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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Big Education Ape 2nd Banana 5-26-12 Recap of Last Week's Best Post #EDchat #EDreform #soschat #p2 #1u



Big Education Ape 2nd Banana Recap of Last Week's Best Post 


Rheecent Rheevolting Revelation about Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee RheeFirst!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
RheeFirst!: DC’s NCLB waiver bid stalled by Ed Dept. concerns admin at RheeFirst! - 2 minutes ago *The problems raised by the USDOE precedes Rhee's tenure. But she and her corporate reform agenda did nothing to fix them.* "It turns out that the U.S. Department of Education has quite a few issues with the District’s application for relief from No Child Left Behind. The problems start with two chronic concerns: The city’s poor record of handling and accounting for federal grants, and its difficulties staying in compliance with special education laws." DC students ranked last in the na... more »

WHY DIDN'T LAUSD'S EX-SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES SEXUALLY HARASS ME? - Perdaily.com

Ramon Cortines3.jpg
(Mensaje se repite en Español)
(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)
As I patiently wait for my court date before the Office of Administrative Hearings that is presently set for September 10, 2012, two years and seven months after I was removed from my class on bogus charges, I lament the fact that ex-Los Angeles Unified School District 


LAUSD document: Ex-LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines admits affair but denies allegation of sexual harassment - LA Daily News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
LAUSD document: Ex-LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines admits affair but denies allegation of sexual harassment - LA Daily News: LAUSD document: Ex-LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines admits affair but denies allegation of sexual harassment Daily News Posted: 05/24/2012 09:35:51 AM PDT Updated: 05/24/2012 10:07:52 AM PDT LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines, seen in a file photo, admits to an affair but denies allegations of sexual harassment made in a lawsuit that the district settled for $200,000. (Dean Musgrove/Staff Photographer) In this official statement from the Los Angele... more »

Tyler Clementi left Facebook status 'Jumping off gw bridge sorry' after Rutgers dorm sex hidden video | NJ.com

tyler-clementi-molly-wei-dharun-ravi-facebook-rutgers.jpgView full sizeTyler Clementi apparently posted a Facebook status saying "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry," after his roommate Dharun Ravi and his friend Molly Wei allegedly broadcast a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man. A Facebook tribute page to Clementi, pictured above, h
PISCATAWAY -- Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who was allegedly had a sex encounter broadcast via a hidden video by his roommate Dharun Ravi and his friend Molly Wei, changed his Facebook status to "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry" on Sept. 22.
Clementi's car, cell phone and computer were found near the George Washington Bridge and his wallet was found on a bridge walkway, police have said. His body has not been found, but

SES IS A MESS: Scientology Tutoring Service Approved By Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago


By MELANIE ALNWICK @ FoxNews WASHINGTON - Federal law says that failing public schools have to provide free tutoring service to students. It is called Supplemental Educational Services (SES). Concerned parents contacted FOX 5 about one of the groups approved for tutoring by D.C.'s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) - a group that has connections to the founder of the Church of Scientology. Applied Scholastics International is one of 29 tutoring services listed in the Title I Supplemental Educational Services Guide. Parents of students in failing D.C. public s... more »

Mitt Romney’s education plan Infographic

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 46 minutes ago




Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test « Parents Across America

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 59 minutes ago
Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test « Parents Across America: Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test by pureparents Today, with some help from me, Chicago Sun-Times education reporter Rosalind Rossiexposes yet another standardized testing scandal, this one on a Scantron test that was used several times in the Chicago Public Schools as part of an interim, or benchmark, reading assessment. Scantron is a national standardized test that CPS has been using for a couple of years as a computerized replacement for the quarterly Learning First and Benchmark Assessment... more »

Florida’s Standardized Testing Disaster – “Education Reform” At Its Worst - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Florida’s Standardized Testing Disaster – “Education Reform” At Its Worst - Wait, What?: Florida’s Standardized Testing Disaster – “Education Reform” At Its Worst from Wait, What? by jonpelto Like the car accident that you can’t take your eyes off of, the incredible standardized test debacle that is playing itself out in Florida is a stunning lesson about how out of control the “education reformers” have become. Their mantra there, as it is here in Connecticut, is that standardized testing is the only way to force teachers to teach and children to learn. Most importantly, they cl... more »

Charter Schools Exacerbate ethnic, racial and class divisions while feeding into a politics of public metldown,deracination and alienation | Dailycensored.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago
Charter Schools Exacerbate ethnic, racial and class divisions while feeding into a politics of public metldown,deracination and alienation | Dailycensored.com: Charter Schools Exacerbate ethnic, racial and class divisions while feeding into a politics of public metldown,deracination and alienation by Danny Weil [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] In 2009 I posted this article understanding that charter schools would have the pernicious effect of using identity, religious tribalism, race, class and gender to cement the popularity of the publicly subsidized an... more »

What Is Campbell’s Law? « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
What Is Campbell’s Law? « Diane Ravitch's blog: What Is Campbell’s Law? from Diane Ravitch's blog by dianerav Everyone interested in understanding how the ceaseless pressure to raise test scores can corrupt the tests should be familiar with Campbell’s Law. This is an adage written by social scientist Donald T. Campbell in a 1976 paper. It says: “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” (You can ... more »



The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago
The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections « Diane Ravitch's blog: The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections by dianerav [image: The Charlie Rose Show tv show photo] I was on the Charlie Rose show last night. I was very excited to be there. Over the past two years, as the debate about education has gotten more and more heated, I have had many opportunities to express my views on the radio, especially on NPR, but not so many opportunities on television. I represent “the other side” in a very one-sided debate. I support public education; I respect the education profession; I oppose privatization an... more »

"NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations." May 21, 2012. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
"NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations." May 21, 2012. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org: NYSUT activists call for privacy for teachers evaluations NYSUT Media Relations - May 21, 2012 [image: Cartoon by John Jonik] ALBANY, N.Y. May 21, 2012 - Hundreds of grassroots lobbyists from New York State United Teachers will vigorously press lawmakers Tuesday to enact legislation protecting the privacy rights of teachers by shielding their evaluations from exploitation by the public and news media. "This is an opportunity for legislators and the Governor... more »

Is the Seattle School Board dysfunctional? U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks so | Local News | The Seattle Times

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Is the Seattle School Board dysfunctional? U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks so | Local News | The Seattle Times: Is the Seattle School Board dysfunctional? U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks so *Top Corporations Aid U.S. Chamber of Commerce Campaign - NYTimes.com * According to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Seattle School Board suffers from churn and conflict, a poor relationship with the superintendent and what one unnamed observer called "micromanagement on steroids." Officials here dispute the findings. By Brian M. Rosenthal Seattle Times education reporter RELATE... more »

Scholar critical of value added method speaking to LA teachers | 89.3 KPCC

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Scholar critical of value added method speaking to LA teachers | 89.3 KPCC: Scholar critical of value added method speaking to LA teachers 9:13 a.m. | By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez 1 [image: scantron standardized test] timlewisnm/Flickr Creative Commons State education officials are worried about the hundreds of photos of standardized tests – sometimes with answers – that have begun to appear on social networking sites. A talk on whether to factor student test scores into teachers’ performance evaluations is taking place on Monday afternoon. L.A. Unified’s teachers union is sponsoring a t... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Using the "Negative" Trick

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Using the "Negative" Trick: Using the "Negative" Trick by Melissa Westbrook I wanted to follow-up on Charlie's thread about negativism(so skip this if you are not interested but please don't bother to comment that...you're not interested). I've heard this rap before about me or Charlie or the blog. As you can see, we are not likely to change much. We are guided by our own experiences, both as parents in the district and as activists. We are just a lot more clear-eyed and maybe jaded than most of you. That's important to understand. We've bee... more »

An Urban Teacher's Education: GO WATCH THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
An Urban Teacher's Education: GO WATCH THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!!: GO WATCH THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!! Last July, I had the privilege to attend a session led by Curtis Acosta (one of the teachers of the ethnic studies program recently banned by the Tucson Unified School District) at the SOS conference in DC. I noted it as the highlight of my conference experience. In the session, participants had the opportunity to view a documentary on the ethnic studies program called Precious Knowledge. I am ecstatic that everyone can now go watch the documentary for free until June 7. I've embedded it belo... more »

Yuck: US DOE Supports For-profit Entrepreneurs « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Yuck: US DOE Supports For-profit Entrepreneurs « Diane Ravitch's blog: Yuck: US DOE Supports For-profit Entrepreneurs by dianerav Yesterday I engaged in an unexpected exchange on Twitter with Justin Hamilton, who is press secretary to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. It started after I retweeted a blog by master-teacher Nancy Flanagan. Nancy’s blog took issue with a listing of the up-and-coming stars of American education, which focused heavily on the entrepreneurial sector and forgot teachers. Nancy listed some of the outspoken teachers who are emerging stars in the profession... more »

Enter the New Dallas Superintendent « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Enter the New Dallas Superintendent « Diane Ravitch's blog: Enter the New Dallas Superintendent by dianerav "Road to Broad" Explore Superintendent Mike Miles' 'Destination 2020,' his ambitious plan to Jack Public Education The new superintendent of the Dallas public schools, Mike Miles, is off to a rousing start. He is a military man, and he thinks in terms of organizational goals, the mission, the beliefs. The story about Miles’ plan appears in the Dallas Morning News behind a paywall, so I can’t link to it. But here are the essentials: Like his predecessors, Miles has a long list... more »

Superheros, Superegos, and Student Discipline | Connected Principals

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
Superheros, Superegos, and Student Discipline | Connected Principals: Superheros, Superegos, and Student Discipline by jdelp cc flickr photo by brettjordan How we treat our best students shows our aspirations; how we treat our most challenging students shows our values. ~ Mendler and Curwin This past Friday, an incident occurred at school that had me seeing red. While supervising in the cafeteria during the lunch period, I was asked by our one of our cafeteria staff members to address a group of boys who had been leaving trash on their table, and arguing with one of our lunchroom... more »

Louisiana Educator: Efforts to Produce Rational Education Reform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Louisiana Educator: Efforts to Produce Rational Education Reform: Efforts to Produce Rational Education Reform by Michael Deshotels Senator Ben Nevers, a long time supporter of public schools and teacher rights attempted last week to restore sanity to one component of education reform in Louisiana. Unfortunately his efforts were overwhelmed by the big business lobby. Senate Bill 650 by Nevers was supported by the Louisiana Association of Educators and would have substituted multiple measures of student achievement (instead of the scores on one standardized test) for the quantitat... more »

MAY REVISE LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET: OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION 4LAKids

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET: OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION: LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET: OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION [image: image] CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ANALYST'S OFFICE HTTP://1.USA.GOV/KKZIUCMay 18, 2012 :: In the May Revision of his 2012-13 budget proposal, the Governor identified a larger budget problem of $15.7 billion for state leaders to address in the coming weeks. While we find that the administration's economic and revenue forecasts are reasonable, we are concerned that the amount of property tax revenues from f... more »

How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking -- and What That Means For Our Kids' Future | | AlterNet

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking -- and What That Means For Our Kids' Future | | AlterNet: How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking -- and What That Means For Our Kids' Future The education of our children is a core cultural and political choice that reflects the deepest differences between liberals and conservatives. The Conservative War On Education continues apace, with charters blooming everywhere, high-stakes testing cementing its grip on classrooms, and legislators and pundits wondering what we need those stupid liberal arts colleges fo... more »

ACLU questions Poway school's iPad program | UTSanDiego.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
ACLU questions Poway school's iPad program | UTSanDiego.com: ACLU questions Poway school's iPad program Con Academy Browse Con Academy library of over 3,100 educational videos... [image: U.S. Department of Education and Federal Student Aid logo (Start Here. Go Further.)] A Poway elementary school’s drive to equip fourth and fifth graders with iPads — mostly at their expense — is being called into question by the American Civil Liberties Union. The state Constitution guarantees a free public education, and the ACLU says in a letter to the district that the effort at Tierra Bonita... more »

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: I'm Larry Ferlazzo and here you will catch me talking about websites that will help you teach ELL, ESL and EFL! Mayor Bloomberg Insults Parents — Again Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 21 hours ago New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in the news for once again insulting parents (you can read about his multiple previous efforts at New York City Mayor Insults Parents — Again). I learned about Boomberg’s newest comments from blogger Walt Gardner, with whom I usually agree. Not this time, tho... more »

Big Education Ape 2nd Banana 5-19-12 Recap of Last Week's Best Post #EDchat #EDreform #soschat #p2 #1u

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
*Big Education Ape 2nd Banana Recap of Last Week's Best Post * SES IS A MESS: Scientology Tutoring Service Approved By Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago By MELANIE ALNWICK @ FoxNews WASHINGTON - Federal law says that failing public schools have to provide free tutoring service to students. It is called Supplemental Educational Services (SES). Concerned parents contacted FOX 5 about one of the groups approved for tutoring by D.C.'s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) - a group that has connections to the founder of ... more »

Big Education Ape Nite Cap UPDATE 5-23-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago
*UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* If I have to take one more of these frigging standardized test, I think my head will explode! *GO TO * *National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing* "Hey hey. Ho ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go! by Mike Klonsky Thousands of CTU members march up Michigan Avenue to CPS Headquarters after a rally at the Auditorium Theatre. | Scott Stewart~Chicago Sun-Times.That was the thunderous sound of 5,000 red-clad Chicago union teachers marching past CPS headquarters at Adams & Clark. Just when Rahm thought is was safe to come out of his office after last weekend's N... more »








Big Education Ape Nite Cap UPDATE 5-22-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago
*UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* If I have to take one more of these frigging standardized test, I think my head will explode! *GO TO * *National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing* College Is No Guarantee of Success by Duke Professional blind squirrel Campbell Brown finds a nut: Hardly reassuring words when you look at the reality. According to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, about 53.6 percent of men and women under the age of 25 who hold bachelor’s degrees were jobless or underemployed last year, the most in at least 11 years. According to the Pew... more »




This Week's Education Research Report 5-26-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2



Education Research Report

This Week's Education Research Report 


IB Primary- and Middle-Years Students Perform Better on International Assessments Than Their Peers at Non-IB Schools

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
A research study completed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), on behalf of the International Baccalaureate (IB), examined student performance among IB and non-IB students on the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA) and determined that IB Primary Years Program (PYP) and IB Middle Years Program (MYP) students, in most instances performed as well or better than their non-IB peers across all four ISA assessment domains, including math literacy, reading, narrative writing, and expository writing. Particularly strong differences were observed in grade 10, the ...more »

The Condition of Education 2012

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The 49 indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2012 provide a progress report on education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated with education. Report findings include: • In 2008-09, about three-quarters of the 2004-05 freshman class graduated with a regular diploma from public high schools. • From 2000 to 2010, undergraduate enrollment in postsecondary institutions increased from 13 million students to 18 million. During this period, undergraduate enrollment in private for-pro... more »

Second-Round State Applications for NCLB Waivers

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
This report analyzes the NCLB waiver applications submitted in the second round by 26 states and Washington, D.C. to the U.S. Department of Education in February 2012. Among the findings in the report is that, like the first round of applications, these states are proposing new accountability systems that will lead to greater complexity both within states and between states, but at the same time will be more integrated with states’ own existing accountability systems. Also, nearly all the state applications propose annual achievement targets and performance levels that are more nua... more »

Student Motivation: An Overlooked Piece of School Reform

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
This series of papers by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) underscores the need for teachers, schools, parents and communities to pay more attention to the role of student motivation in school reform. While there is no single strategy that works to motivate all students, or even the same student in all contexts, the many different sources reviewed by CEP suggest various approaches that can help improve student motivation, the report finds. For example, programs that tailor support to individual students who are at risk of losing motivation, that foster “college-going” cultures i... more »

Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
Five strategies to improve students' mathematical problem-solving skills in grades 4 through 8 are described in a new practice guide from the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The practice guide, Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8, recommends that teachers: 1. Prepare problems and use them in whole-class instruction. 2. Assist students in monitoring and reflecting on the problem-solving process. 3. Teach students how to use visual representations. 4. Expose students to multiple problem-solving strategies. 5. Help students recognize and articulate math... more »

Findings From Discipline-Based Education Research Could Improve Undergraduate Science and Engineering Teaching

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
Discipline-based education research (DBER) has generated insights that could help improve undergraduate education in science and engineering, but these findings have not yet prompted widespread changes in teaching practice, says a new report from the National Research Council. Science and engineering faculty, institutions, disciplinary societies, and professional societies should all support high-quality DBER and the adoption of the evidence-based teaching strategies that have emerged from it, the report says. DBER is a collection of related research fields that investigate how ... more »

School district inequities are barrier to quality education for New York City's poor, Black and Hispanic student

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
In New York City public schools, a student’s educational outcomes and opportunity to learn are statistically more determined by where he or she lives than their abilities, according to a new report, A Rotting Apple: Education Redlining in New York City, released by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Primarily because of New York City policies and practices that result in an inequitable distribution of educational resources and intensify the impact of poverty, children who are poor, Black and Hispanic have far less of an opportunity to learn the skills needed to succeed on... more »

‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate” | Scathing Purple Musings

‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate” | Scathing Purple Musings:


‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate”

Huffington Post education writer Joy Resmovits interviewed scholars who conducted a National Research Council study which overviewed “incentives and test-based accountability in public schools.” Their conclusions may be the most damaging to test-based reform and NCLB to date.
We went ahead, implementing this incredibly expensive and elaborate strategy for changing the education system without creating enough ways to test whether what we are doing is useful or not,” said Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University and member of the committee that produced the report.
Heavily testing students and relying on their scores in order to hold schools — and in some cases teachers — accountable has become the norm in education policy. The No Child Left Behind Act, the largest piece of education legislation on the federal level, for example, uses performance on 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG - Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:
Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch

The Most Important Story of the Week

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 12 minutes ago
Wisconsin has a recall election on June 5. On that date, the voters of the state will decide whether they want Scott Walker to finish out his term or to leave Madison. There are also four Republican state senators on the same ballot. This article in the New York Times magazine explains the issues and [...]

The Philadelphia Story

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 hour ago
These days, U.S. education is beginning to look like a slow-motion train wreck. In some places, it is fast motion, not slow motion. One of the places where the train seems to be speeding rapidly towards a wreck is Philadelphia. The wreck will There, the schools have been under state control for a decade, and [...]

A New Low in Standardized Testing

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 hours ago
Scantron, the test publishing company, was compelled to delete a reading passage that was highly propagandistic after parent activists learned about it and called attention to it. The item was brought to the attention of the media by Parents United for Responsible Education. The Chicago Sun-Time wrote: “PURE executive director Julie Woestehoff said the passage, [...]

In Praise of Linda Darling-Hammond

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 hours ago
One of the wisest and sanest voices in the nation on the subject of teacher quality, teaching quality and teacher evaluation is Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University. Linda has been involved for many years in studying these issues and working directly with teachers to improve practice. During the presidential campaign of 2008, she was Barack [...]

What Is Campbell’s Law?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Everyone interested in understanding how the ceaseless pressure to raise test scores can corrupt the tests should be familiar with Campbell’s Law. This is an adage written by social scientist Donald T. Campbell in a 1976 paper. It says: “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to [...]

Profits, Not Better Education

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
An article in a publication called “The Financial Investigator” took a close look at K12, the for-profit online “education” corporation whose growth had made it a darling of Wall Street. The article paid particular attention to the “churn rate” at K12 online schools. That is, how many students left in a given year. In the [...]

Romney’s Absurd Claims

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
Mitt Romney is out on the campaign trail, pushing vouchers and charters and online learning and for-profit schools and larger class size as the answers to our “failing” public schools. I wish someone would give him some actual facts to work with. Are our schools failing? No, they are not. According to the latest federal [...]

Is School Retention Child Abuse?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago
When I spoke earlier this year to the National Association of School Psychologists, I listened to introductory remarks by Philip Lazarus, the president of the organization. In talking about the role of school psychologists and reviewing the many problems that students have today, he mentioned that there were three things that students feared most. Number [...]

The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
I was on the Charlie Rose show last night. I was very excited to be there. Here is the interview. Over the past two years, as the debate about education has gotten more and more heated, I have had many opportunities to express my views on the radio, especially on NPR, but not so many [...]

What is NCTQ?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
Several months ago, U.S. News & World Report announced that it planned to rank the nation’s schools of education and that it would do so with the assistance of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Since then, many institutions announced that they would not collaborate. Some felt that they had already been evaluated by [...]

The Romney Education Agenda

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 days ago
What would education policy look like in a Mitt Romney administration? As the saying goes, people are policy. Romney’s list of campaign advisers was released this week and it is a re-run of the George W. Bush administration. There is Rod Paige, Nina Rees, Bill Hansen, Russ Whitehurst, Bill Evers, Carol D’Amico, and possibly others [...]

Stop the Campaign Against Public Schools!

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
My review of the Council on Foreign Relations’ report on US public schools as a “grave threat to national security” is now available online. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/do-our-public-schools-threaten-national-security/?page=1 I hope it is widely read. I urge everyone who reads it to send it to their friends and colleagues. The report I reviewed was written by a task force [...]

Enroute to Atlantic City

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
I woke up this morning thinking that today I would be unable to post on my blog. That would be a first, and I was not happy about it. Since I started this blog a month ago, I have posted–let’s see–I think this is blog #89. I didn’t want to miss even one day. I’m [...]

Will Vouchers Fizzle?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
The Jindal education reforms include a huge voucher program that had rightwing choice advocates jumping for joy and supporters of public schools trembling. More than half the students in the state are eligible for vouchers, about 380,000 children. But not so fast. It turns out that there are only a few thousand seats available in [...]

Unneeded Charters

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 4 days ago
Stories like this one from Nashville (http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120509/NEWS04/305090116), or this one from Los Altos, California (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/taxpayers-billed-for-millionaires-kids-at-charter-school.html) remind me how far the charter idea has strayed from its origins. Parents in Nashville are fighting the Great Hearts charter because they know it is targeting children who are affluent and white; they know that it will cause their [...]

Corporate Reformers Love Lofty Goals

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
One of the favorite tactics of corporate reformers is to set lofty goals. We have learned over the past twenty years that you can’t have reform without goals. I remember back when No Child Left Behind was passed, and it included the goal (mandate, actually) that all students in grades 3-8 would be proficient by [...]

Charter Schools Vs. Catholic Schools

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Charter schools contribute directly to the collapse of Catholic schools in the inner city, according to new research by Abraham Lackman, a scholar in residence at the Albany Law School in New York. With the help of a friend, I got an URL: https://sites.google.com/site/neifpe/home/pdffiles/120307Lackman.pdf. And here is a report of his findings in the New York [...]

Saving Poor Kids from Failing Schools?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 5 days ago
Several people sent me a video of Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report skewering Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark, and Howard Fuller of Black Alliance for Educational Options as sell-outs for a rightwing agenda. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdPACwRgw04 I must say there was nothing in the video that surprised me. Back in the [...]

Enter the New Dallas Superintendent

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
The new superintendent of the Dallas public schools, Mike Miles, is off to a rousing start. He is a military man, and he thinks in terms of organizational goals, the mission, the beliefs. The story about Miles’ plan appears in the Dallas Morning News behind a paywall, so I can’t link to it. But here [...]

Why College-for-All is a Sham

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
The corporate reformers like to say that everyone must go to college if they want to have good jobs in the future. Now, let me be clear that I love education and I think everyone should get as much education as they want and should keep on getting better educated all their life. Thanks to [...]

Yuck: US DOE Supports For-profit Entrepreneurs

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
Yesterday I engaged in an unexpected exchange on Twitter with Justin Hamilton, who is press secretary to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. It started after I retweeted a blog by master-teacher Nancy Flanagan. Nancy’s blog took issue with a listing of the up-and-coming stars of American education, which focused heavily on the entrepreneurial sector and [...]

Why Do We Spend So Much on Testing?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
A parent in Texas wrote to say that she couldn’t understand why the state was paying Pearson $100 million a year while laying off teachers. She’s right. This is crazy. She pointed out that in addition to the direct cost of the state testing, schools and districts now had to pay people whose sole job [...]

Why Does David Coleman Dislike Fiction?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 6 days ago
The answer to the question posed in the title of this blog is: I don’t know. I can’t imagine. In fact, I don’t know how one develops imagination without reading fiction. I have been told by several people who attended David Coleman’s lectures that he speaks disparagingly of fiction. That’s why the Common Core standards [...]

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR:


SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR

Save Our Schools Webinar Early Childhood Educators Say “No!” to Standards and Tests

June 1, 2012, 9 PM Eastern Daylight Time [EDT}
Please Join Us!

Nancy Carlsson-Paige is a professor of early childhood education at Lesley University where she has taught teachers for more than 30 years. Professor Carlsson-Paige was a founder of the University’s Center for Peaceable Schools. Since the mid-1980′s, Nancy has written and spoken extensively about the impact of violence, especially in the media, on children’s lives and social development, and how children learn the skills for caring relationships and positive conflict resolution. She has written five books and numerous articles on media violence, conflict resolution, and peaceable classrooms and schools. Her most recent book is called Taking Back Childhood: A Proven Roadmap for Raising Confident, Creative, Compassionate Kids. Nancy is an advocate for policies and practices that promote children’s well being and encourage skills and attitudes that further peace and nonviolence.

Deborah Meier
 is a senior scholar at NYU’s Steinhardt School, and Board member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, FairTest, SOS and Dissent and The Matopm magazines. She spent 45 years working in K-12th grade public schools in New York City (East Harlem) and Boston (Roxbury) including leadership of several highly successful small democratically run urban schools–the Central Park East schools and Mission Hill. Her books include The Power of Their Ideas and In Schools We Trust. In 1987 she was the first educator to receive a McArthur “genius” Award and currently blogs for Ed Week with Diane Ravitch (Bridging Differences.)

Another look at Rahm's Texas model

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 1 day ago
*"If you start in the Chicago Public School system in kindergarten," offered Rahm, "and your cousin lives in Houston, and you both go all the way through high school, the cousin in Houston spends three more years in the classroom." *-- Rahm Emanuel* * Romney's ed adviser and former Houston Supt. Rod PaigeChicago's mayor, in his demagogic appeal for a longer (not necessarily better) school day, is fond of holding up Houston, Texas as his model. This piece in the Texas Observer details some of the reasons why Houston schools and Texas schools in general, may work for some of their s... more »

"Hey hey. Ho ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go!

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 2 days ago
Thousands of CTU members march up Michigan Avenue to CPS Headquarters after a rally at the Auditorium Theatre. | Scott Stewart~Chicago Sun-Times.That was the thunderous sound of 5,000 red-clad Chicago union teachers marching past CPS headquarters at Adams & Clark. Just when Rahm thought is was safe to come out of his office after last weekend's NATO Summit fiasco, he once again became the target of working class venom. Speaker after speaker denounced Rahm's ongoing war on teachers. His contract offer was denounced as an "insult." On every issue, they offered counters to his "reform"... more »

Who will stand up for Public Education in this election?

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 2 days ago
Romney lands the first punch. Will Dems strike back? If not, who will? In the run-up to the elections, neither candidate(s) has said much about education issues. As for party platforms, neither party has a real education plank. The Republicans have been playing only two notes -- bust the teacher unions and don't tax the rich. The Democrats have been playing none. They have been tight-roping between the teacher unions and the influential hedge-fund "reformers" like Democrats For Educational Reform (DFER) and have seemingly decided to play it safe and go without an education plank. Ne... more »

Thousands of CTU members, supporters will rally today

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 3 days ago
If *Rahm Emanuel* thought that Chicago teachers would roll over and play dead in the face of his war on the CTU, he's badly mistaken. Yesterday it was announced that nearly 80 percent of CTU members have voted to reject the latest teacher contract proposal in recent straw polls — more than what would be needed to authorize a real strike under the new anti-union law, SB7. At 3 this afternoon, thousands of Chicago teachers will meet in a unity rally inside the Auditorium Theater at State & Congress. At 4:30, many more will join them in a massive show of solidarity with a rally and ma... more »

The most vile attack yet on Wisconsin teachers

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 3 days ago
This is the most cowardly and treacherous attack yet on public school teachers, make that, on all public employees. That image above is of a full-page newspaper ad taken out in the Janesville Gazette, the local newspaper in Paul Ryan's district. The Gazette, to its credit, didn't print the ad, but it still managed to find its way into subscribers' mailboxes through fliers placed in the paper's home-delivery tube system. The names you can't read in this image are the names of teachers in Janesville who signed the petition to recall Scott Walker. Next to their names, is their salary.... more »

Anatomy of a big high school

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 4 days ago
Chicago's great architectural critic *Lee Bey *writes for WBEZ public radio, about his alma mater, Chicago Vocational High School ("School of architecture: A look at sprawling Chicago Vocational.") The massive, 72-year-old school, located at 2100 E. 87th St., is not only the city's second largest high school building (only Lane Tech is bigger), but is Chicago's best large-scale example of Art Moderne architecture. The 27-acre school, formerly known as Chicago Vocational High School, was built for $3.5 million, with 45 percent of the cash coming from the federal Public Works Admini... more »

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky at Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog - 5 days ago
Rita SolnetRita Solnet, Parents Across America *“It’s kind of like a tsunami at this point — a movement underway. Primarily, we’re saying we know you wanted accountability, but the pendulum has swung too far. It’s gotten ridiculous where one test on one day determines everything for that one child. We are saying use the FCAT as a diagnostic tool — for what it’s meant to be used.”* -- Miami Herald Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/14/2799459/parents-sign-petition-against.html#storylink=cpy Light footprint? *Out of the experience emerged Mr. Obama’s “light footprin... more »

Geaux Teacher!: PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama

Geaux Teacher!: PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama:


PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama

May 25, 2012 

If you want to send your own message to Obama about class size, you can do it via his campaign website.
Dear President Obama:

Yesterday, Mitt Romney went to visit a charter school in Philadelphia and got real push back from teachers when he said class size doesn’t matter. A video of their remarks is below. As a principal of a charter school pointed out,


“There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definitive study about class size and what they said was that in first through third grade, if the class size is under 18 those kids stay ahead of everybody else all the way through school, including classes where you might have 25 in the class and co-teachers. Those students lose their gains after a couple years. If you have small classes in those primary years, those most important 

Charter school propaganda on a standardized test | Seattle Education

Charter school propaganda on a standardized test | Seattle Education:


Charter school propaganda on a standardized test

It seems that the corporate reformers will go to any length to spread their propaganda in an effort to privatize all schools.
Below is an article in full by a PAA Founding Member Julie Woestehoff that was first published on the blog PURE, Parents United for Responsible Education.
Today, with some help from me, Chicago Sun-Times education reporter Rosalind Rossi exposes yet another standardized testing scandal, this one on a Scantron test that was used several times in the Chicago Public Schools as part of an interim, or benchmark, reading assessment.
Scantron is a national standardized test that CPS has been using for a couple of years as a computerized replacement for the quarterly Learning First and Benchmark Assessment tests. These tests cover a narrow set of skills and are essentially practice tests for the annual Illinois Standards Assessment Tests (ISAT). This is the