Saturday, September 3, 2011

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

I would just like to point out that there's always excellent writing going on over at School Finance 101, but this recent post on the now popular abuse of "student grown models" as an alternative to "value-added" models is just excellent. There's a growth industry of people now selling various products related to growth models, and there's an entire layer of management devoted to shoehorning this gobbledygook into local policy. None of it exists in any of the countries that out-compete our poverty-impacted kids in international comparison. It only exists here; it's part of the national obsession with teacher quality based on everything except observation and

Modern School: Privatizing Education As Quickly As Possible

Modern School: Privatizing Education As Quickly As Possible:

Privatizing Education As Quickly As Possible Thanks to Chris Guerrieri, from Education Matters, for picking up the following: Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons The Privitization of Education Speeds Up From Mother Jones by Andy Kroll In Michigan, a state perennially crippled by budget deficits, ...

Duffy's Poison Apple Acadmey 4LAKids Blog just published a serious of possible logos for AJ Duffy's new Apple Academy Charter School in Los Angeles (For more on Duffy's anti-union about face see AJ Duffy Union Scab). The above logo seemed most apropos to me: The Poison Apple ...

Teen To Be Retried For Homophobic Murder At the age of 14, Brandon McInerney calmly walked up to his classmate Lawrence King, pulled out a gun, and shot him dead in the middle of class (for more background on the case see here). King was gay and had made repeated advances at McInerney. King ...

Your Hub - Program brings teacher from China to Mountain Range High School

Your Hub - Program brings teacher from China to Mountain Range High School:

Program brings teacher from China to Mountain Range High School

Zhou Ying is one of 25 teachers from China and Egypt selected to participate in the Department of State’s Teachers of Critical Languages Program

Posted: 08/31/2011 10:52:01 AM MDT Updated: 08/31/2011 10:52:01 AM MDT Author: Joe Nguyen

Zhou Ying leads students in an exercise designed to teach the pronunciation of the Mandarin language during class this week at Mountain Range High School in Westminster. Zhou is one of 25 teachers from China and Egypt selected to participate in the Department of State’s Teachers of Critical Languages Program. Photo by Lindsay Pierce, YourHub

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With the school year kicking off, one of Mountain Range High School’s new faculty members has traveled halfway around the world to assume her new post.

Zhou Ying, an English teacher from China, is one of 25 teachers from China and Egypt selected to participate in the Department of State’s Teachers of Critical Languages Program.

The program is designed to increase the study of world languages in U.S. schools, and provide an opportunity for the teachers to learn about American schools and culture.

“It’s pretty competitive,” said Eliza Doton, senior program officer at the program. “Off the top of my head, it

Environmentalists Join Educators in Protesting Obama Policies - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Environmentalists Join Educators in Protesting Obama Policies - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Environmentalists Join Educators in Protesting Obama Policies

by Anthony Cody

The New York Times today reported that many environmentalists are expressing frustration at recent policy decisions by the Obama administration. The story carries some strong echoes of the way educators have felt for the past two years, as Secretary Duncan has extended and intensified the worst aspects of No Child Left Behind.

In the past week more than a thousand demonstrators have been arrested at the White House in protest of the administration's unclear stance on the licensing of a pipeline that would carry oil from Canadian tar sands. Even former administration staffers, and Dr. James Hansen, the head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, participated in protests and were arrested. And this concern has deepened as the White House has abandoned its plan to strengthen air pollution standards.

It is eerie how this parallels our Save Our Schools March a few weeks ago. We did not subject ourselves to

All Education Matters: Indentured Educated Women

All Education Matters: Indentured Educated Women:

Indentured Educated Women

by C. Cryn Johannsen

I often think about gender and how it intersects with being an educated debtor. Many women have written to me, expressing their fears about never being able to have a family or owning a home. The option of domesticity has been stripped from many of us who are indentured educated women. While it was once enormously painful for me to accept that I would never have a child, I have now come to terms with it. (I'd really like to adopt, but that costs money, something I seriously lack!) And for those who have told me to have a child, and that things are always tough, i.e., that it's "never the right time to have a child," I can assure you that it is not appropriate or fair to bring a child into this world. I live with my in-laws. I can't buy my own groceries. How on earth could I justify having a baby? Of course, for those of you who have made the decision to have children, I respect that entirely. However, when it comes to my own personal life, it wouldn't be right. That does not mean I pass judgment on anyone who thinks otherwise. We all make different decisions, especially when it comes to intimate matters

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's 8 - 9-3 noon

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's 8

See the Koch brothers attack public education and call David Koch! See the Koch brothers attack public education and call David Koch!: ** ** 1. 1. *After the November 2009 elections*, the Wake County school board dismantled socio-economic diverse schools and began to implement a neighborhood schools plan ...

School shutdown leaves students, teachers scrambling | news10.net School shutdown leaves students, teachers scrambling | news10.net: School shutdown leaves students, teachers scrambling - Twitter - Facebook - Share - Email - Print - - - A - *A* - A - + Written byKaren Massie - ...

Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature.” – Zinn Education Project Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature.” – Zinn Education Project: Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature.” Film clip. Henry McNeal Turner’s ...

NOLA Public Schools & School Privatization Part 1: Selected Bibliography of Articles, Books, Studies and Informed Opinions–2011 to 10/2010 | The G Bitch Spot NOLA Public Schools & School Privatization Part 1: Selected Bibliography of Articles, Books, Studies and Informed Opinions–2011 to 10/2010 | The G Bitch Spot: NOLA Public Schools & School Privatization Part 1: Selected Bibliography of Articles, ...

Queens Teacher: The Threat of Accountabalism Queens Teacher: The Threat of Accountabalism: The Threat of Accountabalism by Queens Teacher The Threat of Accountabalism Phillip C. Schlechty *This practice has worked its way into public education, and now it's gobbling up our young.* Public ...

The Pulse: Bullying wrong, but N.J. law may go too far - Philly.com The Pulse: Bullying wrong, but N.J. law may go too far - Philly.com: The Pulse: Bullying wrong, but N.J. law may go too far September 02, 2011|By Michael Smerconish - - - - - - - - [image: ...

Wednesday: Study session on Oakland school closures - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools Wednesday: Study session on Oakland school closures - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools: Wednesday: Study session on Oakland school closures By Katy Murphy Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 7:31 pm in school closures. School ...

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

Walworth County Fair swine barn.

It’s has been 40 years since Anne and I have spent a Labor Day Weekend at home in Chicago.

No Wisconsin. No Michigan. No Camp Klonsky.

For many years we would do Camp Klonsky, a family and friends thing up at Williams Bay, Wisconsin. It would always include an evening at the Walworth County Fair.

Requred was a walk through the swine barn. Leigh once won the giant pink beaver by hitting the red star at the

Old school.

by Fred Klonsky

JD Souther.

While Hosting Adult Parties During After School Hours, Miami Charter School Went from F to A Last Year | Scathing Purple Musings

While Hosting Adult Parties During After School Hours, Miami Charter School Went from F to A Last Year | Scathing Purple Musings:

While Hosting Adult Parties During After School Hours, Miami Charter School Went from F to A Last Year

by Bob Sikes

Miami charter school Balere Langauge Academy, went from an F to an A last year and was one of the schools recognized by the Florida Department of Education as one of it’s success stories. They were one of 13 Florida schools which raised its school grade from either a D or F all the way to an A.

TALLAHASSEE – Education Commissioner John L. Winn today
recognized some of Florida’s highest performing school districts for either
maintaining or improving their district grade to an “A” or having all “A” or “B” graded schools in 2011. Of the districts highlighted, 13 have earned an
impressive “A” grade since the inception of district grades in 2004, while 21 districts this year alone have no schools graded lower than a “B.” Twelve school
districts also had schools improve their grades dramatically, moving up to an “A” from either a “D” or an “F” grade last year.

Jersey Jazzman: B4K Says: "NJ's Schools Are Great!"

Jersey Jazzman: B4K Says: "NJ's Schools Are Great!":

B4K Says: "NJ's Schools Are Great!"

by Duke

B4K's ad attacks the NJEA for accepting the "...status quo; and they want you settle for it."

What is that status quo? Well, over at B4K's "Facts" section, they have a page labeled "Independent Ratings of NJ School System." Let's see...

There are four reports cited:

EDITORIAL PROJECTS IN EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTER (EPE), “Quality Counts 2011,”
CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, “Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card of Educational Innovation,” November 2009.
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY, 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook.
THOMAS B. FORDHAM INSTITUTE, The State of Standards – and the Common Core – in 2010, July,

Daily Kos: In Honor of Teachers

Daily Kos: In Honor of Teachers:

In Honor of Teachers

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Since it’s back-to-school season across the country, I wanted to celebrate a group that is often maligned: teachers. Like so many others, it was a teacher who changed the direction of my life, and to whom I’m forever indebted.

So begins Charles Blow in this New York Times op ed this morning.

Blow cites data from things like the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on American education in which 76% of Americans want the best brightest students to become teachers and 67% percent are willing to have their own children become teachers. Blow then offers these words, which I hope you will read carefully:

But how do we expect to entice the best and brightest to become teachers when we keep tearing the profession down? We take the people who so desperately want to make a difference that they enter a field where they know that they’ll be overworked and underpaid, and we scapegoat them as the cause of a societywide failure.

I had read that far when I decided I needed to post about this piece by Blow.

Please keep reading.

Democurmudgeon: Another Eulogy for the Teaching Profession.

Democurmudgeon: Another Eulogy for the Teaching Profession.:

Another Eulogy for the Teaching Profession.

by Democurmudgeon

In their successful bid to tear down societal progress made by the American people, the Republican Tea Party destroyed an entire profession, all because they were taxpayer supported "public" employees.

We are now relegated to stories like the following, in praise of those special teachers who turned us completely around. It's also true that those same teachers did little or nothing for our other classmates.

NY Times-Charles Blow’s Op-Ed, In Honor of Teachers

I wanted to celebrate a group that is often maligned: teachers. But how do we expect to entice the best and brightest to become teachers when we keep tearing the profession down? We take the people who so

NYC Public School Parents: The top NYC public high schools in terms of college-readiness

NYC Public School Parents: The top NYC public high schools in terms of college-readiness:

The top NYC public high schools in terms of college-readiness

by Leonie Haimson

Here is a file of NYC high schools ranked as to the percentage of their students in 2010 who graduated “college-ready,” which is estimated by the state education department as scoring at least 75 on the Regents exam in English and 80 on Math – called the "aspirational performance measure," or APM.

Students scoring lower than this, according to the state, are likely to need remediation. The spreadsheet also disaggregates this percentage by ELL and special education status, gender and ethnicity.

Lots of caveats before you interpret the list as a reliable ranking of the quality of NYC high schools:

To a large degree, these results are determined by the selectivity of the schools' admissions

Why the Miami Charter School Scandal Signals that its Time to Question the Wisdom and Judgement of Florida’s School Reformers | Scathing Purple Musings

Why the Miami Charter School Scandal Signals that its Time to Question the Wisdom and Judgement of Florida’s School Reformers | Scathing Purple Musings:

Why the Miami Charter School Scandal Signals that its Time to Question the Wisdom and Judgement of Florida’s School Reformers

by Bob Sikes

Those adult themes parties at that Miami charter school were put on by the husband of its owner, but Rocka Malik says she doesn’t know anything about them:

Balere’s principal and founder, Rocka Malik, told The Miami Herald on Thursday that she knew nothing about any after-hours parties at her school. But records show the party promoter is tied to Malik’s husband: A phone number for the promoter comes back to a car-wash company managed by Malik’s husband, Clifton Smith, who is also a director of a pre-school at Balere. Malik and Smith did not return phone calls on Friday.
This is not the first time the school has

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart- Al Green

Missouri Education Watchdog: Not to be Outdone, Arne Duncan Embarks on His Own "Magical Mystery Bus Tour"

Missouri Education Watchdog: Not to be Outdone, Arne Duncan Embarks on His Own "Magical Mystery Bus Tour":

Not to be Outdone, Arne Duncan Embarks on His Own "Magical Mystery Bus Tour"

by stlgretchen

This is from the Department of Education's Twitter Feed on Friday, September 2:

Arne Duncan (@arneduncan)
9/2/11 2:53 PM
First look at the bus for next week's Great Lakes Back-to-School Bus Tour #EDTour11 http://t.co/cGUgTWm

Obviously Duncan won't be traveling on this wrecked bus. This bus is a visual metaphor for the reforms Duncan has offered. (For the sleek looking bus he uses, click the link on the twitter feed).

I wondered if Duncan recycled one of President Obama's buses from his recent Mid-Western tour (being "green" and recycling is an important DOE goal and the path to prosperity for students) but I discovered Duncan has made a bus tour before. He may very well be recycling last year's bus. What is that "important DOE goal"? It comes from a

The Edupunks' Guide: How to Become Part of a Network - Education - GOOD

The Edupunks' Guide: How to Become Part of a Network - Education - GOOD:

The Edupunks' Guide: How to Become Part of a Network

by Anya Kamenetz

It’s the best of times and the worst of times to be a learner. College tuition has doubled in the past decade, while the options for learning online and independently keep expanding. Anya Kamenetz's new free ebook The Edupunks’ Guide and her free online course are all about the many paths that learners are taking in this new world, and we've been running excerpts from the book all week. We're also asking GOOD readers to doodle your learning journey and submit the result by Sunday, September 11. See all Edupunks excerpts here.

A diploma is the final step in a traditional education, but in the DIY world, credit comes from the reputation you build by doing good work and demonstrating it to others in a community. The rules of this world are informal and evolving, but joining and demonstrating value to a network is not optional for success in the 21st century. Here's