5-23-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

“Ways To Develop A Teacher – School Counselor Partnership”

Ways To Develop A Teacher – School Counselor Partnership is my latest post at Education Week Teacher. Today’s post features suggestions from three exceptional educators on how to solidify the teacher/counselor partnership: Dean Vogel, counselor, teacher and President of the California Teachers Association (I am a proud member of CTA); Leticia Gallardo, who works at the school where I teach and who

by Larry Ferlazzo / 27min 

Infographic: “What Are The Hardest Languages to Learn?”

Explore more visuals like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

This Is One Of The Best Pieces I’ve Read On Teacher Evaluation: “The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations”

Thanks to Jack Schneider, I learned about a post by Ben Spielberg titled The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations. It’s a great piece on teacher evaluation, and reflects important points that are seldom raised in discussions on the topic. He described the value of evaluating inputs, as opposed to outputs. In other words, most teacher evaluation discussion is focused on measuring student outco

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

5-22-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Resources On Ending The Year StrongI’ve got a nice collection of resources called The Best Ideas On How To Finish The School Year Strong…. Readers might find it useful.by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  saveInfographic: “Many Languages One America”I’m adding this infographic to The Best “Language Maps”: Please include attribu

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-23-14 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.:

Ten minute drawing. Rauner’s private life and privatization.

1 by Fred Klonsky / 35min 

Mike Klonsky. The use and misuse of data to beat up on neighborhood schools, principals and teachers.

- Brother Mike breaks a story. There is no shortage of examples of the use and misuse of data to beat up on neighborhood schools, principals and teachers. But this one is pretty slimy. A must read. Are Prosser teachers ‘gaming the system’? Or is this reporter gaming them? “If anyone out there has been in Prosser for more than a second, they would see that you can’t make a Prosser teacher do anyth

1 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

CTU. Teachers, staff at Rogers Park elementary school learns of $300,000 in budget cuts on one-year anniversary of school closings

CTUnet: CHICAGO—The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) received information from members today who learned this morning about pending budget cuts at Gale Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park. After reports last week that more than $300,000 in funding will be cut from the school by Chicago Public Schools in 2014-2015, Gale will also lose its librarian, technology teacher and two classroom teachers ne

by Fred Klonsky / 9min hide  //  save

Did you know Rauner cheated on his first wife? Not if you rely on corporate media.

You know all those cute million dollar media buys with Bruce Rauner and his current wife, the alleged Democrat Diana? By the way, Democrat Diana is a major Tea Party contributor. Anyway. On May 5th Business Insider ran a story about Rauner’s first marriage. Turns out he was cheat. Back in the 90s they called this having a paramour. Apparently Rauner got that condo in the City for more reasons tha

3 by Fred Klonsky / 38min 

The Chicago Way.

With a gun or a pen. Chicago is still Chicago. County Board President Toni Preckwinkle went down to Springfield yesterday seeking support for her pension theft. And to nobody’s surprise, she got it from the mobsters in the General Assemby and from their capo di tutti capo, Mike Madigan. Preckwinkle said the legislators were “remarkably receptive” to her plan for cutting Cook County employee pensi

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

5-22-14 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.: Jim Popham’s Tractable Teacher Evaluation.. Jim Popham at NEPC.by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  saveChris Christie’s pension pay to play and how pension theft is a national scandal.I have been accused of making Illinois’ pension theft too big a deal. Some have suggested that Illinois’ pension theft is j

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-23-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

NCTQ Gets Caught in a Data Collecting Lie

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) will be “grading” university-level, traditional teacher training programs again soon. Last year, 2013, they released this report on June 18. They “grade” in a superficial manner, relying upon program artifacts to form skewed judgments– judgments that they publish in US News and World Report and that are meant to damage the credibility of […]

1 by deutsch29 / 46min 

“most people of high intellect have sought to serve power and not critique or question it”

“most people of high intellect have sought to serve power and not critique or question it”. via “most people of high intellect have sought to serve power and not critique or question it”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

1 by plthomasedd / 1h 

5-22-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Segregation not about Proximity, but EquitySegregation not about Proximity, but Equity. via Segregation not about Proximity, but Equity.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical1 by plthomasedd / 49min 5-21-14 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: Why Did Cory Booker and Mark Zuckerberg Ignore Newark’s Families?Dale Russakoff’s New Yorker profile “Schooled” is a wonderful account of

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-23-14 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):

Margaret Fuller: “I find no intellect comparable to my own”

“Men disappoint me so,” Margaret Fuller shared in a letter (21 February 1841) to Reverend William Henry Channing. Born on May 23, 1810, Fuller was a contemporary of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, notable for what I believe is my favorite comment by Fuller: “I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.” The only known daguerreotype

by plthomasedd / 41min 

“most people of high intellect have sought to serve power and not critique or question it”

“The Role of the Intellectual – An Analysis,” Lawrence Davidson, Truthout, Speakout

1 by plthomasedd / 1h 

5-22-14 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): Segregation not about Proximity, but EquityFor several years, I have been showing Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later in both my introductory education course and an interim educational documentaries course at the selective private university where I teach. Two scenes ad

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-23-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:

Pearls, Triggers, Exonians & Checker

The trigger warnings issue has now reached a massive level of pearl clutching all around.What's the Issue?We know that trigger warnings are a thing because the New York Times wrote about them last Sunday. The basic idea seems to be that certain works of literature, classroom subjects, even statues, should come with warning labels attached because they might trigger a traumatic memory or reaction o

1 by Peter Greene / 58min 

Tyranny of the Test

When Michelle Obama spoke up in support of the arts this week, I was not moved. In fact, I was bummed. Because her "defense" of the arts was simply one more sign that we live under the Tyranny of the Test.The bottom line here is very clear: Arts education isn't something we add on after we've achieved other priorities, like raising test scores and getting kids into college. It's actually

by Peter Greene / 14min 

Why Students Drop Out

This pooped up on twitter a few days agoTo ensure every student graduates HS, 1st we need to understand why some don’t. New Grad Nation report helps explain http://t.co/5xS6f1m2ep— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 22, 2014And, because I'm always interested in what Arne has to say, I followed the link. And I think Arne maybe didn't actually read it.The link goes to a report from Gradnation, a project

9 by Peter Greene / 1h 

5-22-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION: Flunking GeographyIf you want to find the grubby handprints of Rich People on education, look at the issue of geography.It has become fashionable for Reformsters to decry the influence of geography, to say that students should not be stuck with a school based on zip code, that community schools are quaint and all, but their time has passed. From Denver to Newark, Reformsters are ta

by mike simpson / 2h 

5-23-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Caught In Lie Over Independence Party Nomination

Governor Cuomo is famous for avoiding on the record interviews and Q&A's with reporters because this is the kind of thing that can happen with a shifty politician like Sheriff Andy - they can catch him in a lie:Gov. Cuomo appears to have misled reporters Thursday when he said a decision on whether to seek the Independence Party nomination would be made “down the road.”Documents submitted by th

by reality-based edu... / 44min 

How To Make Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Very Unhappy This Election Day

Shelly Silver at the State Democratic Conention, making nice with and for Governor Cuomo, responded this way to a statement about how many New York teachers are not happy with the governor:“Teachers should be very happy with him,” Silver said of a group that has been protesting Cuomo.Silver's either high or full of shit - there can be no third choice here.Governor Cuomo has pushed an education ref

by reality-based edu... / 6min hide  //  save

Cuomo's Common Core Panel May Skip Writing A Final Report

When Governor Cuomo first announced his Common Core panel, many of us thought it was a jive move to make it look like he was doing something about all the parent and educator complaints about Common Core and the state's education reform agenda while really doing nothing at all about themThis news seems to confirm just that:ALBANY—I.B.M. executive Stanley Litow, who chaired Governor Andrew Cuomo's

2 by reality-based edu... / 6h 

5-22-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Cuomo Puts A Criminal In Charge Of The State Democratic PartyFrom State of Politics:Former Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday was formally installed by the state Democratic Committee as its next chairman, assuming the post from Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright. Paterson, addressing the delegates on the first day of the Democratic convention here in Melville, naturally opened wi

by mike simpson / 9h 

Truth Telling by Chicago Educators | janresseger

Truth Telling by Chicago Educators | janresseger:

Truth Telling by Chicago Educators

Posted on May 23, 2014 by janresseger

Chicago provided the model for school “reform” as we now experience it in America.  A decade ago Arne Duncan, then C.E.O. of the Chicago Public Schools, launched Renaissance 2010, whose purpose was to expand school choice by opening 100 new schools by 2010, many of them charter schools, and closing so-called “failing” public schools.  New Schools for Chicago, a supporter of Ren10, as it was called, provides this puff-piece history: “In June 2004, Mayor Richard M. Daley, then Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Arne Duncan, and leaders from the Chicago business community announced Renaissance 2010 (Ren10).  The goal of this bold initiative was to open 100 new schools and provide all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, with the opportunity to compete on the global playing field.  The Renaissance Schools Fund (RSF) was established by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club as the fundraising and strategic partner to the Renaissance 2010 effort.”

When Barack Obama became President of the United States in the fall of 2008, he brought Arne Duncan with him to Washington, D.C. as the Secretary of Education, and along cameRen10 as the school “reform” template that would be rolled-out nationwide in programs like Race to the Top and the school “turnaround” models in School Improvement Grants.

In Chicago, Ren10 was launched in June of 2004—ten years ago.  So how’s it going back where it all began?  Not so well — according to new reports and commentaries by those charged with educating Chicago’s children.

Yesterday, May 22, on the first anniversary of Chicago’s vote “to close 50, ‘turn around’ five, and co-locate 17 elementary schools” the Chicago Teachers Union released a report, Twelve Months Later: The Impact of School Closings in Chicago.  The report was produced by the Chicago Teachers Union Research Department which conducted interviews with “teachers from seven of the receiving schools, Chopin, Courtenay, Dett, Earle, Nicholson, Otis, and South Shore Fine Arts — to gather information about the fulfillment of CPS promises.  Additionally, Truth Telling by Chicago Educators | janresseger:

4 Things I Wish I Knew Before College – Musings of a College Graduate

4 Things I Wish I Knew Before College – Musings of a College Graduate:

4 Things I Wish I Knew Before College – Musings of a College Graduate

 Like many college graduates across the nation, I’ve spent the last few weeks being fed anecdotes and exposes about what life is really like in the post-graduate abyss. I’ve heard words ranging from “scary” to “exciting”, “stressful” to “stimulating”. It’s easy to empathize with this anxiety and sense of the unknown that seems almost universal across the Class of 2014. Taxes, retirement savings plans, and insurance plans are about as comprehensible to some college graduates as hieroglyphics. The idea of finding our “passion” and our “purpose” looms as we try to remain “flexible” in the job search and justify our intriguing prospects for post-graduate employment.

A lot of people have been asking me one strange and daunting question, “What do you feel like you’ve taken away from college? What advice do you have for other students?” Yikes. It left me thinking back to what I didn’t know as a freshman. Disclaimer: I can’t claim to be an expert. I haven’t written any New York Times bestsellers or gotten any PhDs. Do not take these words as those of a specialist, preacher, or guru, but simply a student. If you are a high school student, college freshman or even a graduate like myself, I present to you a collection of lessons I’ve learned at the University of Maryland that I wish I knew earlier:

Identify Your Own Vehicles For Success – What does success mean to you? For the longest time, I thought it meant getting a good job and making money. Standard. Through college however, I’ve gone on to expand my perspective of success and now I feel that my definition revolves around empowering and inspiring people. My sense of pride arises from teaching and helping others. Your definition of success will change, as will your habits. It’s not bad to take advice and learn some new useful habits, but don’t force something upon yourself that will not fulfill you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been recommended books about “What The Top Ten Most Successful People Do Daily.” If you strive to emulate your life around others, you’ll lose track of what works for you. If you write your best papers the night before they are due, don’t let people tell you that you “should be more organized” or that you “should plan better.” If you’re nocturnal and do your best work at night, embrace it. Different things work for different people. Personally, I worked best under pressure, procrastinated a lot, and was fine. Find out what you want, find out what works best for you and 

Russ on Reading: A New Design for a Charter School? Hmm.

Russ on Reading: A New Design for a Charter School? Hmm.:

A New Design for a Charter School? Hmm.

We here at Russ on Reading are constantly on the lookout for educational innovation, so when we heard of the new charter franchise, The College and Career Ready Scholars Rigorously Pursuing Educational Excellence Academy Charter School and Dollar Store (CCRSRPEEACSDS) we had to look into how this school was going to meet the needs of our inner-city youth.

First we stopped by the school's web site where we discovered this mission statement:

At CCRSRPEEACSDS we prepare scholars to succeed in a world that is controlled by the 1%. Our scholars are taught to love learning or else. Our rigorous curriculum is designed to ensure that children learn to comply with the demands that their superiors place on them. Chief among these demands is performance on standardized tests. Students are encouraged to score well on tests through our innovative "data wall" in the main corridor which displays each student's test scores for all to see. 

On the same page we found the school motto: In Virtute Autem Implerentur Dies Multi (which can be loosely translated as "Shaming You into Excellence").

Further down the page we find the description of how CCRSRPEEACSDS defines "career ready" innovation:

Our innovative design includes every student receiving on the job training in the Dollar Store which  is co-located in the building (pending the removal o