7-24-13 Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.

Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.:

It’s called leadership…

Let’s be honest with each other for a moment. Let’s take back all the fake smiles and friendly little emails. Let’s tell all the cute puppies to go home and cast aside all the colorful rainbows… Sometimes people just don’t care what you think. They could honestly care less about your opinion and your existence (or lack thereof). You really don’t have much of an effect on them. This is not all pe

by Justin Tarte / 7min 

Changing To a Competency Based Grading System: A Student View

My New Hampshire high school made the shift to a competency-based grading and reporting system two years ago. Educators who talk to me about that experience often want to know what that change process looked like from a student’s perspective. Surprisingly, most students were comfortable with the shift provided that they believed the school and teachers were effective at explaining how their grade

by Brian Stack / 7min 

8 Principal leadership tips for the new year…

I recently had the opportunity to hear Andy Greene, Middle School Principal from New York, speak to us about collaboration and the PLC process. From as soon as I walked in the room, I knew Andy’s session was going to be good. Here are some of the highlights that really had an impact on me:1) – Building principals can’t invite ‘collaboration’ to happen; they must require collaboration to happen. A

by Justin Tarte / 7min 

Window of Opportunity

It’s always interesting to me how worlds can collide. We had a guest speaker at church tonight, Dr. Tim Kimmel. His sermon was on grace based parenting, particularly, how to get through the sensitive tween years.  While I don’t quite have a tween, (gulp.) I was still struck by a story that I think relates to what we do as educators.  While in the 9th grade, Kimmel arrived at gym class one day to s

by Amber Teamann / 7min 

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

Bridgeport’s Kenneth Moales Jr. goes off the deep end; passes out flyer attacking CT Post and their lead reporter

Categories: Bridgeport CT Post Kenneth Moales Malloy Mayor Bill Finch Paul VallasTags: BridgeportConnecticut PostKenneth Moales Jr.MalloyMayor Bill FinchPaul VallasAt last night’s Board of Education meeting, Kenneth Moales Jr. passed out a flyer attacking the Connecticut Post and one of their more experienced, leading reporters, Dan Trepfer. The flyer is a stunning assault on a free and independe

by jonpelto / 15min

Divine intervention in Bridgeport….

Categories: Bridgeport Kenneth Moales Malloy Mayor Bill Finch Paul VallasTags: BridgeportKenneth Moales Jr.MalloyMayor Bill FinchPaul VallasKenneth Moales’ church “Miraculously” gets certificate of occupancy and Board of Education votes to pay for Vallas’ legal fees. According to the Connecticut Post, “Just hours after city officials conceded that the Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr. had been operating hi

by jonpelto / 14h 

We don’t need no stinkin Certificate of Occupancy…. Laws don’t apply to Rev. Moales

Categories: Budget Cuts Kenneth Moales Mayor Bill Finch Paul VallasTags: BridgeportKenneth Moales Jr.Mayor Bill FinchPaul VallasThe strange twisted tale of Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. the Paul Vallas defender, Mayor Bill Finch campaign treasurer and Chairman of the Bridgeport Board of Education took another strange turn yesterday when the Connecticut Post reported that Moales’ 1500-seat church,

by jonpelto / 1d 

Choosing Democracy: Sacramento District Insists on closing public schools

Choosing Democracy: Sacramento District Insists on closing public schools:

Sacramento District Insists on closing public schools

The  Sacramento City school district is  closing  seven elementary schools, disproportionately hurting students in low-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods.

In response, twelve students and their parents filed a civil rights lawsuit, asking a federal court to block the closures. The suit claims that the Sacramento City Unified District’s decision “was motivated by an intent to discriminate against the minority populations” and will result in “a disastrous discriminatory effect on the poor, disadvantaged population which is served by these neighborhood schools slated for closure."

A lawsuit filed by parents with the help of Sacramento attorney Mark Merin on the bases of the racial and class discrimination in the decisions as to which schools to close  was dismissed by the federal judge Kim Mueller.

 Jonathan Tran of Hmong Innovating Politics, the group that organized the rally, told the June 12 rally , “The district applied an arbitrary and illegitimate standard to target schools that are predominantly high in low-income and minority populations … At the end of the day, that is unacceptable.”

According to the Sacramento Bee [3], “about 93 percent of students attending the seven closure schools are minorities, compared with 81 percent districtwide.” The schools being closed are over represented in Mexican American and Hmong students and parents.

The lawsuit  argued that the closures were in context of Sacramento’s history of, 

While under investigation, why hasn’t Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles been placed on paid administrative leave? | Education Blog

While under investigation, why hasn’t Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles been placed on paid administrative leave? | Education Blog:

While under investigation, why hasn’t Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles been placed on paid administrative leave?

By Matthew Haag
mhaag@dallasnews.com
9:39 am on July 24, 2013 | Permalink

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Dallas ISD’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigates hundreds of district employees every year for fraud, waste and abuse. And many of those staffers are placed on paid administrative leave until the review has been completed.

However, Superintendent Mike Miles, the subject of a recent OPR report and now under investigation by a former U.S. Attorney hired by the board, is still allowed show up at work every day.

Why is that?

Dallas ISD board policy allows the superintendent to place an employee under investigation on leave. In many cases, DISD’s human resources department notifies OPR that the employee under review has been placed on leave. (OPR never makes the call to place someone on leave.)

So in an investigation into the superintendent, which several people have said has never been done on this scale before this Miles incident, the school board decides. Board president Eric Cowan said trustees discussed Monday whether to place Miles on administrative leave but the idea never advanced 

7-24-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

DFER Hedge Fundie Supports Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer is turning into the DFE/education reformie candidate this year. Not only has Eliot Spitzer hired a former Students First p.r. hack to be his campaign spokesman, but one of the head honchos at the hedge fundie-backed Democrats For Education Reform is backing Spitzer for comptroller:Hedge-funder Boykin Curry has sent out an astonishing pro-Eliot Spitzer e-mail to his Wall Street colle

by reality-based edu... / 20min 

7-23-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: It's Time To Fire "Bad" Union Leaders Like Randi WeingartenRandi Weingarten led the attack on firing "bad teachers" yesterday, giving more ammunition to the "Bash Teachers" movement by saying that teachers who are ineffective at their craft do not deserve to be defended and should be fired. She said teachers should turn on each other in schools and hound out the "bad" educat

by mike simpson / 23h 

NYC Public School Parents: FAQ on inBloom Inc.: what is the state and your school district doing?

NYC Public School Parents: FAQ on inBloom Inc.: what is the state and your school district doing?:

FAQ on inBloom Inc.: what is the state and your school district doing?

A shorter version of this FAQ was published in Schoolbook yesterday; please go leave a comment.  A pdf version of the below you can download  is here.  And please make your voices heard by sending a letter to your school board, your elected officials, and the Regents about this important issue.

FAQ on inBloom Inc.

Just as the federal government has been far from forthcoming about its surveillance and data-mining of ordinary Americans, education officials in New York and elsewhere have been remarkably secretive about their plans to share substantial amounts of students’ personal information with a corporation called inBloom Inc., and through inBloom, with for-profit vendors.

Though Class Size Matters and our attorneys urged the New York State Education Department to hold hearings about their participation in this data-sharing project in October 2012, then called the “Shared Learning Collaborative,” the state replied that this was unnecessary because they had “made significant efforts to inform the public …and to provide details about what the system would do and how it works.”  At the time, however, few if any parents or elected officials knew about their plans, and even now, many parents are not aware of the state’s intention to share their children’s most sensitive data with third parties. Moreover, the state has refused to answer many of our questions, including which data in particular is being shared, or respond to the concerns of parents.

Indeed, to this day much confusion persists.  An editor of a major New York daily recently wrote to a reader that they were unable to confirm 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, July 24, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Fensterwald: Irritation or two aside, charter leaders pleased with new funding system

Education Headlines

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Belleview Elementary School answers grand jury

Belleview School District will review its hiring and job assignment policies at the recommendation of the Tuolumne County Grand Jury, the school board promised Monday in its formal response to the 2013 jury report.

Twin Rivers school board lays off top human resources managers

Twin Rivers Unified School District trustees Tuesday night voted to lay off the top three managers in the district's Human Resources Department.

Hayward mayor to swear in interim superintendent

Mayor Michael Sweeney will swear in Stanley Dobbs as interim superintendent at Wednesday's school board meeting. Dobbs was hired by trustees to replace Donald Evans, who took over as Berkeley superintendent at the beginning of July.

Affeldt: California moving away from Washington’s corporate education reform

California’s shift to a new weighted student funding model represents just the most recent example of how Democratic state policymakers here are charting a different course in education policy than the Obama Administration and Congress.

L.A. Fund unveils Shepard Fairey art project in LAUSD campaign

Los Angeles Unified on Tuesday unveiled its final public arts project under a recent campaign -- a bold graphic by contemporary artist Shepard Fairey that will be displayed on bus wraps and hundreds of billboards promoting the importance of creativity in education.

Fensterwald: Irritation or two aside, charter leaders pleased with new funding system

California Charter Schools Association chief executive Jed Wallace turned rhapsodic in a message last month to charter school operators summarizing the impact of the new school funding system on their campuses. The Local Control Funding Formula represents a landmark victory, he said, a sort of Brown v. Board of Education moment for the charter school movement.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Maitre: Rebooted summer programs make learning fun to prevent ‘summer slide’

While summer classes targeted at struggling students are nearing extinction on many school campuses, several districts are rebooting the traditional summer education model by blending academics with recreational activities intended to prevent students from falling even further behind.

Palm Springs Unified school board poised to OK raises

The Palm Springs Unified school board is set to approve an across-the-board 1 percent salary increase during a public meeting Tuesday.

New Brentwood superintendent introduces himself

A familiar face in the Brentwood Union School District four years ago, Dana Eaton's busy getting back up to speed as he counts down to the start of another school year.

Common Core academic standards failing the test? - POLITICO.com

Common Core academic standards failing the test? - POLITICO.com:

Is Common Core failing the test?

The office of Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi, for instance, issued a statement saying she wanted tests that were reviewed by Oklahoma teachers and “designed with Oklahoma values in mind.”

Alabama wanted an “assessment program that was right for Alabama,” said Mark Sibley, a spokesman for the Department of Education.

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In Pennsylvania, officials said they saw no need for tests that would let them compare their students’ results to other states. “Ours are rigorous enough,” said Carolyn Dumaresq, a deputy secretary in the state Department of Education. She added that Pennsylvania has already tweaked the Common Core standards so they are “right for Pennsylvania kids.”

Such rhetoric concerns Linda Darling-Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University. Over the past decade, “the quality of the testing, and the quality of the thinking measured by the test, went way down,” too often dragging classroom instruction down with it, she said. Darling-Hammond has consulted on the new exams and believes they will reverse that trend – but only if a critical mass of states stick with them. “We should be concerned about the

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/common-core-academic-standards-94628_Page2.html#ixzz2ZymkiU8j