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Friday, February 22, 2013

Diane in the Evening 2-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:






New Jersey: Is It Necessary to Inform Urban Districts?

Mother Crusader reports on an anomalous situation in New Jersey.
When the state wants to put charter schools in the suburbs, the state informs the district and parents have a chance to be heard. The suburbs are Governor Christie’s base.
But when the state decides to put charters in an urban district, why bother soliciting their opinion? Who cares what they think?


A Beautiful Story About Sportsmanship in El Paso

You have to see this wonderful video of a basketball game in Texas between two high school teams.
It is about the kindness that adolescents can show for one another.
It’s about a young man with a disability who loves basketball.
It’s about the love that others showed to him.


Massachusetts Professors Oppose High-Stakes Testing

Nearly 150 professors at universities in Massachusetts issued a statement in opposition to high-stakes testing.
As the national movement against the misuse and abuse of standardized tests grows, the mainstream media is starting to take note and report on it.
More than 800 school boards in Texas; prominent superintendents like Joshua Starr and Heath Morrison; teachers at Garfield High in Seattle; students in Portland, Oregon, and Providence, RI.
Every day, the reaction against high-stakes testing gets stronger and louder.

Finland’s “Culture of Trust” and Our Culture of Testing

As the Hechinger Report explains, Finland doesn’t give standardized tests, yet its students excel on the international standardized tests. Finland has this idea deeply grounded in its education system: it trusts its teachers to make their own tests and to decide how well students are doing.
By contrast, we trust no one and test everyone.
We waste billions of dollars on testing even as budgets are cut, teachers are laid off and class sizes grow. 

Cat Fight at Florida Charter School

The board of the Imagine charter school in Sarasota decided to fire Imagine by a vote of 5-0 and take charge of managing the school, renamed Sarasota Prep. The board had been paying an annual management fee of $890,000 to the Imagine corporation, which is a for-profit charter chain.
The CEO of the charter school, Justin Matthews, announced to the staff that Imagine was no longer in charge.
But then things got more interesting, after the CEO sent this email:
“The almost 1 million dollars per year that was previously paid to our former Educational Management Organization (EMO), Imagine Schools, INC. will now be used directly to enhance our school’s program,” he 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Charter Scandal In New Jersey by dianerav The LEAP charter school in Camden, New Jersey, is now caught up in allegations of incompetence, cronyism, and abuse, reports Jersey Jazzman. The finances of the school are a mess, its academic performance is poor, yet State Commissioner of Education showers it with praise. It’s problems are long-standing, but the department close to ignore them. Just last fall, Oklahoma Chief Channels Jeb Bush by dianerav Coach Bob Sikes in Florida knows how phony that state’s A-... more »