Monday, August 29, 2011

First Education Summit will gather minds to turn 'school reform' talk into tactics

First Education Summit will gather minds to turn 'school reform' talk into tactics:

First Education Summit will gather minds to turn 'school reform' talk into tactics

BY CORINNE LESTCH
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, August 29th 2011, 4:00 AM

Victor Chu for News

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will host the first Education Summit in the Bronx.

Handout

The keynote speaker will be longtime school reform advocate Diane Ravitch

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Education activists who want to turn "school reform" from a conversation topic into a carefully planned agenda will gather in October for the Bronx's first Education Summit.

Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is hosting the meeting on Oct. 15.

The goal is to bring together the best minds in academia to create an outline to increase achievement, and the keynote speaker will be longtime school reform advocate Diane Ravitch.

"We need more resources financially, we need to stop vilifying [teachers] and we need to change the tone on how we've been approaching education divisiveness that this administration has added between charter and public schools," Diaz said.

"People are beginning to look ahead and say, 'Now what?'" Ravitch said in an interview with the Daily News. "We're

Shanker Blog » Charter And Regular Public School Performance In "Ohio 8" Districts, 2010-11

Shanker Blog » Charter And Regular Public School Performance In "Ohio 8" Districts, 2010-11:

Charter And Regular Public School Performance In “Ohio 8″ Districts, 2010-11

by Matthew Di Carlo

Every year, the state of Ohio releases an enormous amount of district- and school-level performance data. Since Ohio has among the largest charter school populations in the nation, the data provide an opportunity to examine performance differences between charters and regular public schools in the state.

Ohio’s charters are concentrated largely in the urban “Ohio 8” districts (sometimes called the “Big 8”): Akron; Canton; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus; Dayton; Toledo; and Youngstown. Charter coverage varies considerably between the “Ohio 8” districts, but it is, on average, about 20 percent, compared with roughly five percent across the whole state. I will therefore limit my quick analysis to these districts.

Let’s start with the measure that gets the most attention in the state: Overall “report card grades.” Schools (and

Six Years After Katrina: The Battle for New Orleans Continues | Dissident Voice

Six Years After Katrina: The Battle for New Orleans Continues | Dissident Voice:

Six Years After Katrina: The Battle for New Orleans Continues

by Jordan Flaherty

As this weekend’s storm has reminded us, hurricanes can be a threat to U.S. cities on the East Coast as well the Gulf. But the vast changes that have taken place in New Orleans since Katrina have had little to do with weather, and everything to do with political struggles. Six years after the federal levees failed and 80 percent of the city was flooded, New Orleans has lost 80,000 jobs and 110,000 residents. It is a whiter and wealthier city, with tourist areas well maintained while communities like the Lower Ninth Ward remain devastated. Beyond the statistics, it is still a much contested city.

Politics continues to shape how the changes to New Orleans are viewed. For some, the city is a crime scene of corporate profiteering and the mass displacement of African Americans and working poor; but for others it’s an example of bold public sector reforms, taken in the aftermath of a natural disaster, that have led the way for other cities.

In the wake of Katrina, New Orleans saw the rise of a new class of citizens. They self-identify as YURPs –Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals – and they work in architecture, urban planning, education, and related

4LAKids - Pennsylvania: CHEATING TARNISHES SCHOOL REFORMS

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Pennsylvania: CHEATING TARNISHES SCHOOL REFORMS:

Pennsylvania: CHEATING TARNISHES SCHOOL REFORMS Erie Times-News Editorial | http://bit.ly/ovXJeY Monday, 29 August, 2011 - Pressure is intense for students to succeed on standardized tests, but no matter how high those stakes are, there is no excuse for cheating to improve test scores. We aren't ...

LAUSD STUDENTS GRADE DISTRICT’S NEW MENU CHOICES: School officials hope to set the table with healthful food that students will actually eat (…if we’d only give them time to eat it!) By Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/puQizs Tawana Nagbe, a student at Woodrow Wilson High SchOol, tries the edamame, a new item on the Los Angeles Unified school lunch menu. (Kirk McKoy, Los ...

LOS ANGELES MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GET A LESSON ON THE LEGAL SYSTEM: A mock trial focusing on cyberbullying is the culmination of a 10-week series on the legal system for Los Angeles middle school students.By Rick Rojas, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/p5pAna Prosecutor Olimpia Aguillon, 11, left, and defense attorney Michelle Kweon, 12, with Bingham and McCutcheon's Mike McDonough and Kate Conrad. The downtown law firm and the nonprofit Heart of Los ...

Jersey Jazzman: Polling Ed Reform

Jersey Jazzman: Polling Ed Reform:

Polling Ed Reform

by Duke

There's sure to be a lot of ink spilled about the latest Monmouth poll on education reform. A few thoughts:

Drop down to item #7:

What kind of job do you think the standardized tests used in New Jersey schools do at accurately measuring students’ abilities – excellent, good, only fair, or poor?

Notice the construction is "only fair"; that's clearly a pejorative. 31% of those polled say tests do an "excellent" or "good" job, but 59% say they are "only fair" or "poor." Almost 2-to-1, people say testing is inaccurate.

Now look at #8:

What kind of job do you think the standardized tests used in New Jersey schools do at accurately

Daily Kos: Lions, tigers and chickens, oh my.

Daily Kos: Lions, tigers and chickens, oh my.:

Lions, tigers and chickens, oh my.

byteacherken

PERMALINK	1 COMMENT

this posting was written to a private education list by Michael Martin, Research Analyst for the Arizona School Board Association. I have his written authority to crosspost it and to identify him as the author

I was reading an article in Computerworld magazine by Thornton A. May of Florida State College in Jacksonville. He is the author of the book “The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics” (which I haven’t read) and his article is titled “Getting Beyond Efficiency: IT’s New Value Challenge.” He doesn’t really address education, his article is addressed to computer network nerds, but there is a analogue to what he writes about IT in the current struggle between deformers and educators. His main lament is against Frederick Taylor and the cult of efficiency and how it conflicts with innovation. I think there is a great parallel between his efficiency forces and the education deformers, plus I would say that most educators see innovation and creativity as their guiding light. So when May writes:
“The battle between the forces favoring efficiency and the factions

Peoples Press Collective | Colorado Politics | Hanushek Connection: Lobato Testimony, Funding Research, Waiting for “Superman” :

Peoples Press Collective | Colorado Politics | Hanushek Connection: Lobato Testimony, Funding Research, Waiting for “Superman” ::

Hanushek Connection: Lobato Testimony, Funding Research, Waiting For “Superman”

by Eddie | 10:28 am, August 26, 2011 | No Comments

It’s been a couple weeks since I chimed in on Colorado’s Lobato school funding trial — in particular on the dubious $115,000 taxpayer-underwritten study proclaiming that our state’s K-12 education system is inadequately funded. Well, believe it or not, the District Court hearing is still going on. After the case seemingly has dropped off most of the local media’s radar, Ed News Colorado’s Todd Engdahl continues the fine work of providing daily updates from the courtroom, including the latest:

“There’s no consistent relationship between school resources and school achievement,” Hoover Institution scholar Eric Hanushek testified Thursday in the Lobato v. State school funding case.
Hanushek, a nationally known researcher on the economics of education, is the key expert witness for the state as it seeks to counter the plaintiffs’ claim that Colorado’s school funding system doesn’t adequately meet the education requirements of the state constitution.
Questioned by Senior Assistant Attorney General Carey Markel,

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's 8 - AM 8-29-11

A message from Parents Across America – Florida still listening to Rhee ? « Continuing Change A message from Parents Across America – Florida still listening to Rhee ? « Continuing Change: A message from Parents Across America – Florida still listening to Rhee ? by gatorbonbc Parents Across America - Florida: Former Chancellor Rhee was ...

Support AB 401 PLEASE! (Ammiano): Charter schools. (California Assembly Bill) AB 401 (Ammiano): Charter schools. (California Assembly Bill): The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes any one or more persons to submit a petition to the governing board of a school district to establish a charter school that operates independently ...

Yale Study: Hispanic Women Have Different Type of Breast Cancer? - Hispanically Speaking News Yale Study: Hispanic Women Have Different Type of Breast Cancer? - Hispanically Speaking News: Yale University Study: Do Hispanic Women Have Different Type of Breast Cancer? 0 Comments Published at 2:28 pm, August 28, 2011 [image: Image] Photo ...

Schools Matter: Ask Haslam and Tennessee's Corporate Reform Schoolers about ACT Scores Schools Matter: Ask Haslam and Tennessee's Corporate Reform Schoolers about ACT Scores: Ask Haslam and Tennessee's Corporate Reform Schoolers about ACT Scores by Jim Horn Tennessee has been a leader in corporate education reform schooling since Gov. ...

Engaging Parents In School… - “Parents, teachers tout classroom councils to boost engagement” Engaging Parents In School… - “Parents, teachers tout classroom councils to boost engagement”: "ors.”" “Parents, teachers tout classroom councils to boost engagement” by Larry Ferlazzo Parents, teachers tout classroom councils to boost engagement is ...

Second Anniversary of Blog! Thank You | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice Second Anniversary of Blog! Thank You | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Second Anniversary of Blog! Thank You by larrycuban Dear Readers, This post marks my second anniversary as a blogger. I want to thank those readers who ...

This tidbit from Brill only hurts when I laugh | EdNewsColorado This tidbit from Brill only hurts when I laugh | EdNewsColorado: This tidbit from Brill only hurts when I laugh by Paul Teske *Paul Teske is Dean and University of Colorado Distinguished Professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of ...

John Lewis’s Censored Speech to the 1963 March on Washington, Before and After « Student Activism John Lewis’s Censored Speech to the 1963 March on Washington, Before and After « Student Activism: John Lewis’s Censored Speech to the 1963 March on Washington, Before and After by Angus Johnston Today, as we all knew before a certain hurricane ...

Some schools will cut teachers' sick days - WTAQ News Talk 97.5FM and 1360AM

Some schools will cut teachers' sick days - WTAQ News Talk 97.5FM and 1360AM:

Some schools will cut teachers' sick days

Monday, August 29, 2011 8:17 a.m. CDT

A teacher in a classroom

UNDATED (WSAU) At least some Wisconsin school boards are cutting the amount of sick leave for teachers. With the new limits on collective bargaining, unions no longer have a say over those benefits in districts where contracts expired on June 30th. School officials say they need to cut what they can, to make up for big losses in state aid and new limits on raising property taxes.

The Elmbrook School District near Milwaukee plans to save $16,000 a year on substitute

Report: Duncan tried to stop Matt Damon teacher speech | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Report: Duncan tried to stop Matt Damon teacher speech | The Lookout - Yahoo! News:

Report: Duncan tried to stop Matt Damon teacher speech

By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – Wed, Aug 24, 2011

The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss reports that the Obama administration tried several times to meet with actor Matt Damon before he was scheduled to speak at a rally last month held to protest the federal focus on test scores.

"[Education Secretary Arne] Duncan was willing to meet Damon at the airport when he flew into the Washington region and talk to him on the drive into the city," Strauss reports. "Damon declined all of the requests."

At the Save our Schools rally, Damon slammed standardized testing and what he described as the influence of "corporate reformers" on the education system. His speech brought a lot of media

Diane Ravitch to Offer Keynote Address at First-Ever Bronx Education Summit

Diane Ravitch to Offer Keynote Address at First-Ever Bronx Education Summit:

Diane Ravitch to Offer Keynote Address at First-Ever Bronx Education Summit

Today, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced that Dr. Diane Ravitch, widely considered to be the preeminent education expert in the United States, will offer the keynote address at the first-ever “Bronx Education Summit: From Cradle to Career,” to be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011, at Lehman College.

Dr. Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Her most recent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (2010), is a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller.

“The goal of our education summit is to bring together the best minds in education, from all sides of the issues, to put forward a clear vision for the future of education in the Bronx. With that in mind, we are extremely grateful that none other than Diane Ravitch, one of the most important voices in the national debate on education, is coming to the Bronx to participate in this historic event,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

The topic of Dr. Ravitch’s address will be "Improving Education for the Children of the Bronx." Dr. Ravitch’s complete biography and curriculum vitae can be found here.

All educational stakeholders are invited to attend the Summit, including parents, teachers, students, and policy makers.

The day will begin with greetings from Borough President Diaz, Dr. Pedro Noguera of New York University, and Schools

LAUSD buys out contract of chief academic officer for $231,164 - latimes.com

LAUSD buys out contract of chief academic officer for $231,164 - latimes.com:

LAUSD buys out contract of chief academic officer for $231,164

The Los Angeles Unified School District has bought out the contract of its chief academic officer, a key appointee who worked closely with former Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, but who quickly fell out of favor with his successor, John Deasy.

Among other efforts, Judy Elliott oversaw the selection of a new reading program and an early academic intervention initiative. She also developed a new policy — limiting homework to no more than 10% of a student’s grade — that prompted widespread public debate this summer. Deasy ultimately shelved the idea.

Elliott will receive the salary and benefits she would have earned by completing the final year of a contract ending June 30, 2012. She’ll also be compensated for unused vacation days. The package totals $231,164. She joined the district in June 2008.

Members of the Board of Education have not universally supported Elliott but also did not applaud the cost of the

NYC Educator: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Everything but the Truth

NYC Educator: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Everything but the Truth:

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Everything but the Truth

by NYC Educator

Mike Winerip's column today gives us a pretty forceful rebuttal to Steven Brill's latest adventure in teacher-bashing. Specifically, he finds a pretty bald-faced falsehood. Did Brill even bother to check this stuff before publication? Hasn't he got an editor?

He notes that charters are criticized for having fewer children with learning challenges, but “none of the actual data supports this.”

Actually, it does. According to the city, in 2010 P.S. 149 had more children poor enough to receive free lunch (76 percent vs. 67 percent for the charter); more children for whom English was a second language (13 percent vs. 1.5 for the charter); and more children with disabilities (22 percent vs. 16).

This, in my view, is typical of what gets written about public schools--unchallenged nonsense presented as

WAAAY BEYOND THE 3 RS | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

WAAAY BEYOND THE 3 RS | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

WAAAY BEYOND THE 3 RS

by David Kirp

Editor's note: Our guest blogger today is David L. Kirp, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and author of Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children’s Lives and America’s Future (2011).

Schools are just beginning to open their doors, but the education food fights are already underway. I’m not thinking about kids in the cafeteria but

So, Wishing to Focus Edu-Dollars on Legal Residents Is Racist? :: Frederick M. Hess

So, Wishing to Focus Edu-Dollars on Legal Residents Is Racist? :: Frederick M. Hess:

So, Wishing to Focus Edu-Dollars on Legal Residents Is Racist?

by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 29, 2011 at 9:09 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Yesterday, the Washington Post devoted its lead Sunday editorial to slamming Alabama's tough new anti-illegal immigration statute. Titled "Alabama's immigration travesty," the editorial charged that the law is "poisonous" and seemingly opposes denying illegal immigrants any privilege enjoyed by citizens and legal residents.

The WaPo argued, "Perhaps the most obnoxious provision of the law is its requirement that public schools confirm all students' immigration status and report those who lack proper documents to school officials." While Alabama officials acknowledged that established law requires them to serve these students, the WaPo opines, "But whom are they kidding? The measure is meant to frighten youngsters and their parents and will have precisely that effect."

Trying to document the number and nature of the illegal immigrants who are enrolled in Alabama's schools

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Monday, August 29, 2011