Monday, October 3, 2011

Big Education Ape: 10-3-11 AM On a road to nowehere EDition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:

Published by Coopmike48 – 4 news spotters today

Dictionary of Education Reform - Rewarding Great Teachers

dictionaryofreform.wikispaces.com - Reform frequently presents us with the false choice between "rewarding great teachers" and "protecting bad teachers". At first, like all reform propaganda, “rewarding great teaching” seems like a p...

DianeRavitch

On a road to nowehere

pasisahlberg.com - The popularity of international student assessments, especially the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), allows us to compare national education systems in ways that were not poss...

DianeRavitch

miracleschools - Harvest Preparatory School

miracleschools.wikispaces.com - The Star Tribune declares it a miracle school on 9/24/11 with the headline 'At this school, usual excuses don't apply'http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/130474133.html Claim from the art...

DianeRavitch

Marine(s) Headed to Wall Street to Protect Protesters

dailykos.com - I'll let this message speak for itself. Posted on Facebook earlier today: The Marines are coming to Wall St...(to PROTECT the protestors) "I'm heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 1...

mikeklonsky

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coopmike48 Alabama lawmakers getting pressured from business group to change immigration law | al.com -http://t.co/82vrJDel4 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Baldwin County's Hispanic business owners: Immigration law drove away customers | al.com -http://t.co/WInhD1j13 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 'No More Plan B' - Inside Higher Ed - http://t.co/cMkT9LtY2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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DianeRavitch Enroute to Raleigh-Durham to speak at Duke tonight6 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard? « MomsRising Blog

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard? « MomsRising Blog:Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard?by Valerie YoungFrom Your (Wo)manInWashington blogMOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEq...

coopmike48

Occupy Jail Cells | MyFDL

my.firedoglake.com - Last night I was arrested for the first time. Why? Because I took part in Occupy Wall Street by showing up to document this historic event. I’m only one of over 700 that were arrested. I can’t spea...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

Koch bombshell involving Iran?

teamsternation.blogspot.com - The Bloomberg story hasn't appeared yet, but one political blogger is claiming it's a doozy. The most severe allegations against Koch Industries is that the company used its European subsidiary to ...

coopmike48

Art & EntertainmentSee all

It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right? | The Jose Vilson

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right? | The Jose Vilson:It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right?by Jose#OJshrugOn this day in the year 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted of all charges related to the murders of Nicole Brown ...

coopmike48

NYC 'SlutWalk' Protests Raise Rape Awareness - Forbes

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - NYC 'SlutWalk' Protests Raise Rape Awareness - Forbes:NYC ‘SlutWalk’ Protests Raise Rape Awarenessby E.D. KainNew York City has been inundated with protests recently. Occupy Wall Street protests ar...

coopmike48

I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide #edreform

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - This sturdy American blues-rock trio from Texas consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass), and Frank Beard (drums). They were formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands the M...

coopmike48

LeisureSee all

Free Health Screenings Avaiable to 31st Ward Senior Citizens

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Alderman Ray Suarez (31st Ward) invites the senior citizens to stay healthy and come and visit his Annual Senior Citizen’s Health Fair, on Friday, October 14, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at S...

coopmike48

#eduRead this paperSee all

Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard? « MomsRising Blog

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard? « MomsRising Blog:Mr. Mom vs. Mom – Double Standard?by Valerie YoungFrom Your (Wo)manInWashington blogMOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEq...

coopmike48

It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right? | The Jose Vilson

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right? | The Jose Vilson:It’s ‘Cuz I’m Black, Right?by Jose#OJshrugOn this day in the year 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted of all charges related to the murders of Nicole Brown ...

coopmike48

#occupywallstreetSee all

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      Health | Survey: 1 in 10 parents skip, delay kids' shots | Seattle Times Newspaper

      Health | Survey: 1 in 10 parents skip, delay kids' shots | Seattle Times Newspaper:

      Survey: 1 in 10 parents skip, delay kids' shots

      By age 6, children should have vaccinations against 14 diseases, in at least two dozen separate doses, the U.S. government advises. But more than 1...

      By LINDSEY TANNER

      The Associated Press

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      CHICAGO — By age 6, children should have vaccinations against 14 diseases, in at least two dozen separate doses, the U.S. government advises. But more than 1 in 10 parents refuse some shots or delay others mainly because of safety concerns, a national survey found.

      Worries about vaccine safety were common even among parents whose kids were fully vaccinated: 1 in 5 among that group said they think delaying shots is safer than the recommended schedule. The results suggest that more than 2 million infants and young children may not be fully protected against preventab
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      Funding schools ‘by the numbers’ – or how to make 140 students disappear | Thoughts on Public Education

      Funding schools ‘by the numbers’ – or how to make 140 students disappear | Thoughts on Public Education:

      Funding schools ‘by the numbers’ – or how to make 140 students disappear

      Posted on 10/03/11 • Categorized as Uncategorized

      By Anna Martin

      In August, with the first day of school quickly approaching, as I worked on our school’s master schedule I began to wonder about whether my district office needed a refresher in basic math facts. It all started with the number 109. This number, according to the district, was the number of sixth graders that were going to show up on the first day of school.

      The problem was that our data system had a different number in mind: 249.

      249 – 109 = 140

      This simple calculation showed a gap of 140 children between the projection of the district


      State’s public colleges adrift - by Kathryn Baron

      by Kathryn Baron
      When the National Governors Association launched an initiative last year to increase college graduation rates, it offered $30,000 grants to states for developing model programs and policies that could be replicated around the country. California didn’t apply, and researcher Nancy Shulock is pretty sure she knows why. “There isn’t anybody whose job it is to coordinate [...]
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      Conversations with Obama, Duncan on assessment - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

      Conversations with Obama, Duncan on assessment - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

      Conversations with Obama, Duncan on assessment

      by Valerie Strauss

      This was written by Carol Corbett Burris (cburris@rvcschools.org), principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and Kevin G. Welner (kevin.welner@colorado.edu), director of the National Education Policy Center, and a professor of education policy, both at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In this article, first published in Kappan magazine, the authors write about their discussions — by letter and telephone — with President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan over the administration’s support for controversial evaluation systems for teachers and principals that are linked to how well students perform on standardized tests. This is longer than the average post, but worth your time.

      Read full article >>
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      Schools Matter: Does improved school performance help the economy? Does it help people find (better) jobs?

      Schools Matter: Does improved school performance help the economy? Does it help people find (better) jobs?:

      Does improved school performance help the economy? Does it help people find (better) jobs?

      by skrashen

      This is the second of three posts written in response to a post on the NCTE connected community listserv in reaction to Krashen and Ohanian, "Arne Duncan's position on education and poverty." I will not post the original comment and will refer to it only minimally, because, although I have given my permission to quote and share my posts, others posting on the NCTE listserv have not.

      Does improved school performance help the economy? Does it help people find (better) jobs?

      For school success to impact the economy, the jobs must first exist. Good school performance does not create jobs. To create jobs in the private sector, you need (1) an increase in jobs from

      Success despite poverty

      by skrashen

      This is the first of three posts written in response to a post on the NCTE connected community listserv in reaction to Krashen and Ohanian, "Arne Duncan's position on education and poverty." I will not post the original comment and will refer to it only minimally, because, although I have given my permission to quote and share my posts, others posting on the NCTE listserv have not.

      This post deals with the question of those who succeed despite poverty.

      How do we explain the fact that many people did well in school even though they experienced poverty growing up?

      Note that it is not poverty per se but the conditions resulting from poverty that count: In our post

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      Daily Kos: suppressing 5 million votes - and this is a democracy?

      Daily Kos: suppressing 5 million votes - and this is a democracy?:

      suppressing 5 million votes - and this is a democracy?

      by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

      The New York Times this morning has an important article titled New State Rules Raising Hurdles at Voting Booth. It focuses on a study being released today by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which came up with the total of possibly 5 million voters finding it more difficult to vote. As one can read in the executive summary at the website for the report:

      These new restrictions fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election. Based on the Brennan Center’s analysis of the 19 laws and two executive actions that passed in 14 states, it is clear that:

      * These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
      * The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.
      * Of the 12 likely battleground states, as assessed by an August Los Angeles Times analysis of Gallup polling, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions.

      Apologies for formatting problems - not quite identical to the executive summary.

      And a few more comments below the squiggle..
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      All Education Matters: The Simpsons: Capturing the Zeigeist (Plus some notes about Occupy America and AEM's Fall Itinerary)

      All Education Matters: The Simpsons: Capturing the Zeigeist (Plus some notes about Occupy America and AEM's Fall Itinerary):

      The Simpsons: Capturing the Zeigeist (Plus some notes about Occupy America and AEM's Fall Itinerary)


      by Cryn Johannsen

      Doesn't get much more perfect than that!

      On another note, I am currently writing a book about the student lending crisis, preparing to head to several occupy protests to interview folks in the Midwest and the South, and also getting ready for another trip to D.C. for the whole indentured educated crew. It's become "busy activist season!"

      Help AEM get back to Washington, D.C. in November! Pitch in $10 today. Every dime helps.

      As I just said, I am heading out to report on this nationwide protest in order to document it for historical purposes - something big is happening here, and it's only getting bigger. There's also another reason for why I'm heading to several cities, and that relates to AEM. For starters, I need to be out there meeting people. I need to be telling
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      The Educated Reporter: Teacher Training Programs: The Missing Link in Student Achievement?

      The Educated Reporter: Teacher Training Programs: The Missing Link in Student Achievement?:

      Teacher Training Programs: The Missing Link in Student Achievement?

      by Emily Richmond
      U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Friday a new federal initiative to improve teacher training programs across the country, including $185 million to reward teachers for superior student test scores.
      As the Wall Street Journal reported, the federal program would require states to make teacher licensing exams more challenging, and require sub-par teacher training programs to be shut down.
      While announcing the new initiative Friday at a Washington, D.C. event sponsored by the Education Sector policy think tank, Duncan had some zingers:
      *Close to two-thirds of new teachers say they feel unprepared for their jobs. What would happen if a similar
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      NYC Educator: Tell the Truth

      NYC Educator: Tell the Truth:

      Tell the Truth

      by NYC Educator
      As the Border's book chain folds, several of its employees have put out a list of all the things they really thought when customers made requests.

      It NEVER bothered us when you threatened to shop at Barnes & Noble. We'd rather you do if you're putting up a stink.

      Most of the time when you returned books you read them already--and we were onto you.


      Oprah was not the "final say" on what is awesome. We
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      Utah State Ed Board Chair Doesn’t Like Florida Model | Scathing Purple Musings

      Utah State Ed Board Chair Doesn’t Like Florida Model | Scathing Purple Musings:

      Utah State Ed Board Chair Doesn’t Like Florida Model

      by Bob Sikes

      A republican dominated legislature is facing opposition to its desire to implement Jeb Bush’s Florida school grade model in Utah. Dixie Allen, the state ed boards vice chair writes:

      The assumption school grades will improve student outcomes in Utah becomes suspect when one looks closely at Florida’s K-12 reforms.

      Grading schools was just one component of Florida’s comprehensive reform efforts. Hallmarks of their education reform included a large infusion of money into the reading assistance program for early grades, lowering class sizes and holding back third-grade students who are not reading on

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      When 51% Isn’t Needed to Pull a Trigger « InterACT

      When 51% Isn’t Needed to Pull a Trigger « InterACT:

      When 51% Isn’t Needed to Pull a Trigger

      by Martha Infante

      My public middle school in South Los Angeles was labeled as a “failing school” almost 12 months ago making what is already a tough job even more difficult due to the Los Angeles Unified School District corporate inspired reform program called Public School Choice. In short, if you are deemed a failing school, any organized group can submit a plan to take over your school and as a result, many public schools have been converted to charters in the last two years. Brand new multi-million dollar buildings were handed over to corporations such as Green Dot and ICEF, and my school is on this dread list.

      In this blog I have outlined the pressures we have faced as a “failing school” which include even more adherence to district curriculum initiatives, more planning meetings, time away from the classroom for plan writers, and a lowering of morale resulting in a mass exodus of personnel to other more “successful” schools.

      We were in the middle of celebrating a marked increase in test scores (48 point increase on the A.P.I.) that

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