Why Scrapping School Testing This Year Is a Good Idea During yesterday's ( insane ) news conference, Donald Tump made some news on the K-12 education front: It’s official: U.S. students won't have to take annual state tests this year. The Education Department will waive federal requirements for state testing for K-12 students, due to unprecedented school shutdowns to contain the spread of the no
Cartoons about Online Learning Yes, it is that time for the monthly feature of cartoons. For March, I have collected cartoons about online learning. With K-12 schools and universities shutdown, many school leaders have turned to online courses as a way of teaching and learning as well as keeping up-to-date in the business world. Social distancing during the pandemic has expanded online teaching
An educator’s personal story: The year is 1949, not 2020, and the disease is polio, not covid-19 Larry Cuban is emeritus professor of education at Stanford University and a leading scholar on the history of school reform. Before his long Stanford tenure, he was a high school social studies teacher for 14 years and a district superintendent in Arlington, Va., for seven years. He is the author of
Don't Ever Forget How Much Some Folks Hate Public Education Interesting piece this week in the Washington Post , penned by Stuart Stevens , a GOP non-Trump fan consultant with a book coming out. The whole piece, about how the GOP has morphed into the kind of party ripe for something like this coronviracation we're now all sharing, is well worth reading, but here's just one quote: The failures of
NewBlackMan (in Exile) What Misinformation Has to Do With Toilet Paper by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d 'It started with an unsubstantiated rumor. “You can laugh now,” said Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1973, “but there is an acute shortage of toilet paper.” There wasn’t— but it didn’t matter. The broadcast sent America into a mass panic. Millions of shoppers swarmed into grocery stores to begin
Education Research Report THIS WEEK Education Research Report Exploring Equity in Students’ Postsecondary Math Pathway Choices by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d Colleges and universities around the country have been reforming their mathematics requirements, rejecting the traditional one-size-fits-all mathematics courses in favor of a range of options that align with students’ fields of interest. But as
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Helpful New Resources For Teaching Online by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h geralt / Pixabay I don’t think I’m ready to add any of these new resources to The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teacher
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all Advice from Your Online School Nurse by dianeravitch / 7min A veteran school nurse offers advice to parents to help them while they are schooling their children at home. A huge google Doc with parent resources from RelentlessSchoolNurse, link at
Special Education Guidance for COVID-19 COVID-19 School Closures and Services to Students with Disabilities The United States is currently experiencing a pandemic emergency due to the threat of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). On March 13, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-26-20 ensuring State funding for Local Educational Agencies (LEA) in the event of physical closure due to the thre
Top 10 Things I Want My Students to do During the Coronavirus Quarantine Dear Students, A schoolteacher without a classroom is kind of like a firefighter without a fire. Or a police officer without crime. But here we are – self-quarantined at home. Our classroom sits empty, and everyday this week we sit here at home wondering what to do. I want you to know that I’ve been thinking about all of yo
The lost school year Other countries have moved quickly to online learning but it's been a rockier rollout in the U.S. The coronavirus outbreak could close down many U.S. classrooms for the rest of the school year, blowing a hole in kids' math and reading skills, tanking test scores for years to come and making it a scramble for some to even finish high school. Kansas schools that have shuttered
Answer Sheet - The Washington Post CORONAVIRUS CRISIS A NSWER SHEET As schooling rapidly moves online across the country, concerns rise about student data privacy by Valerie Strauss / 3h Online technologies undoubtedly have the capacity to perform useful services. But an easy-to-use interface shouldn’t give companies free reign to take as much data as they wish, especially when users are not allo
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all CORONAVIRUS EDITION DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG CATCH UP NOW Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Chalkbeat: Only 10 Black Students Offered Admission to NYC’s Most Selective Public High School by dianeravitch / 38min Chalkbeat reports that the number of African American and Hispanic students offered
We're All Scrambling: Talking With Parents About These Interesting Times With millions of preschoolers staying home from school, we suddenly have millions of parents scrambling to figure out how to step into the role of their children's preschool teachers. They've found themselves as accidental homeschoolers, or as I've been thinking of it in my moments of dark humor: coronavirus homeschoolers.
No Child Behind Failed, But Kevin Carey’s New Article Doesn’t Go Deep Enough to Explain Why On Wednesday, Kevin Carey published an important piece in the Washington Post —a profile really of Amy Wilkins, currently the chief lobbyist for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and formerly a lobbyist for many years at The Education Trust. Carey, the Vice President for Education Policy a
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces "CA Meals for Kids" App Update to find Meals for COVID-19 School Closures SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today that the California Department of Education’s (CDE) “CA Meals for Kids” mobile app has been updated to help students and families find meals during COVID-19-related emergency school closures. “Fo
Rick Smith Interview with Thomas Ultican By Thomas Ultican 3/20/2020 Rick Smith is a radio talk show host from Pennsylvania. He moderates the Rick Smith Show . On Wednesday (3/18/2020) Rick had me on his two hour show for a 15 minute segment. The central point of our discussion revolved around cyber education which students throughout America are being forced into because of the current pandemic
Parents-Turned-Homeschoolers Agree: Teachers Are Amazing! As parents everywhere in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak are trying to keep instruction going at home with their children, they’re realizing something: Teaching is very hard work! Though it comes as no surprise to educators, it feels good to be acknowledged by so many, even in these dire circumstances. It’s been a stressful time for
PA Scraps the Big Standardized Test Word has been shooting out over social media for the last twenty minutes. The PSSA, the Keystone exam, and even the PASA are officially not happening this year . “Our school communities are operating within unprecedented conditions,” said Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. “Schools are making extraordinary efforts to remain connected to students and famil
An Updated Stack Of Links On COVID-19, LAUSD And Resources For Families Please be wary of what you read on the internet, folks. I came across so much that is so suspect. From “public health professionals” no less, too. Following below is a list of reliable sources of information. The last section at the bottom contains some crowd-sourced parent-lists of activities and Education-y suggestions. Ot
You are brave, you are courageous, you are amazing, you are NEA Hola NEA. Here’s my message in this surreal moment that we’re all facing. It seems like the end of the world. And I’m here to tell you it’s not. You have been sending me some of the most inspiring, courageous stories about bus drivers who are delivering meals to kids at their homes, teachers who are finding ways to engage students,
‘How do I plan a lesson?’ A teacher’s guide for parents reluctantly homeschooling their kids. ‘What if my kids won’t listen to me?’ Parents nationwide find themselves serving as teachers of their own children — some of them reluctantly — with most of the nation’s schools closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools are sending home packets of work and moving to online education, but most p
Playgrounds, babysitters, grandparents: What’s safe for kids in the age of coronavirus? The ins and outs of social distancing for children. In an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, cities and states are implementing new restrictions, seemingly every hour. The most effective tool is for everyone to stay home, but that’s a tough ask , especially when you’re living with young kids. “We are f
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 TODAY’S UPDATE On New Resources To Help Educators Figuring Out How To Support Students During School Closures Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... Pins Of The Week by Larry Ferlazzo / 18min I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated 21,000 resources there that I haven’t shared on this
Teaching Online Classes During The COVID-19 Pandemic : NPR 'Panic-gogy': Teaching Online Classes During The Coronavirus Pandemic As colleges across the country pivot online on very short notice, there are a host of complications — from laptops and Internet access to mental health and financial needs. Digital learning experts have some surprising advice: do less. "Please Do A Bad Job Of Putting Yo
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all CORONAVIRUS EDITION DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG CATCH UP NOW Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all The Status of State Testing Right Now by dianeravitch / 23min The Network for Public Education urged Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to waive all state testing for 2020. Chalkbeat reports that many s
Immunocompromised Teachers Are on the Frontlines of Coronavirus As COVID-19 continues spreading around the world, many people are paying lip service to the idea that precautions, such as social distancing, will prevent the immunocompromised, myself included, from contracting the virus. It’s an idea that has especially taken hold as some colleges and universities enact emergency protocols that wi
The most popular Education Research Reports – All time With page views Students’ Understanding Of The Equal Sign Not Equa… Aug 10, 2010 4904 ‘Grit’ adds little to prediction of academic achie… Feb 12, 2016 2253 Teachers and students don’t always agree on learni… Jan 8, 2019 1549 Teenagers’ career expectations narrowing to limite… Jan 27, 2020 904 Parents need an attitude adjustment to improve th
There Are Plenty of Things to Worry About Right Now: Your Preschooler's Education is Not One of Them Increasingly it's looking like our children aren't going back to their schools until, at best, May, but quite possibly not until the fall. The world is in crisis, but let me assure you, it's not an educational crisis. We are confronting a health crisis, an economic crisis, a mental health crisis,
Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Silver Lining for Learning: Conversations about Reimagining Education in Times of Crisis Silver Lining for Learning: Conversations about Reimagining Education in Times of Crisis Silver Lining for Learning: Conversations about Reimagining Education in Times of Crisis Silver Lining for Learning: Conversations about the Future of Education 5:30-
Chasing Success and Confronting Failure in American Schools 2020 is the 11th year I have been writing posts for this blog. In those 11 years, I have also written a few books. Every time I have had a new book come out, publishers and friends urge me to advertise the book on my blog. I am torn, however. One part of me thinks that it is too pushy, too braggish, to tout my book in the blog. It is no
Uncharted Territory I often think of the apocryphal Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." It crossed my mind quite a bit when Mike Bloomberg was mayor. But the times seem to get more and more interesting. I've never seen a time like this. My mother once told me she got scarlet fever as a child and was quarantined. Back then they weren't as advanced as we are. They, you know, actual
A FIELD ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR COVID-19: HOW TO ADAPT TEACHER EDUCATION IN THIS CRISIS ENVIRONMENT Our University of Kentucky College of Education leadership team has been communicating nearly around the clock via meetings, texts, calls etc. the last few weeks to respond to the Covid-19 crisis. Our leaders, faculty and staff have sought to be innovative to address the challenges of teacher educ
Educating The Whole Child At Home During Quarantine: Helping kids cope with anxiety and learn from life–Diary of a Teacher During the Coronavirus Crisis, Entry #3 During this period of mass school closures around the country and around the world due to COVID-19, Seattle teacher Jesse Hagopian is sharing his experience with educating his kids at home and helping social movements to promote public
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Hosts COVID-19 Webinar to Support Schools and Clarify New State Guidelines SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent Tony Thurmond today hosted a webinar for district, school and county office education leaders to walk through new state guidance documents released last night, covering the areas of distance learning, special education, meals/nutrition services, and child
Trust And Teaching Among the may lessons we get to glean from the coronavirus semester is this one: trust matters. Trust matters a lot. And it matters in little things as well as big things, because little things set the stage for big things. You can start out with silly stuff like "My inauguration crowd was the biggest ever," and folks can just wave it off as harmless, but at the other end of t
Edu-Blogging In the Age of COVID-19 Just a quick note: At first, it seems kind of ridiculous to be blogging about education policy at a moment like this. I don't think we've had a national crisis of this magnitude since WWII. Why would we debate school policy now? But the more I think about it, the more it seems we should be engaging on K-12 policy at exactly this moment. We have, for all intent
Stick To The Science, Stick To The Facts, And Stick Together … a great mantra, as important for quotidian matters as during this time of pandemic. It was invoked as the guiding light of the State’s Covid-19 task force according to Carmela Coil, head of the CA Hospital Association (@1:04:04 ). Our public officials have been scrabbling all day to forward practical advice and transparency amidst di
In the Coronavirus crisis, look for the "Nurturers" | Eclectablog In the Coronavirus crisis, look for the “Nurturers” Content source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Division of Viral Diseases In a time when our national leadership is glaringly, terrifyingly absent–and in fact, has made a horrific situation even worse, if that’s possible–I’ve been most impressed
Lessons in Educational Leadership from a Real-life Pandemic Crisis My favorite teacher-blogger, Peter Green @ Curmudgucation had a good piece today. He writes about how school leaders often forget or ignore their core values and beliefs once they become focused on being managers: A manager’s job– and not just the management of a school, but any manager– is to create the system, environment and s
A teacher’s diary: ‘What my kids learned on their first coronavirus no school day’ - The Washington Post A teacher’s diary: ‘What my kids learned on their first coronavirus no-school day’ Jesse Hagopian is an award-winning teacher at Seattle’s Garfield High School, where he is an adviser to the Black Student Union. With Seattle’s schools closed — along with thousands of others nationwide during t
Diane Ravitch Discusses The Stark Inequities Around School Closures by Lea Ceasrine & Rose Aguilar Many school districts across the country are closing schools, which raises several questions around childcare and access to food. Over 22 million students rely on free or reduced lunch. For many, it’s their only hot meal of the day. New York City is closing schools as a last result because school m
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all CORONAVIRUS EDITION DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG CATCH UP NOW Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Happy Birthday, Wilfred Owen by dianeravitch / now If you have never read the poetry of Wilfred Owen, do it now. Today is his birthday. This bio comes from Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac.” “It’s t
Arizona: SOS Arizona Needs Your Help to Stop Growth of Vouchers Forever! The parents and educators who created SOS Arizona blocked the last expansion plan for vouchers by getting a referendum on the state ballot in 2018. They had to fight the governor, the legislature, the Republican party, the Koch brothers, the DeVos family, and other monied interests, who wanted to keep expanding vouchers unt
Lessons of the Churchill War Rooms A little less than four years ago, my children, to celebrate my 70th Birthday, took me on a one week trip to London. Of all the many memorable things about the trip, the one thing that stood out the most, and has remained etched in my memory, was our 4 hour visit to the Churchill War Rooms. For those who have never visited, or heard of this site, during the ent
Coronavirus Forces Us to Notice the Essential Role of Public Schools Maybe someday we’ll all come to agree that we were crazy—for two decades after No Child Left Behind— to accept school closure as a “turnaround strategy” for so-called “failing” (low-scoring) public schools. Certainly the coronavirus pandemic, when public schools are being shut down to protect the public health, ought to be a wa
New COVID-19 Guidance for K-12 Schools Part of the COVID-19 Guidance for K-12 Schools published on March 17, 2020. California Department of Education (CDE) and California Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) March 17, 2020 Cover Letter (DOCX) Distance Learning (CDE) Distance Learning Appendix 1: Resources that Support Distance Learning Appendix 2: Lessons from the Field: Remote Learning Guidan
"Education in the Time of Coronavirus": Sign up for Jesse Hagopian's Free Webinar for Parents, Educators, & Students Im excited to announce that I am collaborating with the Speak Out public speaking center to put on this free webinar to talk about how we can pursue social justice education in a time of mass school closures. I will talk about my own experience trying to homeschool my children dur
The Coronavirus Crisis: Are We On the Same Page? What Aren’t We Doing? When Will the “All Clear” Sound? | Ed In The Apple The Coronavirus Crisis: Are We On the Same Page? What Aren’t We Doing? When Will the “All Clear” Sound? There are moments that are embedded our memories. The morning of Tuesday, September 11 th I turned on the tube, a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. I raced to m
Scrap The Big Standardized Test! Education writers have been saying it for a week. I said it. There are plenty of reasons to question the high stakes use of these tests in any year, but one thing is clear—this year, they will produce no useful data. Peter DeWitt said it . Given all of the stressors that students, teachers, staff and leaders are under right now, and given the fact that there is s
Explaining Coronavirus to Kids So you’re on day two (or more for the more cautious of us) of your efforts of being a homeschooler and the kids are asking one question that you’re having trouble answering: Daddy (gender is male because it’s my kids asking me in this parable) what actually is the Coronavirus? Like any “good parent in the 21st century” I knew exactly what to do. I spent a half hour
On Line Class Discussions Think of this as part of a series on ed tech tools that can actually be useful, now that some folks are being required to use them. Some of my teacher friends are discovering the joys of on-line class discussions, and I myself was always a fan. The best ed tech doesn't supplant the classroom, but extends its reach, and the on line discussion format offers several appeal
DISASTER Naomi Klein, in her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism , described how natural and man-made disasters open the door to privatization. During the COVID-19 disaster, we must ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen to public education. Schools have been starved over the last few decades. The lack of funding for public education, and other public institutions and pub
Charter Schools Have No Legitimate Claim to Public Funds Despite the sustained exposure of endless problems in the segregated charter school sector, charter school promoters are permanently stuck in “blindly repeat disinformation” mode and cannot seem to understand what is happening to them. Their social being and social consciousness objectively prevent them from grasping why the public increas
Coronavirus Fight Lays Bare Education’s Digital Divide In China, many rural students lack the connections or hardware to learn remotely. More nations will confront the same reality as the outbreak spreads. BEIJING — Like hundreds of millions of other children worldwide, Liu Chenxinhao and Liu Chenxinyuan were getting used to doing class work online. After their elementary school closed because o
UK COLLEGE OF EDUCATION RISES TO HIGHEST RANKING EVER! As we face this time of uncertainty, I wanted to take a moment to reach out and share a bit of news we can celebrate. Today, U.S. News and World Report released rankings showing that the University of Kentucky College of Education climbed 14 spots this year to break the top 30 among public institutions and are ranked 43 rd overall among all
Disaster Capitalism, Online Instruction, and What Covid-19 Is Teaching Us About Public Schools and Teachers The last few weeks have been surreal as we learn about the Corona Virus and how to protect ourselves and our neighbors. One of the largest disruptions has been school closings in order to contain the virus. No one knows when schools will reopen. While Covid-19 is of utmost concern, parents
BEFORE THIS VIRUS (ON NYC SCHOOLS AND COVID-19) It had to come to this. In November of 2016, people kept saying that we’ll make it through this administration, as we had in the past. A critical analysis of history reveals that, to the contrary, some won’t. Indeed, some haven’t. Even with a Democratic mayor in a Democratic city and a Democratic governor as our head of state, a subset of people kn
California schools, child care centers to get $100 million to disinfect for coronavirus | EdSource California schools, child care centers to get $100 million to disinfect for coronavirus Legislators also guarantee "full funding" during school closures. The Legislature hurriedly approved emergency financial relief to help school districts cope with the costs of the coronavirus on Monday before adj
Tell Betsy DeVos to Shut Down the Tests The Network for Public Education hopes this email finds you and your family safe and well. In the coming weeks, we will provide resources on our website to support families and teachers through this critical time. Right now, our efforts focus on keeping students safe and reducing their stress. Therefore, we are deeply disappointed by Secretary DeVos’s rece
Petition to Support Students & Communities During Mass School Closures–Diary of a Teacher During the Coronavirus Crisis, Entry #2 During this period of mass school closures around the country and around the world due to COVID-19, Seattle teacher Jesse Hagopian is going to share his experience with educating his kids at home and helping social movements to promote public health. Below is Jesse’s
Join us for "Talk out of School" on March 18, when we will talk state education funding, school closures and the pitfalls of ed tech Please join us on Wednesday, March 18 on WBAI-FM 99.5 or wbai.org where we will "Talk out of School" with Jasmine Gripper, Executive Director of the Alliance of Quality Education about what's happening with the state education budget and how parents can help ensure
What are You Going to Do when Disaster Capitalism Knocks on the Public-School Door? “Schools will be closed until at least April 20, after the upcoming spring break, but could stay closed for significantly longer, Mr. de Blasio said.” When I read those words in the New York Times article announcing that New York City schools would finally close, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. For
And Yet, There Are Collateral Benefits It’s not what you’d wish on your worst enemy, but all the same, there are bright spots amidst the coronavirus (CV) landscape. On a brief (auto) trip to the bakery this weekend I passed through numerous residential neighborhoods, every one of which sported people outside, recreating. On bikes, with basketballs in hand, walking dogs, planting trees, shouting
When You're Living The History You Are Studying: A Message I Just Sent To My Students Hello Rock and Roll to Hip Hop Students First of all, how are you? I hope those of you who left the country or your hometowns for Spring Break are able to fly back safely. Please contact me if you need help with anything. I am here if you need me. Secondly, I have read all your midterms and they are excellent.
Answer Sheet - The Washington Post Millions of students could be home for the rest of academic year because of coronavirus, officials warn Millions of students may remain out of school for the rest of the academic year in an effort to stop the spread of a deadly coronavirus that has reached pandemic status around the world, officials in several states are warning. As of late Sunday, 33 states and
Shanker Blog: Interpreting School Finance Measures Last week we released the second edition of our annual report , "The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems," which presents key findings from the School Finance Indicators Database (SFID). The SFID, released by the Shanker Institute and Rutgers Graduate School of Education (with my colleagues and co-authors Bruce Baker and Mark W
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 TODAY’S UPDATE On New Resources To Help Educators Figuring Out How To Support Students During School Closures Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... BIG Update Of New Useful Resources To Support Teachers At Closed Schools by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h photosforyou / Pixabay Let Me Know If You’re Teaching K-1
If Schools Close Because of the Coronavirus, Prepare to Help the Neediest Kids and Families At a time when schools are closing to reduce exposure to the coronavirus, school and community leaders must consider the consequences for students who live in low-income families. For many, the school is the only place these children are certain to get a meal. Plan to distribute meals to homes in need. A
IT’S STILL POVERTY We have a learning crisis but it’s not about the kids We know that student achievement is based largely on out of school factors yet we continue to try to “fix” the schools. Changing curriculum, blaming schools or teachers, privatizing, or overtesting won’t solve the problem of low student achievement. The main link to low school achievement is poverty . About a fifth of Ameri
We Need Online Instruction in the Worst Way, and That's Exactly How We're Getting It How can the mayor and chancellor continue to show their indifference to the health of UFT families? There's always a new way, and the chancellor's email this morning didn't disappoint. I'd argue they've outdone themselves once again. It appears we will be asked to come into school buildings and use the filthy, n
What to Think About When Your School is Closing Due to Coronavirus What to Think About When Your School is Closing Due to Coronavirus COVID-19 has left m any educators and administrators nationwide operating under a rapid response system to make sure learning continuity plans are in place for students . As of March 15, Educ a tion W eek reports that “ at least 64,000 schools are closed, are sched
Senate Joins House: Rejects Betsy DeVos’ Rule to Protect For-Profit Colleges and Forgive Borrowers In the summer of 2018, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed a revision in an Obama-era rule designed to protect student borrowers when their for-profit colleges shut down or when they believed they had been defrauded by a college’s predatory false advertising. DeVos’s proposed changes in the ru
Architecture 101 for Kids and Teens Online Hello to all, With COVID-19 creating havoc in many ways on our lives, I may be of value to some parents who, while their students are out of school, may want additional academic support. I have been teaching Architecture 101 classes for almost 20 years and began offering online courses several years ago. Now that I live in Portugal, my geographic range
La. Teacher of the Year: An Open Letter to High School Seniors During Coronavirus Crisis I have known Chris for most of his life. I remember celebrating his third birthday with his family (and have the Barney pics to prove it). Chris knows what it is like to have his senior year of high school wrecked by a major crisis– Hurricane Katrina. As a result of the social distancing required for America
Important update on just-announced NYC school closings and other important developments | Class Size Matters Important update on just-announced NYC school closings and other important developments After several weeks of resistance, Mayor de Blasio just announced that starting tomorrow, Monday March 16, NYC public schools will be closed, and will remain closed until at least April 20, to stem the
Important update on just-announced NYC school closings and other important developments After several weeks of resistance, Mayor de Blasio just announced that starting tomorrow, Monday March 16, NYC public schools will be closed, and will remain closed until at least April 20, to stem the rapid spread of coronavirus. For the next week, schools will be open only as a place for parents to pick up
ADVICE TO PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN’S SCHOOLS ARE BEING CLOSED TO STEM THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS For the millions of parents whose children’s schools are closed, here is some advice on trying to minimize the health risks from your children’s overuse of screens, and to maximize their privacy if they are using ed tech apps. Privacy Many ed tech programs are neither private nor secure; they collect an
It's Okay. You Don't Have To Homeschool. Like most teachers, I've had those student requests. End of the period, usually, they stop by the desk, usually looking downhearted. "Could I have the assignments for the next week or so," they ask. And then the cause. Death of a relative. Family emergency. A non-elective operation. A family tragedy. Some sort of unavoidable crisis that would take them aw
Updated: NYC Schools Will Close Effective Monday (3/17) Until April 20th (or later) Updated (3/15 – 5;30) : de Blasio announces school will close tomorrow through April 20th, at least. Centers for children of health care workers will be announced. This coming week schools will be open for “grab and go” meals to take home. Training for teachers for online teaching Tuesday through Thursday. Remote
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: I'm a Grandfather Again Edition (3/15) I'm a Grandfather Again Edition (3/15) Beware the Ides of March, indeed. It's been a busy week and I've been a little behind on my own reading, so the list might be a little short today (and late, too). But my new grandson is beautiful. Texas Takeover in Shepherd A school takeover in Texas turns into a big fat mess, and the courts aren
Words Matter: Pandemic Edition As the U.S. stumbles toward addressing COVID-19 concurrent with economic concerns connected to the pandemic as well as unrelated international events, such as oil futures , Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience,” with its focus on slavery and 1840s America, may seem even less relevant than when many of us were assigned the essay in high school. But Thoreau’s fi
EdAction March 15, 2020 - Education Votes EdAction March 15, 2020 Children and families impacted by the coronavirus need help NOW By a vote of 363-40 , the House of Representatives passed on March 14 the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) to help children and families impacted by the coronavirus. NEA sent a letter to House members supporting the legislation last week. ( Click her
NewBlackMan (in Exile) The Public and Private Muhammad Ali by Mark Anthony Neal / 1h ' The book Picture: Muhammad Ali shows how photographers from the Louisville Courier-Journal , the boxer's hometown newspaper, captured both public and private moments of "The Greatest." Tony Dokoupil talks with the newspaper's photographers who covered Ali throughout his career.' -- CBS Sunday Morning Phylicia
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Sunday’s Update On New Resources To Help Educators Figuring Out How To Support Students During School Closures Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... TODAY Wow – Ohio Governor Says He Wouldn’t Be Surprised If Schools Don’t Reopen This Year by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h I’m obviously spending a lot of time th
DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG CATCH UP NOW Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all TODAY Bloomberg Aide: If GOP Attacks Hunter Biden, the Trump Children Will Be Exposed as Grifters in a “Scorched Earth” Fusillade by dianeravitch / 9min Tim O’Brien, who wrote a book about Donald Trump, worked on the Bloomberg campaign and is now an advisor to Bloomberg. A few days ago,
Education Reform is Based on Wishful Thinking, Not Science Starting with the No Child Left Behind Law in 2002 and then proceeding to The Race to the Top, and now to The Every Student Succeeds Act, every reform of public education in the last 18 years has failed. In Louisiana, even though our Department of Education regularly reports imaginary success, like the phony improvement in 8 th grade mat
SUNDAY’S UPDATE ON NEW RESOURCES TO HELP EDUCATORS FIGURING OUT HOW TO SUPPORT STUDENTS DURING SCHOOL CLOSURES I’ve just been sharing the resources that I feel to be particularly helpful and adding them to The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coronavirus) – Please Make More Suggestions! At a certain point, however, it just gets to be too much. I’m probably approa
"Sickout" Message to Staff I'm sharing a message I sent out to members at my building below. The elite MORE Caucus, which tossed out all the people who committed the egregious offense of doing the work to make them win an election, has called for a sick out. I was not going to respond here, but it's now appeared in the Post and been covered elsewhere. It is irresponsible and disingenuous of MORE
NEA Will Mobilize to Support Joe Biden for President On March 14, National Education Association (NEA) President Lily Eskelsen García announced that the 3-million member union, the largest in the country, was proudly recommending Vice President Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. The recommendation was formalized first by a vote by NEA’s PAC Council, follow
Public Schools Can Recover from the COVID-19 Quarantine by Skipping High Stakes Tests There is one plus from being sick during a global pandemic. You get perspective. While all the schools in Pennsylvania are closed for at least the next two weeks to help stop the spread of COVID-19 (colloquially known as the Coronavirus), I self-quarantined a day early. No, I don’t think I have the virus, but I
Diary of a Teacher During the Coronavirus Crisis–Entry #1: “From School Shutdown to Homeschooling for Human Connectedness." During this period of mass school closures around the country and around the world, teacher Jesse Hagopian is going to share his experience with educating his kids at home and helping social movements to promote public health. You can follow these posts at www.IAmAnEducator
Post-Janus Union Busters Not Done Yet If you are a teacher and you spend time on Facebook, you've probably heard from those folks at My Pay My Say , their chirpy stock photo reminding you that you don't have to pay those nasty union dues. These initiatives have been popping up ever since the Janus case gave a Supreme Court okee dokee to the idea of freeloaders in a union. Teachers who don't alre
Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 3/14/20 ‘Slaying Goliath’: Diane Ravitch argues in new book that public education advocates have beat back efforts to privatize schools - The Washington Post The real story of New
