Tuesday, May 28, 2013

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

Schools Abducted: Despoliation of Community

by Kuhio Kane

Clearly, there are more and more parents educating themselves regarding testing in schools and how they can pull their kids out of testing. Not all parents can put their children under a homeschooling overseen by credentialed personnel. While we strive to keep our public schools public and free of the new reform movement that brings […]

Addendum to Schools Abducted: Despoliation of Community

by Kuhio Kane

I wrote the above article while navigating a vessel in a heavy wind. I made an egregious error. I AM not for the closing of public schools, especially those in large, urban areas. NOR would I encourage “urban blight.” What I intended to say was: If it comes to this, then let them take out […]

Oh, before I forget to mention it…

by Chalk Face, PhD

I found all these great reports that basically prove without a doubt the major contentions of the education reform movement. I’m serious. Here they are, linked below based on each issue. Socioeconomic status does not predict educational outcomes. Competition for per-pupil expenditures improves student and parent satisfaction. Psychic Sylvia Brown predicts: “The Common Core will […]

Another taste of test abstention data

by Chalk Face, PhD

As we continue to sift through the data from the survey, I wanted to offer the reader another taste. Here’s the list of tests refused this year. Now, I’ve learned two things from this. One, a great variety of assessments. And two, are you kidding me? How many products do we need and how much […]

Our interviews with John Merrow & Karen Lewis

BY CHALK FACE, PHD 3 COMMENTS

UPDATED First, our interview with Mr. Merrow. The comprehensive PDF of Merrow’s writing on Rhee, to go along with the interview. Second, our most recent interview with CTU’s Karen Lewis. We keep getting you those stories in education that you don’t hear anywhere else.

FILED UNDER: CHALK FACE: GENERAL NEWS & COMMENTARY TAGGED WITH:CHICAGO, DCPS, JOHN MERROW, KAREN LEWIS, MICHELLE RHEE, SCHOOL CLOSINGS, TEST CHEATING, WASHINGTON DC

A lesson in reform from, of all places, The Princess Bride

MAY 28, 2013 BY CHALK FACE, PHD LEAVE A COMMENT

Yesterday evening, I was thinking. Not too hard. But I was reminded of this classic scene from The Princess Bride. It’s a longer excerpt, but a good one. Read it, I’ll meet you at the bottom. “Pour the wine,” said the man in black. Vizzini filled the two goblets with deep-red liquid. The man in […]

FILED UNDER: CHALK FACE: GENERAL NEWS & COMMENTARY TAGGED WITH: BATTLE OF WITS,CHOICE, PRINCESS BRIDE

Teachers College Convocation Turns into Protest Against Corporate Enablers,Tisch and Fuhrman

MAY 28, 2013 BY JIM HORN LEAVE A COMMENT

I am just back from a weekend off and delighted to see a forwarded email on the Teachers College Convocation/Student Protest May 21. As you can see, the protest was quiet but very powerful, as these photos indicate (click to enlarge). This is the proudest I have been in a long time to be associated […]

FILED UNDER: JIM HORN: SCHOOLS MATTER TAGGED WITH: FUHRMAN, STUDENT PROTESTS,TEACHER EDUCATION, TISCH

CCSS + iPad + Kindergarten = ?

MAY 27, 2013 BY CHRIS CERRONE 3 COMMENTS

= tablet time instead of : play time discovery time creative time nap time sharing time outside time … Follow the author on twitter @stoptesting15

FILED UNDER: CHRIS CERRONE: THE "PARENTUCATOR"

One Step Closer……

MAY 27, 2013 BY PEGGYROBERTSON LEAVE A COMMENT

Every time a child takes a high stakes test we are one step closer to the end of public education. Keep that in mind next year – especially if you are a student and/or have a child that doesn’t mind the test – know that the action of taking the test in fact is assisting […]

FILED UNDER: PEGGY ROBERTSON: PEG WITH PEN

solidaridad: Crenshaw Student Forum – Community Standing up to Deasy’s Racist Reconstitution

MAY 27, 2013 BY RDSATHENE LEAVE A COMMENT

solidaridad: Crenshaw Student Forum – Community Standing up to Deasy’s Racist Reconstitution. Anyone in the Los Angeles area interested in preserving public education is encouraged to attend and support this event.

FILED UNDER: ROBERT D. SKEELS: SCHOOLS MATTER TAGGED WITH: CRENSHAW HS, JOHN DEASY, LAUSD, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATIZATION, RECONSTITUTION, RESISTANCE, STRUGGLE

In case you were wondering, apartheid totally apt, #cpsclosings

MAY 27, 2013 BY CHALK FACE, PHD LEAVE A COMMENT

I’m researching something else. But I encountered the following article from the Baltimore Sun in 1986. During apartheid, they closed 30 Black schools at once and it was a BIG deal. In Chicago, IL, United States, in 2013, they’re closing 50. Wow. Also found this curious passage in an earlier article, perhaps from the 50s or […]

FILED UNDER: CHALK FACE: GENERAL NEWS & COMMENTARY TAGGED WITH: APARTHEID,BLACK SCHOOLS, CHICAGO, SCHOOL CLOSINGS, SOUTH AFRICA

Introducing Old School Sean

MAY 27, 2013 BY CHALK FACE, PHD 5 COMMENTS

We like to (and by we I mean I/me) repurpose various Internet memes for education. You can Google Search “Old Economy Steve.” That’s a new one for me. So, I thought I would introduce you all to “Old School Sean.” Enjoy. And, please, make your own. Here are some samples.

FILED UNDER: CHALK FACE: GENERAL NEWS & COMMENTARY TAGGED WITH: MEMES, OLD ECONOMY STEVE, OLD SCHOOL SEAN

Get Off the Pot

MAY 27, 2013 BY ANTIQUETEACHER60 10 COMMENTS

Something has been nagging in my brain for a while now. It was a comment left on one of my posts about being tired that said “Shit or get off the pot.” When the comment was posted, my mouse hovered over the “unapprove” button, but then I thought to myself that the comment, while I […]

FILED UNDER: ANNE SULLIVAN: THE ANTIQUE TEACHER TAGGED WITH: CCSS, TEACHER ACTIVISM

All Lives Have Equal Value. Right, Bill and Melinda?

MAY 26, 2013 BY KRIS NIELSEN 6 COMMENTS

A letter from Susan DuFresne: Dear Bill and Melinda Gates, Yes, I include Melinda in this letter, because as I understand it, Melinda is very involved in the Gates Foundation’s ideas and policies on public education. Your influence has won you the Notorious PhD’s aka Mark Naison’s poll: Most Influential Corporate Reformer title. As a […]

FILED UNDER: KRIS NIELSEN: FIRST, DO NO HARM TAGGED WITH: BILL GATES, SUSAN DUFRESNE

The bird is the word!

MAY 26, 2013 BY TIMOTHY D. SLEKAR 5 COMMENTS

In this episode of @the chalkface Radio, Shaun and I talk to CTU president Karen Lewis. Enjoy: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chalkface/2013/05/26/at-the-chalk-face-progressive-edreform-talk However, we started the show by talking about actions WE can take to fight edreform. Karen said something simple but powerful. She suggested that instead of showing our disgust for the reformers and their vision of public schools […]

FILED UNDER: TIM SLEKAR: SOMEONE HAS TO SAY IT!

Jason Stanford rightly states “Time to Stop Waiting for Superman”

MAY 26, 2013 BY RDSATHENE 1 COMMENT

Rhee Announces Teachers Should Suffer During Holidays, Too

“According to Whitmire, Rhee and Fenty should have paid heed to the “fears” of African Americans, but not because there were any actual race issues during Rhee’s tenure. Racism in DC is all done now–all that racism and “experimentation” is history and happened 1960s and 1970s. According to Whitmire, black people in DC perceived racism under Rhee, […]

FILED UNDER: ROBERT D. SKEELS: SCHOOLS MATTER TAGGED WITH: ALEXANDER RUSSO,CORPORATE EDUCATION REFORM, CORPORATE LIES, EDUCATION REFORMER, JAY MATHEWS, JOHN MERROW, JONATHAN ALTER, MICHELLE RHEE, NAEP, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATIZATION, RACHEL LEVY,RDSATHENE, RICHARD WHITMIRE, WASHINGTON DC

Corporate Commerical Selling Standards?

MAY 26, 2013 BY CHRIS CERRONE 1 COMMENT

Every day that passes we get more proof that the Common Core is really a corporate money grab. From Barnes and Noble: Thank you to Kristen G from the NYS Opt Out group!

Shanker Blog » The FCAT Writing, On The Wall

Shanker Blog » The FCAT Writing, On The Wall:

The FCAT Writing, On The Wall

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on May 28, 2013

The annual release of state testing data makes the news in every state, but Florida is one of those places where it is to some degree a national story.*

Well, it’s getting to be that time of year again. Last week, the state released its writing exam (FCAT 2.0 Writing)results for 2013 (as well as the math and reading results for third graders only). State Education Commissioner Tony Bennett said the results showed “incredible improvement.” Similarly, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE)press release noted: “With significant gains in writing scores, Florida’s teachers and students continue to show that higher expectations and support at home and in the classroom enable every child to succeed.” This interpretation of the data was generally repeated without scrutiny in the press coverage of the results.

Putting aside the fact that the press release incorrectly calls the year-to-year changes “gains” (they are actually comparisons of two different groups of students; see here), the FLDOE’s presentation of the FCAT Writing results is, at best, incomplete and, at worst, misleading. Moreover, the issues in this case are uncommonly easy to illustrate using the simple data released to the public.

First, however, it’s important to note that the administration of the FCAT Writing test changed in a manner that precludes straightforward comparison of the 2013 results to those from 2012. Prior to 2013, students were given 45 minutes to complete the “writing prompt,” or the essay portion of the exam. Starting with the 2013 test, they were

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:

Mike Klonsky

May 23, 2013

Education in Your Backyard — Whole Child Education

Education in Your Backyard — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Education in Your Backyard

May 28, 2013 by Walter McKenzie

As a director of Constituent Services at ASCD, I work with the best and the brightest educators leading our affiliates around the world. It is a sincere honor and privilege. And this time of year, as affiliate boards begin meeting, reflecting, and planning, I have the opportunity to work with them virtually and face-to-face and support them in their important work. Representing ASCD, I enjoy bringing the collective resources of the world's premier professional education association to our leaders in the field. What I enjoy the most, though, is learning from our affiliates as they share their successes and opportunities.

Here are some examples from the road this spring:

ASCD and its affiliates have made the successful case for the whole child approach in the national and global dialogue on education.
The Whole Child Tenets nicely align with and complement (PDF) the Common Core State Standards.
There are opportunities to meet the needs of teachers and students not already being addressed.
Educators continue to respond to quality, targeted professional development that meets their immediate

All Education Matters: The Guardian - Student debt crisis: 'it's like carrying a backpack filled with bricks'

All Education Matters: The Guardian - Student debt crisis: 'it's like carrying a backpack filled with bricks':

The Guardian - Student debt crisis: 'it's like carrying a backpack filled with bricks'

by Cryn Johannsen

Here is a snippet from my latest piece, which was published by the Guardian today:

Amy Diede homeschools her two children – Caleb, 9, and Ashley, 8 – and is married to a devoted husband and father, Christian. Even though Amy has a master's in psychology, and until recently was a professional herself, Christian is now the breadwinner for the family, working as a cardiovascular nurse on short-term contracts across the country.

At the moment, the Diede family lives in California. Christian wants to own a home again, but for now they are a roaming family whose home is a 400-square-foot RV. A big part of the problem is Amy's student loan debt. It does not merely affect their bank statement, it has found its way into their daily thoughts and life. Together, Amy and Christian owe over $82,000 in student loans.

The rest of the article can be read in its entirety here.

Spring Cleaning | EduShyster

Spring Cleaning | EduShyster:

Spring Cleaning

by edushyster2012

The civil rights issue of our time will require replacing old, non-excellent teachers with fresh new ones.
It is a true fact that young teachers are not only “fresher” but also more innovative and excellent. Now confirmed by a growing body of evidence (see scientific chart below), this scientific finding presents us with a quandary, not to mention a conundrum. How do we slough off all of the old, non-excellent teachers with their millstones of experience and pension obligations? And how much more unpleasant do we have to make their jobs before they finally get the hint and head through the double doors once and for all?
Case closed
First, a brief review of the mountain of mounting evidence. Last week saw the release of yet another studyconfirming once and for all that academies of excellence and innovation in Boston are even more outstanding

What We Talk About When We Talk About Poverty - Bridging Differences - Education Week

What We Talk About When We Talk About Poverty - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

What We Talk About When We Talk About Poverty

by Deborah Meier

Michael J. Petrilli continues his conversation with Deborah Meier today.
Dear Deborah,
I want to return to the perennial question of poverty as it relates to educational outcomes. One of the main arguments against education reform is that it misdiagnoses the problem. We have big "achievement gaps" in terms of test scores, graduation rates, college-going, and much else, but that's primarily because of inequities in our society, not because of the failings of our schools—so goes the thinking.
As I indicated in my first post for Bridging Differences, I'm not opposed to tackling these larger issues of poverty and inequality. (Neither are most reformers.) But we'd better have a good understanding of what we're tackling. I would argue that clarity is sorely lacking.
Is the issue really poverty, per se? The fact that many families in the U.S. don't have enough income to provide the advantages that other children enjoy? If so, are we satisfied with delineating the problem with the poverty line (currently about $20,000 for a family of three)? That qualifies 23 percent of all children (as of 2011), up from 18 percent before the Great Recession.
Or should we include children a little bit above the poverty line—from families that are "near-poor" or "working-

UPDATE: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, with Malloy at his side + “Shocking Numbers Of Kindergarten, First Grade Suspensions” at Achievement First Schools - Wait, What?

Meanwhile, more on the “Shocking Numbers Of Kindergarten, First Grade Suspensions” at Achievement First Schools - Wait, What?:

News Flash: School Districts thrown under the bus as Commissioner Pryor ends successful technical services program

by jonpelto

Last Friday, Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education quietly ended what has widely been recognized as one of the State Department of Education’s most important and successful programs.

For years, a variety of Connecticut school districts have been receiving vital technical assistance from a group of retired superintendents and senior school administrators through a program housed at the State Department of Education.

The program has functioned thanks to a grant through EASTCONN, the Regional Education Service Center. The program has funded four State Department “Leaders in Residence,” along with three retired school superintendents. Together these people have been giving school districts across the state with critically important helpg on a wide

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, with Malloy at his side, blunders his way through Hartford…

by jonpelto

….may have been attempting to explain his approach and commitment to school safety.

Like parents everywhere, most politicians were extremely disturbed and upset in the hours, days and weeks following the Newtown nightmare. Many led or joined the debate about how best to respond to the massacre and what laws and policies could be adopted to try to limit such disasters in the future.

Some of the ideas discussed in the weeks and months after the Newtown tragedy seemed to be genuine attempts to find solutions to the cycle of violence that threatens our children and our society. Other proposals seemed little more than publicity stunts designed exclusively to get politicians featured on the evening news.

As we approach the six-month anniversary of the shooting in Newtown, we continue to

Meanwhile, more on the “Shocking Numbers Of Kindergarten, First Grade Suspensions” at Achievement First Schools

by jonpelto

As Wait, What have readers learned over the last two years, Achievement First, Inc. the Charter School management company that runs more than two dozen schools in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island is notorious for “out-migrating” or “dumping” any students that don’t fit their “exacting” standards.

While Achievement First likes to brag that their students do better on standardized tests than students in their neighboring district schools, they fail to reveal that the get those results by refusing to provide educational services to broad social-demographic groups within the community. In virtually every situation, Achievement First educates students that are less poor and they fail to take on their fair share of students who face English language barriers or need special education services.

The harsh discipline program, which they start at the kindergarten level, is just one

Modern School: Administrators Union Protecting Bad Bosses or Just Business as Usual?

Modern School: Administrators Union Protecting Bad Bosses or Just Business as Usual?:

Administrators Union Protecting Bad Bosses or Just Business as Usual?

by Michael Dunn

While the teachers unions have been quick to jump on the evaluation reform bandwagon in hopes of appearing “reasonable” and “professional,” the real movers and shakers behind the Eval Reform movement are primarily interested in making it easier to fire bad teachers. Their presumption (at least the one conveyed to the press) is that there are a lot of bad teachers out there—how else to explain the deplorable state of public education in America. Never mind that graduation rates are higher than they were in the 40s or 50s and the number of kids from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds taking and passing AP and SAT exams is higher than ever.

Yet where in all this hysteria about rotten schools and our duty to the poor, innocent children is the scrutiny of the administrators, the ones who are ultimately responsible for all that occurs in their schools?

In Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD), Superintendent Deasy fired the entire teaching staff at Miramonte Elementary in response to sexual abuse allegations against two teachers, in a PR

"Dante" Ravitch's Abhorrent Attack on Ben Austin :: Frederick M. Hess

"Dante" Ravitch's Abhorrent Attack on Ben Austin :: Frederick M. Hess:

"Dante" Ravitch's Abhorrent Attack on Ben Austin

by Frederick M. Hess • May 28, 2013 at 9:18 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch

I've been friendly with Diane Ravitch for a long time. Encountering her historical work 20 years ago, I was struck by her hard-hitting, erudite analyses. She invited me to deliver my first featured talk (at Brookings, on my then-forthcoming Spinning Wheels book). When I was leaving UVA's Curry School of Education, she was one of the handful of mentors I turned to for guidance. A few years ago now, I hosted the first public event for her Death and Life book.

All of which left me enormously disappointed as I read two blog posts that Ravitch penned over the weekend. Ravitch weighed in on a situation in Los Angeles, where principal Irma Cobian was removed from her position at Weigand Avenue Elementary School in Watts when Parent Revolution helped parents exercise California's "parent trigger" law. Ravitch started out reasonably enough, pointing out that 21 of 22 teachers requested a transfer in response to Cobian's removal, and that one third-grade teacher said that Cobian's the best principal she's had in her nine years at the school. (It's also worth noting, though, as Parent Revolution does, that the school ranks close to the bottom of all LAUSD elementary schools on California's Academic Performance Index and that scores have fallen over the past three years under Cobian.)

Ravitch then shifted gears, summoning shades of Dante's Inferno, as she wrote of Parent Revolution, "There is a special place in hell reserved for everyone who administers and funds this revolting organization." One

Common Core & the High-Stakes "Hiatus"

In the past month or two, serious voices have called for a "hiatus" in high-stakes testing as new assessments are phased in over the next few years. The most notable champions of a hiatus have been Montgomery County superintendent Josh Starr and AFT...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Picnic in the park

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Picnic in the park:

Picnic in the park

by Mike Klonsky

Sadly, I missed yesterday's school-closing protest picnic in Millennium Park. Despite the rain, it looked like great fun. I was still recovering from 70th birthday celebrations. Old rocking chair's got me.

ABC News also picked it up.

Chicago Grid has an interview this morning with CFL Pres. Jorge Ramirez who says that so-called pension reform is keeping him up at night. I hope so.

Says Ramirez,

“There’s going to be critics of what’s been put out there…. There’s a great likelihood that there will

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Best of the Ed Blogs

Education in Your Backyard

"Dante" Ravitch's Abhorrent Attack on Ben Austin