Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
One benefit of my musical training
just became apparent in a conversation with my brilliant spouse, who told me she could only handle two channels of information at a time.
I know I can handle at least four.
But then, I grew up playing in string quartets.
I have listened to orchestral recordings with a full score since before I was ten.
I have conducted a cappella choruses.
In short, I am used to handling multiple streams of information simultaneously.
I can listen to multiple conversations at one time.
I definitely can multi-task.
Given the demands of modern living I wonder if
I know I can handle at least four.
But then, I grew up playing in string quartets.
I have listened to orchestral recordings with a full score since before I was ten.
I have conducted a cappella choruses.
In short, I am used to handling multiple streams of information simultaneously.
I can listen to multiple conversations at one time.
I definitely can multi-task.
Given the demands of modern living I wonder if
Arne Duncan Stays, Scientology Almost Made It Into No Child Left Behind? Ed Tonight
And You Thought Creationism Was Bad? According to a new book, No Child Left Behind could have been a heck of a lot, well, weirder. Reporters Vulture: Tom Cruise "tried to convince President George W. Bush's Secretary of Education Rod Paige to include Hubbard's 'study tech' educational methods into No Child Left Behind." Ya here that? NCLB could have included things like scientology. It makes Rick Santorum's creationismamendment look tame by comparison! (h/t GothamSchools)
No Buses In New York? It's official. Starting Wednesday, bus drivers in the nation's largest school district will go on strike, report the Wall Street Journal's Rachel Cromidas and Lisa Fleisher. Why? "Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, which represents drivers and matrons, wants the city to force private bus companies to hire
No Buses In New York? It's official. Starting Wednesday, bus drivers in the nation's largest school district will go on strike, report the Wall Street Journal's Rachel Cromidas and Lisa Fleisher. Why? "Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, which represents drivers and matrons, wants the city to force private bus companies to hire
TO LOCK CLASSROOM DOORS OR NOT: After the Newtown and Taft shootings, educators in L.A. debate whether teacher transparency or school security is paramount.
●●smf: School security is paramount …but the question poses a false dichotomy. By Stephen Ceasar and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/10uEPcv Students at Taft Union High School near Bakersfield after a campus shooting last week. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times / January 10, 2013) January 13, 2013, 10:08 p.m. :: Behind a locked classroom door, a Los Angeles third-grade
ORCA K-8 Joins the MAP Boycott
So says the Times.
Eleven teachers and instructional assistants at ORCA K-8 have decided that they, too, will boycott district-required tests known as the MAP, according to ORCA teacher Matt Carter.
In the letter to district administrators, the Garfield staff members listed nine reasons why they oppose the test, which range from how few students take it seriously to how much time it takes away from class instruction and whether it measures what teachers are supposed to be teaching.
The middle school teachers at ORCA will not refuse to give the tests because they hope to get a grant from the
Eleven teachers and instructional assistants at ORCA K-8 have decided that they, too, will boycott district-required tests known as the MAP, according to ORCA teacher Matt Carter.
In the letter to district administrators, the Garfield staff members listed nine reasons why they oppose the test, which range from how few students take it seriously to how much time it takes away from class instruction and whether it measures what teachers are supposed to be teaching.
The middle school teachers at ORCA will not refuse to give the tests because they hope to get a grant from the
Remainders: If Scientologists ran the U.S. education department
- No Child Left Behind came close to reflecting Scientology teaching methods, a new book says. (Vulture)
- An Ohio teacher is suing after she was pushed to retire due to “pedophobia,” or fear of children. (Gawker)
- Columbia University professors are criticizing the state’s new teacher certification exam. (Teacher Beat)
- A star of the television show “Breaking Bad” is running for school board in his New Mexico town. (CNN)
- The Department of Education has published the hearing schedule for 26 schools it wants to close. (DOE)
- Guidelines from educators and parents on how to make the most of teacher-parent talk. (Sara Mosle)
- A meeting for high school teachers offered hints about what could come in an evaluation deal. (ICE-UFT)
- An active union member compares critics of an evaluation deal to Tea Party members. (Ed in the Apple)
- Some N.J. teachers say having student surveys count in their ratings has been helpful. (Hechinger)
- The mother of a student with special needs says a school bus strike is a new indignity. (Insideschools)
- More analysis of the Gates Foundation’s MET Study report finds more shortcomings. (Gary Rubinstein)
State officials are ready to fast-track New York City’s eval plan
Commissioner John King and Chancellor Merryl Tisch discussed the remaining school districts without approved evaluation systems during a Board of Regents meetin today.Over the weekend, they finished assessing the last of the evaluation plans that districts had proposed,
Teen newspaper L.A. Youth to cease printing after 25-year run
The issue of L.A. Youth intended to mark 25 years of the newspaper produced for teens by teens will also be the end of its run.
The newspaper -- printed six times a year and distributed in schools across Los Angeles County -- was centered on first-person accounts of young people writing about themselves, their culture and their community. The students explored such subjects as life as an undocumented immigrant, drug abuse, teen pregnancy and budget
The newspaper -- printed six times a year and distributed in schools across Los Angeles County -- was centered on first-person accounts of young people writing about themselves, their culture and their community. The students explored such subjects as life as an undocumented immigrant, drug abuse, teen pregnancy and budget
No shortage of flu vaccine in California, health officials say
Public health officials said Monday there is no shortage of the flu vaccine anywhere in California, despite anecdotal reports of people having a difficult time finding a place to get the shot.
To find out where to get a flu shot, residents are urged to check the Public Health Department website.
California public health officials are preparing for an increase in flu patients and are carefully watching other states, where the influenza outbreak has been much more severe. The flu tends to peak in the state in February or March.
L.A. schools chief says test cuts could hurt at-risk students
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy has raised concerns to the state's top education official about his recent proposal that would reduce the number of standardized tests that students must take next year.
In a letter to state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Deasy wrote that he was disappointed that neither L.A. Unified nor any other large, urban school district was consulted in the development of the proposal.
Under the plan, put forward last week by Torlakson, second-graders would not be tested in math and English
In a letter to state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Deasy wrote that he was disappointed that neither L.A. Unified nor any other large, urban school district was consulted in the development of the proposal.
Under the plan, put forward last week by Torlakson, second-graders would not be tested in math and English
“Parents Often Draft Better Plans Than Bureaucrats”
Parents Often Draft Better Plans Than Bureaucrats is a nice post by John Thompson over at This Week In Education. Here’s how it begins:
The Washington Post’s Emma Brown, in “D.C. Parents Develop Alternatives to Chancellor’s School-Closure Plan,” writes that Kaya Henderson challenged parents to produce more than “heartfelt pleas” as an alternative to her plan to close 20 schools. Sure enough, parents pulled together concrete alternatives. The parents’ plans include anti-truancy programs, early-childhood education, after-school tutoring and crime prevention.
The Washington Post’s Emma Brown, in “D.C. Parents Develop Alternatives to Chancellor’s School-Closure Plan,” writes that Kaya Henderson challenged parents to produce more than “heartfelt pleas” as an alternative to her plan to close 20 schools. Sure enough, parents pulled together concrete alternatives. The parents’ plans include anti-truancy programs, early-childhood education, after-school tutoring and crime prevention.
Seattle's Garfiled High School Opts Out of MAP Test
The following was cross-posted @ the chalk face.
There are occasions when I think that if standardized tests were allowed to make up only a very small component of a teacher's evaluation, they wouldn't be so bad. Usually those occasions last only briefly. On the surface, incorporating current standardized tests into teacher and school evaluation may seem rational (depending on your perspective). But the further you wade into what we know about the limited efficacy of these tests to measure student achievement, and the unique problems associated with unique tests, the more this notion becomes unstable, and eventually collapses.
Enter Garfield High School in Seattle. Its teaching staff has gained international attention for unanimously voting
There are occasions when I think that if standardized tests were allowed to make up only a very small component of a teacher's evaluation, they wouldn't be so bad. Usually those occasions last only briefly. On the surface, incorporating current standardized tests into teacher and school evaluation may seem rational (depending on your perspective). But the further you wade into what we know about the limited efficacy of these tests to measure student achievement, and the unique problems associated with unique tests, the more this notion becomes unstable, and eventually collapses.
Enter Garfield High School in Seattle. Its teaching staff has gained international attention for unanimously voting
January 15, 2013
U.S. Education Secretary to Attend National Action Network’s Event to Honor Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will join civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton for an annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C. Duncan will give brief remarks during the luncheon, honoring King’s legacy and describing the Department’s continued efforts to promote educational equity.
This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter
Guest post by Joe Mazza
This Wednesday on #ptchat we’ll be discussing apps across all devices to support the best teaching, learning and home support for today’s students. To help with our conversation, we’ve invited several education technology gurus including Steven Anderson. Steven, (@web20classroom) on Twitter, has been a constant resources for instructional technology on so many levels.
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| Image credit: bibliovoracious.com |
Steven is the Director of Instructional Technology for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in Winston-Salem, NC. He also regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom. Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD and NCTIES, as well as served as a panelist at the #140 Conference in Los Angeles, New York and was a featured speaker at the first ever #140Edu Conference, focusing on the real-time web in education. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven has been recognized with the NOW Award, highlighting the Movers And Shakers in the world of social media and the 2009 and 2011 Edublogs, Twitterer of The Year Award. In 2012 he was named an ASCD Emerging Leader, recognizing young, talented educational leaders in their field. Follow his blog here.
Please join #ptchat this Wednesday, January 16th at 9PM EDT for a lively Parent-Teacher Appy Hour!
Here’s One Relatively Useless Report On Using Tech With English Language Learners
“Technology-Driven Innovations for Teaching English Learners” is a relatively useless report from what is described as a “conservative think tank” — and it shows.
It highlights a handful of for-profit software companies, the Rocketship Charter School Network’s use of daily two-
It highlights a handful of for-profit software companies, the Rocketship Charter School Network’s use of daily two-
A Letter to Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats need a five-year perspective to span an agenda for the Obama era, and because that is the likely time needed to get five rational votes on the Supreme Court.
Thousands of Teachers in Mexico Protest Pending Education Reform Initiatives
Thousands of Mexican teachers took part in protests Monday against an overhaul of labor law and a pending education initiative that would substantially change the terms of their employment.Around 2,000 members of the CNTE education workers association gathered in Mexico City for a march to the Supreme Court, where they delivered some 140,000 legal motions challenging the labor legislation approved last November in the final days of conservative President Felipe Calderon’s government.
The new law allows temporary employment and probation periods for new hires, among other changes.
The CNTE militants also denounced “the false education reform” being pushed by new President Enrique Peña
Pres. Obama Receives Letter with Over 50,000 Signatures from Mexicans Asking to Stop Flow of Guns
Mexican activists Javier Sicilia and Sergio Aguayo on Monday delivered to the U.S. Embassy in this capital a letter signed by more than 50,000 people in which they ask Washington for concrete measures to halt the “illegal and immoral” flow of weapons to Mexico.In the letter, addressed to President Barack Obama, they expressed their condolences for “the frequent murders of innocents in your country” and said they are “deeply” moved by the recent massacre of children at an elementary