Big Education Ape: Morning Wink 8-8-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS

8-8-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: The fight for union democracy you won’t read about in the Post.A month after, finally and suddenly the Mulgrew “punch you in the face” story has made the national news. The Daily News. The New York Post. The right-wing Daily Caller and Breibart. Why? Because Mulgrew’s bellicose threats to the rank-and

by mike simpson / 7:54 AM UTC-7

8-8-14 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): “Education as Great Equalizer” Deforming Myth, Not RealityIn the Seinfeld episode “The Hamptons,” viewers watch yet another clash between the essentially soulless main characters as they interact with the very white and privileged “real world” surrounding them in the sit

by mike simpson / 1min

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-8-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Peter Greene: New York’s Curriculum Guides Prove that CCSS Is UnnecesaryAlthough Peter Greene teaches in Pennsylvania, he decided to review New York state’s curriculum guides about the Common Core standards. He pulls them apart and shows that they tell teachers to do what they were already doing, or they make demands that have no e

by mike simpson / 4min

8-8-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: EXCLUSIVE: Newark Teachers Union's Joe Del Grosso, In His Own WordsI really didn't think I'd be interviewing Joe Del Grosso yesterday.When I reached out to my contacts in the Newark Teachers Union, I was looking for a response from them regarding the news, first reported by the estimable Bob Braun, that a Newark parent group, PULSE, was pushing a federal investigation of the state-

by mike simpson / 7min

8-8-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: All My Ed Week Posts On Teaching ELLs — In One Place!My latest Ed Week post brings together all my pieces from the past three years on teaching English Language Learners — in one place! Here’s an excerpt:by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h 8-7-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLarry Ferlazzo’s W

by mike simpson / 9min

8-8-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: ‘Nothing But Tears’ baby shampoo (because ‘it’s never too early’ to toughen up kids for school)From the hilarious newspaper The Onion, a story with this headline: Johnson & Johnson Introduces ‘Nothing But Tears’ Shampoo to Toughen up Newborns. This tweet from the satirical newspaper says it all: Because it’s never too early to grow the hell up! Guaranteed Kindergarten Ready! Ex

by mike simpson / 11min

8-8-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Teach for Life

With A Brooklyn Accent: Teach for LifeMy improbable initiative-- defund Teach for America and start a campaign called Teach for Life which encourages talented, idealistic young people to become teachers and STAY in the classroom. Such a campaign would treat teaching as the most important profession in the society, not something talented people leave after a few years to pursue careers in law, busi

by mike simpson / 15min

8-8-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Fwd: Common Core is the Most Dangerous Domestic Spying Program : Freedom OutpostEven the Department of Education, though, admits that privacy is a concern, and that some of the data gathered may be "of a sensitive nature." The information collected will be more than sensitive; much of it will also be completely unrelated to education. Data collected will not only

by mike simpson / 17min

8-8-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: A Bad CCSS ELA Lesson ExemplarTNTP recently posted an article in HuffPost that I've addressed elsewhere. But one portion of Rachel Evans' piece deserves its own look, because it's a great min-capsule of what is wrong with much so-called Common Core so-called lesson so-called planning.Learning to teach to the Common Core standards is sort of like learning to cook a complicated dish,

by mike simpson / 19min

8-8-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Will Governor Cuomo Skate Free From Moreland Mess?The Wall Street Journal this morning:Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's prosecutors are now conducting a three-tiered investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.First, they are exploring whether they can take up cases the Moreland Commission was investigating. Second, they are investigating whether the C

by mike simpson / 21min

A Handbook for Creative Disruption of the Public Sector — Yikes! | janresseger

A Handbook for Creative Disruption of the Public Sector — Yikes! | janresseger:A Handbook for Creative Disruption of the Public Sector — Yikes!Posted on August 8, 2014 by janressegerHere is a handbook, Public Sector, Disrupted: How Disruptive Innovation Can Help Government Achieve More for Less, for transformation of the public sector—including public schools—via creative disruption. While it say

by mike simpson / 27min

Persistence in Math Teaching Patterns: Deja Vu All Over Again | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Persistence in Math Teaching Patterns: Deja Vu All Over Again | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Persistence in Math Teaching Patterns: Deja Vu All Over AgainMath instruction took another big hit recently. “Big” because the New York Times, one of the top U.S. newspapers ran it as a cover story of its magazine section. So here again, amid the Common Core standards in math that

by mike simpson / 34min

Russ on Reading: Value-Added Models' Fatal Flaw

Russ on Reading: Value-Added Models' Fatal Flaw: Value-Added Models' Fatal FlawMuch has been written about the corporate education reformers pet teacher evaluation tool the value-added model (VAM). A VAM is a statistical measure that attempts to account for a teacher’s effectiveness through student performance on standardized tests. These measures have been nearly universally discredited by study

by mike simpson / 36min

Is there any billionaire, charter profiteer, poverty pimp, or right-wing ideologue that Alex Johnson won’t take money from?

Is there any billionaire, charter profiteer, poverty pimp, or right-wing ideologue that Alex Johnson won’t take money from?: Is there any billionaire, charter profiteer, poverty pimp, or right-wing ideologue that Alex Johnson won’t take money from?AUGUST 8, 2014 BY ROBERT D. SKEELS * RDSATHENE LEAVE A COMMENTIn calling for a special election, what Mark Ridley-Thomas, Alex Johnson, Rev. Tulloss, Co

by mike simpson / 39min

Packing Up & Headed Back to Shore – This Union Gal Bids Farewell | Continuing Change

Packing Up & Headed Back to Shore – This Union Gal Bids Farewell | Continuing Change: Packing Up & Headed Back to Shore – This Union Gal Bids FarewellI’ve left my union.Well, let me clarify, I’ve resigned from positions of leadership within my teachers’ union. I’m still a card bearing union member, but I no longer sit on my executive board. I’ve resigned, officially, with a letter and al

by mike simpson / 43min

School Discipline Consensus Report – CSG Justice Center

School Discipline Consensus Report – CSG Justice Center: School Discipline Consensus ReportSchool Discipline Consensus Project Report Release EventsThe School Discipline Consensus Report presents a comprehensive set of consensus-based and field-driven recommendations to improve conditions for learning for all students and educators, better support students with behavioral needs, improve police-sch

by mike simpson / 49min

Rand Paul on Common Core | Truth in American Education

Rand Paul on Common Core | Truth in American Education: Rand Paul on Common CoreFiled in Candidates on Education, Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on August 8, 2014 •0 Comments1Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was in Iowa earlier this week (yes the 2016 race has really already begun in Iowa). At his meeting with the Westside Conservative Club held at the Machine Shed Restaurant he was ask

by mike simpson / 56min

8/8/14 – Not Good Enough For Education

8/8/14 – Not Good Enough For Education: 8/8/14 – Not Good Enough For Education August 8, 2014 SubscribeTHIS WEEK: Strengthen Schools Serving Poor Kids … Why To End School Segregation … Do Better On School Discipline … Teacher Tenure Battles Miss Nuance … Which Colleges Do More With LessTOP STORY‘Better Than Republicans,’ Not Good Enough For EducationBy Jeff Bryant“Two new interviews with leading v

by mike simpson / 1h

YESTERDAY

Does Jindal Have a Case with Common Core as Federal “Scheme”? | deutsch29

Does Jindal Have a Case with Common Core as Federal “Scheme”? | deutsch29: Does Jindal Have a Case with Common Core as Federal “Scheme”?August 7, 2014It is no secret that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has aspirations for the White House.On June 13, 2014, Jindal visited the “presidential testing ground,” Iowa. Many in Iowa did not know who he was.To me, a Louisianian, it is absolutely no surprise

by mike simpson / 11h

Cami to principal: You’re “awesome”–and you’re fired | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cami to principal: You’re “awesome”–and you’re fired | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cami to principal: You’re “awesome”–and you’re firedWayne Dennis drank the Kool-AidHe was, he says, one of “Cami’s people.” Hired just last year to run Barringer STEAM, one of those untested innovations that state-imposed Newark superintendent Cami Anderson likes to inflict on the people of Newark. He did everything that

by mike simpson / 11h

My Own Story. Why Teachers So Desperately Need Tenure southbronxschool

http://www.southbronxschool.com: My Own Story. Why Teachers So Desperately Need TenureThis is one of the most difficult and personal blog posts I have ever written in my 6 years of blogging, but this story, now more than ever, needs to be shared.I'm not sharing it to garner sympathy or adulation but rather to cast light upon the incessant abuse of teachers not only in the schools of NYC, but acros

by mike simpson / 11h

Davonte's Inferno: Ten Years in the New York Public School Gulag

Davonte's Inferno: Ten Years in the New York Public School Gulagby Laurel M. Sturt (Goodreads Author)A TEACHER'S STORY OF FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICAN EDUCATION TODAY. Calling on policy, research, humor and a generous serving of snark, in this cutting edge story irreverent Laurel M. Sturt pulls no punches detailing her bizarre life in the trenches teaching in a high-needs elementary school in the

by mike simpson / 11h

EVAAS’s William Sanders: A “Leading Academician?” |

EVAAS’s William Sanders: A “Leading Academician?” |: EVAAS’s William Sanders: A “Leading Academician?This past Sunday, the Houston Chronicle released an op-ed piece about the VAM being used by the Houston Independent School District (i.e., the widely known/used/abused EVAAS system at the source of a major lawsuit forthcoming in Houston as detailed in previous VAMboozled posts here and here). The a

by mike simpson / 14h

Choosing Democracy: The Myth of Teacher Tenure

Choosing Democracy: The Myth of Teacher Tenure: The Myth of Teacher Tenureby Diana D'Amico — July 23, 2014In the stories of exorbitant costs and incompetence, teacher tenure laws have achieved mythic proportions. Judge Rolf Treu’s tentative decision in Vergara v. California may be the death knell for teacher tenure. But what will change as a result? A look to the past reveals that teacher tenure n

by mike simpson / 14h

Kennedy steps down as Sacramento City schools trustee - Education - The Sacramento Bee

Kennedy steps down as Sacramento City schools trustee - Education - The Sacramento Bee: Kennedy steps down as Sacramento City schools trusteeBy Loretta Kalblkalb@sacbee.comPublished: Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 - 5:03 pmPatrick Kennedy will step down Friday as trustee and president of the Sacramento City Unified School District board as he awaits his new post on the Sacramento County Board of Superviso

by mike simpson / 14h

Kevin Johnson's Grifter Wife Returns To The Scene Of A Scandal

Kevin Johnson's Grifter Wife Returns To The Scene Of A Scandal: Kevin Johnson's Grifter Wife Returns To The Scene Of A ScandalThey're getting the band back together at St. HOPE. The Sac Bee reported the other day that Michelle Rhee has been named chairwoman of the board at St. HOPE Public Schools, a charter school organization founded by her husband, former NBA superstar and current Sacramento May

by mike simpson / 14h

Nite Cap 8-7-14 #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 CAPMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rhee's legacy in D.C.Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rhee's legacy in D.C.: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rh

by mike simpson / 16h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rhee's legacy in D.C.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rhee's legacy in D.C.: Top-ranked ed states all have union teachers. Rhee's legacy in D.C.Former Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, along with another ex-White House aide, Ben LaBolt, supports former CNN anchor Campbell Brown's fight against teacher tenure. Once again top-ranked education states have strong t

by mike simpson / 16h

Live Long and Prosper...: Making Whoopi

Live Long and Prosper...: Making Whoopi: Making WhoopiIT'S IGNORANCEOk, so Whoopi Goldberg is 1) either completely ignorant of what "tenure" means to a K-12 teacher or 2) she's been bought by the corporate "reformers" of television land.Whoopi, for those of you who don't know yet...claims to love teachers (yes, her mother was a teacher), but hates "bad" teachers. So,

by mike simpson / 17h

Eliminate tenure and it gets a little chilly at school - for the love of learning:

for the love of learning: Eliminate tenure and it gets a little chilly at school: Eliminate tenure and it gets a little chilly at schoolThis was written by Tamar Wyschogrod who is a mother, writer, journalist who is from New York but now lives in New Jersey. Tamar blogs here. This post was originally found here.by Tamar WyschogrodWithout tenure, every teacher is the pawn and puppet of whoever happ

by mike simpson / 17h

8-7-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": Useful Tweets From #hgseFAM – Harvard Grad School of Ed Family Engagement Institute[View the story "Useful Tweets From #hgseFAM - Harvard Grad School of Ed Family Engagement Institute" on Storify]by Larry Ferlazzo / 4min hide // save“More Schools Open Their Doors to the Whole Community”More Schools Open Their Do

by mike simpson / 17h

8-7-14 The Whole Child Blog — Are You Ready to Go Digital?

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Are You Ready to Go Digital?How many kids are going to check out a whole set of encyclopedias? With digital, they do it every day, without a second thought. But digital curriculum is not just about a bigger backpack or cramming more content into a smaller container, explained education innovator Hall Davidson in his 2014 ASCD Annual Conference session,

by mike simpson / 18h

Common Core Advocacy Goes Violent | Truth in American Education

Common Core Advocacy Goes Violent | Truth in American Education: Common Core Advocacy Goes ViolentFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on August 7, 2014 • 0 Comments8841Michael Mulgrew – President of United Federation of TeachersNothing says “hey let’s have an open dialogue about Common Core” like a threat of violence.Michael Mulgrew is the president of the United Federation o

by mike simpson / 19h

8-7-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Gates to ConnectEDU: Where's Our Dough?When we last left this story, ConnectEDU, a company that had an interactive program to try to connect middle school students with info on college/career. From the story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday:In July 2013, the well-known foundation awarded a nearly $500,000 grant to ConnectEDU to develop an interactive program t

by mike simpson / 19h

8-7-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Access to books helps close the reading gap in kindergartenAccess to books helps close the reading gap in kindergartenStephen KrashenFryer and Levitt (2004) examined reading and math test scores in kindergarten and grade 1 from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (about 1000 schools). Their focus was the gap between black and white children.For reading, the difference between bl

by mike simpson / 21h

Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit

Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than DetroitDetroit Public Schools (DPS) "Emergency Manager" Roy Roberts stepped down from his position on May 2. During his announcement, Roberts said that his instructions when he took the job were to "blow up the district and dismant

by mike simpson / 21h

AN OPEN LETTER TO "THE VIEW" FROM BATs! Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: AN OPEN LETTER TO "THE VIEW" FROM BATs!Your recent comments, which were perceived as an attack on teachers, have caused commotion within our respective communities. In good faith we would like to believe that you did not intend to attack teachers and we would like to believe that you may actually be supportive of good teachers. However, there were several mis

by mike simpson / 21h

Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools | John Thompson

Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools | John Thompson: Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our SchoolsThey used to be called "Limousine Liberals." Now, dilettantes like David Boies are known as corporate reformers.Boies has become the kinder, gentler face of the blood-in-their-eye teacher-bashing of Michelle Rhee and Campbell Brown. A board member of Rhee's "

by mike simpson / 21h

OMG - The Sacramento Bee Editorial Integrity (Better late than not at all?)

To our readers - Opinion - The Sacramento Bee: To our readersPublished: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 - 5:01 pmEditorial board member Pia Lopez took a leave of absence earlier this year to help her husband, Jim Read, run for Congress in a Minnesota district where he teaches political science. The Sacramento Bee approved this leave to avoid any conflicts of interest between her role as journalist and her

by mike simpson / 22h

It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline | National Opportunity to Learn

It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity: It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance DisciplinePosted on: Thursday August 7th, 2014Kavitha MedirattaThe movement to reform harsh, discriminatory school discipline policies in our nation's schools is picking up steam, with calls for change coming from grassroots orga

by mike simpson / 22h

8-7-14 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): Johnson: LAUSD needs more graduates, fewer dropoutsJohnson: LAUSD needs more graduates, fewer dropouts Photo: Johnson campaign Since the June 3 primary that produced Alex Johnson and George McKenna as the finalists for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat election on Aug. 12, the candidates have engaged in

by mike simpson / 22h

8-7-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: Ten ways to fix the mess that is kindergartenI’ve posted a number of pieces recently about how kindergarten has been changing over the last decade or so. (See here, here, here and here.) Once a time for socialization and learning through play, school reformers have turned it into an academic exercise that, in some classrooms, leaves little or no time for play, recess […]by Valerie St

by mike simpson / 22h

8-7-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: Summertime Celebrity Education Ignorance: David Boies1967 become known as the "Summer of Love."2014 will become known as the "Summer of Hate -- For Teachers Unions."Here in the steaming days of early August, the anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-tenure forces are whipping themselves into a froth over the idea that a school district might have to give a senior teach

by mike simpson / 22h

Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway - Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway: Members

Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway - Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway: Members: Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anywayMORELAND — A popular Snake River High School science teacher may have successfully fought to keep her job next school year, but she appears

by mike simpson / 22h

NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana: NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districtsPlan shrinking seats on panel drawing criticismBY CHARLES LUSSIER | CLUSSIER@THEADVOCATE.COM Residents interested in running for the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board will have just nine seats to pursue when qualifying begins two weeks from

by mike simpson / 22h hide // save

Morning Wink 8-7-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-7-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Launch of a Bold Néw Website for Teachers and Their AlliesWhen I heard from Randy Hoover about his new website called “The Teacher-Advocate.com,” I asked him to write a post explaining his ho

by mike simpson / 23h