Injecting Federal Control and Influence in Local School Administration | Truth in American Education

Injecting Federal Control and Influence in Local School Administration | Truth in American Education:

Injecting Federal Control and Influence in Local School Administration

Filed in Federalized Education by Shane Vander Hart on May 15, 2014 • 0 Comments

The U.S. Department of Education has pushed for more and more centralization of education, they’ve injected their influence into educational standards through Race to the Top.  They have bypassed states through their District Race to the Top program.  They are not reaching out to school principals through the Principal Ambassador Fellowship program that has been launched last year.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan touted it in a speech he gave in February:

At the debrief afterwards, one of the principals pointed out that our department’s Teaching Ambassador Fellowship program was a great addition to the department and our TAFs have been instrumental in helping us shape policy. But, he challenged me, why didn’t we have a Principal Fellowship?

It was a great question. I took that comment and idea to heart. And so I have asked my senior staff to find a way, even in a time of tight budgets, to create a Principal Fellowship that would bring several principals into our department each year to provide input on policy from a principal’s perspective. Having great, current principals working with us on an ongoing basis will only make us better.

That may sound great, but it really more about the U.S. DOE influencing schools and principalsthan it is the other way around.

Over time, it is possible that like Teaching Ambassador Fellows, all PAFs will spend time gaining greater knowledge of the content of key federal programs and policies, in addition to the Injecting Federal Control and Influence in Local School Administration | Truth in American Education:

5-15-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

The common core: Don't forget what the real problem is.

Sent to the Seattle Times, May 15, 2014I think the common core math standards are lousy on purpose, made lousy so that parents will complain ("2+2=What? Parents rail against Common Core math," May 15).The common core architects will then make some adjustments, enough to stop the most vigorous complaints. Many complainers will then be satisfied and the public will be impressed with how op

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Schools on Closure List Outperforming Local KIPP Schools

A recent Diane Rehms segment dealt with the continued segregation and resegregation of American schools.  One of the guests and charter school supporter argued that segregation is not so bad: after all, look at the KIPP schools for examples of how poor urban children can have soaring scores in segregated environments. Predictably, the guest said nothing about the fact the KIPPs enroll fewer specia

by Jim Horn / 2h 

Schools on Closure List Outperforming Local KIPP Schools

A recent Diane Rehms segment dealt with the continued segregation and resegregation of American schools.  One of the guests and charter school supporter argued that segregation is not so bad: after all, look at the KIPP schools for examples of how poor urban children can have soaring scores in segregated environments. Predictably, the guest said nothing about the fact the KIPPs enroll fewer specia

by Jim Horn / 1min 

5-14-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Study Should Spark New Lawsuits Against Teacher Eval Based on VAMFrom the summary at Brookings:The federal government has spurred the creation of a new generation of teacher evaluation systems at the state level through more than $4 billion in Race to the Top funding to 19 states and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability waivers to 43 states. A majority of states have passed l

by mike simpson / 23h 

5-15-14 the becoming radical A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

My Speech to the Graduates: Don’t Listen to Graduation Speakers

No institution has invited me to be the speaker at graduation, and none is ever likely to do so. But I feel compelled to offer this speech to gradates. So in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut—great American novelist who knew how to give a graduation speech—I’ll start by telling you exactly what I want you to learn from this speech: Don’t listen to graduation speakers. Now that I have the main point out

by plthomasedd / 3min 

 

5-11-14 the becoming radical A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): On Foma and Mendacity: Letting the Cat Out of the BagKurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof may seem at first blush to share only the use of “cat” in their titles, but both works are masterful examinations of something central to the

by mike simpson / 22h 

Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down! - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down! - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down!

By Anthony Cody on May 15, 2014 12:31 PM

Guest post by Paul Horton.

We have all heard about the slow cooking movement. There is also a growing slow reading movement. Maybe slow reading is growing slowly because fast everything seems to be growing faster than kudzu everywhere.

David Mikics, a Professor of English at the University of Houston, has recently written a very good book on this issue, Slow Reading in a Hurried Age (2013).

As reading and English teachers grapple with teaching literacy to prepare students for PARCC tests across the country, they should read this book very slowly to attempt to maintain a semblance of sanity: Slow Reading in a Hurried Age describes what you know you should be doing and want to do in your classes: reading to open minds rather than prescribed literacy drills that closes them. 

For Mikics, as for most dedicated readers and teachers, reading is under assault from a barrage of information and images that gadgets produce. We tend to scan information very quickly when we "read" on screens or phones.

He cites a Pew survey that found that 90 percent of teachers were concerned about how digital gadgets were creating "an easily distracted generation with short attention spans." (p. 10) Indeed constant Internet use retards a "young person's readiness for intense study habits that college Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down! - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

5-15-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Protests, threats, violence driving wedge through a co-location

Citizens of the World Charter School (CWC), a K-2 LA Unified school of 160 students in Mar Vista, is inviting neighbors over for dinner tonight. It’s a gesture intended to show that CWC is a better neighbor than some in the area apparently think. The offer to break bread comes at an unpleasant time for the school, which shares a building with Stoner Elementary, a K-5 school of about 360 students.

by Michael Janofsky / 0min 

LAUSD candidates agree (!) on value of public charters schools

Click to view slideshow.   The latest forum for candidates running in a special election to fill the vacant seat in South LA’s District 1 produced unexpected agreement last night on some of the most volatile issues in public education. The four contenders who participated – Alex Johnson, Rachel Johnson, Genethia Hudley-Hayes and George McKenna – saw eye to eye on nearly every core issue involving

by Jamie Alter Lynto... / 19min 

Morning Read: CA among worst in the nation in school segregation

California among worst in the nation in school segregation As racial separation in education steadily grows, California now leads the nation in children going to school with their own kind, a UCLA study released Wednesday contends. On the 60th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education ruling intended to dismantle segregation, the report by UCLA’s Civil Rights Proj

2 47min  

5-14-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Brown urges 30-year fix for CA teacher pensionsIn revised budget, Governor details 30-year plan to fix teacher pensions Gov. Jerry Brown is predicting that the state will take in $2.4 billion more in revenue in 2014-15 than initially estimated, but highly expectant education leaders won’t ge

by mike simpson / 21h 

Beyond inBloom with Class Size Matters and Bad Ass Teachers « WeActEd

Beyond inBloom with Class Size Matters and Bad Ass Teachers « WeActEd:



Beyond inBloom with Class Size Matters and Bad Ass Teachers





 Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, and Mark Naison, co-founder of Bad Ass Teachers, join the Education Town Hall on Thursday, May 15. Topics include the demise of inBloom and what’s next for student data privacy as well as swelling opposition to a variety of top-down education reforms.

Listen to the full discussion:

Beyond inBloom with Class Size Matters and BadAss Teachers on Education Town Hall 5-15-14 by Education_Town_Hall on Mixcloud

Listen live Thursdays at 11 a.m. (Eastern) via TuneIn from anywhere there’s internet; broadcast from We Act Radio’s studio in Historic Anacostia, on 1480 AM in the Washington DC area.

Leonie Haimson was a public school parent for 15 years and now directs the non-profit Class Size Matters in New York. Ms. Haimson is the editor of the NYC Public School Parent blog, co-founded Parents Across America, and serves on the board of the Network for Public Education. She was active in the effort to stop inBloom from collecting and sharing student data and continues the fight for privacy.

ONE OF THE DOWNLOADABLE LOGOS AVAILABLE AT BADASSTEACHER.ORG

Mark Naison is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. Dr. Naison is also a co-founder of the Bad Ass Teachers association, which began as a small Facebook group and has grown into a national force with tens of thousands of supporters.

Op-Ed: Why School Desegregation Needs to Be Back on the Education Reform Agenda | TakePart

Op-Ed: Why School Desegregation Needs to Be Back on the Education Reform Agenda | TakePart:

Op-Ed: Why School Desegregation Needs to Be Back on the Education Reform Agenda

On the 60th anniversary of the 'Brown v. Board' decision, our schools are still separate and unequal. But they don’t have to be.

y Sabrina Joy Stevens



Sabrina Joy Stevens is a former teacher and the executive director of Integrity in Education.

full biofollow me

On May 17, 1954, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren handed down a unanimous decision in the case of Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al., ruling that because separate public facilities for different races were inherently unequal, segregation in public schools constituted a violation of the 14th Amendment’s guarantee to all citizens of equal protection before the law.



Sixty years later, most (though not all) American schools are as segregated as they have ever been. The word integration is virtually unheard from most of the loudest voices on both sides of the education reform debate. It has been largely replaced by a 21st-century version of separate but equal: the notion that our first priority should be to make sure kids are in “high-performing” schools—so defined by tests that have been shown to have racial and class biases—without regard to race or anything else.



As if we hadn’t already established that separate is never equal, and therefore this would be an impossible goal.



As if “equity” in funding or anything else can ever be achieved as long as those kids remain concentrated in schools in the neighborhoods public officials often “forget.”



What happened?



A few generations beyond “Whites Only” signs, many of us seem not to recognize that segregation is still a matter of public policy. Storm clouds didn’t rain racial and economic separation on American communities. Gerrymandered school districts don’t create themselves, and education dollars don’t allocate themselves. We, the American public—and the public officials we endorse through our votes (or our inaction)—have moved, voted, and legislated this problem into perpetual existence.



That means we can make different choices to eradicate it.



For starters, we have to confront racial and economic segregation. The few people who dare to speak about segregation often fall back on residential segregation as an excuse for school segregation. They conveniently forget that, as Ta-Nehisi Coates put it, “the ghetto is public Op-Ed: Why School Desegregation Needs to Be Back on the Education Reform Agenda | TakePart:

Class size limits most frequent waiver request in 2013 :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Class size limits most frequent waiver request in 2013 :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:



MAY 15, 2014

Class size limits most frequent waiver request in 2013

by Tom Chorneau

(Calif.) Continuing a three-year trend, local educational agencies petitioned the state more often for relief from requirements to keep class sizes small than any other provision of the Education Code, according to a new report.

Overall, districts filed 560 waiver applications with the California State Board of Education in 2013 – up from the 499 filed in 2012 but well short of the nearly 900 applications made in 2011 or the recent high of 1,243 submitted in 2010.

As it has almost every year that the waiver option has been available, the state board largely complied with LEA requests, granting them exemption from the law 89 percent of the time in 2013. Over the past four years, the board has approved about 80 percent of the applications brought forward.

The state board’s waiver authority is defined under sections 33050-33053 in the Education Code, giving the board the ability to provide relief when no other remedy is available. The board also has some oversight of parts of the federal No Child Left Behind Act under agreement with the U.S. Department of Education.

Largely because of the state’s fiscal crisis, districts have in recent years used the waiver process as a means to get relief from class size requirements. A key provision at issue is EC Section 41376, which includes penalties for LEAs if class size goes above certain levels in kindergarten through grade Class size limits most frequent waiver request in 2013 :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Clarity still desired on high court’s prayer ruling

(District of Columbia) A recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court has led to far more questions than answers for school boards regarding prayer at regular public meetings and how that fits with terms of the First Amendment.

by Alisha Kirby / 19min 

McLaughlin’s Common Core Poll Was Propaganda, Not News | Truth in American Education

McLaughlin’s Common Core Poll Was Propaganda, Not News | Truth in American Education:

McLaughlin’s Common Core Poll Was Propaganda, Not News

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on May 15, 2014 • 0 Comments

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Below is a guest article written submitted by Judi Caler, a mom, grandma, and activist from Nevada City, CA.

McLaughlin’s Common Core Poll Was Propaganda, Not News:  Why didn’t the Media Say So?

By Judi Caler

During the first week in May, the media reported the results of a poll conducted by Republican pollster John McLaughlin. The poll identified Republican primary voters and “swing” or undecided voters. An initial basic question (#9) seeking voter views on Common Core generated a mixed reaction to the Common Core standards (35% approval; 33% disapproval; 32% don’t know). McLaughlin claimed support soared to a two-thirds majority for Common Core when it was explained in “simple, neutral” language; previously uninformed voters end up supporting the standards.

The Collaborative for Student Success was identified as the organization that commissioned and funded the poll. Since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is listed as a partner in this organization and has invested hundreds of millions of tax-exempt dollars promoting Common Core across the U.S., one wonders why the media didn’t analyze the poll for objectivity, instead of reporting its results as news.

The question that generated the two-thirds figure was the following (#12): “Common Core is a set of standards in Math and English which state what a child should know in both subjects by the end of each grade of school they complete…Knowing this, do you approve or disapprove of the Common Core State Standards?” The question incorporated a generic definition of “learning standards;” the definition was not specific to Common Core. Yet, thinking they had new information, voters almost doubled their approval of Common Core. Careful reporters would have been able to tell us that this poll is more about how to use trick questions to sway poll findings McLaughlin’s Common Core Poll Was Propaganda, Not News | Truth in American Education:

The Washington Teacher: Orr Parents Call "May Day"

The Washington Teacher: Orr Parents Call "May Day":

Orr Parents Call "May Day"

East of the River DC News (Reposted)

But Two Schools of Thought Emerge

By

Virginia Avniel Spatz

Orr parents protest Orr Principal Niyeka Wilson

 Parents and students demonstrate outside Orr Elementary in Ward 8, May 1

“May Day!” was the call at Orr Elementary School on May 1. Orr parents, concerned about school leadership and facilities, say they'd gone through channels for months before taking to the street. Community members first addressed Principal Niyeka Wilson, followed by the instructional superintendent and DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson. They testified to the DC Council and brought concerns directly to Councilmember David Catania, chair of the Education Committee and candidate for mayor.
“We're at the point now where we need the public's help,” says parent Laila Patrick, who helped organize Orr's “May Day,” complete with signs, petitions, and drums. “DCPS and Kaya Henderson and Niyeka Wilson need to face the music.”

Some parents, however, were surprised and disturbed by the focus of the demonstration. Nearly everyone agrees that Orr, one of the last “open plan” schools in the District, is way overdue for modernization. Not everyone agrees about the leadership needed to envision a new facility.

Overdue Modernization
Orr, 2200 Minnesota Avenue, SE, is one of the last unmodernized DCPS schools. “Open plan” designs, without classroom walls, were meant to allow flexibility. But the design also means noise and distractions. Orr continues to suffer these drawbacks, as modernization funds were withdrawn year after year, leading some to believe that the school is secretly slated for closure or repurposing.

“The school community is justifiably frustrated with the continued delay of the modernization, a modernization that is badly needed in the Councilmember's view,” says Catania spokesperson Brendan Williams-Kief. Catania visited the school, following the mayor's defunding of renovations yet again, and is now “exploring ways to ensure that the renovations occur in a timely fashion.”

After protest, $39 million in modernization funds were restored. Allyson Criner Brown, manager of the Tellin' Stories Project which partners with Orr on parent engagement, says her organization expected to begin focusing The Washington Teacher: Orr Parents Call "May Day":

New Orleans schools feel too much like prisons | Hechinger Report

New Orleans schools feel too much like prisons | Hechinger Report:



New Orleans schools feel too much like prisons

By Kenyatta Collins

Is my high school, Lake Area New Tech, a prison or school? Students arrive ready for school every morning, but unfortunately must wait outside the building until security guards unlock the doors at 7:30 a.m. It could be raining, hailing, or sleeting, but they will NOT open the doors until then. Once the doors are unlocked, it takes the guards 15 to 20 minutes to search each student and check for uniform violations.

That leaves us with just a few minutes to eat breakfast before class starts at 8. That’s not enough time for 600 students to make it through the cafeteria line. On a typical morning, we are treated like prisoners, which causes students to react in a variety of negative ways.

Kenyatta Collins

Some students break the rules in response to how they are treated. I know how they feel because I was once punished for an act of “rebellion.” At my school, female students are required to wear skirts and socks of a certain length. One day I arrived at school without the proper socks and was told by my principal that I had two options: I could either go to in-school suspension or get my parents to bring the right socks. This made me angry and I gave my principal an earful. But I didn’t want to end up in in-school suspension with more than 30 other students so I called my mother and asked her to bring the correct socks.

It took her at least a half hour to bring them, meaning I lost that half hour of class. After going through that frustrating experience, I was upset for the nearly the whole day. I am the top ranking student in my class with a 4.5 grade point average, and also participate in sports and contribute a lot to my school. Why should a student in my position — or any student at all — be treated like a prisoner?

My school is not alone. The charter schools that have opened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina are beyond strict. The rigid discipline structures that have been placed inside these schools are not effective. In many schools students are expected to walk in straight lines, remain silent, and wear a full uniform at all times. These discipline structures focus too much on behavior rather than New Orleans schools feel too much like prisons | Hechinger Report:

VAMs and the “Dummies In Charge:” A Clever “Must Read” |:

VAMs and the “Dummies In Charge:” A Clever “Must Read”

Peter Greene wrote a very clever, poignant, and to the point article about VAMs, titled “VAMs for Dummies” in The Blog of The Huffington Post. While I already tweeted, facebooked, shared, and else short of printing this one out for my files, I thought it imperative I also share it out with you. Also – Greene gave us at VAMboozled a wonderful shout out directing readers here to find out more. So Peter — even though I’ve never met you — thanks for the kudos and keep it coming. This is a fabulous piece!

Click here to read his piece in full. I’ve also pasted it below, mainly because this one is a keeper. See also a link to a “nifty” 3-minute video on VAMs below.

If you don’t spend every day with your head stuck in the reform toilet, receiving the never-ending education swirly that is school reformy stuff, there are terms that may not be entirely clear to you. One is VAM — Value-Added Measure.

VAM is a concept borrowed from manufacturing. If I take one dollar’s worth of sheet metal and turn it into a lovely planter that I can sell for ten dollars, I’ve added nine dollars of value to the metal.

It’s a useful concept in manufacturing management. For instance, if my accounting tells me that it costs me ten dollars in labor to add five dollars of value to an object, I should plan my going-out-of-business sale today.

And a few years back, when we were all staring down the NCLB law requiring that 100 VAMs and the “Dummies In Charge:” A Clever “Must Read” |: