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Thursday, January 23, 2014

The State of America's Children® 2014 Report

The State of America's Children® 2014 Report:



THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN® 2014 REPORT

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a War on Poverty in his State of the Union Address. Fifty years later, how have American children fared? CDF’s new report The State of America's Children 2014 finds child poverty has reached record levels and children of color are disproportionately poor. This is a comprehensive compilation and analysis of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on population, poverty, family structure, family income, health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, child welfare, juvenile justice, and gun violence. The report provides key child data showing alarming numbers of children at risk.
Read the Report Online by Section
- See more at: http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/state-of-americas-children/index.html#sthash.HuI9waW5.dpuf
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The Bunkum Awards in Education go to Rhee, Gates, ALEC and more of your edu faves | Seattle Education

The Bunkum Awards in Education go to Rhee, Gates, ALEC and more of your edu faves | Seattle Education:



The Bunkum Awards in Education go to Rhee, Gates, ALEC and more of your edu faves

bunkum
This marks our eighth year of handing out the Bunkum Awards, recognizing the lowlights in educational research over the past year. As long as the bunk keeps flowing, the awards will keep coming. It’s the least we can do. This year’s deserving awardees join a pantheon of divine purveyors of weak data, shoddy analyses, and overblown recommendations from years past. Congratulations, we guess—to whatever extent congratulations are due.
2013 Bunkum Honorees
gold-medal
To Public Agenda for Review of Failure Is Not an Option
A particularly egregious disservice is done by reports designed to convince readers that investment in disadvantaged communities can be ignored.  In this increasingly common mythology, students’ substandard outcomes are blamed on teachers and schools that 
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Standardized movie showing around the US | Parents Across America

Standardized movie showing around the US | Parents Across America:



Standardized movie showing around the US







StandardizedFLPAA’s Florida affiliate HispanEduca invites parents to movie screening
Standardized: Lies, Money and Civil Rights: How Testing is Ruining Public Education
PAA Florida affiliate HispanEduca leader Lourdes Perez Ramirez invites every Florida parent to a showing in Orlando of the new movie “Standardized.”
The screening will take place at Howard Middle School, 800 Robinson Street, free for all parents, on Jan. 25 at 1:30 PM.
PAA members will be interested in attending and sharing information about other showings across the U.S. including:
January 13, 7 pm, Southside High School, Rockville Center NY
January 18, 12:30 pm, Zoetropolis Theater, Lancaster PA
January 25, 1:30 pm, Howard Middle School, Orlando FL
January 30, 7 pm, John F. Kennedy High School, Chicago IL
February 6, 6 pm, The Ritz East, Philadelphia PA
February 10, time TBA, South High School, Minneapolis, MN
February 13, time TBA, Cinema Paradiso, Fort Lauderdale FL
February 22, time TBA, Arizona State U, Phoenix AZ
Watch for other screenings here. You can watch a YouTube preview here.
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NEA Announces $60 Million Fund to Invest in Educators’ Best Ideas | NEA Today

NEA Announces $60 Million Fund to Invest in Educators’ Best Ideas | NEA Today:



NEA Announces $60 Million Fund to Invest in Educators’ Best Ideas

January 23, 2014 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories


By Tim Walker and Celeste Busser
On Thursday, National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel announced the establishment of a $60 million fund to invest in state and local initiatives to improve student success and strengthen the teaching profession. Over ten years, the Great Public Schools Fund (GPS Fund) will support innovative projects and ideas proposed by educators, including peer assistance and review programs, Common Core implementation, teacher mentoring, school safety, and technology.
“Nobody knows better than educators what their students need to succeed in the classroom,” Van Roekel said. “Through the new GPS Fund, we are providing the resources to put these plans in action and help ensure opportunity, equity, and success for every public school student in America.”
The GPS Fund is one of the many initiatives NEA has launched in recent months that is designed to create a new generation of educator leaders. Last week, NEA and BetterLesson launched a new web site that provides more than 3,000 classroom-ready lessons. In addition, NEA, the Center for Teaching Quality, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards unveiled the Teacher Leadership Initiative. Last October, NEA partnered with TeachPlus to launch a selective fellowship that will empower teachers to advise union leadership on teacher engagement and retention.
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel discusses the Great Public School Fund and other NEA initiatives at the Center for American Progress on Thursday, January 23. Photo: Sewell Johnson
These initiatives were the focus of a panel discussion at the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington D.C. on Thursday that looked at the changing role of teachers unions. Joining Van Roekel was Paul Toner, President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), Tammy Wawro, President of the Iowa Education Association (IEA), Elena Silva of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Richard Lee Colvin of Cross and Joftus.
Van Roekel explained that the relentless pace of change that has gripped our public schools demands new innovative thinking on the part of 
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Surprising Test Results For Some Of The World's Richest Students

Surprising Test Results For Some Of The World's Richest Students:



Surprising Test Results For Some Of The World's Richest Students


The WorldPost has gotten the first look at the math scores of students at every socioeconomic decile from the 65 countries that participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment. What they reveal about the correlation between wealth and a student's academic performance is surprising.
Story continues below.
The data was provided to The WorldPost by Pablo Zoido, an analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the group behind PISA. It shows that students' wealth does not necessarily make them more competitive on an international scale. In the United States, for example, the poorest kids scored around a 433 out of 700 on the math portion of PISA, while the wealthiest ones netted about a 547. The lower score comes in just below the OECD average for the bottom decile (436), but the higher score also 


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The “Fruits” and the Future of Centralization in Public Schools | The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

The “Fruits” and the Future of Centralization in Public Schools | The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice:



The “Fruits” and the Future of Centralization in Public Schools

scafidiBenjamin Scafidi, Ph.D.
Posted: January 20, 2014

Dr. Scafidi is the director of the Economics of Education Policy Center and professor of Economics at Georgia College & State University.

School district consolidation was pitched as a way to save administrative costs in American public schools. Instead, public school administration has mirrored the trend of virtually every other government input: growth. Such centralization has contributed to a decrease in the ability of parents to “vote with their feet” for better and/or more appropriate schools for their children.
 
From the 1949-50 school year until the 2010-11 school year, the number of American school districts declined by about 84 percent, while the American population increased by just over 100 percent. However, during that same period, the number of school district and administrative staff and school principals and assistant principals increased about three times as fast as the increase in students. “Support staff”—which includes school district administrative support staff, school and library support staff, student support staff, and other support services staff—increased more than five times as fast as the increase in students.

Changes in the Number of K-12 Public School Students, Administrators, Administrative Support Staff, and School Districts in America, 1949-50 to 2010-11
Source: Tables 35, 36, and 92 of the 2012 Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education.
 
I am not suggesting school district consolidation caused the massive increases in school and district administration and administrative support. But any savings that might accrue from 
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1-23-14 THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG -

Early Education Takes Center Stage — Whole Child Education:













Early Education Takes Center Stage
With so much attention being paid to college and career readiness, the importance of early childhood education should not be overlooked. In the new issue of Policy Priorities, ASCD explores the significance of early childhood education and details the challenges of expanding access and ensuring equitable services for all children. The brief also provides updates on how educators and policymakers
by Melanie Olmstead / 54min hide  //  save
The Power of Personalized Learning
Personalized learning. It is a stealth ninja lying in wait ready to knock out its adversary, student malaise. It's a weathered sage employing ancient methodologies of simple wisdom and effortless discernment. It's creative wizardry that unfurls forgotten enthusiasm. And it is within every educator's grasp. Simply put, personalized learning is a teacher allowing students to be at the helm of thei
by ASCD Whole Child ... / 54min 
You Learn. You Teach. Now Lead.
ASCD Emerging Leaders are accomplished educators with 5–15 years of experience who are highly involved in ASCD and the education community as a whole?. The two-year program is designed to prepare younger, diverse educators for potential influence and ASCD leadership. ASCD now enrolls more educators in each class than ever before and includes an Emerging Leaders Grant opportunity that will award s
by ASCD Whole Child ... / 54min 




1-22-14 THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG - Early Childhood Education: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices into Literacy Instruction — Whole Child Education
Early Childhood Education: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices into Literacy Instruction — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGEarly Childhood Education: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices into Literacy InstructionJanuary 22, 2014 by Tisha ShipleyA top priority for early childhood educators is to teach children to read. Using developmentally appropriate practi
by mike simpson / 20h 




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Arne Duncan Answers Teachers’ Questions on the Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education | ED.gov Blog

Arne Duncan Answers Teachers’ Questions on the Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education | ED.gov Blog:



Arne Duncan Answers Teachers’ Questions on the Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Guest Blogger
As a Teaching Ambassador Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education— a teacher on leave from my school for one year to help bring educator voice to the policy world— I recently had the opportunity to sit down with fellow teacher Lisa Clarke and Secretary Arne Duncan to discuss the role of private interests and public education.
Lisa and I asked Secretary Duncan questions we’ve heard from some teachers in recent roundtable discussions: Is there a corporate agenda at the U.S. Department of Education? Do philanthropists like Bill Gates and Eli Broad earn the right to make decisions with their donations to public education? This short video gives us a glimpse into how decisions are made and whose interests are taken into consideration.
This is only the start of the discussion. Keep the conversation going in the comment section below and by using #AskArne on Twitter. To be continued.
Joiselle Cunningham is a Teaching Ambassador Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education for the 2013-14 school year.
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Neighborhood Councils Should Scrutinize Neighborhood Schools, iPad Initiative – redqueeninla

Neighborhood Councils Should Scrutinize Neighborhood Schools, iPad Initiative – redqueeninla:





Neighborhood Councils Should Scrutinize Neighborhood Schools, iPad Initiative

Written by redqueeninla in LAUSD







When Mayor Villaraigosa made a grab for control of school affairs channelingthe approach of his Big Apple-counterpart, we Angelenos would up with clearly delineated and separate roles relegated to either side of the Harbor Freeway.  To the west along Beaudry the school board remains in charge of our schools, aided by an appointed superintendent of their “choosing”.  (Some salaries of the superintendent’s private circle were once and may yet be paid by private foundations, but the current status of such influence-peddling is hard to deduce).
Nevertheless we citizens retain, by-and-large, a seven-member elected board of directors mandated to address exclusively our education concerns, and issues relating to the pedagogy of our own children.
Meanwhile on the other side of the freeway, a 15-member elected city council retains control over LA’s remaining civil matters, the planning, the streets, the utilities, etc.  But for the past decade this power has been shared, slightly, downward and outward, through a broadly blanketing series of democratic Neighborhood Councils whose “participants are empowered to advocate directly for real change in their communities”.
Challenges to this structure are therefore very much of interest to members of 
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empathyeducates – Muscle Cramps, Evidence, and the Public Education Reform Debate

empathyeducates – Muscle Cramps, Evidence, and the Public Education Reform Debate:



Muscle Cramps, Evidence, and the Public Education Reform Debate

By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. January 15, 2014
For almost thirty years, I have been a serious recreational and competitive cyclist. Despite my goals as a cyclist focusing primarily on endurance events—such as English centuries (100 miles) over mountain courses (elevation gains of 10,000 feet and more) and single-day rides of 220+ miles—I have also been that entire time prone to muscle cramps.
Since cramping has often ruined my targeted events, and since when cramps occur (and don’t) has been impossible to predict or even explain, I have spent a great deal of my cycling career studying and experimenting with how to avoid muscle cramps during endurance events—especially in the summer months of my home in the South.
When I raise my cramping issue among the cycling community, I am always flooded with “I do X and so should you!” The X includes claims about hydration (plain water for some, this or that brand sports drink for another), electrolyte tablets and gels, mustard, pickle juice, and Tums.
What is profoundly interesting about these anecdotal responses are two really important facts: (1) As Joe Friel states, “Contrary to what we’ve been led to believe, no one knows what causes muscle cramps. [1] The 
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A Dearth of Democracy: Why Sac City Voters Deserve an Election, Not an Appointment | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

A Dearth of Democracy: Why Sac City Voters Deserve an Election, Not an Appointment | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education:



A Dearth of Democracy: Why Sac City Voters Deserve an Election, Not an Appointment

published by Kate_Lenox on Thu, 01/23/2014 - 11:36am

Well Maybe!


There has been a dearth of democracy lately here in Sacramento. Races big and small, from water board to mayor of Sacramento go begging for candidates or virtually uncontested. In some cases there is no election at all. This hasn't gone unnoticed. In his article in the Sacramento News and Review Cosmo Garvin focused on Sac City Unified board member Patrick Kennedy.  Kennedy has been the "winner" in one uncontested race for the SCUSD board and currently faces no challenger for a county supervisor seat. Moreover, by voting to appoint  a replacement for Ellyne Bell's seat on the SCUSD board instead of opting for an election, he helped deprive the residents of District 1 the chance to choose their own representative. But Kennedy's part in that appointment goes beyond his vote. There were machinations behind the scene to orchestrate that appointment.

                The Bee reported in the fall of 2012 that Ellyne resigned from her seat in October because she had recently accepted a job in San Francisco and would be moving there. In fact, she had taken that job in February of 2012 and had moved to the Bay Area in May of that year when the job went full time. Instead of resigning then, she was persuaded to stay on the board past the filing date for the fall election. Kennedy was among those who convinced her that it would be better for the district if the board could appoint  someone of their choosing.  Ellyne told me this herself when I confronted her in September 2012 about her failure to resign in a timely manner so that an election could be held to replace her. She also told me that SCUSD legal counsel told her it was legal for her to hold her seat while living in the Bay Area, as long as she kept some belongings in her house in Sac
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NYC Educator: The Fix Is in, Declares Reformy John King

NYC Educator: The Fix Is in, Declares Reformy John King:



The Fix Is in, Declares Reformy John King

Reformy John King appeared before a group of Senators and let them know that he wasn't making any stinking changes, because Common Core is just peachy, everyone thinks so, and anyone who doesn't is either a parent, a teacher, or a New York resident, all of whom are special interests. Though self-proclaimed student lobbyist Andrew Cuomo paid valuable lip service to the poor rollout, Reformy John let everyone know he was gonna do what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants.

After all, that's what everyone else is getting, said Reformy John, neglecting to mention his own kids, who are in a Montessori school. They are getting an education rather than the reformy crap that's good enough for your kids in mine.

You see all that snow on the ground? That's nothing compared to the snow job we're getting from Reformy John, Merryl Tisch, and Big Cahuna Cuomo. Cuomo tries to act as though he intends to do something, but speaks not one word of criticism about his reformy pals. And how could he? He needs every suitcase full of cash that Moskowitz and DFER can muster. It's 
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Daily Kos: Republicans say 'school choice' but they mean privatization

Daily Kos: Republicans say 'school choice' but they mean privatization:



Group of children standing in classroom
attribution: Iofoto/Dreamstime
The Republican strategy of privatizing public education and labeling it as a civil rights issue continues apace. While Republican politicians don't see it as a civil right for poor kids to eat or have health care or a place to live, when it comes to charter school expansion or vouchers to attend private schools, suddenly it's all about civil rights, according to Republicans. Also, too, a break from being the Party of No:
“It allows Republicans to be positive, and different from how they are normally perceived,” said Matthew Dowd, a political strategist and the architect of George W. Bush’s 2004 victory. “Republicans are often seen as supporting policies that help a certain class of voters,” Dowd said. “Here, we have policies that provide opportunity for everyone, especially low-income voters.”
Even if minority voters aren’t entirely won over, Dowd said, GOP candidates still benefit from talking up school choice: “It gives the message to moderate white suburban voters that they’re tolerant, they’re expansive — they care.”
The "opportunity" in question, of course, is to participate in programs that are not improving educational outcomes, like going to mostly mediocre-to-bad private schools (vouchers aren't sending kids to Andover or Exeter, you know?). And the vouchers aren't enough for the poorest families to afford private school, but the programs weaken the traditional public schools those 
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There Has Been an Average of One School Shooting Every Other School Day so far This Year | News & Notes, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com

There Has Been an Average of One School Shooting Every Other School Day so far This Year | News & Notes, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com:



There Has Been an Average of One School Shooting Every Other School Day so far This Year

January 23, 2014
by Adam Peck
A woman hugs a student at a staging ground set up at the Roswell Mall following a shooting at Berrendo Middle School, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Roswell, N.M. A shooter opened fire at the middle school, injuring at least two students before being taken into custody. (AP Photo/Roswell Daily Record, Mark Wilson)
A woman hugs a student at a staging ground set up at the Roswell Mall following a shooting at Berrendo Middle School, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Roswell, N.M. A shooter opened fire at the middle school, injuring at least two students before being taken into custody. (AP Photo/Roswell Daily Record, Mark Wilson)
Last year was supposed to be a year of action to curb gun violence in our schools. But three weeks into the new year, statistics suggest that the problem could actually be worsening.
Though the sample size is far too small to draw any definitive conclusions, 2014 is off to a deadly start: in the first 14 school days of the year, there have been at least seven school shootings. For sake of comparison, there were 28 school shootings in all of 2013, according to gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action.
Purdue University is the most recent, when a 23-year-old teaching assistant fired four shots inside a campus building on Tuesday, killing a 21-year-old senior. One day earlier, a student was hospitalized after being shot near the athletic center on the campus of Widener University in Pennsylvania. And last week, there were at least three other school shootings, resulting in the 


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Schooling in the Ownership Society: Uh oh. Is Pearson in trouble?

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Uh oh. Is Pearson in trouble?:



Uh oh. Is Pearson in trouble?


Arne Duncan and state around the country have all their Common Core eggs in Pearson's basket. Problem is, the basket's got a hole in it.

The Guardian reports that the British mega-publisher's 2013 earnings would be lower than expected due to higher restructuring costs and poor demand for its North America education business in its key selling quarter.
In education, where it is the world leader, it is seeking to grow in emerging markets and tap into the rise in spending by a burgeoning middle class.
Pearson, the 170-year-old education and media group which is in the middle of a 
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