3-25-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

Arne Duncan heads to New Zealand, Hawaii with gaggle of staffers

My Post colleague Lyndsey Layton asked the Education Department about Secretary Arne Duncan’s trip this week to New Zealand and Hawaii — which will round out his visits to all 50 states during his tenure. Here’s what she learned: On Tuesday, Duncan jetted off to Wellington, New Zealand, to participate in the International Summit on […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 5min 

Resistance to standardized testing growing nationwide

Every week a nonprofit organization called the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, which is dedicated to ending the misuse and abuse of standardized testing (and is better known as FairTest) sends out an e-mail with a list of stories from around the country about resistance to high-stakes tests among teachers, students and parents. […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 2min

The new extremists in education debate

A member of the Ohio House of Representatives, Republican Rep. Andrew Brenner, wrote a post on his blog under this headline: “Public education in America is socialism, what is the solution?”  He wrote in part: Parents send their children to public schools throughout the United States, to school districts funded by taxation. Most of the […]    

1 by Valerie Strauss / 3h hide  //  save

Why teachers’ salaries should be doubled — now

  Nínive Calegari is a former classroom teacher who founded and serves as the president of The Teacher Salary Project, an organization aimed at improving the salaries of America’s teachers. She is also the co-producer of American Teacher, an award-winning film narrated by Matt Damon that documents the lives of four teachers based on a book she […]    

55 by Valerie Strauss / 6h  

3-24-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Ravitch: The best reason to oppose the Common Core StandardsThe growing opposition to the Common Core State Standards does not all stem from the same criticisms or even from the same political wing. Included in the anti-Core camp are conservatives, moderates and liberals who don’t offer identical critiques of the initiative. Some don’t like it academically; some don’t like it pol

by mike simpson / 9h 

3-25-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

In Denouncing Common Core, Ravitch Promotes National Standards

Even back to the days when Diane Ravitch was a trusted employee of the Bush I Administration, she was an advocate for voluntary national curriculum standards.  She has continued to hold this position, even as her previous pro-corporate vices became untenable for anyone with intellectual aspirations or even a lick of integrity. She said in a New York Times op-ed in 2005 that "unfortunately, th

2 by Jim Horn / 59min 

Debate on Bilingual Education Needs to Include All the Facts

Published in Education Week, March 25, 2014 The campaign to full restore bilingual education in California needs to include the research. Despite efforts by academics, this research was not brought to the attention of the voters. Not mentioned in the Education Week article is the fact that studies done before and after Proposition 227 passed consistently showed that students in bilingual programs

by skrashen / 22min 

Grindstones Make Grit

With Seligman disciple, Angela Duckworth, teaming up with KIPP co-father, Dave Levin, the industrial child psychologists have an able researcher and an experimental site to figure out how to roughen up the grindstone to reduce more urban children to piles of grit. At this point, we don't know what the how much grit will be ground out by subjecting children to years of screaming, labeling, threaten

by Jim Horn / 0min hide  //  save

The Moral Imperative to Opt Out Until the System is Changed

Editorial from Philadelphia Inquirer (ht to Ken Derstine)POSTED: Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 1:08 AmParents are right to protest the oversize emphasis placed on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams when so many schools are poorly funded.Robin Roberts says her three children won't be taking the PSSAs with the rest of the students at Philadelphia's C.W. Henry Elementary School. "If i

2 by Jim Horn / 51min 

21st Century Skills?

Stephen KrashenYogi Berra: "It's hard to predict, especially about the future.""I contend that, instead of insisting on more and more standardization, we should be increasing variety, flexibility, and choice in what we offer in our schools (Noddings, 2009, p.243)." ... useful knowledge changes as societies change" (Zhao, 2009, p. 135).It is often stated that new standards

by skrashen / 7h 

3-24-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Maryland Has Some of the Best Public School Protection Laws in the NationAP has a piece in WaPo that pretend that two most voracious advocacy groups for corporate welfare charters represent research groups: Center for Education Reform and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  In pointing out that CER's charter welfare queen, Jeanne Allen, has labeled Maryland among the

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-25-14 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.:

Urgent. Charter bill witness slips needed. Now.

The House version of the charter school accountability act passed successfully out of committee. The Senate version of that same bill, SB 3030 will be heard in committee this afternoon. We have been told that it will face a much tougher hurdle in getting out of committee than its House counterpart. Fill out witness slip here.

by Fred Klonsky / 8min 

A message from the Ken Swanson, the IEA President who gave us Senate Bill 7.

A NOTE TO ALL ILLINOIS TEACHERS FROM KEN SWANSON – former IEA President….. Hi Everyone, I wish to add my voice to those coming to the defense of IEA and its current leadership. I have nothing but great praise for the efforts to nominate Sen. Dillard. It would have been easy to buy into the defeatist attitude of those who argued there was no way and it couldn’t be done. Well, it was nearly accompl

by Fred Klonsky / 22min hide  //  save

Squeezy defends collective bargaining. In theory.

A former IEA leader who was running for another top office came to our Region asking for support.  Given his support for Senate Bill 7 – which took away our seniority and tenure rights, linked teacher performance and evaluations to student test scores and raised the bar for strike authorization – I asked him if there was anything that he absolutely wouldn’t bargain. He thought for a moment. Or tw

by Fred Klonsky / 38min 

Illinois set to put major limits on charter schools. Act now.

Illinois charter school operators are about to face major legislative restrictions on their expansion of operations. This is big. But you must make your phone calls and file witness slips. HB 3754, a bill sponsored in the House by State Representative LInda Chapa LaVia, a Democrat from Aurora would defang the Charter School Commission of its authority to overturn a decision by an elected local sc

by Fred Klonsky / 54min 

3-24-14 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.: CPS continues its ethnic cleansing of its teaching faculty.  Photo: George Schmidt, Substance. The announcement late Friday that CPS was closing three more schools – calling them turn-arounds – was an attempt to bury the story of the system’s continuing efforts at the ethnic cleansing of the teaching

by mike simpson / 8h 

3-25-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

“Unknown Unknowns” & The Potential Of An Exceptional Theory Of Knowledge Lesson

One of Donald Rumsfeld’s most famous – if not his most famous – utterance was his “unknown unknowns” response at a press conference related to Iraq (you can see a video of it at the end of this post). Now, filmmaker Errol Morris has just published The Certainty of Donald Rumsfeld (Part 1) over at The New York Times, the first in a four-part series. I don’t know what the next three parts are goin

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

The Best Posts, Articles & Videos On “Teacher Leadership” — Contribute More!

“Teacher Leadership” is a phrase that’s used a lot, and to not always mean the same thing. It’s particularly important, I think, to talk about it now since Education Secretary Arne Duncan is kicking-off an initiative using the term (you’ll find commentaries on that effort later in this post). I thought it might be useful to share a few of what I think are the best ones (or, at least, the ones tha

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12min 

Infographic: Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

I’ve previously posted about how I use the UN Universal Declaration Of Human Rights in a modified version of the well-known Rethinking Schools lesson ((I provide students excerpts of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the South African Bill of Rights, have students compare them our own, and then students develop one for their own imaginary country — with justifications). You can se

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12min 

“8 Tips for Reaching Out to Parents”

8 Tips for Reaching Out to Parents is a very good list of suggestions by educator David Cutler that has been published by Edutopia. Here is one of his suggestions: 6. Call Home to Report Good News Parents rarely receive a positive call home. Twice a semester, I make a point to call and tell them how impressed I am with something their student did or said. It surprises me when parents nervously ans

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h 

Video: This “Unusual” Bus Shelter Could Be A Good Video For English Language Learners

This video of an “unusual” bus shelter could be useful to show to English Language Learners and have them describe — in writing and verbally — what they see:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

3-24-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Students Learn About Antonyms & Write About Their Perfect School In My Latest NY Times Post For ELLsStudents learn about antonyms, in addition to writing about what they think are the qualities of an excellent school, in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. An interactive and teaching ideas are i

by mike simpson / 9h 

3-25-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

What Common Core Looks Like In Desperation

It seems that the protests of the American citizen against the so-called Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has become proverbial grains of sand in the works of the mammoth corporate reform machine. Die-hard supporters of CCSS are becoming desperate, and such is showing in their words and actions. Consider Jeb Bush’s declaration, “In Asia today, they […]

by deutsch29 / 2min 

Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?

Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?. via Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?.

1 by plthomasedd / 41min 

What to Expect When Your State is Being Run Amok

I had the unique experience of living in several states as the reform onslaught took hold over America’s public schools.  Each state had its nuances, its preferences, its prejudices, and its own structure.  I also had the priviledge of living in New York State just as the shit was hitting the fan and parents decided […]

32 by Kris Nielsen / 7h 

3-24-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: “Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished“Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished. via “Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished.1 by plthomasedd / 27min 3-23-14 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: Of the thousands of slacktivists, we only have 1,756 signatures?I know what you’re going to say: petitions don’t

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-25-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:

My Long and Convoluted Parth To Anti-Racist Scholarship and Activism

Speech at the University of MarylandDr Mark Naison The subject of my talk today is my own evolution as an anti-racist activist, which led from cautious participation in the Northern Civil Rights movement, to involvement in the Columbia Strike and NY and National SDS as a theoretician on race and Black nationalism, to the founder of an anti-racist and anti-war organizing group in the Bronx, to my b

by Mark Naison / 40min hide  //  save

What's Most Damaging in Schools Today:

In looking back at my own public school experience in Brooklyn in the 1950's, I get an interesting reading on what is going wrong in Education Policy today. It's not just the scripted curriculum. We had that then. There was a whole lot of memorization and rote learning in pubic school classrooms I was in. We also had a bunch of testing and drilling, most but not all of it created by our teachers.B

by Mark Naison / 5h 

3-23-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent: Is High Stakes Testing the Best Way to Improve Educational Performance Among Students of Color and Students Living in Poverty?     Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, there has been a concerted effort to reduce gaps in educational  performance  by race and class by promoting regular testing in all grades and subjects and rating schools and teachers on the basis those

by mike simpson / 10h