SPECIAL NITE CAP
CORPORATE ED REFORM
Should You Opt Out - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice
Should You Opt Out - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: Should You Opt Out Opting out of state tests means: You are using an effective tool to fight the unethical use of standardized testing that has, for decades, hindered real progress in providing equal access to quality education in America.United Opt OutWhen significant numbers of parents opt their children out of testing, they are statistica
What We Know, What We Do -- A Contradiction | Steve Nelson
What We Know, What We Do -- A Contradiction | Steve Nelson: What We Know, What We Do -- A ContradictionMost critics of current education reform cite political shenanigans, funding sleight of hand and concerns about privatization. Those concerns are justified, but the deeper problem is educational. Education may be the dimension of contemporary life where "what we do" is most profoundly i
Dyett Activists Launch Hunger Strike Demanding Decision on Reopening School - Hyde Park - DNAinfo.com Chicago
Dyett Activists Launch Hunger Strike Demanding Decision on Reopening School - Hyde Park - DNAinfo.com Chicago: Dyett Activists Launch Hunger Strike Demanding Decision on Reopening SchoolTwelve people pushing for a district-run option for reopening Dyett High School have refused to eat until the plan is approved.GRAND BOULEVARD — Twelve school activists started a hunger strike Monday morning, deman
Teacher shortages, student loan debt featured topics on Capitol - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports
Teacher shortages, student loan debt featured topics on Capitol - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports: Teacher shortages, student loan debt featured topics on Capitol City SundayWKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsMADISON (WKOW) -- On this week's edition of Capitol City Sunday, Tim Slekar, dean of Education at Madison Edgewood College and Percy Brown, director
This Week In Education: Thompson: A NOLA Middle Ground
This Week In Education: Thompson: A NOLA Middle Ground: Thompson: A NOLA Middle GroundJohn Merrow, in Deciphering Schooling in New Orleans, Post-Katrina, writes that he hasn’t seen enough people take the middle ground when discussing the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans's school reform. He also remembers the city's schools as so bad, pre-Katrini, that one had to "stea
Rauner offers CPS $200 million in pension help — with a catch | Chicago
Rauner offers CPS $200 million in pension help — with a catch | Chicago: Rauner offers CPS $200 million in pension help — with a catchGov. Bruce Rauner on Monday offered up $200 million in state aid to offset Chicago Public Schools’ pension costs but said it would come only as part of a comprehensive school reform package that includes allowing the city and local towns to opt out of collective b
Big Win for Opt-Out | Alan Singer
Big Win for Opt-Out | Alan Singer: Big Win for Opt-OutThe Opt-Out movement in New York State and maybe across the country may have already won. In New York, 200,000 students refused to take either the Math or English standardized exam (or both) last April. This was quadruple the number of students opting out of the 2014 tests and by far the highest opt-out rate in the country.Opt-Out is a parent-l
Common Core tests succeeding in labeling children as failures - Wait What?
Common Core tests succeeding in labeling children as failures - Wait What?: Common Core tests succeeding in labeling children as failures“It’s only because of their stupidity that they’re able to be so sure of themselves.” – Franz Kafka, The Trail (1925)Or are we the stupid ones for letting the “education reformers” get away with undermining our children, their teachers and our public schools.Wh
The Time to Act is Now! BESE election is scheduled for October 24 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
The Time to Act is Now! | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: The Time to Act is Now!It is two months and a week to the election and I am in dire need of volunteers and cash.The BESE election is scheduled for October 24.Time is running short to impact an election that will have direct statewide implications for the next four years. If we don’t win the outcome of this election will probably set our public schoo
New LCFF Snapshot Available - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)
New LCFF Snapshot Available - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education): New Online Tool Provides Vital Data on SchoolsSACRAMENTO—Do you want to know the graduation or dropout rates at a high school or how students there performed on college readiness exams? Or the number of student suspensions or expulsions at a school? Or the percentage of English learner students who made progress toward English profici
CURMUDGUCATION: Watts: Presence, Present and Future
CURMUDGUCATION: Watts: Presence, Present and Future: Watts: Presence, Present and FutureNear the top of my list of not-exactly-education sites is Maria Popova's Brain Pickings, a site that consistently provides great writing and insights about how to be fully human in the world-- which of course means it really is about education after all.Here's a post that lifts from the work of Alan Watts (1915
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System - Testing (CA Dept of Education)
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System - Testing (CA Dept of Education): California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) SystemCalifornia's new statewide student assessment system.CAASPP SystemOn January 1, 2014, California Education Code Section 60640 established the CAASPP System of assessments. The CAASPP - CalEdFacts Web page provides a mor
For the Record: You Ain’t Done a Thing | Recovery School District | The New Orleans Tribune
For the Record: You Ain’t Done a Thing | A Tribune Editorial | The New Orleans Tribune: FOR THE RECORD: YOU AIN’T DONE A THING | A TRIBUNE EDITORIALIt’s been a tough several months on the local public education front: Let’s count the ways:First, Act 543, which captures local sales and property tax dollars for the use of the Recovery School District and charter school boards that do not answer to t
WA Court Fines Legislature $100,000 a Day for Failure to Remedy School Funding | janresseger
WA Court Fines Legislature $100,000 a Day for Failure to Remedy School Funding | janresseger: WA Court Fines Legislature $100,000 a Day for Failure to Remedy School FundingDespite the intrusive role of the federal government in public education imposed by the 2002, No Child Left Behind Act, “All 50 state constitutions require their state to establish and fund education for its children. These pro
Luke Bronin breaking the law with illegal corporate in-kind contributions - Wait What?
Luke Bronin breaking the law with illegal corporate in-kind contributions - Wait What?: Luke Bronin breaking the law with illegal corporate in-kind contributionsIf elected Hartford Connecticut’s s next mayor, Greenwich native Luke Bronin says he’ll successfully plow the streets, solve the city’s crime problems and provide jobs for the residents of Connecticut’s poorest city.In order to persuade th
Coping with back-to-school stress, K-12
Coping with back-to-school stress, K-12: Coping with back-to-school stress, K-12(TNS) | Going back to school is exciting, invigorating — and stressful.It’s human nature to feel anxious in the face of change, experts say, but there’s plenty that parents can do to help kids feel prepared for school, from showing small children where the cafeteria and bathrooms are to helping high school freshmen fig
What Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce » Missouri Education Watchdog
What Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce » Missouri Education Watchdog: What Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Spaghetti SauceThe Presidential campaign is proving that Common Core is an issue that is not going to go away. Every candidate, in all political parties, is going to be asked, at some point, where they stand on Common Core. They should know that at least one segmen
You’re Fired! | EduShyster
You’re Fired! | EduShyster: You’re Fired!Teachers at Chicago’s Urban Prep Academies voted to form a union—then a whole bunch of them got fired…It’s back to school season, reader. Which means that all over the land teachers are returning to their classrooms, armed with the $513 worth of school supplies they purchased with their own money. Well, not all over the land. Sixteen Chicago-land teachers a
Teachers claim unfair evaluations in Lawrence - The Boston Globe
Teachers claim unfair evaluations in Lawrence - The Boston Globe: Dismissed Lawrence teachers fault evaluationsSeveral say feedback was inadequate, not given quickly enoughA number of teachers who lost their jobs in Lawrence public schools this year say they were unfairly evaluated, asserting that administrators failed to provide adequate and timely feedback.The Lawrence school system, taken over
Academic expectations around the country, in two maps - The Hechinger Report
Academic expectations around the country, in two maps - The Hechinger Report: Academic expectations around the country, in two mapsMany education experts, and lay people alike, argue that you must set high academic standards in order for students to excel at school. All too often you hear the lament that low-income minority students often perform poorly because schools don’t expect much of them. N
Jeb Bush Is Trying Really Hard To Sound Like He Doesn’t Support Common Core | ThinkProgress
Jeb Bush Is Trying Really Hard To Sound Like He Doesn’t Support Common Core | ThinkProgress: Jeb Bush Is Trying Really Hard To Sound Like He Doesn’t Support Common CoreFormer Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush had an awkward conversation about Common Core education standards this week, calling the initiative’s name “poisonous” while attempting to appeal to conservatives who o
Dollars, Details And The Devil: Top 10 Needed Charter School Reforms
Dollars, Details And The Devil: Top 10 Needed Charter School Reforms: Dollars, Details And The Devil: Top 10 Needed Charter School Reforms“Oh it’s a long, long while from May to December,” Maxwell Anderson’s great lyric tells us, “But the days go short when you reach September.” And with the Ohio legislature’s inaction on anticipated charter school reform, the classic tune also reminds us that “On
The (Possibly) Post-No Child Left Behind Presidency - The Daily Beast Campbell Brown
The (Possibly) Post-No Child Left Behind Presidency - The Daily Beast: The (Possibly) Post-No Child Left Behind PresidencyThe issue of how to education the next generation is one that each presidential candidate needs to address.Not so long ago but at a moment whose goodwill seems far away, President George Bush signed No Child Left Behind, the bill that still guides U.S. spending on public educat
Dan Walters: Rating California schools is a big battle | The Sacramento Bee
Dan Walters: Rating California schools is a big battle | The Sacramento Bee: Dan Walters: Rating California schools is a big battle Students Matter, an organization created and financed by Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Welch (pictured), successfully sued the state over teacher seniority and tenure laws, contending that they shortchange “high-needs” students. Now it’s suing 13 school districts
Want More Teachers? Pay More | Al Jazeera America
Want More Teachers? Pay More | Al Jazeera America: Want more teachers? Pay moreRecruiting workers to a field is easy, if you’re willing to offer the market wageLast week the New York Times ran a lengthy piece calling attention to school districts across the country that are having a difficult time attracting new teachers. The piece reported that many school districts are relaxing standards in orde
When Teachers Flunk
When Teachers Flunk: When Teachers FlunkLet’s say you’re hoping to become a public school teacher in New York City. You have your master’s degree, your chosen discipline, your arsenal of dry-erase markers. Now all that’s left is to take the state’s Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST), required for certification. On that exam, you may be asked questions based on a passage about Gertrude Stein or a
Global Free Market: A Perspective and Admonition - teacher/poet/musician/watch cat:
teacher/poet/musician/watch cat: Global Free Market: A Perspective and Admonition: Global Free Market: A Perspective and AdmonitionFree market principles, supported by neo-conservatism or neo-liberalism and perpetuated by a “corporatists’ crusade,” are aligned with the policies of the “Chicago School” ideologues, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. These doctrines per
empathyeducates - Eleven Parents Launch Hunger Strike
empathyeducates - Eleven Parents Launch Hunger Strike: Eleven Parents Launch Hunger Strike!!! Media Alert Eleven parents from Bronzeville and allies from communities across Chicago launch a hunger strike in front of Dyett High School to call out the injustice suffered at the hands of CPS and the appointed Board of Education and to demand the adoption of the Global Leadership and Green Technology p
YESTERDAY
We Have A Long Way To Go With Testing, But Where To? | The Jose Vilson
We Have A Long Way To Go With Testing, But Where To? | The Jose Vilson: We Have A Long Way To Go With Testing, But Where To?I’m opting out of the latest testing results discussion.Columbia University professor Aaron Pallas astutely observed that every city and state politician came to their respective podiums with some variation of “We have a long way to go” as part of their statements about the n
Will New York State Flunk Most of the Class of 2022? | deutsch29
Will New York State Flunk Most of the Class of 2022? | deutsch29: Will New York State Flunk Most of the Class of 2022?The New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the NY Board of Regents are standing firm in their allegiance to the state’s Common-Core-aligned exams.Sure, there is no proof that passing a Regents exam aligned to Common Core will deliver on the ad nauseam “college and career r
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/16/15
SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMWhen A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For Childhood : NPRWhen A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For Childhood : NPR: When A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For ChildhoodIan opens the door to the motel room he shares with his mother, Karen. Their living situation has exposed the 5-year-old to conditions most students his age d
