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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The amount of spin is directly proportional to the size of the screw-up | Truth in American Education

The amount of spin is directly proportional to the size of the screw-up | Truth in American Education:

The amount of spin is directly proportional to the size of the screw-up

Filed in Common Core Assessments by  on August 14, 2013 • 1 Comment
I had to share this op/ed in the New York Post by David Bloomfield who is a professor of Education, Law and Policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. 
An excerpt:
Maybe next year’s expensive Common Core tests will include this political axiom: The amount of spin is directly proportional to the size of the screw-up.
Last week we saw a lot of spin.
The education/political establishment went into overdrive, with defensive statements from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, state Commissioner John King and Chancellor Dennis Walcott, among others. All assured us that the bitter medicine of poor test scores is good for us and good for our kids. We were told to ignore their decade-long assertions of educational success and take it on faith that now things will get better.
King even went so far as to warn, “There are those who will use the change in students’ 
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8-14-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum: Statement on Contract Negotiations

Seattle Schools Community Forum:




What Role Should the Mayor have in Public Education?
There's a question.I was amused to see Bruce Ramsey, another Seattle Times editorial board member, put out a column today that (oddly) asked Tim Burgess (who you may recall could even stick it out through the primary race), what the mayor of Seattle is and isn't.  Baffling.Here's what the column said about public education:He (Burgess) mentions education. I (Ramsey) object: Seattle Public Schools
by Melissa Westbrook / 10min 

Seattle Schools Statement on Contract Negotiations
From SPS Communications:We are working with our labor association partners to achieve what we all desire – what is best for our staff and for our students. We have discussed and explored a variety of options during negotiations with the Seattle Education Association.  We have discussed with SEA an increase to the cap on class size.  Enrollment in Seattle Public Schools has increased dramatically o
by Melissa Westbrook / 4min 



8-13-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum:  Washington State Charter Law Case UpdateThe charter school law case has been assigned to King County and to Judge Jean Rietschel.  I was amused to read elsewhere that the lawyers for the plaintiffs were accused of going "court and judge shopping."For the record, most cases involving statewide issues are either heard in Olympia (state capital) or Seattle (largest c
by mike simpson / 6h 
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Seeking private funds for public schools becoming an 'unfortunate trend' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook #RealEdTalk

Seeking private funds for public schools becoming an 'unfortunate trend' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Seeking private funds for public schools becoming an 'unfortunate trend'

by thenotebook on Aug 14 2013 Posted in Latest news
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Photo: Emma Lee/NewsWorks
Emani Edwards, 9, and Khyair Goodwin, 7, participate in a June protest against school budget cuts at City Hall.
by Kevin McCorry for NewsWorks
Facing a $304 million budget gap, Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite has asked for an assurance by Friday that the district will receive an additional $50 million.
If this money comes through, he's said schools will open on time, but staffing levels will be only "functional."
Some principals as well as home and school associations have taken it upon themselves to ask parents to help make up the difference by opening their checkbooks.
Last week, up against a $355,740 budget shortfall for his individual school, Greenfield Elementary principal Dan Lazar sent parents an "urgent request" asking families to contribute $613 per student.
"This money is not coming from the city right now, and we had to at least make the ask," he wrote.
Lazar stipulated that a donation was not a requirement.
"We never said this was a mandatory thing. We never said that people had to do it. It was an ask. It was a request, and that those who were able to, we appreciate it," he said. "And those who can't, we completely understand."
But even if not mandatory, this "ask" raised the ire of many who closely watch the trends in Philly's public education system.

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks

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ASCD Leaders on Reflection: Patrick Miller — Whole Child Education

ASCD Leaders on Reflection: Patrick Miller — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

ASCD Leaders on Reflection: Patrick Miller

August 14, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers
A defining trait of leadership is a passion for success and continuous improvement. With progress comes new vistas and new goals, as well as new challenges to overcome in our never-ending quest for knowledge and excellence. Leaders envision a future and great leaders shape that future. With that in mind, we asked ASCD leaders to share their thoughts on what reflection means to them as learners, teachers, and leaders.
"Peter Drucker said, 'Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.' We as educational leaders should heed Mr. Drucker's advice. Every day, we are tasked with making multiple decisions that affect the future of the children with whom we are entrusted to educate. By reflecting on our actions and decisions, both effective and ineffective, we have the opportunity to ensure that every decision we make or any action we take is truly with the best interest of children at heart."
Patrick Miller is the first Greene County native to serve as superintendent of Greene County Schools (N.C.) and has been in the position since 2008. Starting in 2005, he has been an active member of North Carolina ASCD (NCASCD), served on its board of directors since 2009, and is currently serving as president. In his role as president-elect of the organization in 2012–13, he helped implement a Person to Person Advocacy Program supported by an ASCD Influence Grant. His responsibilities included training NCASCD members on how to interact with lawmakers. Miller also serves as a member of ASCD's Legislative Committee which develops the association's annual legislative agenda.
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Louisiana Education Updates – as of 8/14/2013 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Louisiana Education Updates – as of 8/14/2013 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Louisiana Education Updates – as of 8/14/2013

Posted on August 14, 2013
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I know it’s been a while since I posted anything substantial (I hope you all didn’t miss me too much) but that is not because nothing substantial has been taking place. If anything, the activities, news items and scandals have only been increasing far beyond the normal frequency – which has made it difficult to decide exactly which article to pursue and document first. All of the these topics are important, current, pertinent and need to be covered in greater detail than I will address in this update. However I need a place to start and I would really appreciate any help anyone might care to provide. I narrowed the scope of my blog recently to mostly just education issues, and primarily Louisiana specific education issues, but still I find myself having trouble keeping up with everything that needs to be addressed in a complete and timely manner. This is where you can help. I do not make money off the blog and have a separate full time job and family just as all of you. Nevertheless these are stories and issues that are of concern to us all and need to be more fully addressed outside of our local and national media. If you would like to help me explore some of these issues with research or writing please drop me a line at crazycrawfish@yahoo.com so we can work out the particulars. I will of course give you full attribution under your real name or pseudonym – as you prefer. You do not need to be currently running your own blog to apply nor do you have to be an insider in the Louisiana education arena – although some background or vested interest would certainly help. I will be happy to provide editing, polishing and proofreading – if necessary and would be happy to include audio clips, video entries and pictures of your choosing (so long as they pass my relatively lax standards of decency.)
It appears LDOE and the reform movement is trying to swamp us with their superior state funded 
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8-14-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:









Naison Calls for John King's Removal
We've had 3 DUD NYSTATE Ed Comms in a row since 1995. Time to move on.Dear Speaker Silver and Assembly Member Nolan    It is time to remove John King  Education Commissioner of the State of New York. Commissioner King purposely decided to score state tests in such a way as to insure that the majority of the students in the state failed. The result was collective humiliation- of ELL students, of sp
2 by ed notes online / 4min 




8-13-13 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: A Weekend (not with Bernie) in ChicagoMoi, Yelena, AJ, James, Camille, Megan, Julie, Gloria, Jia (Sean caught a flight)I have so much to say about the trip to Chicago I made with a big crew from MORE this past weekend but so much of it would be boring -- like you don't really want to know just how much beer I drank. And how much fun it was to hang out with year old Jack who can no
by mike simpson / 22h 
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Clarification on Philadelphia public school appeals for private funds | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Clarification on Philadelphia public school appeals for private funds | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Clarification on Philadelphia public school appeals for private funds

by thenotebook on Aug 14 2013 Posted in Latest news
Greenfield Elementary School is seen in Center City Philadelphia in this Google street-view image. (Google Maps - ©2013 Google)


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by Kevin McCorry for NewsWorks
On Friday, Greenfield Elementary Principal Dan Lazar emailed parents asking for $613 per student to cover operating expenses based on the District-wide $304 million budget shortfall.
In the story I wrote covering this development, I included a list of five other schools that have at some point used private dollars to fund staffing positions.
The article, however, failed to explain the exact nature of those funding requests and who exactly did the asking. Some readers said they thought the article too closely associated the five schools in question to what has happened at Greenfield.
Here I hope to clarify and sharpen those distinctions:

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks

 
Countdown, Day 26: SRC to consider suspending parts of Public School Code
The School Reform Commission will be holding a special meeting tomorrow at 3 p.m. to consider suspending selected requirements of the Public School Code. A District spokesperson said that one of the provisions to be suspended involved the District's ability to place staff at schools of their choosing.  More to come.   read more
5 by thenotebook / 20min 

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Diane in the Evening 8-14-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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






Phyllis Bush: Choice, Letter Grades, and Accountability—For Whom?
This great letter by Phyllis Bush, retired teacher in Indiana, is going viral. Phyllis is a fighter for public education and a member of the board of the Network for Public Education. When I met her, she gave me a tee-shirt that says, “Sisyphus Rocks.” This came to me from an education activist in Indiana: “Parents and Educators, “Here is a call to action. We reported this morning that the Fort W
4 by dianerav / 6min 

NY Regents: Release the Test Questions!
The best use of tests is for diagnostic purposes, to help teachers learn what students got wrong and where they need more instruction. Students learn too from their errors. But if the results take months to score, they arrive too late to matter. And if the questions and answers are never released, and students never see their errors, then the tests are used only for ranking, not for helping kids.
2 by dianerav / 13min 
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-14-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Chile: The Most Pro-Market School System in the World, Part 3This is the third and final post about Education in Chile by Professor Mario Waissbluth, which he wrote for this blog to help us understand a system that took Milton Friedman’s advice and relied heavily on testing and choice.   Chile´s Education (III): A necessary change
by mike simpson / 2h 


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Atlanta teachers seeking Sugar Daddies to keep them in paper... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Atlanta teachers seeking Sugar Daddies to keep them in paper... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Atlanta teachers seeking Sugar Daddies to keep them in paper and pencils?  

Previous Posts

By Maureen Downey


I know a lot of teachers moonlight to earn extra cash, but wonder about how many are really doing this – earning money as gal pals to wealthy older men.
The service SeekingArrangment is a nationwide online “dating” service that matches “Sugar Daddies” with “Sugar Babies,” many of whom are college students trading their youth, beauty and attention, sexual and otherwise, for cash and other expressions of gratitude from wealthy men in what the company calls “mutually beneficial” relationships.
Earlier this year, the company released a list of the colleges attended by its student Sugar Babies. The No. 1 fastest growing source of new babies was Georgia State University. The University of Georgia is also on the list of increasingly fertile ground for the dating service.
Please keep in mind that these stats come from the company. Also, please note that “teacher” could include subs, parapros or after-school counselors.
The founder of the dating service connects the rise in teacher "Sugar Babies" to classroom cuts and decries that teachers have to reach into their own pockets – or those of Sugar Daddies" -- to 
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8-14-13 SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE:

gears




Robert Rendo: #optout graphic to share widely.
by Timothy D. Slekar / 9min 

Rendo


TEA Challenges Huffman/Haslam Plan to Tie Licensure to Value-Addled Test Scores
You have to take the 18 minutes to view this news conference announcement in order to appreciate the profound unfairness of using VAM for ANY high stakes decision. For more context, detailed discussion, and a survey of the mountain of research studies, buy the book.
by Jim Horn / 21min 


New Media, New Public Intellectuals | the becoming radical
New Media, New Public Intellectuals | the becoming radical.
by plthomasedd / 5min 





8-13-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face
SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: Paul Toner, MA TURNcoat, Leads Charge for Common Core and PARCCLawyer, corporate stooge, and MTA President, Paul Toner has sold teachers down the river in Massachusetts with support for test score based teacher evaluations, more segregated corporate reform schools, and now the Common Core testing delivery system. Toner has a propaganda piece at the MTA site that on
by mike simpson / 21h 
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New Media, New Public Intellectuals | the becoming radical

New Media, New Public Intellectuals | the becoming radical:

New Media, New Public Intellectuals

Posted on August 14, 2013 by 
Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch

At the beginning of January 2010, I received an email prompting me to watch a video of Diane Ravitch making a speech. My knee-jerk reaction was to delete the email because I had long rejected Ravitch’s work, associating her with the standards/testing movement and a traditional view of literacy that I firmly refuted.
Instead I clicked the link and was quickly puzzled, wondering who this Diane Ravitch was and what had happened to the Ravitch I had walked out on at a National Council of Teachers of English session several years before. Ravitch’s talk was so compelling I sought out her email, sent her an apology, and within the hour received a reply.
Diane and I exchanged a few emails; she was gracious and open about her recent change in stances related to public education reform (all detailed in her popular and influential book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education). This event has since grown into a virtual friendship and collegiality that I would have never predicted, but the intervening years have also revealed more than Ravitch’s new positions on accountability and preserving the promise of public education. Those months and years have also highlighted the role of the new media (Twitter, 
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