Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 5-26-13 AM Posts #edreform #EDCHAT #P2

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS

StudentsFirst's Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee returns to Michigan as education reform group makes mark | MLive.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago

StudentsFirst's Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee returns to Michigan as education reform group makes mark | MLive.com: StudentsFirst's Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee returns to Michigan as education reform group makes mark LANSING, MI -- StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee will serve as a keynote speaker at next week's Mackinac Policy Conference, addressing business and political leaders from across Michigan, where her controversial education reform group has quickly become a major player. "Michelle will continue to drive the discussion about education, making sure that busin... more »

Ed Notes Online: Dear Mr. Condon: On May 18, 2013, Dennis M. Walcott crossed the line

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 43 minutes ago

Ed Notes Online: Dear Mr. Condon: On May 18, 2013, Dennis M. Walcott crossed the line: Dear Mr. Condon: On May 18, 2013, Dennis M. Walcott crossed the line by ed notes online Hi Norm, My mother (a NYC resident) will be going to the post office this week to mail her letter (pasted below). Although she will include her name and address on the letter I redacted both in this email. .......Elementary school teacher in the Bronx It's great to see entire families involved in battling the ed deformers: Mr. Richard J. Condon Special Commissioner of Investigation 80 Maiden Lane - 20th flo... more »

Thinking About Schools: "... but NOT the federal state" ... - John Dewey

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Thinking About Schools: "... but NOT the federal state" ... - John Dewey: "... but NOT the federal state" ... - John Dewey A little colony, the members of which are probably mostly known to one another in advance, settle in what is almost, or quite, a wilderness. From belief in its benefits and by tradition, chiefly religious, they wish their children to know at least how to read, write, and figure. Families can only rarely provide a tutor; the neighbors over a certain area, in New England an area smaller even than a township, combine in a “school district.” They get a schoolhous... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Haimson Rebuts Bloomberg, Walcott by dianerav Leonie Haimson is Néw York City’s one-person Truth Squad. While Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott was telling anyone who would listen about the stellar education record of the Bloomberg years, Haimson marshaled data to demonstrate that Znew York City made less academic progress on the federal tests than any city other than Cleveland. She lacerated the administration for its indifference to class size Ten Things Charter... more »

Why Memorial Day is confused with Veterans Day

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Why Memorial Day is confused with Veterans Day: Award-winning Virginia teacher: ‘I can no longer cooperate’ with testing regime by Valerie Strauss Ron Maggiano is a social studies teacher at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County. In 2005, he won the Disney Teacher Award for innovation and creativity, and in 2006, he won the American Historical Association’s Beveridge Family Teaching Prize … Continue reading → Why Memorial Day is confused with Veterans Day By Valerie Strauss, Published: May 26, 2013 at 5:00 amE-mail the writer 3 Comments More [image: Washington, DC - May,... more »

solidaridad: Cheryl Ortega: Logan St. School Celebrates 125th Birthday

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

solidaridad: Cheryl Ortega: Logan St. School Celebrates 125th Birthday: Cheryl Ortega: Logan St. School Celebrates 125th Birthday by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene [image: Logan Street Elementary School LAUSD] [image: Logan Street Elementary School LAUSD] [image: Logan Street Elementary School LAUSD] Posted by Cheryl Ortega, May 23, 2013 at 10:46 am on Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch *Saturday, June 1, 2013, 10:00 AM* 1711 W, Montana St LA 90026 In 1888 children came to Logan St. School in horse-drawn wagons. In a wooden building on the corner or Montana and Logan St. classes began in the o... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Teacher Advises Students of their Constitutional Rights. He Now Faces Possible Disciplinary Action.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: Teacher Advises Students of their Constitutional Rights. He Now Faces Possible Disciplinary Action.: Teacher Advises Students of their Constitutional Rights. He Now Faces Possible Disciplinary Action. by stlgretchen A teacher is in trouble after advising students of their Constitutional rights before they were to complete a school survey: A Batavia High School (Illinois) teacher's fans are rallying to support him as he faces possible discipline for advising students of their Constitutional rights before taking a school survey on their behavior. Stud... more »

Turning Around Failing School Districts: How Many Examples Do Policymakers Need?? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Turning Around Failing School Districts: How Many Examples Do Policymakers Need?? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Turning Around Failing School Districts: How Many Examples Do Policymakers Need?? by larrycuban David Kirp’s new book, *Improbable Scholars*, tells the quarter-century story of the Union City (NJ) victory in creating a successful, largely minority and poor school district as measured by test scores, college admissions, parent surveys, teacher accounts–take your pick. It is a story where stable city and district leadership, over the course of a gene... more »

In native schools, hope and fears about new nationwide standards | Hechinger Report

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

In native schools, hope and fears about new nationwide standards | Hechinger Report: In native schools, hope and fears about new nationwide standards by Sarah Butrymowicz [image: In native schools, hope and fears about new nationwide standards] PIÑON, Ariz. — A dozen students had sacrificed their spring break to gather at Arizona’s Star Charter School to prepare for the upcoming state standardized test. On a sunny Thursday morning in March, they sat doing math problems on worksheets or computers instead of surfing the web or playing video games. Nearly 100 percent of the pre-kinderg... more »

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky: Sunday reads. by Fred Klonsky [image: class picture] *Third grade. Bella Vista Elementary School. Monterey Park, California. 1958. I’m third row, fourth from the left.* *Karen Lewis is on the Smiley and West Show this week.* Chicago’s public radio station dropped the show a while ago leaving little programing that specifically addresses listeners in a third of the City and of importance to all of the City. But Smiley and West are carried locally by WPCT, Progressive Radio, 820 AM. *An open letter to Bill Gates* from an overwhelmed teacher. *Woke up this ... more »

An Urban Teacher's Education: Test Teaching

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

An Urban Teacher's Education: Test Teaching: Test Teaching by James Boutin On a recent road trip, I listened to the audiobook *Moneyball. *It made me wonder if anyone has written on the clear connection between ideas presented in the book and the focus of public education on standardized test scores. A good portion of *Moneyball* discusses a man named Bill James's obsession with the way general managers in Major League Baseball were using statistics to make poor decisions about where to spend their money. Among the problems he noticed were: - baseball statisticians have long rec... more »

ILLINOIS TEACHER ELLIE RUBENSTEIN QUITS ELOQUENTLY- SHE NAILS IT (VIDEO) - Perdaily.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

ILLINOIS TEACHER ELLIE RUBENSTEIN QUITS ELOQUENTLY- SHE NAILS IT (VIDEO) - Perdaily.com: ILLINOIS TEACHER ELLIE RUBENSTEIN QUITS ELOQUENTLY- SHE NAILS IT (VIDEO) by Leonard Isenberg [image: Ellie Rubenstein.jpg] (Mensaje se repite en Español) *The following post and video was taken directly from the Huffington Post. Let me know if your situation at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) sounds disturbingly the same. At perdaily, we are getting teachers from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Riverside, Sacramento, and all over the United States telling us the same story a... more »

solidaridad: UCLA IDEA: Standardized Tests Don't Measure Education Quality

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago

solidaridad: UCLA IDEA: Standardized Tests Don't Measure Education Quality: UCLA IDEA: Standardized Tests Don't Measure Education Quality by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene UCLA IDEA is often quite good on issues, even though they represent an only slightly left-of-center viewpoint. UCLA as a whole sometimes does excellent work, like their study on how so-called school choice and charter school industry has brought back Jim Crow with a vengeance. They (namely IDEA) also sometimes works with right-wing groups funded by the Broad Foundation, like ICS. Now that I've returned to UCLA, I k... more »

Daily Kos: a few random thoughts on teaching and learning

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago

Daily Kos: a few random thoughts on teaching and learning: a few random thoughts on teaching and learning by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) let me grant for a moment that there should be some standard/goals we want for our students if we truly want to leave no child behind there would be only two grades Meets standards/goals/expectations Does not YET meet standards/goals/expectations the only "penalty" for not YET is to work with the child to help her/him reach it assignments/assessment should have as their goal helping students achieve those "Meets" criteria which means there is no ... more »

Republished: A Look Back from the Middle | Lefty Parent

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago

Republished: A Look Back from the Middle | Lefty Parent: Republished: A Look Back from the MiddleMay 25th, 2013 at 12:24 [image: Eric Profile]Republishing a recollection from our son Eric’s own writings about his development, “A Look Back from the Middle”, written in 2009, calling out some of the key developmental threads of his older youth after leaving school at fourteen and pursuing the unschooling path… There was a period; in fact, it was the entire span of time between so long as I can remember and age twenty one. One might observe that this period serves as one definition of t... more »

Why We Need Schools To Uplift Their Communities Now More Than Ever | Education on GOOD

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago

Why We Need Schools To Uplift Their Communities Now More Than Ever | Education on GOOD: Why We Need Schools To Uplift Their Communities Now More Than Ever [image: we.future] As Helen Keller said, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." That's why on Wednesday, when Chicago Public Schools decided to shut down 50 public schools, along with either combining or putting others in a turnaround model, even the casual observer could see the absolute failure of our current public education system and its wayward reforms. Closing 10 percent of the Chicago Publ... more »

Cleaning Up John White’s Mess | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

Cleaning Up John White’s Mess | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Cleaning Up John White’s Mess by crazycrawfish [image: Time to start eliminating the mess. . .] Time to start eliminating the mess. . . John White is likely to be gone by the end of June but Louisiana will still have its work cut out cleaning up the messes he will leave behind. Some of those messes off the top of my head are: - Unmonitored, standardless voucher program is an utter failure and a poorly performing mess from what little White has permitted us to see - The Course Choice program is fraught with fraud which ... more »

Ohio school district considers teaching creationism and ‘Agenda 21′ conspiracies | The Raw Story

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Ohio school district considers teaching creationism and ‘Agenda 21′ conspiracies | The Raw Story: Ohio school district considers teaching creationism and ‘Agenda 21′ conspiracies By Eric W. Dolan Saturday, May 25, 2013 14:34 EDT [image: [Intelligent design in school via Shutterstock]] Topics: ACLU ♦ american civil liberties union Like Raw Story on Facebook - 137 - - - - - [image: Print Friendly and PDF] - [image: Email this page] The American Civil Liberties Union this week warned school officials in Ohio not to adopt policies that advanced creationism... more »

Diane in the Evening 5-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: A True Act of Courage and Integrity by dianerav I earlier posted about the 21 teachers who resigned their positions at Weigand Elementary School to protest the ouster of their principal Irma Cobian. That was 21 out of a teaching staff of 22. Not one of them knows if he or she will have a job next year. Theirs was an act of courage and integrity. They Parent Activist Says He Was Offered Money to Promote Trigger Law by dianerav A parent who supported Parent Revolution’s efforts to turn his school into a charter says ... more »

The in box. NEA’s Dennis Van Roekel on Chicago’s school crisis. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

The in box. NEA’s Dennis Van Roekel on Chicago’s school crisis. | Fred Klonsky: The in box. NEA’s Dennis Van Roekel on Chicago’s school crisis. by Fred Klonsky NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. For weeks now, teachers, parents and community leaders have been protesting Chicago Public Schools’ plan to close 50 schools in what will be the largest single wave of school closures in U.S. history. The media coverage has been dramatic, but what you see in the eyes of educators who are so adamantly opposed to this plan is the same thing you see in the eyes of educators all across this nati... more »

GRADUATION DECORUM | Teachers Fight Back

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

GRADUATION DECORUM | Teachers Fight Back: GRADUATION DECORUM by alkleen There seems to be a new movement to end all the raucous behavior at school graduations. It seems people might finally be fed up with the hooting and hollering from the audience when names are read. This ridiculous behavior has been going on for years now and rarely has anyone had the nerve to stop the boorish behavior. Just like all other forms of school related discipline, this problem could be handled very simply if school administrators weren’t so afraid to offend anyone, especially parents. Many years ag... more »

Teacher: Walk in My Shoes Before You Criticize | Diane Ravitch's blog

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Teacher: Walk in My Shoes Before You Criticize | Diane Ravitch's blog: Teacher: Walk in My Shoes Before You Criticize by dianerav Enough! She is responding to Lisa Myer’s “A Teacher’s Letter to America.” By the way, that post went viral. It has been read by more than 30,000 people on this site alone and posted on Facebook more than 10,000 times. Whenever an article appears about schools or teaching, the comments that follow are often rants against both. Whence comes this rage? Why do so many people blame their teachers for whatever ails them? It doesn’t help that Race to the Top... more »

Dogs for Excellence | EduShyster

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Dogs for Excellence | EduShyster: Dogs for Excellence by edushyster2012 The fortune that billionaire heiress Leona Helmsley left to the dogs is now funding education reform groups. When last we encountered billionaire hotel heiress Leona Helmsley, she had ascended to the great hotel in the sky, leaving $12 million to her beloved Maltese, Trouble. In fact Helmsely loved dogs so much that she left the bulk of her for fortune, now valued at between $5-$8 billion to the care and welfare of dogs. So you might be surprised to learn that these days Mrs. Helmsley’s vast fortune isn’t going ... more »

Louisiana voucher students score almost 30 points below average on LEAP tests | NOLA.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Louisiana voucher students score almost 30 points below average on LEAP tests | NOLA.com: Louisiana voucher students score almost 30 points below average on LEAP tests [image: upperroom_bible_church_academy_vouchers.jpg]Voucher students at the Upperroom Bible Church Academy in November 2008. The school is prohibited from accepting new students in fall 2013 due to its current students' low performance on standardized tests. *(Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)* As Gov. Bobby Jindal tries again to fund his controversial school voucher program, new test scores indicate that many of t... more »

Why Minnesota governor vetoed Teach For America funding

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Why Minnesota governor vetoed Teach For America funding: Why Minnesota governor vetoed Teach For America funding By Valerie Strauss, Published: May 25, 2013 at 11:56 amE-mail the writer 1 Comments More [image: Gov. Mark Dayton ( By MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)] Gov. Mark Dayton ( By MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton just vetoed a line item inserted into the state’s higher education legislation that would have given $1.5 million to Teach For America over two years. This is what he said in an explanatory letter to the legislature: Teach for America (TFA) is a well-establi... more »

Piden que FBI investigue incendio en la guardería ABC - Univision Noticias

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Piden que FBI investigue incendio en la guardería ABC - Univision Noticias: Piden que FBI investigue incendio en la guardería ABC A cuatro años del incendio que afectó la guardería ABC en el estado de Sonora, donde fallecieron 49 niños y otros 70 sufrieron heridas, los padres de las víctimas buscarán que sea el Buró Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) el que investigue el caso y una corte federal de EEUU emita un fallo contra los responsables, según indicó el periódico* El Norte* en su edición digital. Esto debido a que dos de los menores que resultaron lesionados tienen doble nacion... more »

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. by Fred Klonsky [image: 401031_492695340803927_1169606387_n] This morning Chicago is gray with a damp chill. Rain? Maybe. A year ago on Memorial Day weekend it was Chicago hot and muggy. We were throwing a retirement bash at the Mike James and Katy Hogan’s *Red Line Tap. * Great party. The kids came in from Brooklyn. A couple hundred of my dearest and closest friends showed up. Even a couple of former administrators dropped by. Hummus and turkey sliders flowed like wine. Wine flowed like wine. Matt Farmer and Steve Doyle played a couple of...more »

Truthout interview: Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era | the becoming radical

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Truthout interview: Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era | the becoming radical: Truthout interview: Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era Posted on May 25, 2013 by plthomasedd Please watch this interview at *Truthout:* —– And the related article, also at *Truthout* Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era A related radio interview housed here as well: » Episode #741: Podcast for May 18, 2013 / This Is Hell!

Toilet Paper and (Instructional) Tolerance | Cooperative Catalyst

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Toilet Paper and (Instructional) Tolerance | Cooperative Catalyst: Toilet Paper and (Instructional) Tolerance by beckyfisher73 *This post was co-authored by @BeckyFisher73 and @ELeclere01. * So, which do you prefer – over or under? Just how did that preference come about? Is it really a personal preference or is it something you learned to prefer because of a significant other? What do you do when you enter into a bathroom where the toilet paper goes “the wrong way”? Let’s say you are staying in a hotel room for three nights and as you are unpacking, you go to the bathroom and re... more »

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-25-13

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

*4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:* *4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT* Children’s Health: IGNORE EVIDENCE. DENY SCIENCE. MINIMIZE PROBLEMS. CRY “FREEDOM!” + smf’s 2¢ smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 days ago Companies Say the Darnedest Things As They Try to Avoid Regulation by email from The Prevention Institute 22 May 2013 :: Tobacco. Leaded paint. Junk food. Sugar-laced soda. Seems like every time communities or states try to pass laws that would help protect families and children from unhealthy products, a public relations effort is unl... more »

This Week's Education Research Report 5-25-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Education Research Report *THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT* * * Students Perform Well Regardless of Reading Print or Digital Books Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 hour ago Research by an Indiana State University doctoral student found that students did equally well on a test whether reading from a digital book or a printed one. Jim Johnson, who also is director of instructional and information technology services in the Bayh College of Education, surveyed more than 200 students. Half of the students used an iPad2 to read a textbook chapter while the other ... more »

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 5-18-13 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL *LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY* *LOOK FOR MY NEW BOOK *[image: Ferlazzo200(1)] "Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation" will be a sequel to"Helping Students Motivate Themselves" May’s Best Tweets — Part Four Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 hour ago Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared... more »

NYC Educator: Scapegoating 101

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

NYC Educator: Scapegoating 101: Scapegoating 101 by NYC Educator It's odd to live in a country where one billionaire can single-handedly control the education of our public schoolchildren. Gates, of course, sends his own kids to private school, so they won't be subject to the untested, unproven nonsense for which our children serve as guinea pigs. After all, his children are precious, and he wants the best for them. Meanwhile, most of the country is wrapped up in value-added ratings for teachers. This means that class tests don't measure how prepared or informed kids are, but rathe... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Ranking the Nation’s Most Expensive High Schools by dianerav Americans love to rank, rate, and grade everything. A reader suggested this ranking of America’s private schools. It doesn’t consider how many students took AP courses, how many got a certain score on the SAT, or how Parent Revolution Forces Out Excellent Principal by dianerav The billionaire-funded Parent Revolution flexed its muscle and got enough parent signatures to force theresignation of a highly ef... more »

How Can Wal-Mart REALLY Help Improve Our Schools? | toteachornototeach

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

How Can Wal-Mart REALLY Help Improve Our Schools? | toteachornototeach: How Can Wal-Mart REALLY Help Improve Our Schools? by aristotlethewise *How Can Wal-Mart REALLY Help Improve Our Schools? * by Peter Dreier Last month, the Walton Family Foundation, led by heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, announced an $8 million grant to StudentsFirst, headed by Michelle Rhee, the ousted chancellor of the Washington, D.C. school system. This grant came on top of the $3 million the foundation had already donated to the group since 2010. Rhee’s tempestuous tenure as head of the DC schools between 2007... more »

Throwing the book at educators while ignoring financiers and CEOs | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Throwing the book at educators while ignoring financiers and CEOs | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: Get Schooled: Throwing the book at educators while ignoring financiers and CEOs [image: Beverly Hall photo] At the same time the law aggressively prosecutes educators accused of cheating such as Beverly Hall, it ignores the wrongdoing of CEOS whose misdeeds brought the world economy to its knees, says a guest columnist today. This is a long piece on the treatment of educators charged with wrongdoing compared to the treatment of titans of industry charged with wrongdoing. Please read th... more »

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: A preliminary taste: #optout #refusal map based on survey data by Chalk Face, PhD Click below to view the map. This includes only the first 250 respondents because the tool requires payment for more data points. Good job Long Island, good job. *View UOO DATA MAP in a full screen map* Very glad to see @chrislhayes inviting Karen Lewis onto his show #inners by Chalk Face, PhD Here’s a link to the video. Now, catch her again on At the Chalk Face, this Sunday, at 6PM EST, for the rest of the story. @rweingarten fantastic at one key thing: t... more »

Top 9 Secret Confessions of a Teacher | Mr. Teachbad

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Top 9 Secret Confessions of a Teacher | Mr. Teachbad: Top 9 Secret Confessions of a Teacher by teachbad *Not so much secret as they are depressing!”* 9. Sometimes during my planning period I lock the door and sleep on a table in the corner of my room. 8. I know it makes me sound like a dick, but I truly believe I am much smarter than all of my bosses. 7. I believe there is no way that changing how we teach is going to change the culture of poor city neighborhoods. 6. If I was doing my job with any integrity, I would be giving a lot more Fs. 5. It is shocking how uniformly bad my bos... more »

Happy 70th birthday to my brother Mike Klonsky. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Happy 70th birthday to my brother Mike Klonsky. | Fred Klonsky: Happy 70th birthday to my brother Mike Klonsky. by Fred Klonsky [image: mike]

Webinar: The Parent Trigger from California to Florida | Parents Across America ← NPE News Briefs

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Webinar: The Parent Trigger from California to Florida | Parents Across America ← NPE News Briefs: The Network for Public Education Newsletter – Vol. 1. Issue #9 by NPE News Briefs Greetings! Welcome to the ninth edition of our newsletter. We bring you news of a victory in Los Angeles, and new candidate we are supporting in New Jersey. We have an exciting webinar coming up, and something new for our activist Toolkit — a great place to find ideas for how you can get organized and make a difference. Remember to follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and catch up on all the la... more »

NPE Endorsement: Marie Corfield for New Jersey State Assembly – Election June 4th. | The Network For Public Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

NPE Endorsement: Marie Corfield for New Jersey State Assembly – Election June 4th. | The Network For Public Education: NPE Endorsement: Marie Corfield for New Jersey State Assembly – Election June 4th. by admin *Endorsee #2, Teacher Marie Corfield, Ready to Shake Things Up in New Jersey!* [image: corfield]The Network for Public Education has endorsed another candidate. Marie Corfield is running for the state assembly, in an election that will take place on June 4th. Marie became an art teacher in 2001, and has taught at Robert Hunter Elementary School in Flemington since 2004. She ... more »

Lucy and Ethel at PS 154 in the Bronx.southbronxschool.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

http://www.southbronxschool.com: Lucy and Ethel at PS 154 in the Bronx by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher) *"This shit can't be made up"-Maimonides **AD 1167 * We can't believe what is happening at PS 154. Lucy and Ethel have completely ruined the possibility of any education, any order, and any discipline. Worse, and I can't believe this is true, Lucy is the least of the problem. It is all Ethel. As discussed many times on these pages the discipline, specifically the out of control 5th grade, is not just lacking, but non-existent. It is time that Ethel is held responsible for t... more »

UPDATE: Parent trigger leader alleges organizers promised parents pay - San Bernardino County Sun

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Parent trigger leader alleges organizers promised parents pay - San Bernardino County Sun: Parent trigger leader alleges organizers promised parents pay Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer Posted: 05/24/2013 05:13:33 PM PDT ADELANTO -- One of the High Desert parents who used a state law to wrest control of their failing elementary school away from school district hands is alleging that the group that helped organize the effort offered to pay parents to promote the "parent trigger" movement nationwide."According to the financial bylaws, there was supposed to be no financial gain" for ... more »

Hart, Weingarten, and Polling About Common Core | deutsch29

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Hart, Weingarten, and Polling About Common Core | deutsch29: Hart, Weingarten, and Polling About Common Core by deutsch29 In March/April 2013, Hart Associates conducted a poll of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) members regarding opinions about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A finding publicized by AFT President Randi Weingarten is that “75% of AFT teachers polled support CCSS.” I took issue with both the finding itself and the manner in which the finding was reported. One of my criticisms regarded the small sample size: only 800 AFT members were polled. Both Weing... more »

San Jose Teachers’ Contract Offers Leadership Pathways | InterACT

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

San Jose Teachers’ Contract Offers Leadership Pathways | InterACT: San Jose Teachers’ Contract Offers Leadership Pathways by David B. Cohen [image: Promoting Quality Teaching: New Approaches To Compensation and Career Pathways] Promoting Quality Teaching: New Approaches To Compensation and Career Pathways *Note: in November 2012, Accomplished California Teachers (ACT) released the policy report “Promoting Quality Teaching: New Approaches to Compensation and Career Pathways.” The following post is the second in a series of profiles showing how California teacher leaders are beginni... more »

Jersey Jazzman: NJ Ed Commissioner Cerf is Literally In Charge of Dog S#!^

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Jersey Jazzman: NJ Ed Commissioner Cerf is Literally In Charge of Dog S#!^: NJ Ed Commissioner Cerf is Literally In Charge of Dog S#!^ by Duke Folks, there are days when I just can't believe what I have to report: *The state education commissioner has overturned the termination of Haddon Township High School’s athletic director, who in May 2012 was caught on camera placing dog feces on his ex-wife’s car in the school parking lot*. Just months before, Alan Carr also lied to school administrators about secretly putting an upsetting newspaper article in his ex-wife’s mailbox, record... more »

Data Center: 2012 Base API school scores and rankings - Inside Bay Area

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Data Center: 2012 Base API school scores and rankings - Inside Bay Area: Data Center: 2012 Base API school scores and rankings Danny Willis, Oakland Tribune Posted: 05/24/2013 01:42:19 PM PDT Updated: 05/24/2013 02:31:42 PM PDT County:AllAlamedaAlpineAmadorButteCalaverasColusaContra CostaDel NorteEl DoradoFresnoGlennHumboldtImperialInyoKernKingsLakeLassenLos AngelesMadera MarinMariposaMendocinoMercedModocMonoMontereyNapaNevadaOrangePlacerPlumas RiversideSacramentoSan BenitoSan BernardinoSan DiegoSan FranciscoSan JoaquinSan Luis ObispoSan MateoSanta BarbaraSanta ClaraSanta CruzSh... more »

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