Schools Matter: Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis

Schools Matter: Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis:

Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis

(by Doug Martin)

As IPS seeks to close three high schools and Indianapolis opens more charter/blended learning schools, Indianapolis parents, teachers, and community members should know a few things about IPS supt. Lewis Ferebee and the edtech players promoting the so-called personalized learning/computer-based movement in Indianapolis. 

IS LEWIS FEREBEE THE NEW TONY BENNETT?

Following in the footsteps of past Indiana and Florida state school supt. Tony Bennett, Lewis Ferebee, in May 2016, became a member of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellent Education’s offspring, Chiefs for Change, the virtual, blended, and personalized learning promoting group where Tony Bennett, as a member, became known nationally before crashing after the Indiana grade-changing scandal.   

Like Bennett who championed school reform ideas his doctoral dissertation proved wrong (as I note in my book Hoosier School Heist), Ferebee  supports school choice, although for his dissertation, as Scott Elliott points out, “Ferebee had studied the effect of the promotion of school choice as a school improvement strategy in the federal No Child Left Behind law and concluded it had little impact on student learning.”  As a believer, Ferebee recently helped IPS land $100,000 from the Gates Foundation (a key personalized learning promoter) to partner with charter schools. 

With Chiefs for Change lately having an uptick of new members alongside Ferebee, the group last month received a 

Schools Matter: Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis:

How Betsy DeVos has mastered the art of the non-answer - The Washington Post

How Betsy DeVos has mastered the art of the non-answer - The Washington Post:

How Betsy DeVos has mastered the art of the non-answer

You might think that it would be a matter of course for the education secretary to provide direct answers to direct questions about education or education policy.  As it turns out, that is often not the case with Betsy DeVos.

The secretary’s non-answers come in different forms.

Sometimes, for example, she offers a response that deliberately doesn’t answer the precise question, as she did on Friday, when she was asked about her views on climate change and whether human activity has affected it.

The issue was raised after President Trump pulled the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement on Thursday and DeVos issued a statement the same day applauding it. (Trump, according to Vox, has expressed skepticism about climate change in tweets around 115 times since 2011.)

I asked the Education Department whether DeVos believed the climate is changing and human activity has played a role and received no answer. My Post colleague Emma Brown asked DeVos the same thing to DeVos on Friday, when the education secretary visited a D.C. charter school.

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Brown said that after DeVos refused to comment on the extent to which human activity has driven climate change, the education secretary repeated her support for Trump’s decision, saying that he had “made good on a promise to ensure that the American people are not How Betsy DeVos has mastered the art of the non-answer - The Washington Post:

Corporate-Elite Totalitarianism: Creeping or Leaping Toward a Totalitarian State? - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People

Corporate-Elite Totalitarianism: Creeping or Leaping Toward a Totalitarian State? - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People:

Corporate-Elite Totalitarianism: Creeping or Leaping Toward a Totalitarian State?

Some people believe the United States is already a totalitarian state. If that is our reality, it doesn’t mean we can’t regain our status as a republic.

“Corporate totalitarianism means total control by corporate interests…. What’s happening in the United States today is a corporate coup of the U.S. government, and anyone who isn’t grieving that must not be looking.”  Corporate Totalitarianism, or Not, Opinion by Marianne Williamson

We must look, and look deeper.

We can’t beat back what we don’t understand.

Totalitarian power by definition is considered to be…

“…of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation…”

I’m sure that during the Kennedy presidency, foreign totalitarian regimes were the concern. But what JFK stated then can be used in the fight we must take-on today. To win this battle, our citizenry …

“[It] requires skilled manpower and brainpower to match the power of totalitarian discipline.”

He was discussing education. We must educate people to recognize and resist conformity for the sake of conformity. We need brainpower? Not a problem.

But, whom are we matching wits against? And how powerful is their discipline, their control over us?

That is where my passionate support for public education keeps me digging for answers. I don’t like what I have found.

When the public education system is completely controlled and directed to focus on the Corporate-Elite Totalitarianism: Creeping or Leaping Toward a Totalitarian State? - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: This, Not That in Seattle Schools (Plus one update)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: This, Not That in Seattle Schools (Plus one update):

This, Not That in Seattle Schools (Plus one update)

THIS - As was previous reported by a reader in another thread, Grammy-winning singer John Legend donated funds to wipe out the school lunch debt for parents who had not paid.  Thank you as well to John Lew, a Seattle Schools parent who got the whole thing going. 

The crowdfunding campaign, which was originally started by John Lew, was created with a goal of $20,000 – enough to pay off any and all lunch debt wracked up by families who can't afford to pay for their children's lunches.

Since the story has gotten such widespread media attention, the crowdfunding page has now raised $41,000. All the additional funds will go towards paying nutritious student meals in the future.

In the mean time, however, Lew has started additional crowdfunding campaigns for the Tacoma and Renton school districts as well. Tacoma has already raised $20,000 of its $30,000 goal, while the Renton campaign has reached about half of its attempted $18,000.

NOT THAT
Apparently there are some Seattle Schools that are still using a stick on students who opt-out of SBA testing.  From Mercer Middle School:

Parents are going ballistic at the Soup for Teachers Facebook page and I agree.  I'm guessing the Principal Carter didn't get the memo that it IS legal in Seattle Schools Community Forum: This, Not That in Seattle Schools (Plus one update):

Teacher Tom's First Book - Home

Teacher Tom's First Book - Home:

Teacher Tom’s First Book

BUY BOOK

“The kids I teach are learning the way humans are meant to learn: taking risks, falling down, making their own choices, getting dirty, agreeing to their own rules, and engaging in real life experiences like growing food and dealing with conflict.”         ~ Tom Hobson

Peanut Butter Publishing today announced the release of renowned early childhood educator Tom Hobson’s first book, appropriately entitled Teacher Tom’s First Book. Known for his popular namesake blog, Teacher Tom’s Blog (http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com), Hobson’s book is a collection of short essays about teaching and learning from preschoolers, by turns hilarious, thought-provoking, and moving.
 
Hobson is known as one of the world’s leading practitioners of “democratic play-based” education. “Children are born to learn, and self-directed play is how it is meant to happen,” says Hobson. “Traditional education is all about adults testing children, dictating what, when, and how they should learn, and that’s why so many kids find school boring. A play-based education is one in which children educate themselves by asking and answering their own questions. This is how human beings are designed to learn.”
 
Hobson’s approach, which is supported by decades of research and practical applications, starts by taking children’s play seriously. “In the Victorian era, the leading theory for the existence of play was that it was simply a way to burn off excess energy, and that idea is still prevalent,” says Hobson, “but researchers like (Jean) Piaget, (Lev) Vygotsky, (Maria) Montessori, and, of course, John Dewey, began to dig deeper, finding that a child who is encouraged to learn through play is not only happier, but better able to handle the modern world than one who is force-marched through an adult dictated curriculum.”
 
Hobson, a teacher at the Woodland Park Cooperative School in Seattle, Washington, has been writing about early childhood education, teaching, and parenting since 2009, posting on his blog daily. He is a sought-after public speaker, having traveled the globe from the US and Canada to Australia, New Zealand, China, and Europe. He hopes that his book will bring his message to a wider audience. 
 
The Woodland Park Cooperative School, where Hobson has taught of the past 15 years, is known for its “junkyard playground,” enthusiastic parent participation, and a state-of-the-art urban farming program. Children as young as two are allowed to handle tools at the work bench, get as messy as they want, handle their own conflicts, and pursue their own interests in the way and at the pace they choose for themselves. According to Hobson, “The kids I teach are learning the way humans are meant to learn: taking risks, falling down, making their own choices, getting dirty, agreeing to their own rules, and engaging in real life experiences like growing food and dealing with conflict. All the research shows that success in life — and by that I mean living a personally satisfying life as opposed to an economically successful one — comes from being motivated, working well with others, and being sociable. That’s what a democratic play-based education, and this book, is all about.”Teacher Tom's First Book - Home:

School's Out

School's Out (Remastered Version) - YouTube:

School's Out

Network for Public Education Declares Charters Are Not Public Schools, Calling for Moratorium and Legislative Accountability | Alternet

Network for Public Education Declares Charters Are Not Public Schools, Calling for Moratorium and Legislative Accountability | Alternet:

Network for Public Education Declares Charters Are Not Public Schools, Calling for Moratorium and Legislative Accountability
The organization co-founded by Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody says stop calling them public schools.

Network for Public Education President, Diane Ravitch, did far more than criticize the Democrats in her recently published article entitled, Don’t Like Betsy DeVos? Blame the Democrats. She reminded us that privatization did not begin with vouchers and Betsy DeVos. Charter schools, supported by both parties, have played a central role in the process of school privatization.

The bottom line is the rhetoric that charter schools are public schools just does not hold up. Either you believe that taxpayer-funded schools should be nested in democracy, or you believe that private boards should run schools pretty much the way the want with taxpayers footing the bill. In her piece, Diane points out the scandals and the lackluster scores associated with charters. She says it is time for Democrats to defend public schools and demand that charters reform. She concludes by giving some examples of Governors who are keeping charters in line despite the pressure to cave to the powerful money interests that has pushed charters for two decades and a half.

Diane, of course, is correct. Charter are a big part of the privatization portfolio. Betsy DeVos does not oppose charters; she embraces them. In fact, her husband started one of his own.

And so it seemed important that NPE, the organization started by Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody in 2013, issue a strong statement that draws a bright line between what is truly a public school and what is not. It is time to not only Network for Public Education Declares Charters Are Not Public Schools, Calling for Moratorium and Legislative Accountability | Alternet:

Keeping retirement weird. Charters, unions and my aging memory | Fred Klonsky

Keeping retirement weird. Charters, unions and my aging memory. | Fred Klonsky:

Keeping retirement weird. Charters, unions and my aging memory

Corky Siegel and me a few years ago on Live from the Heartland.

The kids gave Anne tickets to go see Corky Siegel and his chamber blues band last night at City Winery. It was a birthday present.

I got to go along.

It was a great show. I stopped Mr. Siegel and showed him a picture from my phone of the two of us when we both were guests on Mike James and Katy Hogan’s radio show, Live from the Heartland. 

Of course, he had no memory of this. He is 73 and I’m pretty sure meeting me was not a major event in his long career.

My memory of Corky Siegel goes all the way back to the Siegel Schwall blues band in the 60s.

He is one of the the reasons I decided to take harmonica lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

I was doing okay the first semester.

But at the start of semester II we were to go around the room and demonstrate how we could bend a note, a requirement for blues harp.

Corky Siegel is a marvel at bending a note.

I never could master it. I left the class that first session and went home. It was one more Keeping retirement weird. Charters, unions and my aging memory. | Fred Klonsky:

CURMUDGUCATION: US Department of Climate Education

CURMUDGUCATION: US Department of Climate Education:

US Department of Climate Education

Trump has taken the odd step of withdrawing from a voluntary agreement; the Paris Accord is non-binding and nations can set their own goals, and Trump's statement had almost nothing to say about the actual climate change concern of the accord, so other than declaring the international equivalent of, "You can't tell me what to do! You're not my real mom!" I'm not sure exactly what Trump was hoping for.

That made it all the more odd when a strong vote of support came from.... the Department of Education.

"The announcement made today by the President is one more example of his commitment to rolling back the unrealistic and overreaching regulatory actions by the previous Administration," said Secretary DeVos. "President Trump is making good on his promise to put America and American workers first."

So, withdrawing is good because it sticks it to Obama, and also because it's selfish. And it's about American workers and not at all about corporate chieftains. Kind of like ed reform is all bout the children.

But why, exactly, is the Secretary of Education issuing a statement about the Paris Accord? Will the Department of Education be issuing directives on how climate science should be taught? And will that mean a reversal of DeVos's stated preference for government inaction?

Of course, here's this-- the Heartland Institute is a right-tilted thinky tank that has recently decided CURMUDGUCATION: US Department of Climate Education:

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

My Favorite Posts In 2017 – So Far

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23min

Every year I identify my personal favorite posts, and it’s time for my mid-year selection. You can see my choices for each of the past ten years here. And you can also see a list of my My All-Time Favorite Posts! I’ve also been highlighting some of the “best-of-the-best” in the “A Look Back” series. I’m adding this post to All Mid-Year 2017 “Best” Lists In One Place . Here are My Favorite Posts I

Using “Google Story Builder” To Encourage Students To Study English Over The Summer

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

I’ve previously posted some of the activities I’ll be doing with my class of Beginning ELLs over the last two weeks of school: Here’s What I’m Doing As A Final With Beginning ELLs , Here’s What I’m Doing As “Part Two” For My ELL Beginner Finals Today, I thought I’d share a third activity… The last time I tried Google Story Builder , it was off-line. That was a bummer – it’s always been a great to

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

by Larry Ferlazzo / 37min

© 2011 CGP Grey , Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2017 – So Far ): How 

Pins Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 19min

I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated over 12,000 resources there that I haven’t shared on this blog. I thought readers might find it useful if I began sharing a handful of my most recent “pins” each week (I’m not sure if you can see them through an RSS Reader – you might have to click through to the original post). I’ve begun placing the “most popular” Pin of the week – accor

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18min

© 2010 Enokson , Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Four years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2016 – Part Two Here are this week’s choices: The “must-read” piece for this

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18min

© 1970 Pip R. Lagenta , Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You might also be interested in The Best Articles (& Blog Posts) Offering Practical Advice & Resources To Teachers In 2016 – Part Tw o and The Best Resources On Class Instruction In 2017 – So Far .

The U.N. Says June 5th Is “World Environment Day” – Here Are Related Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

June 5th is World Environment Day . I’ve just revised The Best Resources For World Environment Day .

Video: “Top 10 Worlds Tallest Buildings”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

I’m adding this new video to The Best Sites To Learn About The World’s Tallest Buildings , and I have also completely revised and updated that list:

YESTERDAY

“The Best Q&A Posts of 2017 – So Far”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

The Best Q&A Posts of 2017 – So Far is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. I share my personal choices for the best posts that have appeared there so far this year. I’m adding it to All Mid-Year 2017 “Best” Lists In One Place .

This Week In Web 2.0

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth blogging about, I post a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” (you might also be interested in The Twenty-Five Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2017 – So Far ). I also sometimes include tech tools or articles about them that might not exactly fit the definition of Web 2.0: 25+ Tools For Spicing Up Your

Amazing Video Of Jupiter

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Here’s an amazing video composed of images from the Juno spacecraft. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning & Teaching About The Juno Spacecraft and to The Best Images Taken In Space . Read more about it at Wired.

Three New Resources On “Fake News” & Information Literacy

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Here are three new additions to The Best Tools & Lessons For Teaching Information Literacy – Help Me Find More : Fake news – a lesson plan is from The Teacher James, and is for ELLs. 9 lessons to boost media literacy is by Frank Baker. Storyzy is an interesting new tool that lets you verify quotes. Unfortunately, it only goes back to 2015, but is continually updated. You can read more about it at

“How can I Implement ‘Genius Hour’?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 21h

How can I Implement ‘Genius Hour’? is the new “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave responses in the comments section there or here…

New Resources For Teaching & Learning About The Reality Of Climate Change

by Larry Ferlazzo / 22h

Not matter what President Trump says or does, most teachers, of course, will continue to teach the facts of climate change. Here are some new additions to the massive The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change list: Stanford has an impressive climate change curriculum . Climate Change Effects Explained in Maps is from GIS Geography. Racing to Find Answers in the Ice is a NY Times interactive. T

Another Good Simon’s Cat Video For ELLs: “Copy Cat”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 22h

Simon’s Cat videos are always great ones to show to English Language Learners and have them write and discuss what happens in them. A new one just came out today called “Copy Cat.” You might also be interested in The Best Fun Videos 

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: