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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Mother Crusader: One Million LIES...

Mother Crusader: One Million LIES...:


One Million LIES...

by darciecima

Headlines were generated nationwide last week when Greg Richmond, President and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) and New Jersey's own Commissioner Cerf teamed up at a press conference in DC to announce the "One Million Lives" campaign.  

The happy couple
What is the One Million Lives Campaign you ask?  That is a damn good question.

Most of the headlines about the roll out of the campaign seemed to focus on a promise to close underperforming charters.  For example, Joy Resmovitz of the Huffington Post titled her piece 


The real message of the campaign seemed to escape most reporters.  But one Indiana radio station got it and 
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Jersey Jazzman: Hiring Mercenaries to Police Schools Teaches Compliance

Jersey Jazzman: Hiring Mercenaries to Police Schools Teaches Compliance:


Hiring Mercenaries to Police Schools Teaches Compliance

by Duke

Just another study group, learning what it means to be an American...

Because when you use a bunch of armed mercenaries to police public high schools, what could possibly go wrong?
At 9 a.m. on the morning of October 31, 2012, students at Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande were settling in to their daily routine when something unusual occurred.
Vista Grande High School Principal Tim Hamilton ordered the school -- with a student population of 1,776 -- on "lock down," kicking off the first "drug sweep" in the school's four-year history. 
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Florida VAM – The Scarlett Equation … Our Symbol of Shame. « Continuing Change

Florida VAM – The Scarlett Equation … Our Symbol of Shame. « Continuing Change:


Florida VAM – The Scarlett Equation … Our Symbol of Shame.

by gatorbonbc
Back in the old days, we just wore a ‘Scarlett A’.
Nowadays, they are more transformative.
We wear a whole equation.
After nearly 25 years of teaching in the state of Florida, here is the Value Added Model equation that, as determined by Florida’s Race to the Top, will determine my contract.
y¬_ti=X_i β+∑_(r=1)^L▒〖y_(t-r,i) γ_(t-r) 〗+∑_(q=1)^Q▒〖Z_qi θ_q 〗+e_i
Florida VAM – Our Symbol of Shame.Image.
Happy Holidays, eh?
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Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 12-5-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE





Parents Opposed to Citizens of the World Charter: Hundreds, Parents in Favor: 4

by ed notes online
The NY State Dept. would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan Charter School for Racial Harmony but they would wash the sheets.  -- Norm at charter hearing

I actually made it to the Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126 tonight and it was great seeing so many old pals from District 14 where I spent my entire career. Citizens of the World charter is the brainless child of Eric Grannis, Eva Moskowitz husband in their attempt to take over the lucrative vigorish in the gentrified areas of Brooklyn. I've been to so many of these hearings -- this one by the useless -- actually, harmful, State Ed Department charter authorizing agent which lost its beard with the departure of Pedro Noguera could no longer defend their actions in authorizing anything. As I pointed out in my speech -- I was the final speaker -- they would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan 

NEW TEACHERS – STAY AWAY FROM ILLINOIS, – OTHERWISE KNOWN AS, “LA LA LAND”

by alkleen
There is a new “pension reform” proposal being talked about among Illinois legislators. The plan has several components, but a couple of the sections deal specifically with younger teachers. Under the proposal, retirement ages would not rise for people 46 and older, but a phase- in would increase retirement ages by as much as five years for people 34 and under. Employee contributions would rise 1 percentage point the first year and another percentage point the second year. Clearly, the younger you are, the more you would contribute with the increase over your lifetime of teaching. New public school teachers would be part of a cash-balance pension plan, sort of a hybrid between a plan that guarantees employees a certain benefit and also partly relies on investment returns. (Not really a guaranteed pension).
With these three parts of the new proposal, Illinois legislators have made a loud and clear statement, “New and

Patrick Walsh: A Talk on Education, Democracy and Freedom: The Unspeakable Price of Corporate Education Reform

by ed notes online
Patrick will use Pearl Harbor Day to bomb the ed deformers into submission. I went to Patrick's talk a few years ago -- and I even taped it -- when full power is back I promise to put it up. Such valuable points doth the man make. 

For the past two years, as part of the Catholic Worker Friday Night Lecture Series, I have given talks on the corporate and oligarchic campaign to expropriate the American public school system, corporatize all aspects of education, and obliterate the teachers’ union all in the name of “education reform.”  The campaign continues unabated.
This year I will be speaking on what I perceive to be the price of said “education reform” on our already anemic democracy and the unspoken motivations, ideological as well as monetary,  behind it.
The talk will be held at Mary House on December 7, 2012 and begin at 7:45.  It will last about 45 minutes and be followed by a Q and A.
The event is free and all are welcome.
Mary House is located at 55 East 3rd St, NY, NY 10003 between 1st and 2nd Ave near the F train as well as the 4, 5, and 6 trains.
Telephone: 212 777 9617
Hope to see you there.

Gates gives Philly schools $2.5 million to work together

by thenotebook
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
Philadelphia's traditional public schools, charters and Catholic schools historically have been rivals.
Now they are receiving $2.5 million over the next three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to foster 

Pa. considers 8 new cyber charters, while critics question cost and quality

by thenotebook
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
Amid concerns about quality, cost, and corruption in Pennsylvania's extensive system of cyber charters, state officials are considering eight new proposals for independently managed schools providing mostly online 

ALEC Myths Exploded!!!

by Democurmudgeon
The AFL-CIO brought to light a new study, that "Shatters ALEC, Laffer Economic Myths."

I'm going to cut right to the facts of the study, but suffice it to say, ALEC's policies are bad for our economy:
A new study of proposals from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) shows that policies the organization promotes do more to harm the economy than help it, despite the claims of the group's lead researcher and author, Arthur Laffer. States that are highly rated in ALEC's annual Rich States, Poor States report, actually do worse economically than states ALEC rates 

800 Public Schools to Expand Access to AP STEM Courses Thanks to Grant

The College Board is announcing the AP® STEM Access program, created to increase the number of traditionally underrepresented minority and female high school students who participate in Advanced Placement Program® courses in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. A $5 million grant from Google as part of its Global Impact Awards to DonorsChoose.org will make it possible for this program to invite over 800 public high schools across the country to start new AP math and science courses and to encourage traditionally underrepresented minority (black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska 


Remember when merging CSU & Community Colleges was going to save money so they could hire more faculty…

by jonpelto

Tags: 
They said it was all about adding faculty for Connecticut’s public colleges. While the number of students had increased dramatically, the number of full-time faculty had declined by 10 percent over the past eight years. First came Malloy’s merger of the Connecticut State Universities and the Community Colleges.  The promise was that the plan would [...]
(Read more...)

Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal When It Comes To Race [Edutopia]

by Jose

Tim Howard, Goalkeeper
An excerpt from my widely-distributed Edutopia article on race:

1. Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal

Discussions about big ideas like race, religion and politics necessitate some discomfort. By discomfort, I mean that people who participate in the discussion have a degree of soul-searching and reassessment about their own perceptions and biases. For instance, does one person find that their opinions get listened to more readily than those of certain school colleagues? Do they always sit with people of similar interests, or does it go deeper than that? How often do they interact with people that don’t look like them or speak like them? As long as people begin with a clear understanding that the discussion won’t start off with warm, fuzzy feelings, then the next few steps become easier.
Read and read again. Like. Share. Use in your discussions. Thank you.
Jose, who doesn’t shy away from the tough discussions in spaces where others do …







District 6: SEIU & UTLA Endorsements*

by Hillel Aron
SEIU Local 99 has endorsed Antonio Sanchez for school board in District 6, which covers the East San Fernando Valley, according to a longtime politico.
The endorsement isn’t a huge surprise since Sanchez, a former employee of the LA County Federation of Labor, was always expected to be a union-friendly candidate. In addition to Sanchez, the three other candidates who have qualified for the March ballot in District 6 are Maria Cano, Monica Ratliff, and Ernie Cardenas, brother of the newly elected Congressman Tony Cardenas.
Meanwhile, UTLA is expected endorse all four District 6 candidates tonight at the House of Representatives 

LAO says adult education needs comprehensive restructuring

The Legislature’s effort in 2009 to give cash-strapped schools flexibility in the use of billions of dollars in categorical money has helped diminish the status of adult education programs operated by K-12 districts, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst reported Wednesday.

Resistance gathers to parsing school administrative credential

Members of a statewide organization representing school administrators are lobbying the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to drop plans for creating separate, qualified certification authorizations for school leadership positions.


Mayor Villaraigosa tours Partnership for LA Schools

by Vanessa Romo
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got a chance to show off several of his Partnership schools today. He toured the campuses with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and ended the visit with a commendation.

Villaraigosa and Superintendent Tom Torlakson took short tours of 99th Street Elementary School and Gompers 
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Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal When It Comes To Race [Edutopia] | The Jose Vilson

Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal When It Comes To Race [Edutopia] | The Jose Vilson:


Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal When It Comes To Race [Edutopia]

by Jose

Tim Howard, Goalkeeper
An excerpt from my widely-distributed Edutopia article on race:

1. Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal

Discussions about big ideas like race, religion and politics necessitate some discomfort. By discomfort, I mean that people who participate in the discussion have a degree of soul-searching and reassessment about their own perceptions and biases. For instance, does one person find that their opinions get listened to more readily than those of certain school colleagues? Do they always sit with people of similar interests, or does it go deeper than that? How often do they interact with people that don’t look like them or speak like them? As long as people begin with a clear understanding that the discussion won’t start off with warm, fuzzy feelings, then the next few steps become easier.
Read and read again. Like. Share. Use in your discussions. Thank you.
Jose, who doesn’t shy away from the tough discussions in spaces where others do …
Posted by at

“All Over the Map: 10 Ways to Teach About Geography” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

“All Over the Map: 10 Ways to Teach About Geography” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:




“All Over the Map: 10 Ways to Teach About Geography”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 36 minutes ago
The New York Times Learning Network has published an excellent post called All Over the Map: 10 Ways to Teach About Geography. I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography.

The Best Year-End Collections Of Images — 2012

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 52 minutes ago
I’m beginning my annual “The Best…” list highlighting “year in review” images. There aren’t a whole lot right now on the date of this post, but they’ll soon be coming out of the woodwork. I figured it would be helpful … Continue reading →

“9Slides” Shows Your Slides & You At The Same Time

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 hour ago
9Slides lets you upload a presentation and lets you record and sync a video of you providing narration. You’re allowed five presentations before you have to start paying for more. It seems similar to Present.me. I’m adding it to The … Continue reading →

Here’s What I Do During My Favorite Time Of The School Week

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 hours ago
Usually, during my lunchtime, I am either with students in my classroom (our cafeteria isn’t large enough to accommodate all our students at lunch time) or am meeting with colleagues. However, one day a week during lunch I do my … Continue reading →

My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume Five

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 22 hours ago
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. … Continue reading →
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Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-5-12 #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



Diane in the Evening 12-5-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 50 minutes ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: Half of Michigan’s African Americans Lose Self-Government by dianerav Eclectablog daily digest UPDATED: Are over half of Mich African Americans about to be under the control of an Emergency Financial Mgr UPDATED: Are over half of Mich African Americans about to be under the control of an Emergency Financial Mgr? Posted: 05 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST Look out, Detroit! It’s coming right for ya! The Detroit Free Press is reporting this afternoon that an Emergency Financial Manager is being called *LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-5-12 Diane Ravitch's blog* coopmike48... more »

Schools Matter: Tale of Two Schools' Statistical Tricks

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Schools Matter: Tale of Two Schools' Statistical Tricks: Tale of Two Schools' Statistical Tricks by John Thompson NPR’s Scott Simon interviewed Brad Wolverton who asks the perennial question for college athletes who are struggling in class, “Need three credits to play ball?” "Call Western Oklahoma" describes the online learning program at this isolated college. Before his expose, athletes across the nation would get themselves into academic trouble and say, “'Oh, I'm going to go take a Western Oklahoma.'" As a result of Wolverton’s article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, th... more »

The in box. Glen Brown’s latest on HB 6258. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
The in box. Glen Brown’s latest on HB 6258. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Glen Brown’s latest on HB 6258. by Fred Klonsky From Glen Brown’s blog: House Bill 6258 Reforms for Tier 1 Members (public employees hired before 2011) · Cost-of-living adjustments apply only to the first $25,000 of the employees’ pension · That limit is reduced to the first $20,000 for employees eligible for Social Security · COLAs are delayed until the employee turns 67 or five years after retirement, whichever comes first · *This applies to all employees and retirees who are cu... more »

NYC Educator: Where Are We Heading?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
NYC Educator: Where Are We Heading?: Where Are We Heading? by NYC Educator It’s a tough year to be a teacher. People have little faith in us. I know this because this year we’ll no longer be able to grade Regents exams our students take. Apparently, because *know* the kids and *want*them to pass, we can’t be trusted to grade them fairly. That is *bias*. Better to ship the tests off to total strangers who’ve never seen or met them. Clearly they can better judge and interpret their work than those of us who see it every day of our lives. Maybe we should take this to the next stage an... more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s husband, Sacramento mayor, fined for ethics violations involving education initiatives

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s husband, Sacramento mayor, fined for ethics violations involving education initiatives: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s husband, Sacramento mayor, fined for ethics violations involving education initiatives Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 5, 2012 at 3:45 pm - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » (Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty ) Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, husband of school reform leader Michelle Rhee, has agreed to to pay a fine of $37,500 for fa... more »

Ed Notes Online: Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126: Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126 by ed notes online I'm trying to make this tonight to tape. This is Eva's husband's school. Below is a good report on the Gates charter scam from Leonie. *Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126* *Wednesday, December 5, 2012 6pm - 8pm (5:30 to sign up to speak) * *JHS 126 • 424 Leonard Street• (across from McCarren Park pool)* Join US Congres... more »

Teacher Evaluation as Legal, Political Football « InterACT

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Teacher Evaluation as Legal, Political Football « InterACT: Teacher Evaluation as Legal, Political Football by David B. Cohen [image: sign]photo by the author Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers of Los Angeles have reached a tentative agreement on new teacher evaluation practices and policies. The union will take up the agreement in a meeting of its governing body later today, and I expect that there will be some tough questions for the union leadership regarding compromises on the use of student testing results. A legal ruling against the district held that, ... more »

Bush-Rhee-Scott SB 736 a Failure of Unprecedented Proportions | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Bush-Rhee-Scott SB 736 a Failure of Unprecedented Proportions | Scathing Purple Musings: Bush-Rhee-Scott SB 736 a Failure of Unprecedented Proportions by Bob Sikes After alllllll that, alomost 97 perecnt of Florida teachers were rated effective or highly effective under SB 736. Brace for some full frontal cynicism after Jeff Solochek’s post in *Gradebook*: Florida’s new teacher evaluation model is far from popular, with teachers complaining loudly that counting student test scores for half their score is unfair and filled with potential for inaccuracy. The 2011-12 preliminary ev... more »

Teachers Don't Suck !: What Do You Think??

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Teachers Don't Suck !: What Do You Think??: What Do You Think?? by Walt S. I have received comments about my proposal to ask for your ideas regarding educational questions in my future posts. I am including them below and also posing a question as I suggested I would. Here is a prelude to the question. In Jersee (as we like to call it), we have had over the past decadra of educational schemes instituted and imposed by the State. *T**he Renaissance Act* *The Urban Hope Act* *No Child** Left Behind (NCLB)* *The Race to the Top* *The Quality Education Act (QEA)* *Thorough and Efficie... more »

Child Poverty Will Remain High, Analysis Predicts | First Focus

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Child Poverty Will Remain High, Analysis Predicts | First Focus: [image: First Focus - Making Childen and Families the Priority] Child Poverty Will Remain High, Analysis Predicts PRESS RELEASE *December 4, 2012* *Contact:* Ed Walz (202) 657-0685 (office) Washington — A new report released today predicts 2012 national and state child poverty rates 10 months before the U.S. Census Bureau’s official measure, expected in September 2013. The new First Focus analysis, written by Urban Institute researchers Julia Isaacs and Olivia Healy, finds early signs of improvement, though the nation’s... more »

How Many Billions Are We REALLY Spending on Testing? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
How Many Billions Are We REALLY Spending on Testing? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: How Many Billions Are We REALLY Spending on Testing? by Anthony Cody The Brookings Institute released a report last week that purports to calculate the amount of money being spent on standardized tests. The number researcher Matthew Chingos comes up with is $1.7 billion, which, when we consider that we spend more than $600 billion a year on education, does not sound like all that much. However, it turns out that all he is actually counting is the contract cost that states pay direct... more »

No Value in Value Added – SchoolBook

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
No Value in Value Added – SchoolBook: No Value in Value Added by Arthur Goldstein *Editor’s Note: In response to a recent SchoolBook post and other media coverage of negotiations for a teacher evaluation deal, SchoolBook received a number of comments from people who felt that value-added metrics were not only detrimental to teachers but they were an unproven methodology. As one blogger asked: “So where is the space to make the point that this evaluation system is controversial? And unproven? Maybe even harmful?” Below we include a critique from teacher and contributor Arthur Golds... more »

End of desegregation offers lessons for current education reformers | Hechinger Report

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
End of desegregation offers lessons for current education reformers | Hechinger Report: End of desegregation offers lessons for current education reformers by Sarah Garland After half a century, America’s efforts to end segregation seem to be winding down. In the years after *Brown v. Board of Education*, 755 school districts were under desegregation orders. A new Stanford study reports that as of 2009, that number had dropped to as few as 268. (An additional 153 small districts with fewer than 2,000 students weren’t included in the study, and may also still have outstanding desegr... more »

Bogus school closing hearings = no input, no trust Parents United for Responsible Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Bogus school closing hearings = no input, no trust: Bogus school closing hearings = no input, no trust by admin My somewhat inarticulate complaints about the pointless and disrespectful hearings now underway by the CPS- appointed Commission on School Utilization made it into theSun-Times today: Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education blasted CPS for starting hearings of a newly formed School Utilization Committee without indicating which schools were in danger of closure or consolidation. In past years,... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News Roundup

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News Roundup: Ed News Roundup by Melissa Westbrook Boy, is there a lot out there. First up, great news for the students receiving Washington Opportunity Scholarships - their check goes up from $1,000 to $5,000. From the Times report: *The scholarship is for Washington residents studying at in-state institutions who are majoring in science, technology, engineering, math — often called STEM — and health-care fields, and who meet an income threshold that's considered low- to middle-income — up to $102,200 for a family of four. Its aim is to enc... more »

Students for a #FreeCooperUnion Occupy To Preserve The Right to Education | OccupyWallSt.org

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Students for a #FreeCooperUnion Occupy To Preserve The Right to Education | OccupyWallSt.org: Students for a #FreeCooperUnion Occupy To Preserve The Right to Education Posted 33 minutes ago on Dec. 5, 2012, 11:48 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt Tags: austerity, education, nyc, occupation, student activism [image: cooper union building with banner reading Free Education To All] Students have been occupying the Cooper Union clock tower since Monday and 11 students are still locked-down! Today at 2pm come join OWS, All in The Red, US Uncut, and others to show your support for the right to educ... more »

The Disability Treaty Debacle and the Republican Education Agenda - Dana Goldstein

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
The Disability Treaty Debacle and the Republican Education Agenda - Dana Goldstein: On the Disability Treaty Debacle and the Republican Education Agenda by Dana Goldstein Every so often the paranoid rhetoric of the "parental rights" movement surfaces in the Congressional Republican caucus. That's what happened yesterday when 38 senators blocked the United States from adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a treaty largely based on the Americans with Disabilities Act. That celebrated piece of legislation was signed into law by George H.W. Bush in 19... more »

RheeFirst! » The synergy between StudentsFirst and News Corp’s education privatization

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
RheeFirst! » The synergy between StudentsFirst and News Corp’s education privatization: The synergy between StudentsFirst and News Corp’s education privatization Joel Klein is a busy guy. When he isn’t putting the ole rubber stamp on documents at StudentsFirst board meetings, or advising Rupert Murdoch on how to handle the investigation into phone hacking at News Corp., Joel Klein is running Rupert Murdoch’s education privatization arm. A recent presentation by Klein shows how seamlessly you can go from StudentsFirst talking points (pages 7 through 9) to explaining how much of ... more »

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, December 5, 2012

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Classroom yoga topic packs board meeting Education Headlines *Wednesday, December 5, 2012* Classroom yoga topic packs board meetingTrustees in the Encinitas Union School District told a boardroom filled with parents divided over yoga in their schools Tuesday that they hoped they could find some way of satisfying both sides. Long Beach Unified school board votes to close Monroe K-8 in LakewoodMore than 650 James Monroe K-8 School students will have to find a new place to learn. The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Educa... more »

The Big Money Driving Online Higher Education in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
The Big Money Driving Online Higher Education in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings: The Big Money Driving Online Higher Education in Florida by Bob Sikes Florida House Speaker Rep. Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel) tweeted the following message this morning: I agree with @JebBush: online learning is the future of higher education! I’ll bet he does indeed. Weatherford linked an op-ed penned by former governor Jeb Bush and education executive Randy Best in the *Tampa Bay Times * in which they say this: Numerous articles and commentaries from inside and outside of academia are ra... more »

Pearson blog starts heated debate about $1.7 billion for standardized testing

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Pearson blog starts heated debate about $1.7 billion for standardized testing: Pearson blog starts heated debate about $1.7 billion for standardized testing Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 5, 2012 at 10:48 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » A blog post written by a Pearson psychometrician under the headline “Is $1.7 billion a lot or a little to spend on testing?” has sparked a heated online debate about the costs of standardized testing — monetarily and otherwise. The $1.7 billion refers... more »

Teach For Awhile—Then Head Straight to Law School | EduShyster

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Teach For Awhile—Then Head Straight to Law School | EduShyster: Teach For Awhile—Then Head Straight to Law School by edushyster2012 It is annual rite of almost unimaginable cruelty. Thousands of young hopefuls attempting to beat long odds. For the lucky few who win this life lottery, there awaits a coveted seat at a no excuses school known for high expectations and some of the nation’s best teachers. But only a tiny minority will get a shot at a better future. I’m talking, of course, about the huge number of Teach for America alumni who are even now applying to the nation’s top law ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Something Else That Needs To Be On The Table - Apprenticeships

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: Something Else That Needs To Be On The Table - Apprenticeships: Something Else That Needs To Be On The Table - Apprenticeships by Anngie College and Career Readiness... college and career readiness. It's the new mantra of education reform. Everything public education does must answer the question of whether it addresses college or career readiness. If you examine what the reformers and the administration are talking about you realize that it is really only about the second goal. They believe college is also about career readiness, just more lucrative ca... more »

Mother Crusader: Silent Protest Against Cerf's Charter Regulations At State Board Of Education Meeting

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Mother Crusader: Silent Protest Against Cerf's Charter Regulations At State Board Of Education Meeting: Silent Protest Against Cerf's Charter Regulations At State Board Of Education Meeting by darciecima Parents say "NO" to charter regulations, "YES" to local controlParents from across the state staged a silent protest this morning at the State Board of Education meeting, where Commissioner Cerf's proposed charter regulations will most likely be adopted. There was significant backlash to the first draft of the regulations, including 40 speakers at a Board of Ed meeting last summ... more »

MOOCs and Pedagogy: Teacher-Centered, Student-Centered, and Hybrids | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
MOOCs and Pedagogy: Teacher-Centered, Student-Centered, and Hybrids | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice MOOCs and Pedagogy: Teacher-Centered, Student-Centered, and Hybrids by larrycuban In writing about all of the hype surrounding MOOCs, I saw this photo entitled “University Classroom of the Future.” From instructional television in the 1950s through updated versions of “distance education, “a professor professing in front of a camera is familiar and surely will dominate many of the newly established platforms (e.g., Coursera, Udacity, edX). Whether it will be the... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Charter school expansion in NYC: common ground or battleground?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
NYC Public School Parents: Charter school expansion in NYC: common ground or battleground? Charter school expansion in NYC: common ground or battleground? by Leonie Haimson Past ads for Eva's charters ((DNAinfo) According to today's New York Times, the Gates Foundation is giving $25 million to seven cities, including NYC, to encourage charter-district “collaboration.” The Gates spokesperson claims, “*It’s pretty clear there is more common ground than battleground*.” Of course, the pro-charter, pro-privatization Gates people would like to convince NY Times readers and the public at... more »

Modern School: California Near Bottom, Texas Near Top in Graduation Rates—And Your Point Is?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Modern School: California Near Bottom, Texas Near Top in Graduation Rates—And Your Point Is? California Near Bottom, Texas Near Top in Graduation Rates—And Your Point Is? by Michael Dunn The U.S. Department of Education has just published state-by-state high school graduation rates that are, for the first time ever, based on uniform accounting measures, according to theLos Angeles Times. California ranked 32nd in overall high school graduation rates for the 2010-2011 school year (tied with Washington, Utah and West Virginia), with only 76% of its high school students graduating o... more »

UPDATE: Bizarro World Democrat Nekritz’s latest pension killer. She takes pride in her anti-union positions. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Bizarro World Democrat Nekritz’s latest pension killer. She takes pride in her anti-union positions. « Fred Klonsky Here are the bill’s sponsors. by Fred Klonsky [image: Angry-people] Here are the sponsors of HB6258 which would destroy pensions for active and retired teachers. If you know one or more of them (and I know some of you do!) call them and express your profound displeasure. Rep. Elaine Nekritz - Daniel Biss - David Harris - Chris Nybo, Kelly Burke, Kelly M. Cassidy, William Cunningham, Robyn Gabel, Ann Williams, Linda Chapa LaVia , William Davis, Sara Feigenholtz, Jehan A. ... more »

UPDATE: The Courant's Rick Green highlights the Malloy administration’s approach to governance - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
The Courant's Rick Green highlights the Malloy administration’s approach to governance - Wait, What? The Courant’s Rick Green highlights the Malloy administration’s approach to governance by jonpelto In Monday’s Capitol Watch, the Hartford Courant’s foothold in the political news blogosphere, Courant reporter Rick Green posted a piece that successfully portrayed the most fundamental element of the Malloy administration’s approach to governance – their dedication to political gamesmanship 24/7. The headline read, “Roy v. Rob: Twitter Trash Talk Over Budget Deficit,” and included ... more »

It’s time to just say NO! More thoughts on the NY State Tchr Eval System « School Finance 101

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
It’s time to just say NO! More thoughts on the NY State Tchr Eval System « School Finance 101: It’s time to just say NO! More thoughts on the NY State Tchr Eval System by schoolfinance101 This post is a follow up on two recent previous posts in which I first criticized consultants to the State of New York for finding substantial patterns of bias in their estimates of principal (correction: School Aggregate) and teacher (correction: Classroom aggregate) median growth percentile scores but still declaring those scores to be fair and accurate, and next criticized the Chancellor of the... more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee advising Ohio General Assembly on School Funding

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee advising Ohio General Assembly on School Funding: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee advising Ohio General Assembly on School Funding *by Greg on December 5, 2012 · 2 Comments* At the request of Governor Kasich, Michelle Rhee’s pro-charter school organization, Students First, will be presenting to members of Ohio’s House andSenate today during their respective Finance Committee meetings (9:00 & 3:00, respectively). While we might initially expect Rhee’s group to be talking to the education committee, the fact that they are discussing “Public E... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-5-12 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] What Do U.S. Schools Spend on Testing? by dianerav Brookings researcher Matthew Chingos estimates the annual cost of testing as $1.7 billion, but Anthony Cody says that is a very low estimate. Since Texas alone pays $100 million every year to Pearson, it does sound like an underestimate, since the cost of the tests doesn’t really cover all the costs of assessment (and accountability). Nor does it cover the cost of lost creativity, lost instructional time, and diversion of attention from more important W... more »

First sign of better times for schools under Prop 30 | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
First sign of better times for schools under Prop 30 | EdSource Today: First sign of better times for schools under Prop 30 ** December 5th, 2012 | Add a Comment | By Kathryn Baron Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on google_plusone More Sharing Services Deferred payments to California schools and community colleges will fall to their lowest level in five years this academic year, and repayments for previous deferrals is starting sooner than expected. Instead of waiting until January, the state will pay back $1.57 billion it borrowed from K-12 schools next week, a... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Chris Christie and The Death of Hope in Newark

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman: Chris Christie and The Death of Hope in Newark: Chris Christie and The Death of Hope in Newark by Duke Diane Ravitch has a fascinating post up for those who follow both education "reform" and New Jersey politics. The post is by Pedro Noguera, a professor at New York University and noted expert on urban education. What's most interesting about Noguera's piece, to me, is how *it confirms many suspicions I've had about how education has become politicized under the administration of Governor Chris Christie.* Noguera documents the demise of a three-year program to red... more »

Is Social Mobility Ending in America? | toteachornototeach

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Is Social Mobility Ending in America? | toteachornototeach: Is Social Mobility Ending in America? by aristotlethewise *Is Social Mobility Ending in America?* [image: tumblr_lzaumuCglx1r55d2io1_500] by Varun Anand As a college student, I have successfully navigated the sometimes-treacherous American school system. While my elementary and high school years were both colored by public school experiences, I spent my middle school career in a private school. Even though I began my education in India and ended it in suburban Augusta, Ga., there was always one thing that remained constant... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Remembering Metro, the school without walls

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Remembering Metro, the school without walls: Remembering Metro, the school without walls by Mike Klonsky Progressive educators, alternative and small-school-ers will want to download a copy of *Metro: The Chicago Public High School for Metropolitan Studies, 1970-1991. * Metro was fondly referred to as “the school without walls,” and the city was its classroom. Derived from the radical concept that students should take responsibility for their own education and that urban institutions and businesses represented countless and varied opportunities for e... more »

List: What Common Core authors suggest high schoolers should read

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
List: What Common Core authors suggest high schoolers should read: List: What Common Core authors suggest high schoolers should read Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 5, 2012 at 4:00 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » A Post story by my colleague Lyndsey Layton about controversy surrounding the Common Core English Language Arts standards — or, more specifically, the call for reading by high school seniors to be 70 percent non-fiction — has generated a lot of online interest. A number of the... more »

Special Education: Comparison of Wisconsin Public Schools to Voucher Schools « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Special Education: Comparison of Wisconsin Public Schools to Voucher Schools « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Special Education: Comparison of Wisconsin Public Schools to Voucher Schools by millerlf Following is an array of information concerning special education services and what is required by public, charter and private voucher schools in Wisconsin. This information is provided by Wisconsin FACETS, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities. For example, private voucher schools are not required to fulfill a stud... more »

Defending Teachers and Teaching: Standardized Testing Cons | California Progress Report

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Defending Teachers and Teaching: Standardized Testing Cons | California Progress Report: Defending Teachers and Teaching: Standardized Testing Cons Posted on 05 December 2012 [image: Printer-friendly version]Printer-friendly version[image: Send by email]Send by email *By Mark Naison* This is a daunting time to be a teacher in the United States of America. At work, almost every day brings word of a new test, a new assessment, a new rubric for accountability that makes teachers and students jump through another hoop. Media and elected officials add to the stress and anxiety. It is rar... more »

My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume Five | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume Five | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume Five Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago 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. … Continue reading → Research Studies Of The Week Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago I often write about research studies from various field... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Corporate "Reformers" Make Teaching a Temp Job

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman: Corporate "Reformers" Make Teaching a Temp Job: Corporate "Reformers" Make Teaching a Temp Job by Duke Boy, isn't this corporate "reform" stuff great? It's turning teaching into a totally awesome, highly coveted job! Right? Kate Renkosiak (pictured) started work this fall as a new science teacher at Wexler/Grant, a K-8 “turnaround” school in Dixwell. She landed the job through Teach For America (TFA), a leading national not-for-profit that lures talented young people into urban classrooms on a mission to narrow the racial achievement gap. Kate Renkosiak replaced ... more »

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 12-4-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
*Nite Cap UPDATE**UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* Explicating the CREDO Report on NJ Charter Schools by Jim Horn Bruce Baker is on it here and here. Just one of his numerous and effective charts: Great Reading Part II by debmeier Here’s book number two. Trusting Teachers With School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots, by Kim Farris-Berg, Edward Dirkswager, with Amy Junge. (Rowan and Litlefield) The authors describe the how-tos at ten schools they view as operating collectively, run by teachers. They take up key practices, one by one and describe different ways th... more »

Oakland Unified to score … everyone - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
Oakland Unified to score … everyone - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools: Oakland Unified to score … everyone By Katy Murphy Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 at 11:42 am in Uncategorized. [image: matrix 2] The above matrix of nine elementary and six middle schools — which underwent a pilot School Quality Review process last school year — is just a sample of the kinds of targets and scoring systems being put in place in Oakland Unified. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the OUSD board holds a special meeting to discuss this and other parts of its “Balanced Scorecard,” which s... more »

LA High School Fights Against LAUSD’s Scorched-Earth Restructuring « Classroom Struggle

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
LA High School Fights Against LAUSD’s Scorched-Earth Restructuring « Classroom Struggle: LA High School Fights Against LAUSD’s Scorched-Earth Restructuring *A black, brown, and working class school slated for restructuring. Years of neglect and mismanagement by the central district. A top-down, careerist superintendent. Veteran and outspoken teachers at risk for dismissal. And maybe most importantly, parents, teachers, and students fighting back.* [image: A protest at Crenshaw High, Los Angeles.]*This could be describing Oakland but in this case it’s Los Angeles. Right now Cr... more »

How To Move In A Room Full of Vultures [On Jay-Z, Sabrina Stevens and Child Advocacy] | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
How To Move In A Room Full of Vultures [On Jay-Z, Sabrina Stevens and Child Advocacy] | The Jose Vilson: How To Move In A Room Full of Vultures [On Jay-Z, Sabrina Stevens and Child Advocacy] by Jose Jay-Z at SXSW *I do this for my culture* *To let them know what a n***a look like when a n***a in a Roadster* *Show them how to move in a room full of vultures* *Industry is shady, it needs to be taken over* *Label owners hate me, I’m raising the status quo up …* - Jay-Z, “Izzo (H.O.V.A) When Sabrina Stevens first sent me this video, I cursed in two languages. First, I said “Right on!” Se... more »

NYC Public School Parents: What we talk about when we talk about the Common Core

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
NYC Public School Parents: What we talk about when we talk about the Common Core: What we talk about when we talk about the Common Core by Leonie Haimson Several publications have recently picked up on the controversy over the way in which the Common Core standards prescribe 50% “informational text” for assigned reading in grades K-5 and 70% thereafter. We have written about this silly and damaging quota ever since we heard about it last year: here, hereand here. Now the critique has gone main stream; in recent days, it has been written up in Time magazine, the Washington Post, ... more »

SUPPORT DEMOCRACY December 6th, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. Serna Center (Community Conference Rooms) 5735 47th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95824

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
*SUPPORT DEMOCRACY* The Sacramento City Unified School Board is attempting to ignore the will of the people! In 2006 Measures J and K were passed to promote community involvement in the public education process and insure that the voters of each trustee area elect their area trustee. Now the trustees of the Sacramento City Unified School Board want to turn back the clock and appoint a replacement. Please join us at the Sacramento City Unified School District Board meeting on Thursday December the 6th and support democracy during the public comment section of the agenda at 6:55 ... more »

Advanced Placement Access Program - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Advanced Placement Access Program - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education): Advanced Placement Access ProgramTo help underprivileged students participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. ------------------------------ The College Board News Release 45 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023-6992, Telephone: 212-713-8052, Fax: 212-713-8184, http://www.collegeboard.org [image: External link opens in new window or tab.] For Immediate Release: December 4, 2012 The College Board, Google and DonorsChoose.org Collaborate to Expand Access to AP® STEM courses in 80... more »

Nekritz’s latest pension plan would cost retirees thousands in cost of living adjustments. And that’s just the beginning of the bad stuff. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Nekritz’s latest pension plan would cost retirees thousands in cost of living adjustments. And that’s just the beginning of the bad stuff. « Fred Klonsky: Nekritz’s latest pension plan would cost retirees thousands in cost of living adjustments. And that’s just the beginning of the bad stuff. by Fred Klonsky Greg Hinz is reporting the latest version of *Squeezy the Pension Killing Cobra* coming from Representative Nekritz. From Crain’s: Specifically, cost-of-living hikes would be limited to the first $25,000-a-year of pensions and would not kick in until age 67 or five years afte... more »

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Join us at the Flat Classroom Conference in Japan March 8-10, 2013!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Join us at the Flat Classroom Conference in Japan March 8-10, 2013!: Join us at the Flat Classroom Conference in Japan March 8-10, 2013! by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) [image: Flat Classroom Conference 2011]Flat Classroom Conference 2011 (Photo credit: ToGa Wanderings)[image: Flat Classroom Conference]Flat Classroom Conference (Photo credit:superkimbo) This is a personal invitation for you to attend the Flat Classroom Conference Japan, to be held at theYokohama International School, March 8-10, 2013. In addition you are invite... more »

Big Education Ape - SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 12-4-12 #soschat #edreform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
*Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break* Sat, Dec 08, 2012 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Education Summit Scroll down to register • Click to download flyer TOGETHER [image: PHOTO: CTU members march bearing signs that say 'Whatever we do we will do together' and '♥ our students'] Teachers,Parents, Students, Communities Can Stopthe Attacks on Public Schools EDUCATION SUMMIT SaturdayDecember 8 10am–3pm Marshall HS 3250 W. Adams - No more school closings - No more charter openings - No more “Turnarounds” - Funding for ALL Schools - Keep Public Schools Public! FEATURING WORKSHOPS O...more »

Diane in the Evening 12-4-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: Philadelphia Parents Take a Stand for Public Control of Public Education by dianerav *Contact:* Helen Gym, Parents United for Public Education: 215-808-1400 Jerry Mondesire, Philadelphia Branch NAACP: 215-848-7864 Michael Churchill, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia: 267-546-1318 *Press Conference: Private dollars vs. Public Interest* *Parents/NAACP to file Ethics Board complaint* *on Foundation and Boston Consulting Group* *Wed., Dec. 5, 2012* *1:30 p.m. 1515 Arch Street* *18th floor* Parents United for Public Education, the Philadelphia Home and Sc... more »








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