5-6-13 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:

Dear Sasha Growick

Dear Sasha;I read your entry in the ongoing Louis CK bloggy wars. Your intro is fine. Blah blah blah Louis CK's twitter rant blah blah as a third grade teacher blah blah I don't want to throw gas on the fire, but I feel compelled to, somehow.You followed that up with what you're doing in third grade math, and underlined that the Core are "a new set of multi-state learning standards that chall

3 by Peter Greene / 29min 

NWEA: Teachers Think Testing Sucks Slightly Less

Northwest Evaluation Association just released some poll-based research about testing. It's not exactly a shocker, but get ready to watch its results get spun like marbles in a blender.NWEA is a testing form that has been around since the pre-computer days, so they are not your typical CCSS cash-in operation, but they have picked up the language quickly, perhaps from some of their corporate partne

1 by Peter Greene / 2

Idaho: More Interesting Than You Think

Across most of the US, we don't really think of Idaho as the hotbed of, well, anything. But in the current battle for American public education, Idaho is the stage for some interesting battles.The fight to watch right now is the four-way GOP contest for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction; it's a battle that includes at least one anti-CCSS candidate. The other bone of contention is the repo

by Peter Greene / 32min 

My Teacher Appreciation

It is Teacher Appreciation Week, though you could be forgiven for not having noticed. It's the perfect time for all of us to stop and say a few words about the teachers who made a difference for us, whose work we respect, and whose lives in the classroom (and beyond) inspire us. Here are some of mine:Susie and I went to high school together. She eventually returned to this area as a music teacher,

2 by Peter Greene / 2h

5-5-13 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION: An Educated Person"Don't you think there are things that every educated person should know?"I hear this fairly often, generally in response to my stated disinterest in having Common Core standards in particular and  national education standards ever in general. It's an eye-opening question for me , because even just a few years ago, I'm pretty sure I would have answered y

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-6-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Quid Pro Cuomo - Did Cuomo Give On Moreland To Get Goodies For His Charter School Donors?

As has been reported around the media today, the US Attorney for the Southern District appears to be looking into allegations that Governor Cuomo and/or his office interfered into potential criminal investigations being conducted by the Moreland Commission panel.Here's how State of Politics wrote that story up:The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District dropped another shoe, and this time

1 by reality-based edu... / 39min 

Municipal Labor Committee Backs UFT/De Blasio Plan For Health Care Plan

Not a surprise - the Municipal Labor Committee did exactly what Mulgrew and the UFT wanted on this:The Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group of New York City unions, voted Monday in support of a proposal championed by Mayor Bill de Blasio that the mayor says will generate $3.4 billion in health-care savings.Several public safety unions—the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New Y

by reality-based edu... / 7min hide  //  save

US Attorney Subpoenas Moreland Commission Members, Cuomo Interference May Be Target

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has another day with no public appearances scheduled:Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany with no public schedule. Perhaps he is in his office brooding over this news: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have issued a grand jury subpoena seeking emails, text messages and other records from all the members of the anticorruption commission that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo abruptly shut down

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

5-5-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Another Saham From Andrew CuomoRemember when Cuomo parachuted in to save the TWU/MTA contract deal?Turns out the whole thing was orchestrated by Cuomo's office to make him look the "hero":If the latest episode of the MTA-TWU drama seemed a bit scripted, it’s for good reason. It was scripted. In what might be dubbed the “Fairy Tale of Albany” or the “White Knight fr

by mike simpson / 8h 

Forcing the Fit Using Alternative “Student Growth” Measures |:

Forcing the Fit Using Alternative “Student Growth” Measures

 As discussed on this blog prior, when we are talking about teacher effectiveness as defined by the output derived via VAMs, we are talking about the VAMs that still, to date, only impact 30%-40% of all America’s public school teachers. These are the teachers who typically teach mathematics and/or reading/language arts in grades 3-8.

The teachers who are not VAM-eligible are those who typically teach in the primary grades (i.e., grades K-2), teachers in high-schools who teach more specialized subject areas that are often not tested using large-scale tests (e.g., geometry, calculus), and the teachers who teach out of the subject areas typically tested (e.g., social studies, science [although there is a current push to increase testing in science], physical education, art, music, special education, etc.). Sometimes entire campuses of teachers are not VAM-eligible.

So, what are districts to do when they are to follow the letter of the law, and the accountability policies being financially incentivized by the feds, and then the states (e.g., via Race to the Top and the NCLB waivers)? A new report released by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the US Department of Education, and produced by Mathematica Inc. (via a contract with the IES) explains what states are up to in order to comply. You can find the summary and full report titled “Alternative student growth measures for teacher evaluation: Profiles of early-adopting districts” here.

What investigators found is that these “early adopters” are using end-of course exams, commercially available tests (e.g., the Galileo assessment system), and Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), which are teacher-developed and administrator-approved to hold teachers accountable for their students’ growth. Although an SLO is about as subjective Forcing the Fit Using Alternative “Student Growth” Measures |:

Ten Years After: Two Perspectives on Teacher Leadership - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Ten Years After: Two Perspectives on Teacher Leadership - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Ten Years After: Two Perspectives on Teacher Leadership

By Nancy Flanagan on May 6, 2014 9:17 AM

 Ten years ago, former National Teacher of the Year ('85) Terry Dozier pulled together a collaborative of teacher leaders to build an on-line national course on developing teacher leadership. Dozier, who served as Special Assistant to Secretary of Education Richard Riley in the Clinton years, believed that even identified teacher leaders--instructional coaches, Teachers of the Year, National Board Certified Teachers, etc.--needed additional knowledge and confidence to shape their own work through influencing education policy, and she had research to prove that conviction.

I first met Mary Tedrow when we were on the team that created the course. Mary has a rich, deep resume' in teacher leadership work, fortified by her daily practice in a high school classroom. Her can't-miss blog, Walking to School, is one of my favorites. Mary and I will share two perspectives on how we see teacher leadership in America, ten years after creating the Teacher as Change Agent course. Mary goes first:  

"Hope is as useless as fear." (Attributed to C.S. Lewis)

So color me useless. 

I understand the sentiment.  Soaring emotions engendered by both hope and fear are pretty useless in the moment.  They tend to cloud reality.  Pink, fluffy clouds can be as distracting as imaginedthunderbolts.  Better to get real and focus on what needs to be done next.

 But soaring hope is what I felt when you and I, Nancy Flanagan, met in Richmond with other identified teacher leaders to craft the VCU course on Teacher as Change Agent under Terry Dozier's invitation. 

It was thrilling to hear the same vision echoed by other teachers laboring in geographically distant classrooms: Michigan, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina. 

I could see it, in my mind's eye: competent practitioners working together to create a profession Ten Years After: Two Perspectives on Teacher Leadership - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Competition heats up for former school district headquarters in midtown Sacramento - Real Estate - The Sacramento Bee

Competition heats up for former school district headquarters in midtown Sacramento - Real Estate - The Sacramento Bee:

Competition heats up for former school district headquarters in midtown Sacramento

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Published: Tuesday, May. 6, 2014 - 12:00 am

Last fall, a developer started talking to Sacramento City Unified School District staff about swapping a piece of south Sacramento land to the district in exchange for its long-vacant former headquarters at 16th and N streets.

Since then, other potential developers have emerged, and the competition for the increasingly choice piece of midtown real estate has become intense.

The 1.2-acre parcel at 1619 N St. is occupied by a historic 1923 structure that once housed the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg had hoped to build a unity center there to promote racial tolerance, but the plan fizzled in 2011 for lack of funds.

Three different development teams are now floating proposals that include stores, housing, a boutique hotel and a Native American health center. The school board has scheduled a May 15 meeting to consider how the interested parties will compete.

Developer John Hodgson, working with Cresleigh Homes, has proposed a $40 million project that would include retail and market-rate housing. He called the area around 16th and N – which is undergoing a boom of new housing development –“the crown jewel of midtown.”

Hodgson began talking with school district staff last fall, ultimately proposing a land swap. He said that approach would have eliminated the legal need for the district to seek bids from nonprofit agencies and other developers.

A few weeks ago, Hodgson thought he had a deal ready to go before the school board.

Other developers also had their eyes on the property, however. Earlier this year, DomusCompetition heats up for former school district headquarters in midtown Sacramento - Real Estate - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/06/6381149/competition-heats-up-for-former.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: Struggling L.A. schools seek larger class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Struggling L.A. schools seek larger class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

 

MAY 06, 2014

Struggling L.A. schools seek larger class sizes

by Tom Chorneau

(Calif.) Despite an improving economy and robust tax collections, the Los Angeles School District will petition the state to allow larger class sizes in some of its most under-performing schools through 2014-15.

The waiver application, which covers more than 70 school sites, would have in the recent past likely been approved as a routine matter of business. This time around, after voters approved a tax hike in 2012 and a projected a budget surplus this year of more than $1 billion – the decision might be more difficult for the California State Board of Education.

The request involves a special state funding program – the Quality Education Investment Act, which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in added state support to struggling schools.

But to qualify for the money, QEIA schools are required to meet a number of benchmarks, including a commitment to reduce by five students in each class from a base year (either 2006 or 2007) or maintain a class average of 25 students.

The QEIA requirement is separate from a legislative goal of limiting teacher-student ratios in kindergarten through third grade at 20:1.

Since the onset of the economic downtown in 2005, the Legislature, as well as the state board, has given schools much latitude in dealing with the class size requirements. Indeed, a staff report to Struggling L.A. schools seek larger class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

States shift emphasis to career tech options

(District of Columbia) In addition to the $250 million investment California is making for school-to-work grants to K-12 schools and community colleges, a number of other states have also made recent commitments to career technical education.

by Tom Chorneau / 35min hide  //  save

Effective Internal controls can eliminate major fiscal findings

With the intense monitoring on the use of federal program funds, developing and implementing fiscal and program internal controls is critical. The following will provide specific guidance to assist you with internal controls.

by Rick Carder / 35min 

This is Common Core in Action. A Music Teacher is “Ineffective” Based on ELA/Math Standards. | Missouri Education Watchdog

This is Common Core in Action. A Music Teacher is “Ineffective” Based on ELA/Math Standards. | Missouri Education Watchdog:

This is Common Core in Action. A Music Teacher is “Ineffective” Based on ELA/Math Standards.

inShare

In the Common Core world of instruction, music teachers should not tell students to practice musical scales, utilize repetitive strategies, or help students develop individual skills.  They will be deemed effective or not based on student achievement on ELA standards.

Common Core is NOT “just standards”.  It is part of the Common Core State Standards Initiativewhich includes the four assurances contained in the State Fiscal Stabalization Fund given to the states with these strings:

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program is a new one-time appropriation of $53.6 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Of the amount appropriated, the U. S. Department of Education will award governors approximately $48.6 billion by formula under the SFSF program in exchange for a commitment to advance essential education reforms to benefit students from early learning through post-secondary education, including: college- and career- ready standards and high-quality, valid and reliable assessments for all students; development and use of pre-K through post-secondary and career data systems; increasing teacher This is Common Core in Action. A Music Teacher is “Ineffective” Based on ELA/Math Standards. | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Orwellian Language Again: Info-Graphic Answers Your Questions about Democrats for Education Reform | janresseger

Orwellian Language Again: Info-Graphic Answers Your Questions about Democrats for Education Reform | janresseger:

Orwellian Language Again: Info-Graphic Answers Your Questions about Democrats for Education Reform

Posted on May 6, 2014 by janresseger

 Democrats (In Name Only) for Education Reform

It has perhaps slipped your mind, but beginning Sunday afternoon and ending this morning, a group of New York hedge fund managers and charter school supporters has been meeting atCamp Philos in a retreat center at Lake Placid, in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.  The honorary chair of this event was Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York.  Governor Cuomo is not only the man who went before an Albany rally this spring to proclaim, “We will save charter schools,” but also the man who, we discovered later, worked behind the sceneswith supporters of a well connected New York City charter school network to stage the rally.

Billy Easton is the executive director of New York’s Alliance for Quality Education, a large statewide coalition of organizations that has been working hard for over a decade to help ensure that New York’s public schools are adequately funded.  AQE, as the organization refers to itself, has worked assiduously to ensure that New York lives up to the commitments made in response to a statewide school funding lawsuit, Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. New York, only to be disappointed repeatedly by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been more interested in cutting taxes and supporting charter schools.

According to Easton in a recent commentary published at Gotham Gazette, “While backers of the corporate school agenda are proclaiming Cuomo as a conquering hero, public school parents around the state are protesting against him.  His policies have systematically forced classroom cuts every year he has been in office and have promoted a damaging culture of Orwellian Language Again: Info-Graphic Answers Your Questions about Democrats for Education Reform | janresseger:

We Still Have Allies in the Fight - Bridging Differences - Education Week

We Still Have Allies in the Fight - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

We Still Have Allies in the Fight

By Guest Blogger on May 6, 2014 8:52 AM

Author and advocate Mike Klonsky again writes to Deborah Meier today. The two are currently co-blogging on Bridging Differences.

"Well, the way I understand it, if a school's kids don't test well, they burn the school down. It's pretty high-pressure."—Louis C.K.

Yes, Deb.

Once again, as you point out, you've corrupted me, as you have so many times before.  For me, blogging used to be three quick hits and out. My last post on Bridging Differences somehow grew to over 1,000 words. I blame it all on you. Your posts have me thinking about so many things at once.

In your last post you raised a really important question: Who do we ally with? It's a loaded one because it's not so clear who the we  is. I'm assuming from the context of the post that you mean:  Who do we,  defenders of public education as a democratic institution, ally with? To answer that question, we need to start from an assessment of current conditions. How bad is it out there? Who are the forces in the field? How weak or strong are they and we?

You can't always plan for everything. There are always black swans. And allies pop up in the strangest places. Comedian Louis C.K. brought a smile to my face the other day when he, a public school parent, tore into the common core and the standardized testing madness. I wish we had more pro-education friends in the popular media. I remember how important it was to have Matt Damon and his educator mom, author Nancy Carlsson-Paige, speak at our Save Our Schools March in Washington in 2011. I also recall how panicked Arne Duncan became and how he tried, without success, to head Damon off at the D.C. airport. Duncan knows the power of popular culture.

The most recent place where the question of alliances has come up is around single issues like common core and testing. You and I have been clear on our opposition to the Common Core State Standards and the wildly expanding testing regimen that comes with it.  Defenders of common core argue that the CCSS are purely standards and "not curriculum," and that they aren't trying to We Still Have Allies in the Fight - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

NYC Educator: Whither the Two-Hundred New Schools Under the Current Contract Proposal?

NYC Educator: Whither the Two-Hundred New Schools Under the Current Contract Proposal?:

Whither the Two-Hundred New Schools Under the Current Contract Proposal?

President Barack Obama, "by virtue of the authority vested" in him by the Constitution of the United States, proclaimed May 4th through May 10th, 2014, as National Charter Schools Week (Obama Proclamation).

Only a day before, on May 1st, I learned that the U.F.T. had agreed to a contract with some dubious propositions.  Leaving aside the long delay in receiving long overdue raises, there was a stipulation to allow for up to 200 schools (or 10%) of the City's total to opt out of U.F.T. and D.O.E. rules with the approval of 65% of school personnel.  

This provision seems to raise more questions than it answers.  Teachers in these schools will still pay union dues, but they may lose out on many protections of the contract.  I have read differing interpretations about how these proposed new schools might bend some of the old rules.  According to some interpretations, they might develop original curriculum, extend the school day or the school year (The Post, May 2, 2014).  Other sources indicated that principals and staff in schools might have greater latitude in hiring and firing fellow workers. 

The Mayor and the U.F.T. bill the agreement as a breath of fresh air, creating laboratories for educational innovation, free of U.F.T. and D.O.E. rules.   They believe these new schools will act like states in our federal system, sites for experimentation.  Then, their successful strategies can, perhaps, be adopted across the City.  Excepting prohibition laws, the states, more often than not, have experimented with extending rights.  But, charters seem to diminish rights.  Ninety percent of six thousand or more charters operate without union protections or the right of collective bargaining.  The U.F.T. already runs some of its own charters and, indeed, represents some others.  What will these new charter-like schools look like?  What rights will teachers have and what rights NYC Educator: Whither the Two-Hundred New Schools Under the Current Contract Proposal?:

On the UFT Contract

 Note: This piece appeared originally on Diane Ravitch's blog. It’s been almost six years since NYC teachers have received a raise. This was particularly frustrating since most NYC employees received twin raises of 4% in the 2008-2010 round of pattern bargaining. While they got more money with no givebacks, our leadership helped craft the junk-science based NY APPR law. The entire state got a junk

5h hide  //  save

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Lewis: ''We don’t have a pension crisis, we have pension shortfall and a crisis in leadership'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Lewis: ''We don’t have a pension crisis, we have pension shortfall and a crisis in leadership':

Lewis: ''We don’t have a pension crisis, we have pension shortfall and a crisis in leadership'

CTU Pres. Karen Lewis' speech Monday, at the City Club

Our members don’t want to wind up in poverty because somebody who just rode into town wants to take away their livelihoods. It’s as if the 1% isn’t satisfied with having most of it. It seems they want it all... [They]  manage by chaos and carnage. These are among the city’s fathers who are calling for our pensions and the destruction of our unions.  Instead of engaging in a public good and being real heroes, by dramatically funding neighborhood schools, helping to ease student debt, and ensuring teachers and other public employees have the resources they need to give our young people a 21st Century, world-class education, our leaders see opportunity in crisis and so they manufacture a great deal of them. 

Karen took it right to 'em. She called for a tax on stock trades and other transactions to help close a pension gap without cutting benefits for retired teachers. She also threw cold water on Rahm's dream of an early contract settlement and reminded everyone that another teachers’ strike could be looming during next year’s mayoral campaign. Chicago isn't N.Y. and Emanuel is no Bill de Blasio. Even there I'm hearing lots of dissatisfaction among rand-and-file Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Lewis: ''We don’t have a pension crisis, we have pension shortfall and a crisis in leadership':