9-23-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

NY Times Hit Piece On Bill De Blasio

Read Alex Pareene's take on the NY Times hit piece on de Blasio as a closet Sandanista.Here's a bit:The New York Times dropped a bombshell last night: As a young man, Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Bill de Blasio was… pretty left-wing. And he supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And he once was in favor of democratic socialism. The Times presents this information as something they unc

by reality-based edu... / 15min 

Lhota Criticizes De Blasio As A Socialist

Well, if you can't run on issues, you can always red bait:Bill de Blasio’s not ready to overthrow capitalism just yet. Asked to respond to Republican mayoral rival Joe Lhota’s “Democratic socialist” hit, Mr. de Blasio wasted no time firing back, accusing Mr. Lhota of running a typical right-wing smear campaign. “I am not surprised that my opponents will throw labels and call names. That’s a Repub

by reality-based edu... / 19min 

Bloomberg So Sad He Has To Go

"Bloomberg prepares to depart with all the reluctance of a 6-year-old leaving Great Adventure" http://t.co/rbGXAigLoo cc: @jenchung— Azi Paybarah (@Azi) September 23, 2013

by reality-based edu... / 16min 

How About NYSED Commissioner John King PROVES He Consults With Parents Over His Education Reform Agenda?

From the Buffalo News:The state Education Department wants Buffalo School District leaders to prove that they offered meaningful opportunities for parents to weigh in on the district’s comprehensive improvement plan and the consolidated application that enables the district to qualify for more than $20 million in federal grant funding.Samuel L. Radford III, president of the District Parent Coordin

by reality-based edu... / 17min 

Daily Data Tracking

Teach for America corps member Mary Mac Thielman enters her students' daily exit ticket percentages onto the data tracking wall at O.M. McNair Upper Elementary School in Belzoni, Miss.The above photo and text appeared with a NY Post editorial touting the wonders of Teach For America teachers over traditional public school teachers.I want you to take a very close look at the photo.The bulletin boar

by reality-based edu... / 25min 

Bloomberg Plans Final Destruction Of Zoned High Schools Before He Goes

From the Daily News: In a push that is alarming parents, the Bloomberg administration plans to stop guaranteeing eighth-graders a spot in the city’s remaining neighborhood high schools. “It’s ridiculous to think that children are not able to go to their zoned school automatically,” said Kim Alvarez, who wants the option of sending her daughter Amber, 11, to the local school, Long Island City High

by reality-based edu... / 42min mark as read  //  save

Cuomo's Commission On Government Transparency And Ethics Hides Its Own Expenditures

This is called transparency and ethics, Cuomo-style: New York's latest anti-corruption commission created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo two months ago to root out wrongdoing and promote transparency has no public budget and none of its spending is subject to taxpayer review. But state records and interviews by The Associated Press show taxpayer costs associated with the Commission to Investigate Public C

2 by reality-based edu... / 3h 

9-22-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Stephanie Simon Takes On Some Education Reform MythologyThe Stephanie Simon article at Politico on why public schools may not be failing is up now and it is a good one.She busts some cherished education reformer myths in it - including how the Chinese are kicking are asses in tests:A new video about the failures of public schools making the rounds on social media starts by i

by mike simpson / 9h 

9-23-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:

Why I can no longer support Jared Polis

on many issues Jared Polis has been a strongly progressive Congressman.  I knew that he and I did not see eye to eye on charter schools, but I often disagree on matters of policy with people I feel free to support. What is not acceptable to me is to see someone engage in ad hominem attacks on someone who disagrees with them. By now many here know that Polis responded to a tweet in which Randi Wein

19 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 1h 

Wash Post likely voters TMac + 8

In this story for which the Post sent out a breaking news email alert, we find McAuliffe leads 47 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, with Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis’s 10 percent suggesting an unrest among voters not satisfied with either major-party contender. In a one-on-one matchup without Sarvis in the mix, the poll shows a narrower, 49-44 race between McAuliffe and Cuccinell

1 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 18min 

Krugman goes after Republicans on SNAP

in a column today titled Free to be Hungry, which I highly recommend. He starts by noting the Right's obsession with the word "freedom"  (such as in Freedom Works and "freedom fries") before offering this gem of a paragraph: The right’s definition of freedom, however, isn’t one that, say, F.D.R. would recognize. In particular, the third of his famous Four Freedoms — freedom fro

5 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 2h 

9-21-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos: September 21, 1974was a Saturday.  It was late afternoon.   I had spent several hours visiting friends on the campus of Bryn Mawr College.  I lived not far away, in Rosemont, and I had planned to go into Philadelphia, riding the Paoli Line train, top attend a party to which I had been invited. I was 28 years old, working as a computer programmer analyst, living in a rented

by mike simpson / 8h 

State Supreme Court rules against APS in charter suit: "... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

State Supreme Court rules against APS in charter suit: "... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

State Supreme Court rules against APS in charter suit: " Intention of the General Assembly was to fund local schools unequally with regard to local revenue." 

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Previous Posts

• Missed connection: Are schools tripping up on technology? 
  September 22, 2013
• A panel on Common Core. An irate parent. An arrest. Who went too far? 
  September 21, 2013
• Sororities at University of Alabama offer bids to black women
  September 21, 2013

By Maureen Downey

From the state Supreme Court this morning:

The Supreme Court of Georgia has unanimously upheld a Fulton County court ruling that prohibits the Atlanta Public School system from deducting millions in local revenue to pay down an unfunded pension liability before distributing its local revenue to start-up charter schools.

In today’s ruling, written by Chief Justice Hugh Thompson, the high court says the language of the law is clear. It “expressly directs that as it pertains to start-up charter schools, local revenue shall be calculated according to the formula set forth in [Official Code of Georgia] § 20-2-2068.1 (c),” the opinion says, “and the product of this calculation ‘shall be the amount of local funds to be distributed to the local start-up charter school by the local school board.’” 

The appeal in this case involves the interpretation of the Charter Schools Act of 1998.  In May 

9-23-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Notice how cut scores are a choice, not a measure of proficiency. #DCPS

I’m sure you’ve heard of this. DCPS, the system in which I teach, “chose” math cut scores to perhaps load more positive results, thus trying to make the argument that prevailing reforms, largely propagated by huckster Michelle Rhee, “worked.” Note that CUT SCORES are political choices, nothing scientific or verifiable. They are subjective.  This is […]

by Chalk Face, PhD / 25min 

Score Reports: Send ‘em Back

In a state-wide effort to protest the lack of validity, loss of instruction time, and educational harm caused by mandated state assessments, New York State Allies for Public Education has called for parents to “send the scores back”. Parents around New York will be sending back to their children’s score reports to NYSED Commissioner John […]

by Chris Cerrone / 0min 

This is the speech I intended to give at the Southern Education Foundation Public Education conference this weekend. . . .

Reblogged from Crazy Crawfish’s Blog 9/23/13     This is the speech I intended to give at the Southern Education Foundation Public Education conference this weekend. . . ..

by Michael Paul Gold... / 4min 

“evil” @DianeRavitch said do what’s right and save your soul.

Last night Shaun and I had the chance to talk to one of our favorite guests—Diane Ravitch.  We talked about her new book—Reign of Error—and the possibilities of ending the reform movement.  Diane gave me a brand new kick in the arse!  Simple yet powerful.   How do we fight the reform movement? We do […]

13 by Timothy D. Slekar / 1h 

Is Addressing Different Learning Styles an Unreasonable Demand on Teachers?

  Multiple Intelligences or Multiple Pains in the Ass?  Periodically, I bump into online commentary that is harshly critical of expecting teachers to address student learning styles. Unfortunately, simply dismissing something as essentially “a bunch of hippie crap” is not the same as offering an argument or analysis that would persuade anyone that the writer […]

9 by Michael Paul Gold... / 33min 

“Word Magic,” Education, and Market Forces | the becoming radical

“Word Magic,” Education, and Market Forces | the becoming radical.

by plthomasedd / 15min 

The Indignant Teacher Goes Abroad

Susan DuFresne and Katie Lapham are the women behind the website, Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates; they are experienced public school teachers and amazing authors. Susan recently invited Him to take part in an interview with her, to discuss his role in public education and some of the issues on the table. “After all, public education is […]

by jillconroy / 4h

9-22-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: EPSLP: College Ready? Alliance Charter Corporation’s big scamFirst published on Echo Park Patch on September 20, 2013 “If the American public understood that reformers want to privatize their public schools and divert their taxes to pay profits to investors, it would be hard to sell the corporate idea of reform.” — Professor Diane Ravitch “However, within this market, competition

by mike simpson / 9h 

I Quit Teach for America - Olivia Blanchard - The Atlantic

I Quit Teach for America - Olivia Blanchard - The Atlantic:

I Quit Teach for America

Five weeks of training was not enough to prepare me for a room of 20 unruly elementary-schoolers.

Teach for America Delta Institute, Julia Sweeney, HO/AP Photo

I am sitting in a comfortable gold folding chair inside one of the many ballrooms at the Georgia International Convention Center. The atmosphere is festive, with a three-course dinner being served and children playing a big-band number. The kids are students at a KIPP academy in Atlanta, and they are serenading future teachers on the first night of a four-day-long series of workshops that will introduce us to the complicated language, rituals, and doctrines we will need to adopt as Teach for America "Corps Members."

The phrase closing the achievement gap is the cornerstone of TFA's general philosophy, public-relations messaging, and training sessions. As a member of the 2011 corps, I was told immediately and often that 1) the achievement gap is a pervasive example of inequality in America, and 2) it is our personal responsibility to close the achievement gap within our classrooms, which are microcosms of America's educational inequality.

These are laudable goals. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, white fourth-graders performed better than their black peers on 2007 standardized mathematics exams in all 46 states where results were available. In 2004, there was a 23-point gap in mathematics scale scores between white and 

A plea for book censors to stand down:

A plea for book censors to stand down

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 23 at 5:00 amE-mail the writer

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As noted in the previous post, this is Banned Books Week. Here’s a piece on the ugliness of censorship by James Blasingame, associate professor of English Education at Arizona State University, and the 2010 president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English.

By James Blasingame

“We got trouble, (oh, we got trouble), right here in River City”
Meredith Wilson, The Music Man, 1957

There must be something in the river water in southern Arizona!  Well, actually, there is no water in southern Arizona, but if there were, it would have something in it! Something that turns people into book censors. Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia, a National Book Award finalist, was removed from high school classes this week in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The American Library Association (ALA) had never heard of anyone, anywhere, objecting to this book before, and those people really watch these things! In fact, they have a whole website dedicated to it, and they have been sponsoring Banned Books Week since 1982. Sierra Vista High School’s timing is impeccable on this one, making them the opening act in this year’s Banned Books Week, September 22-28.

Who could have predicted this? Of the many books challenged each year listed on the ALA website, not only has Dreaming in Cuban failed to join such “soul bludgeoning” 

 

Q & A: School superintendents speak out on key issues

Have Washington area school systems been hurt by federal budget cuts? Are students being bombarded with too many standardized tests? How are schools handling the implementation of the Common Core State Standards? I asked superintendents around the Washington region to … Continue reading →    

3 by Valerie Strauss / 2h mark as read  //  save

It’s Banned Books Week. Read a banned book!

It’s Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, sponsored by the American Library Association. Every year, libraries and bookstores around the country use the week to highlight censorship by displaying books that are challenged and/or banned, … Continue reading →    

17 by Valerie Strauss / 3h 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market:

Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market

It's ed tech start-up companies vs. the oligopoly at Stanford conference.

Silicon Valley tech companies, conferencing at Stanford, are trying to become the "Facebook of education," writes Lauren Hepler in the Silicon Valley Business Journal ("Online kindergarten? Tech bets on K-12 disruption"). The potential for superprofits has Valley heads spinning.

Hepler points out that, overall, the market for education is massive. She says the $1.5 trillion US education industry accounts for roughly 10 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, or the second-biggest sector after healthcare,

After meeting with power philanthropist Bill Gates, tech entrepreneur Mick Hewitt, co-founder and CEO of MasteryConnect, sees the looming implementation of government “Common Core” standards for reading and math in elementary, 

NYC Educator: Startup Tips

NYC Educator: Startup Tips:

Startup Tips

I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Practical suggestions were few and far between when I started out. I was an English teacher, with an AP who spent hours describing the difference between an “aim” and an “instructional objective.” To this day, I haven’t the slightest notion what she was talking about. She also spent a good deal of time describing the trials and tribulations of her cooking projects, and other utterly useless information.

Neither she nor any teacher of education ever advised me on classroom control. The standing platitude was “A good lesson plan is the best way to control a class,” but I no longer believe that. I think a good lesson plan is the best thing to have after you control the class.

I also think a good lesson plan need not be written at all, as long as you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, neither the lesson plan nor the aim will be much help.

The best trick, and it’s not much of a trick at all, is frequent home contact. It’s true that not all parents will be helpful, but I’ve found most of them to be. When kids know reports of their classroom behavior will reach their 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Emanuel cut short East Coast fundraising trip and flew back to Chicago after 13 people were shot at a South Side park.

Columnist John Kass

He was absolutely rolled by the Chicago Teachers Union in the strike, and his capitulation cost him credibility with business leaders. His closing of some four dozen schools cost him with African-American voters. Emanuel still found $17 million last week in extra funds for an elite Near North magnet school, while out in the Northwest Side bungalow belt, Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 36th, ran a "toilet paper" drive to help his neighborhood schools provide basic necessities to the children of taxpayers. 

And that $1 billion school deficit? -- Sun-Times

Melissa Harris-Perry 

 “Folks, if you want to do a re-enactment of slavery in your school, how about