Tuesday, October 26, 2010

RI ed officials talk 2-tiered diploma system - Boston.com

RI ed officials talk 2-tiered diploma system

October 26, 2010

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PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Rhode Island's top education officials are considering a two-tiered high school graduation system that would reward the state's top students with a special diploma from the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.

Meanwhile, most students would continue to receive a diploma from their local school system.

The system was discussed at Monday's meeting.

The Providence Journal reports two-tiered approach would help with the transition to

Tough New Jersey anti-bullying law after spate of gay teenage suicides | Mail Online

New Jersey anti-bullying law will be the toughest in the U.S. after spate of gay teenage suicides

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 7:48 AM on 26th October 2010

Lawmakers in New Jersey introduced an anti-bullying bill of rights today, which they claim will be one of the toughest state laws of its kind in the U.S.

The proposal follows the widely publicised suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, who was outed and humiliated online by fellow students.

The new law would require anti-bullying programmes and codes of conduct in public schools and colleges to address the hateful acts of some individuals against others.

Legislators in New Jersey gathered on Monday to toughen the state's anti-bullying laws after the widely publicised suicide of Tyler Clementi.

Evidence of bullying: Barbara Buono looks on as David Zimmer holds up a photo of the words 'gay must die' that he says his son took at Ridgewood High School

Introduced by a bipartisan group of legislators and advocates, the proposal seeks to expand on current New Jersey laws that were passed eight years ago.

State Senator Barbara Buono, who was one of the main sponsors of the 2002 law, said she has since learned how prevalent bullying is.

She revealed that parents of tormented children have called her office desperate to find answers on how to help their kids.

Ms Buono said that the original law only encouraged anti-bullying programmes but

Schools Matter: Funny Enough to Make You Cry

Funny Enough to Make You Cry

by Jim Horn

Posted by Valerie Strauss today at WaPo:

Here is an amusing but scary video that shows two toy figures in a conversation that tells you everything you need to know about what is driving school reform today: a nonsensical obsession with assessment and data that has brought a rigidity to classes that makes real teaching and learning impossible.

Video released by conservative activist claims to show undercover footage at NJEA conference | NJ.com

Video released by conservative activist claims to show undercover footage at NJEA conference

Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 8:35 AM Updated: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 9:05 AM

The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
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Patrick Semansky/The Associated PressJames O'Keefe, left, has released a video that allegedly shows undercover footage from an NJEA conference.

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TRENTON — Conservative activist James O'Keefe has released a video — titled "Teachers unions gone wild" — claiming to show undercover footage from a New Jersey Education Association leadership conference at the East Brunswick Hilton hotel.

The video shows people identified as teachers playing arcade games on "their dime," chanting about kicking Gov. Chris Christie "in the toolbox," and talking about how hard it is to fire a tenured teacher.

NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said O'Keefe is "completely and utterly discredited."

"It’s James O’Keefe and that’s all you need to know," Baker said, citing O'Keefe's legal troubles in the past.

"I'm sure he sent people into the conference," Baker said, but added O'Keefe dubbed the video and

Demonizing Public Education - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Demonizing Public Education

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

I reviewed "Waiting for 'Superman'" for The New York Review of Books. I thought the movie was very slick, very professional, and very propagandistic. It is one-sided and very contemptuous of public education. Notably, the film portrayed not a single successful regular public school, and its heroic institutions were all charter schools.

There are many inaccuracies in the movie. One that I describe in my review is Davis Guggenheim's claim that 70 percent of 8th grade students read "below grade level." He has a graphic where state after state is shown to have only a small proportion of students reading "on grade level" or "proficient." The numbers are based on data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But Guggenheim is wrong. NAEP doesn't report grade levels. It reports achievement levels, and these do not correspond to grade levels. Nor does he understand the NAEP achievement levels or just how demanding NAEP's "proficiency" level really is. To score below "proficient" on NAEP does NOT mean "below grade level."

NAEP has four achievement levels.

The top level is called "advanced," which represents the very highest level of student performance. Students who are "advanced" probably are at an A+; if they were taking an SAT, they would likely score somewhere akin to 750-800. These are the students who are likely to qualify for admission to our most selective universities.

Then comes "proficient," which represents solid academic performance, equivalent to an A or a very strong B. Guggenheim assumes that any student who is below "proficient" cannot read at "grade level." He is wrong.

The third level is "basic." These are students who have achieved partial mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary to be proficient. This would be equivalent, I believe, to a grade of C. Many (if not most) states use

What’s the value of value-added? — Joanne Jacobs

What’s the value of value-added?

by Joanne

New York City will release value-added rankings of teachers in fourth through eighth grade, if a United Federation of Teachers lawsuit fails. That’s intensified the debate over evaluating teachers based on their students’ progress, reports Education Week. Traditionally, virtually all teachers — from Mr. Chips to Mrs. Burnout — are judged “satisfactory.”

“It’s universally acknowledged—teacher evaluations are broken,” said Timothy Daly, president ofThe New Teacher Project, a group that helps school districts recruit and train teachers.
Perhaps surprisingly, teacher-union leaders agree. Michael Mulgrew, president of New York City’sUnited Federation of Teachers (UFT), said last spring that “the current evaluation system doesn’t

Let’s Talk Education: Will The Next Governor Get California Out Of This Mess? | Neon Tommy

Let’s Talk Education: Will The Next Governor Get California Out Of This Mess?

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Meredith Vivian | October 25, 2010
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Jerry Brown has a proven history of working hard for California students.

During a recent phone call with my mom, she asked me for a good website that described Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman’s campaign positions for a colleague of hers at Cal State who, even as a Democrat, was considering voting for Whitman.

Did I hear that right? How could an educated professor, and a Democratic no less, consider voting for Whitman? Amid my confusion, I began to think about California’s distressed public education system and wha

Are charter schools superior?: 'Waiting for Superman' poses the wrong question about school reform | MLive.com

Are charter schools superior?: 'Waiting for Superman' poses the wrong question about school reform

Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 7:00 AM Updated: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 8:17 AM

Julie Mack | Kalamazoo Gazette
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Courtesy of "Waiting for Superman"Success in Harlem: Geoffrey Canada, who heads the Harlem Children's Zone project, is among the education reformers featured in "Waiting for Superman."

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“Waiting for Superman,” the new documentary by David Guggenheim that skewers American schools, has re-energerized the debate over the charter school movement, which the film implies is the silver bullet for school reform.

Is he right?

Guggenheim’s film features two of the biggest success stories in the charter school movement: Harlem Success Academy in New York and KIPP, which operates about 100 middle schools in high-poverty communities. Both have seen terrific results with poor, minorit

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010