@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:
Merrow Is a Jolly Fellow (Not)
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 hour ago
I hate even to acknowledge John Merrow’s most recent venture into not having a clue, but his attempt at humor is yet more evidence that the evidence doesn’t matter: The Common Core and the End of the World In Merrow’s evidence-free world, all who question the Mighty Common Core are nothing more than end-of-the-world loonies. […]
Report Back from the Trigger Happy Parent Revolution’s “Meet and Greet” with teachers and social justice organizers
rdsathene * Robert D. Skeels at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 6 hours ago
What troubles me is what you are doing with the millions you raise. You use it to sow dissension, to set parents against parents, parents against teachers, parents against principals. I don’t see this as productive or helpful. Schools function best when there is collaboration among teachers, parents, administrators, and students. Schools have a better […]
#highered needs some consistency in its #MOOC concerns. Please. #AAUP
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
We don’t really cover MOOCs here all that much. Perhaps we need to get on it. But I was cued into a post on the Chronicle over the AAUP’s concern with intellectual property rights and MOOCs. I like the AAUP. It’s a relatively strong organization that seems to be the last really supporting academic freedom, […]
@educationgadlfy reviews state science standards, but something’s missing #NGSS
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
For the record, a “gadfly” is an annoyance, right? Something that buzzes around, maybe a thorn in the side or a stick in the craw? But this gadfly is the status quo, let’s be clear. Nothing revolutionary coming out of Fordham these days. Nothing subversive. All right. They gave the new Next Generation Science Standards […]
The Lies that Won’t Die (Despite the Evidence)
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
To embrace the claims and policies of the education reform movement requires ignoring a tremendous amount of evidence to the contrary. The education reform narrative goes something like this: Education is the one true way to overcome all of society’s ills, but our schools are failing, and thus we must take the standards-and-testing accountability reform […]
Thoughts on a teacher in a Catholic school fired for being a domestic abuse victim?
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
I’m torn on this issue. Unfair, dispassionate, and further stigmatizes domestic abuse survivors/victims. However, this could definitely be a safety issue for students at the school. Perhaps she could be put on paid leave until this blows over, maternity leave, some kind of leave. Sick leave? But outright termination seems unreasonable. Tagged: catholic, domestic […]
Ask and receive: #Commoncore cereal!
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
Never too early to get college and career ready! Gotta have my jobs! Tagged: cereal, common core, pops, profit
CCSS, the Corporate Profit Black Hole
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
Unleash the Power!!!!! The power of corporate education reform to generate profit for textbook, program, and testing corporations while childhood poverty in the US skyrockets and children continue to be cheated out of rich educational experiences… Sounds about right: —– I think Education Week accidentally published the cover from an upcoming new young adult science […]
Coming Together for Solutions for Creating Respectful Learning Cultures
John Thompson at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
I began this series of posts in response to the Los Angeles schools banning of suspensions for willful defiance of authority. I oppose punitive disciplinary systems and recognize that suspensions are a flawed response to nonviolent behavior. We teachers must take risks in order to better serve our students, so I would support restrictions on […]
Coming Together for Solutions for Creating Respectful Learning Cultures
John Thompson at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
I began this series of posts in response to the Los Angeles schools banning of suspensions for willful defiance of authority. I oppose punitive disciplinary systems and recognize that suspensions are a flawed response to nonviolent behavior. We teachers must take risks in order to better serve our students, so I would support restrictions on […]
Even the Canucks are profiting from our #commoncore obsession
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
From School Specialty of Canada, each grade level classroom can own one of their own Common Core State Standards kits. For Canada, wouldn’t they be called CC Province Standards, right? Thankfully, they are Title I funding approved. By the way, does Canada have Title I? Not sure about that one. Apparently, every kit comes […]
21st century… dance skills? YES!! #commoncore
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
The CASD has been released. Oh, you haven’t heard. Yes, it’s the Colorado Academic Standards for Dance. This seven page document just covers the Kindergarten.Dance.Standards. Standards have indeed jumped the shark. I have nothing further to say about this, maybe you can help me. Tagged: 21st century, dance, kindergarten, skills, standards
Improved School Safety Requires a Balanced Approach
John Thompson at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 2 days ago
It speaks well of the UCLA Civil Rights Project that in addition to their own research they commissioned scholars from the Consortium of Chicago School Research and equally great institutions to analyze what schools can do to better support students. The Consortium has a long history of placing quantitative and qualitative evidence in a longitudinal […]
Solidarity and My Name: Some Thoughts
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 2 days ago
I have written about this before at this blog: John Proctor, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, nearly bends to signing a false confession, but then has a moment of clarity and proclaims: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am […]
Duncan Embraces of “Personalized Learning” and Company Curricula
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 2 days ago
As corporate education has made the 10-hour work day the gold standard for the segregated K-8 test camps that behaviorally neuter poor children, a different kind of high school is being promoted that will loose the “career ready” as soon as they can pass the tests required to set them upon a career at WalMart. […]
If any doubt remains…
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 2 days ago
The compromise argument that Common Core is revolutionary, but a high-stakes testing moratorium is needed appears to be gaining traction. But this is simply a concession to the very real fact that Common Core is destined to benefit only the standards and testing market being created by this Brave New World of Common Core. If […]
It’s Time; Let’s Talk
Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
The rally on June 8 kind of bothered me. I’m not sure why. It made me realize that teachers and locals aren’t getting the full story. That bugs me. Professionals are smart, and they like to have the full facts so that they can make good, thoughtful judgments about things. Things like Race to the […]
Anonymous, DefCon, and Young and Adult Hackers of the World: We Need Your Help
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
If you are a young person of school age or an adult with a child in public schools, you should be outraged that your education, or your son’s or daughter’s education, is in the process of being hijacked by Business Roundtable self-serving ideologues whose ignorance about education is matched only by their greed and hatred […]
Join the Tweetin’ Fun at #againstcommoncore
Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
Tweet much? Thanks to Roseanne Eckert, I’m gonna start her idea up on Twitter. Using hashtag #againstcommoncore, fill in the blanks: I am a ________ and a _____________ and I’m #againstcommoncore. Example: I am a dad and an educator and I’m #againstcommoncore. No planned Twitter bombs or wars. Just an ongoing plug. Keep it up and […]
Ban Suspensions as Alternatives Are Implemented
John Thompson at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
I very much respect Daniel Losen and the UCLA Civil Rights Project, so I was taken aback by his statement on NPR regarding the question of whether a single suspension could send a secondary student of color down the pipeline to prison. Losen replied that even one such incident is “associated” with a doubling of […]
Do We Need Another Edu-Proclamation, or Do We Need Resistance Strategies to End High Stakes Tests?
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
Every few weeks it seems another group of luminaries signs on and circulates another proclamation or declaration making it clear what perpetrators who aren’t listening “must do” or “should do” to correct the corporate savaging of public education. The latest appears today and is posted at Daily Kos and WaPo. This one appears vetted by […]
In Moving Beyond Repartee
Kuhio Kane at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
A comment made to the blog, Cloaking Inequality: We need to move the conversation forward. There is nothing new in all the words I have read so far in the blog article nor the response / comment Dr. Thornburg put out there. The focus of an activist movement to maintain public education in America must […]
ExxonMobil sends Mafia-style Letter to PA
Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
UPDATE: A source has confirmed that Pennsylvania Governor Corbett’s office did indeed receive this letter. Now we’re starting to feel some heat! Because of opposition movements (like my friends and me), Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania put the brakes on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (aka the Pennsylvania Common Core). Or, who […]
You hear that #highered #teacherprep? It’s your clock, winding down.
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
Some very nice people worked at the GSE at Willamette U in Salem, OR. They recently found out that their entire school is closing. Why? The email, written by University President Steve Thorsett, said the Board of Trustees’ decision was based in large part on a state and national trend in licensing and accreditation that […]
#Commoncore supporters are butthurt #ESEA
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 days ago
Know your meme. CCSSO abandoning “efforts” to write social studies standards to instead focus on ELA/Math implementation, and to thwart opposition to CCSS, according to Education Weak [link excluded purposely, find it yourself if you want, or trust us]. CCSSO Executive Director Chris Minnich told me that the chiefs group wants and needs to focus […]
Just Acquired: Slide one from a USDE presentation on new accountability program #QUIZM
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 days ago
Does this slide not look oddly familiar? It must be some kind of really terrible government Powerpoint template. And to think, as a result of this initiative, schools are actually using Powerpoint presentations in real classrooms. All of this money spent on technology and it just gets us Powerpoints on DELL’s. Awful. In any event, […]
Why Do We Need 1.4 Million Corporate State Spies?
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 days ago
If you divide the number of K12 teachers (2.8 million) in the U. S. by 2, you get the number of corporate geeks and geekettes with top secret U. S. Government clearance who have privileges to invade our privacy in ways we never imagined. Booz/Allen/Hamilton, which is 70% owned by the infamous Carlyle Group from, […]
Can Someone Explain This NYSED Policy?
antiqueteacher60 at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 days ago
So, here’s the deal ………. in NYS, if you as a student, want a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, you MUST score 65 or better on a Regents Exam in a Language Other Than English. But, wait, in 2011 – NYS DROPPED FOREIGN LANGUAGE REGENTS EXAMS!! How does a student manage to get “Advanced Designation” […]
#Commoncore defenders, own it! It is a curriculum, and that’s that.
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 days ago
I have no problem with unvarnished assent to the common core. That’s between you and your therapist. But let’s get some things very, very clear. Actually, might I suggest some close reading of all the press, research, and commentary on the subject, because I’m not sure you’d be such a fan? In any event, the […]
Bill Gates and the Incubators
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 days ago
I know–it’s a great name for a band, but it is distinctly unmusical and no fun. It’s about destroying public schools and the teaching profession in urban areas where children of the poor will be grown and behaviorally groomed in segregated corporate welfare hothouses. Who makes these cozy corporate nests possible? The oligarchs and high […]
Activism is the alternative
Barbara Madeloni at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
Last week I was on a local radio program, Bread and Roses, to discuss the assault on public education in its various nefarious forms, and the possibilities of resistance, especially through grassroots union organizing. As I was discussing the ways that educators are being boxed in by shock doctrine tactics of depleted resources on the […]
NSA “Architecture of Oppression” Outed by Edward Snowden
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
The inner workings of the Panopticon now come under scrutiny through the courageous acts of one individual. May our movement to free schools be characterized by the same kind of courage that Snowden has demonstrated. Will we fight? Will we stand up? Will we act to make sure that “turnkey tyranny” doesn’t happen to […]
Another experiment: #edreform news briefs as WW2 propaganda reels
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
As if I don’t have other things to think about, I wanted to experiment with providing perhaps bi-monthly news reels sort of summarizing what’s been happening. And I wanted to try a different format. Let’s see where this one goes until I’m tired of it. Or, if folks like it, it’ll stay. So, enjoy the […]
A new one from @mornamcdermott, is it the blue or the red pill? #highered
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
Once again, a well-researched and detailed piece from Educational Alchemy. Quick question, and this is for higher ed: why the hell would college syllabi need to be aligned to common core? I thought being college and career ready meant you were, you know, ready for college and we could move on? Whose ridiculous idea is […]
Next Chapter Begins Tomorrow.
Timothy D. Slekar at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
In 1985 I went to a state University and majored in elementary education. In 1989 I taught 32 second graders in Virginia In 1991 I moved to Pennsylvania and taught fifth graders In 1995 I finished my Master’s Degree and began work on my PhD at the University of Maryland at College Park. From 1996-1999 […]
Common Resistance to Common Core
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
Common Resistance to Common Core Jim Horn The New York Times has an opinion piece today that suggests that opposition to Common Core State [sic] Standards is mostly from the Far Right. That’s simply wrong. Long before the Tea Party noticed that opposition to CCSS could be another cudgel to use on Team Obama, and […]
On the Art of Ignorance and Other Stories
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 5 days ago
In Kurt Vonnegut‘s Cat’s Cradle, The Book of Bokonon appears to be prescient about David Coleman, Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, or Arne Duncan: “Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before,” Bokonon tells us. “He is full of murderous resentment of people who are […]
Reflections on the One Voice Rally in Albany
Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 6 days ago
If you’ve ever wondered where you can find the biggest collection of superheroes, find a place where there are lots and lots of public school teachers. Find a place that looks like Albany’s Empire State Plaza on June 8, 2013. This is the day when almost 20,000 educators, parents, and citizens showed up to tell […]
Get the Message Clear re: #commoncore #highstakestesting
peggyrobertson at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 6 days ago
The common core and high stakes testing must both go down. It cannot be one or the other. Very concerned that the message I hear today is asking for more time to implement the core, more time to make better tests, more time for teachers to get accustomed to the common core. This is not […]
A Revenue First Agenda: Open Commentary to Triggermen Ben Austin and Bruce William Smith
rdsathene * Robert D. Skeels at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
These myths falsely portrayed desegregation’s failures as the product of autonomous individual choice. Meanwhile, these myths obscured inequalities in desegregation. A new, but parallel, kind of mythmaking about choice is underway in today’s charter school efforts. — Ansley T. Erickson Parent Revolution’s executive director, wealthy white Beverly Hills lawyer Ben Austin, has made himself out […]
CPS enrollment figures unreliable, so we should probably rethink this whole school funding scheme, no?
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
The Chicago Tribune is reporting today that the enrollment proportion offered by CPS to tout progress of the massive closure plan is, well, bunk. Bottom line: Chicago Public Schools touted a smooth start to the school closing process this week by announcing that 78 percent of students at schools being shut down have been enrolled […]
The One Type of Data That is Off Limits (For Now)
Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
Health history and information is protected at a Federal level by HIPAA (Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act) laws. This provides a challenge for education data collectors that are trying to gather health records and information on students under Arne Duncan’s P-20 program. And, unfortunately, Arne isn’t allowed to mess with the HIPAA rules […]
New KIPP:Care Will Include Child Doping Benefit
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
Since corporate school cult leader, Mike Feinberg, left his KIPP superintendent’s duties in Houston for the full-time pursuit of national brand saturation, KIPP teachers report chaos at a number of the KIPP stores schools around Houston, with mass retentions, administrative meltdowns, faltering test scores, and mass teacher resignations. What will it take to restore […]
What Road to Take?: The CCSS Debate
plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
I invite readers of this blog to my personal blog where I examine the fatalism behind false arguments about a moratorium on CCSS high-stakes testing: “There wasn’t a lot of choice, but there was some” It has lots of dystopian literature, including zombies, with some Deleuze and Freire tossed in for good measure. Enjoy. Tagged: ccss, […]
Say that again Mr. Kayser! LAUSD should have more public meetings
rdsathene * Robert D. Skeels at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
“As it is, the meetings are held downtown in the middle of the day when most parents, students and employees cannot participate. Ultimately this behavior pattern leads to decisions made in a vacuum, isolation from reality and the rubberstamping of pre-determined outcomes.”—Bennett Kayser Former teacher and current Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of […]
Broad’s Girl Friday in RI, Deb Gist, Looking for the Duncan Bump
Jim Horn at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
If there is an education official in Rhode Island who has earned an Arne Duncan endorsement, it would have to be Deborah Gist (Broad Class of 2008). Her ability to ignore those pestering parents, those vomiting children, those weeping teachers, and those angry grandparents has earned Ms. Gist a place among the giants of corporate […]
Ingredients for a great thin soup: Asparagus, Fennel, and Turnips. @aftunion
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
I call it AFT soup for short. It’s really good and very easy to make. Ingredients 1 bundle chopped asparagus 1 fennel bulb sliced, not the greens 1 diced turnip 4 cups veggie broth 4 garlic cloves, chopped fine 800 AFT teachers, roughly 1/3 from NY state alone Directions 1. In a 4 quart pot, […]
Where are my #edtech folks on this one? #prism AND #connectED?
Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 week ago
At noon today, on the White House blog, ConnectED was announced to, among other things: That’s why President Obama is unveiling a bold, new initiative called ConnectED, which will connect 99 percent of America’s students to the internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years. The President also directed the federal government to […]