Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts

Diane Ravitch to Offer Keynote Address at First-Ever Bronx Education Summit

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William Paterson University - News:William Paterson University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series Features Leading Educator Diane Ravitch on October 13One of the nation's leading authorities on American education history and policy, Ravitch will speak about issues related to test-based accountability and school choiceDiane RavitchDiane Ravitch, one of the nation’s leading authorities on American education history and policy, will discuss issues related to test-based accountability and school choice on Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 7 p.m. as part of the 32nd season of ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM PostsToday's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top mid Day PostsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-6 hours agoToday's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top mid Day PostsToday's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late nite PostsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-2 minutes agoToday's Big Education Ape - PostRank Toplate nitePostsFlorida DOE Gets Caught in Their Own “Choice” Spin | Scathing Purple MusingsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-2 hours agoFlorida DOE ... more »

Sen. Patty Murray Introduces FOCUS Class Size Legislation | Education News

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Sen. Patty Murray Introduces FOCUS Class Size Legislation | Education News:Sen. Patty Murray Introduces FOCUS Class Size LegislationUS Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has introduced legislation that would limit class sizes and push recruitment for better teachers.U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Facilitating Outstanding Classrooms Using Size Reduction (FOCUS) Act of 2011 [bill summary, PDF], which the Senator says would provide states with the resources they need to reduce class sizes across the early grade levels in order to provide ... more »

Digital Learning Claims Don't Always Match Results – SchoolBook

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Digital Learning Claims Don't Always Match Results – SchoolBook:Digital Learning Claims Don't Always Match ResultsStephen Nessen for SchoolBookFACEBOOKTWITTEROct. 10, 2011, 7:31 a.m.By MARY ANN GIORDANOHappy Columbus Day. There is no school today, but education was very much in the news over the weekend, with extra attention paid to education-related businesses.Trying to find the digital solution that will help students pick up math and reading as quickly as they do the latest online game, districts and schools are spending $2.2 billion ... more »

Low-income students score lower on AP tests, analysis finds | California Watch

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Low-income students score lower on AP tests, analysis finds | California Watch:Low-income students score lower on AP tests, analysis findsby Kendall TaggartKendall Taggarturbancow/istockphoto.comAlthough California students are among the best in the country when it comes to Advanced Placement test scores, a California Watch analysis has found that many low-income students score lower on final exams than their wealthier counterparts.The analysis looked at each district in the state and compared the percentage of AP tests given a low grade – 1 ... more »

Why merit pay for teachers sounds good — but isn’t - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

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Why merit pay for teachers sounds good — but isn’t - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Why merit pay for teachers sounds good — but isn’tby Valerie StraussThis was written by Esther Quintero,a research associate at the Albert Shanker Institute who focuses on higher education, women in STEM, and early childhood. A version of this appeared on the institute’s blog .By Esther QuinteroThe current teacher salary scale has come under increasing fire in the modern school reform area — ...more »

Bringing Change: Sahila-style: In 1492...

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Bringing Change: Sahila-style: In 1492...:n 1492...... Columbus sailed the ocean blue... more »

Brown saves ed bills for last | Thoughts on Public Education

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Brown saves ed bills for last | Thoughts on Public Education:Brown saves ed bills for last - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guessby John Fensterwald - Educated GuessKathryn Baron contributed to this article Signatures and vetoes went flying out of the State Capitol over the weekend as Gov. Brown raced to meet the October 9 deadline to take action on all the bills passed during the 2011-12 legislative session. He signed three bills that will lead to significant changes in ... more »

Daily Kos: The Myth of Voter Fraud

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Daily Kos: The Myth of Voter Fraud:The Myth of Voter Fraudby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)There is almost no voting fraud in America. And none of the lawmakers who claim there is have ever been able to document any but the most isolated cases. The only reason Republicans are passing these laws is to give themselves a political edge by suppressing Democratic votes.So says the New York Times in its lead editorial this morning, whose title I have used for this post. The ... more »

CA: Gov Brown signs bill restricting library privatization - PrivatizationWatch.Org

October 10, 2011 - PrivatizationWatch.Org:

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Headlines
CA: Gov Brown signs bill restricting library privatization
CA: Alarms about ambulance contract went unheeded
TX: Texans remain vigilant against Interstate 69
IL: City mulls privatizing recycling; some fear union-busting agenda
FL: Private prison deal has caught FBI and U.S. attorney attention
FL: Lawmaker defends prison privatization effort
FL: With prison privatization on hold, GEO still vying for contract
​MI: Lansing still looking into privatizing cemeteries
Company refuses rescue of South Pole stroke victim

News summaries
CA: Gov Brown signs bill restricting library privatization
Under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, private companies would be
required to prove that they would save taxpayers money should they
take over a public library. San Jose Mercury News

CA: Alarms about ambulance contract went unheeded
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council were warned of
possible financial irregularities with San Diego’s public-private
ambulance partnership in 2007 yet took little action until earlier this
year. In the meantime, according to allegations the city has now made,
the city was losing millions in taxpayer dollars. In the meantime,
according to allegations the city has now made, the city was losing
millions in taxpayer dollars...The April report accused the city’s

OCCUPY EDUCATION #ows #occupyedu

OCCUPY EDUCATION:

This is a collection of adults and children's messages that challenge public school to become something more than it is - messages that dare public school to serve students' passions instead of politicians and vendors' coffers.
So many of the divisions and false notions of social order we cling to as adults are entrenched in the culture of public education. We want to take our next step in challenging that culture, and we ask for your help in helping us capture and share counter-narratives to today's test-addled, pop notions of schooling.

October 10th, 2011 at 9:41PM

In my classroom students are treated as equals. They have as much to do with the teaching as I do. See our journey on www.mrspripp.blogspot.com

Archive

Ask me anythingTell us how you OCCUPY EDU

Search

Kimble's Corner: Congressman Kimble's Address to Value Voter's Summit #ows

Kimble's Corner: Congressman Kimble's Address to Value Voter's Summit:

Congressman Kimble's Address to Value Voter's Summit

by Representative Kimble

I am honored to be here speaking today before such a respected and well known organization. I will keep my comments brief, but as this is Columbus Day Weekend, I thought it most appropriate today to talk about Christopher Columbus.

Way back in 1492, there was no cable, no video games, no Ipods. What people used to get through their day was faith. It was this faith that lead Christopher Columbus to discover America so that we might all worship God as we saw fit. Columbus was a great hero, but I wonder what he'd say if he was alive today.

Would Columbus recognize America today. How would he react to seeing a country he worked so hard to discover becoming completely overrun with illegal aliens? What would he feel about Americans having to learn

ASCD Inservice: Support Principals, Transform Schools

ASCD Inservice: Support Principals, Transform Schools:

Support Principals, Transform Schools

by ASCD Bloggers

"For as long as I am a principal, I will always have a coach," says a principal who benefits from the transformational leadership coaching described in "Support Principals, Transform Schools," in the October 2011 issue of Educational Leadership. A team...

Is October the Longest Month for New Teachers?

by ASCD Bloggers

The initial jolt of back-to-school momentum has worn off, and teachers and students are settling in for the long haul of the school year. Teacher Cossondra George writes (in last week's most-clicked ASCD SmartBrief story) that new teacher, especially need...

In Case You Missed It

by Matthew Swift

Here's what is going on at ASCD this week: Kadhir Rajagopal author's page is now up. Hear what he has to say about creating success in urban schools. Steven Weber says on-track indicators can help identify struggling students and increase...

The Occupation Movement: On Greed, Unity & Violence « occupy california #ows

The Occupation Movement: On Greed, Unity & Violence « occupy california:

The Occupation Movement: On Greed, Unity & Violence

by *

from Bay of Rage:

Corporate Greed is the Wrong Target

Being “greedy” is what good corporations and businesses are supposed to do in capitalism. In this system, individuals can only get ahead by acting greedy, in their own self-interest. So while many recent city occupations in the USA have built themselves against “corporate greed”, “big business,” and “financiers on Wall Street”, we cannot forget that the most greedy corporations also donate the most to charity, that small business is just as much part of the system as big business, that productive industry cannot exist without finance. We must challenge the entire system. If we are really against “corporate greed” then we are against capitalism itself.

The 99%?

Yes, the 1% have been screwing us, for a long ass time. The 99% are reduced to working, serving and maintaining a system that makes us miserable and prevents us from realizing our potential. A growing number of

Occupy Wall Street: The Education Edition (Part 1) « Cooperative Catalyst #ows

Occupy Wall Street: The Education Edition (Part 1) « Cooperative Catalyst:

Occupy Wall Street: The Education Edition (Part 1)

by daretheschool

I am very happy to say that I spent my weekend occupying Wall Street. During this time, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with people who are not only angry, but hopeful. They are individuals who protest our country’s economic policies not out of hatred, but out of love for our country. They see the word democracy as more than just rhetoric. They view democracy as a dream that must be fulfilled in our lifetime. During the past two days, I spoke with students, teachers, and professors about their views on education and how it connects to their activism at Occupy Wall Street. I was interviewed by one woman

Message from the Velderman Education Action Group: No more selfish old teachers. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Message from the Velderman Education Action Group: No more selfish old teachers. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

Message from the Velderman Education Action Group: No more selfish old teachers.

by Fred Klonsky

Ben Velderman of the Michigan-based Education Action Group.

The following letter was sent to an unnamed Fort Wayne Education Association member last june from Steve Gunn, pal and cohort of my stalker, Ben Velderman, of the Michigan-based Education Action Group.

From: Steve Gunn [mailto:sgunn@edactiongroup.org]
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 10:47 AM
To: A FWCS HS Teacher Name withheld
Subject: RE: EAG Response to a FWCS TeacherI don’t need to be an “expert.” I am a taxpayer. In case you haven’t noticed, we fund the schools and we will run them any way we choose, whether you and your self-serving union friends like it or not.
The vast majority of Indiana voters are obviously ready for reform , or they wouldn’t have voted the way they did. The nation is obviously ready for reform, or laws wouldn’t be changing as quickly as

Great Teachers and Principals Survey Data - Letters (CA Dept of Education)

Great Teachers and Principals Survey Data - Letters (CA Dept of Education):

October 10, 2011

Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

RELEASE OF 2011 AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009
STATE FISCAL STABILIZATION FUND
GREAT TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS SURVEY DATA

In June 2011, the California Department of Education (CDE) began collecting data for the 2011 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), Great Teachers and Principals Survey. In accordance with the SFSF assurances, eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) were required to submit data regarding:

• The systems used to evaluate the performance of teachers and principals, and the use of results from those systems in decisions regarding teacher development, compensation, promotion, retention, and removal
  
  
• Whether the systems used to evaluate the performance of teachers and principals include student achievement outcomes or student growth data as an evaluation criterion
  
  
• The number of teachers and principals rated at each performance rating or level

As required by the SFSF, the reported survey data collected via the Great Teachers and Principals Survey was posted online; the data may be viewed on the CDE School Staffing Report Web page athttp://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/schlstfrpt.asp. LEAs may review and update this information through December 1, 2011. Beginning this year, the CDE is required to submit this data to the U.S. Department of Education.

If you have any questions regarding the Great Teacher and Principal Survey, please contact the Title II Leadership Office, by phone at 916-445-7331 or by e-mail at GTPSurvey@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tom Torlakson

TT:aw

Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

2011–12 CALIFORNIA PARTNERSHIP ACADEMIES
CLEAN TECHNOLOGY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANTS

The California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to announce the availability of funds through the California Partnership Academies (CPA) Program. This funding opportunity is provided through Proposition 98 General Funds, legislated through Senate Bill 1 (Chapter 2, Statues of 2011, First Extraordinary Session), and is available for up to 21 grants in Clean Technology and Renewable Energy.

Application materials are available on the CDE Funding Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/. For background information about the CPA model, please visit the CDE CPA Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/hs/cpagen.asp.

Please follow the guidelines below when responding to the Request for Application (RFA):

• This RFA is only for comprehensive high schools serving at least grades nine through twelve, with a student population of sufficient size to accommodate a fully-implemented school-within-a-school of at least 150 students.
  
  
• There are two options for this application:
  
  
  • Existing “green” academies currently funded through Assembly Bill 519 or SB 70, whose funding is scheduled to expire in 2011–12 or 2012–13, and who wish to continue to operate a CPA program, may apply as “continuing” academies.
    
    
  • Schools wishing to start a new academy in 2012–13, starting with grades nine and ten in the first year of implementation, may apply as “new” academies.
    
    
• All successful applicants will receive a planning grant in 2011–12 for $15,000.
  
  
• Planning grantees showing evidence of substantial progress towards successful implementation of a CPA for fall 2012, based on a Planning Grant Progress Report to be submitted by May 18, 2012, will qualify for CPA implementation funding in 2012–13.

If you have any questions regarding this RFA, please contact Karen Shores, Education Programs Consultant, High School Innovations and Initiatives Office, by phone at 916-319-0478 or by e-mail at kshores@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tom Torlakson

TT:ks

cc: High School Principals