Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Nancy Flanagan is an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich, and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. She is National Board-certified, and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network. She welcomes feedback on her sharp-eyed perspectives on the inconsistencies and inspirations, the incomprehensible, immoral and imaginative, in American education. She is a digital organizer for IDEA(Institute for Democratic Education in America). You can follow her on Twitter @nancyflanagan.

I Heart Social Studies

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 6 days ago

As a nation, we still have no clue, let alone consensus, about the purpose of public education. Is it building democratic equality? Job training? Credential collecting?

Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 2 weeks ago

Something important is lost when kids assume that mom will always play backstop to any academic negligence.

Is Your School Mascot Insulting Someone?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 3 weeks ago

When it comes to school mascots, however--and the ongoing lawsuit-based drive to rid high schools of their Native American/Tribal/American Indian mascots and nicknames--I find myself wondering if this battle isn't the elevation of form over substance.

First World Education Problems, Part III: Say Nice things about Detroit

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 3 weeks ago

What to do about a city like Detroit? What's the best way to serve the children there, who deserve the same free, first-rate democratic education that children all over this country are receiving?

First World Education Problems in Detroit (Part II, Catherine Ferguson Academy)

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 4 weeks ago

What are the ultimate outcomes of scrapping publicly funded education in favor of relying on luck, connections and philanthropy?

First World Education Problems in Detroit (Part I)

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 4 weeks ago

We're all products of our expectations. And some of those expectations just might be first world problems.

What Three Things Bother You Most about the Common Core?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 1 month ago

What are your three most salient ideas about the Common Core? Are they criticisms? Can you put them into shovel-ready bullet points, for the limited attention span of your average legislator?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools News

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools News:

Precursor to Seattle Schools DOE Investigation

by Melissa Westbrook

From Ed Week comes this story of a district in Mississippi and the measures they must take for their disciplinary measures for all students. This may end up being what Seattle Schools is told they must do.

Among other things outlined in a consent decree signed Thursday between the district and the DOJ:

• The district cannot use suspension, alternative school settings, or expulsion for minor misbehavior and has to limit these types of consequences all together.


• School administrators cannot ask school law enforcement officers to respond in cases where 
• 
  

Seattle Schools News

by Melissa Westbrook

First up, some good news from SPS Communications:

• The McClure Middle School boys team won first place in the Team Relay Heat of Erg Ed’s Indoor Rowing Championship.

In second place were the Pathfinder K-8 girls, and in third place were the Madrona K-8/Broadview-Thomson K-8team. 
Launched in 2010, Erg Ed is a classroom-based indoor rowing education program operating as part of Seattle Public School's physical education curriculum.  In partnership with Seattle Public Schools, Erg Ed is currently provided at 14 middle and K-8 schools across the city. 

• With more than 800 pledges, Roosevelt High School let it be known loud and clear that they are against 

Seattle Schools This Week

by Melissa Westbrook

Wednesday, March 27th
Work Session on Update on Families & Education Levy from 4-4:45 p.m.

Work Session on the Budget from 4:45-6:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 28th
Community Meeting with Director Peaslee from 6-7:45 p.m. at Lake City Public Library

Saturday, March 30th
Community Meeting with Director Patu from 10 am to noon at Caffe Vita.

Why my grandson, 4, won’t be taking a gifted ed test - Class Struggle - The Washington Post

Why my grandson, 4, won’t be taking a gifted ed test - Class Struggle - The Washington Post:

Why my grandson, 4, won’t be taking a gifted ed test

By Jay Mathews

My eldest grandson, Ben Mathews, just turned four. According to the New York Times, that is a perilous age in that big city. Many four year olds are toiling through exercises designed by their parents and tutoring companies to prepare for kindergarten gifted program entrance tests.

It gets worse. Adults are fighting over the very nature of those exams. Should they, as they do now, measure how much academic preparation preschoolers have had? Or should they assess the magic essence of giftedness, something much talked about but so far poorly understood.

Ben can relax. The public schools where he lives in South Pasadena, Calif., like most schools in the Washington area, don’t have gifted 

UFT on School Governance: the second (and stranger) of two debates | JD2718

UFT on School Governance: the second (and stranger) of two debates | JD2718:

UFT on School Governance: the second (and stranger) of two debates

by jd2718

Last Monday, at the UFT Exec Board, I rose to speak against the recommendations on school governance. They were approved by that body, seventy or so to 3.  I posted about the meeting (click here for account), and promised to write up my notes (click here for the write up).
On Wednesday the recommendations, now approved by the Exec Board, were introduced to the Delegate Assembly. There any chance of debate was obscured by a tertiary question:  did the MORE reps on the committee vote, and if so, did they vote against. (I discuss, below.)
Let me start back at the Exec Board on Monday. When Michael Mulgrew reported, he thought that all caucuses had participated in the Governance Committee. When he learned that New Action had not (we declined to serve) he modified what he was saying – all caucuses were welcome to participate (True).
By the way, here was New Action’s reasoning:

NEW ACTION HAS ALREADY CONCLUDED THERE’S BEEN ENOUGH “TINKERING” WITH 

Diane in the Evening 3-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

To infinity ... and beyond!

When Democracy Died in Camden, NJ

by dianerav

Jersey Jazzman reports that Governor Christie has decided to take control of the Camden school district.
Camden is the fourth school district in the state to be taken over.
Paterson, Newark, and Jersey City are already controlled by the state.
JJ writes:
“Let’s be clear: Paterson has been under state control for 24 years, Jersey City for 22 years, and Newark for 18 

NYC Parents and Students Mobilizing for Real Reform

by dianerav

As the mayoral election of 2013 approaches, New York City parents and students are speaking up about what is most important to them. They got hold of an old school bus, painted it blue, and are driving around the city to raise awareness among other parents and students.
The article linked here shows how parents and their children are trying to inform voters and the candidates about 

Do Americans Believe in Equality of Opportunity?

by dianerav

Governor Jerry Brown of California gave a brilliant state of the state speech in January, where he pledged to change fundings of public schools so that more money went to children with the greatest needs.
It sounded reasonable. It costs more to educate a child who can’t speak English than one who can. It costs more to educate a child with disabilities than one without them. It costs more to educate children with high 

The Chicago Tribune’s Phony Poll Numbers on Reform

by dianerav

Yesterday I ran a post about an editorial in the Chicago Tribune. The editorial touted the results of a poll which the newspaper conducted in partnership with the Joyce Foundation. The poll purportedly supported privatization, merit pay, evaluation of teachers by test scores, and every other failed nostrum of the Rahm Emanuel-ALEC crowd.
But a Chicago parent group called PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education) says that the Tribune poll is a fraud. It underrepresented parents of children who attend public schools and it underrepresented African 

Rahm: I Did It for the Children

by dianerav

Fresh from his skiing vacation in Utah, Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he is closing 54 public schools because he wants all the children in Chicago to get a quality education. So he closing the schools of 30,000 children.
May we see a show of hands? How many people believe that at the end of Emanuel’s term of office, all children in Chicago will have a quality education? Is he hiding his secret recipe?
To add insult to injury, he channels the father of public education, Horace Mann, in calling education “the great equalizer.” Mann was not talking about charter schools or academies or religious schools. He was talking about public schools.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 minutes ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Chicago: A Disaster of “Seismic Proportions” by dianerav Mike Klonsky describes the devastation that will befall communities in Chicago as their schools are abandoned. What will happen to the children? Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to be in Utah when his plan to devastate black communities was released Celebrated Charter Loses Its Charter by dianerav Few charter schools have received as much attention and accolades as the American Indian Model Schools of Oakland... more »

#edweek pushing the #commoncore on parents – @ the chalk face

#edweek pushing the #commoncore on parents – @ the chalk face:

#edweek pushing the #commoncore on parents

by Timothy D. Slekar

If you’re bored please go here.  EdWeek needs our help.  They want us to explain to “parents” why we need the Common Core.
This is what I posted.

Re: Teaching Parents About the Common Core

Really?  Now EdWeek is trying to dupe parents into the disaster of the coming Common Core.  Parents, WAKE UP!  The Common Core is nothing more than a package of surveillance gadgets designed to track your child’s constant movement and target educational materials at you for you to purchase to “help” your child.  Its is the biggest clusterfart to be heaped on American public schools and parents.  The teachers and schools have absolutely no need for Common Core Standards.  They need smaller class sizes, better teaching resources like lab equipment, time to collaborate and administrators who are also grounded as master teachers.
Take a look at the schools the purveyors of the Common Core send their children to.  NO 

Is this weighing down your Kindergartener’s backpack? #CCSS

by Chris Cerrone

I shared an image of a word problem from a Kindergarten workbook not long ago asking our readers to guess the grade level of a math workbook.  I was forwarded another example from the same corporate produced Common Core math book.  What struck me this time is not the concepts and wordiness, but the fact that a Kindergartener has a book with over 236 pages.  Seriously?
I remember scissors, crayons, and glue in Kindergarten,  not a thick workbook.  What are we doing to our children? I am not worried about a 5 year old being “College and Career ready”. I just want him to learn social skills and be a good human being.

Let’s Re-Learn How to Read for the Common Core | toteachornototeach

Let’s Re-Learn How to Read for the Common Core | toteachornototeach:

Let’s Re-Learn How to Read for the Common Core

by aristotlethewise

Let’s Re-Learn How to Read for the Common Core 

by Stephen Chiger
It’s about time I said I was sorry to Professor Smith.
One of my most vivid college memories is of him rebuking my modern drama class for our lazy reading of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Why did no one notice, let alone try to analyze, the symbolism of Nora dancing the tarantella?
I felt terrible, and as Smith pushed us, I realized why he was so flustered: Ibsen had selected details like the tarantella (Not a tango! Not a waltz!) to articulate a controversial and groundbreaking message. We had skimmed.
Professor Smith, I want to make amends. The new national education standards called the Common Core are designed so that your students will now be better prepared for the type of analysis you expect — but to make that work, we’ll have to start training teachers in the same way you trained me.
If we narrow the Common Core down to a handful of changes, one of the largest is that students will need to read 

Public School Money, Creationism, Evolution, and Schneider | deutsch29

Public School Money, Creationism, Evolution, and Schneider | deutsch29:

Public School Money, Creationism, Evolution, and Schneider

by deutsch29

Over the past year, I have read a number of articles regarding the use of public funds to support schools that are teaching creationism and not evolution.  In all of my reading on the topic, I have not read any articles offering a perspective similar to my own. Therefore, I have decided to weigh in on the subject.
In order for readers to properly consider my perspective, I must first offer insight into the influences that have shaped my thinking, both my own worldview as well as my own brief-yet-critical considerations of the two theories.  Finally, I will offer my view of the use of public funds for supporting the teaching of the state-endorsed theory of evolution.

Playing Well With Others: The Ground Rules

There is a risk in my revealing both myself and my reasoning on a topic that evokes strong responses from people. Thus, I will also establish some ground rules for how readers might register their responses to this post:
I welcome comments that are written in a respectful manner. Such comments need not agree with my viewpoint 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Spotlight on Aki Kurose

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Spotlight on Aki Kurose:

Spotlight on Aki Kurose

by Charlie Mas

The Alliance for Education, by giving Mia Williams the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence, has put a spotlight on Aki Kurose. Let's take a look.

Aki Kurose was in Step 5 of No Child Left Behind when Ms Williams was installed as the principal there for the 2008-2009 school year. In Step 5 schools are supposed to either be closed (then re-invented and re-opened) or be "transformed". This transformation must include, at a minimum, the replacement of the principal. It can include replacement of all of the staff. It must, at a minimum, consists of a radical change in the school's operation. The only thing changed at Aki Kurose was the appointment of Ms Williams as principal and the extension of the school day by about fifteen minutes.

So how is that transformation coming along? It's not.



Here are the pass rates for Aki Kurose 8th graders on the state proficiency tests since Ms Williams became principal:

Year	Reading	Math	Science
2008-09 WASL	63.7%	38.6%	34.6%
2009-10 MSP	51.7%	34.8%	30.7%
2010-11 MSP	55.9%	36.4%	49.1%
2011-12 MSP	47.4%	29.3%	36.3%

Is this a record that deserves an award? I don't think so. Aki Kurose, under Ms Williams' leadership, has seen 

School closings are child abuse on a massive scale. | Reclaim Reform

School closings are child abuse on a massive scale. | Reclaim Reform:

School closings are child abuse on a massive scale.

by kenpreviti

Why should you be involved? What can you do?

School closings are child abuse on a massive scale.
Replacing a few of the public schools or building new schools with public funds paid to private for-profit charters includes fraud, corruption and graft. This process is not a “private/public partnership”; it is a plutocratic takeover and true redistribution of wealth.


“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”
― Mario Savio
Chicago or Philadelphia. Florida or Colorado. Your school, their school or my school.
Do your best to organize and fight this madness. Stop child abuse by corporations and their puppet politicians. No matter what the odds against you are, stop those who abuse children.
Exaggeration? No. Have you read about forcing a mentally disabled and blind child to take a state mandated test? Why? The test scores will be used to show the school failed, the principal failed and the teacher failed. They will be fired and the school will be closed, that’s why. Read the Washington Post article HERE.

Debt Strangles the 99% | OccupyWallSt.org

Debt Strangles the 99% | OccupyWallSt.org:

Debt Strangles the 99%

by OccupyWallSt

76% of Americans are in debt. 15% are being pursued by one or more debt collectors. 22% of Americans are too impoverished to qualify for credit. That forces them into informal debt like payday loans or worse, which generateinterest rates of up to 500%. So add that together and we have the 99%.

Strike Debt and the Rolling Jubilee believe that no one should have to go into debt to cover basic human rights like health care, education, and housing. One in seven Americans is being pursued by a debt collector. Credit card debt is often the “plastic safety net” that covers for gaps in household budgets caused by financing such essentials.
Medical debt is an area of personal debt that no one from outside the United States can even understand.Spanish activists are campaigning against the privitization of their national single-payer health system. They see any payment for medical treatment as the breakdown of a decent society. The idea that people might be driven to bankruptcy by medical debt is literally incomprehensible.
But in the United States, we find that no less than 62% of all bankruptcies involve medical debt. Of these people, three-quarters actually had medical insurance. So many drugs and procedures are not covered, and so high are the deductibles, that an insured person can easily find themselves unable to cover their medical bills. Two-thirds of working households do not have the resources to cover a $1000 emergency. One hour of a specialist doctor’s time can cost that alone.
Even these stark figures conceal the discrimination built into health care for people of color, low-income workers and LGBTQ populations. More than half of African-Americans struggle to pay medical bills, compared with 34% 

Challenge is not only opening good charter schools, but closing bad ones. A new national discussion begins. | Get Schooled

Challenge is not only opening good charter schools, but closing bad ones. A new national discussion begins. | Get Schooled:

Challenge is not only opening good charter schools, but closing bad ones. A new national discussion begins.

by Maureen Downey

Mike Ritter/AJC

While Georgia seeks ways to open more high-performing charter schools, other parts of the country are engaging in a different challenge: How to close under-performing ones.
The House passed a parent trigger bill that would have allowed parents in even top-rated schools to petition their school boards to convert their school to a charter school. (The bill stalled late last week in the state Senate but could be attached to another bill and come up again.) The recently resurrected Charter Schools Commission is beginning to consider applications for new charters.
Charter schools are public schools that operate under individualized contracts that award them more freedom and flexibility in exchange for a pledge of higher student achievement. To expand parental choice, many states, including Georgia, have been eager to open charters, but less diligent in closing them when the promised achievement doesn’t materialize.
In his study, “Improving Charter School …

Lafayette School. Evidence of a failing, underutilized school in Chicago. | Fred Klonsky

Lafayette School. Evidence of a failing, underutilized school in Chicago. | Fred Klonsky:

Lafayette School. Evidence of a failing, underutilized school in Chicago.

by Fred Klonsky

PopoutH/T: Last Stand for Children First.

Lafayette School is just one of 54 schools that the Chicago Public Schools are planning to close.  Lafayette’s Illinois School Report Card shows just what a colossal failure it is.  With 98% of the student population living in poverty, should they really be earning the upright bass?  Why not teach these students instruments that they could play on street corners and help their families out?  It seems to me fine arts money could be better used on more affluent students in the first place.Mayor Emanuel has never visited Lafayette School nor have any School Board members, but they must have done their homework shutting down 

Jersey Jazzman: How ONE Question on ONE Test Can Cost You Your Job

Jersey Jazzman: How ONE Question on ONE Test Can Cost You Your Job:

How ONE Question on ONE Test Can Cost You Your Job

by Duke

Last week, I pointed out a big math failure in the proposed New Jersey teacher evaluation system, AchieveNJ:

Slide 14 (annotations mine):

Slide 20:

 OK, wait a minute...

Slide 14 says my students' Student Growth Percentiles, or SGPs, will be calculated on a scale of 1 to 99. We've already established that my evaluation will use the Median SGP for my class, even though that is potentially a hugely distorted metric (see NJDOE Math Fail #1 for more). But Slide 20 has an example where a teacher gets a "raw score" of 2.0 for their mSGP.

How in the hell did the NJDOE calculate this number?

The more I looked at this, the more absurd it seemed. If NJDOE is going convert a number 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Discussion Board for Parents

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Discussion Board for Parents:

Common Core Discussion Board for Parents

by stlgretchen

Parents and taxpayers, here's your chance to have your voice heard about the standards/assessments to be taught to your children via Common Core.

From Education Week Teacher and Teaching Parents about the Common Core:

For the Education Week Teacher story package on "Common Core Instructional Opportunities,” we spoke with teachers, curriculum specialists, and principals about what the new standards mean for teaching. One group of stakeholders we did not have a chance to cover, but that came up in our reporting, was parents.

 In your experience, what do parents know—or not know—so far about the Common Core State Standards? What do you think is important for them to understand? How have you, your school, and/or your district reached out to them about this issue? What else would you like to see done? 

You can comment at the site.