Friday, April 8, 2011

School reformers’ hypocritical blame game - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

School reformers’ hypocritical blame game

By Valerie Strauss

Cathleen Black blamed “outside forces” for her inability to adequately lead the New York City public school district and her abrupt resignation as chancellor Thursday after a little more than three months. Of course, it couldn’t have been her fault.

In a statement, Black said:

“In the interest of New York City’s 1.1 million school children, it has become increasingly apparent that my ability to serve successfully as the Chancellor of New York City Schools is not possible.

“The outside forces have become so intense that education reform is

white house initiative calls upon aapi youth to become teachers | angry asian man

white house initiative calls upon aapi youth to become teachers

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islandersrecently issued a call to action encouraging AAPI community members to consider making a difference in the lives of children by becoming teachers. As the baby boomer generation retires, the U.S. anticipates losing more than a

Black's Landing Pad; Smithsonian's Rare Opening - Entertainment - The Atlantic Wire

Black's Landing Pad; Smithsonian's Rare Opening

There is a lot of gossip coverage every day, and you don't have time to read it all. In this column, we do the legwork for you, filtering out the coverage we think will be of interest: A peek behind the scenes, a moment in the life, a more intimate look at the people who fascinate.

Cathie Black looks at a career in media, Carey Winfrey looks at retirement, the Obama girls look forward to a budget standoff, and a restaurant full of people look at John McEnroe. It's a good-looking Smart Set this Friday.

Cathie Black, who made headlines yesterday when New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg fired her from her post as the city's schools chancellor, may go back to actually making headlines. The former Hearst Magazines chairwoman is reportedly considering a return to the media world, possibly as CEO of NPR or perhaps at the helm of Time Inc. Both jobs are vacant and, as the Post points out, "Time Inc. yesterday gave Time its 'Magazine of the Year' award." [NY Post]

Elsewhere in the media world, one of the rarest magazine jobs ever is reportedly opening up: Smithsonian editor

Percentage of Latino children in preschool declining | California Watch

Percentage of Latino children in preschool declining

by Louis Freedberg

Louis Freedberg

joe goldberg/Flickr

Reversing a decades-long trend, the percentage of Latino children attending preschool across the U.S. declined between 2005 and 2009, with possible far-reaching consequences for California.

That's the conclusion of a report by UC Berkeley researchers, to be released at the Education Writers Association's annual conference in New Orleans today.

The drop in Latino attendance could be a result of multiple factors, the researchers say. One is that the unemployment rate of Hispanic women over the age of 20 nearly doubled between 2005 and 2009, mainly as a fallout from the Great Recession that began in 2007. That means that these women either were less able to

School construction booms, oversight slips

Brian Cragin

Be prepared for earthquakes

by Suzanne Yada

Ashley Alvarado

Unions Move in at Chicago Charter Schools, and Resistance Is Swift / Chicago News Cooperative

Unions Move in at Chicago Charter Schools, and Resistance Is Swift

by REBECCA VEVEA

In a trend that worries charter school operators, teachers at 12 of Chicago’s charters have formed unions over the past two years, and the Chicago Teachers Union is seeking to organize all 85 of the schools.

A standing room only crowd of teachers, parents and activists during a school board meeting of the Chicago Math and Science Academy.
Bonnie Trafelet/Chicago News Cooperative

Union leaders say the growing charter movement is changing the landscape of public education and, with its disdain for unions, could leave teachers without a strong voice on issues like working conditions, teacher evaluations and curriculum.

Administrators and operators are battling back, arguing that unionization could undermine the basic premise of the charter school model: that they are more effective because they are free from the regulations and bureaucracies that govern traditional public schools.

Unionization of charter schools is a major step for the Chicago Teachers Union. Though charter teachers in other cities have formed unions, Chicago is one of the first where the public school system’s major union has directed

VIDEO: Axelrod on Emanuel, Daley and D.C.

by IDALMY CARRERA

Still readjusting to life in Chicago after leaving his post as a senior White House advisor, the man who helped shepherd Barack Obama from Hyde Park to the White House told a lunch time audience Thursday why he never expected Rod Blagojevich to be a good governor, how Rahm Emanuel is a suitable successor to MayorRichard M. Daley, and what he most will remember from his time in the West Wing.

California plunges into the unknown in expanding class sizes | Thoughts on Public Education

California plunges into the unknown in expanding class sizes - by Michael Kirst

by Michael Kirst

Even before the negotiations concerning tax extensions collapsed, California’s class sizes were ballooning. Now we are exacerbating class size increases, but there is no research to predict or understand future implications. Class size studies have focused on ranges from 30 to 15. Results are contested, but no study has examined California’s “natural experiment” of moving [...]

A schism on college readiness - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

Robert Schwartz, academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, are allies on most aspects of school reform, but fundamentally disagree on whether the mission of high school ought to be to prepare all students for college. Haycock says that’s an absolute; Schwartz says it’s too [...]

KOCH OUT AM News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

For the Latest Numbers from Wisconsin *This site has hourly updates of the vote-count (or "vote-count") in Wisconsin:* *http://elections.wispolitics.com/*

Think Progress: Wisconsin Progressives Collect 9,000 More Signatures Than Needed To Oust Philandering Republican Senator *April 7, 2011-* Democrats and labor activists are ready to file another recall petition in Wisconsin, as they are expected to submit nearly 24,000 signatures against state Sen. Randy Hopper (R). Only about 15,000 signatures are needed to ...

Forbes: Questions Surround Votes Found in Waukesha County *April 7, 2011-* A clerk in Waukesha County, Wisconsin is set to release a new vote tally giving conservative judge David Prosser nearly 8,000 more votes than expected and tipping the balance of the election back to Prosser from Kloppenburg. There’s ...

The Brad Blog: BREAKING: Prosser Up by 7000+ in WI Supreme Court Race After 'Bookkeeping Error' Discovered by Controversial Clerk in Republican Waukesha County County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus previously criticized for storing election results only on a personal computer in her office *April 7, 2011- *As word was floating around this afternoon about a possible "book keeping error" discovered during canvassing ...

Think Progress: Prosser Hires Bush v. Gore Recount Lawyer Who Claims GOP Opposes Equal Protection *April 7, 2011-* As a key sign of just how much Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser’s corporate supporters are willing to spend to keep him on the bench, Prosser’s campaign just announced its hire of one of the most high-profile election ...

Prosser Announces Legal Team *April 7, 2011. 2:14PM-* Justice David Prosser announced this afternoon the leader of his legal team for the expected recount will be Jim Troupis. The team will also include Milwaukee-based Attorney Dan Kelly and Ben Ginsberg of Washington, D.C. “We ...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Prosser gains 7,500 votes in Waukesha County *April 7, 2011-* In a political bombshell, the clerk in a Republican stronghold is set to release new vote totals giving 7,500 votes in the state Supreme Court race back toward Justice David Prosser, swinging the race significantly in his favor. The ...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Winnebago County vote-count change alters Supreme Court race April 7, 2011- The latest vote count in the state Supreme Court race in Winnebago County indicates incumbent David Prosser is leading Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg in votes. A tally compiled by The Associated Press Wednesday and used ...

Thom Hartmann: What if they had a protest and nobody...covered it?! WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Salon: Countdown to the Tea Party's comeuppance *April 7, 2011-* It remains to be seen whether a last-minute deal will be struck to avert a government shutdown, but whatever the outcome, the current budget impasse has vividly illustrated a political reality: The Republicans and their Tea Party ...

“Faces Of Learning” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Faces Of Learning” Faces of Learning is a new website where, among other things, anybody (including students) can share a short response to the question “What was your most powerful personal experience in a learning community – regardless of whether that experience ...

Another Great Daily Show Video Clip Transocean (greatly responsible for last year’s Gulf Oil Spill) just gave their executives huge bonuses because of their…safety record. Jon Stewart does a great short bit on it. It seems to me this is a good example of either Campbell’s Law, or and ...

Easter & Passover Resources I’ve just revised and updated The Best Sites For Learning About Easter And Passover. Additional suggestions are welcome.
World Malaria Day World Malaria Day is April 25th, and I’ve just updated The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day. Additional resources are always welcome.

Demonstrate Saturday « JD2718

Demonstrate Saturday

by jd2718

There are two events. First attend the “We Are One” rally at Times Square at noon (see message from UFT Director of Staff, Leroy Barr, below). Then head down to Union Square for an anti-war and anti-Islamophobia march. The march starts at 2 (an earlier rally conflicts with “We are One”)

Join us for “We Are One” rally this Saturday, April 9!

Dear colleagues,

Join us this Saturday, April 9 at noon in Times Square for a “We Are One” rally organized by the New York City Central Labor Council and the New York State AFL-CIO. This event is one of many actions taking place in New York State under the “We Are One” banner.

Show your support and stand in solidarity with working men and women throughout the city, state and the

Jersey Jazzman: Criticize Teachers, Not The Boss!

Who Lives In A "Rathole"? My week of forcing myself to listen to Former Education Commissioner Jim Gearhart ends now. After hanging up on someone who apparently is not anti-teacher enough for Gearhart, he said giving money to the Abbott districts is like putting it down a ...

Criticize Teachers, Not The Boss! The Star-Ledger will not brook any criticism of Bruce Springsteen: But it’s typical Christie: Oppose him on anything (however subtly) and, even if you’re asking the Demonizer to scrape together a few more bucks for those falling between the cracks, ...

Presidential Newspeak Some serious education spinning from the White House: On Wednesday, Mr. Hamilton said in an interview that there was no daylight between Mr. Duncan and the president. The expansion of testing that the Education Department favors would actually reduce ...

MISPLACED PRIORITIES: Analysis with Benjamin Jealous of NAACP + Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: MISPLACED PRIORITIES: Analysis with Benjamin Jealous of NAACP + Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform

NYC CHANCELLOR CATHIE BLACK OUT AFTER THREE MONTHS By Christina Samuels in EdWeek District Dossier | http://bit.ly/gh5cTw April 7, 2011 12:49 PM | Cathleen P. Black, the former publishing executive whom New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg fought to have lead the 1 million-student district, has ...

JOHN MERROW ON ‘THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS’, EDUCATION DEBATE: “They haven't figured how to put the needs of kids first” …whoever “they” are! EDUCATION -- By: Murrey Jacobson | PBS NewsHour Rundown blog | http://to.pbs.org/fbgLs3 April 7, 2011 at 3:07 PM EDT - Many school district superintendents -- and the mayors who appointed them -- are demanding teachers be held up ...

MISPLACED PRIORITIES: Analysis with Benjamin Jealous of NAACP + Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform It rarely gets more bipartisan than that! PBS Newshour | http://to.pbs.org/g3hKMA Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour. 7 April 2011 - A new report from the NAACP shows states are devoting increasingly larger portions of their budgets to ...

Cue the Britney Spears music: “Oops, we did it again!” :: L.A. TIMES TO CONTINUE IT’S OWN ‘VALUE-ADDLED” TEACHER ASSESSMENTS + smf’s 2¢ Los Angeles Times offers teachers a preview of ratings Beth Shuster | LA Times/LA NOW | http://lat.ms/hVRWTb Graphic: Shows presentation of teachers' ratings in the second version of the Los Angeles Teacher Rating database. The red line shows the best ...

TAKING A MEASURED APPROACH TO TENURE REFORM L.A. Times Editorial | http://lat.ms/g1IXy8 A new Florida law deserves credit for tackling the tenure problem, but it's adversarial and puts far too much emphasis on test scores to determine pay, layoffs and teaching assignments. John Deasy, who takes ...

CRESCENDO CHARTER SCHOOL PARENTS SPEAK OUT AT LAUSD MEETING FOX 11 News video report | Reporter: Gigi Graciette |Posted by: Tony Spearman / myFOXla.com |http://bit.ly/eT06h5 Wednesday, 06 Apr 2011 - Los Angeles - The parents of Crescendo charter school students are begging the Los Angeles ...

Big Budget Showdown – The Crazies versus the Sleepwalkers | Dailycensored.com

Big Budget Showdown – The Crazies versus the Sleepwalkers

by Michael Collins

By Michael Collins Why can’t anyone in a position of power mention the unmentionable? The Republican crazies are in a celebrity death match with sleepwalking Democrats. It is a fabricated drama amounting to not much of anything in terms of the nation’s well being. The stakes are supposedly the shutdown of the United States government [...]

What’s it all about, Alfie?

by Ken_Sayers

It is not about spending. But then we know that, look at the tax breaks for the super rich. It is not about jobs because shutting down the government will KILL the economy. So, what’s it all about, Alfie? Republicans are refusing to budge on these ideological demands: • No federal financing for Planned Parenthood [...]

A weird week ends and weekend things to do. « Fred Klonsky's blog

A weird week ends and weekend things to do.

by Fred Klonsky

Serial vote stealer Republican Kathy Nickolaus from Waukasha.

Cathie Black blames “outside forces” for her disastrous tenure as New York Chancellor.

I would love to take credit.

I’ll take credit for the demise of Michelle Rhee as DC school boss too. And Chicago’s Ron Huberman. If they all want to blame outside forces, I can be the one.

But it’s the policies, stupid.

In other weird week news, it seems that the Republican Party has stolen another election. Taking a page out the

How's about that election, huh? | Uppity Wisconsin

How's about that election, huh?

by Steve Hanson

1 person liked this

I knew that something big was going to happen today politically because I decided today was the day I was going to catch up on all the things I've been ignoring -- changing the oil in my car, making beer, doing my income tax --- you know, having a life. So of course, the Wisconsin soap opera took yet another quirky turn today as Waukesha county developed a vote leak, and votes started pouring out of the county all over Prosser. I found myself sitting at my computer while I reeked of used motor oil, trying to make sense of all of this.

It's tempting to launch into a conspiracy theory, because it's a situation ready made for that ---

Votes appear that apparently didn't exist on Tuesday. Well, they didn't appear, they just finally got reported.
The person losing and finding the votes is a Republican county clerk in a Republican county.
Same clerk is a long-time Republican, and Republican donor -- and her ex-boss in the old days was the candidate who benefits from the found votes.

Statement from Kloppenburg campaign

by Steve Hanson

"Wisconsin voters as well as the Kloppenburg for Justice Campaign deserve a full explanation of how and why these 14,000 votes from an entire City were missed. To that end, we will be filing open records requests for all relevant documentation related to the reporting of election results in Waukesha County, as well as to the discovery and reporting of the errors announced by the County. We are confident that election officials in Waukesha County will fulfill these requests as quickly as possible so that both our campaign and the people of Wisconsin can fully understand what happened and why. Just as Assistant Attorney General Kloppenburg has run to restore confidence in the court, Wisconsin residents also deserve to have full confidence in election results."

This Week In Education: AM News: Already Sick Of The Cathie Black Departure Story

AM News: Already Sick Of The Cathie Black Departure Story

by Alexander Russo

Audit finds years-long backlog of investigations into accused teachers LAT: The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing took years to begin investigations into a teacher accused of showing pornography to children and another one who allegedly kissed a student, according to a new audit... NJ Gov. Christie calls for peer teacher evaluation AP: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday called for public school teachers to be evaluated based equally on their classroom performance and student achievement and accused the state's largest teachers union of being a group of "bullies and thugs."... Duncan, Hornets star Paul to tout teaching careers at Loyola The Republic: US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and basketball star Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets are among the participants in a Loyola University "town hall"... House Panel Explores Innovation, Flexibility for New ESEA Politics K12: The federal government may be careening towards ashutdown, but the House Education and the Workforce Committee is still working (or at least holding hearings) on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act... DOE Pulls the Plug on Massive Training Initiative Science Now: In April 2009, President Barack Obama announced an ambitious 10-year, $1.6 billion education and training initiative at the Department of Energy (DOE), dubbed "Regaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge."... Kamenetz says restoring teacher positions 'not possible' Baltimore Sun: In a letter released late Thursday, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz told state legislators that restoring the number of teacher positions to this year's level "does not appear to be possible."... Boy with No Hands Wins Handwriting Contest Gawker: A fifth grader at Readfield Elementary School in Readfield, Maine, he beat out 200,000 other grade schoolers for the quality of penmanship he produces by pinching a writing utensil between his arms.

Modern School: Autism Linked to College-Educated Parents

Autism Linked to College-Educated Parents

by Michael Dunn

A recent posting by Josh Clark (Discovery News), NEWS: Autism Clusters Tied to College-Educated Parents, describes a recent epidemiological study by the University of California, Davis, that found clusters of autism in regions of Southern California with high concentrations of highly educated parents.

The study by Dr. Karla Van Meter, published in the journal Autism Research, examined the birth records for 2.4 million California births between 1996 and 2000, 10,000 of whom were later diagnosed with autism. Van Meter and colleagues found a difference in the rate of autism in areas of highly educated parents to be almost double that of nearby areas with lower levels of parental education. They also found that the prevalence of autism increased with the amount of education.

There is still considerable debate about the causes of autism. While, there is no logical

NYC Public School Parents: Be Like Nutley?

Be Like Nutley?

by Steve Koss

While it will be nice to see Cathie Black walking out the Tweed door never to return, it's difficult to celebrate another of the Mayor's behind-closed-doors, non-participative, non-public, snap decision to name Dennis Walcott as her successor. Where else but in Michael Bloomberg's New York City could a mayor mouth the empty phrase "I take full responsibility" while simultaneously repeating the very same, nonconsultative process that yielded the disastrous Cathie Black in the first place? Who else but the imperious, third-term Bloomberg could so thoroughly transform Barack Obama's "audacity of hope" into such hopeless audacity?

Yet all the discussion over Ms. Black's welcomed departure and Mr. Walcott's rapid appointment begs the crucial question: Is Dennis Walcott really the best NYC can do for a schools chancellor?

News 4 New York gently suggested as much in last night's telecast by sending a reporter to Nutley NJ, where the local

Appeal to Education Writers: Evaluate Opinions « InterACT

Appeal to Education Writers: Evaluate Opinions

by David B. Cohen

Reaching out to education writers: with Laurel Rosenhall of the Sacramento Bee, 2/11/11. Photo: Melody Gutierrez

The Education Writers Association has gathered its members in New Orleans for their 2011 annual seminar, and thanks to their Twitter activity, it’s possible to gain some sense of the conversations going on there. They have been, and will continue to be, deluged with information from all sides of any debate in education today, and I know they have a challenging job sorting through all of the noise and trying (almost all of them) to offer accurate

NYC Educator: The Gift that Kept Giving

The Gift that Kept Giving

by NYC Educator

Cathie Black, after all the hoopla, has packed it in. It seemed a simple question of just how long Emperor Bloomberg could pretend she had the remotest notion of what the job entailed, and Joel Klein kept spinning pretty much until the last instant. But finally, Cathie Black has gone back to do whatever it is she does when not running the largest school system in the city.

Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott will be filling her shoes, or more likely bringing in his own. Those who followed Ms. Black's abbreviated speaking tours will recall that Walcott was there to answer the questions she found too tough (read--all of them.) Ms. Black had innovative approaches to overcrowding--like birth control. This was not warmly received by New Yorkers for some reason. I've no doubt such talk made her a hoot on the party circuit frequented by billionaires like Bloomberg, and I can imagine her with a lampshade over her head amusing the mayor. Alas,

A trip to the Reformy Education Research Association? « School Finance 101

A trip to the Reformy Education Research Association?

by schoolfinance101

So, as I head off to AERA in New Orleans, I’ve been pondering what it would be like if there was a special education research conference for reformy types. What would we find at the Reformy Education Research Association, RERA? How would the research be conducted or presented? What kinds of research thinking might we see?
Well, here are a few examples.
Reformy Study #1
First, here’s a table from the widely distributed paper from a team of renowned authors at the Forum on

Dumbest “real” reformy graphs!

by schoolfinance101

So in my previous post I created a set of hypothetical research studies that might be presented at the Reformy Education Research Association annual meeting. In my creation of the hypotheticals I actually tried to stay pretty close to reality, setting up reasonable tables with information that is actually quite probable. Now, when we get down to the real reformy stuff that’s out there, it’s a whole lot worse. In fact, had I presented the “real” stuff in my previous post, I’d have been criticized for fabricating examples that are just too stupid to be true. Let’s take a look at some real “reformy” examples here:
1. From Democrats for Education Reform of Indiana
According to the DFER web site post which includes this graph:

True, there are some great, traditional public schools in Indiana and throughout the nation. We’re also fortunate that a vast majority of our educators excel at their jobs and are dedicated to doing