New York Regents Prove They Are Tone Deaf, No Changes Planned
Faced with a widespread parent rebellion against the Common Core testing, the New York Board of Regents declared they have no intention of making any changes. It’s full steam ahead! Stay tuned. Rough waters, unseen obstacles, captain not at the helm. 40.687406 -73.992886
Seattle School Board Race Dominated by More than $200,000 from Wealthy Few
Sue Peters, parent activist, is running for the school board in Seattle. She has raised $28,289. Her opponent, Suzanne Dale Estey, has raised over $100,000, plus an independent PAC has raised more than another $100,000 for Estey. That means that Sue Peters is outspent about 7-1. Estey has raised more money for her contest than any school board race in the state’s history. Read the list of Estey’s
Deasy, Aquino, a 25-Year Construction Bond, and Apple iPads with Pearson Content: What Next?
Is anyone minding the store? Los Angeles superintendent John Deasy made a commercial for Apple long before his board voted support for a $1 billion purchase of iPads for every student. His deputy Jaime Aquino worked for Pearson-owned America’s Choice. He was in charge of the iPad purchase, which became a major embarrassment for Deasy and the LAUSD board. Aquino resigned his $250,000 a year job, bu
Coming to Cambridge October 24
Harvard Yard, here I come! I will be sponsored by Citizens for Public Schools and accompanied by the famous EduShyster. CPS Presents Diane Ravitch in Cambridge, Oct. 24 Citizens for Public Schools is proud to present Diane Ravitch, speaking on her new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Reign of Error picks up where Diane left of
Teach for America: Political Juggernaut for Privatization
Stephanie Simon has written a blockbuster article that describes how Teach for America has enlarged its goals. It is no longer just an organization that trains young people to teach in low-income schools. It is, as she puts it, “a political powerhouse” that is seizing control of education in district after district, state after state, funded by rightwing millionaires and billionaires. The far-righ
Scholars: Oklahoma Grading System Deserves a Solid F
A group of scholars in Oklahoma reviewed the state’s A-F grading system–borrowed wholesale from Jeb Bush–and found that it was fundamentally flawed. The Oklahoma Center for Education Policy at the University of Oklahoma and the Center for Research and Evaluation at Oklahoma State University reviewed the state’s A-F system and found that it consistently mislabeled schools. Please read this short an
A Rocketship Teacher Warns: Stop the Expansion
Rocketship charter schools have a goal of expanding to enroll one million children. Their model relies heavily on technology and inexpensive, inexperienced teachers who work long hours and have no union. Their schools are focused on test scores and leave out the arts and other “non-essentials.” The San Jose, California, board of education will decide tomorrow about whether to send more children an
Ex-DC Principal Adell Cothorne: Don’t Believe the Hype About IMPACT
Adell Cothorne, DC whistle-blower extraordinaire, offers a warning: Don’t believe so naive as to believe the hype from the District of Columbia public s hools about its teacher valuation system. Cothorne was there. She says that the principals were not trained; that school secretaries often did the crucial paperwork. That the IMPACT system is so complicated that no one, not even its designers, c
Schneider on DC IMPACT Study: Already Obsolete
Despite the glowing hyperbole in the media, Mercedes Schneider says there is nothing new in the results. The study is dated, there is missing data, the effects of the cheating scandal remain unknown, and the investigation of the cheating was turned over to an accounting firm with no experience in investigating cheating. Mercedes is not impressed.
Andy Spears: 20 Years of Value-Added Assessment in Tennessee, No Improvement, Zip, Nada
Race to the Top placed a $4.45 Billion bet that the way to improve schools was to tie teachers’ evaluations to their students’ test scores. As it happens, the state of Tennessee has been using value-added assessment for 20 years, though the stakes have not been as high as they are now. What can we learn from the Tennessee experience. According to Andy Spears of the Tennessee Education Report, we
Perdido Street Blogger: The Increasing Desperation of the “Reformers”
The blog known as Perdido Street notes that Merryl Tisch, the chancellor of New York’s Board of Regents, took control after her hand-picked State Commissioner John King stumbled. Tisch announced 16 parent forums to explain and build support for the Common Core. There will be no back-tracking! The Regents will not be moved, no matter how much parents or teachers object to their plans to rush the im
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: A Brilliant Post Wherein “Hamlet” Exposes the Guilty Conscience of NY’s KingWe have heard numerous calls for NY’s Commissioner of Education John King to resign. He disrespects parents. He brooks no dissent. He accuses them of refusing to engage in dialogue after they sit patiently through his hour-plus monologue. And when they boo