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
Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led” | Truth in American Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 minutes ago
Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led” | Truth in American Education: Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led” by Shane Vander Hart I thought that I would start a series on common misconceptions related to the Common Core State Standards. I don’t know how frequently I’ll come back to this series, but as these misconceptions come up or as I hear them I want to address them. The first is one that I hear quite frequently and I was told was a misconception repeated in the Iowa House Education Committee meeting the other day when the Common Core was... more »
Louisiana Educator: COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 minutes ago
Louisiana Educator: COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System: COMPASS Revisions; Still a Wacky System by Michael Deshotels I watched the video presentation this week by the DOE explaining the COMPASS changes approved by BESE last week. I concluded that the changes could have been explained just as well in about 3 minutes instead of the boring 34 minutes . Here is all I got from the presentation: The rating system has been changed to allow 20% of the teachers evaluated by VAM to be considered highly effective instead of the original 10%. Also, starting next year, teachers rated b... more »
Tips from the Trenches: Administration — Whole Child Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 minutes ago
Tips from the Trenches: Administration — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Stephen Sroka]Tips from the Trenches: Administration January 24, 2013 by Stephen Sroka *During the last few months, I have had the chance to talk with several speakers who strongly affected their audiences. I started to think about the remarkable leaders with whom I have worked over the years and how they have made huge differences with their incredible wisdom, insight, and actions. I contacted some of them and asked them to comment on working in education in these difficult times. I asked t... more »
Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing | Scathing Purple Musings
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago
Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing | Scathing Purple Musings: Republican Texas House Says No to Jeb Bush on Testing by Bob Sikes In late December last year, Jeb Bush penned an opinion piece for the *Dallas Morning News* I which he wrote the following: Today, Texas has the chance to lead again. Moving above and beyond the testing of basic academic skills, the new STAAR exams include end-of-course exams. This is a common-sense improvement to the Texas system of accountability and transparency. If Texas taxpayers are going to invest in the classroom facilities and... more »
School Tech Connect: Nekritz vs. Martire
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 minutes ago
School Tech Connect: Nekritz vs. Martire: Nekritz vs. Martire by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) Blogging while wolfing down cold pizza....A line is forming outside my door. The lights are off.... Recently the good folks at IEA Region 28 posted this message from Elaine Nekritz, a person I would like to see voted out of office but who always has the courtesy to reply to emails. Thanks so much for your response. I am familiar with Mr. Martire’s proposal. The reality is his proposal would require a payment of almost $9 billion into the pension systems next year. The current year p... more »
Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education: | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education: | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education: Letter to the SCUSD Board of Education: by Kate_Lenox [image: Home] For the past ten years, the Sacramento City Unified School District has closed schools piecemeal, even when attempting to put a process like a 7-11 committee in place. Now with its back against the wall financially, the district believes it must close a large number of schools to remain solvent. To address the declining enrollment and over capacity in the district, planning should have begun by considering the be... more »
Diane in the Evening 1-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: You Are Invited to a Webinar on High Stakes Testing by dianerav Parents Across America is hosting a Webinar on high stakes testing. Think about joining and meeting some of the leading figures in the opt-out movement. Let’s Talk: A Webinar on High Stakes Testing and Opting Out On January 27 at 1:00 PM PST, 3:00 PM Central and 4:00 PM EST, Parents Across America will be hosting an online seminar on high stakes testing and opting out of these tests. Our guests will be: Jesse Hagopian, teacher at Garfield High School and part of the MAP test boycott Shaun Johnso... more »
Torlakson Reacts to State of the State - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Torlakson Reacts to State of the State - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reaction to Governor's State of the State Address SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today issued the following statement regarding Governor Brown's State of the State Address: "With today's State of the State Address, as in his budget, Governor Brown kept his promise to make school funding his top priority. "While it will take years for our schools to recover what they have lost, I applaud the Governor for putting California on the path tow... more »
January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing! - Wait, What?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing! - Wait, What?: January 23, 2013: State Board of Education votes to require more standardized testing! by jonpelto When the Connecticut State Board of Education met yesterday to approve their 2013 legislative agenda, a primary initiative was to expand the state’s mandatory standardized testing program to include all Connecticut students in the 11th grade. As of now, the state’s absurd mandatory Connecticut Mastery standardized testing extravaganza begins in grade three and runs through the CAPT ... more »
Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two — Whole Child Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Molly McCloskey]Best Questions: Someday Happens, Part Two January 24, 2013 by Molly McCloskey Four years ago on the inauguration of the first African American president of the United States, we titled our*Whole Child Newsletter* "Someday Happens," reflecting a T-shirt I saw at the ceremonies that day. Today, independent of political views, I'm wondering when someday will happen for the millions of kids promised a "free and appropriate public education." While that phrase was first introdu... more »
California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip" - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip" - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: "Distant Authorities Crack the Whip" by Anthony Cody In today's State of the State speech, (available here) California Governor Jerry Brown continued to blaze a path in a new direction on education reform. He explicitly rejected the dominant reform paradigm which closely manages schools through test scores, and embraced local control, which he argued for using a concept called "subsidiarity." He also ... more »
Gionni Crawford – How students with disabilities can succeed in college - Student Voice
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Student Voice: Gionni Crawford – How students with disabilities can succeed in college by admin If you are a college student with a disability, whether it is cognitive or physical, it is important that you understand your rights. You must learn to embrace self-advocacy, which is, effectively communicating and asserting your rights and interests as a student with a documented disability. As a college student with a cognitive disability myself, I understand that there are other students, like me, who need guidance and reassurance to pursue higher education. A few years ago, I was st... more »
UPDATE: SPS Librarians also Speak Out on MAP Seattle Schools Community Forum: District Continues to Overbuild?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: District Continues to Overbuild?: SPS Librarians also Speak Out on MAP by Melissa Westbrook From our friends at the Stranger Slog, what librarians are saying: *Laurie Amster-Burton, who spoke on behalf of librarians, says she actually switched schools in part because of how invasive MAP testing had become in regard to library time and space. The district has told educators that it thanks them for their concern but it needs time to work out a solution, but Amster-Burton says that these problems have existed for years, and educators have been bringing... more »
Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead) « Bill Ayers
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead) « Bill Ayers: Bernardine Dohrn Retiring (from Norhtwestern Law School, but not from the work ahead) by billayers Bernardine Dohrn, founder and former director of the Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC), Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern Law School, will retire from the Center and Law School on August 31, 2013. For more than twenty years, Bernardine has been the CFJC’s visionary leader and champion in the struggle for justice for youth. She has advocated for fair sentencing for children, for... more »
In These 19 States, Teachers Can Still Spank Kids
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
In These 19 States, Teachers Can Still Spank Kids: In These 19 States, Teachers Can Still Spank Kids This may change in North Carolina, but what about the rest of the U.S.? By Suzi Parker January 23, 2013 Comment [image: In These 19 States, Teachers Can Still Spank Kids] In November 2012 in front of the Supreme Court, Paula Flowe of New York City draws attention to a bill in Congress that would outlaw corporal punishment in schools. (Photo: Roll Call/Getty Images) If John Tate, a North Carolina State Board of Education member, has his way, North Carolina will no longer allow teacher... more »
UPDATE: How to opt your student out of the MAP® test + Seattle Superintendent threatens punitive actions against boycotting teachers: a Seattle teacher responds, others around the country write letters in protest | Seattle Education
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Seattle Superintendent threatens punitive actions against boycotting teachers: a Seattle teacher responds, others around the country write letters in protest | Seattle Education: How to opt your student out of the MAP® test by seattleducation2011 *There has been a request for information on how to opt out of the MAP test in Seattle. To follow is an update of a post that Sue wrote in 2010 on opting your student out of the test.* To opt-out of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) test, parents/guardians need to write a short e-mail or letter to their child’s principal, teachers... more »
UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, January 24, 2013
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Fensterwald: ACLU warns it will sue state over 20,00 unserved English learners Education Headlines *Thursday, January 24, 2013* Students choose extra, not exodus, as Stockton USD lowers credit requirementThis year, it seemed more conceivable than ever that there could have been an early exodus from Stockton Unified of high school students who had more than enough credits to graduate ahead of time. Rowland High begins major renovationsThe modernization project is funded by a $118 million construction bond passed in 2006. ACLU takes... more »
UPDATE: NEA President: Seattle Teachers Stand Against Flawed Testing a “Defining Moment” | NEA Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
NEA President: Seattle Teachers Stand Against Flawed Testing a “Defining Moment” | NEA Today: NEA President: Seattle Teachers Stand Against Flawed Testing a “Defining Moment” by twalker *By Tim Walker* The boycott by teachers in Seattle over the district-mandated Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) standardized test has attracted national attention and an outpouring of support from educators, students, and parents from across the country. In perhaps the first instance anywhere in the nation, teachers at Garfield High on January 9 decided unanimously to refuse to administer the tes... more »
FIGHTBACK The Hi-Stakes Testing Madness Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: FIGHTBACK The Hi-Stakes Testing Madness: FIGHTBACK The Hi-Stakes Testing Madness by Black Educator *8 Ways For Parents to Fight * *the Hi-Stakes Testing Madness* National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing - *Sign Now!* Submitted by fairtest on April 23, 2012 FairTest, 12 other organizations, and prominent individuals have drafted the following a national Resolution on High-Stakes Testing. We call organizations and individuals to endorse it. We also encourage people to write letters and get organizations to endors... more »
Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations - NY-GPS
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations - NY-GPS: - Take Action - Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations! Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations! Over the past 12 years, the Bloomberg administration has closed 140 schools. 60% of new elementary and middle schools have performed *worse* than the ones they replaced. Simultaneously, the Mayor's Dept. of Education has forced public schools to co-locate with charter schools, often resulting in huge inequities in classroom resources within individual school buildings. None of the Mayor... more »
Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations - NY-GPS
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations - NY-GPS: - Take Action - Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations! Demand a Moratorium on School Closures & Co-locations! Over the past 12 years, the Bloomberg administration has closed 140 schools. 60% of new elementary and middle schools have performed *worse* than the ones they replaced. Simultaneously, the Mayor's Dept. of Education has forced public schools to co-locate with charter schools, often resulting in huge inequities in classroom resources within individual school buil... more »
How the executive branch is reshaping education ― with little debate | Hechinger Report
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
How the executive branch is reshaping education ― with little debate | Hechinger Report: How the executive branch is reshaping education ― with little debate by Marc Tucker [image: How the executive branch is reshaping education ― with little debate] WASHINGTON ― In December, the application from the State of California for a waiver from the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was denied by the U.S. Department of Education. This, we were told, was because California disagreed with some items on the Department's reform agenda—especially those having to do with teacher ... more »
Tony at the Red Line Tap. « Fred Klonsky
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Tony at the Red Line Tap. « Fred Klonsky: Tony at the Red Line Tap. by Fred Klonsky [image: tonyattheredline] “Jeez, it’s cold,” I said to nobody in particular. Marty looked over from the cash register. “Know what, honey,” I said. “Give me some of your Paulaner Brauhaus Hefeweizen from Shanghai.” “No problem,” said Marty. “If you say ‘please’ and don’t call me ‘honey.’” “Yes m’am,” I said and winked. “Don’t wink,” she said. “Okay,” I mumbled. Tony turned halfway from his stool. “Where you been hiding?”
The Case of the Missing College Graduates | EduShyster
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
The Case of the Missing College Graduates | EduShyster: The Case of the Missing College Graduates by edushyster2012 Grab your magnifying glass, reader, and a heaping helping of fingerprint powder too—we’re going sleuthing.College graduates are the object of today’s inquiry, specifically students who, after attending urban academies of excellence and innovation, go on to attend college at STAGGERING numbers, yet disappear completely when it is time for that beloved tradition: the data round up.While it is an indisputable true fact that students who attend charter schools graduate fr... more »
Alfie Kohn: Why Punishment Doesn't Work - Bridging Differences - Education Week
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Alfie Kohn: Why Punishment Doesn't Work - Bridging Differences - Education Week: Alfie Kohn: Why Punishment Doesn't Work by Deborah Meier *Guest blogger Alfie Kohn joins Bridging Differences today. He will blog with Deborah Meier for the next month.* Dear Deb, [image: alfie-kohn-headshot-tmb.jpg] Thanks for inviting me to join you on this forum so we can be overheard by people other than a waiter when we affectionately poke each other. Of course you're right that we agree on the big issues—those that all educators most urgently need to be discussing. But perhaps we can stimulate so... more »
Julia Steiny: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Throws Gas on Ed Reform Hostilities GoLocalProv
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
GoLocalProv | News | Julia Steiny: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Throws Gas on Ed Reform Hostilities: Julia Steiny: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Throws Gas on Ed Reform Hostilities Thursday, January 24, 2013 The ever-controversial Michelle Rhee and her organization Students First have issued a State Policy Report Card, grading states' reform policies. Almost all the states got either a "D" or an "F." Dummies. As the Chancellor of the D.C. schools, Rhee posed for the 2008 cover of Time Magazine looking witchy with a broom, symbolizing her efforts to sweep bad teachers and ... more »
Morning Update: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-24-13 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] The Best Governor in the United States Is…. by dianerav California’s Governor Jerry Brown! His State of the State speech, given today, is brilliant. It reflects his probing intellect, his philosophical bent, his deep understanding of the power of the creative mind, his abiding love of his state. On the subject of education, he speaks words that will be music to the ears of every educator. He recognizes–as Washington, D.C. does not–that great education cannot be mandated or legislated. He knows–as most G.F... more »
New York City School Bus Drivers’ Strike: An Injury to One Is an Injury to All « Classroom Struggle
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
New York City School Bus Drivers’ Strike: An Injury to One Is an Injury to All « Classroom Struggle: New York City School Bus Drivers’ Strike: An Injury to One Is an Injury to All by ClassroomStruggle As the privatization agenda moves forward and attacks teachers and students it’s sometimes forgotten how school support workers are affected. At least in Oakland, custodial workers have gone years without a raise and numerous positions have been outsourced. A key and often overlooked outsourced position is afterschool workers. Increasingly they have been expected to shoulder mo... more »
State’s D in teacher prep nearly average | EdSource Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
State’s D in teacher prep nearly average | EdSource Today: State’s D in teacher prep nearly average ** January 24th, 2013 | Add a Comment | By Kathryn Baron Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on print More Sharing Services There’s no sign of a bell curve in the latest scores of state teacher preparation programs. California received an overall grade of D on the *2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook *released by the National Council on Teacher Quality. No, that’s not great, but it may be easier to bear knowing that the national average was a whopping D+. “With so mu... more »
Ed Notes Online: MORE Pres Candidate Cavanagh in NY Times
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: MORE Pres Candidate Cavanagh in NY Times: MORE Pres Candidate Cavanagh in NY Times by ed notes online *"The ‘bad teacher’ narrative as a way of explaining what’s wrong with our school system gets really old,” says Ms. Cavanagh. “Our union has taken a stance that we will collaborate and compromise and that is shortsighted when the other side seems bent on destroying you." -- Julie Cavanagh in NY Times* http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/scorn-for-unions-threatens-mayors-educational-legacy/ Anything Michael Powell writes is worth reading, though one must p...more »
Joy Resmovits: Marco Rubio Wants Education Reform, Rick Scott Proposes Teacher Raise: Ed Today
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Joy Resmovits: Marco Rubio Wants Education Reform, Rick Scott Proposes Teacher Raise: Ed Today: Marco Rubio Wants Education Reform, Rick Scott Proposes Teacher Raise: Ed Today by Joy Resmovits *Rubio-Style Reform?* Republican rising star Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday that lawmakers must pay more attention to the "skills gap" between existing jobs and the lack of qualified employees to fill them, reportsThe Hill. Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce, Rubio said of education, "because it's not controversial, it's not getting nearly enough attention as it needs to be getting... more »
Daily Kos: Obama Reboot
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Daily Kos: Obama Reboot: Obama Reboot by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) President Obama’s Inaugural Address was an unapologetic, unequivocal progressive manifesto of domestic policies.I needed that. So begins today's *New York Times* column by Charles M. Blow, whose title I have borrowed for this post.He offers selection from the President's words, but what catches my attention and provokes my thinking are some of his own words, such as those with which I began. You can of course simply read the column. If you do I will be more than satisfied. I will below offer some more of Blow... more »
School Tech Connect: Monty Neil Tonight
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
School Tech Connect: Monty Neil Tonight: Monty Neil Tonight by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) [image: School Tech Connect] 7 PM, Hartzell Methodist Church. Inch by inch, row by row, people are waking up to overtesting that's going on in our schools. Even the sleepiest people. By the way, the testing is not something the teachers are asking for. It's political. It's part of the corporate takeover of public education. You can't have something like SB7 and not expect a barrage of idiotic "formative" testing. If you were a legislator, for example, and you voted for SB7, and you ha... more »
UPDATE: Rahm undermines BBB's school-closing commission + Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Battle in Seattle
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Battle in Seattle: Rahm undermines BBB's school-closing commission by Mike Klonsky Is Rahm really flipping off BBB's own hand-picked School Utilization Commission, led by former ComEd boss *Frank Clark*, which recommended keeping hands off of high schools when it comes to school closings? If he is it won't be the first time he's dissed the hired help. Remember his hand-picked arbitrator during the teachers strike who recommended a 15-20% pay raise for teachers? Clark's commission wants as few as 15 schools closed instead of the 200 being pushed b... more »
Sacramento News & Review - Downsizing the district - Bites - Opinions - January 24, 2013
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Sacramento News & Review - Downsizing the district - Bites - Opinions - January 24, 2013: Downsizing the district Neighborhood schools to be shuttered, superintendent's ‘priority schools' spared By Cosmo Garvin cosmog@newsreview.com This article was published on 01.24.13. The Sacramento City Unified School District board will meet on Thursday, February 21, to consider the closure of 11 neighborhood elementary schools. They are Bret Harte, Clayton B. Wire, C.P. Huntington, Fruit Ridge, James W. Marshall, Joseph Bonnheim, Maple, Mark Hopkins, Susan B. Anthony, Tahoe and Washingt... more »
Teachers opposed to tests get a warning | Education | The Seattle Times
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Teachers opposed to tests get a warning | Education | The Seattle Times: Teachers opposed to tests get a warning Seattle Public Schools officials have told teachers boycotting the MAP tests that they must administer the tests or face suspension. By Linda Shaw Seattle Times education reporter [image: Siblings Marley and Dakota Patterson-Footen attend a rally outside the Seattle Public Schools headquarters Wednesday at which some Seattle teachers protested the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, tests. Marley, 9, and Dakota, 5, attend B.F. Day Elementary in Fremont.] [image: Enlarge... more »
Texas House eliminates funding for standardized testing
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Texas House eliminates funding for standardized testing: Texas House eliminates funding for standardized testing Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 24, 2013 at 6:02 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » [image: starr]The revolt against standardized testing in Texas has taken a new twist: The Texas House has put forth a draft 2014-15 budget that zeroes out all funding for statewide standardized assessment. By way of explanation, Speaker Joe Straus said, “To parents and educators concerned about e... more »
Schools Matter: Does language acquisition require hard struggle?
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Schools Matter: Does language acquisition require hard struggle?: Does language acquisition require hard struggle? by skrashen Posted as a comment following Larry Ferlazzo’s second column on “How will I implement Common Core for Language Arts’ http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/01/response_honoring_struggle_in_common_core_for_language_arts.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed Re Dina Strasser’s contribution:" In second language acquisition terminology, we refer to Stephen Krashen's theory of "i plus one." It is where we present the s... more »
New Ethics Bill Would Ensnare Four Florida Legislators on Charter School Legislation | Scathing Purple Musings
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
New Ethics Bill Would Ensnare Four Florida Legislators on Charter School Legislation | Scathing Purple Musings: New Ethics Bill Would Ensnare Four Florida Legislators on Charter School Legislation by Bob Sikes Senate president Don Gaetz was obviously referring to former House Speaker Ray Sansom last week in his interview with *Florida Face to Face* while making the case for ethics reform: Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, used the example of a lawmaker who gets elected, snags a seat on the education committee and suddenly becomes an expert, leading to a paid job at a coll... more »
NYC Educator: John King Is the Worst Person in the World*
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
NYC Educator: John King Is the Worst Person in the World*: John King Is the Worst Person in the World* by NYC Educator It's not really easy to become a superlative. You have to work very hard at it, and there is always tremendous competition. But NYS Education Commissioner John King is breaking new ground of late, leapfrogging over other "reformers" to capture a title they're all clamoring for. How did he do this? It's simple, actually. When Mike Bloomberg once again failed to negotiate a junk science evaluation for teachers, reneging on a deal with the UFT, John King decided he'd... more »
More charges against charter-school officials - Philly.com
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
More charges against charter-school officials - Philly.com: More charges against charter-school officials January 23, 2013|By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer - - - Share on emailShare on printShare on redditMore Sharing Services - - - - [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] The U.S. Attorney's Office announced five additional charges Tuesday against charter school founder Dorothy June Brown and three former administrators for defrauding the schools. The superseding indictment charges Brown, 75, of Haver... more »
Common Core: Implications of Collaboration « InterACT
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Common Core: Implications of Collaboration « InterACT: Common Core: Implications of Collaboration by David B. Cohen [image: ACT members in EETF] Larry Ferlazzo (left), seen here with fellow ACT members on the CA Educator Excellence Task Force (l-r): Martha Infante, Tara Kini, Kelly Kovacic The implementation of the Common Core State Standards is underway, and the imminent transition that will affect most American public schools is sparking a wide variety of reactions among educators I know and interact with, or whose writing I read online. At the extremes are the enthusiastic ado... more »
High school senior publicly tells 300+ students he is an LGBT teen
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
At the presentation of senior class awards (Class Clown, Most Likely to Succeed, etc.), an LGBT teen publicly announces during his acceptance speech for Class Actor award that he is an LGBT teen and is tired of acting as someone he's not on a daily basis. His classmates clearly approve.
Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 1-23-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
*Nite Cap UPDATE**UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* [image: via Seattle Education Association] NEA President supports Seattle educators who refuse to give flawed standardized test Standardized test takes away from student learning WASHINGTON - January 23, 2013 - National Education Association (NEA) members at Garfield High School in Seattle, Wash., voted to not administer the district-mandated Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) standardized test that is not aligned with state standards or the district curriculum. NEA has long urged for the careful consideration of the fact that these te... more »
Modern School: The Coming Influenza Pandemic Part III
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Modern School: The Coming Influenza Pandemic Part III: The Coming Influenza Pandemic Part III by Michael Dunn In Parts I and II I discussed the biology, morphology and genetics of influenza and how the virus makes people sick. In Part III I will talk about various influenza pandemics that have occurred over the past century and the development of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenzas (HPAI). Seasonal flu does not usually kill many healthy adults and morbidity declines with age. Adults have already been exposed to several strains in their lifetimes and have developed immunity to many ... more »
Open Letters FROM Reformers I Know. Part 2: Wendy Kopp | Gary Rubinstein's Blog
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Open Letters FROM Reformers I Know. Part 2: Wendy Kopp | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: Open Letters FROM Reformers I Know. Part 2: Wendy Kopp by Gary Rubinstein Though she was the last one to receive an open letter from me, Wendy Kopp is the second person to respond. I’ll probably make some comments about the letter in the ‘comments’ section later on, but for now I want to give her the full forum. 1/23/13 Dear Gary, From my kids’ perspective, Darth Vader is one of the cooler things I’ve been compared to over the years. Thank you for your letter, and for starting this open letter series... more »
Bush Foundation Sought to Head Off Bad News on Florida’s Graduation Rates | Scathing Purple Musings
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Bush Foundation Sought to Head Off Bad News on Florida’s Graduation Rates | Scathing Purple Musings: Bush Foundation Sought to Head Off Bad News on Florida’s Graduation Rates by Bob Sikes A curious post was printed in Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education blog on January 3rd which indicated the foundation was taking the position that federal measurement of graduation rates were “misleading.” Wrote the foundation’s Mike Thomas: But the new measure comes in the form of numbers without context because there is no calculation of what states require for a diploma. A stude... more »
CDE Responds To ELD Questions - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
CDE Responds To ELD Questions - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education): California Department of Education Responds to Questions About Instruction and Services to English Learners SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education's (CDE) English Learner Support Division Director, Dr. Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, issued the following statement regarding media reports of claims made by the American Civil Liberties Union about English-language instruction: "Despite the enormous financial strains of recent years, California has made dramatic progress in seeing that all English learners receive a... more »
Breaking: Seattle school superintendent threatens Garfield teachers with suspension over testing boycott. Action needed now. « Fred Klonsky
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Breaking: Seattle school superintendent threatens Garfield teachers with suspension over testing boycott. Action needed now. « Fred Klonsky: Breaking: Seattle school superintendent threatens Garfield teachers with suspension over testing boycott. Action needed now. by Fred Klonsky [image: jose_banda]*Seattle school superintendent Jose Banda.* Multiple reports coming out from Seattle this afternoon say that school superintendent Jose Banda has issued a warning to all teachers that failure to carry out district mandated standardized tests will result in 10 day suspensions. The thre... more »
Schooling in the Ownership Society: How Sen. Steans greased the UNO charter deal
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: How Sen. Steans greased the UNO charter deal: How Sen. Steans greased the UNO charter deal by Mike Klonsky SteansGreg Hinz has a great post on his Crain's blog today. It's all about the $35 million grant given to UNO, operator of a Chicago chain of privately operated charter schools tied into the old Daley political machine and now with connections to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. UNO Board Chairman Juan Rangel recently served as finance chairman of Emanuel’s mayoral campaign The $35 million is as much as Chicago Public Schools gets for the entire city. ... more »
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