Special Nite Cap
CORPORATE ED REFORM
Mistakes made with teacher evaluation scores, CPS admits | Catalyst Chicago
Mistakes made with teacher evaluation scores, CPS admits | Catalyst Chicago: Mistakes made with teacher evaluation scores, CPS admitsCiting a computer coding error, district officials have acknowledged that they miscalculated last year’s REACH performance task scores for one out of every five educators.Only a tiny fraction of the 4,574 errors were significant enough to result in ratings changes, h
Mapped: The places where most public school children are poor - The Washington Post
Mapped: The places where most public school children are poor - The Washington Post: Mapped: The places where most public school children are poorUrban InstituteEarlier this year, the Southern Education Foundation reported that America's public schools had reached a dispiriting milestone: A majority of children attending them are now low-income. As The Post's Lyndsey Layton noted at the time, we h
CURMUDGUCATION: I Should Support Charters
CURMUDGUCATION: I Should Support Charters: I Should Support ChartersI'm a big fan of the opt-out movement when it comes to testing. I believe, in general, that it's better for people to have a choice, to be free to consider options. It would make a certain amount of sense for me to be a supporter of school choice in general and charter schools as an expression of that choice.And yet, I am not a su
Schooling in the Ownership Society: In L.A., Deasy gone but leaves in his wake, feds, grand juries, and litigation
Schooling in the Ownership Society: In L.A., Deasy gone but leaves in his wake, feds, grand juries, and litigation: In L.A., Deasy gone but leaves in his wake, feds, grand juries, and litigationThis is getting to sound repetitive. Post-Deasy L.A. is sounding a lot like post-Byrd-Bennett Chicago. Former LAUSD Supt. John Deasy is gone. They've provided a soft landing for him at the Broad Leadership
Didn’t dullard Duncan say Katrina was the best thing to happen to New Orleans?
Didn’t dullard Duncan say Katrina was the best thing to happen to New Orleans?: Didn’t dullard Duncan say Katrina was the best thing to happen to New Orleans?MAY 13, 2015 BY ROBERT D. SKEELS * RDSATHENE LEAVE A COMMENT“…let me be really honest. I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.” — Arne DuncanThe absolute worst education President, an
Pro-Common Core group takes issue with blog post — and the author responds - The Washington Post
Pro-Common Core group takes issue with blog post — and the author responds - The Washington Post: Pro-Common Core group takes issue with blog post — and the author respondsSouth Side High School Principal Carol Burris ( Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday)Regular readers of this blog are familiar with Carol Burris, an award-winning principal in New York who has written repeatedly over the past few years on
Lack of Oversight of Charter Schools Designed as a Plus; $3.3+ Billion Spent (Part 2) | PR Watch
Lack of Oversight of Charter Schools Designed as a Plus; $3.3+ Billion Spent (Part 2) | PR Watch: Lack of Oversight of Charter Schools Designed as a Plus; $3.3+ Billion Spent (Part 2)“The waste of taxpayer money—none of us can feel good about,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services and Education just last month.Yet, he is calling
Does High-Stakes Testing & Accountability= Social Justice & Civil Rights? | Cloaking Inequity
Does High-Stakes Testing & Accountability= Social Justice & Civil Rights? | Cloaking Inequity: Does High-Stakes Testing & Accountability= Social Justice & Civil Rights?Last week I had the opportunity to give the Social Justice Keynote for The California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA) at the University of San Diego for their Sixth Annual Research to
How Testing is Driving More Oklahoma Teachers, and Other Educators Across the Nation, Out of the Classroom | John Thompson
How Testing is Driving More Oklahoma Teachers, and Other Educators Across the Nation, Out of the Classroom | John Thompson: How Testing is Driving More Oklahoma Teachers, and Other Educators Across the Nation, Out of the ClassroomKOSU's Emily Wendler reports that Robyn Venable taught for 31 years. She is one of the wave of Oklahoma teachers who are reluctantly leaving the profession. Ms. Venable l
Stop the Blame Game Over Achievement Gap | Al Jazeera America
Stop the Blame Game Over Achievement Gap | Al Jazeera America: Stop the blame game over achievement gapWe need to invest in programs that help students learn and succeed, not argue about who's responsible for failureDebates about the shortcomings of K–12 education in the United States typically focus on identifying who or what is to blame for the achievement gap — the lower standardized test score
Should teachers be evaluated on how ‘gritty’ their students are? - The Washington Post
Should teachers be evaluated on how ‘gritty’ their students are? - The Washington Post: Should teachers be evaluated on how ‘gritty’ their students are?This story has been updated.A growing number of education policymakers are interested in judging schools and teachers in part on whether they contribute to the growth of children’s character, pointing to research that shows a solid link between suc
Arne Duncan Fouls Out on Common Core
Arne Duncan Common Core: Arne Duncan Fouls Out on Common CoreThe Failure of Coercion in Public EducationOpposition to the Common Core Standards and the tests tied to them is rising, as a recentWall Street Journal article (May 6) underlined. Approval for Common Core is now languishing at a mere 17 percent while disapproval has shot up to 40 percent. The article continues: “This year hundreds of tho
Seattle Council PTSA supports the Seattle Education Association teacher walk-out, well, sort of | Seattle Education
Seattle Council PTSA supports the Seattle Education Association teacher walk-out, well, sort of | Seattle Education:Seattle Council PTSA supports the Seattle Education Association teacher walk-out, well, sort ofWhereas, these are unprecedented times in Washington state’s history as the State is in contempt of court for failing to comply with the Supreme Court’s orders in the McCleary decision and
Stevie Wonder knew: The Real Problem With How People View America’s Inner City Public Education | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
Stevie Wonder knew: The Real Problem With How People View America’s Inner City Public Education | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: Stevie Wonder knew: The Real Problem With How People View America’s Inner City Public Education“Wow, new york, just like I pictured itSkyscrapers and everything [Verse 5] Hey hey brother, hey come here slick
Hey you look, you look hip manHey you wanna make yourself
Kooyenga and Darling’s plan to kill the Milwaukee Public Schools | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!
Kooyenga and Darling’s plan to kill the Milwaukee Public Schools | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Kooyenga and Darling’s plan to kill the Milwaukee Public SchoolsJay Bullock 5/13/2015 BlogIt’s out there now, the Republican plan to start peeling off Milwaukee Public Schools and handing them over to private operators. And it’s awful.Sponsored by suburban Republicans Rep. Dale Kooyega an
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's 'fear Detroit' campaign worked. But then there's this...
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's 'fear Detroit' campaign worked. But then there's this...: Rahm's 'fear Detroit' campaign worked. But then there's this...Remember Rahm Emanuel's fear campaign, the one that -- along with $20 million -- helped get him re-elected?John Kass ridiculed it in the Tribune:...what if Chuy wins?How long will it take Chicago to become Detroit, as threatened by the Rahmu
Russ on Reading: Chris Christie’s Lessons for School Children
Russ on Reading: Chris Christie’s Lessons for School Children: Chris Christie’s Lessons for School ChildrenBy definition a leader is “one who shows the way.” Citizens, including school children, look to their leaders for lessons in terms of character, doing the right thing, behavior in public and how to treat those less powerful. Since the moment that he entered office, New Jersey Governor Chris C
Chris Christie’s fresh humiliation: The new scandal that could finally put the kibosh on his presidential hopes - Salon.com
Chris Christie’s fresh humiliation: The new scandal that could finally put the kibosh on his presidential hopes - Salon.com: Chris Christie’s fresh humiliation: The new scandal that could finally put the kibosh on his presidential hopesThe Christie administration could be facing a new round of indictments, this time for misappropriated pension fundsIf after last week’s Bridgegate indictments you t
A Teacher's View of Parents | D. A. Russell
A Teacher's View of Parents | D. A. Russell: A Teacher's View of Parents There is perhaps no more heated a topic in the teacher lunchroom than the role of parents in education. The overwhelming bulk of parents, even in the most challenged schools I researched, remain the best allies a teacher could ever want. But teachers are human (at least most of us), and by human nature all those good parents
The pros and cons of standardized testing — in one highly unusual list - The Washington Post
The pros and cons of standardized testing — in one highly unusual list - The Washington Post: The pros and cons of standardized testing — in one highly unusual listMayfield High School junior Laura Cruz, 18, holds sign on March, 2, 2015, during a student-organized walkout to protest the PARCC Common Core exams in Las Cruces, N.M. (AP Photo/Las Cruces Sun-News, Robin Zielinski)Any reader of this bl
Is student privacy erased as classrooms turn digital? - Yahoo News
Is student privacy erased as classrooms turn digital? - Yahoo News: Is student privacy erased as classrooms turn digital?Privacy researcher Elana Zeide says schools need more transparency about how student data is used by educational publishers and software companies.When parents and school officials in New Jersey discovered that educational publisher Pearson recently monitored students' Twitter a
Eighth-grade Student Tells What standardized tests really do to schools - - San Mateo Daily Journal
What standardized tests really do to schools - - San Mateo Daily Journal: What standardized tests really do to schoolsAs an eighth-grade student, I am on the brink of a grueling, three-week period of standardized testing featuring state and nationwide mandatory tests such as the CAASP, SBAC, STAR, MARS, Scholastic Reading Tests, Class Placement Tests and Learning Diagnostics.I will be taking tests
Teachers rally against standardized tests - NewsTimes
Teachers rally against standardized tests - NewsTimes: Teachers rally against standardized testsChanting "Let us teach," about 500 educators from around the state went from their classrooms to a rally at the state Capitol in Hartford late Tuesday afternoon, urging lawmakers to reduce the number of required standardized tests given to public school students."It's too much," said
Real New vs. Paid "News" 3 Articles on The AFT-BAT Teachers Survey
American Federation of Teachers Union Survey Finds 7 Out Of 10 Teachers Are Stressed : News : ISchoolGuide: Real New vs. Paid "News" 3 Articles on The AFT-BAT Teachers Survey Can You Guess Which Story is Paid for By Corporations?American Federation of Teachers Union Survey Finds 7 Out Of 10 Teachers Are StressedA new online survey by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has sparked
The unintended consequences of public school reform
The unintended consequences of public school reform: The unintended consequences of public school reformWhile the goal of K-12 school reform is admirable, there are a number of unintended consequences that keep some public school systems from operating at their highest level of effectiveness.The measure of test scoresAmong the many responsibilities public schools face on a daily basis, one reigns
The Soft (and Not-So-Soft) Bigotry of High Stakes Testing | Tucson Weekly
The Soft (and Not-So-Soft) Bigotry of High Stakes Testing | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch | Tucson Weekly: The Soft (and Not-So-Soft) Bigotry of High Stakes Testing Monday I wrote about seven Arizona schools that have been accused of cheating on the high stakes AIMS test. I decided to look at the percentage of students on free/reduced lunch at the schools, and here's what I found.T
YESTERDAY
TFA Exec Kira Orange-Jones As TIME “100 Most Influential” Material? | deutsch29
TFA Exec Kira Orange-Jones As TIME “100 Most Influential” Material? | deutsch29: TFA Exec Kira Orange-Jones As TIME “100 Most Influential” Material?For some reason, TIME magazine has decided that Teach for America (TFA) Louisiana executive director Kira Orange-Jones is one of the most influential people in 2015.I have been in the room with Orange-Jones at meetings of the Louisiana Board of Element
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/12/15
Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMsolidaridad: Ref Rodriguez's Game of Hide the PUC Auditsolidaridad: Ref Rodriguez's Game of Hide the PUC Audit: Ref Rodriguez's Game of Hide the PUC AuditMay 12, 2015Contact: Bennett Kayser HQCell: 323-535-9930 DEFLATE GATE AT LAUSD AS RODRIGUEZ SUPPORTER GARCIA TRIES TO SQUASH RODRIGUEZ AUDIT SHOWING BAD BUSINESS. BAD BOOKS AND VIOLATIONS – AUDIT DISAPPEARS, A
