Big Education Ape

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

AM Edition: Big Education Ape: Ed News Now Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

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You heard about the kids. You saw the video. Here’s the story. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ has a website that includes City Life by Achy Obejas. In her recent post she gives us some background on the Sullivan High School students who made the video in ...

tbfurman

Bridging Differences - Education Week

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Diane,It would be interesting to know what influenced the change of heart among those civil rights organizations, Diane. I've been exploring in my head—while I do my daily laps in the pond—wha...

DianeRavitch

***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Committee to Examine Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Nation’s Classrooms

edworkforce.house.gov - WASHINGTON, D.C. | February 8, 2011 - On Thursday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m., the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), will hold a hearing on “Edu...

leoniehaimson

New York State School Boards Association

nyssba.org - On Board Online • January 24, 2011 By Brian M. ButryCommunications Coordinator A privately-funded group of educators will be guiding the State Education Department (SED) as it implements Race-to-t...

leoniehaimson

Rahm Emanuel’s $18.5 million paychecks: How did he do it? - Chicago Sun

suntimes.com - Rahm Emanuel’s $18.5 million paychecks: How did he do it? By Abdon M. Pallasch Political Reporterapallasch@suntimes.com Feb 7, 2011 09:23PM Kindergarten student Malia Harrington got some attention ...

DelValle4Mayor

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coopmike48 Teachers Against Education Reforms At Statehouse- Eagle Country 99.3 FM | Lawrenceburg, IN -http://goo.gl/vHT377 minutes ago · reply

coopmike48 Opinion: California education reform may be facing a Brownout - San Jose Mercury News - http://goo.gl/UaCQ56 minutes ago · reply

coopmike48 Student teachers study at Sacramento State - The State Hornet - News - http://goo.gl/i5gZt6 minutes ago · reply

coopmike48 For-Profit colleges scrutinized for high pressure recruiting | News10.net | Sacramento, California | News -http://goo.gl/p3PJm6 minutes ago · reply

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#chicagomayor Read this paper 5 MORE ARTICLES

Chicago mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle campaigns as a reformer

wbez.org - (WBEZ/Katie O'Brien) Chicago City Clerk and mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle spoke to 'Eight Forty-Eight' about his mayoral run. (WBEZ/Katie O'Brien) Del Valle talked about his neighborhood-focus...

DelValle4Mayor

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Points to Overlooked Ethics Ordinance as Route to Reopening Parking Meter Contract

delvalleformayor.com - Press Contactpress@delvalleformayor.comDel Valle for Mayor Office1325 W. Grand Ave.Chicago, IL60642General Inquiries(312) 733-8083info@delvalleformayor.com

DelValle4Mayor

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Del Valle: Parking meter deal violates city ethics law--Sun

delvalleformayor.com - Press Contactpress@delvalleformayor.comDel Valle for Mayor Office1325 W. Grand Ave.Chicago, IL60642General Inquiries(312) 733-8083info@delvalleformayor.com

DelValle4Mayor

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leoniehaimson

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Education 119 MORE ARTICLES

Big Education Ape: NYC parent forms national group to push for ESEA change

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Education historian Diane Ravitch spoke to the Parents Across America audience last night.One of New York City’s most vocal parent activists is launching a national organization, enlisting parents ...

coopmike48

Closing Public Schools: A Truly Bad Idea - Bridging Differences

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Deborah,Last week, the New York City Department of Education received permission from the city's Panel on Educational Policy, or PEP, to close an additional two dozen public schools because th...

mikeklonsky

Ruling: Fired D.C. teachers must be offered jobs, back wages | Lisa Gartner | DC

washingtonexaminer.com - The first 75 teachers who former Chancellor Michelle Rhee fired must be given about $7.5 million in back wages and offered positions with D.C. Public Schools, an arbitrator ruled. "The [termination...

leoniehaimson

Politics 17 MORE ARTICLES

DLC to Shut Down

politicalwire.com - February 07, 2011"The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week," Ben Smith reports."The D...

mikeklonsky

Wrongly choosing Egypt's generals over the democrats

washingtonpost.com - THE OBAMA administration's latest flip on Egypt - it now publicly backs "the transition process announced by the Egyptian government" - is driven by fear of the dangers that could come with a victo...

mikeklonsky

In Egypt, President Obama sides with efforts to limit democratic change

mikeklonsky

Art & Entertainment 9 MORE ARTICLES

Taste of Chicago to be all food, no music, Mayor Daley says - Chicago Sun

suntimes.com - Taste of Chicago to be all food, no music, Mayor Daley says BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com Feb 8, 2011 06:05PM Dana Marberry and daughter Erin eat corn from O'Brien's on...

mikeklonsky

Sam Cooke A change is Gonna come

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - A Change Is Gonna Come(Sam Cooke)As Performed Sam Cooke (1964) I was born by the river in a little tentAnd just like the river, I've been running ever sinceIt's been a long time comingBut I know a ...

coopmike48

For Chicago music fans, Rahm hits a sour note. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - Jim DeRogatis, former rock critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, co-host of public radio’s Sound Opinions and member of the faculty of Chicago’s Columbia College, pulls back the veil on Rahm Emanuel’s ...

mikeklonsky

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Living 4 MORE ARTICLES

Asst Attorney Gen. Thomas Perez Speaking to Latino Elected Officials on Redistricting

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 5:39 pm, February 8, 2011 The following are comments made today by Assistant Attorney General Tomas Perez at a luncheon hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected Official on...

coopmike48

Texas Sees Sudden Increase in Indian Immigrants Arriving Across Mexico Border

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 3:05 pm, February 8, 2011 Officials in Texas are in awe at the sudden increase in the number of undocumented Indian immigrants entering Texas from its Mexico border.The reported surge ...

coopmike48

Christie slated to speak before D.C. conservative think tank

northjersey.com - Christie slated to speak before D.C. conservative think tank TRENTON -- Governor Christie will address a conservative think tank in Washington D.C. next week. Christie will deliver remarks before t...

coopmike48

Business 3 MORE ARTICLES

Taxes too high? They’re actually at 60-year low - Chicago Sun

suntimes.com - Taxes too high? They’re actually at 60-year low Feb 8, 2011 05:23AM Taxes too high? Actually, as a share of the nation’s economy, Uncle Sam’s take this year will be the lowest since 1950, when the ...

mikeklonsky

San Francisco to Give Big Tax Breaks to Twitter

baycitizen.org - In a move designed to coax Twitter, the booming Internet startup, to relocate into a blighted section of downtown San Francisco, city officials announced on Tuesday a proposal to freeze payroll tax...

coopmike48

Taxes at 60-Year Low--But Are They Still Too High?

theatlanticwire.com - This week, the Associated Press issued a report pointing out that federal taxes are lower than they've been in 60 years--going back to the Truman administration. This may come as surprising news to...

coopmike48

Leisure1

Winter Wildlife Watching: Behold Elephant Seals and Gray Whales

baycitizen.org - Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and nothing melts the heart like the sight of a newborn marine mammal pup. How about a thousand of them? As of January 28, 1,137 pups have been born at t...

coopmike48

newspaper

The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Amazing Bird Photos You’ll Swear Are Fake” “Amazing Bird Photos You’ll Swear Are Fake” is the title of a slideshow from Discovery. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Animals.

The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools As regular readers know, I have very serious concerns about the so-called “parent trigger.” This California law (which may be spreading to other states) allows 51% of parents whose children attend a “low-performing” school ( or parents who will have ...

How Intermediate English Students Evaluated Our Class This Past Semester As regular readers know, I regularly have students anonymously evaluate our classes and me and report the results on this blog. Students knowing that I’ll be making the results public, I think, helps them take it a little more seriously. You can see ...

Bye-Bye, TokBox TokBox, which was a very nice video-conferencing application that was on The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration, is shutting down their site. TechCrunch reports that, instead, they are letting other businesses use their software to create ...

“Protests In History” Resources Here are two new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History: Power to the people: A look at key political revolutions is a Los Angeles Times slideshow. Revolt! Comparing Historical Revolutions is an adaptable lesson plan from ...

Kids for Peace- Uplifting Our World through LOVE and ACTION

“I pledge to care for our earth with my healing heart and hands.”

I pledge to use my words to speak in a kind way.
I pledge to help others as I go throughout my day.
I pledge to care for our earth with my healing heart and hands.
I pledge to respect people in each and every land.
I pledge to join together as we unite the big and small.
I pledge to do my part to create PEACE for one and all.

We are thrilled to announce that our cofounder, Danielle Gram, has been chosen as the 2010 World of Children Youth Founder's Award recipient! This honor has been called the "Nobel Peace Prize" for youth. It is a tremendous tribute for Danielle and Kids for Peace. We are extremely grateful for the support and recognition.
Learn more.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: OWNERSHIP SOCIETY NEWS

OWNERSHIP SOCIETY NEWS

by Mike Klonsky

I don't think so.

The education technology entrepreneur who started Blackboard Inc. and pioneered on-line (often teacherless) learning, has joined a new venture, which he claims will "revolutionize" the way academic institutions and their graduates move and use education credentials. Docufide, Inc., the company that makes a huge profit every time you have your high school or college transcripts sent, today unveiled a major leadership role and investment by Matthew L. Pittinsky, Ph.D., Blackboard's co-founder and former CEO and Executive Chairman.

Fitness is focus as U.S. health chief visits south Sacramento school - Health & Fitness - sacbee.com

Grant boosts green upgrades at Sacramento schools

By Rick Daysog - Published: 12:00 am

Plans for $100 million in green upgrades to Sacramento's school buildings received a boost from the national organization that certifies eco-friendly and energy-efficient buildings.

Fitness is focus as U.S. health chief visits south Sacramento school

By Bobby Caina Calvan - Published: 12:00 am

The lesson at Lemon Hill's Will C. Wood Middle School was on eating right and staying fit.

State faces $40 million suit over EdFund's Mather office buildings

By Dale Kasler - Published: Tuesday, February 8 2011 - 12:00 am

Four years ago, state officials tried selling California's student-loan guaranty program to help fix their troubled budget. They wound up losing the business, not selling it.

Brown's Countdown, Day 30: University leaders resigned to budget cuts

By Jack Chang - Updated: 12:38 pm

The leaders of California's three higher education systems Monday said they are preparing to make budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, but warned that fewer degree programs and enrollment slots would likely result.

This Week In Education: USDE: Board members Press Duncan For Solid Answers

USDE: Board members Press Duncan For Solid Answers [image: Howto]Sounds like the Q and A session got heated: "Why do you continue to focus on incentive pay for teachers when research shows it doesn't work? How is it fair to judge a school district full of students who don't speak English well on an ...

AM News: Ed Schools Complain About US News Grading Scale [image: image from webmedia.newseum.org] Teachers’ Colleges Upset By Plan to Grade Them NYT: U.S. News originally told schools that if they did not voluntarily supply data and documents, the teacher quality group would seek the information under ...

Media: Maybe She Didn't Eat The Bee, Either [image: Back2SchoolSupplies-big]Want to get a sense of how several mainstream reporters and publications dealt with unverified and somewhat hard-to-believe education story they heard that we now know wasn't quite so rosy as presented (at least not at ...

Race to the Top Commencement Challenge: Calling High Schools - Deadline 2/25 (VIDEO) - Hispanically Speaking News

Race to the Top Commencement Challenge: Calling High Schools - Deadline 2/25 (VIDEO)

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February 8, 2011 | by HS News Staff

Photo Credits: High School

Today, the President launched his second annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. The 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge invites public high schools across the country to demonstrate how their school best prepares them for college and a career, helping America win the future by out-educating our competitors, preparing today’s students for the jobs of tomorrow, and achieving President Obama’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

Last year, over 1000 schools applied and more than 170,000

Little Birdies Develop at Different Paces « Failing Schools

Little Birdies Develop at Different Paces

by mariasallee

Little birdies develop at different paces and so do children. In general, pediatricians, early educators, and other informed professionals talk about developmental steps and milestones rather than finite skills that simply must happen by a certain date. However, our national stance has become heavily weighted toward measuring children against standards and ignoring the development of [...]

State board re-examines statewide rights for charters | California Watch

State board re-examines statewide rights for charters

by Corey G. Johnson

Corey G. Johnson

The State Board of Education will hold a public hearing today to discuss what has become a thorny question: Under what circumstances should a charter school company be allowed to bypass local district control and operate statewide?

The board has granted statewide status to three charter school organizations since 2006: High Tech High, Pacific Technology School and Aspire Public Schools.

The privilege is a boon to charters. It allows the organizations to start schools wherever they see fit in California, without the risk of being rejected by local school authorities. Some charters see state oversight as better for

Seattle Public Schools community blog: News Flash: SPS Has to Cut Their Budget

Have a Young Writer at Home? PBS station KCTS 9 is sponsoring a writers competition for young story writers from Washington state and B.C. From the news release: Seattle PBS member station KCTS 9 encourages young writers from across Washington state and British Columbia to enter ...

Transportation Service Standards for 2011-12 Transportation Information (Service Standards for 2011-12).

News Flash: SPS Has to Cut Their Budget From KING-5 tv tonight, SPS has to drastically cut its budget. I heard this as a tease at the end of the national news and thought, "Oh, new info." Nope, it's just what we already know. The district is losing $5M for this school year and will have a ...

Budget cuts muffle charter growth | Thoughts on Public Education

Budget cuts muffle charter growth - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess California’s low funding of public schools is curbing the expansion of charter schools and making them more dependent on philanthropy to support their operations and their plans for growth. Because roughly one out of six charter schools is located ...

Nonsensical state regulations handcuffing online learning, innovation - by Lance Izumi California’s budget meltdown is an opportunity, not to raise taxes, but to explore innovative ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively. With the revolution in online technology, education is a perfect area to rethink obsolete delivery ...

The Answer Sheet - Eliminating seniority-based layoffs: 4 things to consider

Eliminating seniority-based layoffs: 4 things to consider The following was written by Matthew Di Carlo, senior fellow at the non-profit Albert Shanker Institute, located in Washington, D.C. This post originally appeared on the institute’s blog. By Matthew Di Carlo Eliminating seniority-based layoffs of ...

Poll on NCLB: Americans want overhaul (but does Congress?) This was written by Monty Neill, interim executive director at The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest, a non-profit organization that works to end the misuses of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, ...

Wednesday Churn: Sponsoring Ravitch | EdNewsColorado

Wednesday Churn: Sponsoring Ravitch

by EdNews staff

What’s churning:

Several entities listed as sponsoring a Feb. 17 talk by education historian and author Diane Ravitch said they’re withdrawing their support after learning her talk will benefit a political group.

Promotional materials for the event, titled “An Evening with Diane Ravitch,” list the University of Colorado at Denver as a host and groups including the University of Northern Colorado, Community College of Denver and Metro State as sponsors.

CU-Denver had agreed to pay $500 for the venue, the Tivoli Student Union, but is now declining that support and

Aurora board drops PE grad requirement

by Rebecca Jones

Physical education students at Aurora Central High School do push-ups in class.

The Aurora school board on Tuesday voted 5-2 to eliminate health and physical education from its graduation requirements, while increasing math, science and language requirements.

The move, which will go into effect with this fall’s incoming class of freshmen, is intended to insure that graduates will meet the requirements necessary for admission to a four-year college or university in Colorado.

But it also makes Aurora the only district in the state to abandon all P.E. requirements for high school students

Dad at the Chalkboard: A Bitter Cup of Joe or Beware the Evils of Facebook!

A Bitter Cup of Joe or Beware the Evils of Facebook!

by Brian H

I woke up this morning at my usual ungodly hour to my daily helping of Morning Joe on the television. I keep it on most mornings as I prepare myself to face the day. As I wiped the sleep crud form my eyes and attempted to arrange my thoughts in some sort of cohesive order, Joe Scarborough was talking about an editorial he wrote about the dark, civilization crushing side of Facebook for Politico.

You can find the rant, I mean editorial, here.

The thread of contention that intertwines Mr. Scarborough's piece is that Facebook is "cynically feeding the

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rhee's trail of destruction

Rhee's trail of destruction

by Mike Klonsky

Former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee left a trail of devastation in her wake when she left town. In December, the contractor she hired to run Dunbar High School, was given the boot. And yesterday, an arbitrator ruled that the first 75 teachers Rhee fired must be given about $7.5 million in back wages and offered positions with D.C. Public Schools. It's estimated that with an average annual salary of $50,000, each teacher would cash in on $100,000 -- costing the school system $7.5 million while

School Tech Connect: Welfare Queens

Welfare Queens

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

This upward redistribution of taxpayer money isn't something the average Joe will hear about; he'll only hear about greedy public sector employees and how they all need to be rounded up. By the way, this New Markets Tax Credits is behind the coming hyper-bubble in charter school construction, a scheme where investors can get casino-magnitude tax credits to make already-profitable construction loans to organizations that will eventually get bailed out by taxpayer money or by vulture philanthropists bent on privatizing public education. Charter

Becoming a Superintendent: A Personal Odyssey* | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Becoming a Superintendent: A Personal Odyssey*

by larrycuban

After teaching for many years, I wanted to be an urban superintendent. To do that, I had to get a doctorate. Accepted at Stanford as a middle-aged graduate student, I arrived in 1972 with family in tow. The two years I spent at Stanford was a powerful intellectual experience. I had told David Tyack, my adviser then, (years later my teaching colleague, co-author, and dear friend) that I wanted to get a degree swiftly and find a superintendency.

With an abiding interest in history, I pursued courses that Tyack taught in history of education but also studied political science, organizational sociology, and the economics of education. If motivation and readiness are prerequisites for learning, I had them in excess.

Moving from being a veteran teacher in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. to becoming a researcher, I had to

Queens Teacher: HCZ Parent Speaks

HCZ Parent Speaks

by Queens Teacher

Came across a comment yesterday of a person who sends their child to the highly publicized Harlem Children's Zone. Looks like not everyone is happy there.

I’d like to give my input on NYC schools. THEY suck…You have no options….Parents think getting their child into a charter school is the answer. Wrong…My son attends Promise Academy –Harlem Children’s Zone. I travel from the Bronx every morning to get him there. There are behavioral problems that seem to out weight the learning there. I am very involved in my child’s school work…That has never been an issue…My issues is the curriculum they are teaching 4th graders like they are in college….giving lectures and the kids are expected to take notes…. NO TEXTBOOKS. NO points of reference for the parents to assist there

NYC Educator: Rate Mayor Bloomberg "F"

Rate Mayor Bloomberg "F"

by NYC Educator

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, obsessed with rating everything and everyone but himself, may be learning that only 23% of NYC high school grads are college ready. Naturally, he'll interpret this to mean the teachers are underworked, overpaid, and in need of being fired at will. The truth is this has much wider implications.

What it really says is that the test prep, test now, test later mantra of Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg and the other zillionaire educational experts is utter nonsense. Gates can roll out Finland as the model, but the fact is they don't use standardized tests there, they--

Schools Matter: Democants Free Republicons to Pursue War on Teachers and Public Schools

Democants Free Republicons to Pursue War on Teachers and Public Schools When it became clear early on that Obama would rubber stamp the Bush-Spellings NCLB school privatization agenda by passing over Darling-Hammond and promoting to Secretary the pasty, befuddled yes-man to corporate tyranny, Arne Duncan, the conservatives ...

A seat at the table or a piece of the pie? The feds have spelled out their plans in detail, in their technology report, in the Blueprint, and in Duncan's speeches. It is a top-down, purely data-driven system with more testing than ever seen in history, with all tests, interim, summative, and ...

Weighing the animal vs. feeding it: Published in the NY Times Too Much Testing Feb 8, 2012, New Tork Times To the Editor: One article in The Times described the profound problems children are facing in school because of the economy (“Teacher, My Dad Lost His Job. Do We Have to Move?,” On Education column, ...

Shifting the Paradigm in Education « InterACT

Shifting the Paradigm in Education

by Kelly A. Kovacic

Each Friday, our faculty gathers for 90 minutes of professional development. It is a valuable time spent collaborating with colleagues and discussing how to better meet the needs of our students. This year, our school is in the midst of the WASC accreditation process. So, recently our time has been spent examining our school’s practices and the ways we create valuable learning experiences for all our students. Much conversation is focused on the dispositions we hope our students embody when they graduate from our school. There is

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

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Race to the Top Commencement Challenge: Calling High Schools - Deadline 2/25 (VIDEO)

What’s churning: