Sunday, May 3, 2020

Sunday, April 26, 2020 CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI:: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)


What? May?! Really??! Edition 

Well, here we still are, those of us who are fortunate enough to still be here. Let's read some things!

 When teaching and parenting collide
I missed this when it landed at Chalkbeat a month ago-- Matt Barnum looks at teachers who have to balance virtual teaching and at-home parenting.

 Teachers, parents and principals tell their story  
Over at The Answer Sheet on the Washington Post, Carol Burris runs down some of the results of the big Network for Public Education pandemic stay-st-home education survey.

 No To Race To The Top: Covid-19  
It shouldn't come as a surprise, but Neal McClusky at the libertarian Cato Institute doesn't like the DeVosian competitive grant program (you know-- the one that looks eerily like Arne Duncan could have designed it) any more than I do, even if it is for different reason.

 Coronavirus capitalism is coming for public schools  
At The Progressive, Dora Taylor takes a look at the vultures circling overhead right now.

 Exam Anxiety  
The Verge looks at the increasingly super-creepy world of online exam proctoring. Because there's always one more way to advance the surveillance state.

 Teaching US History in Michigan
At the blog A Walk Back in Time, a reflection on the crazy-pants demonstration in Michigan this week.

 Betsy DeVos sued over garnished wages
DeVos once agains is dragging her feet on a policy that lets Those People get away with owing money, and so, onc again, she is being taken to court.

 Betsy DeVos is the real civics failure
DeVos had some thoughts about the low NAEP history scores; Negin Owliaei is the Inside Sources with some thoughts about DeVos.

Where Are The Teachers?  
John Ewing at Forbes.com raising the issue of how folks in authority fai to actually listen to teachers. "It’s commonplace to say, “We don’t respect teachers,” but we seldom consider what that means. Respect isn’t merely the way you treat people—respect is the way you value their expertise. "

 The Wild West of Unregulated Unacountable Virtual Voucher Schools  
The big push is on for virtual schooling. Why is that a lousy idea? Let Accountabaloney count te ways.

 It's Time To Fix Standardized Testing   
Testing expert Akil Bello has a blog, and right now, you can read about some ideas for fixing standardized testing. It's a little wonky, but therefor solid on details.

98 Success Academy Students Accepted to College  
The always-charter-loving NY Post made a big fuss this week about SA getting 100% of its graduating class accepted to college. Gary Rubinstein would like to provide a little context-- like noting that that doesn't count all the students who left SA before this swell milestone. And he has the numbers, going back to kindergartem.


CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)


CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

27by Peter Greene / 17h
It's one of the less common buttons pushed by reformsters intent on pushing school choice, and it might be one of the most backwards pitches out there. Child Safety Accounts seem to be particular baby of the Heartland Institute, a thinky tank that leans way right. Their mission: "to discover, develop and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems." They are big advocates for the
Trump Teams Up With Catholic Church For School Vouchers

1Kby Peter Greene / 2d
The Tablet is a magazine of Catholic news and opinion; they got their hands on a recording of the April 26 conference call phone meeting between some 600 prominent American Catholics and the "best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church." According to Christopher White, reporting for The Tablet, the call included Cardinal Timothy Dolan (New York), Cardinal Sean O'Malley (Boston), Archbi
How Will The Free Market Save The Most Challenging Students

42by Peter Greene / 3d
Yesterday, Debbie Meyer put up a post at Project Forever Free that, unfortunately, does not strain the limits of credulity. It's about her journey as a parent and advocate, about the struggle to get her child the educational services that he's entitled to, and her subsequent work in helping other parents learn how to do the same. Struggles between parents of students with special needs and the pub
This Is Not What School Will Look Like

7Kby Peter Greene / 3d
Good lord-- the advice/guidance/clever thoughts about how to re-open schools, particularly if any state decides to follow Trump's latest unfiltered brain fart , seem to have been generated, once again, by people who have not been inside a school since they became adults. In some cases, the advice appears to come from people who have never met tiny humans at all. The CDC joins many folks advising t
Khan Academy:This Is Better

100+by Peter Greene / 4d
We are just going to keep seeing these kinds of headlines until this mess is behind us: Khan Academy founder: Balance between in-person, online learning could be ‘silver lining’ of crisis . Is it? Is it a silver lining that some ed tech folks are going to grab some market share over this? Khan Academy has seen a steady uptick in the use of their product, which, for those of you who somehow missed
Rethinking Accountability For Education, Post-Pandemic.

66by Peter Greene / 5d
It made sense for states to cancel the big end-of-year standardized reading and math test even before it became obvious that many students will never be back to school this spring to take the tests. In this extraordinary year, the tests were never going to supply valid data that could be compared to other years. Now that this year looks to be a “short” year for students, the same argument should


ICYMI: How Many Weeks Has It Been Now Edition (4/26)

by Peter Greene / 7d
Well, on it goes. Here's some reading from the week. Remember, your choices about which voices to amplify make a difference. COVID Stimulus Funds for Private School Vouchers The indispensable Mercedes Schneider 


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