Nite Cap UPDATE
Bennett Emails Reveal “favoritism, cronyism, self-interest, and hubris”
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CORPORATE ED REFORM
Special Big Education Ape Salute to Tony Bennett Greatest Hits- rags to riches
Special Big Education Ape Salute to Tony Bennett Greatest Hits- rags to riches School Report Cards? Not In Our Name. | Parents United for Public EducationSchool Report Cards? Not In Our Name. | Parents United for Public Education: School Report Cards? Not In Our Name.Posted on July 31, 2013 by REBECCAPOYOUROWLeave a commentLet Tony Bennett Grade Your $choolLike many Philadelphia public school pare
Bennett Emails Reveal “favoritism, cronyism, self-interest, and hubris”
Teresa Meredith is the new president of the Indiana Teacher’s Association. She offers this on the Tony Bennett’s cheating scandal in the Chesterton Tribune: It’s time to call the Bennett school letter grade scandal exactly what it is—cheating. Emails obtained by the Associated Press and released Monday show that former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett and his staff wor
School Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Mega-Millionaire Charter School: What Else You Should Know | MyFDL
School Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Mega-Millionaire Charter School: What Else You Should Know | MyFDL: Mega-Millionaire Charter School: What Else You Should KnowBy: Doug Martin Wednesday July 31, 2013 6:18 pm Tweet8 Tony Bennett, former Indiana (and now Florida) supt. of public schools.As everyone by now knows, former Indiana (and now Florida) supt. of public schools Tony Bennett was recently
Energize Learning with Fresh Design
Energize Learning with Fresh Design July 31, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers Are your classrooms and learning spaces ready for the new school year? Updated and developmentally focused spaces not only support but also inspire student learning and help cultivate creativity in children. This post has been generated by Page2RSS
Three Branches of Government? Greed, Cronyism and Propaganda
Q. What are the three branches of government? A. Greed, Cronyism and Propaganda. The corruption that today is called government thrives as it destroys people. Illinois legislators suffer from delusions of adequacy. The greed, cronyism and propaganda have blinded them to the actual human suffering they cause. Legislators are openly breaking their oaths of office to defend the state and federal co
My GRE Experience
This summer I am spending some time getting ready to take the GREs, in case I want to go back to school for something or other. Despite some misgivings, I have decided to "go public" with my experiences preparing or and taking the test. Since I write so much about high stakes testing and since it has had such an effect on the educational lives of my children and on my life as a teacher, I figured
About 50 people were ready to be arrested in the rotunda today. Apparently NBC 15 got a permit for them.
My son asks me how I’m doing and I say I’m good and nobody got arrested today. He replies, “Oh? And you expected people to get arrested?” I look at him and blink a lot. “Yeah. That’s been the thing for 4 out of the last 5 weekdays. Over 20 arrests 3 days in a row. Then 1 arrest on Monday. Then 30 arrests yesterday. Now today, zero.” He says, “Arrested for what?” I say, “Mostly for singing.” Then w
Student achievement and teacher evaluations: The math doesn’t add up?
Many states are applying for NCLB waivers. But they are adopting teacher evaluation criteria that are statistically, professionally, and morally inappropriate. As Education Week notes: Federal officials say they have generally approved systems in which student growth counts for between 20 percent and 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. But also acceptable is a “trigger” mechanism, like one in A
Common Knowledge
Dear Readers, It takes a long time to break the habits that have taken a long time, and a lot of money, to install (invent?) to start with! The myth of “our failing schools” is one example, and the idea that the U.S. suffers from a shortage of STEM workers is another. It’s embedded even in the bipartisan support for one section of the latest proposed immigration legislation. A few weeks ago I blo
The Doctrine of Common Core: Raising Public Education Standards Does Little in Our Modern Economy
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” For a large part of the 20th century, public education has been wedded to economic opportunity and the ideals of a participatory democracy. Common core, to a large extent, is premised on linking education to economic opportunity to democracy and based
U.S. Higher Education Deeply Stratified Along Racial Lines, Study Says
Anthony Carnevale, lead author of the study, says that, while U.S. higher education is color blind in theory, it “in fact operates, at least in part, as a systematic barrier to opportunity for many African-Americans and Hispanics.”Since the mid-1990s, student enrollment in American higher education has grown increasingly stratified along racial lines with White students overwhelmingly populating t
E4E Gets Another $3 million from Gates Foundation
They just got $3M more from Gateshttp://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2013/07/OPP1089892Great news for NYC teachers. Now you can invite E4E to buy your school lunch and order caviar.Date: July 2013Purpose: to support teachers to be leaders in policy development and implementation.Amount: $3,000,695Term: 36Topic: College-ReadyRegions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AME
Principal From Hell Jennifer Rogers: Parents Call for Her Ouster at Press Conf Aug. 1, 11AM
Press Conference Aug 1st11 amPS 29125-10 23rd AveCollege PointPrincipal : Jennifer Rogers
Walton foundation pumps $20 million into Teach for America
Teach for America will add 4,000 teachers to nine cities over the next two years — including 286 in D.C. — thanks to a $20 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation announced Wednesday. The foundation has also pledged a separate $4.3 million grant to Teach for America to train and support 1,000 teachers in the Mississippi Delta. Read full article >>
Prop. 32 Ghost Looms Over Lawsuit Against Teachers Union
Last November unions won a resounding victory when voters defeated Proposition 32, a ballot measure that would have crippled labor’s political influence in California, partly by barring public-employee unions from using payroll-deducted funds for political purposes. The initiative, which enjoyed a huge lead in early opinion polls, was heavily funded by wealthy conservatives and far-right groups.
Remainders: On the brink of teacher evaluations, anxiety
The anxiety of teacher evaluation: what used to work is “wrong”; what to do is vague. (Miss Rimbus) How to introduce your teacher to peer mediation: start with the discipline code. (Insideschools) A guide to balancing between the need to assess individuals and the power of group work. (ACSD) A new radio show will give teachers space to talk about what’s “taboo.” (Charting My Own Course) A new res
Women in Congress
You can’t work in the social justice field like I do without celebrating small victories – most of the time, small may be the only kind of victory available! If you don’t make the most of little reasons to be happy, you just get burned out and depleted. There’s so much to accomplish you have to keep the forward momentum going, even when progress seems glacially slow, or worse, appears to be movin
Walton Foundation grant will bring 700 new teachers to LA
The Walton Family Foundation is donating $20 million to a nonprofit group that will recruit and train top-notch educators to work at struggling urban schools, including 700 teachers in Los Angeles.
LAUSD board member Monica Ratliff retires campaign debt after fundraising flourish
Underdog candidate Monica Ratliff raised more than $30,000 since her surprise win of an east San Fernando Valley seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board, allowing her to retire her campaign debt, according to a financial report filed Tuesday.
In Missouri, Race Complicates a Transfer to Better Schools
Enacting a state law allowing students from failing school districts to transfer to better ones has been complicated by class, race, geography and social perceptions.
An Unusual Feat in Congress: Student Loan Bill Breezes On
Democrats and Republicans eagerly voted to reset and cap student loan interest rates after a failure last month forced rates to double.
Income tax system 'crazy way' to pay for Oregon schools, says Gov. John Kitzhaber
The governor is rounding up support for a special session to rein in PERS costs and put more dollars into schools.
Clackamas County educators vent about budget issues to Gov. John Kitzhaber
Gov. John Kitzhaber asked local educators to tell him what it's really like."It's worse than you know," said Molly Little, the principal of a Milwaukie school.
After heated forum, District cancels meetings on new school report cards
by Mark McHugh Hoping to get answers on a controversial new school report card, at least 15 parents left McMichael School in West Philadelphia on Wednesday with more questions than when they arrived. The small crowd that showed up for a scheduled meeting, arranged by the District to help design a school report card to replace the School Performance Index and annual reports, was informed by an atte
After heated forum, District cancels meetings on new school report cards
by Mark McHugh Hoping to get answers on a controversial new school report card, at least 15 parents left McMichael School in West Philadelphia on Wednesday with more questions than when they arrived. The small crowd that showed up for a scheduled meeting, arranged by the District to help design a school report card to replace the School Performance Index and annual reports, was informed by an atte
President of conservative Michigan college calls minorities ‘dark ones’
The president of a small liberal arts college in Michigan apologized Wednesday after referring to minority students as “dark ones.” During an appearance before a legislative subcommittee in Lansing, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said the Michigan Department of Education once...
Roosevelt Teacher Named Finalist for National Language Teacher of the Year
Taeko Tashibu of Roosevelt High School in Seattle, who is a Japanese language teacher. Congrats to Ms. Tashibu! From Ed Week:According to the ACTFL, the Language Teacher of the Year takes on the role of spokesperson for the language-teaching profession, promoting the importance of teaching foreign languages and cultures. The current LTY is Noah Geisel, a Spanish teacher at East High School in De
Seattle Council PTSA News
Want a job with the SCPTA interfacing with SPS staff? Here you go. (I would actually be swell at this job but they would never hire me.)They need folks to represent most areas of the city.Do you have an interest in issues that go beyond your local school and affect children throughout the district? If so, we need you! Transportation, capacity, family engagement and district policies are just a f
I've Got a Beautiful Feelin'...
I've been busy lately. I'm in the pit orchestra for a local production of Oklahoma (brief sample here)--and we opened last weekend. Which meant grueling, every-night, home-after-11 rehearsals and many hours of drill and practice on the melodic flourishes and key changes in the score--two and a half hours of live music times eight performances over four precious summer weekends. I've loved every mi
United Opt Out National Requests NEA to Join Fight Against HST
For Immediate Release- United Opt Out National Requests NEA to Join in Fight against High Stakes Testing Abuse United Opt Out National Offers Expertise and Resources to National Education Association after Teachers Vote to Request Union Support for Opting Out … MORE
A Generational Shift in the Value of Institutions
At the the recent ASCD Leader to Leader (L2L) conference, attendees had a series of passionate unconference conversations. Several groups refined their thoughts into a series of presentations to share with other attendees in an "idea marketplace." During the idea marketplace, unconference groups presented for four rounds of 10-minute sessions, giving their peers the opportunity to learn from seve
iPedagogy: From Piaget to iPads
I've had ongoing discussions with artists and educators who aggressively advocate for high-quality human experience they believe they can provide via handheld tablets. The artist is adamant his iPad paintings are a valid form of art. The educator is touting his implementation of iPads to kindergarteners in a Maine public school district. In both cases, I asked the same question: "Are you advocati
Very Interesting & Useful Infographic: “The World’s Muslims”
I’m adding this very well-done infographic — from a very respected source — to The Best Websites To Learn About Various Religions (& English): Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.