1-22-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Sneak peek of @unitedoptout version of Dvorak, only available if you register for their spring event in Denver.

This will be a playable deck of collectible trading cards, people, of all those involved (Defenders) and those against (Deformers). I have not seen anything else like it, anywhere, so get your hands on this one-of-a-kind item. That is, only if you register, and pick them up in person in Denver, although we may make […]

6 by Shaun Johnson / 2h 

Goodness gracious, the PARCC samples are ready! Thanks @PARCCplace

Is there no irony sensed that PARCC Place is a play on words of the most expensive place on the Monopoly board? Ok, let’s shoot on over to PARCC Place, then, and see what they’re about. Let’s practice! Damn it!! All right, all right. I’ll play along. Even though all the cool kids use Chrome. […]

35 by Shaun Johnson / 3h hide  //  save

With all due respect @jeffbcdm, this doesn’t sound like a good idea at all

There are a lot of folks out there nibbling at the edges of this Common Core ordeal. We get it, it’s a “flashpoint,” or what have you. It’s tough to debate because so many emotions enter the conversation; that is, if you care about this sort of thing. I think a poll of the larger […]

4 by Shaun Johnson / 3h 

Thomas Friedman And The In Crowd

Sometimes really smart people get really dumb. It isn’t on purpose. They just start to believe too much of what they have to say, or write. When they also love to be in the limelight because of what they write, the light that shines on them also blinds them. I believe that is the case […]

1 by davidgreene207003... / 2h

Vergara V. California Would Turn Teachers into Second Class Citizens

David Cohen’s “Education Policy vs Litigation” at InterACT provides a balanced analysis of Vergara vs California, a corporate reform effort to kill five California laws because they supposedly violate the rights of poor children of color. Students Matter, a nonprofit founded by entrepreneur David Welch, sponsors Vergara.  It asks the Court to strike down teachers’ […]

by John Thompson / 2min

1-21-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]. via Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux].1 by plthomasedd / 9min ALEC and Its (Reluctantly) Newly-created Jeffersonian ProjectThe American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has bee

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-22-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

The Place of English in General Education (1940)

The Place of English in General Education (1940).

1 by plthomasedd / 32min hide  //  save

Students Should Be Tested Less, Then Not at All

Students Should Be Tested More, Not Less by Jessica Lahey is not a compelling case to test students more, but another example of journalism failing to represent accurately a relatively limited study related to education. Several aspects of the article reveal that the title and apparent claim of the need for more testing are misleading: Henry L. Roediger III, a cognitive psychologist at Washington

11 by plthomasedd / 1h 

 

1-21-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]Jay P. Greene, Ph.D., is Endowed Chair and Head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. The Department of Education Reform is heavily funded by Walton money, and it

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-22-14 Perdido Street Schoo

Perdido Street School:

It's All De Blasio's Fault

The Murdoch news outlets ran with the story that the de Blasio snow response was incompetent and inept, with the Post putting the story on the front page and Fox 5 playing the story on the TV.The meme went something like, Socialist de Blasio played payback with the UES by failing to plow the streets there promptly during yesterday's snow storm.The Times and other outlets picked up the story, de Bl

by reality-based edu... / 22min 

Cuomo's Pre-K Proposal Doesn't Add Up

From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—Some lawmakers and advocates are questioning whether Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal of $1.5 billion over five years is enough to fund full-day pre-kindergarten statewide, or whether it's a wise expenditure when schools are struggling to educate students in mandatory grades. The governor announced Tuesday during his annual budget address plans to allocate

by reality-based edu... / 37min

Stop Saying Cuomo Has "Joined The Fight" Against Common Core

From the Daily News: ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has joined the fight to change the state’s new Common Core curriculum. Cuomo, as part of his budget presentation Tuesday, announced plans for a special advisory panel that will recommend “corrective action” in the way the state implements the curriculum — which is part of a national effort to raise academic standards. “I support the Common Core agenda,” Cu

by reality-based edu... / 49min hide  //  save

NYC Schools Are Opened

New York City schools are opened this morning.It remains to be seen how many students actually come to school.Or how many teachers - especially the ones who live on Long Island.But the world's largest day care center cannot close unless conditions are so prohibitive that there is no sane reason it should remain open.There's anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow out there and it's 9 degrees this mornin

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

1-21-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Governor Cuomo Will Fund After School Programs Through Gambling LossesCome on seven, mamma needs junior to get that after school SAT prep class!Buried in the Daily News article reporting that Governor Cuomo is funding universal full-day pre-K across the state for the year, attempting to cut off Bill de Blasio's campaign pledge that NYC will fund its own universal full-day pr

by mike simpson / 9h 

We Party Patriots » With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining

We Party Patriots » With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining:

With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining

   

Teachers in Portland remain on the verge of striking as their attempts to negotiate a new contract are stuck at a crossroads.  

On Tuesday, Teachers wore black to “mourn the district’s refusal to continue bargaining.”  This came after the board offered their “best offer” which did nothing to help alleviate growing class and ignored a push for more teacher hiring, a main priority of the teachers union.  The district’s refusal was made more egregious as it announced a larger than expected budget surplus.  The teachers union has been attempting to negotiate a new contract for over nine months.

On Monday night, students joined teachers, parents, and local unions at a school board meeting in solidarity with their teachers.  The 400-plus students in attendance declared that they would join their teachers on the picket lines if a strike occurred.  The Portland Student Union organized the “Pack the School Board” event demanding to have its needs heard.  

According to Infoshop the student union’s demands include:

Class sizes less than 20
Proper funding of the arts
More time with guidance counselors
Student-teacher collaboration in building curriculum
Rich, relevant curriculum—not Common Core
Democratic process in the allocation of funds
Restorative justice—not suspensions and expulsions
Funding for wrap-around programs
Support for all teachers
No school closures

All board members except pro-union Steve Buel exited the meeting quickly, refusing to hear the students demands.  

As Oregon Live notes, superintendent Carole Smith has said that she does not believe district officials will work with the latest proposal from the teachers union:

Smith has said she doesn’t believe the district can offer more than the concessions the two sides worked 

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say | The Raw Story

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say | The Raw Story:

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say

Topics: suicidal thoughts

 Schools that set up programs to fight homophobia helpreduce the suicide risk for all students, a recent study showed.

Canadian researchers said all students at schools that set up gay-straight alliances and enacted anti-homophobia policies showed lower odds of discrimination, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, particularly when both were enacted or after they had been in place for three years or more.

“We know that LGBTQ students are at higher risk for suicide, in part because they are more often targeted for bullying and discrimination,” says Elizabeth Saewyc, a University of British Columbia nursing professor and lead author of the study. “But heterosexual students can also be the target of homophobic bullying. When policies and supportive programs like GSAs are in place long enough to change the environment of the school, it’s better for students’ mental health, no matter what their orientation.”

The study examined data from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey and was published in the International Journal of Child, Youth, and Family Studies.

One-fifth of the nearly 22,000 students examined in the survey attended schools with anti-

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers | Hechinger Report

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers | Hechinger Report:

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers

By Sara Neufeld

This story also appeared at:

Part two of two

CHICAGO –– Two years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and public school officials faced a difficult predicament. They wanted to rectify the fact that Chicago had one of the shortest school days in the nation. But they didn’t have the money to pay the city’s 20,000 teachers to work more.

To make their plan economically viable –– and to end a weeklong teachers strike that resulted partly from their proposal for longer teacher hours without a proportionate pay increase –– they agreed with the union to rearrange the workday.

Before the change, teachers were typically required to arrive at least a half hour before their students each morning. They often used that time for staff or parent meetings and collaborating with colleagues.

Patrick Henry Elementary School Principal Januario Gutierrez, with student Camila Siles-Syrek, runs after-school enrichment activities in 10-week cycles so staff members can rotate who leads them to avoid burnout. (Armando L. Sanchez / Hechinger Report)

Now, more than a year after the strike, teachers are only contractually bound to arrive and leave at the same time as students, a proposition that many say they find absurd and leaves them working far more hours. Dozens report that the revised schedule has made two hallmarks of any successful school –– teacher collaboration and training –– more difficult.

The Hechinger Report informally surveyed 70 Chicago teachers from around the city, all enrolled in a class preparing for the prestigious National Board Certification, which recognizes distinguished teaching. When asked if they receive less training than they did before the longer school day began, 

Daily Kos: important op ed on food by Mark Bittman

Daily Kos: important op ed on food by Mark Bittman:

important op ed on food by Mark Bittman

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in today's New York Times, titled Abundance Doesn't Mean Health.

Consider the following information, derived from Oxfam's "Good Enough to Eat" index rating of 125 nations:

The results for the United States make a fine case for American exceptionalism, though not in the way chauvinists will find pleasing.

We rank first in food affordability; food is cheap compared with other things we buy, and prices are relatively stable. We also rank highly (4th) in food “quality,” which is measured by (potential) diversity of diet, though access to good water is shockingly low (tied for 41st, about a third of the way down the list).

Then the hammer falls: When it comes to healthy eating as measured by diabetes and obesity rates, we’re 120th: sixth from the bottom, better off only than Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Fiji and our unlucky neighbor Mexico. (Canada fares a little better; it’s 18th worst.) We’re also in a tie (with Belarus and other powerhouses) for 35th in “enough to eat.” Really.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine having a food supply as abundant as ours and doing a worse job with it.

Please keep reading.

Bittman points out that what we grow does not necessarily turn into nutritious and health food:

Does Freedom of Speech end at the Principal’s Office? | EdCentrist

Does Freedom of Speech end at the Principal’s Office? | EdCentrist:

Does Freedom of Speech end at the Principal’s Office?

• Leave a comment

I’ve watched this video a few times, trying desperately to find any justifiable reason Newark officials suspended these school leaders. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see anything that would call for such a serious disciplinary action. In fact, it’s quite scary to think that Newark officials suspended these dedicated school leaders for speaking out and defending their schools, staff, and students.

What’s going on in Newark? This strikes me as highly un-American. So much for freedom of speech!

 

Raising the (Dun)Bar?

Since August 2013, Dunbar Senior High School has received a great deal of public attention, and rightfully so. A historic DC high school with an important national legacy, Dunbar has long been a unique American institution. But, now that the new paint has dried, Dunbar is bracing for a new round of publicity. This time, … Continue reading →

by Angel Cintron Jr / 3h

empathyeducates – The Danger of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility

empathyeducates – The Danger of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility:

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The Danger of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility

Photograph; Matt Rourke/AP Images

Higher education should be promoted to all students as an opportunity to experience an intellectual awakening, not just increase their earning power.

By Andrew Simmons | Originally Published at The Atlantic. January 16, 2014

A 12th-grader wrote a college admissions essay about wanting to pursue a career in oceanography. Let’s call her Isabella. A few months ago, we edited it in my classroom during lunch. The writing was good, but plenty of 17-year-olds fantasize about swimming with whales. Her essay was distinctive for another reason: Her career goals were not the highlight of the essay. They were just a means of framing her statement of purpose, something surprisingly few personal statements actually get around to making.

The essay’s core concerned the rhetoric that educators had used to motivate her and her peers—other minority students from low-income communities. She’d been encouraged to think of college foremost as a path to socioeconomic mobility. Since elementary school, teachers had rhapsodized about the opportunities that four years of higher education could unlock. Administrators had rattled off statistics about the gulf in earnings between college graduates and those with only high-school diplomas. She’d been told to think about her family, their hopes for her, what they hadn’t had and what she could have if she remained diligent. She’d been promised that good grades and a ticket to a good college would lead to a good job, one that would guarantee her financial independence and enable her to give back to those hard-working people who had placed their faith in her.

Thankfully, Isabella decried this characterization as shortsighted and simplistic. My guess is that only students like her ever have to hear it.

The black and Latino kids I teach live in Inglewood and West Adams in Los Angeles. Their parents are house-cleaners, truck drivers, and non-union carpenters. When administrators, counselors, and teachers repeat again and again that a college degree will alleviate economic hardship, they don’t mean to suggest that there is no other point to higher education. Yet by focusing on this one potential benefit, educators risk distracting them 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Braving sub-zero temps to stop the charter invasion

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Braving sub-zero temps to stop the charter invasion:

Braving sub-zero temps to stop the charter invasion

At last night's vigil

A SmallTalk Salute goes out to the dozens of protesters who demonstrated their commitment last night byholding an all-night vigil and sleeping out in sub-zero temps, outside CPS headquarters. They, along with hundreds of others, will pack today's board meeting to try and stop Rahm's hand pick board's vote for further charter expansion.

Another goes out to Wisconsin high school social studies teacher Al Levie, one of three recipients of a Martin Luther King Jr. humanitarian award. During a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader, Al refused to accept the award from Rep. Paul Ryan, saying, “I can’t in good conscience accept this award, as a humanitarian, Paul Ryan stands for everything I don’t believe in.”

After Ryan spoke, Levie criticized the congressman’s policies before being walked off the stage. Levie had earlier stated that he would like to see collective bargaining restored in Wisconsin, fair immigration reform and a fair tax system among other suggestions.

“Paul Ryan had no business at a Martin Luther King event, it’s totally hypocritical. On the one hand he votes to slash health care, while on the other hand, King dedicated his life and he died for it — for people to have adequate healthcare, to have adequate jobs.”

And a third salute goes out to  Ald. Nick Sposato (36th), and members of the City Council's