Toni Morrison Gives a Lesson in Unpacking Assumptions and the White Gaze | educarenow: Toni Morrison Gives a Lesson in Unpacking Assumptions and the White GazePosted on February 3, 2014 | Leave a commentI love this video, which I stumbled upon in a tweet by Charles Blow.  (Follow him @CharlesMBlow.)It’s an excellent lesson in not be willing to accept the unspoken assumptions that are hidden within

Wisconsin Organizations Oppose Acountability Bill SB-286 | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Wisconsin Organizations Oppose Acountability Bill SB-286Filed under: Accountability laws — millerlf @ 5:14 pm School Finance Network. Current school accountability legislation a poor choice for Wisconsin education.  “The legislation being considered by the Senate Education Committee is a far cry

Parents Are Labor’s Client – redqueeninla: Parents Are Labor’s ClientWritten by redqueeninla in Education My principle job as a parent is to nurture my children.  I feed, clothe and house them.  I scrutinize their talents and gauge how and what to support.  When distractions tempt me from my job I try to focus on its principles and limit the temptation to stray.  An optimal interplay with the “ext

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakNew Mexico Law Would Halt Common Core, Require Public Hearings and Investigation into Costsadd New Mexico to her list of 22 where there is unrest regarding Common Core standards. And this time, the source is not from any conservative wing of the Republican party; it is a Democratic legislator, State Senator Linda Lopez, who is leading the charge.by Anthony C

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Criticizing KIPP CriticsAn early and consistent proponent of Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools, Jay Matthews has joined a rising group of KIPP advocates directly criticizing KIPP critics, offering two arguments: KIPP charter schools are not abusive or exc

School voucher PACs spend $210K in TN ahead of '14 races | The Tennessean | tennessean.com: School voucher PACs spend $210K in TN ahead of '14 racesOut-of-state groups hoping to get school voucher legislation passed this year in the Tennessee General Assembly have already spent lavishly heading into the 2014 election cycle, financial disclosures submitted Friday show.Washington, D.C.-based Tenness

Celebrate School Counselors This Week — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGCelebrate School Counselors This WeekFebruary 3, 2014 by Kristen PekarekNational School Counseling Week, sponsored by whole child partner the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), is being celebrated this week, February 3–7, to focus public attention on the unique contribution professional school counselors

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Christmas returns to the stand as the Vergara trial resumesTroy Christmas, of Oakland Unified Testimony resumes this morning in Vergara v California, with Troy Christmas of the Oakland Unified School District returning to the stand to face cross examination by lawyers for the defendants — the state and it

MN Doesn’t Need a Lesson from Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee - MN2020 Hindsight: MN Doesn’t Need a Lesson from Failed DC Chancellor Michelle RheeBy Sarah Lahm, Hindsight Community Fellow, February 3, 2014 at 8:25 amInfamous education reform architect Michelle Rhee is coming to town, at the strange behest of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. She will be the keynote speaker at the Chamber’s Feb

Shanker Blog » Democracy’s Champion: Albert Shanker: Democracy’s Champion: Albert ShankerPosted by Richard D. Kahlenberg on February 3, 2014Our guest author today is Richard D. Kahlenberg, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, is author of Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy (Columbia University Press, 20007). Freedom House recently released t

Cami Anderson must resign! | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cami Anderson must resign!Struggling to get to school at Hawthorne Avenue today–only to find school was closed.Cami Anderson, appointed by Gov. Chris Christie two years ago to run the Newark schools, should resign immediately because she represents a danger to the children and employees of New Jersey’s largest city. More than a week ago, she kept th

Who Is Winning the Common Core War? Citizens Are. | Truth in American Education: Who Is Winning the Common Core War? Citizens Are.Filed in Common Core State Standards by Gretchen Logue on February 3, 2014 • 0 Comments1Anne Gassel and I presented at the Constitutional Coalition Common Core conference this weekend and my speech was about the importance of social media to present the facts (not paid

N.J. State Lawmaker Tries to Bolster Local Control in Troubled Newark District - State EdWatch - Education Week: N.J. State Lawmaker Tries to Bolster Local Control in Troubled Newark DistrictBy Andrew Ujifusa on February 3, 2014 10:38 AMNewark, N.J. schools have a troubled history that stretches back decades, but the battle has only gotten more intense recently. As my colleague, Lesli Maxwell, ove

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Freedburg: Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rulesEducation HeadlinesMonday, February 3, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.Truancy sweep nets just oneP

Top 10 Reasons to Join Teach For America | EduShyster: Top 10 Reasons to Join Teach For America Did you miss the last application deadline for Teach for America? Fret not, young reader—you still have three more weeks before the next and final deadline to join the 2014 corps.By Jay Saper, TFA rejectTFA reject Jay Saper with AFT president Randi Weingarten.1. Teach for America saves taxpayers a fortu

School Choice and Common Core: Mortal Enemies - Yahoo News: School Choice and Common Core: Mortal EnemiesMichelle Malkin's column is released once a week. By Michelle MalkinJanuary 31, 2014 3:00 AMThe freedom-enhancing, life-improving power of school choice is more than a theory for me. It's more than a talking points memo or teleprompter speech. Unlike many of the politicians paying lip service t

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: "Berndt swept everybody up into this horror.” – ANOTHER MIRAMONTE CHILD ABUSE CASE EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWSObscured by the publicity surrounding teacher Mark Berndt is the case of Martin Springer, whose criminal trial is set to begin this week. By Alan Zarembo, LA Times |  http://lat.ms/1dmhIkt February 2, 2014, 8:32 p.m.   ::  The 2012 child abuse

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-3-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan’s EAA: A Scary Place for Kids with DisabilitiesEclectablog of Michigan continues its invaluable reports on the stste’s disastrous so-called “Educational Achievement Authority.” This one

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan’s EAA: A Scary Place for Kids with DisabilitiesEclectablog of Michigan continues its invaluable reports on the stste’s disastrous so-called “Educational Achievement Authority.” This one contains the testimony of a special education teacher. Governor Snyder has created a streamlined version of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Stealing from old people.We live in a state and country whose political leaders and corporations have no problem with stealing from old people. And by old, I mean anyone over the age of 65. Maybe we need a new word, but you know who I’m talking about. And, of course, not just us. But still, us. In Ill

Ed Notes Online: NYSUT Update: Kiev on the Hudson as Randi Plays Role of Ukraine President YanukovychRandi is behind the so-called NYSUT insurgency multiple and trusted sources have informed us. I don't have particulars but this info came in response to my comments the other day in this post (The Battle for NYSUT: Ebbs and Flows)While some think Randi must be behind the move of the UFT to take ove

Wait What?: Commissioner Stefan Pryor gets another “F” for complying with Freedom of Information Act:Connecticut’s Freedom of Information act is extraordinarily clear: Connecticut State Statutes:   Sec. 1-212  reads: “Any person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon request, a plain, facsimile, electronic or certified copy of any public record.” Out of sheer frustration about the State

The Answer Sheet: Superintendent on school reform: ‘It is not working’Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has just asked for a “pause” in implementation of a controversial new teacher evaluation system that uses student standardized test scores to assess teachers as well creation of a task force to study the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Is “a pause” the answer? You might think Mal

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This Week (and News)Tuesday, Feb 4thSpecial Education Advisory and Advocacy Council Meeting starting at 6:30 p.m., JSCEE, room 2700Wednesday, Feb. 5thParade for the Super Bowl Champion Seahawks 11 am (I put this in because if you are going to the district headquarters that morning, you might be aware of this because of the traffic.  The parade is to

Schools Matter: Children should not be allowed to behave like children.Sent to The Oregonian, Feb. 2, 2104It's wonderful to know how seriously Oregon takes kindergarten entry testing. The kind of publicity from The Oregonian, proclaiming that "Kindergarten test results a 'sobering snapshot'" (Feb. 1) will ensure that preschools will take firm steps to make sure that children are ready fo

The Average of Noise is not Signal, It’s Junk! More on NJ SGPs | School Finance 101: The Average of Noise is not Signal, It’s Junk! More on NJ SGPsPosted on February 3, 20140      Rate ThisI explained in my previous post that New Jersey’s school aggregate growth percentile measures are as correlated with things they shouldn’t be (average performance level and low income concentrations) as they are

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: A Collection Of #EvaluateThat TweetsThe BATS have started a great campaign — #EvaluateThat. Check out a few of them below and tweet out your own! [View the story "A Collection Of #EvaluateThat Tweets" on Storify]by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  saveMy Latest NY Times Post For ELLs Is On The OlympicsMy latest New Y

Jersey Jazzman: State-Run Newark Schools Blow Snow Closings AgainJust received this via email from a teacher in the Newark Public Schools:We got texts from our dcs saying that school was closed at 7:39.This means that she [State Superintendent Cami Anderson] waited until 7 or later to make the call. Kids and teachers were already in schools when they got the message. This is either incompetence or

@ THE CHALK FACE: My Endorsement for Governor of New MexicoI know what you’re thinking: “Why are you endorsing a candidate?  You’re just an independent blogger who likes to rabblerouse!” And you would be right.  But, c’mon, give me some credit.  I’m also a community activist and organizer who likes to rabblerouse. I also pay attention–very close attention–to the goings on in my state of […]39 by K

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Badass Teachers Association "Evaluate That" Campaing Goes ViralThe Badass Teachers Association exploded last night on Facebook and Twitter with their #evaluatethat campaign. The idea came to the Facebook page via Georgia BAT Stephanie Lavender Weber who was staying the night with her students in school due to the snow storms that hit Atlanta last week. Stephan

SKrashen: Children should not be allowed to behave like children.Sent to The Oregonian, Feb. 2, 2104It's wonderful to know how seriously Oregon takes kindergarten entry testing. The kind of publicity from The Oregonian, proclaiming that "Kindergarten test results a 'sobering snapshot'" (Feb. 1) will ensure that preschools will take firm steps to make sure that children are ready for the

Perdido Street School: Pete Donahue: LIRR Unions Ready To StrikePete Donahue's Daily News column in full: Hey, Gov, when would you like a Long Island Rail Road strike? In the spring or summer? How about the fall when voters are going to the polls? Unless Cuomo’s MTA demonstrates more flexibility and urgency in its dealings with a coalition of LIRR unions, and gets off its high horse a little bit,

State finds errors in L.A. schools' iPad math lessons | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: State finds errors in L.A. schools' iPad math lessonsAnnie Gilbertson | February 3rd, 2014, 6:01amMaya Sugarman/KPCCThe California Department of Education has held off complete state approval for global publishing giant Pearson's Common Core math curriculum until it corrects errors found in every grade. The lessons ar

Follow the Money | Deborah Meier on Education: Follow the MoneyPosted on February 2, 2014 by debmeierI’m returning to my roots! Marx occasionally had it right. Along with Horace Mann, John Dewey et al.This whole “new reform” movement in education is being fueled (the $$$$) by ordinary greed. Or second-hand greed—seeing a chance to destroy the political power of an already waning labor movement by

Charter loyalist seeks state superintendent’s seat :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: Charter loyalist seeks state superintendent’s seatby Tom Chorneau(Calif.) He looks too young for the trials he would face as chief of California’s large and complex public education system, but Marshall Tuck tells you right off he’s been running schools for m

Teacher Autonomy by State (and Salary) | Paul Bruno: Teacher Autonomy by State (and Salary)By PAUL BRUNO | Published: FEBRUARY 3, 2014As I mentioned before, the Center for American Progress just put out a report finding that teachers today still seem to feel very autonomous even in this era of accountability and reform.Exactly how autonomous they feel varies depending on which aspect of the job yo

Important Reading: Mike Rose Has Revised and Expanded “Why School?” | janresseger: Important Reading: Mike Rose Has Revised and Expanded “Why School?”Posted on February 3, 2014 by janressegerMike Rose, UCLA professor and author of a series of books that champion public education, opportunity, equity, and excellent teaching, has just published a revised and expanded, 2014 edition of Why School?.Why

GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com:  ‘Broken schools’ – or broken debate over education?Amy Laura Hall in the Durham Herald-Sun… “If you want effectively to undermine the complicated, daily work of teachers and custodians and counselors and school traffic cops, you first need to destabilize people’s confidence in the solvency of the overall system. 

Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rules | EdSource Today: Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rulesFebruary 2nd, 2014 | 1 Comment | By Louis FreedbergA lawsuit challenging teacher tenure, seniority and dismissal laws is underway in Los Angeles. Credit: EdSource file photoThe potentially game-changin

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: '  State Education Chiefs Can’t Withdraw for Data Sharing – Even If They WantedWrites Dr. Karen Effrem, President of Education Liberty Watch and co-founder of the Florida Stop Common Core Coalition in Truth in American Education: On January 23rd, 2014, thirty-four chief

Baltimore Teacher’s Argument for “No” Vote on New Union Contract. Discuss. | Re:education in Baltimore: Baltimore Teacher’s Argument for “No” Vote on New Union Contract. Discuss.From Baltimore City teacher Corey Gaber, published here with permission in the interest of amplifying the message and opening a space for debate beyond Facebook:BALTIMORE CITY EDUCATORS: I would like to make an argument fo

Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables | Parents Across America: Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables The VariablesHigh stakes testing has ramifications including ending careers and affecting communities by closing schools. Hence, we need to look carefully at the variables that might affect a student’s performance on a test.Teachers and principals do not wor

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESHarry Belafonte“I think artists have a platform, they have a power, the gift – and by using that gift and that power and putting it the service of those who are being ground out by inequity and systems that are unjust, we begin to put a light and a new dynamic into what is going on with the poor and what is going on with the racial

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 CAPMs. Jablonski's Class Blog 2-2-14Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: D.C's "Revolving Door" Still SpinningThe New Times has a good piece on the "revolving door," which refers to the practice of members of Congress, congressional staff