2-6-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

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

Rescheduled Soup Kitchen and half a cola at State Rep Robyn Gabel’s district office.

  Some members of our Skokie Organization of Retired Educators (SORE) IEA/ Retired chapter will be heading over to State Representative Robyn Gabel’s Evanston district office on February 18th from 4PM to 5PM. We had previously scheduled it for January 28th. But it was minus 45 degrees that day. You remember. The Polar Vortex. We’re SORE. But not crazy. Some friends have asked us about our protest

by Fred Klonsky / 51min 

Aldermen Bob Fioretti (2nd), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Brendan Reilly (42nd) and John Arena (45th). That’s it.

Aldermen Bob Fioretti (2nd), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Brendan Reilly (42nd) and John Arena (45th). That’s it. Those are the names of the Chicago aldermen who voted against Rahm’s plan to add another two billion dollars of debt, while betting the legislature will save them money by screwing the city’s public employees out of their pensions. Four alderman out of fifty. That’s not a progressive cauc

by Fred Klonsky / 10min 

2-5-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Free Scott Reeder.You’re not going to believe this, but I am feeling a tinge of sympathy for Scott Reeder this morning. Democratic Party boss and Speaker of the Illinois House has banned him from the General Assembly’s press box. So has Democratic Senate President John Cullerton. They are claiming tha

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-4-14 Wait What? - Pryor must go

Wait What?:

Steve Perry’s Capital Prep Bridgeport Charter School management fee for initial five years – $2.7 million

The Hartford Bridgeport Board of Education is paying Steve Perry a large salary to serve as the Principal of its Capital Prep Magnet School.  Perry has a twelve month contract so he is supposed to be “on duty” year around. Although Perry has missed 20 percent of the Capital Prep school days this year, he […]The post Steve Perry’s Capital Prep Bridgeport Charter School management fee for initial fi

6 by jonpelto / 50min 

Snow Day(s) Re-Cap: The Wait, What? Posts you may have missed

As a result of the polar vortex (otherwise known as a polar cyclone, polar low, or a circumpolar whirl), some Wait, What? readers may have missed some of the latest posts.  Here is a re-cap: Hello CT and Hartford officials… Is there anyone who will confront the lawbreakers? Are there any elected or appointed official in Connecticut who […]The post Snow Day(s) Re-Cap: The Wait, What? Posts you may

2 by jonpelto / 36min 

Connecticut Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor must go

Even putting aside the fact that Governor Dannel Malloy’s re-election dreams face an insurmountable hurdle if Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor and his gang of corporate education reform industry staff and consultants remain in place; Pryor must go if Malloy and the Democrats are truly interested in improving the state of the state when it […]The post Connecticut Commissioner of Education Ste

15 by jonpelto / 1h

2-4-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Hello CT and Hartford officials… Is there anyone who will confront the lawbreakers?Are there any elected or appointed official in Connecticut who have the courage and conviction to actually ensure the laws of this state are equitably enforced? Student-athlete recruitment by interdistrict magnet schools such as Capital Prep Magnet Schools is illegal in Connecticut.  (For example, see Se

by mike simpson / 7h 

@ The Answer Sheet 2-6-14 - A really scary headline about kindergarteners

The Answer Sheet:

School apologizes for Black History Month lunch of watermelon, fried chicken

Put this in the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff category: A Catholic  high school for girls in California thought it would be a good idea to mark Black History Month with a special lunch menu of fried chicken, watermelon and cornbread. Many students and parents were not amused. KNTV, the NBC affiliate in the Bay Area that Nancy Libby, principal […]    

17 by Valerie Strauss / 32min 

A master’s degree on The Beatles — really

View Photo Gallery —An 18-year-old Mike Mitchell was at the Beatles’ first U.S. concert, snapping pictures with his 35mm Nikon with no flash. Those photos, which recently sold at auction, show a love of light and shadow that is reflected in his later work. Readers of this blog know that I will find any flimsy […]    

6 by Valerie Strauss / 18min 

A really scary headline about kindergarteners

Rob Saxton is Oregon’s deputy superintendent of public instruction. Jada Rupley is the early learning system director within the state Department of Education. Together they wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian that was published online with this headline:  Kindergarten test results a ‘sobering snapshot’ What could possibly be sobering about test results from kindergarteners?  What […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 1h hide  //  save

The misguided effort to teach ‘character’

In 2009, Mike Rose, a research professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and an author, published “Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us,” a well-received  book that asked big questions about what it means to be educated and the nature of learning. A significantly revised and expanded edition of the […]    

6 by Valerie Strauss / 5h 

@ The Answer Sheet 2-5-14

The Answer Sheet: Obama smacks Bill O’Reilly on school vouchersPresident Obama often says things about school reform that suggest he hasn’t read up on the effects of his policies, but he knew his stuff on vouchers cold during an interview with Bill O’Reilly, effectively smacking down the conservative commentator’s wishful thinking with the facts. The Obama administration has steadfastly opposed vo

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Schools Matter - Two Decades Is Enough to Show Value-Added Is a Scam

Schools Matter:

KIPP Uses Funds Shortage As Excuse to Shut Two Galveston Schools

Having collected hundreds of millions of federal grants, public education dollars, and tax-exempt philanthrocapitalist cash, KIPP Inc. is the richest corporate charter chain in the world.Yet when Galveston Schools finally decided it was unfair to give KIPP $1.5 million more per year than it does for the same number of its public schools, KIPP decided that the public teat is no longer fat enough to

2 by Jim Horn / 19min 

Two Decades Is Enough to Show Value-Added Is a Scam

by Joey Garrison at The Tennessean:Tennessee’s largest teachers union has turned against the policy of including student learning gains in the evaluation of teachers, a flip that shows its growing discomfort with a major Race to the Top reform.When Tennessee applied for $501 million in federal Race to the Top funds in 2010, a critical part in landing the coveted grant was that competing stakeholde

8 by Jim Horn / 2h 

2-5-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter: De Blasio: Not Just Another BullshitterIt has to feel like Spring in New York in the middle of a snowstorm:  a progressive mayor elected to serve the people that Wall Street predators and casino capitalists forgot.  From DNAInfo New York:". . . . De Blasio sparked a political showdown earlier this month by rejecting Cuomo's offer to provide $1.5 billion for universal pre-K acr

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Florida’s Race-Based Goals and Test Reliance Slammed in Senate Chamber

A remarkable press conference was called by an influential Florida state senator yesterday to highlight contradictions in its accountability system. Bill Cotterell writes in the Florida Current: A state senator, a civil rights attorney and the mother of a young student said Wednesday the Florida Department of Education is sending a bad message to public school children and their teachers by having

by Bob Sikes / 2h 

 

2-5-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Will Costs Crush Common Core?Perry Chiamamonte of FOX News reports that “states are learning the cost of Common Core is uncommonly high.” States will spend up to an estimated $10 billion up front, then as much as $800 million per year for the first seven years that the c

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:

Bill Introduced: H.R. 3983: Total Learning Act

To establish a competitive grant program assisting the development of innovative early learning curricula for low-income children.

6h hide  //  save

Bill Introduced: S. 1968: Scholarships for Kids Act

A bill to allow States to let Federal funds for the education of disadvantaged children follow low-income children to the accredited or otherwise State-approved public school, private school, or supplemental educational services program they attend.

6h 

 

2-4-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education programs funding - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress: Bill Introduced: H.R. 3959: Pay It Forward College Affordability Act of 2014To establish a Pay It Forward model for funding postsecondary education.4h Bill Introduced: S. 1950: Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014A bill to improve the provision of medical services and benefits to ve

by mike simpson / 8h 

2-6-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

“The Best Posts On The inBloom Data Fiasco”

I’ve just published The Best Posts On The inBloom Data Fiasco over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. inBloom is the company that’s basically trying to collect, store and share student data and is supported by the Gates Foundation.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

Today’s New Resources On The Sochi Olympics

Boy, there sure are some interesting resources being created around the Sochi Olympics. Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games: How do you pronounce ‘Sochi’? is from The Week. The Winter Olympics of yore is a slideshow from The Week. Here is a collection of interactive graphics from The Washington Post on the Olympics. are the winter

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

It’s Bob Marley’s Birthday Today — Check Out A Ton Of Resources About Him

Today is Bob Marley’s birthday. You might be interested in The Best Websites For Learning About Bob Marley. We teach a ninth-grade unit on Jamaica, and study a lot about him.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 29min 

This Week In Web 2.0

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth , I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” (you might also be interested in The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2013): ExamTime is sort of a flashcard site on steroids that provides a number of other tools, too. I’m adding it to The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards. Five-Minute Fi

by Larry Ferlazzo / 58min hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

February’s Best Tweets — Part One

Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twitter, yo

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Sochi Olympics Resource Update

Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games: Winter Olympics resources from EFL Classroom 2.0. A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters’ Jumps at the Olympics is from The Atlantic. Putin’s Explosive Olympics is from TIME. An Olympics in the Shadow of a War Zone is an interactive from The NY Times. Here’s an interactive from the BBC on the history of t

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Show Me The Money — Are Schools Really Getting An Extra Billion For Technology?

You have seen articles over the past couple of days about President Obama getting the Federal Communications Commission to add an extra billion dollars towards providing high-speed Internet to schools and libraries. Here are some of the better articles on it: Here’s Obama’s plan to give teachers and libraries $1 billion a year in extra funding is from The Washington Post. F.C.C. to Change Program

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

2-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Three Excellent Articles From ASCD On Teacher MoraleThe new issue of ASCD Educational Leadership is on teacher morale, and I’m adding these three articles to The Best Posts & Articles About The Importance Of Teacher (& Student) Working Conditions: Can’t Wait for Monday is by Rafe Esquith. Getting Beyond the Blame Ga

by mike simpson / 7h