Tuesday, August 23, 2011

City Reports Increase in Allegations of Cheating by Educators - NYTimes.com

Under Bloomberg, a Sharp Rise in Accusations of Cheating by Educators

Raymond McCrea Jones/The New York Times

Richard J. Condon, special commissioner of investigation, attributed the rise to the expansion of the school system and to the higher stakes attached to standardized tests and classroom grades.

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: August 22, 2011

REPRINTS

Annual allegations of test-tampering and grade-changing by educators have more than tripled since Mayor Michael R. Bloombergtook control of New York City’s school system, outpacing a broader increase in complaints of adult misconduct in schools during the same period, according to the special commissioner of investigation.

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Room For Debate: When Did Cheating Become an Epidemic?

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The commissioner, Richard J. Condon, attributed the rise both to the expansion of the school system — its budget has more than doubled, to $24 billion from $11.5 billion when he took office in 2002, and the number of schools has grown to

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - The Best Reflective Posts I’ve Written About My Teaching Practice In 2011 — So Far

Looking For More “Hot Spot” EFL Interviews Over the past several months, I’ve done eleven of what I’m calling “hot spot interviews” with English teachers in different parts of the world — places where there are natural disasters, political upheavals, etc. They’ve been pretty popular with ...

The Best Reflective Posts I’ve Written About My Teaching Practice In 2011 — So Far I usually just do a year-end list on this topic and on many others, but it gets a little crazy having to review all of my zillion posts at once. So, to make it easier for me — and perhaps, to make it a little more useful to readers — I’m going to ...

How Rupert Murdoch’s Money for John Kasich is Putting Ohio Back Play for Obama | Scathing Purple Musings

How Rupert Murdoch’s Money for John Kasich is Putting Ohio Back Play for Obama

by Bob Sikes

If you attempt to take the political temperature of a state and want to make a serious assessment of the climate, you often have to consider the source. AlterNet would admit to being leftward leaning and to being biased toward Democrats. But AlterNet, like parallel rightward leaning sites report news even while engaging in it’s genre. In a piece focused on Ohio governor John Kasich’s growing, organized opposition from labor, Sarah Jaffe reveals how much financial support that Kasich has received from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

One Kasich supporter who is well-known is Rupert
Murdoch; before he took office, Kasich had a weekend show on Fox News, “From
the Heartland,” and he’s been a frequent guest on the network as a candidate and
as governor. Additionally, Murdoch personally donated $10,000 to Kasich’s
campaign, and Murdoch’s News Corp donated $1 million to the Republican Governors

Education Week: #Parents Involvement

Education Week: Parent Involvement

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

The latest news on parent involvement in education, including archives and commentary.

Ben Austin, the executive director of Parent Revolution, which supported a controversial charter petition in Compton, Calif., hugs parent Patricia Quintero, last year. —Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/AP-File

Latest News

Census: Parents Reading More With Their Children

Experts says the growth in parent engagement may lead to academic payoffs for children.

August 19, 2011 - Education Week

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New Law Spares Homeschoolers from Bureaucracy of Old Laws

The law does away with a requirement that the superintendent visit each homeschool home every year, among other things.

August 17, 2011 - McClatchy-Tribune

Kids Count Report: Child Poverty Up in 38 States

The Annie E. Casey Foundation found 14.7 million children, 20 percent, lived in low-income homes in 2009, a 2.5 million increase from 2000.

August 17, 2011 - AP

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Chicago Community Group Breaks Down Home-School Barriers

With its grassroots parent-mentor program, Chicago's Logan Square Neighborhood Association is empowering immigrant parents and engaging them in their children's schooling.

August 15, 2011 - Education Week

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Parents Face Sticker Shock at Enrollment–in Public Schools

The so-called course or lab fees can range from $10 or $20 to more than $100 per class, depending on the school, records show, adding to the rising cost of a public school education in the Chicago region.

August 8, 2011 - McClatchy-Tribune

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COMMENTARY

Confronting Gender Anxiety

Gender stereotypes can stifle children cognitively and emotionally, but raising a gender-neutral child is not the answer, write Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett.

August 5, 2011 - Education Week

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Statistics Show More Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren

With a growing number of school-age children living with their grandparents, grandparents are seeking a more prominent role in schools.

August 3, 2011 - Education Week

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Conn. Parents Ask Courts to Block Schools' Takeover

On Wednesday, a group of Bridgeport parents asked a Superior Court judge to halt the replacement of the city's school board by state officials.

July 14, 2011 - McClatchy-Tribune

Frustrated Educators Aim to Build Grassroots Movement

Organizers of the Washington march say U.S. policymakers are moving in the wrong direction to bring about school improvement.

June 14, 2011 - Education Week

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Legislative Momentum Stalls for 'Parent Trigger' Proposals

The concept proves intriguing, but logistics and opposition lead many state lawmakers to move slowly.

June 14, 2011 - Education Week

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Enough reports, studies and blueprints: It’s time to act on them | Thoughts on Public Education

Offering freshmen a step up to science - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Trustees of East Side Union High School District in San Jose voted earlier this year to make the 15 courses required for admission to a four-year state university the district’s standard curriculum. That was the easy part. Preparing and guiding the predominantly low-income students in the state’s second largest high school district to succeed with higher standards [...]

Enough reports, studies and blueprints: It’s time to act on them - by Crystal Brown

by Crystal Brown

Public schools in California are in a state of crisis and our students are suffering the consequences. Our children deserve and require more attention, resources and support. While there has been no shortage of plans and policies for what our schools need, there seems to be a lack of political will to actually [...]

Rethinking a flawed education agenda - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Rethinking a flawed education agenda

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Larry Lee, who led the 2009 study entitled Lessons Learned from Rural Schools , a look at 10 high-performing, high-poverty rural schools in Alabama. Lee’s most recent position was director of the Center for Rural Alabama, and he served as head of the West Alabama Economic Development Authority, the Covington County Economic Development Commission and the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning & Development Commission. Lee is chairman of the board of the Alabama Asset Building Coalition and an advisory board member of HIPPY Alabama, an early childhood learning program. He frequently writes about education issues for state newspapers.

Read full article >>

School rules in 1911: What do you recognize?

by Valerie Strauss

As the new school year starts, I thought it would be fun (admittedly I sometimes have an odd view of fun) to look back at how school districts operated a century ago.

I found a book on line entitled: “REVISED SCHOOL LAWS AND REVISED RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII 1911.”

Some of the laws, rules and regulations in the territory that would become the home state of President Barack Obama will seem familiar. School districts had superintendents and education boards with commissioners. Kids were required to go school.

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Reported test cheating tripled under Bloomberg

Reported test cheating tripled under Bloomberg

Annual allegations of test-tampering and grade-changing by educators have more than tripled since Mayor Bloomberg took control of New York City’s school system. Top bureaucrats, Wolcott and Polakow-Suransky go into spin mode.

“People are reporting things, that’s fine; we want people to report things,” Mr. Walcott said. But, he added, “people could be reporting for real and not necessarily real

High Tech Blinders about Students and Purposes of Schooling | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

High Tech Blinders about Students and Purposes of Schooling

by larrycuban

Perceptions of Student in 21st Century

The cartoon was originally run to satirize many professors’ narrow view of doctoral students as receptacles of information–note I did not say knowledge–whose single purpose in life was doing research. The student asinformation processing unit (IPU). If one aim of satire is to get people to laugh and then get them to think by inquiring further about what they are laughing about, then the cartoon fits–especially if I broaden its target to include K-12 schools and replace “most professors” with “most school reformers.”

Ardent reformers, including the current and past U.S. Presidents and their appointees, are determined in getting

Monday, August 22, 2011

A long, tumultuous final act | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

A long, tumultuous final act

by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 22 2011 Posted in Latest news

Tags:

The School Reform Commission and Superintendent Arlene Ackerman had “mutually” agreed in principle almost two months ago that she would leave the District, according to Mayor Michael Nutter.

Nutter, at a Monday press conferencecommenting on the end of her tenure in Philadelphia, said he worked to complete Ackerman’s departure before the start of the school year while minimizing the cost to the taxpayers.

He made his deadline with just two weeks to spare – to the tune of $905,000, with $405,000 of that coming from anonymous, private donors.

It took nearly all summer to close this deal – during which Ackerman and her backers grew more vocal that she was being drummed out for focusing attention and resources on the city’s most disadvantaged children. At several events and

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Are Charters Like TFA - Inevitable?

Are Charters Like TFA - Inevitable?

by Melissa Westbrook

As we were discussing previously, LEV has decided to start a conversation about charters coming to Washington. Okay, it's part of public education in the U.S. and I have no problems with dialog. BUT, that's not what LEV does. I know it, they know it. It's part of long push to get charter legislation going and voted into our state.

But there's a couple of interesting turns here. One is that LEV's position is not that charters are great and work

More Time in Schools

by Melissa Westbrook

Interesting op-ed in the NY Times about the lowering of class time/school year in U.S. Schools.

The minimum required school day in West Virginia is already about the length of a “Harry Potter” double feature. In Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, summer school programs are being slashed or eliminated. In Oregon and California this year, students will spend fewer days in the classroom; in rural communities from New Mexico to Idaho, some students will be in school only four days a week.

What's great is that a trend of expanded schedules that started in high-performing charters has transferred over

Jerry Leiber, Prolific Writer of 1950s Hits, Dies at 78 (wrote Hound Dog, Stand By Me)

Jerry Leiber, the lyricist who, with his partner, Mike Stoller, wrote “Stand By Me” .

Jerry Leiber, Prolific Writer of 1950s Hits, Dies at 78 (wrote Hound Dog, Stand By Me)

Stand by me

When the night has come, and the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we will see
No, I won't be afraid, oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
So darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, stand by me, stand by me
*Solo*

And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, stand by me, stand by me
So darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, oh stand, stand by me...

The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates | American Institutes for Research

The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates

How Much Does Dropping Out of College Really Cost?

Monday, August 22, 2011

AIR Authors: Mark Schneider and Lu (Michelle) Yin

News Release: $4.5 Billion in Earnings, Taxes Lost Last Year Due to the High U.S. College Dropout Rate
File: The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates: How Much Does Dropping Out of College Really Cost? (PDF)

Executive Summary

President Obama has set an ambitious goal for the nation: By the year 2020, the United States will have the highest proportion of adults with college degrees in the world. The Obama administration sees the successful completion of postsecondary education as essential to American competitiveness. Governors likewise see the economic future of their states as dependent on the development of a highly educated workforce that can compete with other states and other nations.

There also are more immediate reasons for elected officials to want more college graduates. College graduates earn, on average, far more than college dropouts, and these higher earnings translate directly into higher income tax payments that can help solve growing fiscal problems at the federal and state levels. But our colleges and universities are now graduating only slightly more than half the students who walk through their doors. Much of the cost of dropping out is borne by individual students, who may have accumulated large debts in their unsuccessful pursuit of a degree and who forfeit the higher earnings that accrue with a bachelor’s degree. This report shows the high costs of low college

Top 5 Hashtags for Arne Duncan [And Why I Won't #AskArne Anything] | The Jose Vilson

Top 5 Hashtags for Arne Duncan [And Why I Won't #AskArne Anything]

by Jose

Arne Duncan

The last time I had a chance to interact with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan happened not too long ago over an Elluminate session where some of the best and brightest educators interacted with him and some of his advisers. What transpired gave me a different level of understanding of the bureaucracy that happens in American politics as a whole. Even if you can build the type of cache with the right people, and have the right conversations, and facilitate it the best way possible, the person at the top, prepared with every and all types of responses, will give you the blandest, cellophane response. Some politicians are in their posts for a reason: they

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Under Bloomberg, a Sharp Rise in Accusations of Cheating by Educators

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: August 22, 2011

Related in Opinion

Readers’ Comments

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

The latest news on parent involvement in education, including archives and commentary.

K-12, PARENTS, AND THE PUBLIC BLOG

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SOURCEBOOK

ISSUE BACKGROUNDER

• Parent Involvement

Reported test cheating tripled under Bloomberg

Monday, August 22, 2011

A long, tumultuous final act

by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 22 2011 Posted in Latest news

Tags:

The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates

How Much Does Dropping Out of College Really Cost?