Fordham Institute Attempts to Mislead the Public Regarding the Impact of Charter Schools on Public School Districts - Network For Public Education

Fordham Institute Attempts to Mislead the Public Regarding the Impact of Charter Schools on Public School Districts - Network For Public Education

Fordham Institute Attempts to Mislead the Public Regarding the Impact of Charter Schools on Public School Districts

A recent study published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, entitled Robbers or Victims: Charter Schools and District Finances,was rolled out with fanfare and sent to policymakers across the country.  When the Fordham Institute sent out its mass email, trumpeting its report, its subject line read: “New report finds charter schools pose no fiscal threat to local districts.” That subject line is a blatant falsehood unsupported by their own deeply flawed study.

In the report and its public relations campaign, Fordham cynically attempts to razzle-dazzle the reader with misleading conclusions based on questionable data in hopes of convincing the public that charter schools do no financial harm to public schools. The Walton Foundation and The Fordham Foundation, the Fordham Institute’s related organization, funded the study. It is worth noting that The Fordham Foundation sponsors eleven charter schools in Ohio, for which it receives administrative fees.

The origins of the study, unacknowledged in the report, is author Mark Weber’s 2019 doctoral dissertation. Advocacy organizations are often accused of cherry-picking examples. With Robbers and Victims, Fordham cherry-picked a study on which to base its puffery. In a Fordham podcast and his blog, Weber, an elementary school music teacher who completed his doctoral studies at Rutgers University, reports that Fordham CONTINUE READING: Fordham Institute Attempts to Mislead the Public Regarding the Impact of Charter Schools on Public School Districts - Network For Public Education

Shawgi Tell: Charter Schools’ Obsession With Test Scores Deliberately Misses the Point | Dissident Voice

Charter Schools’ Obsession With Test Scores Deliberately Misses the Point | Dissident Voice

Charter Schools’ Obsession With Test Scores Deliberately Misses the Point

Putting aside the endless problems with punitive high-stakes standardized tests produced by a handful of large for-profit corporations, charter school advocates have never stopped making a fetish out of students’ scores on these political instruments. Charter school promoters obsess endlessly over racist psychometric tests that have been rejected by many for decades. They appear to be immune to all criticism of these widely-rejected tests. No critical examination of these top-down corporate tests is even attempted. It is as if everyone is expected to automatically embrace them and treat them as being useful, flawless, and meaningful.

What is odd, however, is that thousands of charter schools, which frequently cherry-pick their students, actually perform poorly on such corporate tests, more poorly than many under-funded public schools, and about the same as some under-funded public schools. There is really not much to boast about. The charter school record is not impressive, especially when viewed in its totality. Thirty years after their appearance, segregated charter schools cannot seem to claim victory for much.

It is no surprise that more than 150 privately-operated non-profit and for-profit charter schools close every year due to academic failure (and financial malfeasance). Literally thousands have failed and closed in three decades, leaving many black and brown families out in the cold.

Overall, it remains hard to make a compelling argument for the existence of CONTINUE READING: Charter Schools’ Obsession With Test Scores Deliberately Misses the Point | Dissident Voice

Russ on Reading: Read Aloud Treasures: The Wit and Wisdom of William Steig

Russ on Reading: Read Aloud Treasures: The Wit and Wisdom of William Steig

Read Aloud Treasures: The Wit and Wisdom of William Steig

Most children these days are well versed in the adventures of  Shrek!  from the Dreamworks movie franchise and the Broadway musical, but Shrek!, of course, first lived in the very fertile, active, and definitely quirky mind of children's book author and illustrator, William Steig. Steig is a fascinating character himself. He did not write his first children's book until he was in his 60s, but by that time he was world famous as a cartoonist for The New Yorker. His books for children are witty, wacky, wonderful, and slightly off center. Here are some of my favorites for read aloud. Reading these books to children always spurred great follow-up conversations.

Steig's first picture book finds sweet voiced troubadour, Roland, traveling the country to share his songs and stories. A scheming fox named Sebastian fools the trusting Roland and almost roasts him over a fire, until he is rescued by the King. The fox is "put in the dungeon, where he lives the rest of his years on nothing but stale bread, sour grapes and water." Steig establishes his distinctive style with the animals in this story. CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Read Aloud Treasures: The Wit and Wisdom of William Steig

Teacher Tom: "What Is It?"

Teacher Tom: "What Is It?"

"What Is It?"

I heard her mother saying, "What is it?" Her daughter, a two-year-old, was scribbling on a piece of paper with a marker creating a spiky purple tangle made from the kind of thick lines that indicate she was exerting excessive pressure. The girl paused briefly in response to the question, then resumed her work.

Her mother said, "It looks like a butterfly. Is it a butterfly?" 

I would have preferred that the mother wasn't questioning her child about her work. I would have preferred that she limit her comments to useful things like "You're using a purple marker" or "That's a spiky tangle of thick lines," informative statements that, should the girl choose to attend, might be used or not used to support her creative journey. Even better, this mother would not have been saying anything at all, leaving her child to her pursuit without interruption.

Adults are forever asking young children, "What is it?" Older preschoolers know the drill. They often have an answer on the tip of their tongue. They've learned that when they sit down in front of a piece of paper at the "art table," they CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "What Is It?" 

Bayard Rustin: A Remembrance | Diane Ravitch's blog

Bayard Rustin: A Remembrance | Diane Ravitch's blog

Bayard Rustin: A Remembrance

My youngest grandson is in second grade. His class was studying Black History, and each student was asked to make a project. He chose to create a poster about civil rights leader Bayard Rustin. I was thrilled to see his finished project, because it was not only well done, but because I knew Bayard Rustin and I started thinking about him. He was a good friend of my then-husband and me.

We got to know him in the mid-1960s. He was the bravest man I ever met. He was arrested many times for his pacifism and his civil rights activities. He was beaten many times by counter-demonstrators. He dedicated his life to standing up for others. He served prison time as a conscientious objector during World War II because he refused to fight. He told us that he realized later that he was wrong because he did not know then what a monster Hitler was.

He was very close to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was the chief organizer for the March on Washington in 1963. Bayard was a strategist and a thinker, in addition to being a fearless activist. He was a brilliant speaker and writer.

Soon after we became friendly with him, in the late CONTINUE READING: Bayard Rustin: A Remembrance | Diane Ravitch's blog

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

DR. CARTER G. WOODSON, BLACK EDUCATOR HALL OF FAME

E’ry day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Phillys7thWard.org, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer.

But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month…February is just the Blackest.

Today, our featured Black Educator is Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of Black History Month, is one of the most preeminent scholars in American history. He was born in 1875 in Virginia. This son of formerly enslaved peoples, Woodson had a passion for Black history and sharing his knowledge with Black people. However, he was forced to work as a sharecropper and a miner, so Woodson could only devote part of his time to his studies.

Although he was unable to enroll into his local high school until he was twenty years old, Woodson was a quick study. He graduated from high school in less than two years.

Immediately after his graduation, Woodson entered the classroom as a CONTINUE READING: Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers - POLITICO

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers struck a deal Sunday that would push school districts to open classrooms to the youngest students by the end of March while stopping short of new requirements regarding vaccines and collective bargaining.

The deal more closely aligns with what the governor originally proposed in December than what Democratic lawmakers detailed in a bill in February. It does not require schools to open but instead offers financial incentives for those that do, according to sources close to the deal who asked not to be named because it had not yet been made public.

The new proposal would offer $2 billion in grants to schools that open transitional kindergarten through second grade by the end of March and bring back at-risk students in all grades. That includes districts in counties that are still in the state's purple tier, with infection rates higher than what teachers unions previously said are too unsafe for reopening.

Under the plan, once counties move into the red tier — with daily case rates below 7 per 100,000 residents — schools eligible for the grant funding must open to all elementary grades, plus at least one grade in middle and high school.

The deal speeds up the clock and more strictly ties the grants to in-person instruction than what the Legislature proposed. If schools do not open by the end of March, they will start to lose a percentage of money for each day they remain closed starting April 1.

Most of California's 6 million public schoolchildren have been out of classrooms for almost a year. The state's deference to local school decision-making, along with union resistance and high winter case rates, have made it difficult for California to bring students back. While a Capitol deal may propel districts toward reopening, local school boards and their labor unions still have final say — and many want CONTINUE READING: Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators - CNBC

More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

KEY POINTS

• After nearly a year of struggling to meet the demands of teaching during the coronavirus crisis, many educators say they are ready to switch careers or retire.
• But in order for schools to fully reopen, the U.S. needs more teachers, not fewer.

The challenges of teaching in-person or online have stretched educators to their limits.

After nearly a full year of either putting themselves at risk in a classroom or struggling to reach students remotely, many now say they may change careers or simply quit.

“Teachers have been feeling the brunt of how drastically this pandemic has changed our world,” said Colin Sharkey, executive director of the Association of American Educators, a national professional association.

“The demands that are put on them are off the charts.”

At a time when many state and local governments are struggling to recruit and retain educators, a nationwide poll of public education professionals found a growing number are ready to leave their jobs. CONTINUE READING: More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

A New Direction for This Blog | Diane Ravitch's blog

A New Direction for This Blog | Diane Ravitch's blog

A New Direction for This Blog

I started this blog in April 2012, because I had a lot of things I wanted to say, more than I could put into a tweet. Since that time, I have posted commentaries more than 26,000 times. Most of the posts have been about testing and privatization because they are, in my view, destroying public education and real education. But I have also posted humor, political commentary, poetry, and whatever I felt like sharing with you. You have sent about 625,000 comments. I have read them all. A few weeks ago, the number of page views passed 38 million.

I recently decided that it was too much to continue the pace, a minimum of four posts, sometimes 5, 6, 7, 8 times a day. Obviously, I enjoyed it and I loved sharing what interested me with you, as well as your feedback. I learned so much from your comments, because you told me and everyone else what was happening in your town, your school, your state. Thank you for being such a strong and active community of readers and commenters.

One of the things that I am proudest of with this blog is that it has been a platform for so many other bloggers. I helped them reach a larger audience, and some now have their own well-established, well-earned reputations for wisdom and insight.

So here is the new plan. I will post my original comments and articles. I will post news and reports about the Network for Public Education. I will post original articles that have not appeared anywhere else, such as the brilliant commentaries by our reader Laura Chapman. I will report research that is not likely to get wide circulation if it interests me. I may occasionally post breaking news bulletins of interest to the community. With rare exceptions, I will no longer repost blogs by others.

Other bloggers have important articles, and they will still be posted, but not by me. That role has been assigned to the new Network for Public Education website, and it will be curated by the estimable and tireless Peter Greene. So I will urge you again and again to open the NPE link so you can see the great work that other bloggers are doing.

If you have a post that you want to share, send it to Carol Burris at cburris@networkforpubliceducation.org.

If you want to read Peter Greene’s choices of the best posts of the day, go to this link.

https://networkforpubliceducation.org/best-posts/

Thus, in the near future, expect to receive fewer posts from me. Maybe one or two or none a day.

We will see how that goes. Meanwhile, browse the 26,000 posts and be sure to read the new stuff. I love this community and I want to keep you in my living room.

A New Direction for This Blog | Diane Ravitch's blog

Is President Biden a Supporter of Standardized Testing After All? | janresseger

Is President Biden a Supporter of Standardized Testing After All? | janresseger

Is President Biden a Supporter of Standardized Testing After All?

A week ago a newly appointed Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Ian Rosenblum announced that this spring, the Department will require the annual standardized testing mandated first by No Child Left Behind, and now by its successor, the Every Student Succeeds Act. Last year, when COVID-19 shut down schools, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos cancelled the federally mandated tests.

Rosenblum’s announcement followed more than a month of advocacy by board of education members, education experts, school administrators, schoolteachers and parents—all pushing the Department of Education to grant states waivers to cancel the tests in this COVID-19 year.  Opponents of testing this spring have spoken about problems of feasibility when some students are in class and others learning remotely, and they  have raised serious questions about the validity and comparability of the information that can be collected during these times. Others question whether time should be wasted on testing when teachers need to be putting all of their energy into supporting students’ well-being and learning instead of test prep and test administration. While some have argued that teachers need the test results to guide their instruction once schools reopen, testing experts have continued to point out that teachers won’t get overall results for months and will never learn about individual students’ answers to particular multiple choice questions. Others have pointed out that these tests have been required for two decades not for any kind of pedagogical purpose but instead so that the CONTINUE READING: Is President Biden a Supporter of Standardized Testing After All? | janresseger

Using Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms to Guide Education Choice - Network For Public Education

Using Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms to Guide Education Choice - Network For Public Education

Using Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms to Guide Education Choice

The writing team at Accountabaloney has kept a watchful eye on Florida’s ongoing shenanigans, and their newest post is alarming. Florida’s legislature is considering SB48, a bill that would turn all of Florida’s voucher programs into Education Savings Accounts. ESAs are like super-vouchers, a grant of taxpayer money from the state that parents can spend on whatever education expenses they choose–not just private school tuition, but anything education-related.

The money is handled by a non-profit organization. In Florida’s case that’s Step Up For Students, and one of the mysteries of this kind of transition is how such a group would manage thousands of families choosing from thousands of education-flavored vendors. The answer, as reported on the blog, is scary:

In a recent podcast, Doug Tuthill outlined how Step Up for Students has created an e-commerce platform, that will collect data from its voucher recipients and use Artificial Intelligence and algorithms to guide them towards the “best educational options” for their children. Apparently, those “best educational options” will never be district managed public schools.

Algorithm-selected education. Massive data mining. All handled by non-transparent software. Turns out school choice is actually algorithm’s choice.

Follow this link to the full story.

Using Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms to Guide Education Choice - Network For Public Education

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: College Is For Meat Widgets, Not That Learnin' Stuff

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: College Is For Meat Widgets, Not That Learnin' Stuff

FL: College Is For Meat Widgets, Not That Learnin' Stuff

Oh, Florida.

GOP State Senator Dennis Baxley wants only some students to have Bright Futures. Under his bill SB 86, the scholarship program would be targeted only for those students who are pursuing majors that lead "directly to employment."

Baxley offers a folksy justification for this, saying his own sociology degree was very nice and all, but wouldn't buy him a cup of coffee, and not until he got that associate degree that he was able to make a buck opening his funeral parlor. As God is my witness, I am not making this up.

This "refocus" comes with an endorsement from Senate President Wilton Simpson, who points out that "All too often the debate surrounding higher education focuses on the cost to the student, in terms of tuition and fees, but never the cost to the taxpayer or the actual value to the student." 

More from Baxley:

We want all of our students to succeed in meaningful careers that provide for their families and serve our communities. As taxpayers we should all be concerned about subsidizing degrees that just lead to debt, instead of the jobs our students want and need. We encourage all students to pursue their passions, but when it comes to taxpayer subsidized education, there needs to be a link to our CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: College Is For Meat Widgets, Not That Learnin' Stuff

Resilient Public Schools: Bright and Dark Sides (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Resilient Public Schools: Bright and Dark Sides (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Resilient Public Schools: Bright and Dark Sides (Part 3)

In part 3 of this series, I describe and analyze the growth and spread of computer devices over the past four decades as incremental, not fundamental changes in classroom instruction.

*In 1981, 18 percent of schools had computers; in 1991, 98 percent had them.

*In 1981, 16 percent of schools used computers for instructional purposes. By 1991, 98 percent did so.

*In 1981, there were, on average, 125 students per computer; in 1991, there were 18. [i]

In these years, using classroom computers was a glistening novelty that policymakers, parents and vendors urged schools to buy and use. The beliefs then were that increased use of these seemingly magical machines would improve teaching by getting students to learn more, faster, and better. Moreover, using these devices would provide job entrée into companies that were quickly moving from analog to digital and the rapidly growing occupations of programmers, engineers, and technical support.

There was an initial Golly, Gee Whiz moment when computers appeared in school libraries and special rooms called “labs” in the 1980s.  Then, as prices for CONTINUE READING: Resilient Public Schools: Bright and Dark Sides (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_27.html 

What’s The Real Number Of Our Students Who Are Disengaged or Completely Disappeared?

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

geralt / Pixabay I wonder what the real number of students who have become disengaged or disappeared over the past twelve months? I’m defining the word “disengaged” as students who have shown-up very rarely, and done hardly any academic work, but I have had some contact with them this year. I have a total of 138 students in my classes this year. Of that number, eight I would categorize as “diseng

“Strategies for Teaching Students Online & Face to Face at the Same Time”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

Strategies for Teaching Students Online & Face to Face at the Same Time is the headline of my latest Education Week column. Four educators share how they are teaching students simultaneously online and in the physical classroom. Here are some excerpts:

The Best Face Masks For Teachers In The Classroom (Or, At Least, The Most Comfortable Ones)

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay As regular readers know, our district, like many urban districts around the United States, will be returning to our physical classrooms soon. One of my concerns has been finding a face mask that will be comfortable to wear for hours at a time. So, I sent out this tweet today asking for advice: What face masks (w/ links, please) do u recommend for wearing in physical class

Monday’s Must-Read Articles On School Reopenings

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

geralt / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : A teacher’s view: What policymakers and the public don’t understand about reopening schools is from CAL Matters. CDC Study Finds Teachers ‘Central’ To COVID Transmission When Distancing, Masks Not Enforced is from The 74. As School Closures Near First Anniversary, a Diverse Parent Moveme

New Video On Teens Fighting School Segregation

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

iCivics just released a new video, Students and the Struggle for School Integration (it’s not embeddable). Here’s how they describe it: In this video, students learn about the activism of teenager Barbara Johns. In 1951, she organized over 400 students to protest in support of better conditions at their segregated high school in Prince Edward County, Virginia. The students’ actions would lead to

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

Ten years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in THE BEST ED TECH RESOURCES OF 2020 – PART TWO , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this we

Video: New Pixar Short, “Float,” Is Good To Show ELLs & Everybody Else

400+by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

HG-Fotografie / Pixabay Pixar just released this new short, titled “Float.” It would be very accessible to ELLs – and to everybody else – and has a good message on celebrating differences. ELLs could watch and then talk and write about what they saw, including its message.

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

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. Of course, this is a crazy time for “classroom” instruction…. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON INSTRUCTION IN 2020 – PART TWO . Here are this week’s picks: The Anatomy of an Effective and Efficient Piece of Feedback is from Matthew

SEL Weekly Update

24by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

I’ve recently begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. You might also be interested in THE BEST SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES OF 2020 – PART TWO. Finally, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources . Here are this week’s picks: Student Motivation and Ass

Sunday’s Must-Read Articles On School Reopenings

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

MoteOo / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : This article has some interesting comments from an African-American leader here in Sacramento: California parents mobilize after feeling ‘political disillusionment ‘ from Politico. Why Opening Windows Is a Key to Reopening Schools is from The NY Times. This will b an issue when we return

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

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

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 2019 – PART TWO ): L.A. school board cuts its police force and diverts funds for Black student achievement is from The L

 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007