Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Diane in the Evening 2-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Breaking News: Rhee’s StudentsFirst Dumps $250,000 into Los Angeles School Board Race

by dianerav

Three candidates who support Superintendent John Deasy received a gift of $250,000 from M. Rhee today.
This is added to the $1 million supplied by Mayor Bloomberg, and the $1.5 million raised by Eli Broad and his friends (including Joel Klein).
Clearly there is an all-out effort to make sure that corporate reform policies favored by the Gates Foundation win

Good News: Indiana Senate Panel Scraps School Grading System

by dianerav

The Republican controlled Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to abandon Tony Bennett’s prized A-F grading system for schools.
Researchers have found that such grading systems are unreliable and unfair.
Undoubtedly Republican legislators heard from

The Corporate Takeover of Indianapolis Public Schools

by dianerav

A reader sent the following information about the planned destruction of public education in Indianapolis:
Unfortunately the Neighborhoods of Educational Opportunity/Indianapolis Mayor’s Office plan (NEO) presentation which has been made public is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a well documented, more detailed plan that select groups (The Mind Trust, Stand for Children, Teach for America, The New Teacher Project) are meeting about in private and making plans while they await the possible receipt of a Bloomberg grant of $5 mil to get this

Breakthrough! Teacher Develops Metric for Love

by dianerav

Steve Strieker is a teacher in Janesville, Wisconsin, who knows how important data are.
So he developed a survey metric that accurately and succinctly records the amount of love his family members have for one another.
Some showed improvement.
Others didn’t.
We can learn from his important research.
Surely there must be a foundation that will give him a few million to extend his studies of socio-emotional attachments and metric calibrations.

A Debate About Little Children and the Common Core

by dianerav

A few days ago, my six-year-old grandson, who attends first grade in a public school in New York City, called to ask a question.
He said, “Ama, I am doing a data analysis. I need to ask you a question.”
I said, “You are doing a WHAT?” He repeated, “I am doing a data analysis.”
Then he asked whether I would rather be a porcupine or a hedgehog.
I thought a minute and said I would rather be a hedgehog.
He was very surprised. I knew he was doing something related to the Common Core, but I still thought he was a

How Charters Went from Portfolios to Parasites

by dianerav

If I had to choose one post each day that was a must-read, this would be it.
Bruce Baker of Rutgers has followed the evolution of the charter movement.
He initially thought they might be a source of innovation, as their

Can’t Keep Any Secrets

by dianerav

I revealed the title of my new book yesterday and said the subtitle was a secret.
Then a reader commented that he found the book on a website, so my secret is out.
The full title of the book is
Reign of Error:
The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger for America’s Public Schools

What Will Happen to Eastside Memorial High School?

by dianerav

When I was in Austin last September to speak to the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas School Boards Association, I scheduled a visit to Eastside Memorial High School.
There I spoke to a rally of hundreds of parents, students, and teachers who were determined to save their school, which had recently been handed over to a charter chain.
After I left, there was an election, and the new school board decided to sever the

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-20-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Jeb Bush Hits a New Low by dianerav I read on Twitter just now that I compared “school choice” to a Nazi invasion. “*Excellence in Ed* ‏@*ExcelinEd* . @*DianeRavitch* likens school choice to Nazi invasion. Yes. You read that correctly. http://bit.ly/Y7svLC“ To say the least, I was taken aback because I had never written or implied any such thing. But consider the source. It comes from Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education (“excellence” in this case meaning the Jay Mathews: Why Did Two Inspe... more »

SI&A Cabinet Report – Congressional panel calls for larger federal role in directing schools

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Congressional panel calls for larger federal role in directing schools
By Tom Chorneau
Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A white paper released Tuesday on improving educational competitiveness and closing the achievement gap called for a significantly larger federal role in the management of the nation’s public school system.

The report, developed by a Congressionally-chartered advisory commission to the U.S. Department of Education, questioned the logic of a governance system that “diffused” authority among more than 100,000 school boards that are subject to “state and local political shifts and economic volatility.”

Led by Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, a law professor from Stanford, and Christopher Edley, Jr., the dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, the 27-member Equity and Excellence Commission concluded that “America has become an outlier nation in the way we fund, govern and administer K-12 schools.”

To fix the system, the commission offered recommendations within five major categories of activities: school finance, teaching, early learning, high poverty schools and governance.

Perhaps most controversial of the recommendations came from the governance and accountability chapter where the panel said the federal government “must be clearer about our national expectations for student outcomes, insist on realistic but aggressive state plans to meet them, allocate resources to level the playing field across states and

Bush Foundation Ignores It’s Own Nazi Baiter in Zeal to Criticize Diane Ravitch | Scathing Purple Musings

Bush Foundation Ignores It’s Own Nazi Baiter in Zeal to Criticize Diane Ravitch | Scathing Purple Musings:

Bush Foundation Ignores It’s Own Nazi Baiter in Zeal to Criticize Diane Ravitch

by Bob Sikes

Like most ed reformers, Foundation for Excellence in Education writer Mike Thomas reponds reflexively to anything education historian Diane Ravitch says. Today Thomas latched onto a recent post Ravitch made in her blog. Writes Thomas:

Diane Ravitch has hit a new low in the hyperbole she allows on her blog site.
This was written about charter schools:
“But the privatizers declared war on our schools, our kids, our teachers, our parents and our taxpayers.
“We didn’t start this war, any more than Poland in 1939. But we must fight back. And ultimately, emerge victorious.
“And when you’re in a war, and you’re defending the lives of your community, unfortunately, nuance

Advanced Placement Results for 2011-12 - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

Advanced Placement Results for 2011-12 - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson
Encouraged by Advanced Placement® Results

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said today he is encouraged by the growing percentage of California high school graduates both taking and passing end-of-course Advanced Placement® (AP) exams that give high-school students a taste of college-level work.
"More of our high school students are challenging themselves by enrolling in college-level courses, and more of them meeting that challenge by passing these Advanced Placement exams," Torlakson said. "These results reflect the high value California students and families place on being ready for college—and the increasing success our students and schools are having in achieving that goal."
The 9th Annual AP Report to the Nation by the College Board showed that 37.4 percent of graduates from California's public high school class of 2012 took an AP exam during high school, up from 29.3 percent in 2007 and 24.1 percent in 2002.
And nearly a quarter (24.7 percent) of California's graduates posted an AP exam passing score of 3 or higher. Among states, the report ranks California 8th in the nation in the percentage of its graduates scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam.
The report also shows growing AP participation among diverse student groups in California. The percentage of Hispanic/Latino AP exam takers in the 2012 graduating class was 36.8, compared to 30.1 in 2007, and 27.5 in 2002. The percentage of AP exam takers in the 2012 graduating class who were African American was 3.8, compared to 3.6 in 2007, and 1.6 percent in 2002.
Research has shown that students who enroll in AP courses and take the end-of-course exam are better prepared for college and are more likely to graduate from college in the traditional four years.
Each year, the College Board recognizes school districts that increase access to AP course work while simultaneously increasing the percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher on AP Exams with its AP Districts of the Year Honor Roll.
A total of 539 districts across the United States and Canada were named to the most recent honor roll, including 22 school districts from California: Center Unified, Fontana Unified, Fremont Unified, Inglewood Unified, Long Beach Unified, Los Alamitos Unified, Manteca Unified, Milpitas Unified, Natomas Unified, Palo Alto Unified, Pittsburg Unified, Pleasanton Unified, Poway Unified, Redondo Beach Unified, Rialto Unified, San Ramon Valley Unified, Shasta Union High, Stockton Unified, Tustin Unified, Victor Valley Union High, Windsor Unified, and the Diocese of San Jose.

Line Dalile – Invest in Teachers and The Art of Teaching Student Voice

Student Voice:

Line Dalile – Invest in Teachers and The Art of Teaching

by admin

Let us redefine the word “Teacher”.

Teaching is not a job; it is an art. An art hidden behind a load of responsibilities. It lays the foundation of discovering mysteries, solving problems, and training our minds to question, explore, and investigate. To a world where knowledge is a treasure, teaching is a mirror that reflects future generations.

You can see that teaching is not an easy task. It is, in fact, a multi-task where a teacher has to combine creativity, intelligence, and passion when teaching productively, because after all, everything is a product of teaching. Teachers are the agents of the future fueling students with lifelong passion for learning.
But it is a matter of how we define the word “Teacher” in today’s society. Some think of a 50 year-old teaching materials than no one can digest, a 14 year-old teaching students her age, or a guy changing the world one video at a time. Others imagine the wisdom of Confucius, Socrates, and Anne Sullivan.

As I come to define the word “teacher”, I often look up how it’s perceived by societies, countries, and dictionaries. For centuries, we have thought of teachers as pots of knowledge pouring information in the brains of students. To Merriam Webster dictionary: A teacher is one that teaches; especially: one whose occupation is to instruct. Interestingly, in the Chinese language, a teacher is called 劳师, or old master. But to a fallow mind, a teacher is a planter of seeds, a precious thought that flourishes our path. To a wanderer with lost hope, a teacher is guide. To a creative mind, a teacher is a Muse, an inspiration, an idea. Put simply by the words of Gerlad Grow: “To a mind of flint, the teacher must be iron that strike sparks.” All around the world, nations are trying to improve the performance of their education system and schools, but with creating more standardized tests, the future doesn’t look bright. To boost the performance of our schools, we need to invest in teachers. According to an article written in 2009, Invest in teachers to raise achievement, “Children in classes taught by the best teachers learn four times faster than those in classes taught by the poorest ones.” Professor Dylan William of the Institute of Education, London says

Daily Kos: So tell me how you might respond

Daily Kos: So tell me how you might respond:

So tell me how you might respond

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

First, let me set the stage.
I was asked to do a piece for Academe, the publication of the American Association of University Professors. That appeared here about the impact of No Child Left Behind on education and what it might mean for college professors. I included some remarks about Advanced Placement as well.
When some who had read it asked permission to reprint or cross-post it, I also cross-posted it here at Daily Kos, where it got a fair amount of traffic.
That lead to Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post asking permission to repost it in her blog, which she didhere on February 9. That started a tsunami - take a look at the statistics on that posting - more than 96,000 recommends on Facebook, for example. I have received over 250 direct communications via Twitter, Facebook and Email. I have been interviewed on a half dozen radio shows, with additional requests still coming in. Follow

UPDATE: Tonight: Public Forum Race, MAP tests, and privatization: the fight for equality in public education « Seattle Education

Tonight: Public Forum Race, MAP tests, and privatization: the fight for equality in public education « Seattle Education:

That’s what friends are for: Rhee and the DC cheating scandal revisited

by seattleducation2011

I am re-posting this from a Weekly Update that I wrote on August 18, 2012 to remind folks about how Ms. Rhee got off the hook for the cheating scandal while she was Chancellor of the DC school system. August 18, 2012 In the “You gotta’ be kiddin’ me” category we have the results of [...]

Tonight: Public Forum Race, MAP tests, and privatization: the fight for equality in public education

by seattleducation2011

Public Forum

Race, MAP tests, and privatization:

the fight for equality in public education

Wednesday, February 20, 7:00pm

New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle

Bring your thoughts and opinions to a public forum with

Special guest speaker Dr. Steven Strauss

Dr. Strauss is a Baltimore-area neurologist and a Ph.D. linguistics scholar. As a speaker and writer on education issues, he brings an anti-capitalist analysis and the passion of a parent with two children educated in public schools. In 2011 he marched with Save Our Schools in Washington, D.C., to protest corporatization and high-stakes testing.

Also featuring Matt Carter

Carter is a 4th/5th grade teacher and one of 12 staff members at Orca K-8 who are boycotting the MAP test. He is a shop steward for the Seattle Education Association and a member of Social Equality Educators. As the parent of a son and a daughter at Orca, he has opted them out of the MAP test as well.

Door donation $3, students $1, snacks served at 6:30pm for a $4 donation

Sponsor: Freedom Socialist Party

For information 206-722-2453 or FSPseattle@mindspring.com.

To request childcare please call three days in advance.

Read Dr. Strauss’ April 2011 article “;Save Our Schools : Teachers initiate July march and days of action in Washington, D.C.”

UPDATE: Advanced Classes - For All? Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mayor McGinn's State of City Speech and Public Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mayor McGinn's State of City Speech and Public Education:

Advanced Classes - For All?

by Melissa Westbrook

News from OSPI:

More Washington students are taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, according to a national report released today.

The College Board’s ninth annual “AP Report to the Nation” shows that 20,581 Washington students (or 32.8 percent) in the class of 2012 took at least one AP exam. That number represents an increase of 1,276 (6.6 percent) from 2011 and 12,068 (62.5 percent) from 2002.

Not only did participation increase again this year, so did scores. In 2012, 20.0 percent of Washington’s 12th graders scored a three or greater – a score that generally qualifies for college credit – on an AP test. In 2011, 18.4 percent of students scored a three or greater; in 2002, 9.6 percent.
The 10.4 percentage-point increase in the past 10 years ranks Washington eighth among all states. The national average for the same period was 7.9 percent.

Mayor McGinn's State of City Speech and Public Education

by Melissa Westbrook

Thank you to reader Gail for this portion of the Mayor's State of the City speech yesterday. I have put in red those items that I wanted to call out.

Press Release

Today, Mayor Mike McGinn gave his fourth State of the City speech. Education and our schools were a major priority. There is no probably no stronger foundation for opportunity, and long term economic success, than ensuring that our children are educated. Click here to view the speech.

Early Learning
Early learning is a critical place where we can make an even bigger difference. The achievement gap need not be permanent. Kids shouldn't have to go to their first day of kindergarten starting off two laps behind the other kids. If we focus on early learning, every kid can start on that path together.

This fall, the City Office for Education will launch an Early Learning Academy to provide high quality, evidence-based early learning training for preschool providers in Seattle. This initiative will improve school readiness outcomes for young children and serve as an important element of the City's pre-kindergarten through third grade

Missed challenges more worrisome than tests - Class Struggle - The Washington Post

Missed challenges more worrisome than tests - Class Struggle - The Washington Post:

Missed challenges more worrisome than tests

By Jay Mathews

My long-time friend and source Ken Bernstein, known as teacherken to his many online fans, produced the most-read article on the Post’s Web site recently. He apologized to college professors for our high schools’ failure to prepare students “for the kind of intellectual work that you have every right to expect of them.”

Just retired from an award-winning career in Prince George’s County, Ken said students are not given “meaningful social studies instruction” before they reach high school because the federal No Child Left Behind law forces elementary and middle schools to focus on reading and math. Ken said the Advanced Placement Government exams he prepared his students for put too much emphasize on memorizing content. They gave no credit for good writing. In the piece, which first appeared in Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors, Ken said the legislators who created the tests failed to hear teachers’ warnings of stymied learning.

I agree that many students arrive in college ill-equipped to go deep into their studies and capture vital concepts. But that was a problem long before we started rating schools by their state exam averages. As a

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, February 20, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Baron: Superintendents in D.C. to talk district waiver with Duncan

Education Headlines

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

District adopts plan for possible cuts

Despite increased taxes and growing government revenue, teachers in the Desert Sands Unified School District should prepare for the possibility of layoffs or furloughs next school year. The Desert Sands school board adopted a plan for upcoming negotiations with the district teachers association during its meeting Tuesday night.

Perris Union setting bar high with English learner programs

Enter Heritage High School’s pilot AVID -- Advancement Via Individual Determination -- program for English learners, one of a number of measures that have helped the Perris Union High School District rank among Riverside County’s most successful long-term English learners programs geared toward students who have been learning the language for more than five years.

Suit dropped against Sequoia district for kicking cheater out of honors class

The father who sued the Sequoia Union High School District for kicking his son out of a sophomore honors class for cheating has dropped a lawsuit challenging the punishment.

School board nixes health, geography requirements

Geography and health are no longer required to graduate from high school in the Temecula Valley Unified School District. The school board approved a proposal to eliminate the two courses from graduation requirements with a 3-2 vote at a meeting Tuesday, Feb. 19.

San Jose Unified to sue county school board over Rocketship Education

Anxious about its ability to plan where to locate schools, the San Jose Unified School District plans to sue the Santa Clara County Board of Education for allowing Rocketship Education to build a K-5 charter school next to the Tamien light rail station in San Jose.

Antioch teacher duct taped boy's mouth shut, claim alleges

The family of an 8-year-old boy filed a claim Tuesday alleging the boy's third-grade teacher duct-taped his mouth shut and that another teacher punished him by placing a chair over him and sitting on it in separate incidents earlier this school year.

Baron: Superintendents in D.C. to talk district waiver with Duncan

Superintendents representing a coalition of 10 California school districts are scheduled to meet with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today to make a personal pitch for a district waiver from provisions of No Child Left Behind, which they plan to formally submit next week.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

LAUSD to count student test scores as 30% of teachers' evaluation

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy announced Friday that student test scores will make up 30 percent of a new teacher evaluation system, sparking a dispute with union leaders who say that isn't what he promised.

Tom Torlakson honors Hughes Middle School in North Long Beach for environmental efforts

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson paid a visit to the North Long Beach school to announce Hughes as one of four schools in the state nominated for the second annual Green Ribbon School Awards presented by the U.S. Department of Education.

Program reaches out to parents of migrant students

Last week, Stockton Unified's school board approved a program provided by the county office that will instruct parents of 20 McKinley migrant students in a variety of techniques targeting behavioral problems.

Shanker Blog » Through The Sunshine State's Accountability Systems, Darkly

Shanker Blog » Through The Sunshine State's Accountability Systems, Darkly:

Through The Sunshine State’s Accountability Systems, Darkly

by Matthew Di Carlo

Some Florida officials are still having trouble understanding why they’re finding no relationship between the grades schools receive and the evaluation ratings of teachers in those schools. For his part, new Florida education Commissioner Tony Bennett is also concerned. According to the article linked above, he acknowledges (to his credit) that the two measures are different, but is also considering “revis[ing] the models to get some fidelity between the two rankings.”
This may be turning into a potentially risky situation. As discussed in a recent post, it is important to examine the results of the new teacher evaluations, but there is no reason one would expect to find a strong relationship between these ratings and the school grades, as they are in large part measuring different things (and imprecisely at that). The school grades are mostly (but not entirely) driven by how highly students score, whereas teacher evaluations are, to the degree possible, designed to be independent of these absolute

Former Education Commissioner Blasts Common Core Process - Update Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:

Best of the Ed Blogs

Best of the Ed Blogs features a frequently updated selection of interesting and insightful blog posts on education policy. The views expressed by the bloggers on our blog roll are thoughtful, original, and entirely their own. We hope you make Best of the Ed Blogs your first stop for concise takes on today's most important education topics.