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Friday, February 17, 2012

Big Education Ape: 2-17-12 AM Sorry Mr. Press Secretary, Multiple Measures Are Not Fairy Dust EDition #soschat

Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!:
Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!

Published by Coopmike48 – 8 news spotters today




should jeremy lin be an NBA All-Star – USATODAY.com

usatoday.com - An increasingly intriguing question is bouncing around the sports world this week: Should the sensational Jeremy Lin be given a spot in next weekend's NBA All-Star Game?No matter how many millions ...
arneduncan

The Money (in Politics) Behind Prison Privatization

huffingtonpost.com - The Huffington Post published an excellent piece yesterday by reporter Chris Kirkham describing how the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) wants to buy up state prisons, all under the guise o...
DianeRavitch

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EducationSee all


Can Democrats Find The Front In The 'Education Wars'?

ourfuture.org - Conventional wisdom among the Very Serious People in Washington DC has long maintained that the severely punitive nature of current policies governing America's public schools cannot be called an "...
mikeklonsky

SocietySee all


Rep. Darrell Issa's "Religious Freedom" Sausage Fest

motherjones.com - There's something surreal about watching a congressional hearing in which a room full of men spend a morning publicly discussing birth control, menstrual pain, ovarian cancer, and migraine headache...
mikeklonsky

SB1467, American Taliban's latest assault on teachers

michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - If SB1467 becomes law in Arizona, the state's public school teachers could be fired for engaging in “speech or conduct that would violate the standards adopted by the federal communications commis...
mikeklonsky

StoriesSee all


I May be Wrong ... But I Doubt It* - Bridging Differences

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Diane,I do believe we are in that portion of the Roman Empire in which horses were considered "persons." Or was that just a mad movie I once saw about the fall of the Roman Empire?Some of the ...
DianeRavitch

A Different Kind of Turnaround

edwize.org - New Teacher Diaries contributor Mr. Foteah writes that a positive change in his attitude toward a difficult student quickly resulted in a positive change in the student’s attitude in the classroom....
coopmike48

Republic of Noise « The Core Knowledge Blog

blog.coreknowledge.org - “Discernment and the Public Sphere” In her new book, Republic of Noise, long-time Core Knowledge Blog contributor Diana Senechal confronts a culture that has come to depend on instant updates and c...
coopmike48

PoliticsSee all


Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science

nytimes.com - Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that cl...
mikeklonsky

Art & EntertainmentSee all


'Colbert Report' Suspended Without Explanation

artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com - February 16, 2012, 10:47 am By DAVE ITZKOFFA spokesman for Comedy Central said on Thursday morning that the taping of “The Colbert Report” had been suspended on Wednesday evening and would be again...
leoniehaimson

McCartney says the Beatles considered reuniting

democraticunderground.com - http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/16/10426068-mccartney-says-the-beatles-considered-reuniting By Rolling Stone The Beatles had considered getting back together while all four members...
coopmike48

Brass Bandits Hit L.A. Schools : NPR

npr.org - Enlarge Krissy Clark for NPR Teacher Ruben Gonzalez conducts the South Gate High School band. According to Gonzalez, thieves passed up a computer as well as a stash of valuable flutes, saxophones a...
coopmike48

EnvironmentSee all


How the Heartland Institute plans to wreck education

grist.org - DeSmogBlog has publicized documents that illuminate the Heartland Institute’s denialist agenda, and who’s footing the bill. The list of funders is interesting — Kochs, Philip Morris, Microsoft — an...
K12NN

Blog posts on this issue

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release February 16, 2012 Obama Administration Sends Congress the Consolidating and Reforming Government Act of 2012WASHINGTON, DC – This...
coopmike48

The way food should be

wirenh.com - Mainers are leading a national push to restore family farming It was 20 degrees below zero when farmer Jim Gerritsen got up on the early morning of Feb. 13. Gerritson operates Wood Prairie Farm i...
coopmike48

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Opportunism and cowardice. « Fred Klonsky

Opportunism and cowardice. « Fred Klonsky:

Opportunism and cowardice.

by Fred Klonsky

This morning my comrades in the schools of New York are writing rants about the foul deal that was worked out between their unions and the governor on teacher evaluation.

The deal is a hoax, of course.

Just like Illinois’ Senate Bill 7 is a hoax.

Like all top-down reform plans. These scams will do nothing to address or fix the real or imagined ills claimed by their sponsors.

Their sponsors know that. It is all about using teachers as punching bags for cynical political advantage.

Our union leadership cowers. They have no fire in their belly. Pressured by the likes of New York’s Governor

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The Common Core Math Standards–A Step Backward | Truth in American Education

The Common Core Math Standards–A Step Backward | Truth in American Education:

The Common Core Math Standards–A Step Backward

by Shane Vander Hart

Education Next interviewed Ze’ev Wurman and W. Stephen Wilson about the Common Core Math Standards which 40 states have signed on to. They ask are they a step forward or backward? They are pretty clear that it is a step backward. Some money quotes…

Wurman in answering whether the CCSS for Math is higher than most state standards said:

They may be higher than some state standards but they are certainly lower than the best of them. For example, the 2008 report of the National Mathematics

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Beware Common Core and “dubious causality” | Thoughts on Public Education

Beware Common Core and “dubious causality” | Thoughts on Public Education:

Beware Common Core and “dubious causality” - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron
The horse race of international rankings in education is based on misconceptions that can lead countries such as the United States to consider sweeping reforms that probably won’t improve academic achievement, according to a new report. The 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education released yesterday by the Brookings Institution makes a case against Common [...]

Senators: Don’t jam us on weighted formula - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess
Senators on the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee generally praised the rationale and framework of Gov. Brown’s proposal to overhaul school funding in a four-hour hearing Thursday but questioned the details, timing, and the disparate financial impacts on school districts. One message came across clearly: They won’t be rushed into adopting Brown’s weighted student formula. “These [...]
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Lost Article: How Snoop Dogg Can Help You Out Of The Edu-Dogghouse | The Jose Vilson

Lost Article: How Snoop Dogg Can Help You Out Of The Edu-Dogghouse | The Jose Vilson:

Lost Article: How Snoop Dogg Can Help You Out Of The Edu-Dogghouse

by Jose

Snoop Doggy Dogg Smoking

A few months ago, I wrote this article in response to some of the comments I read about my EdWeek / Jay-Z article. It was approved, but due to the backlash I received, they took it down. Never mind. I decided to publish it here. Also, look for some of the comments I received on Sunday.

After the last time I attempted convincing educators about Jay-Z’s credentials as a muse for their teaching, I decided that another rapper might be more fitting for this type of exercise: Calvin “Snoop Doggy Dogg” Broadus. Snoop Doggy Dogg a.k.a. Snoop Dogg a.k.a. Snoop has been a muse of mine for some time, and I wish

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Sorry Mr. Press Secretary, Multiple Measures Are Not Fairy Dust - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Sorry Mr. Press Secretary, Multiple Measures Are Not Fairy Dust - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Sorry Mr. Press Secretary, Multiple Measures Are Not Fairy Dust

by Anthony Cody

Follow me on Twitter at @AnthonyCody

This week I engaged in another online debate with one of Arne Duncan's press secretaries, Justin Hamilton, who readers may recall asked me to "correct" my commentary a year ago after President Obama inadvertently criticized our over-reliance on standardized tests.

This time Mr. Hamilton took issue with a question I posed in advance of Duncan's latest Twitter Town Hall. I asked, "How can you say that we should not teach to test while NCLB waivers tie teacher & principal evaluations to test scores?"

To this, Hamilton (@edpresssec) replied: "False. Waiver states using multiple measure not testing only."

Obviously, Mr. Hamilton is engaging in some sophistry here, because I never said that test scores were the

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The Oakland Way - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

The Oakland Way - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

The Oakland Way

Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 2:35 pm in OEA, OUSD central office, School board news, school reform,students, teachers2 Comments »

Discussions are underway for radically changing how things work for Oakland school district employees and the students they serve.

Like a good newspaper lede, the opening line of the below human resources document makes you want to keep on reading — despite the fact that it’s an HR document.

“Current OUSD Human Resource practices are failing children,” it begins.

The ideas put forth in the discussion paper embedded below are comprehensive and wide-ranging, from strengthening relationships with local teacher colleges to creating “career ladders” for teachers, updating


OUSD’s strategic plan — and your place in it

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 11:56 pm in School board newsTony SmithNo Comments

On Tuesday evening, I’ll be speaking on a panel convened by the League of Women Voters about the strategic plan the Oakland school board adopted last year. The event, from 6-8 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, is titled “The Promise and the Challenge.”

I’ve been invited to talk about the role the community should — or needs to — play in meeting the plan’s goals. It’s a good thing I have a few days to do my homework first (and that I have this blog!), as the answer isn’t clear

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Jon Stewart tries to talk to Arne Duncan - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Jon Stewart tries to talk to Arne Duncan - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Jon Stewart tries to talk to Arne Duncan

by Valerie Strauss

Jon Stewart tried to engage Education Secretary Arne Duncan on “The Daily Show” Thursday night, but the effort was an exercise in the futility of conversing with someone who won’t deviate from his talking points.

Read full article >>

How to stop cheating on standardized tests

by Valerie Strauss

In light of repeated cheating scandals on standardized tests in school districts across the country, the Education Department recently asked members of the public for ideas on how to prevent, detect and respond to irregularities on completed tests.

Read full article >>

In defense of NAEP

by Valerie Strauss

I published a guest post that was highly criticial of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, an exam sometimes referred to as the nation’s report card and the gold standard of standardized assessment.

Read full article >>
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Schools Matter: Would giving poor students more books solve the achievement gap? Dallas News report on my presentation at NABE

Schools Matter: Would giving poor students more books solve the achievement gap? Dallas News report on my presentation at NABE:

Would giving poor students more books solve the achievement gap? Dallas News report on my presentation at NABE

by skrashen
Would giving poor students more books solve the achievement gap?
Matthew Haag/Reporter
mhaag@dallasnews.com
Feb. 16, 2012

DMN reporter Dianne Solis is attending the 41st annual convention of the National Association for Bilingual Education in Dallas this week. About 3,000 educators and students are in attendance, ranging from school principals from Queens to teachers from California to dissertation candidates from North Texas. Many of the attendees came from the Dallas ISD and about half are from Texas.
Solis filed this report from Wednesday night's keynote speech:
Book swap clubs, such as bookmooch.com, are one solution for combating a huge problem, the achievement gap, activist Stephen Krashen , a professor emeritus of the University of Southern California, said Wednesday night.

The linguist and educational researcher was a keynote speaker at the 41st annual convention of the
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When They Don’t Get Their Way, Ed Reformers Rage | Scathing Purple Musings

When They Don’t Get Their Way, Ed Reformers Rage | Scathing Purple Musings:

When They Don’t Get Their Way, Ed Reformers Rage

by Bob Sikes

I don’t know as much about BIZPAC chairman John R. Smith a well as my Palm Beach colleagues do. Nor do I know anything about his political action committee and whom he’s supported in the past. And it wouldn’t be fair for me – at least not now – to categorize Smith as a privatization zealot. But Smith has left quite a bit of stuff that’s easy to dissect in this opinion he posted in BIZPAC Review. He wasn’t pleased with the Palm Beach School Board’s search for a new superintendent. Smith doth protests too much, methinks.

Part of the problem with the search process is that voters have elected a board with a super-majority of members having no business sense or experience. Most of these board members have few skills and no knowledge about how to hire a person with the executive competence it takes to run a huge, sprawling, complex organization with a multibillion-dollar budget. It’s a recipe for disastrous decisions, because they can’t comprehend the proper and effective criteria needed for hiring a superintendent.

This board does know how to micro-manage, doing so with abandon, but it knows very little about

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