LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

LA Times Editorialists Delighted That Deasy’s Job Is Safe, Teachers Have Other Ideas

The power elites of Los Angeles won again. Read this editorial in the Los Angeles Times. even his strongest supporters are concerned about his ill-planned $1 billion commitment to buy iPads whose content is unfinished. But to really get the story at ground level, read the comments. 33.778095 -84.391791

3 by dianerav / 16min 

Race to the Top=A Pig in a Poke

When states won millions in Race to the Top funding, they found themselves required to spend more than they received from the federal government. One careful study reported that school districts in New York had to spend almost $11 million, in exchange for $400,000 from the federal government. School districts are spending billions to offer and test the Common Core standards, which have until rece

by dianerav / 1h

Red Queen in LA: Who Attended LAUSD Circus?

This blogger writes about the well-orchestrated circus at the crucial LAUSD board meeting. This carrying daisies–a symbol of allegiance to the leader–were well represented and gained preference to speak. Who was missing? Teachers and administrators: they were at work. Parents: who cares what they think?

3 by dianerav / 1h 

Our Kids, Under Constant Surveillance?

Parents and school districts are beginning to understand that student information will no longer be private. The Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation created something called the Shared Learning Collsborative, now called inBloom. They have a contract to Wireless Generation, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, to create the software to collect massive amounts of data. InBloom will

9 by dianerav / 17min 

Links to The Daily Show!

Yesterday was  my third appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2003, 2010, 2013). I love being on his show because he is not only funny but a truly kind and decent person. He always comes in for a friendly chat before the interview, to make  a personal connection. He is real. I gave him a pair of green laces for his sneakers (they came from a group called “Lace to the Top,” and I explained

2 by dianerav / 11min

Michelle Rhee and I Will Debate on Feb 6 at Lehigh University

Last March, Lehigh University invited Michelle Rhee and me to debate on its campus in Pennsylvania. We both accepted. After agreeing, Michelle said we should both have a second on our team, not a 1:1 debate. I agreed. Months went by, and she said she preferred to have a third on both teams, and I agreed. I think we have finally reached an agreement. I have my second and third lined up. I assume sh

by dianerav / 1min 

Common Sense from Robert Shepherd

Ever since the Nation at Risk report, we’ve had a reform narrative in this country that begins with the premise that our schools are failing (despite the fact that when one corrects for the socioeconomic level of students taking the international tests on which this claim is based, our students consistently perform at the top or very near the top). Then, the Gates Foundation decided that the “prob

by dianerav / 0min 

L.A. Teacher Asks: Will Deasy’s iPad Deal Bankrupt Los Angeles Schools?

Superintendent John Deasy made a deal to buy an iPad for every student in the district, at a cost of $1 billion. The money will mostly be drawn from a 25-year construction bond issue approved by the voters on the assumption that the money would be used to repair the city’s schools. The iPads will be obsolete in 2 or 3 years, but voters will be paying the cost for 25 years. The iPads are loaded w

2 by dianerav / 51min 

Students at Elite HS in NYC Boycott Tests

Students at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, a school that accepts only students that have high scores on their entry examinations, boycotted the latest tests to protest their purpose. The students knew that the tests had no purpose other than to evaluate their teachers, and they thought the tests were not only a waste of students’ time but unfair to their teachers. Geoff Decker of Gotham

14 by dianerav / 1h 

Child Psychotherapist: How Common Core Is Ruining Childhood

Katie Hurley, who is a psychotherapist who works with children and adolescents, writes at Huffington Post that Common Core is having a harmful effect on students. Her first discovery was seeing what happened to her own daughter: “My daughter has four tests this week. Week after week she has at least four tests, one of them a high-pressure timed math factor test. If she gets more than one answer

27 by dianerav / 2h mark as read  //  save

Why Should Teaching Be a Hazardous Profession?

Jake Miller is a teacher who wrote an article for the UK Guardian as a tribute to two teachers who were recently murdered by students. He was stunned by the tone of the comments that came from many who read his article. They were vicious and anti-teacher. He couldn’t understand it. Why so much anti-teacher sentiment? He wrote to ask for my advice. I urged him to keep writing. Help the public und

7 by dianerav / 3h  

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-30-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: A Teacher in LAUSD on the Board’s Decision to Extend Deasy ContractI am a teacher at LAUSD, and I am extremely disappointed with the LAUSD Board of Education for extending the contract to this abusive, destructive, deceiving superintendent. He truly does not care for the public education of the community he is supposed to serve. Mo

by mike simpson / 8h

The Richest Nation in the World Has the Highest Child Poverty Rate: What’s Wrong with this Picture? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

The Richest Nation in the World Has the Highest Child Poverty Rate: What’s Wrong with this Picture? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

The Richest Nation in the World Has the Highest Child Poverty Rate: What’s Wrong with this Picture?

By Cheryl S. Williams on October 31, 2013

And Why Aren’t We More Ashamed?

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF) recently released a report entitled A New Majority:  Low Income Students in the South and the Nation that reveals low income children are a majority of students in 17 states, primarily in the South and West. Across the nation low income students are a near majority at 48 percent. A separate report Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card analyses the education funding systems in these states and reveals that serious funding inequities continue to exist years after court cases across the nation have required states to reform their funding systems to alleviate such discrepancies.
Among the findings uncovered in the two reports include the following:

• Over the past decade, the number of low income students has grown at a rate of three to four times greater than the growth in per pupil expenditures in three of the four regions of the country
• Achievement scores for both high and low income students have increased; however, huge gaps still remain between these two student groups
• Within the next few years, it is likely that low income students will become the majority of all public school children in the United States

The National Report Card digs deeper to identify those states that support progressive, 

How to Fight Poverty--and Win - Bridging Differences - Education Week

How to Fight Poverty--and Win - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

How to Fight Poverty--and Win

By Mike Petrilli on October 31, 2013 9:42 AM

Dear Deborah,

Thanks for the opportunity to debate the critical issues in education and social policy with you. You are an icon and a hero, and it's been a true honor.

Someday I'd like to write a book on anti-poverty efforts, and I hope it might have the title above. Understanding that my knowledge about this vast topic is still limited, here's a first cut at the basic outline. I think you'll agree that there are quite a few items on the list about which we can agree.

Introduction: A smart anti-poverty strategy starts with three principles:

1. Think intergenerationally.

We'd all like to see greater social mobility in America, but we need to be realistic about what's achievable. It's never been the case that many of the poorest Americans have gone from rags to riches over the course of their own lives. More common has been an intergenerational story: The penniless, uneducated immigrant arrives at Ellis Island and then lands in an urban slum. But then, via hard work and sacrifice (and, in some cases, help from the government or from trade unions), he gets a foothold in the economy, makes sure his own children learn English and do well in school, and ensures they make it into the great American middle class. And the third generation climbs even higher.

Poverty, by this telling, isn't such a problem if it's temporary. What's crushing, and deeply offensive 

10-31-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

New Seattle Schools Growth Boundaries Plan to Come Out Tomorrow

By the way, there is a new message on the SPS Growth Boundaries page (thanks to an APP reader for this tip):"An updated recommended plan will be presented to the board on November 6. The proposal will be released with the Board agenda at 5 p.m. on November 1 and posted here by 7 p.m. (The information from the September 17 draft and the October 16 proposal shown below is now obsolete.")&q

by Melissa Westbrook / 43min 

Have a Great (and safe) Halloween

Sadly, no Halloween for me this year - going to be at a 3-hour class in the evening.  Hard to think about missing all those little faces (although I never get more than 25 kids in an evening).Remember parents - do check that candy.  It's important to make sure there's nothing bad in there (like candy YOU really like).   Do your kids keep it forever or eat it all in one weekend? (My guys could nurs

by Melissa Westbrook / 8h mark as read  //  save

Suzanne Dale Estey - Embellishment is her Specialty but What about Credibility?

I have consistently stated that Suzanne Dale Estey appears to have a great resume.  She seems to have broad policy experience at different levels of government.  But, based on attendance at and viewing of some videotapes of various campaign events, I realized that she has this tendency to embellish what her resume says she did.  So I decided to check some of what is on her resume AND what she has

14 by Melissa Westbrook / 9h

10-30-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pinehurst HearingI am very disappointed to have miss the Pinehurst public hearing last night.  Did anyone attend and could you let us know what was said?by Melissa Westbrook / 1min  10-29-13 Seattle Schools Community ForumSeattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open ThreadWhen the Silas Potter incident was exposed, naturally I was following it very closely.  But w

by mike simpson / 6h 

10-31-13 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 NEXT BOOK!

"Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: 

Strategies for Teaching Resilience, Respect, and Responsibility" 

is the tentative title of my next book. It will be the third in my student motivation "trilogy.

“Google Scholar” Alerts Could Be Very Helpful For Research

Richard Byrne has just posted some helpful screenshots about how people can sign-up for Google Scholar Alerts related to particular research topics. Though I skeptical they’ll be particularly useful to students, they seem to me to be potentially extremely useful to those of us educators who frequently do research. I’ve certainly be aware of Google Alerts, though it seems to me that its quality ha

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 26min 

“Student Contest | 15-Second Vocabulary Videos”

The New York Times Learning Network has just announced a great contest for students to create fifteen second videos defining vocabulary words. And, whether you participate or not, it also offers very useful advice for teachers who want to try something like this in the classroom, including student examples. In fact, the contest announcement includes an example from one of my students. It’s embedd

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 40min

Video: John Stewart’s Two-Part Interview With Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch was on The Daily Show last night. Here’s her two-part interview, which includes an “extended” portion that only appeared on the Web. You might also be interested in the previous time she was on the show — see Jon Stewart & Diane Ravitch Knock It Out Of The Park!

17 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

YESTERDAY

Video: “Edna Krabappel – Ha! Laugh Montage”

Marcia Wallace, the actress who gave voice to Edna Krabappel, the not-to-be-emulated teacher on “The Simpsons,” died several days ago. Here’s a video collection of her “best” moments on the show (thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip):

10 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h mark as read  //  save

A Few More Halloween Resources

Here are even more new additions to The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween: Apps and Activities for Hallowe’en is from The Book Chook. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. A History Of Halloween Outfits [Infographic] by the team at Giraffe.ie

8 by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

10-30-13 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 NEXT BOOK!"Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies for Teaching Resilience, Respect, and Responsibility" is the tentative title of my next book. It will be the third in my student motivation "trilogy."“Five key strategies to get/keep kids engaged at school”Five key strategies to ge

by mike simpson / 14min 

10-31-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Steve Perry: Tweeting while working …. or as one reader put it – Tworking…

Steve Perry’s twitter account has been a bit quieter since we shed some light on his obsessive “tworking” (or tweeting while being paid by Connecticut’s taxpayers to run Hartford’s Capital Prep Magnet School). Hartford’s Superintendent of Schools, Christina Kishimoto has been even quieter on whether she and the Hartford Board of Education will be taking […]The post Steve Perry: Tweeting while work

7 by jonpelto / 15min

Wait, we spent $35,000 on what?

Consider it a tribute to Dannel Malloy’s version of American Capitalism… You’ll find this cute little “feel good” story in this week’s Hartford Business Journal. “Brewing Opportunity – Startup’s K-cup vending machine offers employers money-saving option” is an article about how an employee at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in East Hartford got an […]The post Wait, we spent $35,000

4 by jonpelto / 17min 

Vallas backs down on Bridgeport Military Academy

From the Connecticut Post:     Bridgeport Military Academy has their commander back BRIDGEPORT – City school officials confirmed late Wednesday that Byron Williams, commander of the Bridgeport Military Academy was back at the new school on Wednesday. Williams was let go by Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas last week but the outcry from parents and students […]The post Vallas backs down on Bridgep

4 by jonpelto / 1h 

Hartford’s Clark School parents, teachers and community fight back!

The battle to fight off the “Hostile Take-Over” of Hartford’s Clark School is growing. Last week Hartford Superintendent of Schools, Christina Kishimoto, announced plans that she wants to close Hartford’s Clark School and hand the building over to Achievement First, Inc., the larger charter school management company that already has one school in Hartford but […]The post Hartford’s Clark School pa

4 by jonpelto / 13min

Malloy/Democrats make mockery of Connecticut’s once prominent role in campaign finance reform

Thanks to the changes in Connecticut’s campaign finance system that were initiated and signed into law by Governor Malloy, corporate education reformers Jonathan Sackler and Mary Corson each wrote $10,000 checks to Connecticut’s Democratic Party this year. It is hardly the first time that Sackler and his wife, Corson, have ponied up for Governor Malloy. Over […]The post Malloy/Democrats make mocke

3 by jonpelto / 36min

10-30-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: Update on the effort to destroy the Clark Elementary School in HartfordIn a story entitled, “Hartford Officials Explain Charter School Choice,” the Hartford Courant’s Vanessa de la Torre explained that “Superintendent Christina Kishimoto has recommended Clark as the future site of the charter network’s second K-8 elementary school in Hartford, a proposal that has left some Clark parent

by mike simpson / 9h