LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-28-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Maureen Reedy: Great News for Brooklyn’s Chess Champions!

by dianerav

Ohio master teacher Maureen Reedy has great news for the championship chess team at I.S. 318 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
She writes:
Great news! The national championship chess team of I.S. 318, a public school with a high poverty rate in NYC, will live on!
Please consider a contribution to combine with the $20,000 being raised by the tireless efforts of my friend, Fred 

Tennessee Parents and Teachers Use Social Media to Lambaste Kevin Huffman

by dianerav

This from a reader in Tennessee. Be sure to open the links and see the hilarious cartoons:
“This week, two separate Fire Kevin Huffman FB pages went up:
1. https://www.facebook.com/RemoveKevinHuffman?fref=ts
(Check out the cupcake cartoon posted today. 
2. https://www.facebook.com/TdoeCommissionerKevinHuffmanHasToGo
Also, a new petition started by some West Tennessee moms (called the Momma Bears) is up and running:

Faculty and Students at U. of Minnesota Oppose TFA

by dianerav

Faculty and graduate students of education denounced a plan by the University of Minnesota by the university to create a partnership with Teach for America.
To put it mildly, the statement they issued was blistering.
They said, in part,
“Teach for America contributes to creating more exploitative and precarious working conditions for teachers, often displacing career educators and decreasing job opportunities for our Initial Licensure Program teacher 

NCTQ: Set to Solve the Problems of Syria and Obesity Next

by dianerav

Now that the National Council on Teacher Quality has ranked nearly 2,000 teacher education programs without actually visiting them or meeting their faculty, bigger challenges are ahead.
—————————————————————————————
NCTQ to Tackle Syria and Obesity Next
By Isaac Prilleltensky, Dean of the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami, Florida
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), an organization much loved by Deans of Education around the 

Parent: A Sad Graduation Day at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, CA

by dianerav

Parent Chrissy Guzman-Alvarado is a parent  at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, California. This is the school–the only school in California–where the billionaire-funded “Parent Revolution” has been able to wheedle enough parents to sign petitions to close the school and hand it over to a charter school. When some parents who had put their names on the Parent Revolution petition asked to withdraw their signatures, the organization went to court and won a ruling that signing a petition was like an election and they couldn’t rescind 

EduShyster Discovers Hogwarts University for Education Reform

by dianerav

Just when you thought that you had heard it all, that “education reform” couldn’t get any zanier, EduShysterdiscovers that 50CAN is offering a Hogwarts University of Reform.
You won’t believe the faculty–many of whom unfortunately are deceased–and it won’t surprise you to learn that 

Diane in the Evening 6-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 minutes ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Latest NAEP Report: Don’t Believe What You Read about It by dianerav Today the federal government released the NAEP 2012 “Trends in Academic Progress.” This is known as the Long-Term Trend report. These tests seldom change in content. They are given every four years to national–not state–samples of students at ages 9-13-17. The reports say that achievement is stagnant, but it is not true. What is truly stagnant are the scores for the past four years. There were big achievement gains from 1971-2008 for whi... more »

Daily Kos: Charter Schools, the Invisible Hand, and Gutless Political Leadership

Daily Kos: Charter Schools, the Invisible Hand, and Gutless Political Leadership:

Charter Schools, the Invisible Hand, and Gutless Political Leadership

by rss@dailykos.com (plthomasEdD)

Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Billy's experience introduces readers to Tralfamadorians:

The creatures were friendly, and they could see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three. They had many wonderful things to teach Earthlings, especially about time....The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just the we way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another, like beads on a strong, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever. (pp. 33, 34)

One of the most memorable moments of Billy becoming unstuck in time is his watching a war movie backward. 

Perdido Street School: Martha Stewart Wants To "Shag" Bill Gates

Perdido Street School: Martha Stewart Wants To "Shag" Bill Gates:

Martha Stewart Wants To "Shag" Bill Gates

by reality-based educator

Don't drink any coffee while you're reading this or you might channel Danny Thomas:

Martha Stewart is no Paula Deen. Instead of buttering up her foods, Stewart’s been slowly buttering up the public, introducing a new side of herself that’s light and friendly.
A source tells Confidenti@l that over the past four months, the domestic diva has made a conscious effort to wear shorter skirts and say funnier things in an attempt to show people that it’s not just her oven that gets warm — and she’s enlisting the help of Bravo’s Andy Cohen to help with the makeover.

We’re told in early June, when Stewart, 71, held a talk at the 92nd Y in New York, she had one request — that Cohen ask the questions.

 

...

 

At that interview, Cohen got Stewart to play “Shag, Marry, Kill,” a naughty game where you have to 

Daily News Politics Blog: De Blasio Candidacy Is In Trouble

by reality-based educator

From Daily Politics:

Democrat Chris Quinn hit the stump Thursday with sign-waving supporters from the Hotel Trades Council -- a politically savvy union whose endorsement of her mayoral bid could spell trouble for rival Bill de Blasio. 

 HTC -- among the last major labor players to pick a side in the primary -- joins 32BJ/SEIU, the city's biggest property workers union, in endorsing Quinn.

While smaller than other top unions -- its membership includes 50,000 workers and retirees -- HTC has won acclaim for running smart ground games, particularly in Queens, and vows to spend as 

It Gets Better | ED.gov Blog

It Gets Better | ED.gov Blog:

It Gets Better

by Guest Blogger

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a new video where Department staff share personal stories and identify tools that support students experiencing bullying. In response to students suffering bullying in schools, ED has redoubled efforts to give parents, educators, and students the tools they need to stop harassment, including through the website Stopbullying.gov and civil rights enforcement.
We have also joined thousands of supportive messages, and numerous fellow agencies and Obama Administration colleagues, in the “It Gets Better” project.  And while ED staff explain that their experiences got better over time, we also want to emphasize that students shouldn’t have to wait – together we can help make it better today, not tomorrow.

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

Jessica McKinney works in the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education 

Daily Kos: I'm sorry I'm not in a classroom this week

Daily Kos: I'm sorry I'm not in a classroom this week:

I'm sorry I'm not in a classroom this week

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

and glad that I will again be teaching government (among other things) come August.
A major part of my approach to teaching government is to connect students with what is happening in the world around them.
It is hard to imagine a week richer than this for material on class discussion.
From the Congress, we have the combination of the Senate passing a sweeping immigration reform bill and the Speaker effectively saying it is DOA.
From the Supreme Court we have a wealth of decisions, not merely the blockbusters on Prop 8, DOMA, and Voting Rights Act, but also on the ability of corporations to force people to binding arbitration and an expanded notion of the takings clause of the 5th Amendment.  And of course, there are the ongoing issues about Snowden, Freedom of the Press, the Espionage Act, and related.
Let me offer some observations of how rich class discussions could be.

Education Research Report: New NAEP Report Compares Today’s Student Performance With That of 40 Years Ago

Education Research Report: New NAEP Report Compares Today’s Student Performance With That of 40 Years Ago:

New NAEP Report Compares Today’s Student Performance With That of 40 Years Ago

Long-term trend assessment shows improvement
for black and Hispanic students since the 1970s

Today’s 9-and 13-year-old students scored higher in reading and mathematics than their counterparts did 40 years ago according to The Nation’s Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012, a long-term trend assessment designed to track changes in the achievement of students ages 9, 13 and 17 since the 1970s. However, 17-year-olds did not show similar gains.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment is administered every four years and measures basic reading and mathematics skills to gauge how the performance of U.S. students has changed over time. Reading was first assessed in 1971, and mathematics in 1973. Results in 2012 from more than 50,000 public-and private-school students across the country are compared with assessments since the 1970s and offer an extended view of changes in achievement over the years.

Also known as The Nation’s Report Card, NAEP main assessments monitor student achievement at grades 4, 8 and 12 and are given to a nationally representative sample of students in reading, mathematics and many other subjects. The long-term trend differs from the main NAEP assessments in both its questions and its measurement of achievement, aiming to capture changes over time in student progress. The long-term assessment results are reported in average scores (0 to 500), at percentiles (10th and 25th, or lower performing; 50th, or 

Who Bill Gates is giving money to now in education:

Who Bill Gates is giving money to now in education

By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 28, 2013 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer

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The Gates Foundation has distributed a slew of grants to educational institutions and organizations in June for varied pursuits, including implementation of the Common Core State Standards, improvement of the federal financial aid system, and creation of a “national cadre of teachers experimenting with the use of games, learning and assessment tools.” Here are some of the largest education grants awarded by the foundation this month, obtained from the foundation’s Web site.

Council of Chief State School Officers
Date: June 2013
Purpose: to support the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Institute for Transition and Transformation Services partnership with the NJ DOE to support the state’s efforts to support high quality implementation of the Common Core of State Standards
Amount: $799,825
Term: 12
Topic: College-Ready

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Fayette County Public Schools
Date: June 2013

Debating Choice and Competition in Education | Choice Media | education reform homepage

Debating Choice and Competition in Education | Choice Media | education reform homepage:

Debating Choice and Competition in Education

by kate

Popout
Choice and Competition: Improving or Undermining Public Education? from EdWriters on Vimeo.

The Educated Reporter: For Charter Schools, Demand for More Success - And Seats

The Educated Reporter: For Charter Schools, Demand for More Success - And Seats:

For Charter Schools, Demand for More Success - And Seats

by Emily Richmond

A new report from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) is likely to provide plenty of ammunition for both supporters and critics of the independently operated, public-funded campuses.

The report—an update to the center’s frequently cited 2009 study -- looked at charter schools in 25 states, Washington, D.C. and New York City (the nation's largest school district). Researchers found that overall charter school students posted learning gains in reading that were slightly better than their demographically similar peers at traditional public schools. However, there wasn't much difference in student learning gains when it came to mathematics. At the same time, outcomes varied significantly among states, with some charter school students making strides while others actually lost academic ground. (For more on the study, check out Sara Mead’s thoughtful take for Education Sector.)

The charter school gains were particularly strong for students who arguably are most in need of an educational intervention – including the historically underserved populations of children of color, English-language learners, and those coming from low-income households. Here’s just one striking example: Black students living in 

Ed Notes Online: URGENT: Press release on student promotions crisis

Ed Notes Online: URGENT: Press release on student promotions crisis:

URGENT: Press release on student promotions crisis

by ed notes online

I posted the PRESS ALERT - earlier TODAY!.  Here is the full Press Release.

All are welcome to join the Change the Stakes monthly meeting tomorrow (Friday). 5:30 PM in room 4202 of the CUNY Grad Center, 5th Ave and 34th Street. Please bring photo ID to enter building. Hope to see many of you there! 

And See blogger Raginghorseblog who also posted this photo.

ChangetheStakes Bemoans the Chaos and Incompetence of Education Under Bloomberg 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Jane Maisel (917) 678-1913  Edith Baltazar (646) 326-8953  
changethestakes@gmail.com 

Press Alert

NYC DOE’s Test-Obsessed Promotion Policies Leave Families in Limbo: First day of summer is NO VACATION for parents wondering if children will be promoted 

New York City – In recent weeks the Department of Education (DOE) sent letters to thousands of students, including some with passing and even excellent grades, notifying them they have not been promoted to the next grade. Shocked parents, teachers and principals have been left scrambling to keep children from being unfairly held back. 

Unlike the rest of New York State, the city bases promotion decisions for 3rd-8th graders on test scores from the annual state English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams, regardless of student performance throughout the year. Yet since 2010, when the state began administering tests in April and May instead of January and March, promotion decisions in NYC have been based on preliminary test results because final scores are not released until mid to late summer. This has meant that some students are sent to summer school and denied the opportunity to participate in graduation ceremonies, even though their final test scores will qualify them for promotion. 

A middle school principal, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed her distress at having to tell an 8th grader he could not participate in graduation because of his preliminary test score in math. She asked, “What happens at the end of summer if his actual score shows he passed? He can’t walk for graduation. That only happens once.” The principal and his math teacher both believe the student’s performance met the bar for promotion. 

This year’s uncertainty about student promotion was compounded by the introduction of state exams based on the “Common Core Learning Standards,” to which schools and teachers are still in the process of transitioning. The exams themselves were wholly experimental. In fact, NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott acknowledged in a February letter to parents the serious challenges inherent in using scores from the April 2013 exams to assess student performance: “This year, because the tests are new, we cannot predict how the State will determine performance levels.” Nonetheless, the DOE is sending thousands of children to summer school based solely on preliminary results from experimental exams. 

“Our 8th grade daughter has been performing well in school all year,” says one Bronx mother, “How can the fact that she did not do well on the April math exam erase a whole year of learning and academic achievement?” 
Further, public school parents in NYC and across the country are increasingly skeptical about the reliance on standardized tests to make high-stakes decisions about the performance of students and teachers. As a result, a growing “opt out” movement has meant that hundreds of students in NYC refused to take this year’s state tests. 

1

Students without state test scores as well as those scoring in the bottom 10 percent of preliminary state exam results are subject to an inscrutable “portfolio review” process, which is largely based on yet another test. Conversations with parents and educators throughout the city reveal that: 

1. (1)  The process by which students are denied promotion is not at all transparent. Parents are not routinely informed that students with failing test scores or no test scores will be asked to take another test. 
2. (2)  Most parents whose children go through the “portfolio review” process are not aware that: 
   
• Their children are held to a higher standard than children promoted based on their state test scores, 
• Alternative tests comprise the bulk of a student “portfolio,” supplemented by only a few pieces of actual student work, 
• Despite the recommendations of a child’s teacher and principal, the district superintendent makes the final decision about promotion, 
• There is no consistency across districts in superintendent evaluations of portfolios. (3) In some districts, students who refused to take the April exams – including many with 
  high grades – seem to have had their portfolios singled out for a higher level of scrutiny. 
  
  “As parents we are particularly concerned because in so many ways our children’s teachers, who are best equipped to assess them, are excluded from the process, resulting in unnecessary work and anxiety for everyone,” said Andrea Mata, a parent in District 6. 
  
  Although students who are denied promotion are not required to attend summer school, they are strongly encouraged to take additional tests in August to move on to the next grade. These exams, created by the city, are yet a third set of tests used for student promotion decisions in New York City that further subject children to arbitrary promotion criteria and ignore the judgments of the people best qualified to assess their academic performance – their teachers. 
  
  Change the Stakes calls on the NYC Department of Education to immediate disclose information on the number of 3rd-8th grade students in each district who were “recommended” for summer school, the number of portfolios submitted by principals to superintendents in support of student promotion, and the approval rate for such portfolios for each district. 
  
  We also join parents across the city in calling for student promotion policies that are transparent in how decisions about individual students are made, proactive in communication with parents, and consistent across districts. Given the high number of unresolved contested student retention decisions in districts across the City, the DOE should designate a central office to handle inquiries and grievances relating to student promotion this year. 
  ### 
  
  Change the Stakes (changethestakes.org) is a group of parents and educators working to reduce the harm caused by high stakes-testing, which we believe must be replaced by valid forms of student, teacher, and school assessment. Change the Stakes believes decisions about a child’s promotion to the next grade should be made by educators who know the child using a broad range of information and tools to assess the child’s readiness to perform at the next grade level. 

‘Badass Teachers’ Fights for Public Education and Against Ed Deform

by ed notes online

The group is part of an ongoing revolution in education in which teachers, parents, and students are exasperated and exhausted by the Obama administration’s Race to the Top proposals and the testing they require, the Common Core State Standards, and school closings..... Takepart.com

Mark Naison was one of the people who got this started and it is growing fast. Below is an article followed by a BAT press release. Anyone can join as I found out when I went to join and was already a member as someone signed me up. anyone can sign you up and you can add your friends. Build it and they will come.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/06/24/badass-teachers-launches-fight-for-place-table

June 24, 2013 Takepart.com

A group calling themselves the Badass Teacher Association (BAT) launched a campaign on Monday against America's federal education policies.

The 15,000-plus strong Internet group spent Monday making hundreds of calls to the White House switchboard to tell President Barack Obama to replace Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education. Instead, the teachers want a lifetime educator who better understands and empathizes with teachers and parents.

The White House call was the first action since the group started about a week ago with an initial 100 members on Facebook.

How Ed Deform in the Name of Choice Takes Away Parent Choice

by ed notes online

From a new member on the Change the Stakes listserve. NOTE: CTS meets today at 5:30 at CUNY, 5th av and 34th st, rm 4202. (Bring ID).

I'd like to observe that a side effect of being part of a pathological system is that one begins to see small victories as progress and to forget what a healthy system would be like. 

As a citizen and a parent with many parent friends in the rest of America, I don't understand why I have fewer rights than they do when it comes to schools. 

1. They have manageably-sized school districts. We could have one school district in each borough, completely independent from the other boroughs. 

2. They vote for a school board. Talk about accountability! Instead of voters having to consider everything to do with city life, including schools, when they vote for a mayor, they have school 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Student college loan rates will double next week. Another win for Wall St.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Student college loan rates will double next week. Another win for Wall St.:

Student college loan rates will double next week. Another win for Wall St.

by Mike Klonsky

Another win for Wall St.

Despite all the big talk coming from administration ed bureaucrats about college readiness, 21st-Century learning, and Common Core Standards, a college education is becoming a more distant possibility for all but the wealthiest students and their families. 

Congressional action that would keep student loan rates from doubling on July 1 seems ready to die on the Senate floor, blocked by Dem. Majority Leader Harry Reed. Barring a last-minute breakthrough, 7.4 million university students will see rates on their federal Stafford loans jump to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent on July 1.

Democratic leaders, once convinced they could win a clear victory over Republicans, were reduced Wednesday to arguing that allowing interest rates to double would be better than fixing loans to 

Manga and anime declared good study tools for kids | toteachornototeach

Manga and anime declared good study tools for kids | toteachornototeach:

Manga and anime declared good study tools for kids

by aristotlethewise

Manga and anime declared good study tools for kids

by Rachel Tackett

Children’s books and television shows these days are nothing compared to the ones that many of us had growing up. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. I think back fondly on those days of watching Rugrats and Scooby Doo marathons and scoff at the thought of modern-age children rotting their brains with Spongebob and Annoying Orange. But the fact of the matter is that letting kids subject themselves to those books and animations is important to the development of reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, though the shows now seem like garbage to our fully-developed minds.
In Japan, the same sort of issue arises with kids becoming obsessed with manga and anime. Parents may try to insist that their children put away the comics and pick up a real book. Some may even go so far as to throw out their child’s comic magazines as they begin to pile up. However, according to one of the professors at Tama University, Yuichi Higuchi, in his short essay “Are you a Bad Parent?” keeping kids away from their anime and comics is a terrible thing to do!
Let’s start with the manga. According to Professor Higuchi, reading and rereading the same manga many times 

NYC Educator: State Senator Ruben Diaz Makes His Ignorance and Bigotry a Priority for All

NYC Educator: State Senator Ruben Diaz Makes His Ignorance and Bigotry a Priority for All:

State Senator Ruben Diaz Makes His Ignorance and Bigotry a Priority for All

by NYC Educator

State Senator Ruben Diaz believes you should be very careful before assigning guilt when he's involved. Yet it's different for teachers, who are all guilty no matter what.

In fact, because he reads all the crap in the Daily News and believes it, or at least thinks impressionable voters do, he's introducing legislature to "ban sex creeps from school property--not just the classroom." Those are the thoughtful words of some ace reporter from the Daily News who clearly does not wish to prejudice readers in any way.

One wonders what line a reporter has to cross to be guilty of libel, and I suppose words like "pervy," "sicko," and "sex creep" do not cross that 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Progressive Caucus says Rahm's cuts have created beggar schools

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Progressive Caucus says Rahm's cuts have created beggar schools:

Progressive Caucus says Rahm's cuts have created beggar schools

by Mike Klonsky

A Small Talk salute goes out to the members of the City Council's Progressive Caucus who "came out swinging"Thursday against Rahm's “draconian” school budget cuts.

“We are alarmed by the stripping of basic necessities which define a school. The neighborhood schools have been reduced to beggars, lacking such essentials as sanitation supplies, library book funds, field trip money, playground supervision,” the eight-member caucus said in a prepared statement.

The eight-member Caucus includes: Bob Fioretti (2nd); Leslie Hairston (5th); Roderick Sawyer (6th); Toni Foulkes (15th); Ricardo Munoz (22th); Scott Waguespack (32nd); Nick Sposato (36th) and John Arena (45th).

Ald. Sawyer

Ald. Sawyer, whose South Side ward is home to hundreds of teachers, said Emanuel cannot wash his hands of the problem by blaming the pension crisis.

“When we were consolidating schools, the argument was we would have more