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 CAP
Teacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Teacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Teacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the UglyJULY 30, 2014 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTMany teachers are starting back to work already. And along with the new school year comes in-service training. In-service is either good, it is bad, or it is downright ugly. The good in-service is really professional development. School districts shoul
empathyeducates – The Charter School Profiteers – Leaving Children So Far Behind Some Cannot Be Found
empathyeducates – The Charter School Profiteers – Leaving Children So Far Behind Some Cannot Be Found: The Charter School Profiteers – Leaving Children So Far Behind Some Cannot Be FoundPhotograph; Credit Beth Fertig / SchoolBookBy Allie Gross | Jacobin. July 28, 2014In Detroit charter schools, mismanagement and opportunistic “education entrepreneurs” thrive.This is the second installment in our t
A BATTY 36 HOURS | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
A BATTY 36 HOURS | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:A BATTY 36 HOURS Sunday, July 28th- Monday July 29th 2014 Almost 5 hours of driving down I-95 and its accompanying roads, service stations, and DC traffic is enough to wear out even the most high flying BAT, but inspired by the potential of meet and greet, dinner, and a great rally the next day, I showered, changed and ventured down to the Bat
Clinton launches Talk, Read, Sing campaign | EdSource
Clinton launches Talk, Read, Sing campaign | EdSource: Clinton launches Talk, Read, Sing campaignJuly 23, 2014 | By Lillian Mongeau | 2 Comments SHARE THIS ARTICLEHillary Clinton spoke to a friendly crowd at Oakland’s UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital on Wednesday about her new campaign (no, not that one) to get parents to spend more time talking, singing and reading to their young children.“Brain
7-30-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd
“Stupid, absurd, non-defensible”: New NEA president Lily Eskelsen García on the problem with Arne Duncan, standardized tests and the war on teachers - Salon.com
“Stupid, absurd, non-defensible”: New NEA president Lily Eskelsen García on the problem with Arne Duncan, standardized tests and the war on teachers - Salon.com: “Stupid, absurd, non-defensible”: New NEA president Lily Eskelsen García on the problem with Arne Duncan, standardized tests and the war on teachersArne Duncan has met his worst nightmare -- an NEA president armed with facts and guts. She
State offers last-minute 'parents' bill of rights'
State offers last-minute 'parents' bill of rights': State offers last-minute 'parents' bill of rights' on protecting student dataThe state Education Department has produced a last-minute "parents' bill of rights" on the use and security of student data – hours before a legally imposed deadline to do so.Ken Wagner, deputy education commissioner, sent an email to superintendents and other
Looking Back (Part 1) | Taking Note
Looking Back (Part 1) | Taking Note: Looking Back (Part 1)by JOHN MERROW on 30. JUL, 2014 in 2014 BLOGSAlthough I spend most of my waking hours working on or thinking about the stories we’re trying to tell, I have also been retracing the paths that have led to the perch I now occupy, 40 years later. What follows is a trip down memory lane.I got my first reporting job in the fall of 1961 with the
7-29-14 The Whole Child Blog — Survival Tips for New Principals
The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Survival Tips for New PrincipalsPost written by Ashley Allen, a master's student in communication management with an emphasis on marketing at the University of Southern California. She received her bachelor's degree from San Jose State University last spring and hopes to use her writing skills to make a difference. Susan Kessler, April Snodgrass, and A
7-30-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: LCAP reporting mandate reignites disputeMorning Read: LCAP reporting mandate reignites dispute New dispute opens over LCAP reporting mandate A festering dispute over how much freedom local officials should have over education spending has reignited, pitting school managers against advocates
Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones
Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones: Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared onMSNBC's Morning Joe, pen in hand, notes fanned out in fro
The New Yorker Nails the Real Lesson of the Atlanta Testing Scandal | John Thompson
The New Yorker Nails the Real Lesson of the Atlanta Testing Scandal | John Thompson: The New Yorker Nails the Real Lesson of the Atlanta Testing ScandalShare23Tweet60Email0Comment0Rachel Aviv's excellent The New Yorker article, "Wrong Answer," hits the proper balance. Aviv rightfully focuses on the conspiracies and the outright cheating in the Atlanta Public Schools. She mak
Morning Wink 7-30-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-29-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Eva Moskowitz Set to Dominate New York City Charter LandscapeEva Moskowitz has applied to the State University of New York‘s Charter School Institute for permission to open another 14 charter sc
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-29-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Eva Moskowitz Set to Dominate New York City Charter LandscapeEva Moskowitz has applied to the State University of New York‘s Charter School Institute for permission to open another 14 charter schools in New York City by 2016, a request that seems sure to be approved. Chalkbeat reports: “If Success’ proposal to open 14 new schoo
7-30-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"
Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": “Home Visits Lifted Up as Best Practice by U.S. Department of Education”I’ve written a lot about the Parent-Teacher Home Visit Project, including our school’s — and my — active involvement in it (see The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits). I’ve also posted about the U.S Department of Education’s “Parent
7-30-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: MORE Caucus Press Release: Teacher Tenure is Good for StudentsBy eliminating teacher tenure, we risk further disconnecting students and teachers, and make it harder for them to have transformational dialogue about what actually needs to be done in our classrooms to further the growth of students... Primi Akhtar (2014 graduate of Queens Metropolitan High School, valedictorian) Real
Answer Sheet 7-30-14
Answer Sheet: Respected science publication is fooled by The OnionIt’s one thing for an Iranian news agency to mistakenly cite as fact a piece in The Onion, a satirical humor publication, as actually happened in 2012 when the Fars News Agency referred in all seriousness to an Onion story about a Gallup poll that supposedly showed more rural white voters in America would rather […]1 by Valerie Str
7-30-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: An Alternative Narrative on TurnoverThe Seattle Times likes to peddle this story about how a fractious and meddling Board is the driving reason for the turnover of senior staff, including the superintendent, at Seattle Public Schools.It's a good yarn, but it doesn't actually fit the facts. It doesn't fit the facts becauseThe Board isn't all that fractious. Most vot
7-30-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: About Those Terrific School Grade Improvements for Charter Schools USACharter Schools USA boss Jonathan Hage bragged last month in his blog about some remarkable improvements his schools made in the past year: Every single one of our “D” and “F” schools from 2013 improve
7-30-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: July’s Best Posts From This BlogI regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here). Here
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Glen Brown. How you benefit from our defined benefit pension.- Glen Brown is a teacher, pension activist and blogger. This post can be found at Teacher/Poet/Musician. Pensionomics 2014: Measuring the Economic Impact of Defined Benefit Pension Expenditures reports the national economic impacts of publi
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-30-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Pasadena Unified To File Lawsuit Against Acton-Agua Dulce Unified For Authorizing Charter School In PasadenaBy Hugo Guzman & Sarah Favot, The Pasadena Star-News | http://bit.ly/1lc2Av7 The Pasadena Unified School District school board voted to file a lawsuit against the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District for opening the SCALE Academy Charter S
7-30-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness
the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): SC’s Zais MistakePublic education has been under assault and misrepresented by political leaders, the media, and the public since (at least) the mid-1800’s. Over the past couple of years, I have documented numerous times the key role mainstream media have played in the f
7-30-14 Curmudgucation
CURMUDGUCATION: BATS and ArneThere's not a lot for me to add to Mark Naison's account of the meeting between six BAT representatives and several Department of Education reps, including Arne Duncan. You should be giving that a read, if for no other reason than it represents a moment when the USDOE paid attention to teachers that they themselves hadn't chosen to talk to.There are just a couple of mo
7-30-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Here's Comes The "Health Care Savings" From City WorkersFrom the NY Times:When Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his first labor agreements with New York City unions this spring, he was sharply criticized for granting long-awaited wage increases in exchange for promises of unspecified though sizable savings on health care expenses.Now, some of the specifics are coming
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What's not to love about Chicago politics?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What's not to love about Chicago politics?: What's not to love about Chicago politics?When I think of Chicago politics, one word comes to mind, family. I think of a guy like Joe Berrios, the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, reaching out to help 15 of his relatives including sister Carmen , not only land a job with the county but collect on her disability
New dispute opens over LCAP reporting mandate :: SI&A Cabinet Report
New dispute opens over LCAP reporting mandate :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: JULY 30, 2014New dispute opens over LCAP reporting mandateby Tom Chorneau(Calif.) A festering dispute over how much freedom local officials should have over education spending has reignited, pitting school managers against advocates for low-income families and som
Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog
Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog: Standards Are Expectations of LearningMany ed reformers who are not experienced educators don’t understand that The Common Core State Standards are cognitive goals and expectations of student learning or “growth”.The Standards demand a fixed set of grade level cognitive skills and abilities that must be acquired by students, rather than imparted
The Common Core Needs Unicorns and Rainbows | Truth in American Education
The Common Core Needs Unicorns and Rainbows | Truth in American Education: The Common Core Needs Unicorns and RainbowsFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on July 30, 2014 • 0 Comments2113Photo credit: FostersFan-Imp (CC-by-ND 3.0)I had to shake my head reading a piece by Stephanie Simon at Politico entitled “Moms winning the Common Core war.” The first statement that jumped
Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working Well | janresseger
Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working Well | janresseger: Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working WellPosted on July 30, 2014 by janressegerThe portfolio strategy of school reform embodies the idea of school choice. The provision of a range of privatized charter schools and the elimination of assigned school attendance zones are central to the theory,
Hemlock on the Rocks
Hemlock on the Rocks: Symbiotc Relationship of Bill Gates, Arne Duncan and Pearson…and the Takeover1Arne Duncan has embraced Bill Gates' vision of education. Bill Gates has had a hand in crafting the common core standards and has provided grant money to advance the implementation in schools around the country. It doesn't apparently matter to Arne Duncan these standards are unproven, untested and
Geaux Teacher!: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.ED
Geaux Teacher!: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.ED: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.EDChas, you continue to say "This is a question of who has authority to write the questions for our test." You are absolutely correct and it is absolutely clear that PEARSON has been given the authority to write the questions by virtue o
empathyeducates – Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the People
empathyeducates – Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the People: Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the PeopleA crowd of about 50 showed up for the charter board meeting. photo: Della HasselleIntroductory Essay By Raynard Sanders, Ed.D.The failure of the corporate education reforms in New Orleans has been clearly documented. Of all the school com
NYC Educator: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!
NYC Educator: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!Imagine a line of soups sponsored by Campbell Brown, set to destroy the due-process rights of teachers,cut down the hard-won rights of workersand promote the privatization of education, promising great profits to those very same p
Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges : NPR Ed : NPR
Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges : NPR Ed : NPR: Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges In Vergara v. California, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the state's teacher tenure system hurts poor, minority students because they are more likely to end up with "grossly ineffective" teachers. The case focused on three areas: tenure, cumbersome dismissal pol
National Education Association's Lily Eskelsen Garcia on teaching, testing, and fighting back
National Education Association's Lily Eskelsen Garcia on teaching, testing, and fighting back: National Education Association's Lily Eskelsen Garcia on teaching, testing, and fighting backJul 27, 2014 2:45pm PDT by Laura Clawson7959Both major teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have been moving toward a more confrontational response to the p
YESTERDAY
Here It Is, A Profession Transformed - The Jose Vilson
Here It Is, A Profession Transformed - The Jose Vilson: Here It Is, A Profession Transformedby JOSE VILSON on JULY 29, 2014in JOSEI just got back from three packed-house events in Chicago, Chapel Hill, and Philadelphia in July. In each space, the energy in the room took me aback because I’m still not used to the idea that a bunch of folks with busy lives want to hear my mouth run for two hours. Ye
15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education Taxes | Reclaim Reform
15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education Taxes | Reclaim Reform: 15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education TaxesPosted on July 29, 2014by Ken Previti15-7=8 cannot be copyrighted for profit.This example can be copyrighted for private profit from public education taxes.The content can be copyrighted, the instructional materials (text books, worksheets, computer and online programs, su
The Kvetching of Mona Davids southbronxschool
http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Kvetching of Mona DavidsOh Mona Davids is in an uproar again. Poor, poor, Mona, how her crocodile tears do flow.The Daily News reported today that parents (And rightly so) are upset that the school day has been rescheduled in 450 to accommodate the 80 minutes of PD on Mondays and the 75 minutes of parent involvement on Tuesdays. Surely, Mona is happy with the a
Badass Teachers Association
Badass Teachers Association: BATs July 28, 2014 SpeechBy: Dr. Yohuru WilliamsMr. Duncan in May of 1894, Jacob Coxey, and his Army marched on Washington DC in the wake of a worldwide depression to petition the government for jobs for the unemployed. Coxey opened his speech, not too far from here, invoking the promise of American democracy“We choose this place of assemblage” he told his audience,
Nite Cap 7-29-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT
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 CAP7-29-14 Schools Matter All WeekSchools Matter: Evan Bayh Loves Christel DeHaan and Hedge Funders: CORPORATE SCHOOL ALERTby Doug Martin With so many people saying Evan Bayh must come back to Indiana to "save" public education as governor
