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
This Teacher Supports Common Core, Opposes Tests - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 minutes ago
This Teacher Supports Common Core, Opposes Tests - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: This Teacher Supports Common Core, Opposes Tests by Anthony Cody *New York teacher Katie Lapham shared the following letter with me, which she sent today. I believe it reflects the feelings of many educators caught in the middle between Common Core hopes and testing realities.* New York State Board of Regents and Dr. John B. King, Jr., Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York New York State Education Department 89 Washington Avenue Albany, New ... more »
California National Green Ribbon Award Winners - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 minutes ago
California National Green Ribbon Award Winners - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Congratulates Four California Schools, One District on Being Named National Green Ribbon Award Winners SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson applauded four California schools and a school district for receiving "Green Ribbon" recognition from the U.S. Department of Education today for promoting environmental awareness on campus while preparing students to succeed in the emerging green economy. The 2013 U.S. Green Ribbon winners are:... more »
NYC Educator: Gotham Schools Defends High-Stakes Testing
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 29 minutes ago
NYC Educator: Gotham Schools Defends High-Stakes Testing: Gotham Schools Defends High-Stakes Testing by NYC Educator Today, Gotham Schools saw fit to run a "principled" defense of standardized testing. As corporations continue to massively profit off of our children, as Pearson makes preposterous, indefensible and humiliating errors, someone at Gotham decided this was a good time to run this piece. First of all, it's interesting to read the writer's claims: *I have no stake in testing itself, beyond that of a taxpayer and an educator privileged to work with teachers and schools. * ... more »
UPDATE: Our children’s data is up for sale + No Amendment Can Fix Parent Trigger | Parents Across America
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
No Amendment Can Fix Parent Trigger | Parents Across America: Our children’s data is up for sale – Literally! by pureparents UPDATE: Because of protests from parents and his State board of education, John White, the state superintendent of Louisiana, just announced he was pulling all the state’s student data out of inBloom. Louisiana was the only state sharing all its confidential student data statewide except for NY with this controversial corporation called inBloom Inc., and the only other state that we know of that had already begun to send them this sensitive data, which in t... more »
Two brave Mandeville High students fighting John White and BESE for their futures | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Two brave Mandeville High students fighting John White and BESE for their futures | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Two brave Mandeville High students fighting John White and BESE for their futures by crazycrawfish I recently had the privilege of chatting with one of the two brave Mandeville High School students that participated in a BESE meeting about student privacy at the Louisiana Department of Education on Wednesday the 17 th. (I only wish I could have been there myself but was not able to get away at that time.) However I feel like was more than adequately represented by these two ... more »
Illinois PIG: Get Serious | Reclaim Reform
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Illinois PIG: Get Serious | Reclaim Reform: Illinois PIG: Get Serious from (title unknown) by kenpreviti [image: CT]As Illinois legislators continue their attempts to pillage active and retired teacher pension systems, please keep in mind that the Liberal Democrats led by 28 year Speaker of the House Mike Madigan is following the same program being used by Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott in Florida. Legalized corruption has no party affiliation. A family court judge whose wife is a lobbyist and friend of Rep. Diane Nekritz (D) made a ruling stating that healthcare is not a benefit – or s... more »
UPDATE: Students opting out of PSAE + Threat to special education class size rules Parents United for Responsible Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Threat to special education class size rules: Students opting out of PSAE by admin [image: testingpencils] Some students from Gage Park High School are planning to boycott part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE). About 80 Gage Park students walked out of a NAEP exam earlier this year. NAEP is a national exam used to compare districts and states across the U.S. The students objected to having their time taken up with tests that had no bearing on their studies, at a time when some students didn’t even ... more »
RW group @freedomworks posts tantalizing petition to #stopcommoncore – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
RW group @freedomworks posts tantalizing petition to #stopcommoncore – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: RW group @freedomworks posts tantalizing petition to #stopcommoncore by Chalk Face, PhD Here’s a link to the petition. I’m a grown man with my own perspectives, so let me state that I make no secret of my progressive, social justice-oriented views regarding education. I am supportive of a free and equitable system of public education. But I do oppose the Common Core State Standards. The Freedom Works petition against the CCSS makes the predictable argument: Every person ... more »
UPDATE: Parents Please Do Ask Questions About the Common Core | Truth in American Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Parents Please Do Ask Questions About the Common Core | Truth in American Education: L.A. Times: It Would Be Better to Delay the Common Core by Shane Vander Hart The Los Angeles Times had an interesting op/ed today. A noteworthy excerpt: At the rate the state is going, teachers will end up being trained before the English curriculum is even in place, and instruction would start before the new textbooks are in anyone’s hands. Yet if the school reform movement has its way, teachers will be evaluated in part based on how well their students do on the very different standardized tests... more »
Elaine Weiss: Can We Move Past Market-oriented "Reforms" to Policies That Actually Work?
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Elaine Weiss: Can We Move Past Market-oriented "Reforms" to Policies That Actually Work?: Can We Move Past Market-oriented "Reforms" to Policies That Actually Work? For over a decade now, a group of self-proclaimed reformers has argued that, notwithstanding a lack of research-based evidence to support their claims, we should put our trust -- and our public money -- in their policy agenda. School district leaders like Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Arne Duncan, and the mayors who backed them, would have us believe that virtually all it takes to close stubborn race- and income-based ... more »
John White and InBloom: It Ain’t Over, Folks | deutsch29
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
John White and InBloom: It Ain’t Over, Folks | deutsch29: John White and InBloom: It Ain’t Over, Folks by deutsch29 On Friday, April 19, I wrote a post regarding John White’s supposedly pulling out of student data storage with the Gates-and-Murdoch-associated nonprofit, InBloom. Since that time, I added an update to my original post, which I will reproduce here for those who might have missed it: *UPDATE 04-20-13:* *Fellow Louisiana blogger crazycrawfish (former LDOE manager of data) has included this information in this post:* *“John White unwittingly sent us a file for yet another... more »
Diane in the Evening 4-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: What Michelle Rhee Told the LA Times About Teacher Evaluation by dianerav Michelle Rhee was recently invited to meet with the Los Angeles Times editorial board. The interview occurred after John Merrow published his bombshellpost about the mysterious memo, the one showing that Rhee was informed about the likelihood of widespread cheating and did nothing about it. Rhee forgot about the cheating memo or didn’t think it important. In the same post on his blog, Merrow said that the public schools were worse off af... more »
NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education: *Greetings!* This is a Special Edition of our newsletter, to announce an exciting new feature: The NPE Newsblog. If you are "in the know" you might have seen an email titled The Pennsylvania Education Crisis Highlights, edited by Ken Derstine. Ken assembles the hottest stories from around the country, and offers a bit of his own analysis on the trends he is observing. It is a great way to capture a sense of everything happening, and he has brought this to our NPE web site. Please visit, and bookmark or subscribe to this p... more »
Start Following Your Dreams, Stop Worrying About What You're 'Supposed To Do' — Whole Child Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Start Following Your Dreams, Stop Worrying About What You're 'Supposed To Do' — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Bill Drayton]Start Following Your Dreams, Stop Worrying About What You’re ‘Supposed To Do’ April 22, 2013 by Bill Drayton In elementary school I could not imagine why I was being tortured by Latin or math, and my perception of soccer was chiefly that of being a crashee. But I loved starting things, especially newspapers. Once I had saved enough to buy a mimeograph machine (the prior technology being typing hard with as many carbon copy sheets as possibl... more »
Marvin Matthew – If You Want Solutions, Invest in Youth Student Voice
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Student Voice: Marvin Matthew – If You Want Solutions, Invest in Youth by Editor Admin “Do students have a responsibility to use what they’ve learned in school to address societal plights?” A professor recently posed this question. I struggled to answer. My logic is that if you aren’t teaching us to address, analyze, and solve problems — you can’t expect us to do any of the above. If colleges and universities, or society, are asking students to use what we’ve learned in the classroom to help solve the problems which we all face, then why are they drill, kill, bubble filling us? Ou... more »
Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System: Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System by Jim Miller [image: 6671_500611959997407_1321783566_n]*By Jim Miller* Things haven’t been going too well for the corporate education reform forces lately. In Chicago there is great controversy surrounding and parent resistance to school closings as a result of the efforts of over zealous reformers. This shameful turn of events puts yet another black mark on former Obama Administration chief of staff and current Chi... more »
Are Top State Education Officials trying to circumvent Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Law by using personal email accounts? - Wait, What?
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Are Top State Education Officials trying to circumvent Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Law by using personal email accounts? - Wait, What?: Are Top State Education Officials trying to circumvent Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Law by using personal email accounts? by jonpelto Yet another source has confirmed that certain high-ranking officials in the State Department of Education are using their personal computers, personal email accounts or texting on their personal phones to conduct state business. Unfortunately from time to time, government officials have tried to ... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: WA State Teacher Named National Teacher of the Year
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: WA State Teacher Named National Teacher of the Year: WA State Teacher Named National Teacher of the Year by Melissa Westbrook I knew it. Today *Jeff Charbonneau was named as the national teacher of the year* by the Council of Chief State School Officers. According to their website: *A science teacher from Zillah High School who helped transform his small school into a place where nearly every student graduates with some college credit was named as national teacher of the year.* *Zillah Principal Mike Torres said last week that Charbonneau, 35, h... more »
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, April 22, 2013
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: *In L.A. school board race, sky-high spending continues**Endorsements - Monica Ratliff for Board of Education 2013: * Education Headlines *Monday, April 22, 2013* Monterey Peninsula USD's choice for superintendent named in sexual harassment lawsuitMonterey Peninsula Unified School District trustees are confident they picked the right man for the superintendent's job, even though he has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Palm Springs Unified School District harder on black studentsThe Palm Springs Unified School District s... more »
Shanker Blog » The Arcane Rules That Drive Outcomes Under NCLB
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Shanker Blog » The Arcane Rules That Drive Outcomes Under NCLB: The Arcane Rules That Drive Outcomes Under NCLB by Matthew Di Carlo A big part of successful policy making is unyielding attention to detail (an argument that regular readers of this blog hear often). Choices about design and implementation that may seem unimportant can play a substantial role in determining how policies play out in practice. A new paper, co-authored by Elizabeth Davidson, Randall Reback, Jonah Rockoff and Heather Schwartz, and presented at last month’s annual conference of The Association for Educati... more »
UPDATE: 2013 White House Science Fair + School warns students: No test, no sports
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
School warns students: No test, no sports: Obama hosts young inventors at 2013 White House Science Fair by Valerie Strauss Some 100 students from more than 40 states are attending the 2013 White House Science Fair, which began today with President Obama as host. The initiative (you can watch it by clicking on a link below) was designed to highlight … Continue reading → School warns students: No test, no sports by Valerie Strauss [image: Smash the DC CAS] How's this for twisting students' arms to take high-stakes standardized tests? This is an email that Woodrow Wilson High ... more »
All Education Matters: Out of Touch Congressman Tells Homeless, Educated Debtor That He Supports Higher Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
All Education Matters: Out of Touch Congressman Tells Homeless, Educated Debtor That He Supports Higher Education: Out of Touch Congressman Tells Homeless, Educated Debtor That He Supports Higher Education by Cryn Johannsen On March 30th, I wrote a brief post about Tagean Goddard's coverage on mounting defaults. A growing number of economists and policy analysts are finally acknowledging that student loan debt, and the alarming number of people who are defaulting on their loans, is having an adverse affect upon the health of the economy. Indeed, younger people with degrees, who s...more »
"NYSUT on state tests: 'It's time to hold the Commissioner and the Regents accountable'." April 22, 2013. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
"NYSUT on state tests: 'It's time to hold the Commissioner and the Regents accountable'." April 22, 2013. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org: NYSUT on state tests: 'It's time to hold the Commissioner and the Regents accountable' [image: slider_120427_testing_01] *STATEMENT BY NEW YORK STATE UNITED TEACHERS AS STATE STANDARDIZED TESTING RESUMES* "Teachers want nothing more than to nurture in their students a lifelong love of learning. They are dedicated to fostering in young people the deeper learning and skills needed to be successful. New York's teachers believe th... more »
Boston Schools Reopen After Vacation Marked By Marathon Bombing, Manhunt
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Boston Schools Reopen After Vacation Marked By Marathon Bombing, Manhunt: Boston Schools Reopen After Vacation Marked By Marathon Bombing, Manhunt by Joy Resmovits [image: Boston Schools Reopen] After a week of April vacation bookended by a tragic marathon bombing and a manhunt that killed one suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and brought the other, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, into custody, Monday marks a return to class for students of Boston Public Schools. While the district is focused on helping students cope and carry on, some teachers wonder if and how students in Boston's tougher neighbor... more »
UPDATE: Official first day of our partnership with Schools Matter – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Official first day of our partnership with Schools Matter – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: RAND Part II: “We’re peer reviewed.” by Timothy D. Slekar Yesterday I posted this blog in response to a RAND “opinion” piece that was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This morning while looking at my personal Facebook site I found this from RAND: All of RAND’s published research is peer-reviewed. Following is a selection of peer-reviewed studies concerning accountability in education. http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201000146.html http://www.rand.org/pubs/... more »
The Best Principals — Whole Child Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
The Best Principals — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Walter McKenzie]The Best Principals April 22, 2013 by Walter McKenzie Who's the best principal you ever worked for? And why do you say so? Ask this question of educators from the classroom to the superintendent's office and the common denominator answer is quite consistent: he or she cared. Cared about what? Content? Pedagogy? Test scores? Well sure, those are a given. But in this case, the principal cared about them. They felt a connection with this principal ... that they were more than just a supervisor. H... more »
Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center: Best of the Ed Blogs *Best of the Ed Blogs* features a frequently updated selection of interesting and insightful blog posts on education policy. The views expressed by the bloggers on our blog roll are thoughtful, original, and entirely their own. We hope you make *Best of the Ed Blogs* your first stop for concise takes on today's most important education topics. Shocker: The PTA and McDonald’s? Best of the Ed Blogs Diane Ravitch April 22, 2013 Why Education Advocates Join the Progressive Opposition to Obama’s Budget Best of... more »
If It Smells Like a Skunk… | EduShyster
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
If It Smells Like a Skunk… | EduShyster: If It Smells Like a Skunk… by edushyster2012 Michigan officials have launched a bold and secret project known as Skunk Works to create “value schools.” Someday, in our bold choice-tacular future, once-stifled students will be able to choose the educational option of their choice. Choice chosen, they will then swipe their EduCards to pay for 21st century skills building served up steaming and blended. And should they have any Edu Bucks left after choosing their choice, they can spring for extras like AP courses, athletics or super cool cyber ... more »
CISPA: Why it’s not a good idea, at all | Seattle Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
CISPA: Why it’s not a good idea, at all | Seattle Education: CISPA: Why it’s not a good idea, at all by seattleducation2011 [image: cispa1] Corporations and Congress with members who receive big bucks to promote and protect their business interests along with corporate/military interests, tried to push through legislation that would allow a greater ability for companies to access personal information of folks on the internet and yet protect the powers that be in complete secrecy through SOPA and ACTA. You can read a post that I wrote about ACTA at Stop ACTA NOW. At first I co... more »
As States Pull Back From Common Core, Parents Should Ask 'Why?' - High School Notes (usnews.com)
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
As States Pull Back From Common Core, Parents Should Ask 'Why?' - High School Notes (usnews.com): States Pull Back From Common Core Standards By KELSEY SHEEHY April 22, 2013 RSS Feed Print [image: High school students works on an exam. Some states are reversing course on Common Core, citing concerns over increased testing.] Parents should ask why some state lawmakers want to reverse course on adopting Common Core standards. Lawmakers in some states hope to halt the transition to theCommon Core State Standards, even as school districts across the country are rolling them out. In Alab... more »
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Nine of the Ten Richest in US Are Attacking Unions by dianerav Leo Casey explains here that there really is “class warfare” in the U.S. today. It is not the 1% that is attacking unions and working Americans. It is the 1% of the 1%. Nine of the ten richest Americans–all billionaires–are united in opposition to rights for working people. They don’t want working people to have an assured pension. They don’t want teachers to have any job security. They want to roll ba... more »
UPDATE: Why I’m not voting for Karen Lewis and CORE + Retired teacher to the Tribune: “You persist in cruel, one-note tirades .” | Fred Klonsky
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Retired teacher to the Tribune: “You persist in cruel, one-note tirades against the long-honored state contract with teachers.” | Fred Klonsky: Congresswoman Schakowsky “is not going to talk on the record” about public employee pensions. by Fred Klonsky [image: jan] I have been puzzled of late by the silence of Chicago north side and north suburban Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky on the issue of the state’s public employee pensions, including teacher pensions. Many of these employees live in her congressional district, of course. Democrat Schakowsky has made much of her defense of Soci... more »
D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question | EdSource Today
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question | EdSource Today: D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question - by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary The smoke surrounding allegations of test score cheating in the Washington, D.C., public schools burst into flame last week. In a 4,300-word blog post, titled*Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error, *the veteran educational journalist John Merrow linked the former schools chancellor with documents that suggest that she knew about widespread cheating on standardized... more »
Ed Notes Online: Josmar Trujillo: Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: Josmar Trujillo: Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests: Josmar Trujillo: Why My Son is Not Taking the State Tests by ed notes online One of the strongest motivating factors for our decision was how politicized and pressurized the environment around testing has become.... Josmar Trujillo I met Josmar, who was co-PTA president a year ago when the DOE wanted to close Peninsula Prep and even though I have a strong position opposing charters, it is still not easy closing down a school. So I wrote a column about the sleazy crew at Tweed and the games they play with... more »
UPDATE: Daily Kos: Boston, West, Newtown: For Whom the Bells Toll, For Whom the Alarms Ring
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Daily Kos: Boston, West, Newtown: For Whom the Bells Toll, For Whom the Alarms Ring: West, Texas plant could have fueled terrorism by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) Seriously. In this story from Reuters we learn that The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Why is that important? Well, let's start with this: Fertilizer plants and depots mu... more »
Pearson flubs test scoring for gifted-and-talented programs
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Pearson flubs test scoring for gifted-and-talented programs: Pearson flubs test scoring for gifted-and-talented programs Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 22, 2013 at 4:00 am 1 Comments More [image: gifted]Pearson, the world’s largest education company, was just forced to apologize for making errors in its scoring of assessments for entry into gifted-and-talented programs in New York City public schools. Sound familiar? The part about Pearsonerring should. It keeps happening. In 2010, for example, six of Florida’s largest school districts formally complained to state officials about ... more »
Missouri Education Watchdog: You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest: You Can Opt Your Child Out of Pilot Common Core Testing or Practice Creative Protest by stlgretchen This memo from DESE on a Common Core assessment pilot for your children makes it sound as if there was a huge demand for more pilot testing in the districts: *Due to the overwhelming demand for access to the Volunteer Pilotassessment *from principals, teachers, parents, and the public in Missouri and across the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, the Smarter Bal... more »
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools: Rahm campaign donors, Chicago Hotel developers also bullish on charter schools by Mike Klonsky Here's a funny quote from the mayor of Chicago *"Government can no longer be an insider's game, serving primarily the lobbyists and well-connected." -- Rahm Emanuel* Chicago Tribune
Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Time for Teacher Unions to Hop Off the Common Core Train by Anthony Cody The two largest teacher unions in the US have positioned themselves as active supporters of the Common Core (wanted to be national) Standards. A visit to the NEA web site reveals President Dennis Van Roekel's columnpraising the project. He writes: CCSS offers a vivid, practical example of NEA's Leading the Professions initiative, a three-part plan to transform the teaching profession and accelerate studen... more »
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLES by Mike Klonsky U.S. Reps Bobby Rush and Danny Davis conducted hearings Saturday, on Chicago school closings*Congressman Bobby Rush* *"There is no way that you’re going to heal these neighborhoods. If it was just Henson [Elementary in Englewood]…but you're talking about 53 schools...all at the same time. It is unheard of in the history of this state." *-- DNAInfo *Matt Farmer* *Chicago’s school “reform” efforts have always worked best on other people’s children. *--Washington Post At the hearings (DNAInfo)*Ald... more »
BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: BREAKING: We have a scanned sample of a “Grade 3 ELA exam” passage with questions by Chalk Face, PhD [image: Image]Interesting. A sample passage with a few questions.* It looks like they’re going to double down on
Educators want concrete data to build new API indicators SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources: Educators want concrete data to build new API indicators In the search for a more perfect school accountably system, classroom teachers and district administrators joined school advocates in a call last week for more concrete indicators – like daily attendance, fitness marks and discipline records. The hearing in Sacramento is one of six that will be held statewide to get input from the field on legislative requirements to include ‘college and career readiness’ components as part of the current high school accountability system. A commission... more »
State probes Burbank third grade cheating report | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago
State probes Burbank third grade cheating report | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: State probes Burbank third grade cheating report [image: Mercer 15534]*A third grade teacher at McKinley Elementary is on leave after a student reported receiving help with answers on the state's STAR exams.; Credit: Rogers Herr Middle School* Burbank school officials say a third-grade teacher has been put on leave after a student reported a got help with answers on state standardized tests. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Burbank Unified Superintendent Jan Britz announced the investigation at a b... more »
How Matchmaking Technology Can Help Reduce Teacher Turnover | toteachornototeach
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
How Matchmaking Technology Can Help Reduce Teacher Turnover | toteachornototeach: How Matchmaking Technology Can Help Reduce Teacher Turnover by aristotlethewise *How Matchmaking Technology Can Help Reduce Teacher Turnover* by Cassie Slane The U.S education system faces a number of challenges, but I think we all can agree that good teachers are the backbone of our education system. Without good teachers, we have nothing. One problem that many schools face is the mass exodus of teachers after only a few years. In fact, 30 percent of new teachers quit before three years and almost 5... more »
Is Common Core Cutting Edge Education or jsut a dull blade? | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
Is Common Core Cutting Edge Education or jsut a dull blade? | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News: Is Common Core cutting-edge education or just use of a dull blade? by Danny Weil *By John Young* http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23057432/is-common-core-cutting-edge-education-or-just *Posted 4/21/2013* The Denver Post Jinnie Spiegler, left, mother of Nacala Spiegler-Frederick, right, is worried that the standardized tests third-through-eighth graders will take will be harder than ever before. Educators have issued warnings that math and ... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Odds and Ends
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Odds and Ends: Odds and Ends by Melissa Westbrook John Rogers Elementary is getting a new principal for school year 2013-2014. Their current principal, Marcia Boyd, is retiring at the end of the current school year. Sara Mirabueno will be their new principal. She comes from John Hay Elementary where she is currently assistant principal. Ms Mirabueno was also a teacher at several SPS schools. According to the Montlaker, Montlake Elementary School's nomination has been unanimously approved by the Landmarks Preservation Board. Their designation ... more »
Shake the tree. Ballots for NEA RA retired delegate must be in Springfield by this week. | Fred Klonsky
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
Shake the tree. Ballots for NEA RA retired delegate must be in Springfield by this week. | Fred Klonsky: Shake the tree. Ballots for NEA RA retired delegate must be in Springfield by this week. by Fred Klonsky
Modern School: L.A .Teachers Vote No Confidence in Deasy and Their Own Union
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
Modern School: L.A .Teachers Vote No Confidence in Deasy and Their Own Union: L.A .Teachers Vote No Confidence in Deasy and Their Own Union by Michael Dunn The Los Angeles times reported that LAUSD teachers “overwhelmingly expressed ‘no confidence’ in superintendent John Deasy last Wednesday, the first time such a vote has occurred in the nation's second-largest school system. It is certainly significant that a majority of LA teachers voted no confidence in their superintendent—and not at all surprising, considering Deasy’s war on teachers. Under his watch, LAUSD has implemented... more »
RPNPS Voices: Some Excellent Recent Reading
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
RPNPS Voices: Some Excellent Recent Reading: Some Excellent Recent Reading Two really remarkable essays, in case you missed them. First, *Schools Are The Foundations of Communities*, by Professor Timuel D. Black. It's a beautiful piece of writing, about a notion of public education that totally escapes the current administration. I am old enough to know the story. Once these public assets are given away to private charter school operators, or sold off to condominium developers, that is public space we can’t get back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. We need only refer to the parking-mete... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Following Up on the Equitable Access Framework Work Session
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Following Up on the Equitable Access Framework Work Session: Following Up on the Equitable Access Framework Work Session by Melissa Westbrook The two items I took away from this Work Session on April 10th were these: - The phrase "differentiating resource allocation" came up prominently. I didn't really hear the Directors call it out but my own notes reflect "uh oh." I say that because the Strategic Plan - in its early stages - seems to lean towards closing the achievement gap rather than supporting ALL students and their learning... more »
Learning the Hard Way: The False Promises of Standardized Tests | MyFDL
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Learning the Hard Way: The False Promises of Standardized Tests | MyFDL: Learning the Hard Way: The False Promises of Standardized Tests by amerigus [image: scourge-of-testing-web] *Learning the Hard Way by amerigus* My daughter sees a math tutor, a bright young med school student from Pakistan. She told me last weekend my daughter still struggles, but she was shocked to hear that “every single kid” in her class has a math tutor. I was shocked to learn this too, but for another reason. Over a decade ago, the federal government sought to “fix” low-performance in schools, but not by ... more »
One Teacher's Perspective: Restore Pride in Wisconsin Schools
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
One Teacher's Perspective: Restore Pride in Wisconsin Schools: Restore Pride in Wisconsin Schools by Imagine Wisconsin *With my teaching schedule, I am unable to attend the public hearings on this year's state budget, so I sent the following letter to Wisconsin state legislators to express my serious concerns about inadequate funding for public schools. * Wisconsin Legislators: As you ponder this season's state budget, you should weigh heavily *this reporting out of Evansville*. This story adds to the mounting accounts of how the recent state cuts to public education are not worki... more »
Test scores under investigation at Burbank school - latimes.com
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Test scores under investigation at Burbank school - latimes.com: Test scores under investigation at Burbank school by By Kelly Corrigan A McKinley Elementary teacher has been placed on administrative leave after a third-grade student reported that the teacher helped a class answer questions on state standardized tests this week. Burbank Unified Supt. Jan Britz, who made the announcement during Thursday's school board meeting, added that state officials are investigating the case. Still uncertain of the alleged infraction's full consequences, Britz said state officials could mark th... more »
From the Rick Smith Show, Part I of Live Interviews from Occupy 2.0 – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
From the Rick Smith Show, Part I of Live Interviews from Occupy 2.0 – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: From the Rick Smith Show, Part I of Live Interviews from Occupy 2.0 by Chalk Face, PhD APRIL 21, 2013 BY CHALK FACE, PHD LEAVE A COMMENT 11:00 Galen Munroe, Teamsters Press Secretary on why so many Teamsters are setting up picket lines against Republic Services 33:04 Matt Farmer, Chicago Parent on the current wave of community destruction and how Arne Duncan started the process years ago 48:54 Kris Neilson on how we can fight for equitable education outside the classroom 1:02... more »
Short Notes: Pearson Makes Money, Whether You Like It Or Not | The Jose Vilson
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Short Notes: Pearson Makes Money, Whether You Like It Or Not | The Jose Vilson: Short Notes: Pearson Makes Money, Whether You Like It Or Not by Jose Vilson [image: Chris Rock as Rufus in Dogma on Ideas] Chris Rock as Rufus in *Dogma* on Ideas A few notes: - William J. Reese lets the world know that none of this testing business is new. Good read. [New York Times] - Pearson apologized for errors on the gifted and talented test. They get a stern warning, and get to sit in the corner for millions of dollars. (Commentary mine.) [GothamSchools] - I was asked to write w... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ravitch Blogs about WA State PTA and McDonald's Connection
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ravitch Blogs about WA State PTA and McDonald's Connection: Ravitch Blogs about WA State PTA and McDonald's Connection by Melissa Westbrook Over at Diane Ravitch's blog, there was a discussion about the national PTA and links to the Gates Foundation (and maybe that is why the PTA showed Waiting for Superman" at their national convention in 2011.) Turns out that the National PTA received a grant in Feb. 2013 from the GE Foundation to further the PTA efforts for Common Core. Here's what the national PTA president had to say: *"As the largest child... more »
Moving Ahead With Common Core - NYTimes.com
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Moving Ahead With Common Core - NYTimes.com: Moving Ahead With Common Core By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Published: April 20, 2013 Holy... - FACEBOOK - TWITTER - GOOGLE+ - SAVE - E-MAIL - SHARE - PRINT - REPRINTS - New York City parents are understandably nervous about tough new state tests that were rolled out last week. And some parents whose children have already taken the tests are outraged. They shouldn’t be: the tests, which measure math and English skills, are an essential part of rigorous education reforms known as Common Core that seek to improve rea... more »
Students Last: This Test Brought To You By....
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Students Last: This Test Brought To You By....: This Test Brought To You By.... by Students Last McDonalds is just one of many corporations interested in the program *Albany, NY - *Responding to budget cuts, officials at New York State's Education Department unveiled a new program for public schools that has the potential to raise millions of dollars - product placement. At a press conference on Friday inside the newly named "Staples Building," Commissioner of Education Dr. John King was all smiles as he described the novel program. "With a nod to the movie-making industry and the... more »
The Opt Out Update: Protests planned in Chicago and Colorado this week as the Opt Out Movement continues to grow and Louisiana opts out of the Common Core Standards | Seattle Education
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The Opt Out Update: Protests planned in Chicago and Colorado this week as the Opt Out Movement continues to grow and Louisiana opts out of the Common Core Standards | Seattle Education: The Opt Out Update: Protests planned in Chicago and Colorado this week as the Opt Out Movement continues to grow and Louisiana opts out of the Common Core Standards by seattleducation2011 [image: opt out5] Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parents’ movement *A decade into the school accountability movement, pockets of resistance to standardized testing are sprouting up ar... more »
Quality journalism? | Fred Klonsky
mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Quality journalism? | Fred Klonsky: Quality journalism? by Fred Klonsky [image: Corporate Media = Corporate Lies] *“Karen Lewis should step down as president of the Chicago Teachers Union.”* – Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn *“In any big wrangle about school reform, teachers unions start at a disadvantage: They don’t speak for the children.”* – Eric Zorn *Speaking about the CTU and school closings: ‘As long as we’re playing ‘Let’s Pretend,’ let’s also pretend lobbing accusations of racism is an effective negotiating gambit and a good lever to pull if you want to move public opinion t... more »
