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Saturday, January 1, 2011

Schools Matter: Massachusetts Teachers Should Repudiate Union Prostisuit, Paul Toner

Schools Matter: Massachusetts Teachers Should Repudiate Union Prostisuit, Paul Toner

Massachusetts Teachers Should Repudiate Union Prostisuit, Paul Toner

by Jim Horn
MTA president, Paul Toner, is trying to buy his way to the front row of the Oligarchs' feeding trough. The deal to introduce an unscientific and pedagogcally-brain dead test score tied teacher evaluation scheme represents a betrayal of teacher, student, and parent interests for the benefit of Toner's own career aspirations.

Massachusetts teachers should send Toner and other union prostisuits a clear message by voting down the corporate approved plan. From SouthCoastToday.com:
By BRUCE C. DITATA
Bruce C. Ditata lives in Wareham.
December 30, 2010 12:00 AM
The first thing a union leader must remember is to protect members from injustice. It is, apparently, the first thing Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, forgot.

At flashpoint is Toner's position — the rank and file have not voted on it — that using test scores from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is a legitimate measure of a
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Top 10 Media Moments for Young Feminists at LREI in 2010 « Feminist Teacher

Top 10 Media Moments for Young Feminists at LREI in 2010 « Feminist Teacher

Top 10 Media Moments for Young Feminists at LREI in 2010

by feministteacher

In just one trimester, the students in my feminism course launched their voices into their communities and the feminist blogosphere. Here, they hold copies of "Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists." (photo Ileana Jiménez)

This past fall, the students in my Fierce and Fabulous: Feminist Women Writers, Artists, and Activists course took the work we do in this class to a whole new level. They not only launched their feminist class blog F to the Third Power but also launched their voices as young high school feminists into their communities and the media.

I am particularly proud of the myriad ways in which these students have leveraged their feminist blogging and their work as activists to make an impact on the issues they care about such as street harassment, sexual

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Jiang Xueqin: The Test Chinese Schools Still Fail - WSJ.com

Jiang Xueqin: The Test Chinese Schools Still Fail - WSJ.com

The Test Chinese Schools Still Fail

High scores for Shanghai's 15-year-olds are actually a sign of weakness.

By JIANG XUEQIN

It's ironic that just as the world is appreciating the strengths of China's education system, Chinese are waking up to its weaknesses. These are two sides of the same coin: Chinese schools are very good at preparing their students for standardized tests. For that reason, they fail to prepare them for higher education and the knowledge economy.

On Tuesday, Shanghai's 15-year-olds topped the global league tables in reading, science and math in the Program for International Student Assessment, a test run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This comes as no surprise to anyone working in Chinese schools.

With its demanding parents, ambitious students, and test-obsessed culture, China's K-9 schooling is probably the most rigorous in the world. And Shanghai, an open and cosmopolitan

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Weekly Address: The New Year

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Monitoring schoolchildren | Dailycensored.com

Monitoring schoolchildren | Dailycensored.com

Monitoring schoolchildren

by Irene North
Hundreds of schools have begun monitoring children in the past few year with the United Kingdom intent on stepping up the pace in the new year. Biometrics and CCTV are the most prevalent with many schools in Scotland planning on introducing or expanding schemes in the coming year. New figures reveal that ten primaries and [...]
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New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

Parents 4 democratic Schools

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Food is a factor in charter school choices - latimes.com

Food is a factor in charter school choices - latimes.com

Charter choices: good food, free food, no food

Some campuses say they lack the means to provide nutritious meals — or any meals.

By Mary MacVean and Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times

January 1, 2011

At Larchmont Charter School in Los Angeles, a former restaurant chef whips up pasta with fresh vegetable sauce for lunch one day; on another he offers a salad bar with figs grown on campus.

But 500 miles north, in tiny Red Bluff, lunchtime at Sacramento River Discovery Charter School is decidedly different: Students must either bring their own lunches or place orders with parent volunteers who make a daily run to Taco Bell, Burger King or Subway.

Cafeteria food at traditional public schools has long had a bad reputation, but at least children can count on a meal that's

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All Opinions Are Local - School reform math in Baltimore: Fewer suspensions equals better results

All Opinions Are Local - School reform math in Baltimore: Fewer suspensions equals better results

School reform math in Baltimore:
Fewer suspensions equals better results

By Jane Sundius and Shawn Dove

At a time when the underachievement of black boys in this country can only be described as a national crisis, there is finally some good news. This fall, Baltimore City Schools chief executive Andrés Alonso proudly reported that black male teens in his district are staying in school and graduating in higher numbers. The announcement made headlines, and for good reason: It proves that there are successful strategies in approaching this seemingly intractable problem. We urge other cities across the country to learn from Baltimore’s creative approach.

So how did they do it? School systems, local philanthropies, not-for-profit groups, government officials and others worked together with the singular goal of improving the academic lives of those who need it most.

With help from community partners such as Open Society Institute-Baltimore, the city’s schools adopted a graduated system of consequences and interventions for student misconduct that takes into

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Fate of city schools charter muddied » The Commercial Appeal

Fate of city schools charter muddied » The Commercial Appeal

Fate of city schools charter muddied

Lewis could tip MCS revote against proposed surrender

  • By Sherri Drake Silence
  • Posted December 31, 2010 at 10 p.m.

  • As Sara Lewis takes a seat on the Memphis City Schools board this month, many wonder if the outspoken veteran will tip the scales in an effort to reverse the board's controversial 5-4 vote to give up the MCS charter.

    Conflicting opinions abound about whether such a turnaround is even possible under school board rules.

    Lewis, who has said she doesn't support the charter surrender, replaces outgoing Dist. 6 Commissioner Sharon Webb, who voted on Dec. 20 to drop the charter. Lewis' term begins today.

    Any effort to reverse the action likely would need to happen before the Shelby County

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THE PERIMETER PRIMATE

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE

A clever animate featuring Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson on factory education, standardized testing, the ADHD diagnosis epidemic (and resulting pharmaceutical response), and creative capacities of human beings.

Posted by Sharon Higgins The Perimeter Primate at 8:43 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Damn Good Education Daily

Damn Good Education Daily
Damn Good Education Daily

teachingquality.typepad.com - I share the optimism of TLN blogger Ariel Sacks (see this recent post) and her hopes for creating a large force of teacherpreneurs to lead excellence in the schools of tomorrow. It’s a major concep...

Larryferlazzo




larryferlazzo.edublogs.org - Dec 31 2010 Larry Ferlazzo At the end of each year, I take some time to reflect on what my most memorable teaching moments might have been, and invite readers to share their own. I hope you’ll leav...

Larryferlazzo
childrensleadershipcouncil.org - Children's Leadership Council: Invest in Children, Strengthen AmericaAn Agenda for Preparing Our Children and Youth for School, Work and Life The Children's Leadership Council is a coalition of chi...

TeacherReality




nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com - Here are my choices for the best and worst education events of the past year; what are yours? Leave a comment!Worst education events of 2010:1. Class sizes increasing in NYC and many other areas of...

leoniehaimson



huffingtonpost.com - Seven years ago, when I began teaching high school in the Bronx as a NYC Teaching Fellow, I had every expectation of being the next Socrates. I had just completed a rigorous summer training program...

DianeRavitc
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