Sunday, June 8, 2014

SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174

SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174:

LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174

" Over the last 16 years, academic research has largely found that good bilingual programs are just as effective at teaching English skills, and often slightly better at it, than classes that immerse students in English."
This is better coverage than we usually get. But the research 16 years ago was quite positive about bilingual education. And too bad the LA Times is not aware of the McField and McField study. We need to do a better job of spreading the word. Amazing that they published the ignorant Chris Daley "flat earth" letter.

EDITORIAL LOS ANGELES TIMES: IS BILINGUAL EDUCATION WORTH BRINGING BACK?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-bilingual-education-proposition-227-repeal-20140605-story.html
A lot has changed since 1998, when Proposition 227 all but wiped out bilingual instruction in California public schools. The matter is due for reconsideration; a bill that passed the state Senate last week would allow that to happen.
SB 1174, by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), would place a measure on the November 2016 ballot to repeal Proposition 227 and allow local school districts to decide whether they want to bring back bilingual education rather than continue with the current system, which aims to move students toward full-time English use as quickly as possible.
Over the last 16 years, academic research has largely found that good bilingual programs are just as effective at teaching English skills, and often slightly better at it, than classes that immerse students in English. Along the way, they also teach students literacy in their native language.
Another reason to consider bilingual education: Shortly after Proposition 227 passed, testing and accountability requirements were imposed on schools. The academic skills of students, including those who aren't fluent in English, are now measured every year. That means that if bilingual SKrashen: LA Times editorial and some reactions re bilingual education and SB 1174:

Spring Cleaning at the NYCDOE southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Spring Cleaning at the NYCDOE

Come one, come all to the;

NYCDOE SPRING CLEANING RALLY!

This Tuesday, June 10, 2014 from 4:30-5 PM EDT in front of the Tweed Courthouse on Chambers St. (Take 4, 5, or 6to City Hall or A train toChambers St.)

Endorsed by DTOE, MORE, Change the Stakes, and the Badass Teacher's Association.

The hundreds of lawyers hired by the Bloomberg administration are still ensconced at the DOE. Isn't it time the look for jobs in the private sector?

Show up, meet The Crack Team and tell them Frank Sinatra Jr sent you and get a glass of wine on the house!

dtoe

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29

To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29:

To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC,and White

June 8, 2014

Governor Bobby Jindal is apparently trying to muster up the courage to remove Louisiana from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) assessments that he signed Louisiana on for in the first place.

Of course, Jindal has changed his position due to his national political ambitions.

Jindal is under pressure from Louisiana businesses to Keep the Core.

He is also at odds with Louisiana State Board of Education (BESE) President Chas Roemer and Jindal’s own appointee for state superintendent, John White.

These two are willing to stand against Jindal in support of CCSS and PARCC. As Susan Berry of Breitbart reports:

Both state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education president Chas Roemer and State Superintendent of Education John White are ardent supporters of the Common Core standards, which are due to take full effect in the 2014-2015 school year.
Regarding Jindal, Roemer said, “He challenged the legislature, and the legislature didn’t agree with him. Our children deserve better than a Plan B.”
Similarly, White said Common Core has been in the planning stage for teachers and students for four years.
“They do not need a last-minute change,” White wrote. “They do not need chaos in the classroom.” [Emphasis added.]

White is such a hypocrite. That brings me to the point of my post.

In October 2013, Jindal appointed “long time ally” Jane Holland Smith to a BESE To Jindal: Dump Common Core, PARCC, and White | deutsch29:

Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet

Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet:

Can you get fired for talking to a reporter?

By Sarah Lahm, TC Daily Planet

June 08, 2014

So, what’s it like working for the clampdown?

For the past few weeks, I’ve wanted to pose this question to my friends and contacts who work for the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).

Why? Because the district, via communications chief Stan Alleyne, sent out an internal email to all employees, with this subject line: “MPS Media Relations policy and procedures.” Alleyne’s email included this instruction:

I’m reaching out to ask that you direct members of the media to me or my staff when they ask you to speak as a representative of MPS. We want to ensure that all MPS personnel deliver clear, consistent and effective messages to students, parents and the general public. Remember that failure to contact the Office of Communications in advance of participation in media interviews conflicts with district policy and could lead to disciplinary action. [emphasis added]

I know, I know—the email, which includes a link to MPS Policy 1150 about “Media Relations,” is probably an innocent, justifiable warning to employees who may be tempted to speak out as representatives of MPS. If they do this, without first contacting Alleyne’s office for “story management” tips, then they can be punished. How? I am not sure. Perhaps they would be required to write “I do not represent MPS” on a chalkboard five hundred times?

Anyway, the district may have a perfectly valid reason for sending this email out, but most MPS people I talked to had no idea what that might be. Some described the email as “chilling.” Some assumed it had something to do with me (can’t imagine why), and others threw out multiple theories connected to principal searches, internal employee shuffling, lay offs, or new admin structures. It appears the possibilities are endless.

Others read through the entire email, and then clicked the link to MPS Media Relations policy. Once there, they discovered an important point to remember:

Nothing in this policy shall imply or impose restrictions on media contact with district employees or district students if such contact is initiated and completed at non-school locations and at non-district related events and the employee is not portrayed as or
Can you get fired for talking to a reporter? | Twin Cities Daily Planet:

The “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation

The “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation:

THE “ALMOST OUTRAGEOUS” OPPOSITION TO BILL GATES’ MARKET-BASED ED REFORM

Lindsey Layton inteviewed Bill Gates about his involvement in the Common Core,ending her article with Bill and Melinda’s motivation behind their financial backing of it. Lindsey reports:

“Gates dismissed any suggestion that he is motivated by self-interest.” ~ Lindsey Layton

Then Bill tells us in his own words what motivates his investments in Common Core and calls any opposition to his motivation “almost outrageous”:

“I believe in the Common Core because of its substance and what it will do to improve education,” he said. “And that’s the only reason I believe in the Common Core.”
This is about giving money away,” he said of his support for the standards. “This is philanthropy. This is trying to make sure students have the kind of opportunity I had . . . and it’s almost outrageous to say otherwise, in my view.” ~ Bill Gates

Okay. Let’s go with Bill and Melinda’s best intentions. Why the opposition then?

As educators and parents of public school children we used critical thinking to consider the impacts of the market-based corporate reforms the Gates promote. Do they really help improve education, social problems, and the real gaping inequity Bill mentions? We considered the following questions about some of the key ingredients of fundamentalist market-based reforms:

High tech devices promoted by Bill Gates as “personalized learning” via Common Core Pearson/Gates’ Surface Tablets competing with Apple iPadsThe “Almost Outrageous” Opposition to Bill Gates’ Market-Based Ed Reform | Educating The Gates Foundation:

6-8-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Will politics prevent justice from being served – the Kenneth Moales Story Continues - Wait What?:

Wait What? All Week

Will politics prevent justice from being served – the Kenneth Moales Story Continues

The controversy surrounding Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. expands even further Documents on file with the Connecticut Superior Court and the City of Bridgeport reveal that while Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. and his family collected more than $8 million dollars from a Midwestern mortgage company that specializes in providing construction loans to evangelical and other churches, […] The post Will pol

by jonpelto / 47min

6-7-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? All WeekIpswich, Mass sixth grade students demand payment for taking Common Core Field TestsIn a Boston Tea Party like moment, a group of sixth-grade students from Ipswich, Massachusetts are making a stand. Like Connecticut’s public schools students, they were used as unpaid lab rats in this spring’s Common Core test of the test. Under the laws and regulations of the Unite

by mike simpson / 9h

On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger

On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger:

On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June

By now, hundreds of teachers throughout the state, most non-tenured, have received non-renewal notices. A few tenured teachers also are likely to lose jobs because their positions have been eliminated. But thousands of older, more experienced teachers have decided to retire because they cannot put up with the stress created by New Jersey’s governor and those who convert his bullying, vengeful and know-nothing attitude toward teachers into state policy.

In other words, it was a good day today to broadcast “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” a 1995 movie about a dedicated music teacher who is fired from the position he held for 30 years after his music program is cut for budget reasons.

There are a few lines toward the end of the movie that say it all. Glenn Holland, the teacher, is leaving and he is talking to his friend, the football coach. He says:

“You work for 30 years because you think that what you do makes a difference, you think it matters to people, but then you wake up one morning and find out, well no, On watching “Mr. Holland’s Opus” in Jersey in June | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Nite Cap 6-8-14 #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 CAP

6-8-14 Jersey Jazzman Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee Grade

Jersey Jazzman: Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee Grade: Chartery Snake Oil: Tennessee GradeYou know what really bugs me these days? Especially in the world of education "reform"?Smugness.I'm not talking about pride. Pride is great (to a point). Everyone who works at a school should be proud of their students, their staff, their leaders. If you talk up the good things happening at your schoo

by mike simpson / 1h

Common Core Does Include Data Collection. It’s the Foundation for the Data & Accountability Systems. | Missouri Education Watchdog

Common Core Does Include Data Collection. It’s the Foundation for the Data & Accountability Systems. | Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Does Include Data Collection. It’s the Foundation for the Data & Accountability Systems.inSharePut away those tin foil hats. It’s confirmed. Data tracking will be done (if it’s not already) on your child without your permission. Here’s a memo to

by mike simpson / 1h

Just My Imagination Running Away With Me (A Post-CCSS World) - The Jose Vilson

Just My Imagination Running Away With Me (A Post-CCSS World) - The Jose Vilson: Just My Imagination Running Away With Me (A Post-CCSS World)The TemptationsI‘ve seen this article in my e-mails and feeds no less than ten times this morning. Much of this is old news for me since, if you’ve put all the pieces together for the last four years, it’s fairly obvious just how invested Bill Gates has been i

by mike simpson / 2h

Rift Deepens Over Claims of Infiltration by Islamic Extremists in British Schools - NYTimes.com

Rift Deepens Over Claims of Infiltration by Islamic Extremists in British Schools - NYTimes.com: Rift Deepens Over Claims of Infiltration by Islamic Extremists in British SchoolsA dispute over how to combat the threat of homegrown Islamic extremism in British schools has provoked a political crisis, prompting the personal intervention of Prime Minister David Cameron, a public apology from one seni

by mike simpson / 2h

Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education Association | Reclaim Reform

Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education Association | Reclaim Reform: Klonsky, Dillon, Brown and me: Conversation regarding leadership, communication and membership of the Illinois Education AssociationPosted on June 8, 2014by Ken PrevitiPart of continuing conversation among retired teachers, activists and bloggers Fr

by mike simpson / 4h

Stop Holding Us Back - NYTimes.com

Stop Holding Us Back - NYTimes.com: Stop Holding Us BackBy ROBERT BALFANZ This month, more than three million high school students will receive their diplomas. At more than 80 percent, America’s graduation rate is at a record high. More kids are going to college, too. But one-third of the nation’s African-American and Latino young men will not graduate.In an era when there is virtually no legal wo

by mike simpson / 4h

6-8-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools' Math Adoption: What's Happening at Your School?A reader suggested that we start a thread and try to keep track of what is happening at all the K-5/K-8s vis a vis the math adoption. There are 59 elementary schools and 10 K-8s so I'm not going to try to list them all here. In the Comments Section, note your school, what you are hearing at your schoo

by mike simpson / 4h

Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children? | Cloaking Inequity

Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children? | Cloaking Inequity: Parent Horror Stories from BASIS: Corporate Charter Hurting Children?Today I am blogging about two parent horror stories from BASIS. Let me just warn you, after hearing parents talk about what happened to their children at BASIS, you will likely be in a surly mood learning about this corporate (quasi-for pro

by mike simpson / 4h

Capitalism vs. education: Why our free-market obsession is wrecking the future - Salon.com

Capitalism vs. education: Why our free-market obsession is wrecking the future - Salon.com: Capitalism vs. education: Why our free-market obsession is wrecking the futureMarket-based education reform has become a mainstay of American politics — and it's a disaster waiting to happenMichelle Rhee, Karl Marx, Michael Bloomberg (Credit: Reuters/Hyungwon Kang/Wikimedia/Jonathan Ernst/Salon)The 2014 Sta

by mike simpson / 5h

Mother Crusader: Guest Post: Melissa Katz Debunks JerseyCAN's Common Core Cheerleading

Mother Crusader: Guest Post: Melissa Katz Debunks JerseyCAN's Common Core Cheerleading: Guest Post: Melissa Katz Debunks JerseyCAN's Common Core CheerleadingOn June 4th, the State Board of Education convened for another fun round of discussion about the education reforms proposed (and partially implemented already) to drastically change the face of education as we know it. The State Board of Educa

by mike simpson / 6h

Teachers Putting Reforms into Practice: “The Implementation Problem” | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Teachers Putting Reforms into Practice: “The Implementation Problem” | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Teachers Putting Reforms into Practice: “The Implementation Problem”Guess who wrote these paragraphs.I’ve been struck of late by how would-be reformers have been reacting when things go awry. After all, even some of those bullish on Race to the Top have privately conceded tha

by mike simpson / 6h

Morning Wink 6-8-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-8-144LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SCHOOL BOARD RIVALS MUST ACT QUICKLY: George McKenna, Alex Johnson seek funding, endorsements in L.A. Unified race; Two unions face tough choiceBY HOWARD BLUME, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1uEMAYH George McKenna, above, and Alex Johnson are headed for a runoff. Pub

by mike simpson / 7h

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-8-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SCHOOL BOARD RIVALS MUST ACT QUICKLY: George McKenna, Alex Johnson seek funding, endorsements in L.A. Unified race; Two unions face tough choiceBY HOWARD BLUME, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1uEMAYH George McKenna, above, and Alex Johnson are headed for a runoff. Published 8 June 2014 :: The top two finishers in this week's election for the Los Angeles Boa

by mike simpson / 7h

6-8-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: New Student Motivation, Engagement & SEL ResourcesOur school year will be over in four days and, after a brief rest, it will be time for me to complete the third volume in my student motivation “trilogy” that should be published early next year by Routledge. It’s tentatively titled Building a Community of Self-Motivated

by mike simpson / 7h

6-7-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: The well-meaning liberals of the world aren’t going to like the front page of the Washington PostHow Bill Gates bought us the Common Core. Thank you, and it wasn’t even my birthday. As a matter of fact, our right-wing brothers and sisters might not like this either since they believe this is a massive communist conspiracy. I’m also doubting, however, that many teachers know about

by mike simpson / 7h

6-8-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Maxine Greene and the “Frozen Sea Inside of Us”The image of Franz Kafka that captures most clearly Kafkan for me is the one of Kafka himself coming to consciousness in the morning, numbed from the waist down after sitting in one spot writing all night. He, of course, was

by mike simpson / 7h

Answer Sheet 6-8-14

Answer Sheet: Just ask the teachersOne of the central features of corporate school reform is that those driving it haven’t bothered to seriously ask teachers to offer their solutions to improving public education. Meg White, an assistant professor in the School of Education at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, looks at this omission in the following post. […]by Valerie Strauss / 30min

by mike simpson / 7h

6-8-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Chicago Teacher Adam Heehan On How Common Core Threatens Good Teachingfrom Chicago SunTimes:I teach Financial Literacy as a semester-long social studies course in a Chicago public high school. This quarter we focused on professional skills. My students must find living arrangements on a fixed salary, then explain their plan to the class.Students must calculate their biweekly net pa

by mike simpson / 7h

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-8-14 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: Why Conservatives Should Oppose School ChoicePeter Greene says that there are at least four good reasons why conservatives hold oppose school choice. Before I tell you what his four reasons are, I will tell you that there are even more reasons for conservatives to support public schools. Conservatives generally are no

by mike simpson / 8h

6-8-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Video: Sean Ahern at the PEP on Diversityby ed notes online / 1h 6-7-14 Ed Notes Online WeekEd Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineFred Smith Calls Farina on Field Test Waste of Learning TimeFrom Schoolbook. Go Fred. No time now but I will add to this later about the Bronx teacher who was fired years ago because 4 of his 8th grade classes refused to take the field tests. Search ed notes

by mike simpson / 8h

6-8-14 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.: Previti, Dillon, Brown and myself: A conversation regarding the leadership and membership of the Illinois Education Association Part of continuing conversation between retired teachers, activists and bloggers Ken Previti, John Dillon, Glen Brown and myself. This conversation is cross posted on each o

by mike simpson / 8h

6-8-14 With A Brooklyn Accent:

With A Brooklyn Accent: Alliances Across the Political Spectrum in the Movement Against Common Core Have Antecedents in the Depression Era Labor MovementMany of my friends on the left, with the best of motives, have raised questions about my wilingess to work with Conservatives and Libertarians in the movement against Common Core and other top down attacks on public education. They think that alli

by mike simpson / 9h

Stephen Krashen Blog 6-8-14

SKrashen:Say What?" (Bill) Gates has said that one of the benefits of common standards would be to open the classroom to digital learning, making it easier for software developers — including Microsoft — to develop new products for the country’s 15,000 school districts. In February, Microsoft announced that it was joining Pearson, the world’s largest educational publisher, to load Pearson’s C

by mike simpson / 9h

6-8-14 empathyeducates

empathyeducates: Study Shows Why Standardized Test Scores Aren’t Just About SchoolsFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched Fwd.us, which will lobby for higher education standards. (David Paul Morris, Bloomberg ) Will we ever learn that philanthropy is really not impressive. Nor is money the cure for what ails us. A practiced philosophy that promotes caring human connectivity brings […]by empathy

by mike simpson / 9h

6-8-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: CCSS: Schooling for Wretched People in a Miserable WorldThe Council of the Great City Schools (yet another group apparently set up to make money by shilling for the Core) has created a marvelous promotional video for the Core. Done in the style of those high-speed marker-drawing videos that the interwebs love, and narrated by a possible-non-caucasian lady narrator, it does a fabulo

by mike simpson / 9h

6-8-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Bill Gates Exposed For All To See As An Arrogant, Whiny ElitistOkay, it's official:We're onto a new phase of the fight against the CCSS. News media outlets are no longer buying and using pro-Common Core boilerplate rhetoric in stories on the Common Core, they're no longer framing the CCSS the way CCSS proponents want the standards framed, and they're no longer buying into th

by mike simpson / 9h

Oh to be a Teacher… | Connected Principals

Oh to be a Teacher… | Connected Principals: Oh to be a Teacher…by dkerr • June 8, 2014 • 0 CommentsSo I went for a run yesterday through a park close to where I live. It was a gorgeous summer-like day, and it felt like the entire neighborhood was out enjoying the sunshine…families having picnics, people fishing in the pond, runners, old men and women doing Tai Chi, but most of all…children laughin

by mike simpson / 9h

Schooling in the Ownership Society: How world's richest man bought school reform

Schooling in the Ownership Society: How world's richest man bought school reform: How world's richest man bought school reformWaPo reporter Lyndsey Layton tells the story of how Bill Gates bought and paid for so-called school "reform". He even got NEA and AFT leaders to buy-in to Common Core. On a summer day in 2008, Gene Wilhoit, director of a national group of state school chiefs, and

by mike simpson / 9h

NYC Educator: But Mister, I'm Not Using the Phone for That

NYC Educator: But Mister, I'm Not Using the Phone for That: But Mister, I'm Not Using the Phone for ThatThere are a whole lot of reasons why we grab our smart phones. I'm as guilty as anyone. Though I wear a watch, I don't trust it anymore. My phone has atomic time or something, and it's always accurate. I will pull it out of my pocket in class to check the time.Students have different reasons the

by mike simpson / 9h

YESTERDAY

How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolution - The Washington Post

How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolution - The Washington Post: How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolutionThe pair of education advocates had a big idea, a new approach to transform every public-school classroom in America. By early 2008, many of the nation’s top politicians and education leaders had lined up in support.But that wasn’t enough. The duo needed money

by mike simpson / 21h

Nite Cap 6-7-14 #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 CAPMore questions on evals’ accuracy | Albuquerque Journal NewsMore questions on evals’ accuracy | Albuquerque Journal News:More questions on evals’ accuracyPrincipal Robin Hoberg had no answers when teachers at Double Eagle Elementary School asked

by mike simpson / 23h