared during that time.

This first collection — Volume One — comes from 2007 (and, in the case of some articles, even earlier):

The Best Of The Best — 2007: Here I brought together links to my first annual lists, along with highlighting the sites I ranked first in each category.

Intriguing Way To Learn Vocabulary: Trust me, you’ll want to try out the site I talk about in this post….

Another "Happy Coincidence" for NJ Charters!

by Duke

So the NJDOE releases a report that glowingly (and inappropriately) touts the "success" of New Jersey's charter schools on Tuesday morning. It took Education Commissioner Cerf 631 days to get around to making and releasing the report, which he promised "as quickly as is humanly possible."

But here's an amazing coincidence: the report just happened to be released on the same day the Camden school board reversed its previous vote and let a previously failed charter operator come back into the city:

It was the second time the board had voted on the plan, which previously fell a vote short. In a meeting held predominantly behind closed doors Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the board reconsidered and approved the plan with just one dissenting vote.

But the resolution approving the measure left open some uncertainties. The board still

Institute for Democratic Education in America »

A Dear Professor

by Dana Bennis in Blog

A Life of Fire

by Scott Nine in Blog

The Purpose of Education

by James Boutin

"There has only ever been one purpose of education in any culture for any student: to prepare responsible adults."

I love this.

Popout

Education for the 99% »

When Was the Last Time You Read a Book?

by ClassroomStruggle

We published this article, written by two Oakland teachers, in our most recent newsletter. They were trying to capture a very real and very ironic problem for teachers: overworked as they are, how often do teachers get to teach themselves. If this resonates with you, teacher or not, please let us know in [...]

Parental Oversight (of OUSD)

by ClassroomStruggle

This article is written by a parent of a Special Education child in OUSD which we published in our most recent newsletter. As it shows Oakland parents have in-depth knowledge of how OUSD currently runs and how it could run better. We hope more parents write and we can start conversations from the bottom up [...]

The Nation on Rockaway and Occupy Sandy

by ed notes online

Great piece on Rockaway in The Nation.

I'm getting closer to finishing up the work I have to do to get closer to normal and I'm hoping to get over to Occupy Sandy at YANA out here to lend a hand. But at the rate they are going helping people they may be done before I am.

By the way -- rumor out there that Bloomberg came out by helicopter today and went to The Wave offices. Gotta do some checking on that.

The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/blog/171499/photoessay-sandy-ravaged-rockaways-one-month-out?rel=emailNation#

PHOTOESSAY: The Sandy-Ravaged Rockaways, One Month Out

Ayasha Guerin on November 28, 2012 - 4:02 PM ET

In the wake of one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the East Coast, stories have surfaced about the phenomenal job Occupy Sandy has done to bring relief to some of the most affected sites in the New York area.

Poway schools boss ranks high in state pay

Poway Superintendent John Collins is not only the highest paid superintendent in San Diego County — his compensation package is third highest among California’s 25 largest school systems.

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-29-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] J. Crew Raising $$$ for Rich Kids by dianerav J. Crew is raising money to help Teach for America, which has $300 million in assets and many high-level employees with six-figure salaries. Why don’t they use the proceeds to hire nurses and librarians for public schools in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Like, you know, poor kids? What Does the NJ Charter Report Overlook? by dianerav Count on Jersey Jazzman to catch the flaw in the CREDO study of charters in his home state. It purports to stu... more »

THE LOVE OF LEARNING « Teachers Fight Back

THE LOVE OF LEARNING « Teachers Fight Back:

THE LOVE OF LEARNING

by alkleen

I saw a large picture in an obscure local newspaper about an event that occurred 50 years ago on Nov. 14th, 1962. The picture showed the famous poet Robert Frost presenting his poetry to more than 10,000 people in the University of Detroit sports auditorium. This was the last large public reading by Frost before his death, on January 29, 1963. The picture was just amazing. The audience wasn’t just made up of university students, but people from all walks of life. The first thing that struck me was the odd sight of a jam-packed sports arena with no sporting event, graduation activity, or concert taking place. The stands were filled as well as the auditorium floor, TO LISTEN TO A POET ! Can you imagine such a scene today ? I can’t think of a poet alive today who could possibly command such an

Jersey Jazzman: "Reform Churn"

Jersey Jazzman: "Reform Churn":

"Reform Churn"

by Duke

These days, urban schools system change their "reforms" as often as I change my underwear:

Global Village had arrived in Newark with great fanfare just three years earlier. During its short life, it extended the school day for many children at the seven schools it served, provided eyeglasses to students who needed them, distributed books to build home libraries, and connected parents with a variety of social services, from mental health care to housing assistance.
Much like the highly publicized Harlem Children’s Zone, Global Village focused on the needs of entire families. It aimed to strengthen academics and help lift children in one of Newark’s toughest neighborhoods out of poverty.
The partnership between Newark public schools and NYU would be less expensive than

Recursos en español (Education Resources for Spanish Speakers)

Recursos en español (Education Resources for Spanish Speakers):

BIENVENIDOS
Recursos en español
Education Resources for Spanish Speakers

ENLACES

La Administración Anuncia Metas para Flexibilidad de La Ley NCLB

La Administración Anuncia Nuevas Medidas para Proteger a los Estudiantes de Programas Ineficaces

Carta Estimado Colega: Acceso Igualitario a la educación publica

PDF (131K)

Carta estimado colega: Violencia sexual Antecedentes, resumen, y hoja de datos

PDF (369K)

Conozca sus derechos: El Título IX Prohíbe el acoso sexual y la violencia sexual en la escuela

PDF (178K)

Un plan de Reforma

La Ley de Recuperación y Reinversión

Carrera a la Cima

Recursos Para La Familia

Poder de los Padres-una guía

PDF (6.6M)

No hay que aceptar las escuelas de bajo rendimiento

MSWord (45K) | PDF(1.9M)

Orientación para Combatir Acoso Escolar Señala Responsabilidad Local y Federal

Gracias por su interés en la educación. En el Departamento de Educación creemos firmemente que todos los niños pueden aprender y que la educación es el camino más seguro hacia la realización de su sueño.
El Departamento de Educación tiene como misión promover el alto rendimiento académico y la preparación de los estudiantes para la competitividad global al fomentar la excelencia en la educación y garantizar la igualdad de acceso.
El Departamento de Educación de los EE.UU.

Aquí obtendrá información acerca de todos los programas y servicios que ofrece el Departamento de Educación, podrá obtener información de contacto para su distrito local, estado y otras oficinas gubernamentales.

Educación Especial (IDEA)

Aquí encontrara información sobre servicios y programas para estudiantes discapacitados, publicaciones y referencias a otras organizaciones.

Ayuda Federal para Estudiantes

Contiene información acerca de cómo obtener ayuda financiera del gobierno federal, estatal y otras organizaciones para estudiar en la universidad.

Educación Para Adultos

Aquí encontrara información acerca de programas en su estado que le ayuden a aprender ingles o completar sus estudios secundarios.

Educación Universitaria

Para información acerca de universidades, acreditación o como evaluar su diploma de universidad extranjero diríjase a esta pagina.

Que Ningún Niño Se Quede Atrás (NCLB)

Para obtener información acerca de la ley Federal, incluye una guiá para padres, información acerca de la libre elección de escuelas, programas de tutoría, programas después de clases y mucho más.

Preguntas y Respuestas Frecuentes

Para mas informacion y respuestas visite esta pagina.

Para más información llame al 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) o 202-401-2000.
Encuentre mas información del gobierno federal de los EE.UU en español, visitando la pagina: www.gobiernoUSA.gov.

Pass / Fail : LA Unified building 15 large campus clinics for students, public | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : LA Unified building 15 large campus clinics for students, public | 89.3 KPCC:

LA Unified building 15 large campus clinics for students, public

by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

Students at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles will have access to health information and treatment at a new clinic on the campus. Credit: Kelley Weiss/CHCF Center for Health Reporting
L.A. Unified cut the ribbon Thursday on the latest of 15 on-campus clinics that’ll offer dental, mental, and sexual health services to the school’s students and neighbors.
The $1.6 million Wellness Center at Garfield High in East LA is the third clinic to open in two months. L.A. Unified is building the clinics with construction bond money and is contracting with non-profit health care providers to run the clinics.

L.A. Unified’s chief of student health, Rene Gonzalez, said Garfield High School’s former auto shop is a now a

Some call knowingly not telling the truth - lying… - Wait, What?

Some call knowingly not telling the truth - lying… - Wait, What?:

Some call knowingly not telling the truth – lying…

by jonpelto

Otherwise known as – When is $170 million really $123 million?

Or in this case – When Governor Malloy and his administration seek to mislead Connecticut’s media and citizens about his cuts to the Connecticut state budget.

The Facts:

Connecticut State Government is facing a $365 million budget deficit this year and a projected $1.1 billion dollar shortfall next year.

Yesterday, the Malloy administration released a list of $170 million in cuts that Governor Malloy had ordered. Malloy’s Budget Chief, Ben Barnes, along with Malloy’s chief advisor then spoke to the media about the cuts the Governor was making. .

Following these developments, the Harford Courant headline read: Malloy Orders $170 Million in Budget Cuts In Tough Economy. CT Newsjunkie reported “Malloy Rescinds

NYC Educator: The Evaluation Trap--What's the UFT Planning?

NYC Educator: The Evaluation Trap--What's the UFT Planning?:

The Evaluation Trap--What's the UFT Planning?

by NYC Educator

It's been a while since UFT President Michael Mulgrew went to Albany and negotiated a statewide evaluation system. Part of that agreement was that value-added testing would comprise 20%, 25%, 40%, or even 100% of a teacher rating. It depends who you ask, and perhaps also when you ask.

The debate over percentages does not much interest me. I'm firmly persuaded that the optimal percentage of VAM in a teacher rating is zero. UFT people I speak to say, well, what if you have a crazy principal who gives you a U for no reason? And yes I know there are principals like that. But I fail to see how diluting that crazy principal's rating with junk science by 20, 25, 40, or whatever percentage will help anything. Why aren't we talking about removing crazy principals rather than evaluating teachers out of work for no reason?

Here's the thing--a UFT rep came to my school last year and heard a whole lot of complaints about having gone

Parents Across America

Parents Across America:

PARENTS CAN!

School closing controversy in Chicago

pureparents at Parents Across America - 39 minutes ago

PAA co-founder Julie Woestehoff was quoted in several newspaper stories (Chicago Tribune here, Sun-Times here) about Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to push a school closing announcement deadline back several months. Emanuel wants to close as many as 100 Chicago schools in 2013. The Tribune editorial board, which usually takes the corporate reform side, quoted a PURE blog post in agreeing with PURE’s opposition to the mayor’s plan. Unfortunately, the state legislature handed Emanuel the extension today, Julie reports.

More tests, more parents opting out: radio interview includes PAA’s Julie Woestehoff

pureparents at Parents Across America - 39 minutes ago

Local Chicago NPR station interviewed PAA co-founder Julie Woestehoff of PAA affiliate PURE for a story about parents opting out of testing in the city. The story highlighted the resources PURE offers to parents concerned about excessive testing in the schools.

“Educate All Kids Like Sasha and Malia” by PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson

pureparents at Parents Across America - 39 minutes ago

“Obama’s education policies are failing children, except for his own,” writes PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, of NYC’s Class Size Matters, in an essay published by In These Times. Leonie writes: Rather than follow blindly in the path of privatization and unleashed free-market competition that led to the collapse of our economy, it’s time for Obama to start listening to the priorities of parents and treating teachers as professionals. Cramming kids into classes of 30 or more and putting them on … →

PAA-CT leader’s article on Washington Post Answer Sheet

pureparents at Parents Across America - 39 minutes ago

This excellent piece on school funding was co-written by PAA-CT founder Wendy Lecker and reposted on the Washington Post Answer Sheet blog. Here’s a quote: In Connecticut and nationally, courts have consistently ruled that underfunded schools amount to constitutional violations of children’s right to an education. In New York, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Washington and many other states, courts determined that there is a causal connection between students’ poor performance and inadequate school funding. Unlike the modern corporate education reformers, who … →

Action of the week for 11-29-12: No “Cliff”hanger for our children!

pureparents at Parents Across America - 1 hour ago

Congress and the White House are working to resolve the “sequestration” threat set up by their failure to agree on a federal budget last year. Without a budget agreement, massive across-the-board program cuts will kick in. This may include: Loss of 100,000 Head Start slots. * Service cuts to 500,000 special needs students. * An end to Title 1 grants, affecting 2 million students. * Huge class size increases and service cuts as districts are forced to terminate tens of … →

Part 4: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out : The Consequences

DoraTaylor at Parents Across America - 6 days ago

The Consequences As long as policy and funding are determined by test results, we will be dealing with the consequences. There is the narrowing of focus to math and reading and less focus on history, social studies, the arts, foreign languages, writing, physical education, or developing research and critical thinking skills. The emphasis on test scores precludes looking more carefully at the cause of low test scores which include poverty, health and family issues as well as the effect … →

Schooled by experts: Chicago researchers share some facts about school reform

pureparents at Parents Across America - 1 week ago

This morning I attended an excellent symposium on a variety of education issues presented by CReATE (Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education), the nearly two-year-old group of 100 Chicago-area academic experts who have already created some excellent resources to help parents, community groups, students and others to better understand the truth about corporate school reform. CReATE’s first effort was a paper called “Chicago School Reform: Myths, Realities, and New Visions”, which clarified some of the education issues discussed during … →

Voters have spoken: No corporate school reform in Bridgeport!

pureparents at Parents Across America - 1 week ago

By Wendy Lecker Originally published on November 18, 2012 in the Stamford Advocate In this age of instantaneous global communication, it is incredible that a simple message sent by voters in Bridgeport has not reached leaders in Hartford, just 50 miles away. On Nov. 6, a rare event in modern politics occurred: democracy prevailed over money. Average citizens defeated a Bridgeport charter revision proposal backed by a veritable who’s who of well-endowed corporate education reformers. This David-vs.-Goliath victory is also … →

Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables

DoraTaylor at Parents Across America - 1 week ago

The Variables High stakes testing has ramifications including ending careers and affecting communities by closing schools. Hence, we need to look carefully at the variables that might affect a student’s performance on a test. Teachers and principals do not work in a vacuum. They have students with lives outside school. Students live in a real world. The real world affects how they behave and their ability to focus in class. These factors include: English being a second language The physical … →

PAA Action News

Nov. 29, 2012

Dear Leonie,

Welcome to PAA Action News, the information and action newsletter of Parents Across America, a network of activist parents coming together to strengthen our public schools. If you have questions, comments, suggestions or stories to share, please e-mail us at info@parentsacrossamerica.org or visit

www.parentsacrossamerica.org.

Looking for regular updates on key education stories? Join the PAA News List by e-mailing PAAnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

IN THIS ISSUE

PAA Action of the Week

PAA News

Join us!

PAA Chapter and Affiliate News

Blog Highlights

Connect With Us

Join Our Mailing List

Forward to a Friend

PAA Action Alert

No cliffhanger for children and schools!
Congress and the White House are working to resolve the "sequestration" threat set up by their failure to agree on a federal budget last year. Without a budget agreement, massive across-the-board program cuts will kick in. This may include:

Loss of 100,000 Head Start slots.
Service cuts to 500,000 special needs students.
An end to Title 1 grants, affecting 2 million students.
Huge class size increases and service cuts as districts are forced to terminate tens of thousands of teachers and support staff.

PAA supports saving money by cutting ineffective and damaging programs like Race to the Top, massive new testing systems to support the Common Core, and further expansion of charter schools. We oppose cuts that harm the neediest children and communities.

What can you do?

Call your Congressman and Senators today and make sure they support education spending - but only those programs that are supported by research, not wealthy philanthropists. E-mail them PAA's fact sheet, "Research showing NCLB Doesn't Work and PAA Positions Do." (downloadable pdf here).

And consider signing this petition, "Do not throw our kids over the fiscal cliff; raise taxes on wealthy & cut Race to the Top instead!" by Class Size Matters and PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson.

PAA News

This excellent piece on school funding co-written by our Connecticut PAA leader,Wendy Lecker, was printed in the Hartford (CT) Courant, and reposted on the Washington Post Answer Sheet blog. Here's an excerpt:

PAA-CT members

In Connecticut and nationally, courts have consistently ruled that underfunded schools amount to constitutional violations of children's right to an education.

In New York, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Washington and many other states, courts determined that there is a causal connection between students' poor performance and inadequate school funding. Unlike the modern corporate education reformers, who vilify teachers and educational experts, courts value their firsthand knowledge of school conditions and the resources needed to give all students an equal opportunity to learn. When shown evidence of conditions in schools, courts consistently find what CCM contends - without adequate funding, schools cannot provide an adequate education.

****
"Educate All Kids Like Sasha and Malia: Obama's education policies are failing children, except for his own," by PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, of NYC's Class Size Matters, was published by In These Times.

Rather than follow blindly in the path of privatization and unleashed free-market competition that led to the collapse of our economy, it's time for Obama to start listening to the priorities of parents and treating teachers as professionals. Cramming kids into classes of 30 or more and putting them on laptops while supervised by novices will never enhance their creativity or critical thinking skills.

****

PAA co-founder Julie Woestehoff, of affiliate Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) in Chicago, was interviewed for a local NPR station story on parents opting out of testing.

She was also quoted in several newspaper stories (Chicago Tribune here, Sun-Times here) about Mayor Emanuel's proposal to push a school closing announcement deadline back several months. Emanuel wants to close as many as 100 Chicago schools in 2013. The Tribune editorial board, which usually takes the corporate reform side, quoted a PURE blog post in agreeing with PURE's opposition to the mayor's plan. Unfortunately, the state legislature handed Emanuel the extension today, Julie reports.

Join us!

If you share our overall goals of progressive, positive education reform and more parent input in education policy making, we invite you to affiliate with us if you are an existing group, or to form a new PAA chapter. The more of us there are, the stronger our voice will be at every level. Here's how!

PAA Chapter and Affiliate News

Welcome new chapter, PAA-Atlanta/GA/Atlanta Public Schools!

We're delighted to welcome another new chapter, this one in Atlanta. Founder Kimberly Brooks is a former PTA president who is studying for her masters degree. Parents in Atlanta are discouraged by the well-known test cheating scandal and recent passage of charter school expansion laws in the state. They feel their voices are not being heard. Kimberly brings a lot of enthusiasm to our national network! You can contact her at kimberlybrooks.kim@gmail.com

Welcome, Kimberly and Atlanta!

Philly's Parents United for Public Education has a new web site!

Check it out! From PAA leader Helen Gym:

The pro-privatization president of the area's largest foundation (controlling $2B in assets) was effectively and abruptly fired. Two weeks ago, Parents United sent a letter to the foundation stating that we believe it violated local lobbying regulations by failing to file as lobbyists and file appropriate disclosure reports on their activities. 5 days after we sent our letter, the board met and I assume let him go at that time. They made the announcement today.

I have no idea if our complaint had anything to do with it, but I wrote this piece

on our NEW WEBSITE (yay) to highlight the new "philanthropy" influence peddling in school districts nationwide. Would love for you to share this piece if you like it and let me know your thoughts.

We will be filing a complaint with the city ethics board next week with the local chapter of the NAACP.

Try PAA affiliate SOS-Portland's testing survey

From our Portland OR affiliate leader Susan Barrett:

This survey was created rather quickly. Kind of a response to a local issue where the Portland Public Schools are taking heat from the Portland Business Alliance for not going after RttT. More accurately, the teachers are taking the heat. Did anyone ever ask parents what they think? No. But, it is a pretty generic survey about testing.Please take it and share. It is not meant to be a scientific survey. :-) A conversation starter for some, at least.

Deb Meier to speak at CPS forum this week

Boston-based PAA affiliate Citizens for Publc Schools is hosting an education forum on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the main branch of the Brookline Public Library.

"Come listen and join in a discussion of democracy and the future of public education: What can we do to stop the privatization of our public schools, and empower parents, teachers and our communities to ensure all our students have the opportunity to learn?"

Forum speakers include Deb Meier. For more information and to register today, clickhere.

PAA Blog Highlights

We're really excited that PAA-Seattle founder Dora Taylor has started posting her

PAA founding member Dora Taylor

wonderful Weekly Update on the PAA blog. Don't miss this great resource every Friday. Here's the post from last Friday:

Dora's Weekly Update 11/17.

Dora also posted parts 2,3 and 4 of her excellent series on testing: