Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
CORPORATE ED REFORM
Rhee’s “Radical”: Read and Reviewed
Radical: Fighting to Put Students First is a transparent and fantastical affirmation of Michelle Rhee; written by Michelle Rhee (Harper Collins, 2013). In my continuing efforts to be at least 8-12 months behind everybody else, I have finally read and reviewed the book. I don’t believe there is anything self-critical or particularly reflective in here, other than to pause every now and then to reflect upon her correctness. Michelle Rhee is convinced that she sees everything in the Read more [...]
“What are you doing here?”
As my wife and I attended a Save Our Schools rally recently, I was asked, “What are you doing here?”
The surprised look on my face must have been obvious. The smiling woman, a stranger to me, was a parent of a public school student and an organizer of the event. When I explained that I was a retired teacher from another state and school district which is over a thousand miles away, she asked, “Are you a grandparent of one of the kids here?”
Well, that was a teachable moment.
My white beard, poster and presence are perfectly understandable to other educators of a certain age. We love children, respect public education and despise those who knowingly dismantle public schools to make way for greedy profiteers who claim to be educational reformers. Testing corporations, charters, and the whole gang of
Debunking the latest NY Daily News ‘Miracle School’
A ‘miracle school’ is one that purports to get extraordinary results with the ‘same kids’ as the nearby ‘failing’ school. Sometimes the miracle is high test scores, sometimes it is a high graduation rate, sometimes it is a high college acceptance rate. In general the school usually gets one or two of those things at the expense of the others. Over the past two years I’ve investigated over 100 miracle schools and have yet to find one that is the ‘real deal.’
In today’s New York Daily News there was an article called South Bronx prep school has a 95% graduation rate. The second sentence says “Of the 66 12th graders at Hyde Leadership Charter School, 62 graduated — a 95% rate that crushes the citywide average of 64.7%.”
Sounds pretty miraculous, right? Right away I knew that these numbers were not a fair comparison. The 64.7% is what’s known as the ‘cohort’ graduation rate, meaning the percent of students from a class who eventually
Senate Student Loan Proposals Fail To Advance As Rate Surge Looms
Some 7 million college students will see their borrowing costs double next week after Republicans and Democrats paid little attention to the issue for 11 months, then spent the past month vainly squabbling over a solution.
Senate Democrats on Thursday rallied against a potential bipartisan compromise ahead of Monday’s deadline. Republicans ruled out a temporary one-year delay. The White House played both sides in the hopes of avoiding
Infographics On Immigration Reform Vote
Here are two infographics on today’s Senate vote to approve immigration reform, and where it might go from here. I’m adding them to The Best Resources About The New Push For Immigration Reform:
Progress on an Immigration Overhaul in 5 Areas is from The New York Times.
What Happens Next With The Immigration Bill is from The Washington Post.
I'll Respect You More if You Stop Using the Word "Data"
It can be pretty difficult listening to instructional coaches, administrators, or superintendents talk about effective teaching these days without hearing one word that has begun to send shivers down the backs of teachers.
"Good instructional leaders know how to use data to improve instruction."
"Good teachers analyze student data to make solid instruction decisions."
It reminds me most often of this silly clip:
Now, don't get me wrong. It's not that I think using information we glean from students to instruct them is a bad
Updated lists released Thursday by the Department of Education show which colleges have the highest and lowest sticker prices and average net costs after financial aid.
Officials, students debate funding change at UCLA's MBA program
Debate continued Thursday over the upcoming switch that will end any state funding for UCLA’s MBA program and make it dependent on tuition and donations
Union Members, Miners, Students Protest in Chile
Thousands of people turned out Wednesday on another day of demonstrations called by students in several Chilean cities, with union members, port workers and miners joining the throng. Several clashes between police and masked protesters were reported and the Carabineros - Chile’s militarized police - said that 98 people were arrested and four officers were injured in various ways, although no mention was made of any civilian casualties. The governor of the Santiago metropolitan area, Juan Antonio Peribonio, said at a press conference that the government had filed criminal complaints against the people responsible for the attacks on law enforcement personnel
The Agriculture Department said Thursday that for the first time it will make sure that all foods sold in the nation's 100,000 schools are healthier by expanding fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits to almost everything sold during the school day.
Brazil Protests Claims 5th Life
A young Brazilian who fell from a viaduct during a protest to demand better public services died Thursday at a hospital here, police said.
Douglas Henrique de Oliveira, 21, became the fifth fatality in the social protests that began June 10 in Sao Paulo and have spread nationwide.
He fell on Wednesday from a viaduct over which demonstrators were passing
Bill Introduced: H.R.2317 Counseling for Career Choice Act
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to States to establish a comprehensive school counseling program.
Rahm Picks a New School Board Member
Now that billionaire Penny Pritzker has been confirmed as Secretary of Commerce, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has selected her
Analysis: Howard University Heading in Harm’s Way?
When Howard University began putting the final details on enrollment for the 2012-13 school year this time a year ago, it had no idea it would soon face a last-minute flood of students unable to enroll due to a tightening of requirements in a federal loan program for parents seeking to help pay their children’s tuition.
More middle income and poor households had been hit hard by the nation’s economic downturn since 2007 with family incomes falling fast and living costs continuing to rise, Howard and many of its peer institutions learned. With college educations, many financed with the federal loan called Parent Plus Loan (PPL) suddenly
| PR Watch | - |
"Teach for America is a wealthy organization that sends ill-trained recruits to teach in under-resourced districts," explains Diane Ravitch, a prominent education policy analyst, who wrote about the Wisconsin budget provision on her blog. "These poorly ...
| Philadelphia Public School Notebook (blog) | - |
Ask: What if low-income urban dwellers' knowledge were informing the understandings of current “deciders” who are used to “seeing like a state” (in Diane Ravitch'sterms)? The goal here is to draw attention to the gaps in knowledge that people with ...
| Education Week News (blog) | - |
When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker submitted a proposed budget to the state legislature in February, few of the many reforms on his wish list were as scrutinized or criticized as his plan to implement a statewide privateschool voucher program. Despite ..
