Back in June 2010, you announced plans to hold hearings on for-profit higher education schools. What's behind that decision?We looked at the increasing amount of money going from the government loan program and the
When it was announced in September that due to our low test scores, my public middle school was now considered a “failing “ school, I began blogging about the effects that our district’s reform process, modeled after popular federal educational practices, had on students, teachers, and the school community. In a nutshell, the district assigns the label of “Focus School” to any school which does not meet certain test score cutoffs. These schools are then up for bids by any group or organization who can write a plan, and if selected, can take over the management of the school. Charters are popular bidders in this process called Public School Choice.
L.A. Academy, the "Failing School"
The district has assigned responsibility to me and my colleagues for the low performance of students in my
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| Seated with me are my followers. |
National Education Association delegates blasted Education Secretary Arne Duncan Sunday. passing a resolution that orders the NEA president to “communicate aggressively, forcefully, and immediately” to President Obama that the teachers union “is appalled” by a number of things Duncan has said and done in the name of school reform.
The resolution of the country’s largest union (see below) includes a list of Duncan’s actions and statements with which the NEA disagrees, including his standardized test-driven reform policies..
Ever wonder how the NEA's state affiliates keep their members in line on votes on new business items and the like?
Each state delegation designates someone who holds up signs indicating whether delegates should shout "aye" or "no" at the opportune moment. Also, a green "yes" or red "no" sign can specify whether the opinion is that of its leadership or the decision of the state caucus. There's also a "your choice" sign.
Delegates aren't bound by these indicators, one of the sign-holders explained to me, but it helps explain why so
(This is the second of two posts written in response to Joel Klein’s manifesto, The Failure of American Schools, which was published in the June issue of Atlantic Monthly. In the first post, I addressed Klein’s attribution of an apocryphal anti-union quote to the late UFT and AFT President Al Shanker.)
The defining characteristic of a bad faith argument is not that it is wrong, although it certainly is that, but that the person wielding it knows that it is wrong, or with a minimal exercise of due diligence, would discover that it is wrong. Klein’s Atlantic essay is replete with bad faith arguments, so many that it would require a small pamphlet to respond to every such argument. Consequently, I will restrict myself to analyzing a number of the more central propositions he puts forward.
Using Value-Added ‘Teacher Data Reports’ To Evaluate Teachers
Klein declares that he is “still shocked” that the UFT opposed his efforts to use the value-added ‘teacher data reports’ he had developed for high stakes decisions on tenure and discontinuance. “As a result, even when making a lifetime tenure commitment,” Klein writes, “under New York law you could not consider a teacher’s impact on student learning. The Kafkaesque outcome demonstrates precisely the way the system is run: for the
While the occasional spasms of extremist rhetoric and legislative initiative are often dismissed as nutty episodes in Arizona Gone Wild politics, some observers are wondering if state
Well, the National Education Association's delegates may not be very happy with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, but they doesn't want to call for his ouster—at least not publicly.
The delegates voted down New Business Item 22, which would have required the union to call for Duncan's removal.
Had it passed, it would have been the first time the union approved such a policy at a Representative Assembly—but not the first time it's called for the removal of the agency's head. Recall its reaction in 2004, when then-Education Secretary Rod Paige called the union a "terrorist organization."
There was a distinct feeling that delegates rejected the item primarily on the grounds of bad PR. Even those who
I waited in a security line to get into the RA for almost three hours this morning.
To hear VP Joe Biden.
I know. Crazy.
But not so crazy.
President Dennis Van Roekel’s speech yesterday and Joe Biden’s speech today provided an interesting contrast.
Biden was actually more self-critical of the Obama education policies than DVR was.
Dennis never said a critical word of Arnie Duncan, the target of almost all delegate contempt here, or anything else related to the Dems.
Biden acknowledged teacher unhappiness and admitted differences “within the family.” He even admitted we had been right and the administration had been wrong “on some issues.”
Clearly the Obama administration is worried about what is going on in NEA ranks and the ill-conceived early no
Sent to the Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2011
The irony of the Times' article on homework ("Homework overload," July 2) is that the Times has not done its homework. Missing is any mention of the extensive research that has been done on whether homework is useful. In fact, readers of "Homework overload" come away with the impression that the topic has never been investigated.
A good place to start: Alfie Kohn's book, published in 2006, The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, and Americans will celebrate with parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues. Here, courtesy of the U.S. Census, are some facts about the country and how it celebrates its birthday.
POPULATION
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This story takes place over a period of years. The politician represents all politicians(any party) and the teacher represents all teachers (those who are affected by these ridiculous ideas our politicians and CEOs’ come up with.)
Politician: (Talking to a teacher) I have this great idea. It’s called NCLB, No Child Left Behind, sounds good right? No Child Left Behind, every child can and will learn. Like it?
Teacher: Hmmm, it sounds like a good idea, what does it mean?
Politician: Well, (stroking chin), it means no child will be left behind. It means we’re going to test the hell, I mean, heck out of those kids, and by golly, they will become really, really, smart!
Teacher: I don’t think testing them is going to make them really smart, as a
The first category of Challenge schools will be the lowest-performing five percent of schools in each state, based on student academic achievement, student growth, and graduation rates, that are not making progress to improve. In these schools, states and districts will be required to implement one of four school turnaround models, to support better outcomes for students.A 5% quota on turnarounds is an amplification of the worst aspect of NCLB, in addition to all of the increased testing coming. What is particularly egregious, is that not even Arne Duncan can articulate exactly how these schools will be identified in clear terms. What is also egregious is that the "turnaround" models are arbitrary and
Are high standards the same as high expectations? What are the core values that drive what's important in your classroom? Do you believe in your ability as a teacher more than you believe in your students' abilities?
In an #ASCD11 session taking on the sacred cow of high expectations, Robyn Jackson explained the importance of uncovering the myths that guide our expectations. She outlined three major myths:
The Standards Myth: The belief that higher standards will equal higher expectations. In fact, teachers must also assess, assign, be accountable, and provide support at the level of the standard to have both high standards and high expectations. Raise the standards, but also raise the resources for kids to reach and exceed them.
The Attribution Myth: Says that we attribute reasons for kids' successes and failures based on our own core values and cultural currencies. In fact, kids succeed and fail for many reasons, and bring their own currencies to the classroom. Help them leverage and expand their currencies to access their own and shared values (like autonomy, sense of belonging,
In a speech to the National Education Association's delegate assembly, Vice President Joe Biden sought to downplay areas of disagreement with the union, using the metaphor of a squabble in an otherwise tightly knit family.
"In these times of change, I know you don't agree with everything we've done in this administration. Believe me, I know," Biden said to laughter from delegates. "I respect the disagreement we have. And not all of it, are you wrong about. Some of it you are. But ... this is more a fight within the family."
In rhetorical structure, the speech had some striking parallels with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel's keynote yesterday, in which he described such disagreements as "a fight over how to achieve a shared vision."
And just as Van Roekel emphasized Obama's legislative successes, so too did Biden emphasize that the White House and the union agree about things such as the right for public employees to bargain collectively, progressive tax policies, early-childhood education, affordable health care, etc.
Coincidence? Probably not. Biden said he read Van Roekel's' speech on the
Can you stand six minutes of Arne Duncan answering softball questions from NBC's Andrea Mitchell at the Aspen Ideas Festival (or, as Politico dubs it, D.C.'s summer camp)?
Consider it a Fourth Of July challenge. I couldn't even bear to start.
