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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 5-27 AM Posts #soschat #edreform




BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS


How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating | Education | AlterNet

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago
How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating | Education | AlterNet: How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating On the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind, the school-reform movement is in crisis. On Thursday, Mitt Romney made a visit to a West Philadelphia charter school to tout his education platform, which, as it happens, looks pretty similar to President Obama’s: more privately managed schools and a reliance on high-stakes standardized tests to evaluate teachers. But on the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind... more »

“You Guys Contrived This System” | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 minutes ago
“You Guys Contrived This System” | Scathing Purple Musings: “You Guys Contrived This System” by Bob Sikes Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, its clear that columnist Scott Maxwell has had it with FCAT and the policy-makers who brought it to us: To fully appreciate how deeply flawed Tallahassee’s approach to public education is, you must look beyond the recent news of abysmal FCAT scores — and look at how we got here. You see, FCAT was supposed to be a simple fix for a complicated problem. If we could just get our students to pass this standardized test, supposedly everything would be... more »

Education’s revolving door -- GazetteXtra

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Education’s revolving door -- GazetteXtra: Education’s revolving door CHICAGO — When you live in a school district where 64 percent of the students come from low-income homes and budgets have been squeezed to death, every official school communication has the potential to ruin your day. So it went when I read a letter from my youngest son’s school informing us we’re getting a new principal next year. We got the letter a few weeks ago, but only now, in the last days of this academic year, has it becoming gut-wrenchingly real. Our current principal is one of the best I’ve ever had t... more »

A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters? by larrycuban The issue of change as perceived by individual teachers and by a researcher poses a dilemma for the researcher. I was a researcher at Las Montanas high school for two years to study their 1:1 laptop program. I had also been at the school in 1998-1999 when the school had a computer lab program. At Las Montanas between 2008-2011, for example, It was clear to me—and ... more »

Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937. « Fred Klonsky: Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937. by Fred Klonsky *March 15, 1938* *Dear Mom, Pop and family,* *This past Friday was my 19th birthday – and was I proud. I’m one of the youngest men up here – that is excluding the Spanish boys themselves. One feels very old when he sees children on 14 and 15 years going to the front lines to fight. And one feels very proud to be part of it all – I can’t really find the words suitable to describe the country. Spain is very rich in natural resources – especially agriculture. ... more »

Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms « Diane Ravitch's blog: Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms by dianerav I just came across an interesting statistic about Louisiana that puts the Jindal education reform plan into context.* The majority of white children in Louisiana do not go to public school. The majority of white children go to private schools. Black children are the majority in the public schools of Louisiana. According to Census data, 17% of Louisiana children enrolled in grades K-12 attended a private school in 2007. By comparison, 11% of U.S. children enrolled in grades K-12 atten... more »

Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox: Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox by ART-tivist Mommy Thsi morning I listened to an hour-long live online interview with Jenifer Fox on a Stregths-Based School. http://www.stevehargadon.com/2012/04/live-tuesday-april-9th-jenifer-fox-on.html Very inspiring! *Here what is says online about her:* Jenifer Fox is the author of *Your Child's Strengths*, and now Head of School at The Clariden School of Southlake. We'll be talking about what ... more »

The Innovative Educator: Parents don’t look the other way

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
The Innovative Educator: Parents don’t look the other way: Parents don’t look the other way by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen) *Written by Lisa Nielsen | Edited by Lisa Cooley, The Minds of Kids* * * *“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones Humans come equipped with a primitive defense mechanism aimed at reducing anxiety: "If I ignore it, it'll go away." Very human, very natural, very understandable. We all do it. It may even have some evolutionary advantage. After all, facing away from a problem can lower blood pressure an... more »

Scott Maxwell: FCAT's failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short - Orlando Sentinel

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Scott Maxwell: FCAT's failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short - Orlando Sentinel: FCAT failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES 3:55 p.m. EST, May 26, 2012 - - - - Comments 57 - - - - Share917 - To fully appreciate how deeply flawed Tallahassee's approach to public education is, you must look beyond the recent news of abysmal FCAT scores — and look at how we got here. You see, FCAT was supposed to be a simple fix for a complicated problem. If we could just get our stude... more »

Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district | Seattle Education: Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district by seattleducation2011 By now you hopefully know what is happening in Philadelphia. There is a plan underfoot to privatize as many schools as possible in the district. Here is an excerpt from an article that I posted previously, For Philly public schools, barbarian is Gates : Into the Philadelphia School District’s state of fiscal desperation rides Bill Gates. Who can say “no” to free money when you are so deep in the hole? But the money is ... more »

An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal | OccupyWallSt.org

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal | OccupyWallSt.org: An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal by OccupyWallSt Popout*Written and published at Translating the printemps érable* Thank you; you are a little late to the party, and you are still missing the mark a lot of the time, but in the past few days, you have published some not entirely terrible articles and op-eds about what’s happening in Quebec right now. Welcome to our movement. Some of you have even started mentioning that when people are rounded up and arrested each night, the... more »

NYC Educator: Thought for the Day

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
NYC Educator: Thought for the Day: Thought for the Day by NYC Educator

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky: Sunday links. by Fred Klonsky *Sweet home. Photo: Leigh Klonsky* *John Dillon’s vocabulary word this week?* Emolument. Who doesn’t know more about *pension sweeteners*then Democratic Chairman Madigan? *Teachers in Philly give Mittens an earful* over his position that class size doesn’t matter. But we only get silence from Obama and Duncan. Are they worried about offending their money-bag friends from *Democrats for Education Reform?* *Meanwhile, Philly schools are being sold* to the highest bidder. *Somehow Rahm can afford to put thousands of cops on the... more »

May’s Best Posts | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
May’s Best Posts | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: May’s Best Posts by Larry Ferlazzo I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see my previous Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month. These posts are different from the ones I list under the monthly “Most Popular Blog Posts.” Those are the posts the largest numbers of readers “clicked-on” to read. I have to admit, I’ve been a bit lax about writing those posts, though. H... more »

Education experts disagree on importance of school class size - The Denver Post

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Education experts disagree on importance of school class size - The Denver Post: Education experts disagree on importance of school class size POSTED: 05/27/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT *By Kevin Simpson* *The Denver Post* First-graders at East Elementary School in Littleton study land forms with teacher Gina Maestas in class. Two pupils were absent from the class of 16. Class size is considered most important at younger levels such as the first grade. (*Karl Gehring, The Denver Post*) When Greg Sumlin looks at the incoming kindergarten class at East Elementary School in Littleton, he see... more »

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Teach Your Children / Southern Cross

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Crosby Stills Nash & Young "Teach Your Children" Lyrics album: Deja Vu [1970] genre: - You who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a good bye. Teach your children well, Their father's hell did slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picked, the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry, So just look at them and sigh and know they love you. And you, of tender years, Can't know the fears that your elders grew by, And so please help them with your youth, They seek th... more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance…

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance…: Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance… by alicemercer From Diane Ravitch: *…DoEd will reform (translation: eliminate) OSEP’s compliance procedures assuring IDEA and special education IEPs are effectively working for children with disabilities. OSEP director Melodie Musgrove told us at the Council for Exceptional Children’s international convention (CEC) in April, 2012 that they will be monitoring “achievement data” (translation: standardized test scores) from Washington and cutting back on state com... more »

Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice' - ContraCostaTimes.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice' - ContraCostaTimes.com: Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice' By Theresa Harrington Contra Costa Times Posted: 05/26/2012 02:45:51 PM PDT Updated: 05/26/2012 06:03:25 PM PDT This is an excerpt of On Assignment, education writer Theresa Harrington's blog on Contra Costa County schools. Read more and post comments at IBABuzz.com/onassignment. Follow her atTwitter.com/tunedtotheresa. May 22 For the past three ye... more »

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How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating | Education | AlterNet

How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating | Education | AlterNet:


How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating

On the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind, the school-reform movement is in crisis.
On Thursday, Mitt Romney made a visit to a West Philadelphia charter school to tout his education platform, which, as it happens, looks pretty similar to President Obama’s: more privately managed schools and a reliance on high-stakes standardized tests to evaluate teachers.
But on the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind, the school-reform movement that both candidates have embraced is in crisis. Rampant and widespread cheating on high-stakes standardized tests has been uncovered in districts nationwide. The first big scandal erupted in Atlanta, where teachers and administrators are suspected of erasing wrong answers and filling in correct ones, or simply giving students the right answers, at nearly half of city schools. In Philadelphia, one in five district schools is now under investigation, including 11 of the city’s top-tier Vanguard Schools. Cheating or score inflation is suspected in cities including Houston, 
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“You Guys Contrived This System” | Scathing Purple Musings

“You Guys Contrived This System” | Scathing Purple Musings:


“You Guys Contrived This System”

by Bob Sikes

Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, its clear that columnist Scott Maxwell has had it with FCAT and the policy-makers who brought it to us:
To fully appreciate how deeply flawed Tallahassee’s approach to public education is, you must look beyond the recent news of abysmal FCAT scores — and look at how we got here.
You see, FCAT was supposed to be a simple fix for a complicated problem.
If we could just get our students to pass this standardized test, supposedly everything would be swell.
So we cut back everything from science curriculum to art classes to focus on these tests.
And we spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars paying companies to develop and grade them.
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Education’s revolving door -- GazetteXtra

Education’s revolving door -- GazetteXtra:


Education’s revolving door


CHICAGO — When you live in a school district where 64 percent of the students come from low-income homes and budgets have been squeezed to death, every official school communication has the potential to ruin your day.
So it went when I read a letter from my youngest son’s school informing us we’re getting a new principal next year. We got the letter a few weeks ago, but only now, in the last days of this academic year, has it becoming gut-wrenchingly real.
Our current principal is one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and by far one of the best in our community. And though his move is cause for celebration—he’s being promoted and not leaving the district—it’s a deeply painful loss to our neighborhood.
Painful, but not surprising. Our school leaders come and go all the time.
With principals, it is much different now than when I was a kid, or even when I began my teaching career. Back then, principals usually only ascended to the top job after working in the same school’s classrooms for decades. 
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A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:


A Researcher’s Dilemma: Changes in Teaching Practice–Whose Judgment Matters?

by larrycuban

The issue of change as perceived by individual teachers and by a researcher poses a dilemma for the researcher. I was a researcher at Las Montanas high school for two years to study their 1:1 laptop program. I had also been at the school in 1998-1999 when the school had a computer lab program.
At Las Montanas between 2008-2011, for example, It was clear to me—and data I collected from student surveys, the media center sign out sheets for mobile carts, and extensive classroom observations confirm this point—that frequency and pervasiveness of technology use (e.g., PowerPoint lectures, Interactive White Boards, clickers, students taking notes, doing digital worksheets, and viewing video segments) had increased substantially since 1998-1999 albeit unevenly across academic subjects.
Moreover, most of the academic subject teachers I surveyed and interviewed told me that they had, indeed, made changes in how they prepared lessons and used electronic devices for administrative and instructional tasks.  They told me that they have become more efficient in record-keeping, assigning grades and homework, and teaching lessons. Additionally, they saw that their students responded well to these changes in their teaching. Now here is where the dilemma pinches me.
In my observations of lessons, I saw that teachers had, indeed, made changes in practices. They prepared 
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Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937. « Fred Klonsky

Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937. « Fred Klonsky:


Memorial Day. Letter from my dad. Spain. 1937.

by Fred Klonsky


March 15, 1938
Dear Mom, Pop and family,
This past Friday was my 19th birthday – and was I proud. I’m one of the youngest men up here – that is excluding the Spanish boys themselves. One feels very old when he sees children on 14 and 15 years going to the front lines to fight. And one feels very proud to be part of it all – I can’t really find the words suitable to describe the country. Spain is very rich in natural resources – especially agriculture. But the people – the poor Spanish people! One wonders what has kept the workers and peasants in ignorance and subjugation until now. The worst slum sections of New York are a paradise compared to the living quarters of the working people here. But those things are coming to and end! They have begun to realize that the labor and sweat that they have put into 
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Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms « Diane Ravitch's blog

Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms « Diane Ravitch's blog:


Keep an Eye on Jindal’s Reforms

by dianerav


I just came across an interesting statistic about Louisiana that puts the Jindal education reform plan into context.*
The majority of white children in Louisiana do not go to public school. The majority of white children go to private schools.
Black children are the majority in the public schools of Louisiana.
According to Census data, 17% of Louisiana children enrolled in grades K-12 attended a private school in 2007. By comparison, 11% of U.S. children enrolled in grades K-12 attended a private school in 2007.1
Enrollment in nonpublic schools varies widely among Louisiana’s parishes, from zero children in 14 parishes to over 22,000 children in Jefferson Parish.
White children are a majority of school-age children (55%) in the state, but are 82% of the private school 
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Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox

Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox:


Stregths-Based School.....brilliant ideas by Author Jenifer Fox

by ART-tivist Mommy
                Thsi morning I listened to an hour-long live online interview with Jenifer Fox on a Stregths-Based School. http://www.stevehargadon.com/2012/04/live-tuesday-april-9th-jenifer-fox-on.html Very inspiring!



Here what is says online about her:
Jenifer Fox is the author of Your Child's Strengths, and now Head of School at The Clariden School of Southlake.  We'll be talking about what it's like to start a 21st-Century high school program, blended and project-based learning, and her relentless pursuit of getting people to stop teaching traditional content.

Jenifer Fox is a turnaround and strategic advancement 
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The Innovative Educator: Parents don’t look the other way

The Innovative Educator: Parents don’t look the other way:


Parents don’t look the other way

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)
Written by Lisa Nielsen | Edited by Lisa Cooley, The Minds of Kids


“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Humans come equipped with a primitive defense mechanism aimed at reducing anxiety: "If I ignore it, it'll go away."  Very human, very natural, very understandable. We all do it. It may even have some evolutionary advantage. After all, facing away from a problem can lower blood pressure and keep stress under control.

But problems have a momentum of their own; they only get worse when they're ignored.

When we don’t face the truth because it might frighten and upset us,  we move to the place called Denial. But emotions have little to do with logic. (Article Source). If denial is a small dark room, joining with others and facing the truth together brings out the light of day.

But denial is where some parents are living. They are looking the other way. Ignoring problems or worse,
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Scott Maxwell: FCAT's failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short - Orlando Sentinel

Scott Maxwell: FCAT's failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short - Orlando Sentinel:


FCAT failures show test-obsessed teaching falls short



Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES
3:55 p.m. EST, May 26, 2012
To fully appreciate how deeply flawed Tallahassee's approach to public education is, you must look beyond the recent news of abysmal FCAT scores — and look at how we got here.
You see, FCAT was supposed to be a simple fix for a complicated problem.
If we could just get our students to pass this standardized test, supposedly everything would be swell.
So we cut back everything from science curriculum to art classes to focus on these tests.
And we spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars paying companies to develop and grade them.
Teachers were no longer trusted to teach.
Everyone was made to bow down at the almighty altar of FCAT.
Yet this year — after more than a decade of FCAT obsession — more than 70 percent of our fourth-
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Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district | Seattle Education

Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district | Seattle Education:


Philadelphia and the attempted coup of their school district

by seattleducation2011
By now you hopefully know what is happening in Philadelphia.
There is a plan underfoot to privatize as many schools as possible in the district.
Here is an excerpt from an article that I posted previously, For Philly public schools, barbarian is Gates :
Into the Philadelphia School District’s state of fiscal desperation rides Bill Gates. Who can say “no” to free money when you are so deep in the hole? But the money is not free, and the price is the democratic procedure in the city and the state under which the community and its elected leaders make informed decisions about its schools.
Helen Gym

Then in a Weekly Update, this article written by Parents Across America (PAA) Founding Member Helen Gym 
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An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal | OccupyWallSt.org

An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal | OccupyWallSt.org:


An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media, From Montreal

by OccupyWallSt
PopoutWritten and published at Translating the printemps érable
Thank you; you are a little late to the party, and you are still missing the mark a lot of the time, but in the past few days, you have published some not entirely terrible articles and op-eds about what’s happening in Quebec right now. Welcome to our movement.
Some of you have even started mentioning that when people are rounded up and arrested each night, they aren’


Global Solidarity Events Today in NYC

by OccupyWallSt

montreal
Montreal

May 27

Solidarity Assembly at 12:00pm

Washington Square Park (Garibaldi Statue on the East side of the park)
What does Global Solidarity mean to you?
This is part of weekly thematic assemblies. More: Tidal

Solidarity Rally at 7pm

Bryant Park
We march in solidarity with Quebec, Spain, Greece, Chile, Germany, and around the world.
Bring a sleeping bag and an umbrella. #ows #ggi #gginyc #manifencoursNYC


Portland: Ten Arrested in Occupy Action at Post Office

by OccupyWallSt
save the post office
press release via Occupy Portland
Police arrested ten members of labor unions, faith groups, neighborhood organizations, and Occupy Portland who refused to leave the University Station post office at closing time this evening. Unfurling two ten foot banners, reading “Occupy the Post Office” and “No Closures! No Cuts!” the protesters blocked the closure of the retail window while a rally of over a hundred supporters chanted outside. Earlier a line of demonstrators had marched through the office, delivering postcards addressed to the Postmaster General.
“The Postmaster General’s plan to close processing plants, delay mail delivery, and cut hours in the nation’s post offices will not fix the postal service’s financial crisis,” said Jamie Partridge, an arrestee from Occupy 
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NYC Educator: Thought for the Day

NYC Educator: Thought for the Day:


Thought for the Day

by NYC Educator

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Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky:


Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky
Sweet home. Photo: Leigh Klonsky
John Dillon’s vocabulary word this week? Emolument. Who doesn’t know more about pension sweetenersthen Democratic Chairman Madigan?
Teachers in Philly give Mittens an earful over his position that class size doesn’t matter. But we only get silence from Obama and Duncan. Are they worried about offending their money-bag friends from Democrats for Education Reform?
Meanwhile, Philly schools are being sold to the highest bidder.
Somehow Rahm can afford to put thousands of cops on the street to protect the city from peace demonstrators during NATO, but he and his police commissioner can do nothing about this weekend’s shooting rampage.
Chicago cops want more than a couple of tickets to a Sox game. The Fraternal Order of Police is filing a 
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May’s Best Posts | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

May’s Best Posts | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:


May’s Best Posts

by Larry Ferlazzo

I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see my previous Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month.
These posts are different from the ones I list under the monthly “Most Popular Blog Posts.” Those are the posts the largest numbers of readers “clicked-on” to read. I have to admit, I’ve been a bit lax about writing those posts, though.
Here are some of the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written during this past month (not in any order of preference):

How NOT To Prepare A Student For A Standardized Test

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Education experts disagree on importance of school class size - The Denver Post

Education experts disagree on importance of school class size - The Denver Post:


Education experts disagree on importance of school class size

POSTED:   05/27/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT
By Kevin Simpson
The Denver Post
First-graders at East Elementary School in Littleton study land forms with teacher Gina Maestas in class. Two pupils were absent from the class of 16. Class size is considered most important at younger levels such as the first grade. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)
When Greg Sumlin looks at the incoming kindergarten class at East Elementary School in Littleton, he sees a group of English learners who need immediate, intensive instruction — in small classes where teachers can give them individual attention.
Then he looks at this year's first-graders, calculates his staffing and crunches the numbers: although these kids also have high needs, three classrooms of 16 or 17 will have to be shoe-horned into two second-grade classes of 23.
It's a vexing academic sudoku that principals tackle — and teachers must adapt to — as schools try to line up budgets, staff and attendance projections in pursuit of an elusive educational sweet spot: effective class size.


Read more:Education experts disagree on importance of school class size - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20720013/education-experts-disagree-importance-school-class-size#ixzz1w4gUezXh
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Teach Your Children / Southern Cross



Crosby Stills Nash & Young
"Teach Your Children" Lyrics

album:
Deja Vu [1970]

genre:
-


You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.






CROSBY, STILLS & NASH
"Southern Cross"
(Stephen Stills, Richard Curtis and Michael Curtis)
[Intro. (Acoustic Guitars)]
Oooh ...
Got out of town on a boat goin' to Southern islands
Sailing a reach before a followin' sea
She was makin' for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to Papeete
Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away
Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin'
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
(Around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin') Lookin' for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows) Who knows love can endure
And you know it will
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day
So I'm sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin'
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a' flyin'
She is all that I have left and music is her name
Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin'
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
(I've been around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin') Lookin' for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure
And you know it will, and you know it will yes
[Instrumental (Electric Guitars)]
Oooh ...
So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the southern cross
[Ending (Acoustic Guitars)]
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Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance…:


Ed.gov set to gut IDEA/IEP Compliance…

by alicemercer


From Diane Ravitch:
…DoEd will reform (translation: eliminate) OSEP’s compliance procedures assuring IDEA and special education IEPs are effectively working for children with disabilities. OSEP director Melodie Musgrove told us at the Council for Exceptional Children’s international convention (CEC) in April, 2012 that they will be monitoring “achievement data” (translation: standardized test scores) from Washington and cutting back on state compliance officers (translation: firing). Her “vision” for OSEP  is “results driven accountability” and to “reward teachers who work with sped students.” (translation: TfA exploiting the SPED teacher shortage).
OSEP’s shift from compliance to monitoring sets back 40 years of special education progress in assuring 
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Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice' - ContraCostaTimes.com

Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice' - ContraCostaTimes.com:


Mt. Diablo school board trustee warns that ignoring school problems constitutes 'educational malpractice'

Posted:   05/26/2012 02:45:51 PM PDT
Updated:   05/26/2012 06:03:25 PM PDT
This is an excerpt of On Assignment, education writer Theresa Harrington's blog on Contra Costa County schools. Read more and post comments at IBABuzz.com/onassignment. Follow her atTwitter.com/tunedtotheresa.
May 22
For the past three years, the Mt. Diablo Education Association teachers union has asked its members to complete "school climate" surveys, rating the environments at their campuses according to a variety of criteria. Included in that criteria are how respected they feel and whether their administrators demonstrate integrity, honesty and follow-through.
After reviewing surveys from two of the lowest-ranking schools this year, Trustee Lynne Dennler decided to speak to teachers at those sites to gain more insight into their concerns. Dennler, a retired elementary school teacher from the district, shared her thoughts about the surveys and the teachers' comments with the board Monday, without naming the two schools.
Here is what she said:
"Last week, I met with the teachers at two schools. I asked to meet with these teachers, as their recent MDEA climate surveys indicated these staffs are extremely dissatisfied with their administrators.
"Each school has uniquely different issues, but in each, they are unacceptable and undermine a positive teaching 
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