@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:
TODAY
Kids Count on Public Education, Not Grit or “No Excuses” | the becoming radical
Kids Count on Public Education, Not Grit or “No Excuses” | the becoming radical.
YESTERDAY
Corporate Education’s Friend, Randi Weingarten
Diane Ravitch has at her blog an unmoving tribute to her friendship with Randi Weingarten, and AFT is soaking it for all it’s worth in their most recent newsletter. After all, if there is one name that most teachers trust to do what she thinks is right, it is Diane Ravitch. If Diane thinks […]
@educationweek reports tougher standards for #teacherprep. Is #TFA included in this?
Education week is reporting that some stricter standards are coming to teacher preparation. I’m not linking the article because, well, I don’t want to give them more traffic. Nevertheless, I am wondering if these new criteria will apply to TFA, which in some cases is actually permitted to train and certify educators. Will NCTQ evaluate […]
Idaho Approves TFA for "Teacher Training"
Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: Idaho just recently approved Teach for America as a "state sanctioned vehicle for the preparation of teachers in Idaho." At first I thought this was an April Fools joke but it isn't April. The weakest aspect of TFA claims is its "preparation" of teachers in only five weeks. If that […]
Solutions for Closing the Opportunity Gap
Paul Tough, who was predisposed to support the contemporary school reform movement, nailed the reason why it failed. Accountability-driven “reform” was a result of “liberal posttraumatic shock” from abandoning the War on Poverty. In fact, we did not lose the war against poverty, but its inconclusive result undermined the confidence of progressives. Besides, the liberal […]
Questions about your little opt-out panel too, @dfer_news @educationgadfly
I know Jim Horn addressed this the other day. I’m glad he did because I was unaware. Hopefully some of my questions will be answered when I attend this event since it’s close to where I live. For now, I am wondering: Why are there no actual educators on this panel? I mean, maybe I did […]
The doctor-teacher analogy rides again!
This latest contribution to the anthology of comparison between doctors and teachers, from Rick Ayers. This is mine, from 2011. Just imagine for a moment. Given this country’s obesity epidemic and the rising rates of diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease, our physicians have failed. In order to hold them accountable, we should judge them […]
Microsoft Gives Spy Agencies Encryption Codes for Email, Chat, Skype, and Cloud Storage
These are the people who are at the forefront of developing data surveillance systems for every aspect of your child’s education. James Risen has the story for the NYTimes, which appeared first in The Guardian. A clip: WASHINGTON — Microsoft has collaborated with the National Security Agency more extensively than it previously acknowledged, providing the […]
JUL 11
Opt Out or Cop Out?
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has caught on to the fact that students, parents, teachers and the general public are as fed up with this education scam as are the people in North Carolina and Texas who are fed up with the misogyny coming from their Republican state legislators. To discuss ways to discredit the […]
The Christie Mirage
Well, well, once again we see the facts trump the propaganda here in New Jersey. It’s been a while since President Obama’s visit to the Jersey Shore. Business owners in Point Pleasant beach say Obama’s visit held up traffic and hurt business. To add insult to injury, businesses can not get funds but can borrow […]
Buy stock in tin-foil immediately
This could be the next Apple, Microsoft, or Google. I commented yesterday on the sense of relief I experienced when cleaning out my Facebook group and admin memberships. It felt as if I had moved on in my own thoughts and ideas and here I was being dragged back into some of the very early […]
The Charter Real Estate Mob
The long Team Obama continues to pour hundreds of millions each year down the segregated corporate charter school rabbit hole, the deeper and more entrenched will the network of corporate charter gangsters get. Jersey Jazzman has a must read here. Photo below from his post (enlarge by clicking):
JUL 10
NEA Resolves to Do Nothing to End Its Embrace of High Stakes Tests and Common Core
Here’s a couple of my favorite resolutions from this year’s annual hoodwinking: That NEA develop a comprehensive strategy to affirm our opposition to the excessive and inappropriate use of high stakes tests. This strategy will be accomplished through advocacy to and the education of the public and elected leaders, support of efforts by local and […]
Catharsis in exiting numerous, ridiculous Facebook groups
I have no idea how in recent weeks that my sidebar of Facebook groups and pages exploded. Well, actually, I do: others can add us to anything, that’s why. But I fed the beast. I actually participated in discussions, or whatever you want to call them. Something was dragging me down this rabbit hole. I […]
If it reads like a script and sounds like a script…
The New York State Education Department has been aggressive with its reform agenda over the last year, including a new teacher evaluation system (APPR) and implementing the Common Core. The process of adopting the Common Core has been pushed forward at lightspeed giving educators a feeling of helplessness. Last spring’s state assessments were Common […]
Sign BAR’s Petition: Anti-Racist Educators Should Not Issue Ghetto Passes To Teach For America
‘If this is how “anti-racism education” works – giving cover to organizations and policies that hurt people of color more than anybody else, it might be time to re-think that whole contraption as well.’ — Bruce A. Dixon Black Agenda Report (BAR) has been a consistent and principled opponent of neoliberal education reform for as […]
#edweek. Education News or Common Core Propaganda?
It is the crap above that makes me question why I even subscribe to #edweek email alerts. At Road Maps to Common Core Success, district leaders, curriculum developers, and other experts, provided actionable plans to help education leaders like you find your way around obstacles that can hinder your route to success. How is it […]
Blinded by the Stereotype Spotlight | the becoming radical
Blinded by the Stereotype Spotlight | the becoming radical.
The Not-so-Hidden Path to School Improvement
Closing the Opportunity Gap, edited by Prudence Carter and Kevin Welner, shows how accountability-driven, competition-driven “reform” has failed educationally. On the other hand, it recounts the political advantages that corporate “reform” enjoys as it seeks to use competition to improve schools. Carter and Welner submit an ironclad case for evidence-driven school policies. Most of the […]
JUL 09
Oscar winning lessons or B-Movie scripts? #CCSS
This week in Albany the Network Team Institute is meeting again to move New York’s Common Core agenda forward. Some of the activity is based around the “modules” which basically script out entire units, lessons, and even homework. As an educator and parent I am very concerned about this push of what I consider […]
National Council on Teacher Quality teams up with SearchSoft Solutions, Inc. to boost profits
“The education industry represents, in our opinion, the final frontier of a number of sectors once under public control… represents the largest market opportunity… the K-12 market is the Big Enchilada.” — Montgomery Securities prospectus quoted in Jonathan Kozol National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)’s dubious reputation for manufacturing “research” beneficial to the neoliberal education […]
Former TFAers Launch Campaign Against TFA July14
Registration information here for entire conference, July 11-14. From the website: Calling all critical Teach For America (TFA) alumni and students, teachers, and community members impacted by TFA! Join us to organize resistance to TFA’s role in market-based educational reform. During this national assembly, you’ll have an opportunity to hear an overview of the complex role TFA […]
@katieosgood_ speech outside Mayor Emanuel’s house, from @dianeravitch
Check out At the Chalk Face’s own Katie Osgood here at Diane Ravitch’s blog. Well, she is her own person, but you get what I mean. You can also hear from her from last Sunday’s episode of At the Chalk Face.
Farewell to Mayor Villaraigosa: Pragmatist or Lacky of the Rich?
Farewell to Mayor Villaraigosa: Pragmatist or Lacky of the Rich?. via Farewell to Mayor Villaraigosa: Pragmatist or Lacky of the Rich?.
My response to the response of the initial response on the @aftunion “survey” @rweingarten
I can’t do this on Twitter. I just can’t. I wrote this yesterday about the AFT survey. My concerns in that post were not necessarily related to the methods of Hart. That’s already been addressed. I was responding to a Facebook comment, whereby an educator referred to the survey as “proving” 75% approval of the CCSS […]
KIPP, the Latest Philanthropic Solution to the “Negro Problem”
In the decades following the Civil War, the Hampton Institute served to indoctrinate former slaves to become teachers. These teachers, whose behavioral and moral training had taken precedence over their academic preparation, then fanned out across the South to carry the message that black children’s unique racial disability and lack of culture had left them […]
JUL 08
Guest entry from @tedcohen1 on turnaround schools in NJ. FYI
Turnaround Children Inc.’s transparency claim transparentThe top school official in a major American city as part of an education-reform initiative is bringing in yet another private foundation, yet as little is known about Turnaround for Children Inc. as is known about how it fits into Supt. Cami Anderson’s plan to modernize Newark, New Jersey’s schools. […]
This is what we’ve been talking about re: the @aftunion “survey” on #commoncore @rweingarten
We covered this. Diane Ravitch covered this. Mercedes Schneider dealt with this. We had Mercedes on our show to talk about the dubious AFT common core survey. But this, this is what we’ve all been talking about, and knew this would happen. From a teacher’s Facebook posting: In case you still can’t read it: Teachers, […]
With or without #edtech, same goals are possible
Fantastic image. Great point. Seems like #edtech is being sold as the end and not a means to an end, with or without technology. The problem with the push for edtech in some regard is the gobs of money to be made of selling these tools, which is exclusive from their pedagogical value.
To Close the “Opportunity Gap,” We Must Return to Roads Once Attempted
America has always had a love-hate relationship with community values. We have always exhibited a tension between American individualism and the more cooperative side of our culture. At the same time, our pragmatism has often trumped both. When faced with a problem, such as improving our schools, Americans frequently find a way to readjust our […]
Listen to our most recent episode with Katie Osgood on #TFA
Here’s the link. What improved the discussion was an opposing view from a caller named Josh, an admitted TFA alum. He should be applauded for participating in debate, and for sticking it out in the profession for six years, perhaps twice the normal lifespan of his peers. I will say, however, that I have come […]
@dianeravitch posts the Declaration by @unitedoptout
A brief share here. Read, share, and read aloud for your friends.
Bill Moyers: Journalist as Teacher
It’s a good thing Bill Moyers decided to come out of retirement. Anyone interested in understanding who, what, when, where and why public education and the 99% are intricately connected, should take the time to watch this episode Surviving the New American Economy. http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-surviving-the-new-american-economy/
Arne Duncan in Philadelphia “Fascinated” about His Mentor Vallas in CT
Arne Duncan had a great chance to do something for Philadelphia in 2010 when their application for $100 million in RTTT money was turned down. Instead, Philly got $6 million over four years, which was designated by Arne to develop a teacher eval scheme based on VAM test scores. Meanwhile, Duncan was shoveling tax money […]
JUL 07
Villaraigosa: The Myth of The Progressive Mayor
“The alliance, formed between the mayor, the school board, and Los Angeles’ corporate elite to design the idea of ‘public school choice,’ is another example of how neoliberal economic policies have influenced educational policies.” — Professor Theresa Montaño Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaking at a school privatization event. Photo by Robert D. Skeels I finally finished […]
solidaridad: The 99 Cents Store School… brought to you by the lucrative charter school industry
First published on solidaridad on July 7, 2013 Lalo Alcaraz’s La Cucaracha strip often features pro-public education items, which are also typically sensitive to ongoing attacks on the teaching profession and the difficulties of teaching. This particular strip is a favorite of mine, highlighting both the institutional racism and profit motive behind the neoliberal school […]
A quick word: Support Rethinking Schools NOW!
Over the last several years, I’ve found publications from Rethinking Schools to be absolutely essential to my worldview when it comes to education. Unfortunately, I was too dull as a novice teacher to discover them on my own. But ensuing gains in wisdom made myself and RT very close friends. I’m a subscriber. I’ve used […]
Clarifying Common Core Compromise (part 2) | the becoming radical
Clarifying Common Core Compromise (part 2) | the becoming radical.
JUL 06
Tennessee Using SAT-10 In 85 Percent of K-2 Classrooms for Teacher Evaluation Purposes
That’s right–high stakes testing is not just for kids who can read and count anymore. Commissioner (M. Rhee’s ex) Huffman is leading an effort to make sure that children in 117 of its 137 districts are provided funding to fully test before the onset of literacy. Had Huffman ever had a course in child […]
My Message to the Badass Association of Teachers
Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: I was uneasy with the name , but I got over it. The reality is that the Badass Association of Teachers fills a need. Teachers have been beaten up in the media, and have seen state after state strip away their academic freedom, their rights, their status in the community. […]
NC Tea Party Taliban Requires Health Teachers to Lie to 7th Graders on Later Effects of Abortion
That’s right. The bill passed both legislative bodies and is now on the Governor’s desk, who is expected to sign it–even though he promised during his campaign that he would sign no new abortion legislation. SB 132, AN ACT TO INCLUDE INSTRUCTION IN THE SCHOOL HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM ON THE PREVENTABLE CAUSES OF PRETERM BIRTH, INCLUDING […]