The Perimeter Primate: Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

The Perimeter Primate: Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

by The Perimeter Primate

Tom Vander Ark is a participant on the National Journal’s Education blog. Recently he posted a comment on Crist's veto of the Florida teacher bill (SB-6) and called it “Putting the Brakes on Progress.” The bill sought to tie 50% of a teacher’s evaluation and pay to test scores, and to make it easier for them to be fired.
As an ed defomer mouthpiece responding to a defeat, here’s Vander Ark description of what happened in Florida:“…despite overwhelming public, philanthropic, and federal support for teacher effectiveness, the brakes have been applied by well organized and funded forces protecting the status quo.” Funny how he can put a negative spin on people in a democracy organizing themselves for a cause they believe in.
Indeed, Florida’s resistance forces became well organized, but the movement didn’t turn into a flood of opposition because of money. This movement was generated at the grassroots level using online social networking tools. Anthony Cody described how it worked in “From Facebook to YouTube: A Teacher Movement is Born.”
The large response in Florida may be an indication that a major pushback to the ed deform movement is finally

Schools Matter: Another Hatchet Job

Schools Matter: Another Hatchet Job

Another Hatchet Job

by Kenneth Libby

It was roughly a year and a half ago that the conservative forces within the Democratic Party - the hedge fund/corporate-backed education reformers at EEP, DFER, Education Reform Now, TFA, and their many financial and strategic partners - launched a coordinated attack on Linda Darling-Hammond.

Well, the same edu-idiots now have their sights trained on NY State Senator Bill Perkins, a man with the gall to question the privatizers-slash-charterizers and their myriad of financial and real estate dealings, not to mention their lack of transparency and outright desire to turn a profit (often times at the expense of the very children and communities they serve). Perkins will chair a Thursday hearing about charter schools, and the forces behind charter schools in NY (and the country as a whole) are furious that anyone would DARE question their business

Pretty Bulletin Boards: Education’s Stiffest Competition? � The Quick and the Ed

Pretty Bulletin Boards: Education’s Stiffest Competition? � The Quick and the Ed

Pretty Bulletin Boards: Education’s Stiffest Competition?

Everyone loves good, fun competition. For many, opportunities to prove one’s greatness, fully display admired talents, and beat out a friend or rival are just irresistible. I can take that shot better than her… His writing is mundane. Let me show him how it’s done… That blueberry pie was tasty, but mine is delectable.

For several decades now, education reformers have tried to design policies that tap into this competitive nature that humans and their institutions are prone to exhibit under the right conditions. Whether it’s through the creation of charter schools,federal grant competitions, or “Teacher of the Year” contests, policymakers have rightly recognized that teachers and principals need systems and incentives that bring out their “I want to win, I can do that better” spirits. (I can hear the booing and moaning of education school professors and Deweyites in the background.)

But during this same period of time, after countless conversations about competition and incentives, teachers and principals haven’t made the drastic gains and improvements that we’re all hoping for. You’ve heard it: Student achievement scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress are essentially flat(except for small gains from a few subgroups). The U.S. continues to be outrankedby its Asian counterparts in science and mathematics achievement, even though there has been some recent growth. And crime rates remain too high in schools that serve mostly poor, minority students.

Why is this? Well, at the elementary and middle school levels, I partly blame pretty bulletin boards like this one:

Census says women equal to men in advanced degrees, yet they still lag behind men in pay | Oregonlive.com

Census says women equal to men in advanced degrees, yet they still lag behind men in pay | Oregonlive.com

Census says women equal to men in advanced degrees, yet they still lag behind men in pay

By The Associated Press

April 20, 2010, 2:48PM

WASHINGTON -- Women are now just as likely as men to have completed college and to hold an advanced degree, part of an accelerating trend of educational gains that have shielded women from recent job losses. Yet they continue to lag behind men in pay.

Among adults 25 and older, 29 percent of women in the U.S. have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 30 percent of men, according to 2009 census figures released Tuesday. Measured by raw numbers, women already surpass men in undergraduate degrees by roughly 1.2 million.

Women also have drawn even with men in holding advanced degrees. Women represented roughly half of those in the U.S. with a master's degree or higher, due largely to years of steady increases in women opting to pursue a medical or law degree.

At current rates, women could pass men in total advanced degrees this year, even though they still trail significantly in several categories such as business, science and engineering.

"It won't be long before women dominate higher education and every degree level up to Ph.D.," said Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of Michigan-Flint who is a visiting scholar at the American

Education officials reverse Bush policy on equity compliance for female athletes | Oregonlive.com

Education officials reverse Bush policy on equity compliance for female athletes | Oregonlive.com

Education officials reverse Bush policy on equity compliance for female athletes

By The Associated Press

April 20, 2010, 2:27PM

The U.S. Department of Education is repealing a Bush-era policy that some critics argue was a way to avoid complying with federal law in providing equal opportunities for female athletes.

Under the move, schools and colleges must now provide stronger evidence that they offer equal opportunities for athletic participation under the federal Title IX gender equity law.

It reverses a 2005 policy under former President George W. Bush that allowed schools to use just a survey to prove a lack of interest in starting a new women's sport and encouraged schools to consider a non-response to the questionnaire as disinterest.

"Making Title IX as strong as it possibly can be is the right thing to do," Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday at an event at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., announcing the change.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan cautioned that discrimination continues to exist in college athletic programs and urged vigilance in enforcing the law. The Education Department announced last month that it will be intensifying its civil rights enforcement efforts on a broad range of

Schools Matter: Connecticut Schlock Commerical

Schools Matter: Connecticut Schlock Commerical:

Connecticut Schlock Commerical

The above TV commercial, paid for by ConnAD (Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Advocacy, the political arm ofConnCan), began airing on CT airwaves today.

The idea that Connecticut can magically turn around their public schools by simply competing for a remaining slice of Obama/Duncan's $3.4 billion is beyond absurd. However, simplistic reform messages like those propagated by DFER, ConnCan, EEP, and their many followers (and funders) are practically designed for commercial-length mode of (non)thinking that is all-too-common in the current "reform" climate.

This isn't the first advocacy piece that fails to address important education issues while portraying a very one-sided view of education policy. "Connecticut's Charter School Law and Race to the Top," an earlier piece put out by ConnCan, was evaluated by Bobert Bifulco through the Think Tank Review Project. Bifulco

Celebrate Springtime at Kid’s Day in the Park April 24 — The Rancho Cordova Post

Celebrate Springtime at Kid’s Day in the Park April 24 — The Rancho Cordova Post

Celebrate Springtime at Kid’s Day in the Park April 24

by ANNE LOWE on APRIL 20, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in LIFESTYLE

Rain or shine, on Saturday, April 24 Hagan Park will become a fun-filled destination for children age 0-12 on from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kids attending the Kid’s Day in the Park can expect to find free games, live entertainment and swimming, and booths will be set up from local organizations that will feature a wide variety of attractions for youngsters. The Rancho Cordova Post will also have a booth at the event with sunflower planters in biodegradable cups.

Kid’s Day in the Park is a collaborative effort of several local organizations, including Cordova Cares Children’s Council, Cordova Community Council, Folsom Cordova Unified School District, CSUS and the Cordova Recreation and Park District. The event will be the 21st annual Kid’s Day in Rancho Cordova.

Parking inside Hagan Park will cost $4, but free parking will also be available at Cordova

School Districts Warn of Even Deeper Teacher Cuts - NYTimes.com

School Districts Warn of Even Deeper Teacher Cuts - NYTimes.com

School Districts Warn of Even Deeper Teacher Cuts

By TAMAR LEWIN and SAM DILLON

Published: April 20, 2010

Multimedia

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The districts have no choice, they say, because their usual sources of revenue — state money and local property taxes — have been hit hard by therecession. In addition, federal stimulus money earmarked for education has been mostly used up this year.

As a result, the 2010-11 school term is shaping up as one of the most austere in the last half century. In addition to teacher layoffs, districts are planning to close schools, cut programs, enlarge class sizes and shorten the school day, week or year to save money.

“We are doing things and considering options I never thought I’d have to consider,” said Peter C. Gorman, superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina, who expects to cut 600 of the district’s 9,400 teachers this year, after laying off 120 last

THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News

THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News

The alternative track to teaching makes sense

by William McKenzie/Editorial Columnist

Are colleges of education too theoretical? Not prepping students sufficiently for the classroom?
That's the subject of discussion in a number of circles as groups like Teach for America and The New Teacher Project supply more and more instructors outside of the traditional education school route.

New York has something like 800 Teach for America grads, Baltimore has about 240 and here in Dallas, the school district has 70 Teach for America instructors.
The advantage of the alternative track model is that these groups intensely screen their numerous applicants and put the ones they do select through rigorous pre-classroom training. You may not call it a boot camp, but it's close.
I had a chance to see Teach for America in action at Marsh Middle School a couple of weeks back. I taught social studies students in Teach for America graduate Miguel Solis' eighth grade class at Marsh, a rare

Richard Lakin's Thanks2Teachers.com - A Wellspring of Teacher Appreciation and Teacher Inspiration > Home > The Book > Preview sample selections > When Teachers and Parents Listen to One Another

Richard Lakin's Thanks2Teachers.com - A Wellspring of Teacher Appreciation and Teacher Inspiration > Home > The Book > Preview sample selections > When Teachers and Parents Listen to One Another

When Teachers and Parents Listen to One Another

Building upon earned trust

In order to fully focus upon the needs of children, it is imperative that teachers and parents truly listen to each other with open minds and open hearts. This of course requires a high level of trust as well as the willingness to listen to concerns that one party or another might find discomforting and disquieting. Moreover, a certain degree of caring for the “other” is a prerequisite if people are to listen to each other with understanding and empathy.

I recall in my early years sitting in on some teacher-parent conferences which were more akin to a client meeting with his or her banker. Information was exchanged, questions were raised and answered and that was that. Neither teacher nor parent was able to zero in on the essence of the child. I’m sure both adults left the meeting with an empty, if not hostile feeling, not quite understanding what really had transpired. What a pity!

As the level of trust grew, teachers and parents were going beyond exchanging statements and comments, and were beginning to probe further into what the other was really trying to communicate about the child. They were truly listening to each other!

Parents felt more comfortable sharing their satisfactions or concerns about the child’s school program, in addition to relevant information about the child’s home life. Important bits and pieces about the child were revealed that could

Correcting the Corrective Math problem, III | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Correcting the Corrective Math problem, III | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Correcting the Corrective Math problem, III

by Guest blogger on Apr 20 2010 Posted in Community voices

Corrective Math from Dr. Caroline Ebby, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Dr. Ebby already went over the current math curriculum in the District and issues withCorrective Math. This week Dr. Ebby describes alternatives to Corrective Math.

---

Corrective Math is not the only remedial program available for students who are below grade level. The availability of funding for RTI (Response to Intervention) has resulted in newly developed remedial programs that are based on what we know about how children learn mathematics, have a solid research base, are aligned to the PA State Standards, and are actually designed to help students succeed in reform programs like Everyday Mathematics and Math in Context.

Even the names of these newer programs make it clear that they are designed to empower students as learners of mathematics, rather than communicate to them that they are in need of correction. Moreover, they illustrate that remediation can be accomplished while still engaging learners in doing real mathematics.

• 
  
  Do The Math (Scholastic), developed by renowned mathematics education expert Marilyn Burns, is a remedial program for grades 2-8 that “helps students develop the skills they need to compute with accuracy and efficiency, the number sense they need to reason, and the ability to apply their skills and reasoning to solve problems.”
• 
  
  Knowing Math (Houghton-Mifflin), developed by mathematics scholar LiPing Ma, is a remedial program for grades 4-6 that “draws on the mathematical knowledge that students already have, although fragmentary and insufficient, to repair and re-organize it to build a sound foundation for future learning.”

Transfer Policies Must Change � The Quick and the Ed

Transfer Policies Must Change � The Quick and the Ed

Transfer Policies Must Change

by guest blogger

In a recent column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Education Sector’s Kevin Carey described the maze of obstacles transfer students encounter in the higher education system. In that description of “credentialism run amok,” he used the story of one Kent State University student to illustrate his points. I am that student. Education Sector has graciously allowed me to respond to Kevin’s article and to readers’ comments. I hope that my response will help shed light on some of the underlying problems plaguing transfer students (and, in some respects, all students) and, ultimately, move the discussion forward.
Often, evening students lack access to advisers and financial aid personnel. This is a problem. Many students who work full-time and attend class at night cannot take off work to meet in-person with an adviser during daytime “office hours”—between 10:00–11:30 a.m. and 1:30–4:00 p.m. Yet, adviser meetings are essential for transfer students to ensure they’re getting the most credit-value for their previous learning. If institutions want to serve their evening students well, they should institute policies that require their advising and financial aid offices to be open at times convenient for those students. My suggestion is to stay open during lunch two days per week and stay open until 7:00 one evening per week on a staggered schedule. Being open only during lunch precludes those students who work far from campus from using those time slots, while opening late the same

Newsom for Lieutenant Governor - State Convention Video (:60) - April 17...

Vice President Biden Announces Strengthening of Title IX | The White House

Vice President Biden Announces Strengthening of Title IX | The White House

Vice President Biden Announces Strengthening of Title IX

from White House.gov Press Office Feed by The White House

Washington, D.C. - Today, Vice President Biden announced that the Administration has issued a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter that withdraws a 2005 interpretation of Title IX policy. Enacted in 1972, Title IX mandates that any educational institution receiving federal funding for programs and activities cannot discriminate on the basis of sex. The 2005 policy issued compliance standards that were widely criticized for being inadequate and inconsistent with Title IX's nondiscrimination goals. Today’s announcement reverses this interpretation, and returns to a more thorough test for assessing compliance with Title IX. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, joined the Vice President at George Washington University for this announcement.
“Making Title IX as strong as possible is a no-brainer,” said Vice President Biden. “What we’re doing here today will better ensure equal opportunity in athletics, and allow women to realize their potential - so this nation can realize its potential.”
“There is no doubt that Title IX has dramatically increased athletic, academic, and employment opportunities for women and girls, and educational institutions have made big strides in providing equal opportunities in sports,” said Secretary Duncan. “Yet discrimination continues to exist in college athletic programs--and we should be vigilant in enforcing the law and protecting this important civil right.”

Forthcoming NCTQ Report Already Controversial - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Forthcoming NCTQ Report Already Controversial - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Forthcoming NCTQ Report Already Controversial

by Stephen Sawchuk

The National Council on Teacher Quality hasn't released its big study of education schools in Texas just yet—it's due out later this month—but traditional prep programs in the Lone Star State are already on the defensive.
News reports about preliminary ratings have been trickling out since last fall. Now, NCTQ has an FAQ up on its Web site to put out its reasoning behind the report, its standards, and the methodology the council used to collect and analyze the information.
"During the process of conducting this study, quite a few schools started to ask questions about about what we were doing and why," said Rich Shea, the communications director for NCTQ and a former executive editor ofEdWeek's Teacher Magazine. "We wanted to clear the air before the report comes out. We're trying to be as transparent as possible."
In Texas, more than 70 ed school deans have already protested the study, according to this news report. And they object to the fact that the council had students provide some of the materials that were reviewed, such as course descriptions and syllabi. (The council's reviewers also went through the textbooks and readings used in each course.)
But NCTQ's main point, in its FAQ, is that state higher ed accreditation or national accreditation through the

Who Plans to Apply for i3? Look Online Now - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Who Plans to Apply for i3? Look Online Now - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Who Plans to Apply for i3? Look Online Now

By Michele McNeil on April 20, 2010 2:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The U.S. Department of Education has posted a spreadsheet listing the more than 2,000 districts, schools, and nonprofits that plan to apply for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant.

If the thought of opening an Excel spreadsheet intimidates you, there's also a convenient summary of the intents-to-apply.

This list is a compilation of those who told the department, by April 1, that they plan to apply for these competitive grants. This was more of a courtesy for the department so officials could figure out what kind of workload is in store for them and the peer reviewers. Those on this list are not bound to apply, and those who aren't on the list can still apply. The deadline for the one and only round of this competition is May 11.

The list, 2,045 organizations long, is tedious to wade through. But my quick and crude Microsoft Access query tells me that about 800 of these potential applicants are districts and schools, while the remaining organizations are nonprofits. The districts include Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, Hartford (Ct.), and Broward County (Fla.).

The list of nonprofits include some usual suspects—Teach for America and The New Teacher Project— but also includes some lesser-knowns, such as Clarksville,

Education Research Report: Safer Playgrounds, Gyms

Education Research Report: Safer Playgrounds, Gyms

Safer Playgrounds, Gyms

from Education Research Report by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Simple tools developed by researchers in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies will help parents and teachers identify potential dangers on playgrounds and in gymnasiums and give them the means to lobby for safer conditions.

The tools consist of two checklists that list a series of questions about the conditions of facilities and equipment on playgrounds and in gymnasiums. The checklists are available at no cost on the UAB Center for Educational Accountability Web site

"Our intent is to make the checklists available to anyone for free so that parents, teachers and others can advocate for safer playgrounds at PTA, PTO, school board or city council meetings," said UAB Professor of

This Week In Education Media: Canceled Show Leaving Classroom Legacy

This Week In Education

Media: Canceled Show Leaving Classroom Legacy

by Alexander Russo

The PBS show NOW is ending (here) but is trying to make good use of its long run and trove of videos and other content by creating a new, expanded version of NOW Classroom. The idea is to "transform the show's website from an inevitable ghost ship of a former program into a rich resource fully directed toward teachers." Seems like a decent enough idea, though I have no real idea. Check it out. Let us know what you think.

"We Are All Part Of The Puzzle" - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

"We Are All Part Of The Puzzle" - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

"We Are All Part Of The Puzzle"

Jim Burke is a high school English teacher in California who is a prolific writer, networker and doer. In addition to his sixteen years of teaching experience, Jim has written several books and founded one of the most active Ning groups, English Companion, dubbed as the "world's largest English department", and has recently published a new book. Read more about Jim and his work below.

A Piece Of The Puzzle

By Jim Burke

A colleague of mine often says, when someone wants to claim responsibility for changing the life of a given student, that "we are all part of the puzzle." At first, I admit, I wanted to resist this. After all, isn't it a more rewarding story to place ourselves at the center of the narrative of that student's life? Hold ourselves up, even if only in our imagination, as heroic? Be Jaime Escalente? Erin Gruwell?

The truth of her comment about being "a piece of the puzzle" becomes more evident to me as time passes. You realize that each kid needs different things at different times from different