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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 1-20-13 AM Posts #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2



BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS





Occupy the DOE | Dissident Voice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 minutes ago
Occupy the DOE | Dissident Voice: Occupy the DOE by Myles Hoenig This week will see the inauguration of Barack Obama with a lot of corporate fanfare, flags, teary-eyed patriots, and probably an assortment of the usual gun nuts (pro and con), teabaggers, Truthers and true dissenters. Oh, and there’s a lot to dissent about! Free Manning, hands off the Internet, pass Aaron’s Law, close Gitmo and other black sites, stop murdering innocent people with drones, etc. But what will unfortunately be most inaugurated is not just a person, but an ideal. One that says Wall Street rules while ... more »

Shadow Government? The Rules That Govern 501(c)(4)s | Big Money 2012 | FRONTLINE | PBS

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 minutes ago
The Rules That Govern 501(c)(4)s | Big Money 2012 | FRONTLINE | PBS: The Rules That Govern 501(c)(4)s October 30, 2012, 9:12 pm ET by Emma Schwartz [image: Email this]E-MAIL THIS 3 Nearly a century ago, Congress created the complicated legal framework that governs these tax-exempt nonprofits, also known as 501(c)(4)s for the part of the tax code they fall under. That rule said they were supposed to operate “exclusively for the promotion of social welfare” — a definition that includes groups ranging from local fire departments to the Sierra Club to the National Right to Life Committ... more »

Colorado’s minorities losing ground | EdNewsColorado

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Colorado’s minorities losing ground | EdNewsColorado: Colorado’s minorities losing ground by Burt Hubbard and Ann Carnahan Espinola *This article and other material were produced by I-News Network, whose journalists analyzed six decades of reports from the U.S. Census Bureau to track the state’s poverty rates, family income, high school and college graduation rates and home ownership. The analysis uncovered surprising racial and ethnic disparities. Minority gains made during the era of the civil rights movement eroded with time. Colorado evolved from a state that was by most measur... more »

EXCLUSIVE: Department of Education staffer rips standardized testing and tells kids to skip them and nap or go to the zoo instead - NYPOST.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
EXCLUSIVE: Department of Education staffer rips standardized testing and tells kids to skip them and nap or go to the zoo instead - NYPOST.com: Department of Education staffer rips standardized testing, tells students to skip school - By SUSAN EDELMAN and CANDICE M. GIOVE - Last Updated: 6:33 AM, January 20, 2013 - Posted: 11:15 PM, January 19, 2013 [image: Lisa Nielsen] EXCLUSIVE Forget the city’s standardized tests — skip school! That’s the shocking advice publicly offered by Lisa Nielsen, 44, a high-ranking city Department of Education official recently promoted to th... more »

Ravitch responds to an op-ed: Wolf and Witte arguments don't hold up

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Wolf and Witte arguments don't hold up: Wolf and Witte arguments don't hold up By Diane Ravitch Jan. 19, 2013 - - - - EMAIL - PRINT - (0) COMMENTS ** * * *Ravitch responds to an op-ed, also in this Ideas Exchange, by Patrick Wolf and John Witte. They were responding to her initial op-ed.* Milwaukee's choice program is a failure. There are now three separate systems - the public schools, with about 80,000 students; the voucher schools, with about 23,000 students, and the charter schools, with about 20,000 students. There is very little difference among th... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] NYC: Better Than Buffalo? by dianerav Jersey Jazzman continues his series of posts in which he closely examines the record of Joel Klein’s tenure as chancellor. One of the claims of that era was: “Look at our scores. We are better than the upstate cities.” Oregon Accuses Online Charter Founders of $20 million Scam by dianerav The state of Oregon accuses two en of scamming the taxpayers by inflating enrollment figures in their online charter schools. The schools–at least ten of them–were opened in conjunc... more »

United Teachers Los Angeles approves teacher evaluation deal | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
United Teachers Los Angeles approves teacher evaluation deal | EdSource Today: United Teachers Los Angeles approves teacher evaluation deal ** January 19th, 2013 | Add a Comment | By John Fensterwald Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on print More Sharing Services United Teachers Los Angeles announced Saturday that teachers had ratified by a 2-to-1 marginthe framework for evaluating teachers that negotiators for the union and Los Angeles Unified reached in November. The two sides reached a court-ordered deal after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled ... more »

Teacher Quality Mania: Backward by Design - DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Teacher Quality Mania: Backward by Design - DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News: Teacher Quality Mania: Backward by Design by P.L. Thomas [image: Teacher and Student In A Classroom At School] Let’s return to the allegory of the river. Throughout the Land, people discovered babies floating in the river. A few were chosen to save those babies. While many survived, too many babies perished. Technocrats, Economists, and Statisticians gathered all the Data that they could and discovered that at least 60% of the reason the babies survived or per... more »

The Weekly Cheddar : blue cheddar

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
The Weekly Cheddar : blue cheddar: The Weekly Cheddar January 19, 2013 By bluecheddar January 13 - 19, 2013 [image: Share] Here’s a slightly delayed weekly cheddar – which is a sometimes snarky collection of must-read stories of the week. I’m on a big trip to see family on the East Coast, and since I’m really supposed to be off of the computer, I’ll be very light on national news and focus on my beloved Wisconsin. *Union-busting law Wisconsin Act 10 upheld in federal court:* However, as Root River Siren notes, “Someone should let Scooter in on the fact that two other lawsuits ar... more »

It’s — Mertz for — Madison Time, or I’m Running for School Board | AMPS

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
It’s — Mertz for — Madison Time, or I’m Running for School Board | AMPS: It’s — Mertz for — Madison Time, or I’m Running for School Board by Thomas J. Mertz [image: TJ.logo-268] It’s Madison Time Part 1 & 2 Ray Bryant Combo *In December I announced my candidacy for the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education, Seat #5 (announcement below). There will be a primary election February 19, 2013 and the general is April 2, 2013. I hope I have earned the support of the readers of this blog. You can find out more about my campaign, endorse, volunteer and donate at Mertz... more »

Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Off of Steppenwolf's second album, Steppenwolf The Second I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine On a cloud of sound I drift in the night Any place it goes is right Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here Well, you don't know what we can find Why don't you come with me little girl On a magic carpet ride You don't know what we can see Why don't you tell your dreams to me Fantasy will set you free Close your eyes girl Look inside girl Let the sound take you away Last night I held Aladdin's lamp And so I wished that I could stay Before the thing could answer me... more »

Howard Zinn’s History of the American Empire, animated style | MyFDL

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago
Howard Zinn’s History of the American Empire, animated style | MyFDL: [image: User Picture]Howard Zinn’s History of the American Empire, animated styleBy: Elliott Saturday January 19, 2013 6:29 pm [image: Tweet]Tweet [image: digg] [image: stumbleupon] Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire by Howard Zinn (Narration by Viggo Mortensen) H/T Open Culture

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Student Goals = Growth in Test Scores? Is This the New Normal?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Student Goals = Growth in Test Scores? Is This the New Normal?: Student Goals = Growth in Test Scores? Is This the New Normal? by Lisa M The staff discussed the goals our students need to meet in order to be successful by the end of the year. The goals we are trying to get our children to achieve. The goals we are striving for and want our students to attain. You know what the goals are? *A NUMBER ON A STANDARDIZED TEST!* * * I am supposed to sit down with my students and push them to reach their goal. And what is that goal? *A NUMB... more »

Los Angeles teachers union approves use of testing data in evaluations - latimes.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago
Los Angeles teachers union approves use of testing data in evaluations - latimes.com: Los Angeles teachers union approves use of testing data in evaluations January 19, 2013 | 5:19 pm [image: increase text size][image: decrease text size] 2 0 A landmark agreement to use student test scores for the first time to evaluate Los Angeles Unified instructors was approved by the teachers union Saturday. United Teachers Los Angeles reported that 66% of 16,892 members who voted approved the agreement with the nation’s second-largest school district. L.A. now joins Chicago, New York and ... more »

"The Drum Major Instinct": The MLK Jr. Speech The Media Don't Mention | MyFDL

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago
"The Drum Major Instinct": The MLK Jr. Speech The Media Don't Mention | MyFDL: “The Drum Major Instinct”: The MLK Jr. Speech The Media Don’t Mention by Phoenix Woman We all know about the March on Washington. We all know about Dr. King’s assassination. But most of us don’t know anything about what happened in Martin Luther King Jr.’s life in between those two events. Why is that? Because the persons that dictate what our media emphasize would rather we didn’t know, for instance, that Dr. King was a staunch backer of unions, or a staunch foe of the Vietnam War. These persons want to...more »

Garfield High teachers get support from the AFT. From the NEA? Crickets. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago
Garfield High teachers get support from the AFT. From the NEA? Crickets. « Fred Klonsky: Garfield High teachers get support from the AFT. From the NEA? Crickets. by Fred Klonsky AFT President Randi Weingarten: *Dear Garfield High School Teachers:* *Thank you. Thank you for taking a courageous stand against the fixation on high-stakes testing and its harmful impact on our ability to give our students the high-quality public education they deserve.* *Your actions have propelled the national conversation on the impact of high-stakes testing. Every educator understands that appropriat... more »

UPDATE: Daily Kos: Just so you know what we are dealing with

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago
Daily Kos: Just so you know what we are dealing with: Just so you know what we are dealing with byteacherkenFollow - - - 1 Comments / 0 New I suggest you take a look here and consider the following 60 round and 100 round compatible with M4/M16/AR15 type weapons they promote by showing someone in military garb but as far as I know such large capacity magazines are neither standard issue military equipment nor in fact encouraged in the armed forces, although perhaps someone with military experience than mine in the mid 60's might care to comment. Please tell what ... more »

Diane in the Evening 1-19-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: Is This Article “Divisive”? by dianerav This is the article that a Rightwing Wisconsin think tank called “divisive.” From what I have seen these past twenty years, charters and vouchers are divisive. What do you think? Indiana: Private and Religious Schools May Lose Independence by dianerav A report from Indiana: Vic’s Statehouse Notes #106– January 17, 2013 Dear Friends, Yesterday’s committee vote on Senate Bill 184, the voucher expansion bill, was delayed until next Wednesday’s meeting. This gives us all more time to send additional messages of oppositi... more »

Occupy the Department of Education California Father

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
[image: California Father] *Published on Jan 19, 2013* April 4-7 students, parents and educators will speak out in defense of public education. Join Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Stephen Krashen and many others @ the United States Department of Education or watch @ www. livestream.com/califather. PS The LA Times Has Always Hated Public Schools *by California Father on January 15, 2013 · Leave a Comment* I am reading Upton Sinclair’s wonderful muckraking book about public education in Los Angeles in the ‘twenties, The Goslings, a Study of American Schools. See ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Decision

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Decision: McCleary Decision by Melissa Westbrook Via SPS, I see that there is an OSPI document on the McCleary decision. It's a fairly basic overview but it may be helpful to those getting up to speed on the issue. One key issue that I have been reading is that the Court based its decision on HR2261 about what full funding looks like. What I have heard some legislators say is that they DON'T like what is in HR2261 and if they redid it, then we would be fully funding schools. In other words, rewrite the rules of what full funding means ... more »

Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance Parents United for Responsible Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance: Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance by admin From Parents 4 Teachers: An important month ahead Many of you probably read the interim report from the “independent” school utilization commission last week. The report made news by recommending that no high schools be closed this year—at least for low enrollment—and by suggesting high-performing schools and schools with more than 600 students also be spared. A few things jump out at us about this repor... more »

AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools. | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago
AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools. | Seattle Education: AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools. by seattleducation2011 *The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed.* From the AFT Facebook page: *Today AFT President Randi Weingarten sent a message of support to the teachers at Seattle’s Garfield High School who are standing up against the fixation on high-stakes testing by refusing to administer ... more »

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice: Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice by Duane Campbell *Martin Luther King, Economic Justice, Workers’ Rights,* *and Multiracial Democracy* by Thomas Jackson In 1968, a united black community in Memphis stepped forward to support 1,300 municipal sanitation workers as they demanded higher wages, union recognition, and respect for black personhood embodied in the slogan “I Am a Man!” Memphis’s black women organized tenant and welfare unions, discovering pervasive hunger among the city’s poor and bla... more »

Daily Kos: "Memory is a motherf*&%er"

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
Daily Kos: "Memory is a motherf*&%er": "Memory is a motherf*&%er" by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) Okay, so I cleaned that up a bit. I am sure you can appropriately replace the *&% with uck and have it appear as it does in the original, at the beginning of the remarkable memoir by Bill Ayers, *Fugitive Days*. I am posting this at Bill's request, since the book is now available here as an audio book On a personal note, I have reviewed several of Bill's books for a variety of outlets. My review of the 3rd edition of his *To Teach, the Journey of Teacher* was the 2nd most downloade... more »

Real Parent Power Organized Parents, Organized Teachers

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
Real Parent Power: Current national and local education policies often pit teachers and parents against each other, trapping them in a cycle of blame and mistrust. But in one Minneapolis community, parents and teachers decided to work together to make their schools better – with great results. This is their story.** *About Organized Parents, Organized Teachers* *Organized Parents, Organized Teachers* was produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform as part of AISR’s ongoing efforts to support community organizing for better schools and collaborative, effective partnership... more »

UPDATE: New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available! « Bill Ayers

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available! « Bill Ayers: New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available! http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00AFF6UDG&source_code=SUSP0339WS012607 [image: Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist | [William Ayers]] Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist - UNABRIDGED - by William Ayers - Narrated by Jeff Woodman - - - - Regular Price :$24.95 Special Offer: Learn how to get this for $7.49 ! An interview with Gerry Fialka…1/18/2013 by billayers http://archive.org/details/BillAyers-Interviewe... more »

The Unknown Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
control of teachers: The Unknown Teacher by Susan Ohanian [image: The Unknown Teacher] (To JS/07/M/378 In place of a marble monument, this data is warehoused at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and at NEA and AFT Headquarters) She was found by the U. S. Department of Education to be One against whom there was no official debit side, And all the reports on her conduct agree That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, she was highly qualified, For in everything she did she obeyed Standardisto decrees. Except for maternity leave, till the day she retired She worked in a clas... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Saturday Round-Up

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Saturday Round-Up: Saturday Round-Up by Melissa Westbrook Former State Superintendent Judith Billings weighs in at the Times about *charter schools.* *So The Times recommends Superintendent Dorn violate his oath of office to uphold the state Constitution. Article III, Section 22 states in plain language — by law not subject to interpretation if the language meets that test — “the superintendent of public instruction shall have supervision over all matters pertaining to publicschools.” The initiative emphasizes charter schools will be public schoo... more »

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. by Fred Klonsky [image: Illinois State Senate Impeaches Rod Blagojevich] Since it is Martin Luther King’s birthday celebration weekend, it is an appropriate time to consider issues of law and morality, justice and decency. Yesterday I posted a satirical piece about former Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Governor “Squeezy” Quinn. I accused Quinn of pension theft. This did not go over well with Chris Montoya who wrote, “*Fitzgerald and Quinn are friends. Your post represents a delusional conspiracy, and it libels the first... more »

Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut - Wait, What?: Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut by jonpelto *It is a good day to make a big difference!* Follow this link to the anti-standardized testing petition being circulated by the Connecticut Chapter of Parents Across America. Connecticut state government and public schools have been spending too much time, money and energy on high-stakes standardized testing. The over-reliance on these tests is harmful to our children and... more »

Do Public Schools, Umm, Suck? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Do Public Schools, Umm, Suck? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Do Public Schools, Umm, Suck? by Nancy Flanagan Recently, my friend and IDEA colleague John Dubie, a high school senior, posted a personal, autobiographical blog entitled "Big Picture Saved My Life." John meant that statement literally. It's his story to tell--and I urge you to read it--but I was stunned by the aftermath of the piece, which was picked up, reprinted and dissected in a number of other blogs. I was especially surprised by those commentaries bearing titles indicating that John's life... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-19-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Milwaukee: No Model for America by dianerav Recently I wrote a post maintaining that choice had failed in Milwaukee, and that the city would be better off if it had a single public school system, doors open to all, receiving public support and public funding and civic energy. Uniting behind public education makes more sense than supporting three separate systems, none of which do well for studnts. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published my post as an opinion piece. So far, my views have been critiqued... more »

So You Wanna Buy a School Board Seat… | EduShyster

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
So You Wanna Buy a School Board Seat… | EduShyster: So You Wanna Buy a School Board Seat… by edushyster2012 As recent history has conclusively demonstrated over and over, elected school boards are often the biggest obstacles to closing the achievement gap forever and ushering in a bright future of excellence and innovation for our most motivated scholars. But purchasing an entire school board and taking it private can be an expensive proposition. And with so many un-excellent and non-innovative voters out there, even a massive ed-vestment can’t guarantee an excellent outcome. Don’t... more »

Teacher evaluations: Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations? | Get Schooled

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Teacher evaluations: Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations? | Get Schooled: Teacher evaluations: Is there really enough time for reliable classroom observations? by Maureen Downey A middle school teacher I admired for her innovation pulled me aside once to tell me she was leaving the district. Her tendency to stray from the script put her at odds with the new principal. When I shared the news later with a neighbor, an educator herself, her reaction shocked me: “Good riddance. My son never knew what was going on in that class because the teacher was always... more »

What kids want Obama to do in second term

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
What kids want Obama to do in second term: What kids want Obama to do in second term Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 19, 2013 at 8:00 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » What do young people want President and Congress to do over the next four years? Here some of them tell us in a video that is a project of The Children’s Leadership Council, a national coalition of child and youth organizations. The video was produced by SparkAction. How test anxiety affected a young boy by Valerie Straus... more »

Louisiana Educator: MET Project Dissected

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Louisiana Educator: MET Project Dissected: MET Project Dissected by Michael Deshotels Math teacher and blogger Gary Rubinstein has dissected and uncovered serious flaws in the Gates sponsored study of effective teacher evaluation systems called the MET project (Measures of Effective Teaching). It turns out that if we look carefully at the data from the MET study we find that the basic assumptions for focusing on revised teacher evaluation and dismissal procedures as a way of improving public education are really not justified. One of the most basic assumptions driving the major ... more »

SRC faces a loud, angry crowd over school closings - Philly.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
SRC faces a loud, angry crowd over school closings - Philly.com: SRC faces a loud, angry crowd over school closings January 18, 2013|By Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer - - - Share on emailShare on printShare on redditMore Sharing Services - - - - - [image: Parents and students proclaim their opposition to closing 37 city schools. SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos, referring to calls for a moratorium on closings, said: "All of the inaction has caught up with the district."] Parents and students proclaim their opposition t... more »

Daily Kos: so it's Saturday, and I usually reflect on teaching

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Daily Kos: so it's Saturday, and I usually reflect on teaching: so it's Saturday, and I usually reflect on teaching by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) and that will be part this piece. But this is a morning where I have a lot on my mind. As I write this, sitting in my local Starbucks, about 1/4 of our students and a number of our faculty and staff are wearing their bright red school sweatshirts and are spending the day volunteering at the DC Homeless Shelter as their participation in the day of service. I wanted to join them, but am on the edge of a cold, and was exhausted by the ... more »

UPDATE: Schools’ Design Can Play Role in Safety + Lance Armstrong Is Right About One Thing | toteachornototeach

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Lance Armstrong Is Right About One Thing | toteachornototeach: Schools’ Design Can Play Role in Safety, Student Engagement by aristotlethewise *Schools’ Design Can Play Role in Safety, Student Engagement* [image: Joplin Interim High School social commons] By Jaclyn Zubrzycki A building alone does not create a school culture. But research shows that school buildings can affect students’ morale and academic performance. Now, school officials are moving away from the “cells and bells” design marked by long, locker-lined hallways of windowless classrooms, and toward more open, flexible ... more »

The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now by larrycuban *Pupils are working on their own. The second and third grade reading class of 63 pupils … is using a learning center and two adjoining rooms. Two teachers and the school librarian act as coordinators and tutors as the pupils proceed with the various materials prepared by the school’s teachers and … developer, The Learning and Research Development Center at the U. of Pittsburgh. E... more »

Schools Matter: A weapon of mass distraction

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Schools Matter: A weapon of mass distraction: A weapon of mass distraction by skrashen Submitted to the Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 18, 2013 I suspect that the common core standards’ elitist reading lists (sample items in “Are you as well-read as a 10th grader?” Jan. 17) are designed to get educators and the public arguing about what should be on the reading lists, rather than focusing on the far more important question of whether we should have common core standards and tests at all. There is no evidence that standards and tests improve school achievement. The huge sums of mone... more »

UPDATE: Jersey Jazzman: Christie Uses NRA To Silence His Biggest Critics

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Jersey Jazzman: Christie Uses NRA To Silence His Biggest Critics: Oversight of Education Dies In NJ by Duke *Just keep smiling and don't answer any questions about where the money is going...* Here's an interesting tidbit I haven't seen reported in the local press: *Bill Would Require Public Disclosure of Private Funding of State Services* Assembly Budget Chairman Vincent Prieto and Assembly Education Chairman Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. announced December 14 that they have *introduced legislation to establish legislative oversight of private money being used to pay for state service... more »

UPDATE: Skepticism for SB736 + Oklahoma Parents Don’t Like Jeb Bush’s Florida Model | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Oklahoma Parents Don’t Like Jeb Bush’s Florida Model | Scathing Purple Musings: Skepticism for SB736 in the Florida Senate by Bob Sikes Rick Scott told FOX News host Neil Cavuto after SB736 was past, “It’s going to be great.” Not so much. Changes are already being considered. Bush Foundation CEO Patricia Levesque wants to add student surveys into the calculus and is floating the idea around. Senate Education chairman John Legg has said his committee will be considering changes to the bill. The committee’s vice chair was more poignant. This from Travis Pillow in the *Tallahassee De... more »

solidaridad: Robert D. Skeels applauds Eric Garcetti's Efforts to Save The NVOC-Aviation Center

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
solidaridad: Robert D. Skeels applauds Eric Garcetti's Efforts to Save The NVOC-Aviation Center: Robert D. Skeels applauds Eric Garcetti's Efforts to Save The NVOC-Aviation Center by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene [image: Robert D. Skeels, a Social Justice Schoolboard Candidate] *Now, our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and cup of coffee? — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther K... more »





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