Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
CORPORATE ED REFORM
The Suppression of Dissent In Chicago
Earlier today, I wrote a post comparing how our credulous press ate up the Bush administration's lies in the run-up to the Iraq war with how easily they swallow the spin of the corporate "reform" movement these days.
Well, it looks like more of the old hits from 2003 keep coming back:
Apparently officials at the Board of Education (BOE) are getting the message: The parents, educators and clergy of more than 30,000 Chicago Public School (CPS) students do not want their schools closed. Today, BOE security began erecting metal barricades around the building as thousands of people plan to rally this Wednesday in protest of CPS’ plan to shutter 50 schools and disrupt 50 others.
Association with Gates Foundation Subtracts Value from Weingarten
This week AFT President Randi Weingarten co-signed a short treatment of the controversial issue of teacher evaluation with the Gates Foundation's Vicki Phillips.
This recalls the op-ed on teacher preparation of more than a year ago by NEA president Dennis Van Roekel and then CEO of Teach For America, Wendy Kopp.
In both cases, we have union presidents signing their names to documents alongside people who represent the antithesis of teachers' interests.
The Gates Foundation has absolutely zero credibility on the subject of teacher evaluation due to the pervasive
Teacher Tweets the Truth on Common Core
I've deleted the names of the teachers on twitter but this is an otherwise unedited exchange between two teachers. Remind me again why Common Core standards are so great?
***********************************************
Thought for today: CA schools are not ready for Common Core. From infrastructure to instruction, we're being setup for failure.
Tell me more - why/how are CA schools
Anthony Cody and I Weigh In on the Weingarten-Gates Article
In this post, Anthony Cody takes issue with Randi Weingarten’s decision to write an essay with Vicki Phillips of the Gates Foundation about teacher evaluation. Here is the essay.
The fundamental problem with the Gates Foundation is that they have directed the entire national conversation to blaming teachers–instead of poverty and segregation– for low test scores. They have put hundreds of millions of dollars into evaluating teachers, finding good teachers (and rewarding them), finding “bad” teachers (and firing them).
For the past four years, since Gates dropped his small high school obsession, the foundation has been
The fundamental problem with the Gates Foundation is that they have directed the entire national conversation to blaming teachers–instead of poverty and segregation– for low test scores. They have put hundreds of millions of dollars into evaluating teachers, finding good teachers (and rewarding them), finding “bad” teachers (and firing them).
For the past four years, since Gates dropped his small high school obsession, the foundation has been
Retaining Constitutionally Guaranteed Liberty and State Sovereignty
 |
| JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO |
Teacher seeks to set first-graders not only on the path to college, but also toward her alma mater, UC Berkeley, and, among her first-generation American students, to light the fire of interest in math and science, specifically space technology. To help do that, she’s has invited retired NASA astronaut José Hernandez to speak
level – equity
after reading – defense of childhood – and such.. perhaps we’re closer than we think..
Hans‘ thinking:
Popout
[most of the following from ch 6 of Chris Mercogliano's In Defense of Childhood - the importance of solitude]
1400′s – renaissance
Postman’s reasoning proceeds thus: childhood is a social construct, not a biological given. Childood as a distinct life phase generally didn’t exist in Western culture prior to the Renaissance because, as Postman sees it, everyone shared the same information environment, and, since information was transmitted orally, young people had the same access to information that adults had. Because familites lived in very small spaces, everyone also shared the same inimate social environment, so young people were exposed to all aspects of adult experience from the very beginning.
1450 – gutenburg press
But this state of affairs changed radically with the 15th century invention of the printing press. The
In response to Chicago Spring, CPS throws up the barricades
 |
| Chicago students hit the streets yesterday. |
Sunday it was the postal workers marching downtown to protest the end of Saturday delivery. Yesterday it was the students demanding an end to school closings. But the big one is tomorrow's citywide march which I'm predicting is just the beginning of a Chicago Spring.
It's a good thing for the mayor that the barricade builders haven't been pink-slipped yet. CTUnet reports that BOE
Spanish Cartoon Character Pocoyo to be Featured in U.S. Literacy Programs
Spain’s Zinkia, creator of the popular kiddie cartoon character Pocoyo, has been picked by The Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network to take part in an educational project aimed at Latino kids in the United States. Pocoyo will be the leading character in a series of apps for tablets and mobile phones that seek to instill early literacy, language skills and a grasp of mathematics in children ages 3-5 whose first language is Spanish. Among the sources of support for the program are the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Learn program and outstanding experts like Robert Rodriguez, education adviser to President Barack Obama. The app collection is expected to consist of 23 episodes, of which the first two will be available by late 2013.
TEACHER BASHING AT ITS FINEST
The World’s Greatest Teacher-bashing Newspaper, otherwise known as the Chicago Tribune, has managed to turn a positive teacher report into a lengthy editorial that repeats many of the same criticisms that the newspaper has had for years.
This is the front page tease for the editorial that is found on the editorial page. “If you’re lucky, you had a teacher who inspired you. That’s what all parents want for their children. And, in Chicago, many parents believe that kind of educator is engaging their kids. An overwhelming number of Chicago public school parents – 9 of 10- say they are satisfied with their child’s teacher, according to a Joyce Foundation – Chicago Tribune poll on education