Schools Matter: Common Core Comments Tell Different Story

Schools Matter: Common Core Comments Tell Different Story:

Common Core Comments Tell Different Story

by Judy Rabin

Reading through the comments on the National Governor's Association (NGA) Report on Public Feedback on Common Core Standards (2010) you would never know the public would like to see a well-rounded curriculum, less testing and assessment in math and reading, and age level appropriate curriculum that doesn't include standardized testing.

Despite repeated concerns about these and other issues in the report, however, these concerns are being ignored by policy makers and legislators.

In fact, the concluding paragraph of the Governor Association's document  states, "The feedback is, overall, very good news for the standards developers." Hmmm..and who might that be? It certainly isn't good news for the 

RheeFirst! » Three interesting findings in the RomneyFirst report

RheeFirst! » Three interesting findings in the RomneyFirst report:

Three interesting findings in the RomneyFirst report

by admin

The RomneyFirst report released yesterday by New Yorker for Great Public Schools, contains a few findings that are worth highlighting on their own.

• According to the report, StudentsFirst has overwhelmingly endorsed Republicans—according to the report, 68% of StudentsFirst endorsements went to Republicans (page 3).

• A PAC connected to StudentsFirst is run by a former Bush-Cheney 2004 communications staffer (page 3).

• StudentsFirst lobbied against a New York law that would have restricted “co-location” of charter schools (page 16).  At least two StudentsFirstNY board members, Geoffery Canada and Eva Moskowitz, are also charter school operators, who would benefit from lax co-location policies.

You can read the entire report here.

Schools Matter: Parents, Teachers and Citizens Organize to Save Public Education

Schools Matter: Parents, Teachers and Citizens Organize to Save Public Education:

Parents, Teachers and Citizens Organize to Save Public Education

by Judy Rabin

With three months before the election, parents, teachers and citizens join in fight to save public schools and end the reign of high stakes testing as a weapon of mass destruction.  Instead of just one tool, or measurement of ability in a particular area, the tests have produced a steady stream of cash for those who sell them and track the data and a way to close down failing public schools and replace them with for profit private charters or religious schools.

Isn't it time to invest in all children and their teachers, mentors, guidance counselors, librarians, nurses, mental health professionals, and school buildings instead of the tests? The answer seems to be a resounding yes, but is anyone listening?

Parents Across America is doing great work in tracking legislators and candidates on education policy. The information is there to be used and shared to make phone calls, visits and write letters to you local, 

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Shopping Spree Continues In Florida - Orlando Sentinel

School choice Florida: 'School choice' measure hinges on outcome of Senate races - Orlando Sentinel:

'School choice' measure hinges on outcome of Senate races

1:36 p.m. EST, August 17, 2012|Aaron Deslatte, Capitol View

TALLAHASSEE –Legislative elections this fall may have outsized importance for the future direction of public schools, charters and school vouchers -- and the unions, for-profit companies and education advocates attempting to gain sway.

In last week's primaries, one aim of the "school choice" organizations working under the banner of Florida Federation for Children was to elect Democrats that were more supportive of expanding private school-vouchers. The group's top goal is passing the "parent trigger" bill to let parents in failing schools decide on corrective steps, including turning schools over to for-profit charter companies.

The bill passed the House last spring, but deadlocked 20-20 in the Senate. Its supporters turned out in force in the primaries, from former Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee to former Gov. Jeb 

Jersey Jazzman: StudentsFirst & B4K: What's The Connection?

Jersey Jazzman: StudentsFirst & B4K: What's The Connection?:

StudentsFirst & B4K: What's The Connection?

by Duke

Yesterday, I wrote about how New Yorkers for Great Public Schools is trying to tar StudentsFirst with its connections to Mitt Romney (or is it the other way around?). SF is Michelle Rhee's anti-union, anti-tenure, reformy group which gets lots of support from Rupert Murdoch, Eli Broad, and other wealthy conservative funders.

Today, I read the Rhee/Romney report, put out by a group under the name "Alliance for Quality Education." As a Jersey boy, I was especially intrigued by this (p.11):

StudentsFirst’s involvement with the 501(c)3 Better Education for New Jersey Kids (B4BJKids) is not entirely clear. While the nonprofit is not disclosed as a related entity, StudentsFirst shares two directors with the B4NJKids leadership—Michelle Rhee and StudentsFirst COO Dmitri Mehlhorn. Additionally, Executive Director Derrell Bradford, who has never been publicly identified as a StudentsFirst employee, 

Telegenic Cable News Idiots

by Duke

I know; I shouldn't write about this until I see it. But if what Diane Ravitch is saying here is true...

This was one of the most biased interviews I have ever done, and I have done many. 
Randi Kaye asked me about NAEP scale scores, which was technically a very dumb question, and I was stunned. 
She thinks that a scale score of 250 on a 500 point scale is a failing grade, but a scale score is not a grade at all. 
It’s a trend line.
She asserted that the scale scores are a failing grade for the nation.
That is like saying that someone who scores a 600 on the SAT is a C student, because it is only 

Your Summer PD: School Improvement — Whole Child Education

Your Summer PD: School Improvement — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Your Summer PD: School Improvement

August 17, 2012 by Klea Scharberg

ASCD conducted its second Whole Child Virtual Conference in May. This free conference showcases schools, authors, and research about implementing a whole child approach for a worldwide audience. View and share archived session recordings, presenter handouts, and related resources atwww.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference.

Gain insight into ways to implement comprehensive, sustainable school improvement through these presentations:

• School Improvement for the Whole Child
• How to Make Classrooms Responsive to the Whole Child
• School Improvement: What's Health Got to Do with It?
• Engaging the Whole Child: The Missing Piece in the PD Puzzle

Find additional presentations highlighting aligning health and education, successful schools, and creating a caring and positive school climate.

Your Summer PD: Aligning Health and Education

by Klea Scharberg

ASCD conducted its second Whole Child Virtual Conference in May. This free conference showcases schools, authors, and research about implementing a whole child approach for a worldwide audience. View and share archived session recordings, presenter handouts, and related resources atwww.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference.
Gain further insight into ways to better align health and education in school settings through these presentations:

• Australasian expert panel discussion on health and education
• Mike Anderson's The Well-Balanced Teacher
• The ABCs of Educating the Whole Child
• Michael Opitz's FitLit: Connecting Fitness and Literacy
• School Improvement: What's Health Got to Do with It?
• School Health and Youth Disparities: SOPHE–ASCD Expert Panel

Find additional presentations highlighting successful schools and creating a caring and positive school climate.

Your Summer PD: Creating a Caring and Positive School Climate

by Klea Scharberg

ASCD conducted its second Whole Child Virtual Conference in May. This free conference showcases schools, authors, and research about implementing a whole child approach for a worldwide audience. View and share archived session recordings, presenter handouts, and related resources atwww.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference.
Gain further insight into ways to support a caring and positive school climate through these presentations:

• European expert panel discussion on health and education
• Peter DeWitt on Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students
• Charles C. Haynes on Bridging Religious and Cultural Divides: Empowering Students from Across the Globe to Learn With, From, and About One Another
• Maurice Elias on School Climate Supporting the Whole Child
• Bob Sullo on Engaging the Whole Child: The Missing Piece in the PD Puzzle

As a part of the 2011 virtual conference, Healthy School Communities mentor site Orange County (N.C.) School District shared how it developed and implemented a critical incident stress management system. View the archived presentation to hear about the process and benefits.
Find additional presentations highlighting successful schools.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Resistance to Common Core State Standards Gaining Steam

Missouri Education Watchdog: Resistance to Common Core State Standards Gaining Steam:

Resistance to Common Core State Standards Gaining Steam

by Anngie

Utah leads the effort to push back against Common Core Standards and all of their associated regulations and requirements. Their state school board has already voted to withdraw from SBAC, the consortium developing the assessments. The fight continues however, as this vote was only step one in divesting themselves of CCSS.

Predictably the USDoE is not going to make backing out of the consortia easy. They are the third and final hurdle a state must get over to actually back out. Now that the state has taken step one, the USDoE is coming in to push back.  Listen to this discussion at the Education Committee hearing in Utah. Jim Stergios from the Pioneer Institute, and Ted Rebarber CEO of AccountabilityWorks, testified on issues with Common Core.

Jaykell Sullivan developed a great infographic, which is included in the information packet shared at the Education Committee hearing, which demonstrates how Common Core is not a departure from NLCB (which it supposedly was in the beginning), but is in fact NCLB on steroids.

 

Utah is leading the way, but Missouri doesn't have to be left behind. We already have the support of the 

Mother Crusader: The Reformy Double Bind

Mother Crusader: The Reformy Double Bind:

The Reformy Double Bind

by darciecima

Jersey Jazzman has a great piece today about the fact that the NJDOE has yet to release the names of the schools participating in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program for the 2012-2013 school year.

In his post he points out a potential pitfall with the program:

"I am concerned, however, that IPSC creates the same trap that charter schools do: the kids who will use it are going to be the kids with fewer special needs, fewer language issues, and aren't as poor as the kids staying in their home districts. So the money follows the children who are the least expensive to educate, leaving the home district to educate the rest of the kids with fewer resources."

Highland Park almost applied to be an IPSC school as a concession to the founders of Tikun Olam Hebrew 

How Not to Get Kids Ready for the First Day of School -:

How Not to Get Kids Ready for the First Day of School

AUGUST 17, 2012

Last school year, I saw a young mother and father in the Decatur Public Library leaning forward over a small table at their three-year-old daughter as she tried to put together the puzzle of an alligator with 26 green pieces A to Z. The A-piece belonged at the nose and Z at the tip of the tail. Their intensity was disturbing. They talked at her constantly as if their willpower could get their daughter to put the alphabet in order.

“Everyone knows” that the problem with “kids these days” is “parents these days.” If a child isn’t performing in school, his parents didn’t give him a good enough head start. Anxious that their children may fall short academically, one parent actually defended her daily academic work with her four-year-old with these words: “These days if your child isn’t reading by kindergarten, he won’t succeed in school.” (BTW, this notion is not only 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: I agree with GOP on this

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: I agree with GOP on this:

I agree with GOP on this

by Mike Klonsky

As thousands of teachers and other public employee unions gather in Springfield to oppose the big 

Ed Roundup for 8-17-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Ed Roundup for 8-17-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

Education Roundup for the Week Ending August 17, 2012

SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today issued this week's Education Roundup of education-related announcements of public interest.

California Students Win Awards and Scholarships

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today congratulated four California students for winning medals and scholarships last month at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National Leadership Conference held in Florida. Two other California students are also being noted for their leadership roles in the event.  

The students are members of FHA-HERO (formerly known as the Future Homemakers of America–Home Economics Related Occupations), the California affiliate of FCCLA.

Ian Villanueva, Jonathan Cayax, and Noemi Ruiz won silver medals in the culinary arts division, and also won scholarships from prestigious culinary academies and colleges. All three are Katella High School students in the Anaheim Union High School District in Anaheim. Sam Li of Rosemead High School of the El Monte Union High School District in Rosemead brought home a silver medal in the job interview event.

Also, Erika Montano of Colton High School in the Colton Joint Unified School District in Colton, and Priscilla Young of Mills High School in the San Mateo Union High School District in Millbrae are FHA-HERO State Officers who served on national consultant/president's teams and as voting and election delegates.

FHA-HERO is a career technical student organization recognized by the CDE for providing students with real-world experience and leadership skills that prepare them for careers. This is part of Torlakson's Career Readiness Campaign - Initiatives & Programs designed to lower the student dropout rate in California and provide high school graduates with the skills needed to pursue further education and training as they prepare to enter the workforce.

CDE Receives National Environmental Grant

The CDE received a $59,880 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help underprivileged children become more literate about the ocean and the environment.

Funding will be used to support the Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans (MERITO) Academy and will provide environmental education experiences for 1,500 students in the Ventura and Santa Barbara county schools. Children will participate in field trips to watershed, coastal, and island areas to get hands-on experience in science, as well as lessons in language arts, mathematics, visual arts, and English-language development that meet California's academic standards. The curriculum also includes the principles and concepts outlined in the state's Education & the Environment Initiative Curriculum - Science. Funding also will be used for teacher training, support materials, and to pay for field trips and transportation.

The CDE will pass the funding for the MERITO Academy through the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation starting this month and continuing through June 2013.

The grant is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Grant Program  .

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction

 
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

UPDATE: CNN Interview Airs Saturday @8:40 am EST« Diane Ravitch's blog

My Interview on CNN « Diane Ravitch's blog:

CNN Interview Airs Saturday @8:40 am EST

by dianerav

Just got airtime.
CNN interview on Newsroom tomorrow at 8:40 AM EST

Who Should Be Held Accountable?

by dianerav

A reader–a parent and teacher–writes.
Does she refer to the way that education policy is made by non-educators? Or to the reduction of education to data? Or the reduction of children to data points on a graph? Or the indifference to the developmental needs of children and adolescents? Or to the arrival of greedy for-profits into managing schools? Or the galloping 

Who Should Control the Standards?

by dianerav

A reader asks an important question:
Born on the cusp of the New Math, where I first got catechized in the Old Math and then had to learn the New Math in order to help my succeeding siblings through their homework, I am the survivor of more national curriculum reforms than either fashion of Math taught me to count.
But the one thing that distinguished all those Old Style reforms was the question of who was in charge of reforming the curriculum.  No matter how much textbook publishers may have had their hands in the till and their 

My Interview on CNN

by dianerav

I taped the interview a few minutes ago.
It airs tomorrow at 9-10 am EST.
It was a gotcha session.
This is the letter I sent to my contact at CNN.

This was one of the most biased interviews I have ever done, and I have done many. 
Randi Kaye asked me about NAEP scale scores, which was technically a very dumb question, and I was stunned. 

She thinks that a scale score of 250 on a 500 point scale is a failing grade, but a scale score is not a grade at all. 

It’s a trend line.

She asserted that the scale scores are a failing grade for the nation.

That is like saying that someone who scores a 600 on the SAT is a C student, because it is only 75% of 800. But that’s wrong. 

The scale is a technical measure. It is not a grade, period.

Then she asked me about an issue in Michigan, which fortunately, I had written about. But it was clear she was trying to blindside me. 

The point of her question was to blame teachers, and I refused to be pushed into her trap.

Then she read two hostile comments about my CNN post and asked for my response.

Was that supposed to be a balanced or fair interview? 

There was no effort to elicit my views, only a determination to prove me wrong and to assert that US education is terrible.

Shame on CNN.

CNN: please watch

by dianerav

Dear friends,
Watch the program. Reach your own judgment.
Do not react or complain until you have seen the segment, about 5 minutes.
Watch, listen, think.
Diane

No-Bid contracts may be “The Vallas Style,” but they are illegal in Connecticut. - Wait, What?

No-Bid contracts may be “The Vallas Style,” but they are illegal in Connecticut. - Wait, What?:

No-Bid contracts may be “The Vallas Style,” but they are illegal in Connecticut.

by jonpelto

During the first eight months that Paul Vallas worked as the Superintendent of the Recovery School District in New Orleans, he spent about $3 million on personal service contracts.

According to an investigation by the Times Picayune newspaper, most of those consultants had worked with Vallas when he was the CEO of the Philadelphia and Chicago schools systems.

The paper also discovered that “the vast majority of the RSD’s contracts were not competitively bid.”

At the time, however, Louisiana’s laws requiring that professional-service contracts be competitively bid were more lenient.  Interestingly, after all the publicity, Louisiana 

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for the Kids’ State Dinner | ED.gov Blog

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for the Kids’ State Dinner | ED.gov Blog:

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for the Kids’ State Dinner

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Guest Blogger

Cross-posted from the Let’s Move! blog.

We’re all pretty excited to greet 54 amazing young chefs at the White House on Monday, August 20, when First Lady Michelle Obama will host the first-ever Kids’ State Dinner. Joining us will be the talented young people (and their parents) whose recipes submitted for the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge most impressed the judges, and best met all the criteria: A healthy, original and affordable lunch that contains the five food groups (fruits, veggies, protein, low-fat dairy, and whole grains). Kids could integrate everything into one recipe, or incorporate some of those food groups into one dish and represent the others as suggested sides, like a whole-wheat wrap with chicken salad, lettuce and shredded carrots, served with skim milk and some strawberries.

Before we could narrow down the more than 1,100 entries to the finalists, however, we needed to test the recipes and make sure they also met the final criteria: Is it tasty? Take a look at the massive challenge our judges faced — how to choose just one per state?

Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.

Join us at Let’s Move on Monday at 10 am EST as we live-stream the big day, from the arrival ceremony in the White House through the First Lady’s remarks to the winners and even the special entertainment. a performance by Big Time Rush.

District Race to the Trough Is Off and Running | Truth in American Education

District Race to the Trough Is Off and Running | Truth in American Education:

District Race to the Trough Is Off and Running

by Shane Vander Hart

The Department of Education announced last week that it is accepting applications for District Race to the Top funds.  They have allocated $400 million for the program with a $25 million award cap.

The grading system has changed compared to what was originally proposed. Education Week reports what the new contest rules and grading system consists of:

In addition to meeting the 2,000-student threshold, to be eligible to compete a district must also implement evaluation systems for teachers, principals, and superintendents by the 2014-15 school year.

Districts must also address how they will improve teaching and learning using personalized “strategies, tools, and supports.”

In fact, this personalized learning component makes up 40 points on the 200-point grading scale. The rest of the grading scale is:

• Prior academic track record and how transparent the district is (such as if it makes school-level expenditures readily available to the public), 45 points;
• “Vision” for reform, 40 points;

Vouchering an Educational Adventure | Dissident Voice

Vouchering an Educational Adventure | Dissident Voice:

Vouchering an Educational Adventure

by Walter Brasch

I hadn’t talked with Marshbaum for a couple of years, ever since he left newspaper journalism for more lucrative work in the fast food industry. But here he was in my office to ask if I would publicize his new educational adventure.
“That’s great!” I said. “You’re finishing the last three years of college.”
“I own the school. CEO of Little Minds Charter and Voucher Corp. We’re on the leading edge of the trend to privatize schools.”
“How does mumbling into a broken speaker box make you qualified to run a school?” I asked.
“Interpersonal communication skills,” he replied. “That, and knowing how to count change and arrange work schedules for the three minimum-wage high school kids on my late night shift. It’s all administration and proper 

Jersey Jazzman: Yet Another NJDOE Secret: Interdistrict Choice

Jersey Jazzman: Yet Another NJDOE Secret: Interdistrict Choice:

Yet Another NJDOE Secret: Interdistrict Choice

by Duke

We have a program in New Jersey called Interdistrict Public School Choice. It's an interesting idea: a student can go to another appoved school district, within 20 miles. Ostensibly, the student will choose to leave their "worse" home district and choose to go to a "better" district; most of the migration is going to be away from the cities and toward the suburbs.

I have mixed feelings about this. There's no denying that New Jersey's schools are highly segregated; this is an attempt, however, small, to address that. You could make a good argument that our small suburban districts and "home rule" contribute greatly to the problem; if Jersey had county-wide districts like some states, there might be more movement in the student population. This is an attempt to correct for that.