Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
CORPORATE ED REFORM
Cyber-Schools Still Suck, Says NEPC Report
The National Education Policy Center announced the release of its report on virtual schooling with the hefty headline "Responsible Policymaking Still Absent for Virtual Schools, Which Continue To Proliferate Despite Scant Research Support and Lagging Quality" There's going to be plenty of scholarly discussion and parsing of the full report, but based on the press release, I feel pretty c
Mercedes Schneider Rips CCSS in Five Minutes
I don't reblog a lot of other people's stuff here, mostly because I am a small, low rung on the edublog ladder, and if you're reading me, you've probably read most of what I have. But if I can add just five more views to this video, I've served a useful purpose today.Mercedes Schneider is one of my teacher heroines. We've never met, but she's taught me a ton about what is really going on, and she'
Racial segregation is a reality across the South and across America’s big cities. In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch quotes the data: “80 percent of Latino students and 74 percent of black students attend majority-nonwhite schools. Forty-three percent of Latinos and 38 percent of black students attend intensely segregated schools, where fewer than 20 percent of students are white… Half of the mor
A guide for teachers who want to strike back at the over use of standardized testsAt the end of its first conference in Austin, Texas yesterday, the Network for Public Education and Board Member Diane Ravitch held a press conference to announce a call for a Congressional investigation into the “over-emphasis, misapplication, costs, and poor implementation of high-stakes standardized
some thoughts as schools around DC are all closed tomorrow as well as today- since my last name begins with B I am among the first apparently to get the automated phone call telling us Anne Arundel County Public Schools will be closed tomorrow. Some districts are already on their 12th day of being closed, but those are in districts with snow days built into the calendar. Loudoun County has longe
I Wish I Could Clone You: A Teacher's Dream Child!
I have at least one every year. That child I wish I could clone. The kid that is so sweet, respectful, polite, works hard, helpful, gets along with their peers, an absolute delight! Sigh. I wish I could clone them. But you know what? I would have a very boring classroom. Each one of our students is an individual complete with their own idiosyncrasies. Love it or hate it, we have to
Experts: New Teachers Can’t Hide Behind Steep Learning Curve
INDIANAPOLIS ― New teachers should be ready to teach the moment they set foot into a classroom, and they need to possess the “cultural competence” necessary to effectively teach students from diverse backgrounds. Those were among the major themes that emerged during the three-day annual conference of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. In making the case for why teachers mu
Cory Booker Ready to Pick Up the Education Baton, Run With It
Cory Booker now seeks to be known as the education senator, much like the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. About a month before his election to the U.S. Senate last October, Cory A. Booker arrived at Rider University in New Jersey to greet a group of high school and college-age students who packed a crowded auditorium to hear the candidate speak about his plans to improve the country’s educationa
The Myth Behind Public School Failure: If you’ve read my past posts, you know I’m very critical of...
Volunteers share their love of reading with schoolchildren around the country03/03/2014 04:19 PM PSTRead Across America Day brings local officials, firefighters, and others to schools to share a story with elementary school students everywhere. In the East Bay, events were held in Alameda, Hayward, San Ramon, Pleasanton and elsewhere..
See Why This Teacher is Replacing Bellringer Tasks with Meditation in His Classroom
High school teacher and CTQ blogger Paul Barnwell decided to switch up the long-held tradition of diving straight into content as the bell was ringing: "Instead, my students and I take 4-5 minutes at the start of every class to practice mindfulness with a simple breathing meditation. And so far, I’m happy with the results of replacing instant work demands with the expectations that students s
In survey, union leader vows to file complaints over 'teacher jails'
Los Angeles teachers union president Warren Fletcher lashed out at the school district Monday for its handling of teachers accused of misconduct, vowing to file federal and state age-discrimination complaints.
Gov. Jerry Brown names two to state community college board
Gov. Jerry Brown has named one new member to the governing board of the state's community college system while also reappointing another to an additional term, officials announced Monday.
Haven't the Republicans, the neo-conservatives and the mainstream media been telling us all these years that America won the Cold War? They spoke too soon. From the residue of the old Soviet Union, a new nationalist, nuclear-armed, resource-rich Russia has risen to challenge Western claims of triumphalism. The new Cold War is upon us, and the American elites have no suggestions except to fight it
The Testing Opt-Out Option is on the Rise
Here is an interesting article at Education Week:The latest bit of evidence suggesting this showed up yesterday in Massachusetts. The WorcesterTelegram & Gazette reports that some parents want their children to sit out the PARCC field tests, which are scheduled to begin next month. Some members of the local school committee think district policy permits such "opt outs," but district
Boasts About Textbooks Aligned to Common Core a 'Sham,' Say Researchers
How do we know great teaching when we see it? If students can be sure of it in ten silent seconds of video, as Malcolm Gladwell described in Blink, what do they see? What is that thing, that spark that resides at the heart of great teaching? Is it apparent the moment a teacher first enters the classroom or does it take a lifetime to achieve? Can great teaching be taught, or is it part of a
Nite Cap 3-3-14 #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 CAPJust home from #NPEConference & Ready to AWAKE Activate AGITATE in FL Join Me ? @DianeRavitch #LetThemKnow #AwakeFL | Continuing ChangeJust home from #NPEConference & Ready to AWAKE Activate AGITATE in FL Join Me ? @DianeRavitch #LetThemK
Just home from #NPEConference & Ready to AWAKE Activate AGITATE in FL Join Me ? @DianeRavitch #LetThemKnow #AwakeFL | Continuing Change
Just home from #NPEConference & Ready to AWAKE Activate AGITATE in FL Join Me ? @DianeRavitch #LetThemKnow #AwakeFL | Continuing Change: Just home from #NPEConference & Ready to AWAKE Activate AGITATE in FL Join Me ? @DianeRavitch #LetThemKnow #AwakeFLMarch 3, 2014Educationawakefl, education, Florida, rally, sayfie, teacher, testing,vam Rate ThisFLORIDA PLEASE SHARE AND RALLY TOMORROW
Guidance for Teachers and Schools - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)
Guidance for Teachers and Schools - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Torlakson Releases Guidance for Teachersand Schools as They Prepare Students for Careers and CollegeSACRAMENTO—Twelve new standards—ranging from being able to apply technology effectively to working productively with a team—are designed to guide California's teachers as they help students achieve college and
NY Teacher Mercedes Schneider shreds Common Core from NPE Conference #npeconference
NY Teacher Mercedes Schneider shreds Common CoreThe Network For Public Education | NPE CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGSThe Network For Public Education | PRESS RELEASE – NPE CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS: NPE CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGSMarch 2, 2014 NPE NewsPRESS RELEASEPress Conference to be held in the Thompson Conference Center at 3:30 pm, Sunday, March 2.AUSTIN, TX The Network for Pub
SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 3-3-14 #RealEdTalk #edreform
Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakGreetings from Scamden, NJIn Camden, NJ an effort to privatize the local schools finds little resistance among local elites Camden, NJ teacher Keith Benson. A recent *community meeting* at Camden’s Catto Elementary School exemplified the vast chasm that divides my city these days, between well-connected elites and the marginalized residents they profess to s