TOP POSTS THIS WEEK&nbsp; 3/13/21

CA LSWP Collaborative Winning at Wellness AND National CACFP Week 2021Child and Adult Care Food Program - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? John White’s time as Louisiana state superintendent officially ended on March 12, 2020, after eight years of his wreaking opaque, ed-reform havoc on Louisiana public education. Two years prior to his exit, in June 2018 , White co-founded an education nonprofit, Propel America. However, according to the April 30, 2019, Advocate , he never mentioned to t

Defamiliarizing the Idea of the Modern: Where Do We Begin World History?

CA LSWP Collaborative Winning at Wellness - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education) CA LSWP Collaborative Winning at Wellness On Tuesday, March 16, at 10 a.m., the California (CA) Local School Wellness Policy (LSWP) Collaborative will discuss the comprehensive health needs of students highlighting three specific examples of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model in action in the com

CONSTRUCTING UNICORN BARNS – Dad Gone Wild

Defamiliarizing the Idea of the Modern: Where Do We Begin World History? By Paul Horton . No question is more puzzling to teachers of World or Global History than, when did the modern world begin? We inherited this question from the hand-me-down versions of Western Civilization and European history that served as the foundations for World History as it gradually evolved away from the “Rise of th

Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope – radical eyes for equity

CONSTRUCTING UNICORN BARNS “These stories aren’t told for the same reason you can’t go to the circus and see yetis riding on unicorns while playing bagpipes built out of skittles.” – Peter Greene, CURMUDGUCATION I have two kids enrolled in MNPS. One is in 5th, the other in 6th grade. Both are remaining virtual for the duration of this school year. My thinking is, back in August I enrolled them i

They are gutting the most important privacy law you never heard of. | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope When I posted my newest poem yesterday, we weathered winter (silence & shouting) , I realized this is my first poem of 2021. It is unusual since it is mostly a poem of hope, a poem uniquely set in the Covid-19 pandemic. As I looked back, I also realized that the last poem of 2020 was about my aunt’s suicide, a human throat (ineffable) , a poem of pain anchored to t

Big Education Ape / 4h

THEY ARE GUTTING THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIVACY LAW YOU NEVER HEARD OF These Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to weaken privacy. You should have a choice whether a company uses photos of you or your family; you should be told when a company provides thousands of other companies and government entities access to photos of you. There should be a law against this invasive use of your image an

SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK JAN RESSEGER BLOG

Big Education Ape / 4h

janresseger janresseger "That all citizens will be given an equal start through a sound education is one of the most basic, promised rights of our democracy. Our chronic refusal as a nation to guarantee that right for all children…. is rooted in a kind of moral blindness, or at least a failure of moral imagination…. It is a failure which threatens our future as a nation of citizens called to a co

Education Matters: CATCH UP WITH MR. G - THIS WEEK IN DUVAL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS DCPS

Big Education Ape / 4h

Education Matters CATCH UP WITH MR. G THIS WEEK IN DUVAL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS DCPS In Florida its trade scholarships for vouchers and everyone loses. 24 by Unknown / 2d Among many of the bad education bills making their way through Tallahassee perhaps the worst are SB 48, a bill expanding vouchers, and senate bill 86, curtailing bright futures. On the surface, it might seem like once you get pas

THIS WEEK'S WILDNESS Dad Gone Wild Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it

TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT

Dad Gone Wild – Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it. CONSTRUCTING UNICORN BARNS by TC Weber / 18h “These stories aren’t told for the same reason you can’t go to the circus and see yetis riding on unicorns while playing bagpipes built out of skittles.” – Peter Greene, CURMUDGUCATION I have two kids enrolled in MNPS. One is in 5th, the other in 6th grade. Both are remaining virtual for the durati

TEACHER TOM THIS WEEK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT EDUCATION POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE Cancel the Tests by Andy Spears / 2d In response to the Biden Administration’s insistence that students will take standardized tests this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Members of Congress are urging Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to rethink that decision and cancel the tests. Now, the Network for P

SSPI TONY THURMOND: STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Teacher Tom Thingmaker Featuring Creepy Crawlers 90 1d The Girl Who Didn't Know How to Play 500+ 1d What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools 4K 3d A Curriculum of All-Bugs-All-The-Time vs. Hubris and Habit 500+ 3d Experience and Freedom Matter 400+ 4d Creating Pictograms for Instagram 200+ 7d Teacher Tom

THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

California Department of Education SSPI TONY THURMOND STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION National CACFP Week 2021 12h The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is pleased to invite Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP) operators to celebrate National CACFP Week, March 14–20, 2021! CA LSWP Collaborative Winning at Wellness 12h The Califo

THIS WEEK Education Research Report

NewBlackMan (in Exile) THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) Coffee & Books: Luvvie Ajayi Jones Discusses Her New Book 'Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual‪' by Mark Anthony Neal / 14h "On this episode of Coffee & Books , host Marc Lamont Hill talks with New York Times bestselling author, speaker and podcast host, Luvvie Ajayi Jones . The two unpack Jones' new book, Professional Tr

THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Education Research Report Reviews of Two Programs Focused on Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) recently reviewed the research on two interventions designed to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders. One intervention— Literacy Design Collaborative —aims to improve teacher literacy instruction by providing profe

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe #CANCELTHETEST

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Saturday’s Must-Read Articles On School Reopenings by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h geralt / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL (you might also be interested in SCHOOLS WENT REMOTE A YEAR AGO – HERE ARE MY CHOICES FOR THE BEST PIECES WRITTEN ABOUT

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, March 12, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

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 Biden’s Rescue Plan Will Cut Child Poverty in Half! by dianeravitch / 38min Joe Biden just signed the most sweeping economic relief package since the New Deal. He has addressed poverty and inequality directly and fearlessly. Trump could boast of

YESTERDAY

(Re)Building The Black Teacher Pipeline Is A Component Of Educational Justice - Philly's 7th Ward

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Arthur Camins: Why We Should Abandon Standardized Tests and Embrace Assessments | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tLA via @dianeravitch President Biden’s Refusal to Eliminate Student Debt Is Out of Touch With Black Voters Who Helped Get Him Elected https://www.theroot.com/president-biden-s-refusal-to-eliminate-student-debt-i

College Deans Speak Out Against High Stakes Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

(RE)BUILDING THE BLACK TEACHER PIPELINE IS A COMPONENT OF EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE Across the entire United States, there aren’t nearly enough Black teachers inside classrooms. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, less than 7% of teachers nationwide are Black; only 1.5% of teachers are Black men. That is a problem because Black teachers are a force for equity for all students, e

Newsom’s CA school reopening bill funds extra programs | The Sacramento Bee

College Deans Speak Out Against High Stakes Testing Scores of education deans signed a letter to Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chair of the House Education Committee, in opposition to the recent announcement by the Biden administration that it would not grant waivers to states from the annual testing mandate in the Every Student Succeeds Act, which originated as part of the No Child Left Behind Act o

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform - The Washington Post

Tutoring, meals and more: What California’s school reopening plan has for families When Megan Bacigalupi’s sons went to distance learning last March, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. Now, the two boys who attend kindergarten and second grade in Oakland Unified School District, have been learning through Zoom for more than a year. What was a challenge in 2020 has the potential to impact her sons for

Code Acts in Education: Pandemic Privatization and Digitalization in Higher Education | National Education Policy Center

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is aimed at helping the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic — but it is another thing, as well: a major federal school reform unlike those we’ve seen in the past few decades. While the new law is aimed at helping families get back on their feet and helping businesses a

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Code Acts in Education: Pandemic Privatization and Digitalization in Higher Education The state of emergency in higher education systems around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic has opened up the sector to an expanding range of education technologies, commercial companies, and private sector ambitions. In our new report commissioned by Education International (the global federation of teach

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm.html Sanya N’Kanta On Precious Time With Family by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h "Jamaican-born, North Carolina-based singer and songwriter Sanya N’Kanta has written songs about race and immigration, but his ne

Bowman and education experts blast Biden admin for mandating standardized tests amid pandemic | Salon com

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos.html Friday’s

Teacher Tom: Thingmaker Featuring Creepy Crawlers

Bowman and education experts blast Biden admin for mandating standardized tests amid pandemic | Salon.com Bowman and education experts blast Biden admin for mandating standardized tests amid pandemic "It's a mistake that reflects a broader problem in American education," Rep. Jamaal Bowman wrote in a statement Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Tuesday joined progressive education experts in criticizing the B

Pressure on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Grows: Cancel Standardized Tests in this Crazy COVID-19 School Year | janresseger @teachcardona

Thingmaker Featuring Creepy Crawlers John Sain was a couple years older than me, which would have made him seven or eight. We always called him by his full name to distinguish him from his next door neighbor who was also named John. John Sain's father, Mr. Sain, had the caché of being retired military and having once killed a rattle snake in his garage with a garden hoe then called us kids in fr

10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps | GFBrandenburg's Blog

Pressure on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Grows: Cancel Standardized Tests in this Crazy COVID-19 School Year | janresseger Pressure on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Grows: Cancel Standardized Tests in this Crazy COVID-19 School Year There is absolutely no reason why the U.S. Department of Education should refuse to grant states waivers this spring from the federal requirement for stand

How My ELL History Students Have Evaluated Our Class – And Me! | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

10 Year Assessment of Education Reform in DC — a Fraud, says its former director of assessments, Richard Phelps Stolen from Valerie Jablow: Looking Back on DC Education Reform 10 Years Later, Part 1: The Grand Tour by Valerie Jablow [ Ed. Note: As DC’s office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) seeks a waiver of PARCC testing again (recall that OSSE waived PARCC last school year due

$240,000 in Mini Grants to Address Education Inequities - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

HOW MY ELL HISTORY STUDENTS HAVE EVALUATED OUR CLASS – AND ME! As regular readers know, at various times during the school year I have my students complete anonymous evaluations of our classes. I advise them that I always make the results public – to blog readers and to our administrators. Sometimes that commitment results in unexpected situations, like the year The Washington Post picked up on

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Let's Assess Four Year Olds

$240,000 in Grants to Address Education Inequities - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education) State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces $240,000 in Grants to Address Inequities that Deepened During Pandemic SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced that the California Department of Education (CDE) has selected 12 recipients of mini grants, totaling more than $

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, March 11, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

FL: Let's Assess Four Year Olds We have been down this road before, but I will beat this drum till my knuckles bleed (and the older my children and my grandchildren get, the harder I'll drum). Florida is once again reporting that 40% of Florida kindergartners are " not ready for kindergarten. " Rep. Erin Grall (R) told a House early learning subcommittee "That's on us," as part of her pitch for

MAR 11

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable | gadflyonthewallblog

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Congress approves massive infusion of funds for schools - Chalkbeat - https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/10/22323283/congress-biden-stimulus-money-education-schools#new_tab on chalkbeat LA Schools, Teachers Reach Tentative Deal To Reopen Classrooms To In-Person Learning https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/03/10/96984/la-schools-teachers-reach-

What ‘learning loss’ really means - The Washington Post

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable I cried when I got my second Covid-19 shot. Not a lot. Just a few drops. But the flood of emotions I felt that accompanied that tiny pinch in my arm was totally unexpected. It was like I gasped for breath and hadn’t realized until then that I was suffocating. I looked up at the volunteer who had injected me to see if she’d noticed, but it’s har

Teacher Tom: The Girl Who Didn't Know How to Play

What ‘learning loss’ really means It’s not a loss of learning. Last May, I published a post with this title: “ Can we stop telling the ‘corona kids’ how little they are learning ?” Written by Rachael Gabriel, associate professor of literacy education at the University of Connecticut, it made the case that students were actually learning when schools closed last spring as the coronavirus pandemic

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable

The Girl Who Didn't Know How to Play A few summers back, a family moved to Seattle for the summer from Vancouver, British Columbia for the sole purpose of enrolling their five-year-old daughter Anjoli in Woodland Park's Summer Program. This sort of thing happens sometimes, because of the blog. I find it embarrassing and not necessarily in the best interest of children to commute long distances t

400+gadflyonthewallblog / 2d

I cried when I got my second Covid-19 shot. Not a lot. Just a few drops. But the flood of emotions I felt that accompanied that tiny pinch in my arm was totally unexpected. It was like I gasped for breath and hadn’t realized until then that I was suffocating. I looked up at the volunteer who had injected me to see if she’d noticed, but it’s hard to read someone’s expression under a mask. So I fou

Les Perelman: We Need an FDA for Educational Assessments | Diane Ravitch's blog

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Les Perelman: We Need an FDA for Educational Assessments Les Perelman, former professor of writing at MIT and inventor of the BABEL generator, has repeatedly exposed the quackery in computer-scoring of essays . If you want to learn how to generate an essay that will win a high score but make no sense, google the “BABEL Generator,” which was developed by Perelman and his students at MIT to fool t

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Rep. Jamaal Bowman & Randi Weingarten: America's Covid spring shouldn't include standardized tests for any students - NBC NEWS

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm.html 'Through The Cracks' Reexamines How An 8-Year-Old Girl Disappeared From A D.C. Homeless Shelter by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h "Here & Now 's Tonya Mosley speaks with Jonquilyn Hill , host of the podcast

CURMUDGUCATION: Dear Mike Bloomberg: No

America's Covid spring shouldn't include standardized tests for any students America's Covid spring shouldn't include standardized tests for any students After the year our children have had, we must consider their well-being above all else when making decisions about schooling. By Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Democratic U.S. representative from New York’s 16th district and Randi Weingarten, president of

Teachers I Respect and Admire–William Appling | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Dear Mike Bloomberg: No Michael Bloomberg, former NYC mayor, failed Presidential candidate, and rich guy, took to t he pages of the Washington Post to argue that Joe Biden should keep schools open this summer . Bloomberg says that we are facing "the greatest challenge to public education" since schools defied Brown v. Board of Education. He says that "the evidence that remote learning has been d

NANCY BAILEY - Education Secretary Cardona, End Third Grade Retention and High-Stakes Standardized Testing!

Teachers I Respect and Admire–William Appling William Appling taught choral music at Glenville High School in Cleveland (OH) in the 1950s and 1960s. I met him when I arrived as a novice teacher in 1956. While nearly all students were Black coming from working class and middle-class families in the Glenville neighborhood, only half of the faculty were Black when I began teaching history. A few ye

Kids as Customers – Have You Heard

Education Secretary Cardona, End Third Grade Retention and High-Stakes Standardized Testing! Education Secretary Cardona, End Third Grade Retention and High-Stakes Standardized Testing! The Biden administration chose a real educator to be education secretary. Now Dr. Cardona should move to end third-grade retention, a procedure that would be especially cruel administered with this pandemic. Many

Rapid COVID Testing to Facilitate School Reopening - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

Kids as Customers Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is creating a network of tuition-free Montessori-inspired preschools for low-income students. But his vision of schools that nurture the autonomy and creativity of kids is on a collision course with the Amazon workplaces Bezos has engineered for adults. Special guest: Mira Debs, author of Diverse Families, Desirable Schools: Public Montessori in the Er

TO LAUGH, OR TO CRY – Dad Gone Wild

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Underscores How Rapid COVID Testing Can Facilitate Safe Reopening of Schools SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted a statewide webinar today with health experts and educators that addressed the use of rapid COVID-19 testing as a tool to safely resume in-person learning on school campuses. “I strongly believe that while we wa

CURMUDGUCATION: The Greatest Testing Stories Never Told

TO LAUGH, OR TO CRY “The flute of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has never left us and it is essential that we train our ear to detect its false notes because in our case the flute is being played by the rats.” ― Dimitris Mita Yesterday, was one of those days that seem to be occurring with more frequency. I spent the day researching numerous education initiatives, both on the state and the district l

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, March 10, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

The Greatest Testing Stories Never Told As testocrats continue their full court press to back up the Biden edict that 2021 Big Standardized Tests must occur, it's worth remembering that we have been doing this for twenty-ish years. That means that we are long past the point when tests should be sold based on the wonderful things they are going to do; instead, we should be hearing about all the w

MAR 10

Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone | Diane Ravitch's blog

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Parents struggle with a new dilemma: Is it safe to send kids back to school? http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/uB0QfsEv2dM/school-reopening-why-some-parents-reject-covid-return Los Angeles: Teachers and District Strike a Tentative Deal | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tMe via @dianeravitch LA reopening deal ends Cali

Teacher Tom: What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools

Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone After thirty years of devotion to “reform” (aka, deform or disruption), reform leaders in Minnesota are proposing a state constitutional amendment that will install more mischief into the state’s public schools. Rob Levine, an ardent critic of privatization, has written this account of their multiple failures and their plans t

Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” – radical eyes for equity

What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Economic Forum, and Unicef (and according to the dubious measurement of standardized test scores ) Finland has the best schools in the world. They have achieved this status by building their educational system on evidence. The US languishes around the mid

Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” Every white person in this country—and I do not care what he or she says—knows one thing. They may not know, as they put it, “what I want,” but they know they would not like to be black here. If they know that, then they know everything they need to know, and whatever else they say is a lie. ON LANGUAGE, RACE AND THE BLACK WRITER, JAMES BALDWIN (LOS ANGELES TIMES,

Call Congress Today to Stop Testing - Network For Public Education

Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! Our wonderful allies, Pastors for Texas Children, send us wonderful news: Friends of public education raised their voices, stood together, and stopped new voucher legislation! Vouchers Blocked Again! Last week, we celebrated the victory of your tireless advocacy for public education funding for our children when we announced Gov. Greg Abbott’s decisio

Jeff Bryant in German News Weekly Die Zeit: The fixation on testing is deeply anchored in education officials in Washington DC | Ed Politics

Call Congress Today to Stop Testing In December of 2019, candidate Joe Biden promised that if elected, he would stop standardized testing. His Department of Ed, however, said that we should have testing in the middle of the pandemic. We pushed back and today, w e have good news! Some members of Congress are asking the U.S. Department of Education to change its mind about testing! Read about it h

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Leads Effort to Reverse Federal Stance on Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

JEFF BRYANT IN GERMAN NEWS WEEKLY DIE ZEIT: THE FIXATION ON TESTING IS DEEPLY ANCHORED IN EDUCATION OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON DC In an interview with Die Zeit’s United States correspondent Heike Buchter, Jeff Bryant explains what’s behind the decision by the Biden administration to enforce the federal mandate for student academic testing in a pandemic even before incoming education secretary Migue

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Leads Effort to Reverse Federal Stance on Testing Before he became a member of Congress, Jamaal Bowman was principal of a middle school in the Bronx. He knows what kids need: more support, not more testing. He is now vice chair of the House Education Committee. In New York, before entering Congress, he was an active member of the opt-out of testing movement. He is now spearhea

NYC Educator: My New Job

Strategic Advocacy Over Decades Brought Us an Expanded Child Tax Credit: Can the Same Kind of Strategic Organizing Produce School Funding Reform? | janresseger

My New Job My first year as a teacher was my worst. I did a lot of on-the-job learning. One thing I learned was that my supervisor was out of her freaking mind. I had no experience. She promised to help me with grading, failed to do so, and then managed to hate me and everything I stood for when I didn't get grades in on time. This resulted in things like not getting enough books when I needed t

NYC Public School Parents: Letter from members of Congress to Sec. Cardona asking him to waive the tests; and how to have your voice heard

Strategic Advocacy Over Decades Brought Us an Expanded Child Tax Credit: Can the Same Kind of Strategic Organizing Produce School Funding Reform? On Saturday, after the U.S. Senate joined the U.S. House of Representatives to pass President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, I started thinking about how a huge coalition and strong advocates can sustain support for an important reform even through

Yong Zhao: New article: Build back better: Avoid the learning loss trap - Education in the Age of Globalization

Letter from members of Congress to Sec. Cardona asking him to waive the tests; and how to have your voice heard See the letter sent today by members of Congress to our newly-confirmed Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, asking him to grant waivers so that states do not have to give students the federally-mandated exams this year, in the midst of the pandemic. This letter was spearheaded by ne

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » New article: Build back better: Avoid the learning loss trap New article: Build back better: Avoid the learning loss trap Abstract A dangerous trap exists for educators and education policy makers: the learning loss. This trap comes with a large amount of data and with sophisticated projection methods. It presents a stunningly grim picture fo

DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #CANCELTEST #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY

Jeff Bryant in German News Weekly Die Zeit: The fixation on testing is deeply anchored in education officials in Washington DC

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 Big Education Ape: KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/keep-up-catch-up-with-diane-ravitchs.html Port Washington School Board Demands Waiver from Sprin

MAR 09

Ed Politics » Feed / 3d

In an interview with Die Zeit’s United States correspondent Heike Buchter, Jeff Bryant explains what’s behind the decision by the Biden administration to enforce the federal mandate for student academic testing in a pandemic even before incoming education secretary Miguel Cardona took office. Excerpts: “‘[Cardona’s] life story must have played a big role in his nomination,’ says Jeff Bryant, chie

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, March 9, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Missing the Mark – Tennessee Education Report

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Homeroom: How Grandparents Can Help With Online Learning http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/8K1U0iZ90f0/ Education Research Report: Does Online Course-Taking Increase High School Completion and Open Pathways to Postsecondary Education Opportunities? - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/ Nearly 3,000 NOLA Public Schoo

Biden executive order is first step to reverse Betsy DeVos’s sexual assault rules - Vox

MISSING THE MARK S uperintendents in Shelby County are raising concerns about recently-passed legislation that would make retention the default option for a significant number of third grade students. One Superintendent even noted the effort “misses the mark” of its intent and instead of being helpful, will actually have a harmful effect on students. The Daily Memphian has more : “I have never s

AFT & NEA Issue Joint Statement on Actions Needed After the Pandemic to Benefit All Students | Diane Ravitch's blog

Betsy DeVos’s sexual assault rules have already hurt survivors Biden just took the first step to reverse them Last fall, as students around the country were adjusting to the beginning of a school year in the midst of a pandemic, something else changed too: the rules for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities handling reports of sexual harassment and assault. A new Trump administration regulati

Flast v. Cohen (1968) – Part Two: That’s Me In The Courtroom | Blue Cereal Education

AFT & NEA Issue Joint Statement on Actions Needed After the Pandemic to Benefit All Students The nation’s two teachers’ unions joined together to issue an unusual joint statement that advises federal, state, and local leaders what must be done not only to revive education after the pandemic but to restart it with a fresh vision that focuses on the needs of children, not assumptions about their “

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Flast v. Cohen (1968) – Part Two: That’s Me In The Courtroom Recap of Part One : The Supreme Court explained in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon (1923) that simply being a taxpayer didn’t give one the right to protest government actions – even potentially unconstitutional ones – in the courts. There were simply too many “what ifs” between the individual taxpayer sending in their $20 and a

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm.html Music Education In The Pandemic And Beyond by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h "Teaching orchestra, choir or band virtually in a pandemic presents some unique challenges. Even with schools reopening, it's dif

Letter to the Editor: Tennessee Poised to Fail Students – radical eyes for equity

New York Times: Readers Respond to Charter Debate | Diane Ravitch's blog

Letter to the Editor: Tennessee Poised to Fail Students In response to Third grade retention law causing suburban superintendents angst , I submitted the following letter to the editor: While it is increasingly popular across the US to pass third-grade retention laws as part of larger reading policies, often under the guise of the “science of reading,” there are decades of research showing that

Teacher Tom: A Curriculum of All-Bugs-All-The-Time vs. Hubris and Habit

New York Times: Readers Respond to Charter Debate You may recall that sociologist and author Eve Ewing wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times that said it was time to end the debate about charter schools and celebrate all good schools, whatever they are called. This is one of the talking points of the charter industry, which prefers the public not to notice how many charter schools close e

Teachers I Respect and Admire–Carmen Wilkinson | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A Curriculum of All-Bugs-All-The-Time vs. Hubris and Habit I once taught a boy named Rico who had a passion for insects. He came to me that way as a three-year-old and was still hunting for bugs as a five-year-old. He didn't care at all for the tub of plastic insects we had inside the preschool, even the super-sized scorpion that every kid wanted, left him shrugging. Instead, he peered into the

School Openings: Political Gamesmanship Collides with Sound Educational Policy. | Ed In The Apple

Teachers I Respect and Admire–Carmen Wilkinson I was stunned when I walked into the classroom of Carmen Wilkinson at Jamestown Elementary School in 1975 (all names are actual people and places). In my first year as Arlington (VA) school superintendent, I had already seen hundreds of elementary classrooms. This was the only one I had seen that had mixed ages (grades 1 through 4) and learning stat

Jersey Jazzman: Lakewood, NJ: Where Public Schools Are Left To Wither, Part I

School Openings: Political Gamesmanship Collides with Sound Educational Policy President Biden set a target of school re-openings within his first hundred days in office; however, the decision to open schools is local; the 14,000 school districts across the nation have the authority to open and close schools. The national teacher unions (NEA, AFT) do not have the authority either; the local unio

ARGUING OVER MARKETING TERMS – Dad Gone Wild

Lakewood, NJ: Where Public Schools Are Left To Wither, Part I If you follow K12 policy, you've probably noticed that the school privatization crowd has recently become reenergized. The folks from right-wing think tanks and the professional school "choice" promoters have been pushing the idea of school vouchers hard, certain that the pandemic has created widespread dissatisfaction with our curren

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Monday, March 8, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

ARGUING OVER MARKETING TERMS “If I were going to tell one of my sons how to possess the world, I would simply bring him into my house, show him that solid wall of books, and say to him: ‘the secret is in there somewhere, and even if you never find out what it is, you will still have come closer.” ― James Dickey Some of you may notice the Spotify header. From here on out, you can listen to Dad Go

MAR 08

Russ on Reading: Read Alouds for Social Justice: The Right to Vote and Combatting "The Big Lie"

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Education Research Report: District Wage Strategies and Teacher Comparative Advantage - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/ Audio: As Many Parents Fret Over Remote Learning, Some Find Their Kids Are Thriving | 89.3 KPCC - https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/03/08/96942/as-many-parents-fret-over-remote-learning-some-fin/ Republican l

Shawgi Tell: Charter School Disinformation About Families Being the Most Important “Stakeholders” | Dissident Voice

Read Alouds for Social Justice: The Right to Vote and Combatting "The Big Lie" This past Sunday was the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the attack on peaceful protestors on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama that resulted in many marchers, including future Congressman John Lewis, being beaten nearly to death. Those marchers were seeking the most basic of American rights, the right to vot

Inside Biden’s struggle to meet his school reopening promises - The Washington Post

Charter School Disinformation About Families Being the Most Important “Stakeholders” | Dissident Voice Charter School Disinformation About Families Being the Most Important “Stakeholders” Since day one, advocates of privately-operated charter schools have tried to convince everyone that segregated charter schools “empower parents” and that parents are not only “stakeholders” but the most importan

Teacher Tom: Experience and Freedom Matter

‘An essential service’: Inside Biden’s struggle to meet his school reopening promises The promise was clear and hopeful: With strong public health measures, then-President-elect Joe Biden declared in early December, “the majority of our schools can be open by the end of my first 100 days.” The reality has been far more complicated. First came the clarification on Biden’s first full day as presid

Los Angeles Schools Embrace Microsoft’s “Daily Pass” QR Health Portal – Wrench in the Gears

Experience and Freedom Matter I'm suspicious of most research performed on children. For instance, there have been several studies released over the last couple decades that conclude that we can't expect children, and especially teens, to make good decisions. ( Here's an article that links to a few of these studies. ) The leading theory is that humans are simply designed that way, that our front

Laura Chapman: Education Trust and Its Well-Funded Demands That the Biden Administration Deny Waivers from the Tests | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles Schools Embrace Microsoft’s “Daily Pass” QR Health Portal This past week many people on social media have been expressing concern about a video promoting the Los Angeles Unified School District’s adoption of a health-screening data portal that was developed by Microsoft in partnership with Anthem Health, the country’s largest membership health system. Anthem is affiliated with Blue C

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Laura Chapman: Education Trust and Its Well-Funded Demands That the Biden Administration Deny Waivers from the Tests As readers are well aware, the federal law called the Every Student Succeeds Act continued the mandated annual testing of students in grades 3-8 in reading and math (as well as one high school test) that was the heart of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, enacted in 2002.

Continued Deficiencies in Reopening Safety and Transparency [Open Letter] – Parents United for Public Education

Ed Notes Online: Jamaal Bowman connects charter movement to anti-labor, anti-union privatization - it takes an educator who suffered the negative impact of charters

Continued Deficiencies in Reopening Safety and Transparency [Open Letter] Dr. William Hite, Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia Philadelphia Board of Education Philadelphia Federation of Teachers 3/7/2021 Dr. Hite, Board of Education members, and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers executive officers: On the eve of the reopening of 53 school buildings, we are writing to share our con

FL SB48: Marie-Claire Leman testifies against converting vouchers into debit cards full of inequity - Fund Education Now

Jamaal Bowman connects charter movement to anti-labor, anti-union privatization - it takes an educator who suffered the negative impact of charters One of the things that irk me about Democrats from all wings of the party and progressives to the left is how the charter schools are often avoided in so many discussions - I think that is intentional because they don't want to alienate segments of t

A Broadie Joins the Biden Administration | Diane Ravitch's blog

FL SB48: MARIE-CLAIRE LEMAN TESTIFIES AGAINST CONVERTING VOUCHERS INTO DEBIT CARDS FULL OF INEQUITY Marie-Claire Leman a Leon County public school parent and Fund Education Now associate testified this week in the Senate Appropriates Committee against SB 48 which converts the state’s five voucher programs into two Education Savings Accounts pre-loaded with designated public-school funds that ent

What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System | janresseger

A Broadie Joins the Biden Administration Maureen Tracey-Mooney joined the White House staff as a Special Assistant to the President for Education. She is a graduate of the notorious Broad Center, the plaything of billionaire Eli Broad, which teaches its “students” the value of applying business principles in education and the benefits of closing low-performing schools instead of helping them. Ac

Saturday, March 6, 2021 THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Sunday, March 7, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System On February 27, the U.S House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill, and on Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the House bill. Nancy Pelosi says the House will promptly enact the Senate’s version, and the bill will move lat

MAR 07

School Buildings are Reopening but Where’s the Data? – Parents United for Public Education

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES ‘It’s very unfair’: NYC teachers blast in-person requirement for AP World Language exams https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-covid-foreign-language-ap-exam-20210306-goflxl57pjalpoboadh326rzde-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/ No widespread problems with ventilation systems at

Blog Post of the Day - Network For Public Education

School Buildings are Reopening but Where’s the Data? The first 53 school buildings are reopening tomorrow for children for the first time in almost a year, despite ongoing concerns about the amount of information and up to date data that is not publicly available for parents to review. Reports on social media of filthy and mold-covered vents and classrooms show that many of the conditions of reo

Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football | Live Long and Prosper

Blog Posts Archive - Network For Public Education Blog Post of the Day Our NPE Blogs of the Day feature what we think are interesting and important blog posts centered on issues of public education. The views expressed by the bloggers are, of course, entirely their own. To submit links and tips for inclusion, please send an email to npeblog@outlook.com. March 7, 2021 K. A. Robinson: I Am Not A Go

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: In Like A Turducken Edition (3/7)

Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football After a decade of bashing public schools and public school teachers, Indiana “reformers” ought to be pleased with the results. The state’s teacher shortage is likely to continue because of low salaries, constant disrespect of professionals and their organizations, and the punishment of public schools unable to solve the social and economic problems of the st

EdAction in Congress March 7, 2021 - Education Votes

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: In Like A Turducken Edition (3/7) In Like A Turducken Edition So it's March, and we're beginning the celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Last Time We Did That Normal Thing. Really looking forward to that. In the meantime, I am continuing to work out the balance between all my old gigs and the new one handling the Hey Look At This blog for the Network for Public E

CURMUDGUCATION: Better Writing Assessment: Do Something Right

EdAction in Congress March 7, 2021 American Rescue Plan Act heads back to the House The American Rescue Plan Act passed by the Senate is heading to the House for a final vote with NEA’s top priorities intact. The bill provides $170 billion in dedicated education funding to advance the process of safely returning to in-person instruction at K-12 school buildings. At the higher education level, th

Teachers are terrified that experts don't really know how risky re-opening schools is | Salon com

Better Writing Assessment: Do Something Right If you aren't ready to take the no-grade plunge (or your particular corner of the pool will never support that choice), there are still ways to shift your thinking about assessing student writing. One of the biggest is to move away from focusing on deficits and mistakes. Avoiding mistakes is not a useful focus for writing. For one thing, not making m

A Half-Dozen Things You (Could Have) Learned in School: Lessons from a Pandemic | Teacher in a strange land

Teachers are terrified that experts don't really know how risky re-opening schools is | Salon.com Teachers are terrified that experts don't really know how risky re-opening schools is "You can’t say what is the risk" for unvaccinated teachers, Fauci tells the press Forty-five days into President Biden's term, he and his administration have somewhat improved public health messaging compared to his

Dr. Seuss and “Cancel Culture” | Diane Ravitch's blog

A Half-Dozen Things You (Could Have) Learned in School: Lessons from a Pandemic If you’re old and loyal to NPR, like me, you may have listened to Whad’ya Know? on the radio, out running errands on Saturdays, a decade ago. A gently sardonic quiz show, hosted by Michael Feldman, my favorite category of question was Things You Should Have Learned in School (Had You Been Paying Attention). I was alw

Education Layoffs Looming? Districts Start To Give Some Teachers The Pink Slip – CBS Sacramento

Dr. Seuss and “Cancel Culture” The publisher of the many books written by Theodor Geisl (“Dr. Seuss”) announced that it was suspending publication of six books that contained demeaning drawings of Asian and African figures. The books that will no longer be published are: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” “If I Ran the Zoo” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Sup

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Education Layoffs Looming? Districts Start To Give Some Teachers The Pink Slip Big Education Ape: $225 Million In New Revenue: 10 Facts About the SCUSD Budget - Sacramento City Teachers Association - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/225-million-in-new-revenue-10-facts.html SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Amid a statewide talk of extra school funding and a push to re-open schools , some Sacrament

NANCY BAILEY: Tutors Replacing Teachers: A Failed Privatization Plot Returns

New Orleans: The Other Side of the Story | Diane Ravitch's blog

Tutors Replacing Teachers: A Failed Privatization Plot Returns Tutors Replacing Teachers: A Failed Privatization Plot Returns The pandemic showed that for students to get quality instruction, especially poor children of color, America must invest in real teachers, smaller class sizes, and better working conditions, including improved school facilities. So why is the focus on tutors? “Accelerated

The Brief, Distressed Life of a Virtual School | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

New Orleans: The Other Side of the Story I recently interviewed Raynard Sanders, a veteran educator in New Orleans, about his new book The Coup D’etat of the New Orleans Public Schools: Money, Power, and the Illegal of a Public School System . You can watch it here . He spoke at length about the blatant racism involved in the takeover and privatization of the city’s public schools. The state lea

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, March 6, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #TOPBANANAHEADLINES #openonlywhensafe

The Brief, Distressed Life of a Virtual School In July 2020, my school district unveiled its “virtual school” as one means of educating students during a pandemic. At the time, I was surprised to read that the district had planning to open a virtual school anyway. The pandemic just sped up the process. From the July 11, 2020, Nola.com : The St. Tammany Parish Public Schools system already planne

MAR 06