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CORPORATE ED REFORM
To be published in the School Library JournalShould we provide rewards if parents read 1000 books aloud to their children ("Vivacious vocabulary," Jan. 2014)? Read-alouds are very pleasant for both parents and children. The vast majority of children say that they enjoy being read to: 97% in Walker and Kuerbitz (1979), 95% in Mason and Blanton (1971), and parents agree: Eighy-nine percent
Stephen Krashen Blog 1-25-14
SKrashen:The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, a Disaster for American EducationStephen KrashenKnowledge Quest 42(3): 37-45 (2014). There never has been a need for the common core and there is no evidence that it will do students any good. The common core ignores the real problem in American education: Poverty. The common core will continue the process of turning
How the Grinch Stole Schoolmas!
There is a wonderful song by Tom Chapin, "Not on the Test" (http://notonthetest.com/). When I saw the following post at Diane Ravitch's blog over the weekend, I was reminded that the problem is as severe as ever: http://dianeravitch.net/?s=teacher+blasts+los+angeles. They are cutting the self-same things that keep so many kids coming to and staying in school with smiles.
Jack and Jill Went Up McGraw Hill
The following poem was composed during the June 2013 N.Y.C. Regents Grading Debacle. Essay papers were sent to Connecticut to be scanned by McGraw Hill at great expense. The scanners could not keep up with the pace of the grading, leading to much wasted manpower. Many scans were poorly executed. In the name of covering students' names and schools, sentences and paragraph sections were also ini
Testworld
The image below was created after reading about computer systems that have been devised to grade essays. The image is based on the 1973 terrifying science-fiction thriller "Westworld." Just imagine Yul Brynner's character, Gunslinger, grading essays!
Burris: New York’s Old Standards Better than Common Core | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, NY, has read the Common Core standards. The 2005 Néw York standards, she concluded, were superior. Parents and educators are outraged. Does State Commussioner John King care? Burris writes: “”Hit the delay button.” That was the message New York’s senators sent to state Education ...read more
Commencement weekend, June 13-15, will feature Bill and Melinda Gates, whose created the world's largest private foundation. It is committed to lifting the global burden of poverty, hunger and disease
Nuggets of Wisdom from Mentors Around the World
The lessons we learn from our mentors often remain with us long after our mentoring relationships come to a close. They leave us with priceless nuggets of wisdom that continue to guide our actions and shape the person we are today. I believe every educator has received some piece of advice that has helped in developing skills, improving performance, or maximizing one’s potential in order to become
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The FBI and federal prosecutors were reviewing allegations against a college student from Russia who has been charged with possessing bomb-making and marijuana-growing materials, though police acknowledge the suspect told them he wasn’t planning on “blowing anything up.” No federal charges had been filed against Vladislav Miftakhov by early Monday. The 18-year-old was arraigned S
The teacher tenure, seniority and dismissal laws that the nonprofit organization Students Matter wants a judge to overturn are essential to create a “professional, stable workforce” and attract teachers into a profession with low pay and difficult conditions, a state deputy attorney general said Monday at the start of the ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for
D.C. school boundary overhaul on track; parents uneasy but meetings are promised
The District is on track to overhaul school boundaries and feeder patterns for the 2015-16 school year, city officials told the D.C. Council on Monday, but there are far more questions than answers about what the changes will be and how they will affect city families. Read full article >>
Deasy tells court: teacher dismissal can cost district ‘millions’
LA Unified Supt. John Deasy LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy told a packed courtroom today that it can cost the district “millions of dollars” and can take “slightly less than 10 years” to get rid of an ineffective teacher. Deasy was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited start of Vergara v California, a battle over state laws that govern what to do with ineffective teachers. Beatriz
N.J. public workers unions to appeal removal of cost of living increases from pensions
A group of New Jersey public employee unions will argue in appeals court Tuesday that the state’s decision in 2011 to remove cost of living increases for public employees’ pensions was unconstitutional and must be reinstated – potentially adding billions in liabilities to an already shaky pension system.
To Louisiana Educator readers: The above survey is intended to allow educators, school board members, parents, and other citizens to express their opinions about how Louisiana should deal with the Common Core State Standards. This survey is anonymous. No one will know the identities of survey participants.BESE has approved full implementation of the CCSS starting this school year and the PARCC tes
Insights
Read the two passages and show a controlling idea about insights.That's what today's Regents exam asked my kids to do. The thing is, most of them have only been in the country a few years. And there are likely plenty of American-born kids who don't know what an insight is. Certainly insight is lacking on the part of the test designers, unless their goal is to fail as many New York students as poss
What are Portland Public Schools and its teachers union still fighting over?
We give a rundown of key issues on the table that are still up in the air for the Portland Public Schools teachers contract.
Tigard-Tualatin School District to recommend close to 100 seats for open enrollment
There will likely be almost 100 seats in the Tigard-Tualatin School District up for grabs this March under Oregon’s open enrollment law, which allows students to more easily transfer to schools outside their home districts.
Capitol Alert: California school-construction needs as high as $12 billion, subcommittee reports
California needs as much as $12 billion in additional school-building money and almost $5 billion in modernization money, according to estimates in a report to the state board that oversees school-construction dollars. At right, Maiya Miller hugs Principal Shana Henry on the first day of school at Pacific Elementary school in Sacramento on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013.
Was The Fix In On The ELA Regents Exam?
NYC Educator has a post up tonight about the outrage that was the ELA Regents exam.Here's a bit of what he said:Read the two passages and show a controlling idea about insights. That's what today's Regents exam asked my kids to do. The thing is, most of them have only been in the country a few years. And there are likely plenty of American-born kids who don't know what an insight is. Certainly ins
Brutal ELA Regents Exam Grading Chart From NYSED
Okay, they're looking for a high failure rate at SED on the ELA Regents exam, that's for sure.Students need to get 20 out of 25 multiple choice questions right in order to get only a 6 on their writing component.Given how hard the passages were, I suspect we are going to see lots of 6's on the writing components.That means we're going to get lots of failures.The chart is even harder than last Augu
@PARCCplace : More bang for the buck?
The PARCC folks and Common Core cheerleaders like to talk about the next generation of standardized testing. Are these new tests worth the $29.50 per student cost? In my state of New York that would triple the cost of the current 3-8 testing program. Of course we will also need to seriously upgrade technology in […]
NY State Senator George Latimer is my new Hero!
Although NY State Senator George Latimer isn’t a professional educator by trade, his perspective, vis-à-vis CCSS implementation, is spot on! This video is definitely worth watching, a few times. You have to love how he “slaps” the table for added emphasis!
Deasy tells court: teacher dismissal can cost district ‘millions’
LA Unified Supt. John Deasy LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy told a packed courtroom today that it can cost the district “millions of dollars” and can take “slightly less than 10 years” to get rid of an ineffective teacher. Deasy was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited start of Vergara v California, a battle over state laws that govern what to do with ineffective teachers. Beatriz
Anyone who has regularly read this blog or my books know that I’m a big believer in “positive,” not “punitive,” classroom management strategies (see The Best Posts On Classroom Management). At the same time, however, there are some occasions that negative consequences are called for — for “serious” offenses and for those times (and for those students) when all the positive classroom management to
To be published in the School Library JournalShould we provide rewards if parents read 1000 books aloud to their children ("Vivacious vocabulary," Jan. 2014)? Read-alouds are very pleasant for both parents and children. The vast majority of children say that they enjoy being read to: 97% in Walker and Kuerbitz (1979), 95% in Mason and Blanton (1971), and parents agree: Eighy-nine percent
SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 1-27-14 #RealEdTalk #edreform
Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakWe Can't Do It Alone Anymore A session with AFT president Randi ...The blare of trumpets signaled the Valley's official welcome to American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten last Tuesday afternoon.35min Welner Writes a Message to the President: Are We Serious About Reducing Inequality? | Diane Ravitch’s blogKevin Welner, director of the Natio
Nite Cap 1-27-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPSummer Food Service Applications - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)Summer Food Service Applications - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Urges Agencies to Apply to Become Summer Food Service Program SponsorsSACRAME
Morning Wink 1-27-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-27-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all #EDCHAT #P2Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Debate about Cost of Pre-K Grows in NYElected officials in NY are debating the cost of universal pre-K. It was a central plank in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign. He won in a landsli