9-4-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

MORE Weekly Update #65, Sept. 2, 2013

Happy Labor Day from MORE! View this email in your browser Weekly Update #65 September 2, 2013 Share Tweet Forward to Friend Join MORE Today COMMITTEES:High Stake Testing Committeetesting@morecaucusnyc.orgFri. Sept. 6 at 4:30PMBryant Park / Tables @ NE SideSteering Committeesteering@morecaucusnyc.orgMon. Sept

1 by ed notes online / 3h 

Bill di Blasio Blasts Co-Locations! Challenges Quinn Record on Support of Bloomberg Ed Policies

FACT: Speaker Quinn Said Bloomberg's Schools Chancellor Joel Klein Did a "Terrific Job"FACT: Key Bloomberg Education Backer Said That Schools Will Probably Still Close if Quinn Became Mayor and That "The Policy Itself May Be Not All That Different [From Bloomberg's]"FACT: Speaker Quinn Refuses to Support a Moratorium on School Closures. My fact: Would Bill Thompson make such a strong statement? Wa

1 by ed notes online / 3h 

 

9-2-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: On the Democracy Prep Plantation: When Zero Tolerance Becomes Psychological WarfareUPDATED:all the teachers at this charter school are white and from out of state. The school's administrators did manage to get two coaches that are African-American from the New York City area. They are the two in charge of the detention room. Is there something wrong with that picture?.....his teac

by mike simpson / 21h 

9-4-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Arne Duncan Calls Common Core Critics Liars

From the Oregonian:U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan emphatically called on education reporters today to truth-squad critics' claims that the federal government is staging a takeover of education by pushing Common Core State Standards, adopted by Oregon and 44 other states.Such claims are "just not intellectually honest. For journalists, the truth should matter," he said. Speaking of the Com

by reality-based edu... / 23min 

More Andrew Cuomo Corruption News From Albany

From the Daily News:A law firm hired by the state Assembly to deal with Gov. Cuomo's anti-corruption commission is a big-time donor to Cuomo and commission co-chair Kathleen Rice, the Daily News has learned. The News reported Monday that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver hired Kasowitz,  Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP to represent the chamber during the commission probe into public corruption.Sin

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Michael Mulgrew Hails New APPR Adavnce Teacher Evaluation System

Remember this while you're collecting your artifacts and preparing for your 4-6 observations on 22 Danielson domains and wondering why you're being evaluated using ELA test scores even though you're an art teachers or concerned that the state is going to align the PSAT scores as the baseline for Regents scores and evaluate teachers with that data:Michael Mulgrew LOVES this new evaluation system.Se

1 by reality-based edu... / 13min 

Judge Declares School Bus Companies Must Restore Wages, Benefits

From Juan Gonzalez:A Brooklyn federal judge has handed the city’s 8,800 school bus drivers and matrons a huge back-to-school victory.Judge Kiyo Matsumoto issued an injunction last week ordering 28 school bus companies to restore across-the-board cuts in wages and benefits that those firms slapped on their employees this year.The wage cuts — a stiff 7.5% for drivers and 3.75% for bus matrons — were

by reality-based edu... / 1min 

The News Media Agree - De Blasio Emerges Relatively Unscathed From Final Debate

From the Daily News:His front-runner status solidified by a stunning new poll, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio sailed through the initial 60-minute broadcast portion of the final Democratic debate relatively unscathed....The debate — co-sponsored by WNBC/Channel 4 and The Wall Street Journal — began a few hours after a new Quinnipiac University poll claimed that de Blasio had the support of 43% of

by reality-based edu... / 7min 

Daily News: De Blasio And Thompson Would Try To Give Parents The Right To Opt Out Of InBloom

Great news: At least two of the three leading Democratic mayoral candidates are set to nix plans for handing sensitive student data, including test scores and discipline records, to private companies. The move against the $100 million inBloom project — if former Controller Bill Thompson or Public Advocate Bill de Blasio win in November — could spell the end of the already faltering data-sharing pl

by reality-based edu... / 11min 

What Happened To Christine Quinn's Support?

Via Azi Paybarah, two trend lines from yesterday's Quinnipiac poll show what has happened to Quinn recently that her support has cratered:White voters and women voters were all that were keeping her anywhere near runoff territory.Now she seems to have lost both and she's bottoming out.It's ugly:Can't say I feel sorry for her - she ran the Hillary Clinton "presumptive nominee" strategy long after i

Perdido Street School / by reality-based edu... / 3h 

9-3-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: You Can Have A Raise, But Only If You Pay For Your Health CareThat's the message from the plutocracy for NYC municipal union workers:A mayor who signs costly contracts would face the politically fraught prospect of raising taxes, budget experts say. Pushing for big concessions risks a continued stalemate, which isn't a palatable alternative for the Democratic candidates—one

by mike simpson / 10h 

One thing that can assure better schools:

One thing that can assure better schools

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 4 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer

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What is the one thing that can assure higher student achievement and better schools?

Ray Strabeck, a retired school superintendent in Mississippi, has a simple answer in this piece in the Clarion Ledger:

Economics, pure and simple. Find me a good school, and nine times out of 10 there will also be found a flourishing economy in that school community.

Our plea that good schools bring good industries is a misnomer, a case of getting the cart before the horse. Make sure that parents have good jobs, that small businesses are flourishing in the neighborhood and that people take pride in where they live and one of the unfailing outcomes is good schools.

If we would spend the money currently being spent on Common Core on economic development and sustain that kind of effort for, say, four or five years, we would soon see “good” schools emerging. And by such a term, I mean schools where students excel in cognitive learning as well as athletics, arts, vocational training and wholesome attitudes about citizenship and responsibility to others…

We need more highways, more large airports, more industries — all of which would 

9-4-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

NCTQ; Take it With A Grain of Salt

Back in 2010, Charlie wrote a thread on this ed reform group and a report they had written about the Seattle teachers contract.NCTQ - National Council on Teacher Quality - has now come out with another report, NCTQ Teacher Prep Review, and this one is about teacher preparation programs.  I haven't read all of it (it's 112 pages). Their premise is that the overwhelming majority of teacher prep prog

by Melissa Westbrook / 6min 

Seattle Public Education and Mayor McGinn

I met the Mayor at a Starbucks (on the very day there were flash strikes at a few Starbucks but not the one we were in).  He was in an expansive mood and ready to talk Seattle schools.The Mayor always talks as "we" meaning his team at City Hall.   So he started by saying what "we"  have been doing.  It's a pretty long list:doubled the Families&Education Levy and helped support its passagelaunc

by Melissa Westbrook / 5min 

Oxford Comma - Yay or Nay?

You thought the teachers contract was a battle?   OnlineSchools.com presents - the Oxford Comma.  Teachers, yay or nay?  (Me, I'm old school so it's yay.)

by Melissa Westbrook / 6h 

9-3-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum Teacher contract details leaked

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Teacher contract details leakedAlthough neither the District nor the teachers' union have released details of the tentative agreement on a new contract, KUOW's education beat reporter, Ann Dornfeld, has a copy of the agreement and reported these elements, each of which is a compromise on the primary areas of disagreement:It's a two-year contract.The pay raise will

by mike simpson / 7h 

LAUSD, UTLA, Warren Fletcher - Perdaily.com

LAUSD, UTLA, Warren Fletcher - Perdaily.com:

LAUSD "RUBBER ROOM" TEACHERS MEET AT UTLA

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

Last Wednesday, August 28th, housed teachers came together at the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) to finally try and address their targeting by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) 

Upon arriving at UTLA to attend this meeting I had been invited to, I was told that I was on a security list that barred my entry into the building. This is probably due to the fact that I am in the process of suing UTLA and their attorneys at Trygstad, Schwab & Trygstad for doing worse than nothing to stop the coordinated attack on the teachers they are paid by teachers' dues to defend. After some intervention on my behalf, I was finally allowed in, but only go up to the 9th floor to attend the meetings. I was told never to go to the UTLA office.

This made me wonder. If I succeed in my belated Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) action in being reinstated to my teaching job at LAUSD - after more than 3 years of LAUSD and UTLA stalling in hopes that I would retire, just go away, or die - wouldn't UTLA expect to collect my back dues for the last 3 plus years? How could they claim dues from a teacher that is not allowing in their 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chi-Town hustling

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chi-Town hustling:

Chi-Town hustling

Billy Daley, the man from J.P. Morgan Trust, who's apparently running for IL governor, claims that lots of people are asking him about Syria. No they're not.

Getting rid of the IG

I've met Chicago's Inspector General Joe Ferguson and he seems like a decent and honest enough guy. So it's no wonder that Rahm Emanuel has spent the better part of the year trying to get rid of him. I mean, who needs somebody, nobody sent, right?

Rahm's former comptroller, Amer Ahmad.

But as one corrupt deal piled up on top of another -- from the UNO charter school fiasco, to robbing the schools of TIF funds to pay for DePaul's planned basketball arena, to the Midway privatization, to the forced drop in the city's bond rating, and on and on  -- the mayor has been losing the PR damage-control battle and his ratings are sinking lower than owl poop. The topper of course, came when his former 

9-4-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

“TEACH” Is Showing On CBS This Friday — It’s The Second Film Davis Guggenheim Has Done This Year To Make-Up For “Waiting For Superman”

Davis Guggenheim is sure in overdrive to make-up for all the harm he caused with his awful movie, Waiting For Superman (see The Best Posts & Articles About The Teacher-Bashing “Waiting For Superman” Movie & Associated Events). First, he worked with campaigners for The Dream Act to produce The Dream Is Now (that thirty minute film is embedded below). Now, he’s produced TEACH, a documentar

5 by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min 

The Best Infographics About Teaching & Learning English As A Second (or Third!) Language

I thought readers might appreciate this collection: Learn English with Kaplan How to learn English via Kaplan Blog How to learn English via Kaplan Blog Love learning English with Kaplan Learn English with Kaplan Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. If you’re reading this post on an RSS Reader, I think you’ll have to click t

7 by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min 

“What Advice Would You Give Someone Who Wants To Be A Principal?”

What Advice Would You Give Someone Who Wants To Be A Principal? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave you advice in the comments over there or here.

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min mark as read  //  save

A Little Respect Can Go A Long Way In The Classroom

Today was the third day of school. Three times a year, one of the many formative assessments we do in ninth-grade is have students read two passages to us for a minute each so we can gauge their reading fluency. I always set a couple of chairs just outside the door so the student can read privately and I can keep a close eye on what’s happening in the classroom. The rest of the class was focused

9 by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min 

New Study: “Using harsh verbal discipline with teens found to be harmful”

A new study has found that: Many American parents yell or shout at their teenagers. A new longitudinal study has found that using such harsh verbal discipline in early adolescence can be harmful to teens later. Instead of minimizing teens’ problematic behavior, harsh verbal discipline may actually aggravate it. The findings obviously can be related to classroom discipline, as well, and are relate

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 24min

New Issue Of ASCD Educational Leadership Is Out – Here Are Some Articles Worth Reading

ASCD has just published the September issue of their periodical, Educational Leadership. Its theme is “Resilience and Learning.” Here are some highlights: The Significance of Grit: A Conversation with Angela Lee Duckworth doesn’t really have anything new to people familiar with Duckworth’s work, but it does provide a good overview. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Importa

7 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h 

9-2-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Extremely Positive Review Of Our ESL/ELL BookThe Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language — August, 2013 has just published a very positive review of our book, The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide. Look for it under “Reviews” on the right side of the page. It’s a pretty lengthy review by Grace Christino at the Un

by mike simpson / 21h