Monday, August 8, 2011

Response to New York Times: Arne Duncan allowing waivers to NCLB? « Continuing Change

Response to New York Times: Arne Duncan allowing waivers to NCLB? He is just replacing it with worse. Race to the Top is just more of the status quo, Sir ! « Continuing Change

Response to New York Times: Arne Duncan allowing waivers to NCLB? He is just replacing it with worse. Race to the Top is just more of the status quo, Sir !

by gatorbonbc

Now, dont go calling me an angry army or anything,

but… I have to say, this really bothers me.

I just read that Arne Duncan is going to use some waiver power to let states get by NCLB?

And, let me get this straight… all the states have to do to get this waiver is agree to Race to the Top requirements?

Really?

From the NY Times article:

“The law made its focus the use of standardized test scores in schools, particularly those serving

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Arne Duncan to Override ‘No Child Left Behind’ Requirement - NYTimes.com

Overriding a Key Education Law

By SAM DILLON

Published: August 8, 2011

REPRINTS

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that he will unilaterally override the centerpiece requirement of the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, that 100 percent of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014.

Enlarge This Image

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Arne Duncan, secretary of education, in 2009. He said the No Child Left Behind law was hurting efforts to improve schools.

Times Topics: No Child Left Behind Act | Arne Duncan

Mr. Duncan told reporters that he was acting because Congress had failed to rewrite the Bush-era law, which he called a “slow-motion train wreck.” He is waiving the law’s proficiency requirements for states that have adopted their own testing and accountability programs and are making other strides toward better schools, he said.

The administration’s plan amounts to the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in

Obama Gives Go-Ahead for NCLB Waivers to States - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Obama Gives Go-Ahead for NCLB Waivers to States

by Michele McNeil

With efforts to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act languishing in Congress, President Barack Obama has directed the U.S. Department of Education to grant waivers to states that agree to adopt a prescribed set of education reforms.

Just what those reforms will be—and what freedoms states will gain in return—remain unclear. Those details will be made public in September, Obama administration officials said in a call to reporters.

"We want to deliver a very important message: Relief is on the way," said Melody Barnes, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. "Low expectations, uneven standards and shifting goals ... those days

Wisconsin: Here Comes the Brownshirts | Dailycensored.com

Wisconsin: Here Comes the Brownshirts

Written by HurricaneDeanDaily Journal (Opinion), PoliticsAug 7, 2011

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With less than two weeks before Wisconsinites go to the polls and possibly vote six Republicans out of the State Senate, the billionaire Koch brothers and their well funded roster of right-wing front groups have poured millions in out of state money into attack ads and voter suppression campaigns. All the while, left-wing labor groups like We Are Wisconsin have

Why I Accept Late Work « Cooperative Catalyst

Why I Accept Late Work

by johntspencer

My students know that they can “get away” with turning assignments in late. Although I provide an ideal timeframe for when work should be completed, students know that assignments are due when students are ready to receive feedback.

When I mention this to fellow teachers, the first reaction I get tends to be, “Well how will you teach them to be responsible?”

I can rattle off a diatribe about how assessment is about learning rather than character, but I believe character matters. I believe in teaching the whole student. I want my students developing into responsible, self-directed

Atlanta Public Schools Open Amid a Testing Scandal - NYTimes.com

Atlanta School Year Begins Amid a Testing Scandal

T. Lynne Pixley for The New York Times

Pat Crawford, with assistance from her niece Sharnae Muhammad, worked on her hallway board last week at Toomer Elementary. More Photos »

By ALAN SCHWARZ

Published: August 7, 2011

REPRINTS

ATLANTA — After a summer of scandal, Michele Alford will welcome her new third-grade class on Monday the way she always has: with a test. After her students realize that the school year has begun and their grumbling subsides, she will ask the children, “Where did I go to college?” and “What are my interests?”

Multimedia

Slide Show

Atlanta Teachers Prepare for Classes After Summer of Scandal

Systematic Cheating Is Found in Atlanta’s School System (July 6, 2011)

“I call it the Teacher Test,” Ms. Alford said last week as she readied Room 111 at Toomer Elementary School. “I do it so that they can ask me questions and

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Data, Part Four: Advocating for Data-Informed Decision Making

On Data, Part Four: Advocating for Data-Informed Decision Making

by James Boutin

Slowly but surely lawmakers across the country are voting for teacher evaluation systems that consider how students perform on standardized tests. These new laws indicate an increasing trust in standardized tests and statistical models such as VAM to do the hard work of defining a teacher's quality.

On July 27 Jeff Henig, a professor of education and political science at Columbia University, published a guest post on Rick Hess's blog entitled "Policy by Algorithm." In it, Henig notes the utility of data and algorithms to help systems like public education make decisions, but he cautions,

"...the high promise of policy by algorithm mutates into cause for concern when data are thin, algorithms theory-bare and untested, and results tied to laws that enshrine automatic rewards and

School Tech Connect: Spread the Word #SOSMarch

School Tech Connect: Spread the Word

Spread the Word

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Confession: I only just now watched Diane Ravitch's speech at the SOS March. I was already in a cab when she was talking--- wondering whether to head back to the hotel or to the ER for heatstroke.

What a magnificent speech it was! I saw Gary Stager's recording. Go watch the whole thing. I'll wait.

I hate to slice and dice it because it was so beautifully constructed, but I think this one particular fact needs to be pointed out a hundred times a day.

People who read this blog are already aware of the international achievement statistic, but I think the rest of the

Yes, Yes, But I’m Also Black [On Blogging In The Ed-World] | The Jose Vilson

Yes, Yes, But I’m Also Black [On Blogging In The Ed-World]

by Jose

Jack Johnson, Unforgivably Black

Last week, I brought up my opinion that children of color shouldn’t be limited to certain occupations due to the perceived notions of observers. I especially pointed this out to [some] White so-called liberals, because it seems that too many of them believe that their pseudo-liberalism absolves from the critique of their racial bias. Even

Hear the Echoes #24 - Hear the Echoes No. 24 ALEC Unveiled

Hear the Echoes #24 - News & Announcements

Hear the Echoes No. 24 ALEC Unveiled

Whose Voice is Being Heard?

A group of executives who represent around 300 of America’s largest corporations has labored in the shadows since the early 1970s to promote free market policies to state legislators.

The cabal met this week in New Orleans’ Mariott hotel and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was the luncheon speaker at the mid-week gathering.

The influence which the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has demonstrated includes virtual destruction of public employee collective bargaining rights, voter identification requirements that appear to be aimed at restrictive voting, and most

White-Hispanic Achievement Gap WIDENS on 4th Grade NAEP Math « A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues

White-Hispanic Achievement Gap WIDENS on 4th Grade NAEP Math

by Dr. Ed Fuller

Remember this headline from a press release from TEA? Black-white achievement gap narrows on math NAEP (see http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=5011)

Well, the same researchers that examined the Black-White gap also looked at the Hispanic-White gap. And what did they find? Well, for 4th and 8th grade reading as well as 8th grade math, they pretty much found that nothing really changed. But, as I pointed out in this earlier post (http://fullerlook.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/tx-4th-grade-naep-score/), the Hispanic-white gap actually INCREASED for 4th grade math between 2007 and 2009. Texas was only one of TWO states that had a gap that widened.

This has NEVER happened before in Texas. This is the first time we have ever seen an achievement gap widen.

Happy New (School) Year! I Resolve… « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Happy New (School) Year! I Resolve…

by Oldschoolteach

I wrote this post in January 2011, but I believe it fits for the new school year as well! I think I will post them in my room near my desk as a reminder. Sometimes after a day with some of these kids, you forget your resolutions! Have a wonderful 2011-2012!

I resolve to:

treat all students fairly, regardless of race, gender, age, behavior, parent’s nasty attitude, desire to be educated, or lack of interest in learning
believe that all children can learn, even if I have t

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