Disparate Impacts & Another View on Poverty - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Disparate Impacts & Another View on Poverty - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Disparate Impacts & Another View on Poverty

By Deborah Meier on October 22, 2013 9:34 AM

Dear Mike,

No, we haven't bridged our differences. Nor did either of us imagine we would. But I have a clearer idea of some of their roots.  Do you?  I hope so.  

"Staying open to the possibility that they (our opponents) might, nevertheless, have a few smart things to say" still seems worth the effort. I'm quoting Sara Mosle (on NYC education news) here, quoting you. What a nice way to say it.  It's one reason I especially enjoy reading the comments that follow blogs, and why I admire—and read with special care—comments made by a few diligent readers and respondents to Bridging Differences who fundamentally disagree with me politically.

The particulars of our growing-up years are certainly related to our disagreements.  How much?  Who knows?  Maybe I owe some of my reactions to a feisty mother who wouldn't allow us to speak disparagingly of anyone—e.g. "Japs" was taboo in our house during World War II.  I also had a father who switched sides in arguments as soon as anyone agreed with him.  I was influenced by both of them.  From them both also came a very strong sense of being lucky.  They were, after all, not far removed from being victims of the Holocaust as Eastern European first and second 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

More on Ritz Lawsuit Vs Governor Pence in Indiana

This news article Explains the background of State Superintendent Glenda Ritz's lawsuit against Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana. The state board-Whose members were appointed by former Governor Mitch Daniels and his successor Mike Pence, moved to strip monitoring of the state's controversial AF grading system from the office of State Superintendent Ritz and turn it over to the Republican-controlled will

Glenda Ritz Sues Governor Mike Pence for Violating State Constitution

Governor Mike Pence, in his continuing efforts to make sure that the duly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz is stripped of her constitutional authority as chair of the state board of education, has encouraged the state board to hold secret meetings when Ritz was not present. At a recent meeting, the Pence board voted to transfer authority over the A-F grading system fr

by dianerav / 1min 

EduShyster Crashes Jeb Bush’s Party

Some party! EduShyster crashed it and couldn’t find many happy events. Hanna Skandera, one of the shrinking number of Jeb’s Chiefs for Change, was a no-show. Tony Bennett, ex-Indiana chief, ex-Florida chief, was not sure whether to lecture on A-F grading systems. Rahm Emanuel insisted he was not a reformer, maybe just a passerby. Was anyone happy? Sounds more like a wake than a party. Are the

3 by dianerav / 21min 

A Message from a Teacher Where School Shooting Occurred

This comment just arrived. Read it and weep for two lost lives. Think of the children whose social and emotional needs are ignored in pursuit of test scores “Dear Diane, “I do not know if you will get this or not; however, I am so grateful to receive this particular communication. You have done an excellent job of explaining the purpose of charter schools. “I am writing from Spark, NV, where the

by dianerav / 1min 

Only 1% of NY Teachers Rated Ineffective

Hoping to calm teachers’ fears about the state’s new, untested, and probably invalid teacher evaluation system, Commissioner John King announced that only 1% of teachers were rated ineffective. NYC scores were omitted due to failure to reach agreement on time. “ALBANY—More than 90 percent of teachers outside New York City have earned high ratings in the state’s first year of mandated performance

by dianerav / 2min 

Commissioner King Opts Out

Commissioner King and the New York Board of Regents have scheduled 16 events around the state to tell parents how terrific the Common Core is, how good they should feel about their child’s failing grade on the Common Core tests, and how overall magnificent the State Education Department is. There are 12 hearings and four televised presentations. No hearings are scheduled for Néw York City, althoug

2 by dianerav / 17min 

Mother of 2nd Grader: Does This Make Sense?

This mother has adapted a question that she says appears in her child’s homework assignment. Is she exaggerating? If you have a child in this grade, please chime in. “Second grade question: If Jack and Jill go up the hill, and a bucket of olives is $5.00 then how much tapenade can John concoct with boughten oil. (Actually not far off from actual 2nd grade math homework – infer that Jack=John, unde

3 by dianerav / 19min 

Wendy Lecker: Common Core Uses Our Children As Guinea Pigs

Wendy Lecker, who is a civil rights lawyer, writes here that the Common Core standards have been rolled out without any forethought. Children are being tested on materials they have never been taught. States do not have a curriculum that aligns with the Common Core standards. The federally-funded tests are being developed independent of the curriculum, which does not exist. Teachers are not prepar

4 by dianerav / 1h mark as read  //  save

THIS IS HUGE!!! No Testing at This School! Parents Say NO!

Almost everyone agrees that high-stakes testing for little children is a huge mistake. The parents not only wrote their elected officials, they took direct action. More than 80% of the parents of the children at the Castle Bridge Elementary School in New York City refused to allow their children to be tested. They opted out. The tests were canceled. NO TESTS. NONE! The parents knew that the only

58 by dianerav / 1h 

Susan Ochshorn: It Is Wrong to Test Small Children!

Susan Ochshorn, who advocates for early childhood education, is aghast at the idea that children as young as four or five are expected to take standardized tests. She explained that experts in early childhood education were appalled by the idea of testing young children with bubble tests. Then she discovered a school where anti-testing sentiment had grown to include not only the principal and the

5 by dianerav / 1h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Schneider on DC IMPACT Study: Already ObsoleteDespite the glowing hyperbole in the media, Mercedes Schneider says there is nothing new in the results. The study is dated, there is missing data, the effects of the cheating scandal remain unknown, and the investigation of the cheating was turned over to an accounting firm with no exp

by mike simpson / 10h 

10-22-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

The Scum at the Top of the Private Prison Empire for the Young

An amazing piece of reporting by Chris Kirkham at HuffPo reveals a seedy empire of corporate welfare bottom feeders preying on juvenile offenders.  Find Part One here with intro clip below, and at left is James Slattery, Chief Executive Scumbag of the worst offender, Correctional Services Corporation.From a glance at his background, one might assume that James F. Slattery would have a difficult ti

by Jim Horn / 8min 

Does Chinese literacy need to be "revived"?

Sent to the Wall Street Journal, Oct 22 As is the case in the US, China thinks that literacy is declining and that part of the solution is a TV spelling bee in Chinese ("Chinese TV's Latest Hit Features a Character-Driven Plot: Show Aimed at Reviving the Country's Written Language Explodes."October 20). There is no evidence of a decline of literacy in China and no evidence of a decline i

by skrashen / 1min 

The Mismeasure of Education Recalls the Coleman Report in Explaining Today's Reform Errors

It has been a great year for education scholarship with masterpieces like David Kirp’s Improbable Scholars and Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error. Jal Mehta’s The Allure of Order provides a timely review of a century of failed top down reforms and, now, Jim Horn and Denise Wilburn offer an equally timely and profound history of the failure of test-driven reform. Horn’s and Wilburn’s The-Mismeasure-Edu

6 by John Thompson / 37min mark as read  //  save

From Consolidation to "Decoupling" in Memphis, and the Costs of Corporate Reform

The Memphis Commercial Appeal has another no-news story today on questions remaining about how much it will cost to operate nine school systems in Shelby County, rather than one.  Let's see, we have six leafy boutique municipal systems, a Shelby County non-municipal system, the Achievement School District downtown, a high-rolling hedge fund backed charter system with KIPPs and Rocketships, and a l

2 by Jim Horn / 58min 

FedEx Offering TFA Holiday Joy

FedEx has a thing for Teach for America:20092008And now for the holidays in 2013:Starting Nov. 1, FedEx will kick off the “FedEx One Rate, Countless Possibilities Through Education” promotion, giving customers across the United States a simple way to give the gift of education. Through Dec. 23, $1 from every FedEx One Rate transaction will be donated to Teach For America, up to $200,000, helping t

2 by P. L. Thomas / 18min 

10-21-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: The cost of the CC$$Sent to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 20Poorer districts will be hit the hardest, but every district in the country will suffer financially from the common core standards. Not mentioned in "Poorer schools districts feel at a loss over new common core standards," (October 20) is the fact that the common core will require an astonishing amount of

by mike simpson / 10h 

10-22-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

Infographic: “The World According To Desserts”

I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 33min 

Video: Stephen Colbert Takes On Computers Grading Essays

I’m definitely adding this video clip from Stephen Colbert to The Best Posts On Computer-Graded Essays. Thanks to Valerie Strauss for the tip.

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 42min 

Stop The Presses! Thomas Friedman Actually Writes Something Semi-Coherent About Education

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is infamous for his uninformed pieces on education though, fortunately, he doesn’t seem to write about the topic as his colleague, David Brooks, who is equally off-base. In today’s column, The Shanghai Secret, he talks about a visit he made to Shanghai schools with Wendy Kopp of Teach For America. Though I’m not sure I’d make Shanghai my first stop to see

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

“Put The Gun In My Hand” — Stories Of Teacher Bravery

Yesterday, close to Sacramento in Sparks, Nevada, another teacher lost his life protecting students: Student Jose Cazares said he was hanging out with friends when they heard what they thought were firecrackers. He said he saw a boy shoot two students. He said the boy then aimed the gun at his chest, but Landsberry stepped between him and the shooter. “He was telling him to stop and put the gun do

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 19min 

“Response: Getting Students to Read at Home by ‘Building a Daily Habit’”

Response: Getting Students to Read at Home by ‘Building a Daily Habit’ is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. It includes guest responses from educators Dina Strasser and Ariel Sacks.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10min 

Making Instagram Videos With English Language Learners

Last week, I posted the vocabulary videos made by some of English Language Learners using Twitter’s Vine video app. Today, we tried doing the same with Instagram’s video feature, and we all liked it a lot better. It gives you fifteen instead of seven seconds and, if you make a mistake in one “scene” you can easily erase that scene instead of having to start all over again. Like Vine, it will auto

5 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6min 

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

I’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: The Reading Teacher is from TEFL Geek and offers some helpful advice on teaching…reading. English Page is a new site to me, and it has scores of tutorials and interactive grammar exercises. The British Council offers some f

4 by Larry Ferlazzo / 21min mark as read  //  save

YESTERDAY

Teaching About Autumn

Here are new additions to The Best Sites For Images Of Fall Foliage (& For Teaching About The Season): Autumn is gorgeous the world over is a great photo gallery from The Week. 10 Idioms Linked To The Vocabulary of Autumn is from The World Is Your Oyster. Fall Is In The Air is a photo gallery from The Atlantic.

8 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

10-21-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: MY LATEST BOOK"Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching" is an edited compilation from my Ed Week teacher advice column, along with new materials.Student Interactive On The Importance Of Learning From MistakesMy latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is on pronouns, learning

by mike simpson / 10h 

10-22-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Just back from Springfield. Call now to stop this pension bomb.

Call your legislators toll-free now at 888-412-6570 and tell them to oppose the draft plan by the conference committee. The legislature will be in fall veto session over the dates of October 22-24 and November 5-7. At any time, the legislature could vote on a draft plan formed by the conference committee that’s just as bad as House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Senate Bill 1. At this point, credible

by Fred Klonsky / 16min 

Congratulatory IRTA resolution to Glen Brown, me and other pension bloggers.

The Illinois Retired Teachers Association meeting in Springfield yesterday and today, took special note of the role that  pension and education bloggers play in the fight for pension rights by issuing a congratulatory resolution naming me, my friend Glen Brown and others “unnamed” who provide constant pension information. I was both surprised and honored. WHEREAS the Illinois Retired Teachers Asso

4 by Fred Klonsky / 2h 

10-21-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Cullerton comes clean. “It’s not a pension issue. It’s a revenue issue.”As I throw a few things into a bag and head down to Springfield for the state meeting of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association and the Fall veto session of the General Assembly, I’m checking out the Chicago Trib. Senate Presid

by mike simpson / 10h