Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, August 14, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/14/15


SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM



Sacramento school reopening triggers unexpected parent concerns | The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento school reopening triggers unexpected parent concerns | The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento school reopening triggers unexpected parent concernsWhen local leaders announced plans in June to reopen midtown Sacramento’s Washington Elementary School with an emphasis on rigorous subjects such as science and engineering, parents at nearby David Lubin Elementary School were disconcerted.After spend
Common Core and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Way to do Math - Change The LAUSD
Common Core and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Way to do Math - Change The LAUSD: Common Core and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Way to do MathIt astounds veteran teachers.It confuses parents trying to help their children.It is longer and more complicated.It appears to be out of Abbott and Costello meets The Three Stooges.None of the school board members or the superintendent
"Sit Still and Face Forward": How the Myth of Teacher Control Undermines Classroom Management - Living in Dialogue
"Sit Still and Face Forward": How the Myth of Teacher Control Undermines Classroom Management - Living in Dialogue: "Sit Still and Face Forward": How the Myth of Teacher Control Undermines Classroom Management By Eliot Graham.My second classroom teaching job was in a charter school serving low-income Black middle-schoolers in an urban neighborhood. This school, like many “no-ex
CURMUDGUCATION: Neighborhood Failure Factories
CURMUDGUCATION: Neighborhood Failure Factories: Neighborhood Failure FactoriesI am a big believer in the concept of neighborhood schools. I think schools are best as an extension of their communities. I've written pretty about why I see charterizing initiatives such as those in New Orleans as both bad educational practice and an assault on fundamental American values.At the same time, it's importa
Education, Inc - how money and politics are changing our schools
Education, Inc: Education, Inc. A documentary about how money and politics are changing our schools.ANNOUNCING Education Inc.National Grass Roots Screening!Friday, August 14th, 2015American public education is in controversy. As public schools across the country struggle for funding, complicated by the impact of poverty and politics, some question the future and effectiveness of public schools in
Groups file complaint alleging civil rights violations in physical education | EdSource
Groups file complaint alleging civil rights violations in physical education | EdSource: Groups file complaint alleging civil rights violations in physical educationIn the latest salvo in a longstanding effort to enforce a California education law that requires physical education classes for all students, six health advocacy organizations filed a federal complaint Thursday charging that California
Failure factories | One fateful decision. Years of neglect. Five once-average schools remade into the worst in Florida | Tampa Bay Times
How the Pinellas County School Board neglected five schools until they became the worst in Florida | Failure factories | Tampa Bay Times | Tampa Bay Times: One fateful decision. Years of neglect. Five once-average schools remade into the worst in Florida.FAILURE FACTORIESIn just eight years, Pinellas County School Board members turned five schools in the county’s black neighborhoods into some of t
How one teacher's union is struggling for relevance in a hostile political landscape | Deseret News National
How one teacher's union is struggling for relevance in a hostile political landscape | Deseret News National:How one teacher's union is struggling for relevance in a hostile political landscapeMilwaukee has stood at ground zero of education reform battles since at least 1990, when the city became one of the first of two to experiment with vouchers for private schools. Today, roughly 26,000 Milwauk
Every Latino Child Left Behind | NCLR Action Fund
Every Latino Child Left Behind | NCLR Action Fund: Every Latino Child Left BehindIn 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was instituted and changed the way public schools operated. For the first time in the history of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), NCLB marked a deliberate and strong federal approach to increase equity in education. As a nation, we committed to holding all
The Problem We All Live With | This American Life
The Problem We All Live With | This American Life: 562: The Problem We All Live WithJUL 31, 2015Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there's one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at a district that, not long ago, accident
CURMUDGUCATION: Klein Fails Hard (Bye Bye, Amplify)
CURMUDGUCATION: Klein Fails Hard (Bye Bye, Amplify): Klein Fails Hard (Bye Bye, Amplify)The news has spread rapidly-- Amplify, the education tech division of News Corp, headed by Joel Klein and funded by Rupert Murdoch, is headed directly down the tubes.Klein is the poster boy for unqualified people in educational leadership roles, rising to the head of the nation's largest school system based on
With A Brooklyn Accent: How Broken Windows Policing Leaves Large Numbers of People Unemployable
With A Brooklyn Accent: How Broken Windows Policing Leaves Large Numbers of People Unemployable: How Broken Windows Policing Leaves Large Numbers of People Unemployable  The other day, one of my friends and tennis partners, a criminal lawyer, gave a chilling account of what a good part of his law practice involves. Many of his clients, he said, are working class people who have been arrested for n
The Civic Importance of Public Education: Valuing What We Take for Granted | janresseger
The Civic Importance of Public Education: Valuing What We Take for Granted | janresseger: The Civic Importance of Public Education: Valuing What We Take for GrantedHow can we learn to value what we take for granted?Public schools are institutions we have taken for granted for so long that it’s hard to imagine they could disappear.  In Cleveland’s saddest neighborhoods, I am jarred every time I dri
More student diversity, less integration as school restarts | 89.3 KPCC
More student diversity, less integration as school restarts | 89.3 KPCC: More student diversity, less integration as school restartsAs over 50 million students nationwide head back for the new academic year, it's clear America is a-changing — and you only need to look in public schools to get a sense of how. The U.S. Department of Education projects kids this school year will be majority minority,
Katrina envy. | Fred Klonsky
Katrina envy. | Fred Klonsky: Katrina envy.In 2010 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was famously quoted as saying that Hurricane Katrina was “the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans.”It was a thoughtless, stupid thing to say considering the devastation Katrina brought to one of the world’s great cities and its people ten years ago.But Duncan is a stupid man prone to s
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: McQueary's disaster capitalism fantasy
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: McQueary's disaster capitalism fantasy: McQueary's disaster capitalism fantasy "Hurricane Katrina gave a great American city a rebirth." -- Kristen McQueary"They're trying to wash us away."  -- Randy Newman, Louisiana 1927The Tribune is on a roll. Weeks after calling for a Mussolini-type dictator to run the school system, editorial board member Mc
Back-to-School Reading for Parents: How and why to legally/illegally refuse/opt-out from mandated high stakes tests | Reclaim Reform
Back-to-School Reading for Parents: How and why to legally/illegally refuse/opt-out from mandated high stakes tests | Reclaim Reform: Back-to-School Reading for Parents: How and why to legally/illegally refuse/opt-out from mandated high stakes testsA deflated football, Megyn Kelly’s period, Benghazi, and that thing on the top of Donald Trump’s head – distractors all.As our children continue to be
NY Teacher Lederman’s Day in Court | VAMboozled!
NY Teacher Lederman’s Day in Court | VAMboozled!: NY Teacher Lederman’s Day in CourtDo you recall the case of Sheri Lederman? The Long Island teacher who, apparently by all accounts other than her composite growth (or value-added) score is a terrific 4th grade/18 year veteran teacher, who received a score of 1 out of 20 after she scored a 14 out of 20 the year prior (see prior posts here, here and
NYSAPE Press Release 2015 Scores - NYS ALLIES for Public Education
NYSAPE Press Release 2015 Scores - NYS ALLIES for Public Education: Opt Out to Sharply Rise as NYS Continues to Sacrifice Children With Flawed Tests & PoliciesYesterday, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) released the results of the 2015 3-8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) & Math exams. ELA scores were essentially flat, and the small increase in Math scores (less than 2 pe
New York Schools With Many Opting Out of Tests May Be Penalized - The New York Times
New York Schools With Many Opting Out of Tests May Be Penalized - The New York Times: New York Schools With Many Opting Out of Tests May Be PenalizedA drastic increase this year in the number of students sitting out New York’s standardized exams has created another kind of test, one for state and federal education officials who must decide whether to punish school districts with low participation
Why ‘Community Schools’ Are Taking Root In Florida | StateImpact Florida
Why ‘Community Schools’ Are Taking Root In Florida | StateImpact Florida: Why ‘Community Schools’ Are Taking Root In FloridaEvans High School in Orange County used to be known as a dropout factory. But since 2007, it’s gone from a two-time F-rated school to a B-rated school – in one of Orlando’s most troubled neighborhoods. Now, the “community school” concept is spreading to other Florida cities.E
Causes, potential consequences of testing opt-out movement - Yahoo News
Causes, potential consequences of testing opt-out movement - Yahoo News: Causes, potential consequences of testing opt-out movementBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — New York is facing a growing rebellion against Common Core-aligned standardized tests. About 20 percent of the state's third- through eighth-graders refused to take the tests this spring, up from 5 percent a year earlier. As state education officia
Update on state tests, opt outs, meeting with Commissioner and last chance to sign our petition! NYC Public School Parents:
NYC Public School Parents: Update on state tests, opt outs, meeting with Commissioner and last chance to sign our petition!: NYC Public School Parents: Update on state tests, opt outs, meeting with Commissioner and last chance to sign our petition!The state test scores were released yesterday and they were nothing to brag about.  As before, the vast majority of students scored at Level 1 or 2, and
School Reform: Does Something Smell Rotten? | Vicki Cobb
School Reform: Does Something Smell Rotten? | Vicki Cobb: School Reform: Does Something Smell Rotten?The American Revolution ultimately came together with the widespread distribution of a pamphlet that spoke truth about power. Tonight, August 14, is the start of a public awareness campaign to take a close look at the school reform movement through a modern day equivalent of Thomas Paine's Common S
You’re 100 Percent Wrong About Critical Thinking
You’re 100 Percent Wrong About Critical Thinking: You’re 100 Percent Wrong About Critical ThinkingThe many fractious factions in the American education wars fight over standardized tests, teacher pay and whether we are dumber than India and China or much, much dumber than India and China. But they all agree on a single criticism of public schooling in the United States: Not enough critical thinkin
The NY Opt Out and “Invalidated” Scores | deutsch29
The NY Opt Out and “Invalidated” Scores | deutsch29: The NY Opt Out and “Invalidated” ScoresIn April 2015, approximately 20 percent of students in New York State opted out of the state’s tests in grades 3 through 8.An August 12, 2015, Syracuse.com article opens as follows:A large number of students opting out of New York state exams – about 220,000 or 20 percent – raises doubt about the validity o

YESTERDAY

Call for Action for Students Affected by CAHSEE - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)
Call for Action for Students Affected by CAHSEE - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Calls for Action to Assist Students Affected by the Cancellation of the July California High School Exit ExamSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today called the University of California and California State University systems and the Association of I
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/13/15
SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMDo I Understand ESEA? - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial VoiceDo I Understand ESEA? - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: Do I Understand ESEA?This question — do I understand ESEA — should have been a starting point for President Obama and all 535 members of Congress as they approached the reauthorization of ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act). I’m only at