Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, June 12, 2020

Teachers Face A Summer Of Soul Searching. What Do They Do In The Fall?

Teachers Face A Summer Of Soul Searching. What Do They Do In The Fall?

Teachers Face A Summer Of Soul Searching. What Do They Do In The Fall?


We know a handful of things.
We know that virtually nobody wants to continue the pandemic shut-down crisis school model in the fall (with the possible exception of ed tech companies that hope to keep cashing in on it). Elected officials across the country are calling for schools to open again, a position that’s easy for them to take because A) everybody is suffering from full-on pandemic fatigue and B) none of those officials will have to deal with the actual issues of opening schools.
We know that nobody really knows how dangerous re-opening schools will be. Will students become super-spreaders, sharing it at school and bringing it home to vulnerable family members? How great a risk will teachers be running?
We know that “official” guidance on how to open schools is in short supply, and that what is out there is, for teachers, mind-bogglingThe average teacher’s reaction to CDC guidelines is an eye roll powerful CONTINUE READING: Teachers Face A Summer Of Soul Searching. What Do They Do In The Fall?


Shawgi Tell: Maryland: Privately-Operated Online Charter Schools Should Remain Illegal | Dissident Voice

Maryland: Privately-Operated Online Charter Schools Should Remain Illegal | Dissident Voice

Maryland: Privately-Operated Online Charter Schools Should Remain Illegal


It is no surprise that many are exploiting the “COVID Pandemic” to advance their narrow self-serving agendas. Charter school advocates are no exception.
Crises often generate instability, chaos, and confusion that can make it easier for such forces to get away with antisocial policies and arrangements that would be far more difficult to implement under normal conditions.
Charter school promoters support the antisocial outlook that says: “never let a serious crisis to go to waste.” This was most evident in New Orleans, Louisiana back in 2005 when disaster capitalists imposed privately-operated charter schools on everyone. Charter schools there have failed in many ways.1 Guided by this pragmatic capital-centered dictum, charter school promoters, along with other neoliberals, privatizers, disaster capitalists, and big-tech billionaires are busy trying to determine how to impose more harmful arrangements on education and society when no one is looking.2
One such example comes from Maryland, where some want to legalize privately-operated online charter schools. On May 19, 2020, the Board of Contributors of the Frederick News Post used their “public” newspaper to call for legalizing privately-operated online charter schools.3
While readily admitting that in-person-face-to-face-instruction is superior to screen-based instruction, the Board of Contributors minimizes this critical CONTINUE READING: Maryland: Privately-Operated Online Charter Schools Should Remain Illegal | Dissident Voice

Biden’s U.S. Secretary of Education shortlist? | Cloaking Inequity

Biden’s U.S. Secretary of Education shortlist? | Cloaking Inequity

BIDEN’S U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION SHORTLIST?


It’s a honor to even be mentioned on @8BlackHands1 list for US Secretary of Education. The @UKCollegeofEd community of 2,500 students, 200 faculty and 150 staff & tens of thousands of alumni endeavor everyday to serve our community, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond! My vote now and always will be for my Stanford mentor Linda Darling-Hammond.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.
Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.
Twitter: @ProfessorJVH
Click here for Vitae.

Moving from Teacher to Superintendent: A Political Odyssey | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Moving from Teacher to Superintendent: A Political Odyssey | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Moving from Teacher to Superintendent: A Political Odyssey


After teaching for fourteen years, I wanted to be an urban superintendent. To do that, I had to get a doctorate.  Accepted at Stanford as a middle-aged graduate student, I arrived in 1972 with family in tow. The two years I spent at Stanford was a powerful intellectual experience. I had told David Tyack, my adviser then, (years later my teaching colleague, co-author, and dear friend) that I wanted to get a degree swiftly and find a superintendency.
With an abiding interest in history, I pursued courses that Tyack taught in history of education but also studied political science, organizational sociology, and the economics of education. If motivation and readiness are prerequisites for learning, I had them in excess.
Moving from being a veteran teacher in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. to becoming a researcher, I had to embrace analytical thinking over personal involvement, generalizations over particular facts. Through graduate work I discovered connections with the past, seeing theories at work in what I had done and, most important to me, coming to see the world of schooling, past and present, through political, sociological, economic, and organizational lenses. These analytic tools drove me to re-examine my teaching and administrative experiences. Informative lectures, long discussions with other students, close contact with a handful of professors, and working on a dissertation about three big city superintendents  made the two years an intensely satisfying experience.
David Tyack’s patient and insightful prodding through well-aimed questions turned archival research and writing the dissertation into an intellectual high. I CONTINUE READING: Moving from Teacher to Superintendent: A Political Odyssey | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A Reader for Confronting Whiteness, Supporting #BLM: “How Do I Open Their Eyes?” – radical eyes for equity

A Reader for Confronting Whiteness, Supporting #BLM: “How Do I Open Their Eyes?” – radical eyes for equity

A Reader for Confronting Whiteness, Supporting #BLM: “How Do I Open Their Eyes?”


A former student and current college student sent me an email with the subject line “How Do I Open Their Eyes?”
Their story is one that resonates with me since they have found themselves quarantined during Covid-19 “with my parents and neighbors, all of which I would say are very religiously right leaning.” During the more recent re-energized #BlackLivesMatter movement, they have experienced yet another challenge as they confronted those around them to support #BLM, but “was unable to get a word in because I was simply outnumbered by conservative white men.”
This is a journey that fits into this racism scale that details the challenges facing white people who genuinely seek to rise to the level of allyship/abolitionist:
Racism scale copy
The work of dismantling racism includes confronting whiteness and white privilege in order to eradicate both—and this is the work of white people in confrontation with white people.
There is a sizable faction of “conservative white men” who will not listen, will never listen, and will never move beyond their white fragility and white denial.
But racism cannot be overcome in a state of fatalism.
Here then is a reader, some resources for doing the work by white people and CONTINUE READING: A Reader for Confronting Whiteness, Supporting #BLM: “How Do I Open Their Eyes?” – radical eyes for equity

Schools Districts End Contracts With Police Amid Ongoing Protests | The Report | US News

Schools Districts End Contracts With Police Amid Ongoing Protests | The Report | US News

The End of Police in Schools
As demonstrations over the death of George Floyd spread across the country, school districts are reevaluating the use of resource officers.



DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS became the third school district in two weeks to sever a million-dollar contract with its city's police department to remove officers from schools – a move that at least a dozen other school districts are considering following the death of George Floyd in police custody and the subsequent chorus of ongoing country-wide protests over police violence against black people.
"This topic is not new or knee jerk," said Jennifer Bacon, vice president of Denver's Board of Education. "People have been calling for it to end for a long time."
"It took eight minutes and 46 seconds to say we are going to do these things," she said referencing the amount of time the police officer knelt on Floyd's neck according to videos.
In Denver, as in most other school districts that partner with police departments to provide security, black and Hispanic students face disproportionately high rates of discipline and referrals to the juvenile justice system.
During the 2018-19 school year, for example, 29% of referrals to law enforcement were for black students, despite black students accounting for only 13% of the district's student population, according to the Advancement Project. And from 2014 through 2019, there were 4,540 police tickets and arrests of students within Denver schools – 87% of them students of color.
Denver is just the latest in a series of districts to make this decision.
Minneapolis Public Schools ended its decades-long partnership with the city's police department last week – a unanimous vote from the school board following the death of Floyd CONTINUE READING: Schools Districts End Contracts With Police Amid Ongoing Protests | The Report | US News

Ohio Legislative Democrats Remind Ohio Congressional Delegation that Ohio’s Public Schools Desperately Need More Federal COVID-19 Relief | janresseger

Ohio Legislative Democrats Remind Ohio Congressional Delegation that Ohio’s Public Schools Desperately Need More Federal COVID-19 Relief | janresseger
Ohio Legislative Democrats Remind Ohio Congressional Delegation that Ohio’s Public Schools Desperately Need More Federal COVID-19 Relief



Thank you, members of the Democratic Caucus of the Ohio Legislature, for reaching out to members of the Ohio Congressional delegation on behalf of urgently needed additional federal COVID-19 relief funding for our state’s public schools.
On June 4, Ohio legislative Democrats sent a formal letter to Ohio’s Congressional representatives and senators “to request that you… approve new funding for local school systems in the next COVID-19 supplemental appropriations bill. Parents, teachers, and students in the communities… we represent are depending on us to build the foundation for a more resilient future.”
In their letter, Ohio’s state legislators reminded their counterparts in Congress that Governor Mike DeWine has already cut $775 million from the fiscal budget that ends June 30, “including $300 million from public schools and $76 million from public colleges and universities.  These cuts are already causing immense shortfalls for public school districts….”
Noting that Ohio is one of the states where funding for public schools still falls short of the pre-2008-recession level, Ohio’s legislative Democrats ask, “that Congress increase investment in the Education Stabilization Fund by at least $100 billion for K-12 education to local districts to weather this storm.”  The letter argues that public schools will need additional money to take precautions for the safe opening of school next fall and that, in case schools need to rely on remote learning during a second wave of the pandemic, many school districts need to further expand what remains limited access to technology.  They add: “We ask that Congress provide additional funds to the states for Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act students in the 2020-2021 school year, so that schools may offer summer school and after- CONTINUE READING: Ohio Legislative Democrats Remind Ohio Congressional Delegation that Ohio’s Public Schools Desperately Need More Federal COVID-19 Relief | janresseger

NYC Educator: On Remote Learning--Show Me Their Faces

NYC Educator: On Remote Learning--Show Me Their Faces

On Remote Learning--Show Me Their Faces


Remote learning is a big topic these days. I'm always reading about it. Not only that, I've been doing it for three months. WSJ and the Post say it's awful, though I don't remember them ever saying that about the cyber charters that infest these United States. They're pretty well-known as simply awful. A lot of them are scammers who get paid for students who never show up.

Now I'm personally familiar with at least some students who never show up. Starting next Wednesday they become my primary professional focus. I'm not overly optimistic about the prospects of most students currently failing my classes. They seem to be failing all their others as well. I mean, I'll make myself available, but some of these students have been unreachable for weeks. I'm going to focus today on the students who've passed, which is almost all those who've been showing up to my Zoom classes.

Here's my big complaint--I can't see them. I have no idea what on earth they're doing behind those avatars. Are they listening? Are they playing video games on their phones? Have they muted themselves so they can watch video? Are they sleeping? If so, are they even sleeping alone? Who knows? Certainly not me. They could be doing anything. If they were in my classroom, I'd walk over and orient them one way or another.

Actually, if students were showing their faces, I'd feel confident giving assessments. If I could actually watch them in real time, and if I could see what they were writing in Google Classroom, I'd be confident enough to believe it was them, or at least most of them, actually doing the work. Earlier this morning I gave students credit for homework that I'd entirely gone over in class. Now some of them know the material, and I know they do. At least one of them doesn't. I have been taking ten points off for late homework, but honestly that student deserved a zero.

The student I just mentioned, and several others, come to my online class most or all of the time. However, when I call on them, they don't respond. Now there could be a lot of reasons for that. Once, I called a student, she didn't answer, and when I said her name again she wrote in the chat that she CONTINUE READING: 
NYC Educator: On Remote Learning--Show Me Their Faces

The Third Letter | JD2718

The Third Letter | JD2718

The Third Letter


This one is different from the other two. There’s a letter from DoE central staff. There’s a similar letter by a bunch of teachers (mostly) and principals.
And then, this. Jose Vilson, The Jose Vilson, is the first signature. Not surprisingly, the letter aims for systemic change, and spells out steps in some detail. This comes closer to my own views than the other two letters:
NYC Schools For Transformative Change
To Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chancellor Richard Carranza, Regent Betty A. Rosa, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Mark Cannizzaro,
We are a coalition of teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, and other student-facing staff who seek to address and redress our school system. Many of us recognize the difficult work of educating the nation’s largest public school system, and, under the current pandemic, we’ve responded with grace, flexibility, and agility. We are proud to serve the students, parents, and communities of New York City, but we also recognize that now is the time for reconciliation with our school system’s past and a transformation – not reform – for our city’s future.
We think back to the life of Kalief Browder and how our schools were complicit in the dehumanizing experience he had that led to his tragic suicide. We think of the thousands of students who pass through metal detectors just to get our rendition of formal education while White wealthy students rarely have to CONTINUE READING: The Third Letter | JD2718

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Assessing Creativity in the Classroom? Ep2 of Creativity in Crisis

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Assessing Creativity in the Classroom? Ep2 of Creativity in Crisis

Assessing Creativity in the Classroom? Ep2 of Creativity in Crisis


In Episode 1 of Creativity in Crisis, we discussed large scale assessment of creativity. Guests Bill Lucas and James Kaufman and hosts Ron Beghetto and Yong Zhao had a very interesting discussion. You can watch it here.
In Episode 2, we would like to talk about creativity assessment in the classroom. Should it be done? If so, how often? Do we expect students to become more or less creative as they get older? Who should be doing the assessment? Should the assessment be included in students’ report cards? What impact can we expect from assessing creativity in the classroom? These are very significant questions that we must ask.
Join us from 11 to 12pm on Friday, July 10th for a great discussion. The two guests are: Elisabeth McClure, research specialist at LEGO Foundation and Jason Blaire, art teacher at Eli Pinney Elementary School in Dublin, Ohio.
We value your views, please take the survey below. The results of the survey will be used in the discussion. Thank you.
Elisabeth is a research specialist in creativity and learning at The LEGO Foundation. She is a former research fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop (2015-2017), and the lead author on the 2017 report, co-published by the Cooney Center and New America, STEM Starts Early: Grounding science, technology, engineering, and math education in early childhoodDr. McClure received her PhD from Georgetown University, where she was trained in developmental psychology with a focus on public policy. She has conducted research on families, young children, and digital media, and her research on how babies and toddlers use video chat has been featured in The AtlanticScience News, and on NPR, and has been used to inform policies for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Department of Education.
Jason Blair believes the creativity of our children will change the world. As an 18-year veteran art educator, CONTINUE READING: Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Assessing Creativity in the Classroom? Ep2 of Creativity in Crisis

NYC Public School Parents: Please join us Saturday, June 20 for a conference: Sharing Ideas & Solutions for Reopening Schools: The Path Forward

NYC Public School Parents: Please join us Saturday, June 20 for a conference: Sharing Ideas & Solutions for Reopening Schools: The Path Forward

Please join us Saturday, June 20 for a conference: Sharing Ideas & Solutions for Reopening Schools: The Path Forward


Class Size Matters and NYC Kids PAC will be holding a conference via Zoom called Sharing Ideas & Solutions for Reopening SchoolsThe Path Forward on Saturday, June 20 from 11 AM to 1 PM.
During this conference, we will collect ideas from parents, guardians, teachers, students and concerned New Yorkers about what precautions and programs should be in place next year, if and when schools reopen.

If schools are to reopen in the fall, it should be done the right way to ensure health and safety of students and staff and to maximize academic and emotional support. Though the Mayor and the Governor have their own advisory panels, few parents or educators have been appointed to these panels.

At the end of the conference, we will summarize the ideas of participants and present them to city and state decision-makers.

Please register here if you’d like to attend this conference, and we will send you the Zoom link beforehand. Space is limited so please do it now. 

On the registration page, we are also asking you to select your first, second, and third choices of break-out groups, so we can assign you to the appropriate one. These groups' discussions will form the major portion of the conference. If you do not have a preference, you can leave that part of the registration blank.

Co-sponsored by CEC 4, CEC 8, CEC 14, CEC 17, and CEC 28.
thanks so much, Leonie 
PS Also if you haven't already, please fill out the survey here, to help us structure our discussions in advance.

CURMUDGUCATION: Five Examples Of What's Wrong With Ed Tech

CURMUDGUCATION: Five Examples Of What's Wrong With Ed Tech

Five Examples Of What's Wrong With Ed Tech


I get pitches-- e-mails from PR folks who have noticed that I write about education and want to offer me a chance to talk to an up-and-coming visionary who can tell me all about Bunkadiddle Corporation's new program! The pitches have taken on a pandemic sheen for a few months now ("In these trying times, when students and teachers are all struggling, we offer this Shiny New Thing!"). Mostly they highlight everything there is to dislike and distrust in edu-business, but a couple of weeks back I got a super-entry in the category, a pitch that threw five "sources" at me, and they serve as a fine example of what's out there and why it's Not Good.


These companies are all "best in the space" (all of these pitches are for best top exemplary companies--always) and offer to help with the "two looming thoughts" for re-opening schools. How to keep people safe, and how edtech will be implemented. Which is the first bad sign, because I know lots of teachers are wrestling with concerns about students and health and classrooms and curriculum, but hardly anybody who is specifically worried about how to find edtech a happy place (the correct answer is, "I'll use any ed tech that actually does something I need to do better than I can just do it myself, and the rest can just take a hike.")

These five companies didn't ask to be raked over coals here, and it seems mean, even for me, to call them out by name after they handed me their info in an email. But here they are, offering to do their thing for pandemic times.

Our first CEO's LinkedIn profile leads with "A tireless visionary and the founder of multiple technology companies."

They're not kidding. Their profile lists him as founder for six companies, including gaming center CONTINUE READING: 
CURMUDGUCATION: Five Examples Of What's Wrong With Ed Tech

4 Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren | 89.3 KPCC

4 Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren | 89.3 KPCC

4 Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren


The police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., have sparked a national conversation around racial justice. But the country's racial justice problems aren't limited to policing — American schools have long struggled with racial inequity.
"Our students of color are treated differently in our schools," Kim Ellison, who chairs the Minneapolis Board of Education, told NPR earlier this month. A week after Floyd's death, the board voted to end its contract with the city's police department, which provided the district with school resource officers.
"It's an issue of equity for us," Ellison explained.
Equity has long been a problem in American education. In many ways, the issues playing out between police and communities of color — including implicit bias and overly harsh punishment — are playing out in schools, too.
Here are four things to know about how racial inequity affects the nation's school children.
Black students are more likely to be arrested at school.
In the 2013-2014 school year, black students accounted for 16% of students enrolled in U.S. public schools, but 33% of arrests in those schools. That's according to a 2017 analysis of federal data by the Education Week Research Center. Meanwhile, white students accounted for 50% of enrollment and 34% of arrests, and Hispanic students accounted for 25% enrollment and 25% of arrests.
"If you've got a kid who is black, there's a decent amount of research that shows that good, well-intentioned and not overtly racist people will look at that situation and judge it to be more threatening," said Josh Gupta-Kagan, a law professor at the CONTINUE READING: 4 Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren | 89.3 KPCC

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all


DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? 
A site to discuss better education for all





Trump vs. Congress and the Military re Renaming Bases
Trump tweeted that he absolutely opposed renaming military bases named to honor Confederate heroes. The renaming was proposed by military leaders and the Defense Department. Hours later, the Republican Senate Armed Services Committee voted to rename the bases. The Democratic Appropriations Committee Will attach a requirement to the $740 billion defense budget that the bases must be renamed. Will
Federal Appeals Court Rules: No Right to Education
A federal appeals court overturned a landmark ruling that affirmed the right to an education. Education is necessary for full citizenship, so voters can be fully informed. However the appeals court did not agree. In April, a 3-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a landmark decision in the Detroit literacy case, Gary B. v. Whitmer, holding that there is a “fundame
Doyle and Sahlberg: Reopen Schools with a Golden Age of Play!
William Doyle and Pasi Sahlberg have reimagined the school: Let the children play! They are the authors of a new book with that title . They write in an article for CNN: When the novel coronavirus is no longer as great a threat and schools finally reopen, we should give children the one thing they will need most after enduring months of isolation, stress, physical restraint and woefully inadequat
Join Me and Julian Vasquez Heilig in a Zoom Conversation on June 17
Please join me in a zoom discussion with Julian Vasquez Heilig , dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. We are talking On June 17 at 7:30 pm. Julian Vasquez Heilig is a brilliant researcher and champion of equity. JVH had a stellar academic career at California State University, where he also served as chair of the education committee of the state NAACP. He was recently c
Harold Meyerson: If Biden Wants to Be Like FDR, He Should Dump Summers and Rahm
Now that Joe Biden is assured the Democratic nomination, lots of advisors will clamor to get his ear. As Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect warns, he should be careful about from whom he takes advice. If he cares about rebuilding America’s public schools, he should avoid anyone connected to Race to the Top, which was a hyper-version of George W. Bush’ failed No Child Left Behind. He should
Michael Tomasky on Biden’s Shift To the Left
Veteran political journalist reflects on the leftward turn of Biden’s thinking. In this article, which appeared in The New York Review of Books, he says that Biden is no longer dreaming of restoring the Obama administration, but looking instead to FDR as a model of activism in the midst of crisis. He informs us that Biden and Sanders were communicating during the final days of the Democratic prim
Trump Will Address GOP on “Axhandle Saturday”
At Trump’s insistence, the Republican Party has moved its convention from North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. The reason: North Carolina imposes health restrictions due to the pandemic. Twenty thousand people in an arena did not seem like a good idea to state health officials, especially since it seemed likely that many would follow Trump’s model and refuse to wear a face mask. The rate of c

YESTERDAY

In Case You Missed This Great Conversation with Amy Frogge
Last night, I had a Zoom talk with Amy Frogge, who has served for eight years on the Metro Nashville school board. We talked about charters, vouchers, the Dark Money that infiltrated school board races, and the promising things happening in Nashville. She is soon leaving the board to become executive director of Pastors for Tennessee Children. Amy is one of the heroes featured in my book SLAYING
Jan Resseger: Time to Stop Using Armed Police in Schools
Jan Resseger writes here about the decision by Minneapolis and other school districts to remove police from the schools. She begins: In the aftermath of the tragic police killing of George Floyd and the widespread protests of police brutality that have followed, the Schott Foundation for Public Education comments: “We want to lift up one ray of hope in this dark moment: The Minneapolis Board of E
Mercedes Schneider Interviews an ex-TFA of SPED in Chicago
In this post, Mercedes Schneider interviews Annie Tan , who joined Teach for America in 2011, and, with inadequate training, was assigned be a teacher of special education in Chicago. Her experience was, she says, a disaster. One of Tan’s responses: Tan: I will never forget the first day when we had our celebration, and the CEO of Chicago Public Schools came and made a speech to us. It felt very
Alabama: A Charter is Closed Before It Opens
The Alabama Charter School Commission decided to revoke the charter of Woodland Prep, which had not yet opened. Blogger Larry Lee has the inside scoop. He wrote: In the end, it was as much a story about a very rural community that simply refused to quit fighting and standing up for what it believed in strongly. It was about a community that takes pride in its public schools and refused to be bull
Tom Ultican: The NewSchools Venture Fund, Masters of Disruption
This is one of the most important posts you will read today, this week, this month. If you want to understand the hoax of so-called “education reform,” read this post. Share it with your friends. Tweet it. Put it in Facebook. It rips 
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all