New York Parents Are Opting Out
The movement to opt out of state testing is spreading in Néw York. State leaders are threatening parents and schools with loss of funding; teachers are threatened with disciplinary action if they encourage parents.
PARENTS, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED.
It is your choice.
If everyone stands together, the petty tyrants in Albany can’t do anything.
Here is an email from a parent in Long Island:
*****
I want to make you aware of a movement happening on Long Island, NY.
The NYS ELA standardized tests are are set to begin this Tuesday, and there are many parents who are
PARENTS, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED.
It is your choice.
If everyone stands together, the petty tyrants in Albany can’t do anything.
Here is an email from a parent in Long Island:
*****
I want to make you aware of a movement happening on Long Island, NY.
The NYS ELA standardized tests are are set to begin this Tuesday, and there are many parents who are
CTU: Turnaround Schools Remove Veteran Black Teachers
This just in from the Chicago Teachers Union:
NEWS RELEASE
There are clearly benefits to receiving a full-time social worker, additional assistant principal, teacher aides in
NEWS RELEASE
Turnarounds and the Systemic Assault on Experienced Black Educators
CHICAGO – In addition to 54 elementary schools slated for closure this year, the Chicago Public School district wants to “turnaround” six other neighborhood school campuses. The management contract will most likely be awarded to the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL). The turnaround model is not about educational improvement. No study has ever shown that firing and replacing an entire school staff, from the teachers to the clerks and lunchroom attendants, has any positive impact on student learning, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) reports.There are clearly benefits to receiving a full-time social worker, additional assistant principal, teacher aides in
Bronx Charter with the Right Connections
New York City just approved the ssle of $23 million in bonds for a charter run by a politically powerful Bronx family.
The story begins thus:
“The city approved a politically connected charter school — whose founder went to prison and principal was once accused of fixing grades — to issue up to $23 million in tax-exempt bonds to relocate to a former Bronx strip club.”
The story begins thus:
“The city approved a politically connected charter school — whose founder went to prison and principal was once accused of fixing grades — to issue up to $23 million in tax-exempt bonds to relocate to a former Bronx strip club.”
Good News About Alabama Public Schools
Larry Lee travels the back roads of Alabama and sees the daily miracles in rural schools, where principals, teachers, and communities work together to support their children and their under-resourced public schools. These schools are the anchor of their community.
Lately, Alabama has been besieged by out-of-state organizations who knock Alabama schools, trying to create a demand for privatization.
Larry Lee
Lately, Alabama has been besieged by out-of-state organizations who knock Alabama schools, trying to create a demand for privatization.
Larry Lee
This is the “Smoking Memo”
This is the memo leaked to John Merrow by an official at the D.C. Public Schools.
It answers some of the questions;
What did Rhee know?
When did she know it?
What did she do about it?
She says she got lots of memos. Do you think this one was so unimportant that she forgot about it?
It answers some of the questions;
What did Rhee know?
When did she know it?
What did she do about it?
She says she got lots of memos. Do you think this one was so unimportant that she forgot about it?
Robert Shepherd: A Closer Look at the Common Core Standards, 2
Robert Shepherd explains his negative view of the Common Core standards:
One topic that rarely gets discussed in the debate about the new standards [sic] is their poor quality. If these had been handed me by a graduate student as, say, a thesis project, I would have told her that they were not yet of acceptable quality for bringing before a committee.
These standards [sic] just weren’t thought through carefully. Let’s look at one standard [sic], which I have chosen completely at random:
RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
First, this standard [sic] flies in the face of a century of work in hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, in its
One topic that rarely gets discussed in the debate about the new standards [sic] is their poor quality. If these had been handed me by a graduate student as, say, a thesis project, I would have told her that they were not yet of acceptable quality for bringing before a committee.
These standards [sic] just weren’t thought through carefully. Let’s look at one standard [sic], which I have chosen completely at random:
RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
First, this standard [sic] flies in the face of a century of work in hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, in its
The Takeover Generation Takes Over NYC Public Schools
An earlier post noted that a very extraordinary 27-year-old named Andrew Buher had been named as Chief Operations Officer of the New York City public schools, where he will have a salary of $202,000.
Then a few people noted that he is part of the Education Pioneers, young people coming up through charter schools and other corporate reform groups. That is some powerful network.
Then a few people noted that he is part of the Education Pioneers, young people coming up through charter schools and other corporate reform groups. That is some powerful network.
Diane in the Evening 4-13-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: One of the Dumbest NY Times’ Opinion Pieces Ever by dianerav Today, the New York Times gave a lot of column inches to an article by a Harvard professor who claims to know how to fix the teaching profession. He begins with the assertion that despite the many reforms of the past 30 years, the performance of our K-12 education system “remains stubbornly mediocre.” His “evidence” is the test scores on the 2009 PISA in which the US scored about average. Wouldn’t you expect a Harvard professor to check out the socioe... more »