Tom Torlakson Honors Latino Heritage Month - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education) : Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson Honors Latino Heritage Month SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today honored Latino Heritage Month with a celebration at the California Department of Education (CDE) headquarters building. Torlakson recognized the many contributions o
Don't Believe the Charter School Hype : Don't Believe the Charter School Hype The people seeking to blow up the cap on the number of charter schools here in the Commonwealth (God save it!) have turned on the afterburners in recent weeks, as we get closer to balloting in which a referendum on lifting the cap will be placed before the voters. The airwaves are thick with commercials about how liftin
Charter school bill calls for accountability - The San Diego Union-Tribune : Charter school bill calls for accountability A coalition of state leaders and community groups in California is pushing Gov. Jerry Brown to sign legislation that would step up charter school accountability and financial transparency. Assembly Bill 709, sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, would require charter
CURMUDGUCATION: 16 Policies for the Next President : 16 Policies for the Next President Bellwether Education Partners, a reliably reformy right-tilted thinky tank, recently issued a compendium of policy ideas for the next President. " 16 for 2016 " comes with sixteen writers and sixteen ideas, though it's not entirely clear which candidates it's aimed at-- presumably not Hillary, whose
How much does it cost to educate a student with special needs? Nobody knows. | Michigan Radio : How much does it cost to educate a student with special needs? Nobody knows. Figuring out all the different pots of money that go into paying for special education is complicated , b ut you know what’s even more complicated? Figuring out how much special education in Michigan actually costs. And if we
School reform: What went wrong, what went right, and what we should do in the future - The Washington Post : School reform: What went wrong, what went right, and what we should do in the future For years the United States has embarked on an effort to reform its public education system, a civic institution, that has been based on market principles and the belief that standardized testing is the be
On Solidarity with Standing Rock, Executive Clemency and the International Indigenous Struggle : On Solidarity with Standing Rock, Executive Clemency and the International Indigenous Struggle Greeting Sisters and Brothers: I have been asked to write a SOLIDARITY statement to everyone about the Camp of the Sacred Stones on Standing Rock. Thank you for this great honor. I must admit it is very diff
Ohio’s 2015 School District Report Cards Encourage Economic Segregation | janresseger : Ohio’s 2015 School District Report Cards Encourage Economic Segregation What does it mean when somebody gives you a bad grade for who you are? That is exactly what the new school district report cards in Ohio do. School achievement tends to correlate with aggregate family income, and metropolitan areas across
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES : WEEKEND QUOTABLES Malcolm Jenkins Eagles' safety Malcolm Jenkins on tonight's team protest “Really it’s just to continue to push forward the conversation about social injustice, and that’s a range of things from police brutality to wages and job opportunities, education. There’s just a lot of things systematically that have been set up in this co
Schools Matter: Publishing My Email Exchanges with D. Ravitch, Part 2 : Publishing My Email Exchanges with D. Ravitch, Part 2 Since Diane Ravitch has chosen to slime me in her most recent blog post, I have decided to publish some of the dozens of emails that I have exchanged with Ravitch since her highly advertised conversion from neoconservative elitism to neoliberal elitism. It is important, I
California Department of Education Releases New In - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education) : California Department of Education Releases New Information to Help Students in Foster Care SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today released new information about the nearly 70,000 foster youth in the state’s public schools as part of a coordinated effort to assist these vulnerable and ac
New Mexico Is “At It Again” | VAMboozled! : New Mexico Is “At It Again” “A Concerned New Mexico Parent” sent me yet another blog entry for you all to stay apprised of the ongoing “situation” in New Mexico and the continuous escapades of the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED). See “A Concerned New Mexico Parent’s” prior posts here, here , and here , but in this one (s)he writes what fo
Mental health, suicide and outsourcing. Our kids are at stake. - Lily's Blackboard : Mental health, suicide and outsourcing. Our kids are at stake. With age comes wisdom, or at least perspective. You learn that disappointment and loss are facts of life. You understand that when it comes to hurt and emotional pain, no feeling, overwhelming as it may be, lasts forever. But “This too shall pass” is
Will the SAT become Rhode Island’s high school “exit exam”? - Wait What? : Will the SAT become Rhode Island’s high school “exit exam”? Check out the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) website and you’ll see that they proudly declare that; Rhode Island has implemented a statewide diploma system to ensure access for all middle and high school students to rigorous, high quality, personalize
Russ on Reading: Stop the Nonsense (Words) : Stop the Nonsense (Words) Let's get the main idea of this blog post out of the way early. Nonsense words should not be used for decoding instruction. Period. No how. Not ever. A while back, I wrote a post that argued that the commonly used early literacy assessment called DIBELs , led to poor literacy instruction because it focused on the bits and piec
The State: ACT scores expose state’s unwillingness to act | the becoming radical : The State: ACT scores expose state’s unwillingness to act ACT scores expose state’s unwillingness to act [original submission posted below before edits] Education reform in South Carolina suffers from a tragic lack of imagination: New standards and new tests, but the outcomes remain disappointing. Now, recently rel
Districts join new data sharing partnership | EdSource : Districts join new data sharing partnership School districts and charter schools serving 1.7 million students in California will compile, analyze and compare data on student performance beyond what the state collects under a new agreement announced last week. The additional data will include information on school climate and students’ socia
After court threat, state of Michigan removed Flint's power to sue : After court threat, state of Michigan removed Flint's power to sue LANSING — Days after Flint Mayor Karen Weaver served notice that her city might file a lawsuit against the State of Michigan over the Flint drinking water crisis, the state removed Flint's ability to sue. Though Flint has not been under a state-appointed emergenc
A Conservative K-12 Agenda: Ideas for the Next President - Education Week : A Conservative K-12 Agenda: Ideas for the Next President Neither Clinton nor Trump offer a conservative view of schooling After 16 years of relentless Bush-Obama education expansionism, Washington sorely needs principled conservative leadership. Unfortunately, no conservative is running this year. Hillary Clinton is promi
Schools Matter: Publishing My Email Exchanges with D. Ravitch, Part 1 : Publishing My Email Exchanges with D. Ravitch, Part 1 Dear Diane, I saw your new blog post yesterday that shows your earnestness to depict me as an out-of-control sexist bully who is out to get you: Jim Horn has a website called “Schools Matter.” He opposes corporate reform, as I do. I have never met him. I hear he doesn’t li
Will PARCC and Smarter Balanced Become One? Details from PARCC’s Request to Help Chart Its Future | deutsch29 : Will PARCC and Smarter Balanced Become One? Details from PARCC’s Request to Help Chart Its Future On February 17, 2016, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) issued a Request for Information (RFI) to organizations that wished to help advise PARCC on
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/18/16 Featured Post Randi Weingarten: Trump Fails A Crucial Test | Huffington Post Why Is the State of Florida Trying to Destroy its Own Public Schools ? – Florida Viewpoint by mike
