Mother Crusader: Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!

Mother Crusader: Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!:

Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!

by darciecima

At a Town Hall meeting in Voorhees, New Jersey yesterday several vocal Voorhees and Cherry Hill residents challenged Governor Christie about the approval of the Regis Academy Charter School. The Rev. Amir Khan is the lead founder of Regis Academy and also the senior pastor of the Solid Rock Worship Center, which will house the charter.

Regis Academy was approved in September of 2011 as one of only four charters approved in that round of applications. The New Jersey Department of Education said the four approvals were a result of a rigorous review process and they were confident the four schools would offer students a great education on day one of the school year.”

In New Jersey Monthly however, Sara Butrymowicz reported that David Sciarra of the Education Law Center felt the low number of approvals raised “a lot of red flags of what’s really going on behind closed doors at the

Teaching Quality and California’s Future « InterACT

Teaching Quality and California’s Future « InterACT:

Teaching Quality and California’s Future

by David B. Cohen

State Capitol Building (photo by the author)

Today in Sacramento (beginning at 9:30 a.m.), Accomplished California Teachers (ACT) will co-present “Teaching Quality and California’s Future” – an event sponsored by the Stuart Foundation and organized by ACT, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), and Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy Equity (SCOPE). We are excited to see months of planning culminating in what we hope will be an informative and useful event for our audience.

I’ll try to post short, timely updates on some of the highlights and takeaways of the day, with more of the

Violence at the Regent’s Meeting « occupy california #ows

Violence at the Regent’s Meeting « occupy california:

Violence at the Regent’s Meeting

by *

from RebelRadio:

The UC Regents’ Meeting @ UC Riverside began early today. Most mainstream media were inside the HUBbuilding in which the Regents gathered. While we waited outside, reports from inside were telling that the public comment session was often interrupted by the Regents in their failed attempts to appease the student protesters who only had 1 minute each to express themselves. One comment was that regent Sherry Lansing tried to address the students by the usual means of misdirecting the students efforts towards the capital. The reports were that her comment was “useless and boring”. After the public comment session was done with, the students offered their own meeting via mic check. But the Regents did nothing but hide in another room with very few people allowed in from the public. Police remained inside but did not move to arrest anybody. At around 1 p.m. everybody was running from the front doors of the HUB to the back doors through which the Regents were supposed to make their quick escape. Students took over a staircase and then another as police in riot gear

Cal Anthro Library Study-in

by *

BERKELEY, California – Over a hundred students took part in a study-in on Thursday at the Anthropology library at UC Berkeley in protest of more cuts to library hours. Protesters are keeping the library open past the 5pm closing time and have even erected a tent inside the library in the fashion of Occupy Wall Street. This same library was a catalyst in a series of occupations at UC Berkeley in the Fall of 2009. Watch live.

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts 1-20 #edreform #ows

Modern School: Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Past

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Modern School: Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Past:Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Pastby Michael DunnHuck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsPublic education implies that all children will be educated without additional costs to the parents. Of course for this to work, everyone must contribute a little through their taxes, whether or not they have kids.Prior to the anti-tax revolt of the late 70s and 80s and the budget crises of the past several years, the overwhelming bulk of public education ... more »

Grumpy Educators: U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Bills

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Grumpy Educators: U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Bills:U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Billsby SandraU.S. House of Representatives Consider Education BillsParents, community members, and taxpayers are researching, analyzing, discussing, and sharing information. Interest and understanding of the issues are increasing daily.Below is one such analysis of three pieces of education legislation in the U.S. House.Read the information, share it, discuss it, and form an opinion, and let your U.S. Congressman know what you think.H.R. 2218 Empowering Parents ... more »

NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community & parents shut out « Parents Across America

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community parents shut out « Parents Across America:NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community parents shut outby leoniehaimsonKarran Harper Royal, long time parent advocate and one of the founding members of Parents Across America – New Orleans, reports from the front lines of school privatization, where already 75 percent of the public schools have been converted to charters, and possibly all the remaining public schools run by the Recovery School District will be charters within two ... more »

solidaridad: The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education program

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

solidaridad: The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education program:The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education programby Robert D. Skeels * rdsatheneAnyone interested in the struggle to save the program, can contact me. We are holding a strategy meeting Friday, January 20, 2012.First published on Schools Matter"I'm an adult ed teacher, and I just want to say thanks to those of you outside of adult ed who understand the importance of what we do, and are willing to stand with us ... more »

National Teacher of the Year Nominee - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

National Teacher of the Year Nominee - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):California Teacher of the Year Chosen as Finalistfor National Teacher of the Year Title SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today said he is extremely pleased that Rebecca Mieliwocki, a 2012 California Teacher of the Year from Los Angeles County, has been selected as one of four finalists nationwide for the 2012 National Teacher of the Year award."I am elated that Rebecca, who is remarkably gifted and ... more »

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid:It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupidby Jim HornIn a piece for The Nation a few days ago, Linda Darling-Hammond demolishes most of the remaining chunks of any size within the crumbling structure of corporate education’s most ironically-titled reform ever — No Child Left Behind. NCLB is rubble, even though many unseen victims continue to be buried beneath its mammoth pile.Darling-Hammond, who was recruited to get Team Obama up to speed on education issues following the ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: The Outsiders

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: The Outsiders:The Outsidersby DukeJames Osborne at the Philadelphia Inky had a great piece on the secretive, unaccountable charter application process in New Jersey. I want to add a few things to his report:New Jersey education officials had a dilemma last summer: Following the approval of a record number of charter schools, questions were flying about how closely the applications had been screened.It's worth noting that the only reason we know who screened the charter applicants is because the ... more »

Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundup | OregonLive.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundup | OregonLive.com:Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundupPublished: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 9:49 AM Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 2:37 PM By Beth Slovic, The Oregonian FollowA new proposal for a downtown Portland urban renewal district includes Lincoln High School, the Portland State University campus and Oregon Health and Science University's ... more »

Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International Launch ECO Classroom

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Northrop Grumman Foundation:Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International Launch ECO Classroom Innovative Development Program Takes Teachers out of Classrooms and into the FieldWASHINGTON – Jan. 19, 2012 -- Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman, and Peter A. Seligmann, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Conservation International, today announced the launch of ECO Classroom, a unique and innovative nationwide professional development program for public middle and high school science teachers. The Northrop Grumman ... more »

Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farley | Mr. Teachbad

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farley | Mr. Teachbad:Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farleyby teachbadTodd Farley, author of Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry (PoliPoint Press, 2009) leads us through a world that is at once outside of teaching and its very lifeblood. Our Dark Lord. In Making the Grades, Farley chronicles his 15-year rise through the standardized testing industry (STI); from lowly day-scorer to muckity-muck with a big expense account to ... more »

A Call to Action! « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

A Call to Action! « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:A Call to Action!by ASCD Whole Child BloggersThe We the People initiative is the Obama administration’s effort to provide citizens with a new way to petition the administration to take action on a range of important issues facing the United States. If a petition garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, White House staff reviews it, sends it to the appropriate policy experts, and issues an official response.Today ASCD ... more »

Should Schools be More or Less Democratic?

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Should Schools be More or Less Democratic?:Should Schools be More or Less Democratic?by SamLike most parents of a young child, I’m trying to decide which environment will be the best for my son when he enters a public school for the first time next fall. At nearly every open house my wife and I attend, cheerful administrators and educators tout the advantage of being a “participatory” school, and of “giving children the opportunity to learn and work in groups.” Send ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Common Ground

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Common Ground:Common Groundby Charlie MasI have been reading a lot of Education Reform material this week. Some of their blogs are even busier than ours. When I read things by the more responsible and less hysterical members of that community I see a lot that makes sense to me. In fact, I see a lot that I could have written myself.I also read a lot of stuff that makes no sense at all.So let's try to ... more »

Sabrina Stevens Shupe: The Other Trouble With 'Elites'

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Sabrina Stevens Shupe: The Other Trouble With 'Elites':Sabrina Stevens ShupeTeacher-turned-activist, writerGET UPDATES FROM SABRINA STEVENS SHUPE The Other Trouble With 'Elites'Wednesday morning, Denver progressive radio host David Sirota had DPS Superintendent (and Boulder, Colo. resident) Tom Boasberg on his show. The segment picked up on a point from Sirota's recent opinion piece, "America's dangerously removed elite": the significance of a high-profile school superintendent who, as neither an educator or a DPS parent, has virtually no stakeholder ties to the school ... more »

RheeFirst! » The Education Optimists: baking bread without the yeast

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

RheeFirst! » The Education Optimists: baking bread without the yeast:The Education Optimists: baking bread without the yeastby adminWritten by Liam Goldrick for The Education Optimists. Read the entire post here.“[Rhee] limits her call to “rethink” teaching policy to “how we assign, retain, evaluate, and pay educators” and to “teacher-layoff and teacher-tenure policies.” (And she casts the issue of retention purely as one about so-called “last-in, first-out” employment policies rather than about school leadership, collaboration or working conditions.)The utter absence of ... more »

Education Research Report 1-19-12

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Education Research Report:Elementary Secondary Math Science Education - Leading IndicatorsJonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 8 minutes agoΩ The United States remains the global leader in supporting science and technology (ST) research and development, but only by a slim margin that could soon be overtaken by rapidly increasing Asian investments in knowledge-intensive economies. So suggest trends released in a new report by the National Science Board (NSB), the policymaking body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), on the overall ... more »

Diane Ravitch Event - Sacramento City Teachers Association

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Diane Ravitch Event - Sacramento City Teachers Association:Diane Ravitch EventDecember 27, 2011 at 9:43 pmadminComments offCome learn firsthand what Diane Ravitch has to say about our public schools, and what we can do as a community to provide a quality education for our students.Encourage your colleagues to spend an evening with Diane Ravitch. She’ll provide the tools you need to fight attacks on teachers and public education.Dr. Ravitch will be appear at the Sacramento Convention Center on Friday January 20th ... more »

On pensions Dem Speaker Madigan and GOP Leader Cross separated at birth. « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

On pensions Dem Speaker Madigan and GOP Leader Cross separated at birth. « Fred Klonsky:On pensions Dem Speaker Madigan and GOP Leader Cross separated at birth.by Fred Klonsky GOP Leader Tom Cross and Dem Chairman Mike Madigan.Crain’s reports:House Speaker Michael Madigan has created an Illinois House special committee that will review the investment strategies of the state’s pension funds.Mr. Madigan, a Democrat, appointed Republican House Minority

JamesBoutin's Blog | Creating a Useful Teacher Evaluation System

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

JamesBoutin's Blog | Teacher Leaders Network:JamesBoutin's BlogOn Creating a Useful Teacher Evaluation SystemSubmitted by JamesBoutin on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 6:30pm.Keywords:teacher evaluationOver the past weekend, a group of Washington State teachers participated in a multi-prompt asynchronous chat around the creation and use of new systems of teacher evaluation in the Seattle area. After poring over the comments, I identified ten themes of the discussion that might be of use for educators around the country to consider as districts rethink their evaluation ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: The Education Reformer Cabal (Rhee, Duncan, Gates) Gets Called out at a Data Quality Campaign Conference. It was NOT Appreciated.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: The Education Reformer Cabal (Rhee, Duncan, Gates) Gets Called out at a Data Quality Campaign Conference. It was NOT Appreciated.:The Education Reformer Cabal (Rhee, Duncan, Gates) Gets Called out at a Data Quality Campaign Conference. It was NOT Appreciated.by stlgretchenThe Data Quality Campaign group had a meeting in Washington DC yesterday about the data to be extracted and supplied by public school children. From the DQC website: