By our apathy, we’ve killed our kids - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice

By our apathy, we’ve killed our kids - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice:

By our apathy, we’ve killed our kids

 Guest Opinion By Timothy Coman (originally published in December of 1999)

Tonight my heart hangs extremely heavy. I know the holidays are upon us, but this year has brought so much pain and agony for so many, I think we must sit and reflect. As I watched over and over the video clippings from Columbine,Jonesboro, Springfield and Pearl tragedies, I am reminded just where we have come to in our society.

So many people want answers, so many want justice, and yet, we should be looking at our own selves. We taught Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris to hate, yes, we did. We helped assassinate Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott. By our actions, we allowed this to happen. No one single entity is to blame, we are all to blame.

Our children are medicated from the time they leave the hospital till often times before they leave high school. We all look for a quick fix, a fast solution, a McDonald’s drive-thru experience, often thinking or believing this is the answer, and yet we continue to be so blind.

We murder children in the name of convenience; we assassinate others’ character to gain power, wealth or strength, and morality is what you and I feel is right within our own eyes. Everyone wants to know about gun control, prayer in school, metal detectors or the newest idea which will save us all from whom?

Ourselves, that’s who.

It doesn’t matter who becomes president as long as he has the right charisma, a nice look, the right speech, the all-feel-good message that has lulled us to sleep, and while we slept, our children killed each other, and why? Because we have taught them so easily that it’s OK to kill—as long as you are justified in your beliefs. Preachers shout morality, and yet sin runs rampant in their own homes and places of worship.

The politician shouts gun control, and yet has no difficulty cheating on his or her mate asBy our apathy, we’ve killed our kids - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: 

Dear Justice Scalia, black students do very well at top colleges | Brookings Institution

Dear Justice Scalia, black students do very well at top colleges | Brookings Institution:

Dear Justice Scalia, black students do very well at top colleges

Affirmative action policies in college admissions are currently occupying the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. These policies typically treat black (or other less advantaged) applicants differently, perhaps by granting admission with a lower SAT score. One of the  arguments against affirmative action is “mismatch” theory, invoked by Justice Scalia's recent oral arguments: “There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well,” he said, as opposed to “a slower-track school where they do well.”

In fact, the evidence for mismatch points to very weak, if any effects, which are in any case dwarfed by the large positive effects of attending a more selective college.

Blacks are more likely to graduate at more selective colleges

Black graduation rates are consistently higher in more selective colleges:

For students entering the 500 most selective four-year colleges and universities in 2001, the correlation between the black graduation rate and standardized SAT/ACT scores is 0.59. More selective colleges have much higher black graduation rates.

Comparing students with similar test scores, black students at the most selective schools are more likely to graduate and earn STEM credits than their peers at less selective schools, with no difference in grades, according to data from the Department of Education.

The black-white gap in graduation does not increase with selectivity

Another way to test for mismatch is to compare black and white outcomes at the same school. If black students are being mismatched into top colleges, there should be a larger white-black gap in graduation rates at selective colleges. That is not the case. There is in fact a negative and insignificant relationship between graduation rate gaps and selectivity:

Students with low SAT scores earn big salaries after graduating from top colleges

What about earnings after college? If students with lower SAT scores are mismatched at top colleges, this is likely to show up in post-graduate labor market outcomes. But data from the Texas Higher Education Board suggests that students with low scores do very well after Dear Justice Scalia, black students do very well at top colleges | Brookings Institution:

Big Education Ape's Year in Review from Facebook

 Year in Review:

Big Education Ape's Year in Review from Facebook 

Mike's Year in Review

Big Education Ape's Year in Review from Facebook 

Berliner in Australia: The Testing Fiasco | Live Long and Prosper

Berliner in Australia: The Testing Fiasco | Live Long and Prosper:

Berliner in Australia: The Testing Fiasco

MISUSE OF ISTEP

On December 15 I wrote that, instead of “pausing accountability” and waiting a year to use ISTEP to label teachers and schools, we ought to stop using it altogether because, there is no

proof that the ISTEP has been developed to include measuring the effectiveness of schools and teachers, in addition to measuring student achievement.

DAVID BERLINER

By coincidence, the following day, Diane Ravitch reported on a talk given by David C Berliner titled Teacher evaluation and standardised tests: A policy fiasco. You can read about the video presentation by Dr. Berliner at theMelbourne Graduate School of Education web site and watch the hour-long video below.

Berliner discusses the worthlessness of evaluating teacher competence and teacher training program effectiveness with standardized achievement tests. His impetus for writing the paper was the call by Arne Duncan for the evaluation of teacher training programs based on their students’ students’ test scores.

Berliner maintains that the tests are invalid measures of teacher quality. To use them to measure the quality of teacher training institutions and programs is even worse.

He lays the blame for low test scores on America’s high child poverty levels..

Teachers and teacher preparation programs are perfect targets to take legislators minds off of all the poverty and inequality that make some of America’s education systems an international embarrassment. Blaming teacher education programs and the teachers they produce for disappointing standardized achievement test scores appears to me to be a diversion, of the type used by successful magicians. Blaming institutions and individual teachers directs our gaze away from the inequality and poverty that actually gives rise to those scores. In the same way a magician can divert attention of an entire audience when they make a person or a rabbit disappear.

He lists 14 points which explain why using test scores to evaluate teachers and teacher training programs is invalid.

Effects of Poverty vs. Effects of Teachers

The first point is that “reformers” who insist on using standardized test scores for evaluation of teachers and teacher training programs confuse the effects of Berliner in Australia: The Testing Fiasco | Live Long and Prosper:

For school lunches, buy American

For school lunches, buy American:

For school lunches, buy American

The undersigned organizations write in strong support of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act’s Buy American provision and encourage strengthening enforcement of this important requirement. This provision greatly benefits the American agricultural economy and ensures the quality of the food our nation’s children are receiving in school.

Under Section 104(d) of the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998, schools and institutions that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program are required to purchase domestically grown and processed foods to the maximum extent practicable. To be considered a domestic product the food must be produced and processed in the U.S. with over 51 percent of the final processed product consisting of domestic agricultural commodities. This provision applies to all funds in the food service account and is not limited to federal reimbursements.

Our organizations are deeply concerned that the Buy America Act requirements of the National School Lunch Act are not being adequately monitored and enforced. Our concerns were amplified with the Sacramento City Unified School District’s recent acknowledgement that they have been purchasing canned peaches, pears and applesauce from China. Since there is currently no transparency regarding school purchases of imported products, we must assume there are other districts throughout the country purchasing imported food products.

Given the importance of the Buy American provision, we would like to see the enforcement of this requirement become a priority for USDA. We encourage USDA to consider monitoring the procurement specifications and contractor performance. This increased accountability and enforcement will enhance compliance with the Buy American provision and ensure scenarios like the recent one in the Sacramento City Unified School District do not continue to occur.

We appreciate the department’s consideration and look forward to working with you on this pressing issue.

These comments are the text of a letter sent by 50 agricultural trade associations, farmer co-ops and agribusinesses to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. They sent the letter early this month, after the Sacramento Bee reported the Sacramento City Unified School District had spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on imported Chinese canned fruit. The letter and list of participating organizations is online at http://ncfc.org/letter/enforcement-of-buy-american-provision/.

For school lunches, buy American:

CURMUDGUCATION: Avoid the SAT

CURMUDGUCATION: Avoid the SAT:
Avoid the SAT

 This story has been circulating pretty steadily, but if you teach juniors (or have one in your home) you need to be paying attention, because all indications are that when the new SAT rolls out in a few months, high school juniors should avoid it


The most recent sign that the College Board doesn't really know what the heck they're doing is the announcement that PSAT scores will not be out till January, a good month later than the usual unveiling. And really, we have only the College Board's assurance that they will meet the new January due date-- just as we had their assurance that scores would be out in December.

The PSAT score return is critical because it's the first chance for juniors to see how they line up with the upcoming New! Improved! SAT. Now they'll be waiting for that.

This is not the first we've heard that the New! Improved! SAT should be avoided like a bad haircut.

Way back in April, Dan Edmonds (Noodle) was in Forbes giving three reasons to avoid the revamped SAT. His reasons were

1) Lack of test prep options. Nobody has had a chance to get prepped and ready to get students CURMUDGUCATION: Avoid the SAT:

Transgender Oregon student wages lonely battle to use boys' locker room | OregonLive.com

Transgender Oregon student wages lonely battle to use boys' locker room | OregonLive.com:

Transgender Oregon student wages lonely battle to use boys' locker room

Elliot Yoder told his mother four months ago that he identified as a boy, not the daughter she had raised. They went back-to-school shopping at Goodwill. He wanted to buy mens' clothes, namely a silver tie and a white and blue plaid button-down.

No one testified at the Dallas School Boardmeeting in November. People in this working class Oregon town tend to trust their elected officials. But the chairs filled so fast at December's meeting volunteers had to bring in dozens of extras.

Most in the crowd of 75 didn't look up when Elliot Yoder slipped in five minutes late, red hair peeking out from beneath an Oakland Raiders cap. The 14-year-old leaned against the wall, and his 5-foot-1-inch frame suddenly seemed even smaller. His eyes widened behind black plastic frame glasses.

He was the reason they were all there.

This fall, Dallas School District officials sent a letter to the 67 students in Yoder's gym class announcing they would allow an unnamed transgender student to use the boys locker room, the facility that matched his gender identity but not his anatomy.

Many school districts are seeing students come out for the first time, sometimes as early as elementary school. Rural and urban districts alike are struggling to decide which locker and bathrooms those students should use.

The U.S. Department of Education ruled in early November that an Illinois school district violated federal Title IX regulations when administrators prevented a transgender female from using the girls' facilities. The federal ruling applied only to one student, but school districts across the country have paid attention, believing that a precedent was set.

Dan Aguayo 

In Dallas, a town of 15,000 just west of Salem, district lawyers told school officials that enforcement of Title IX rules had changed "significantly" in recent years: The law passed in 1972 to ensure women had equal access to education now protects transgender students from discrimination.

The letter Dallas administrators sent home with students Nov. 16 explained their decision wasn't up for debate.

That didn't sit well with Dallas residents, who packed the December school board meeting even though the issue wasn't on the agenda. The audience fidgeted as board members cycled through reports about the holiday bazaar, a robotics Transgender Oregon student wages lonely battle to use boys' locker room | OregonLive.com:

Community-Based Solutions Represent Our Best Chance To Beat Poverty | PopularResistance.Org

Community-Based Solutions Represent Our Best Chance To Beat Poverty | PopularResistance.Org:

Community-Based Solutions Represent Our Best Chance To Beat Poverty

Poverty reduction has no silver bullet. Nor should we expect one. The exhausting and overwhelming work of reducing poverty must take a comprehensive, long-term approach that is led by the communities in need.  These communities, who struggle against poverty and social exclusion every day, have repeatedly said this work requires more than a simple transfer of money.

Last month, an editorial by the Winnipeg Free Press reflected on a recently published a report that highlighted Manitoba’s persistent and disheartening poverty rates. The article criticizes the provincial government for  “shipping tax dollars to a variety of community groups and organizations,” implying this is a “political goal” and comes at the expense of broader poverty reduction efforts (such as raising minimum wage or increasing social assistance rates). This is a misguided idea that does not appreciate the critical role of locally managed front-line services in poverty reduction.

To be clear, significant poverty reduction will require a substantial increase in social assistance rates, as well as a higher minimum wage. $15.53 per hour is the wage necessary for a fully employed single mother to raise her child at the poverty line. These are the recommendations put forward by the report highlighted in the Winnipeg Free Press editorial, and these recommendations are championed by Make Poverty History Manitoba, along with other community organizations.

The Winnipeg Free Press, for its part, has criticized the provincial government for inadequate social assistance rates (such as the editorial mentioned above), and multiple columns have explored the potential for a guaranteed annual income to replace our exhaustively complicated welfare system (Generosity doesn’t solve poverty, Dec. 17, 2014; An end to the perpetual welfare trap? Aug. 22 2012).

A central element to poverty is of course a lack of money, and as a member of Make Poverty History Manitoba, the Canadian CED Network–Manitoba is supportive of efforts Community-Based Solutions Represent Our Best Chance To Beat Poverty | PopularResistance.Org:

National Union Leader Gets First-Hand Look At How Community Schools Concept May Play Out In Philadelphia « CBS Philly

National Union Leader Gets First-Hand Look At How Community Schools Concept May Play Out In Philadelphia « CBS Philly:

National Union Leader Gets First-Hand Look At How Community Schools Concept May Play Out In Philadelphia

AFT president Randi Weingarten visits the early childhood education program at South Philadelphia High School Thursday. (credit: Mike DeNardo/KYW)

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A national union leader got a first-hand look this week at how the “community schools” concept may play out in Philadelphia.

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten toured South Philadelphia High School, visiting the early childhood education, graphics, and culinary arts programs.  But Weingarten also asked about social and health programs here similar to those at full-service schools — so-called “community schools” — that city officials visited in Cincinnati.

“What we’re seeing here is a lot of the instructional engagement strategy.  What we saw in Cincinnati and what Philly wants to bring in now, is to wrap those services around.”

South Philadelphia High School principal Otis Hackney is mayor-elect Kenney’s choice for his administration’s chief education officer.

Kenney has stated his goal is to align city and neighborhood services to create 25 “community schools” over the next four years.National Union Leader Gets First-Hand Look At How Community Schools Concept May Play Out In Philadelphia « CBS Philly:

Russ on Reading: Meaningful Work in the Literacy Classroom

Russ on Reading: Meaningful Work in the Literacy Classroom:

Meaningful Work in the Literacy Classroom

In my last post I discussed the concept of meaningful work and how it is essential to the recruitment,
development and retention of teachers. In this post I would like to address how meaningful work is essential to student learning. As teachers we have every right to demand the autonomy, complexity and rewards that are necessary to making our work meaningful. At the same time, we have the professional obligation to provide meaningful work for our students, so that we may help activate student motivation to learn and the students may optimize their learning.

As Malcolm Gladwell has discussed in his 2009 book, Outliers, meaningful work is one major component of achieving success in life. It is meaningful work that drives people to master a complex craft, whether it be in the arts, as with The Beatles and the hours upon hours of practice they got in Hamburg, Germany strip clubs before they hit it big; or in the sciences, as with Bill Gates, who spent thousands and thousands of hours writing computer programs before he achieved success with Microsoft; or in sports, where Michael Jordan couldn’t even make his high school basketball team and yet through hard practice went on to become the greatest player of all time. To learn something well takes time and commitment (and yes, talent. But many talented people have not achieved greatness). 

How do we get this type of commitment to hard work from our students? One possible answer is by providing them with meaningful work. The work that The Beatles, Bill Gates and Michael Jordan did was personally Russ on Reading: Meaningful Work in the Literacy Classroom:

No More Rayne Martin at Stand for Children Louisiana | deutsch29

No More Rayne Martin at Stand for Children Louisiana | deutsch29:

No More Rayne Martin at Stand for Children Louisiana

On December 18, 2015, fellow blogger Jason France wrote a post about a malicious commercial that corporate reform organization Stand for Children created in order to falsely discredit former Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member Carolyn Hill, who was running for re-election in October 2015.

Aired the week preceding the October 24, 2015, election, the 30-second television ad was meant to deceive viewers into believing that Hill had outstanding warrants for her arrest. The news-flash-styled campaign smear is from a non-existent TV station and offers bogus arrest warrant numbers to fabricate a credible facade:

I was surprised to see such cruelty coming from Stand for Children Louisiana (SFC-LA); my interactions with SFC-LA executive director Rayne Martin left me with no hint that she would go to such lengths to be ugly to another human being.

In further researching the issue, I discovered that Martin left SFC-LA in April 2015. The new executive director was the former marketing and communications director, Carrie Griffin Monica. In this archived snapshot of the SFC-LA staff webpage dated March 22, 2015, Martin is still executive director and Monica, marketing and communications director. However, another archived snapshot of the SFC-LA webpage dated April 22, 2015, has Martin gone and Monica as executive director.

  

Rayne Martin

There has been a lot of shuffling on that SLC-LA staff webpage– both individuals and No More Rayne Martin at Stand for Children Louisiana | deutsch29:

Math, History, and Science: Political Battlegrounds in Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Math, History, and Science: Political Battlegrounds in Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Math, History, and Science: Political Battlegrounds in Schools

The previous post offers a re-framing of the math wars that have marked the past century of teaching math. Historians and critics have pointed to the culprits of “curriculum wars” as Progressives fighting Traditionalists (e.g., 1900s, 1960s, now) or the influence of particular “thought leaders” (e.g., John Dewey, James Conant, Ted Sizer). In re-framing these tired tropes, Christopher Phillips points out that these debates about teaching and learning math are,

debates about how educated citizens should think generally. Whether it is taught as a collection of facts, as a set of problem-solving heuristics or as a model of logical deduction, learning math counts as learning to reason. That is, in effect, a political matter, and therefore inherently contestable. Reasonable people can and will disagree about it.

By seeing these cyclical “math wars” as political skirmishes between different interest groups (e.g., teachers, high-tech companies, foundation officials, state administrators, business leaders, parents) disputing which ways are best for teachers to teach and students to learn thinking skills, Phillips makes the case that

[A]s long as learning math counts as learning to think, the fortunes of any math curriculum will almost certainly be closely tied to claims about what constitutes rigorous thought — and who gets to decide.

Overall, I agree. Splits over the teaching of Common Core math standards essentially arise from politics in schooling. But one crucial item is missing from Phillips’ analysis. He fails to mention that deeper and competing values beyond math numeracy are also involved as rival interests collide (e.g., conservative groups’ resistance to the federal government supposed ramming Common Core standards down states’ throats; liberal groups’ insistence that top-down policy Math, History, and Science: Political Battlegrounds in Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

One Palestinian And One White Teacher Showed The Same Movie. Here's What Happened Next. | ThinkProgress

One Palestinian And One White Teacher Showed The Same Movie. Here's What Happened Next. | ThinkProgress:

One Palestinian And One White Teacher Showed The Same Movie. Here’s What Happened Next.

Malala Yousafzai poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film 'He Named Me Malala' in London, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2015.

Two Hunterdon County, New Jersey high school teachers showed a movie clip about Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai in their history classrooms. Now, one of them — a Muslim woman of Palestinian descent — alleges that decision contributed to her being fired in June, despite the fact that she showed the clip at the suggestion of her white coworker.

Sireen Hashem alleges that the movie was referenced by school administrators as one example of mounting tensions between her and school administrators due to her identity. When Hashem pointed out that her coworker Lindsay Wagner had also shown the same clip, she says that the superintendent responded by referencing her ethnicity and religion.

“You are not Lindsay,” said Christina Steffner, the school superintendent according to a lawsuit filed by Hashem against school administrators. The court document noted, “Lindsay Wagner is not Arab, not Palestinian, and not Muslim.”

In a statement emailed to ThinkProgress, Steffner said that the statements attributed her are “factually wrong” and that they “may even be defamatory.”

Hashem alleges she faced a years’ long effort by school administers to have her “removed from her teaching position, solely because of her heritage and religion.”

The next issue arose in March 2014 when a student’s parents complained after Hashem participated in a discussion of Lemon Tree, a book about an unlikely friendship between a Palestinian man, Bashir Al-Khayri, and an Israeli woman named Dalia Ashkenazi Landau. Hashem was asked to translate a discussion with Al-Khayri by the teacher who taught the book. Even though it was not her classroom, her participation in the class drew scorn of the student, who later wrote a post on Facebook that called Hashem’s brother a terrorist and said that she was “attempting to instill anti-Semitic views in students,” according to the complaint.

After that, Susan Cooley, principal of Hunterdon Central Regional High School, told Hashem “that she should not mention Islam or the Middle East in her class. Defendant Cooley further stated that Plaintiff should not bring her culture, life experience or background into the classroom.”

Hashem was again remanded in May 2014, when she asked students to compare the actions of John Brown’s raid at Harpers’ Ferry, West Virginia to the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon on 9/11. Hashem’s lawyers contend that the question was “commonly used by teachers throughout the United States.”

In April 2015, Hashem was handed a “poor evaluation” and told that her contract could not be renewed because of her performance. She asked that the decision be overturned at a Regional Board of Education meeting in June. About 60 parents and students showed up to support her.

Two days later, she was informed in writing that the Board would not overrule the decision to suspend her contract.

Superintendent Christina Steffner uniformly denied the allegations brought by Hashem.

“I respect the personnel confidentiality rights of all employees, and it would be inappropriate for One Palestinian And One White Teacher Showed The Same Movie. Here's What Happened Next. | ThinkProgress:

What 'No Child Left Behind' Left Behind | Alfie Kohn

What 'No Child Left Behind' Left Behind | Alfie Kohn:

What 'No Child Left Behind' Left Behind

The metamorphosis of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) into the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is being hailed as a historic triumph of bipartisan compromise (HTBC). Why, we haven't seen such lopsided approval votes in Congress since... well, since Democrats and Republicans put aside their petty differences and agreed by overwhelming margins to let Bush invade Iraq.

All right, fine. I'm not suggesting the new education law is analogous to that -- or even that it merely trades one Orwellian legislative label for another. ESSA does represent a substantive shift: It returns a fair amount of control over education policy to the states. This has led to celebration in some quarters and worry in others. I believe both reactions are misconceived, or at least overstated.

Let's start with those who are worried. Their argument is that NCLB put equity on the agenda, calling our attention to the inexcusable inadequacy of the schools attended by most poor kids of color and forcing states to do something about it. That federal oversight is now being dialed back.

To which I'd respond: While the inadequacy and inequity were (and are) certainly inexcusable, NCLB was never a reasonable response. Indeed, as many of us predicted at the start, it did far more harm than good -- in general, and with respect to addressing disparities between black and white, rich and poor, in particular.

Standardized testing -- especially when it's done to every child every year, and when bribes and threats are employed to coerce better results -- was never necessary to tell us which schools were failing. Heck, you could just drive by them and make a reasonable guess. (The eminent educator Nel Noddings once called that "the windshield test.") For years, I've been challenging NCLB's defenders to name a single school anywhere in the country whose inadequacy was a secret until students were subjected to yet another wave of standardized tests.

But testing isn't just superfluous; it was, and remains, immensely damaging -- to low-income students most of all. As I argued 15 years ago, standardized exams measure what matters least about learning and serve mostly to make dreadful forms of teaching appear successful. Pressure to raise scores has driven out many of our best teachers and many of our most vulnerable students. It has taken second-rate schools and turned them into third-rate test-prep factories.

What's true of testing is, not surprisingly, true of the law that should have been called the Many Children Left Behind Act. Tests constitute not only its enforcement apparatus but its very definition of success and failure). As no less a champion of What 'No Child Left Behind' Left Behind | Alfie Kohn:

Commentary: ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ drills OK, but focus on prevention palmbeachpost

Commentary: ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ drills OK, but focus on prevention | www.palmbeachpost.com:

Commentary: ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ drills OK, but focus on prevention

The day of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., my son’s high school was placed on a short lockdown. He was remarkably nonchalant when I picked him up. “It was just a Level One,” he said, brushing off my concerns. “Everything’s fine now.”

It wasn’t, in fact; the horror was still unfolding and would come even closer to home that afternoon, when law enforcement found a veritable arsenal in the assailants’ townhouse. But I recognized my son’s need to normalize what had happened.

I listened attentively as he explained the difference in lockdown levels: A Level One is when an active shooter is in the town or city; a Level Two is when the shooter is in the neighborhood; and a Level Three is when the shooter is actually on campus.

During a Level One, my son explained, teachers lock their classroom doors and lower the blinds. Some continue with the day’s lesson plans. Others choose to take the more extreme measures required during a Level Two or Three. They turn off the lights and instruct the kids to turn off their cellphones. They ask everyone to gather silently in the corner of the room farthest from the door and windows.

Once they’re given the all-clear signal, teachers may take additional time away from instruction to discuss what just happened, knowing that it’s hard for kids to snap right back to Latin or biology when they’ve just been contemplating a shooter on the loose.

I may be 33 years’ my son’s senior, but in many ways he’s more worldly. When I was in high school in the 1980s, the terms “active shooter,” “lockdown” and “shelter in place” weren’t buzzwords. “Active shooter” entered the lexicon not long after the Columbine massacre in 1999. “Lockdown” has been around longer, but until recently was most commonly used in prisons.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook attack, the U.S. Department of Education released guidelines for school emergency plans. Specific requirements vary by state. California’s Education Code doesn’t mandate “active shooter” exercises but does Commentary: ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ drills OK, but focus on prevention | www.palmbeachpost.com:

Stand For Children Louisiana is an Evil and Malicious Corporate Front Group Crazy Crawfish

“Stand For Children Louisiana” is an Evil and Malicious Corporate Front Group for Evil People and Organizations | Crazy Crawfish:

“Stand For Children Louisiana” is an Evil and Malicious Corporate Front Group for Evil People and Organizations

I did not realize just how corrupt and connected the organization known as “Stand For Children Louisiana” was until I looked into some of their finances and their background.  I decided to do this after being told about this slanderous commercial attacking BESE member Carolyn Hill, on BESE member elect Jada Lewis’ behalf.  In case you didn’t see it, here it is:

Yes.

This is actually a campaign commercial (it’s hard to tell with all the flashing lights and rolling news feeds so I recorded it so you can pause the screen.)  This aired on a local channel, WBRZ.  You will note the call letters of the faux news broadcast are WBRD, so to a casual viewer it looks legit.  “Stand” even used the local background drop of our bridge across the Mississippi that our local news uses.  This commercial aired in the last week of the election and was responsible for tricking voters into thinking the police were after Carolyn Hill for numerous crimes.  The commercial even displays case numbers.

(Note:  I ran for BESE in the same market as Carolyn (EBR) but a different district and we are longtime friends and allies.  Carolyn was the first BESE member I met in the flesh after leaving LDOE when I attended a local community meeting on alternative forms of student discipline about 4 years ago.  She got me interested in trying to do more to help our children in this state and our community by her example.)

I know this commercial was effective because I had voters come to my Facebook page and tell me they wished they could vote for me for my stands on issues (which are basically the same as Hill’s) but all they could vote for was Lewis, or “Stand For Children Louisiana” is an Evil and Malicious Corporate Front Group for Evil People and Organizations | Crazy Crawfish:

Schneider’s ESSA Digest, Part I (Pages 1 – 47) | deutsch29

Schneider’s ESSA Digest, Part I (Pages 1 – 47) | deutsch29:

Schneider’s ESSA Digest, Part I (Pages 1 – 47)

I am in the process of carefully reading the 1,061-page Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the December 10, 2015, reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), and writing a series of posts that will form a digest of those 1,061 pages.

It will take me some time. This is my first entry, which covers the first 47 pages.

Sometimes I refer to pages beyond the first 47, and sometimes, I alter the format of quoted excerpts for ease of reading. Sometimes I comment, and sometimes I just summarize.

Let’s just dive in.

The outset of ESSA concerns transitioning from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (or its waivers) to ESSA.

Pages 6-7 note that previous multi-year programs that are “no longer authorized” and that are not “substantively similar” to those authorized in ESSA will receive their final payout on or before September 30, 2016. However, “substantively similar” programs will continue to receive funds “in accordance with the terms of such prior award.” Multi-year programs that continue to be authorized in ESSA will continue “in accordance with the terms of such prior award.”

On page 7, the Secretary is required to “take such steps as are necessary to provide for the orderly transition” from NCLB and its waivers. But ESSA is clear that the NCLB waivers are dead, that they “shall be null and void and have no legal effect on or after August 1, 2016” (page 7).

Pages 8 and 9 note that ESSA went into effect the day that it became law (December 10, 2015)– unless otherwise noted. It immediately notes that ESSA goes into effect for any noncompetitive programs (i.e., funds awarded by formula) effective July 01, 2016– unless otherwise noted. As for competitive programs, the blanket ESSA Schneider’s ESSA Digest, Part I (Pages 1 – 47) | deutsch29:

Randi Weingarten: Career and Technical Education Programs Provide Path to Middle-Class Jobs

Career and Technical Education Programs Provide Path to Middle-Class Jobs - US News:

On the Path to the Middle Class

This is how career and technical education programs prepare young people for middle-class jobs.

By Randi Weingarten and Stanley Litow

In an era of skyrocketing college costs, ballooning student debt, and rampant youth unemployment rates (higher than at any time since World War II), two young graduates showcase the tremendous potential of high-quality public school career and technical education programs. They have achieved academically and moved directly into high-paying jobs. 

Lily Mohamed earns $70,000 per year at Sikorsky Aircraft, and is close to earning an employer-paid college degree. Radcliffe Saddler earned both his high school diploma and a free associate degree in computer science from his "six-year" grade 9 to 14 program (which he completed in just four years), and works as a market research associate for IBM. Both are prepared for 21st century careers in programs closely aligned with industry needs.

Lily's school, Platt Technical High School in Milford, Connecticut, is part of a network of technical high schools preparing students for post-secondary education and the workforce. Radcliffe graduated from Brooklyn P-TECH, initially created by IBM in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the City University of New York. P-TECH schools map curricula and training with industry needs, provide mentors and paid internships, and place successful graduates (who receive free community college degrees) first in line for jobs at IBM and participating companies. Expanding across the U.S., 60 P-TECH schools spanning six states will be open by September 2016, preparing thousands of graduates for high-wage jobs.

Career and technical education, properly delivered, can provide a powerful link between school, college and career. It can motivate students through hands-on, project-based learning connected to interesting industries and careers. Nine out of 10 students in high-quality programs graduate from high school on time. Seven out of 10 enroll in post-secondary education. Our nation's challenge is to support and expand these juggernauts of opportunity to help many more students finish college and prepare for middle-class careers.

Reauthorizing the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, with some important changes, can make high-quality career and technical education programs more effective. Programs must connect to labor market information, high schools and colleges must work together more closely, Career and Technical Education Programs Provide Path to Middle-Class Jobs - US News:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/18/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Common Core Updates

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by mike simpson / 29min 

English Language Arts Guidance - English Language Arts (CA Dept of Education)

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Dorn's Statement on Inslee's Supplemental Budget

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Only in America: Four years into life, poor kids are already an entire year behind - The Washington Post

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Shelby County Schools calls for halt to ASD takeovers

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by mike simpson / 4h 

Another Take on New Mexico’s Ruling on the State’s Teacher Evaluation/VAM System | VAMboozled!

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Teaching Rebellion: Schools Must Cultivate A Struggle for Justice | The Progressive

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Pondering Chartering: On Market Forces & Innovation? | School Finance 101

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Can Community Schools Dampen the School Takeover Fever? - NEA Today

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CURMUDGUCATION: The Federal Family Fixing Plan

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How ALEC Stole the Public from Public Education: A Cautionary but Inspring Tale | Save Maine Schools

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Kindergarten Has Become the New First Grade - The Atlantic

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DuSable librarian position restored. Thanks to 'anonymous donor' or student protests?

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When a school assigned homework on Islam, it drew so many threats the district shut down - Vox

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Clinton Views on Charter Schools, Teacher Evaluations Upset Some Democrats - WSJ

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by mike simpson / 9h 

This Is Why Chicago Teachers Are Fed Up With The Mayor | ThinkProgress

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BustED Pencils Trending News: Nope; Busting; Standing Parents | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Nope; Busting; Standing Parents | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: Nope; Busting; Standing ParentsNo meaningful link!  First part of this article rocks.  The second part doesn’t really relate to the standardized tests.  It more relates to the “teacher made” tests.  Take a look and decide for yourself.Four Tips to Make it Easier on Everyonehttp://southhill

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Common Core: A Serious Problem for Governors in 2016 | Truth in American Education

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YESTERDAY

The Zuckerberg Donation and a Legacy of Control | Dissident Voice

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Flea Flicker: Rocketship appeals to state board to build school in Concord - ContraCostaTimes

Rocketship appeals to state board to build school in Concord - ContraCostaTimes.com:Rocketship appeals to state board to build school in ConcordThe Charter School Approval Flea FlickerCONCORD -- After being rejected by district and county education boards in its bid to establish a new elementary school in the Monument Corridor, nationwide charter school operator Rocketship Education is appealing t

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For-profit charter schools are failing and fading. Here’s why.

For-profit charter schools are failing and fading. Here’s why.: These Charter Schools Tried to Turn Public Education Into Big Business. They Failed.It takes time, and nearly infinite patience, to build academically strong networks of schools from scratch. Investors aren’t used to waiting, though.More and more these days, Americans think about schools using the language of business. Superintendents

by mike simpson / 23h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/17/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMSeattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools International Schools NewsletterSeattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools International Schools Newsletter: Seattle Schools International Schools NewsletterI didn't know this newsletter, Global Talk, existed and I am glad to provide the link.  They provide information on travel opportunities for both students and teachers.H

by mike simpson / 23h