6-26-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

RIP: Teenie Hodges

From the NY Times:Teenie Hodges, a guitarist and songwriter whose lithe touch on songs by Al Green and others helped shape the sound of Memphis soul in the 1970s, died on Sunday in Dallas. He was 68.The cause was complications of emphysema, his daughter Sheila said.Along with his brothers Leroy, on bass guitar, and Charles, on organ, Mr. Hodges was part of the celebrated house band at Hi Records i

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

Support For Common Core Among Parents Of School Age Children Hits New Low

From Rasmussen:Support for Common Core among Americans with school-age children has fallen dramatically, as more now question whether the new national education standards will actually improve student performance. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 34% of American Adults with children of elementary or secondary school age now favor requiring all schools nationwide to

by reality-based edu... / 53min 

The Beach Boys Meet The Grateful Dead And Sing A Merle Haggard Tune

by reality-based edu... / 9min 

Pacific Ocean Blue

If you've never heard Dennis Wilson's solo album "Pacific Ocean Blue," you owe it to yourself to give it a listen - especially if you love the Beach Boys.I think "Pacific Ocean Blue" is the best solo album by any Beach Boy - including all of Brian's records over the years.If you have some time this summer, give it a listen.

by reality-based edu... / 27min 

Sail On, Sailor

by reality-based edu... / 30min 

Tell The Teacher We're Surfing...

by reality-based edu... / 42min

LIRR Unions Do Not Take Kindly To Newest MTA Offer, Negotiation Strategy

From the Daily News:The MTA’s decision to publicize its newest contract offer to LIRR workers — who are threatening a strike next month — has union leaders considering whether to ditch a new round of negotiations set for Friday.Anthony Simon, a spokesman for a coalition of Long Island Rail Road unions, which can legally strike as early as July 20, faulted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority

by reality-based edu... / 36min hide  //  save

People In Westchester Demand Tax Deadbeat Governor Cuomo Open His Home To The Tax Assessor

From State of Politics:At 10:15 a.m., “irate” Westchester homeowners will announce a strike against opening their homes to tax assessors until Cuomo does the same, New Castle Town Hall, 200 South Greeley Ave., Chappaqua. This tax issue is going to become a very big issue for Andrew M. Cuomo.Astorino is using it against him already and whenever Cuomo decides to run for higher office, it will follow

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

Open Thread: Last Day Of School

Here we are - the last day of school.Your thoughts as you head off to work it?(And yeah, I'm totally burnt from Regents grading and the rest of the end of the school year shenanigans, so what better to post than an open thread...)

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

6-25-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Rupert Murdoch To Be Interviewed By Scotland Yard In Hacking CaseFrom the Daily News: Scotland Yard detectives plan to interview media mogul Rupert Murdoch about a phone-hacking scandal that led to one of his former top honchos being convicted Tuesday on criminal charges. Detectives have informed the 83-year-old Murdoch he’ll be grilled “under caution” — a warning given to s

by mike simpson / 8h

Common Core: The tetherball of gubernatorial politics | Hechinger Report

Common Core: The tetherball of gubernatorial politics | Hechinger Report:

Common Core: The tetherball of gubernatorial politics

What Jindal’s retreat on state standards means for our kids

By Andre Perry

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal wants to make the state the fourth, including Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina, to turn back Common Core implementation. Jindal adopted Common Core state standards, which put him in line with other presidential hopefuls like Jeb Bush, four years earlier. Since Common Core has become the litmus test for conservatism, Jindal’s retreat apparently increases his presidential profile.

What about the test for children?

Click to read more columns.

Common Core has essentially become the tetherball of gubernatorial politics. Jindal has jettisoned the Common Core ball over State Superintendent John White (who Jindal helped usher into the position), and small children cover their heads waiting for the game to end. Luckily, White has the structural support of a mixed, elected-appointed board and elected legislature to protect him from the games being played with Louisiana’s children.

The only good to come out of Jindal issuing anexecutive order to effectively pull implementation of Common Core is that he reaffirmed why states need buffers between elected officials and school chiefs. The state superintendent is voted on and approved by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), which is comprised of elected and appointed officials.

What if the Louisiana superintendent was an elected position? Ironically, legislators in this current session took on the question of should the Louisiana state schools superintendent be elected? Given the actions of Governors who have done an about-face, we should assume that John White would have bowed to political pressure.

Thank goodness Louisiana has a structure that can levee political tomfoolery – but for how long?

I’m not that naïve to dismiss what is happening in Louisiana as childish game playing. The stakes are extremely high in state and national politics. Jindal’s Common Core retreat is no where near the worst example of backsliding. Whenever, you hear politicians utter the words, “my position as evolved” be assured a political calculation has been made.

Since Common Core has become the litmus test for conservatism, Jindal’s retreat apparently increases his presidential profile. What about the test for children?

However, the idea of Common Core as a federal overreach iscartoonishly hypocritical and simply not true.

In a press release from the Office of the Governor, Jindal stated, “We won’t let the federal government take over Louisiana’s Common Core: The tetherball of gubernatorial politics | Hechinger Report:

Somebody Is BS'ing :: Frederick M. Hess

Somebody Is BS'ing :: Frederick M. Hess:

Somebody Is BS'ing

by Frederick M. Hess  •  Jun 26, 2014 at 10:05 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Some folks in positions of educational import are shading the truth, big time. How do I know this?

Because I'm hearing two very different things that can't be reconciled. From state chiefs, I'm hearing complaints about overweening federal bureaucrats who push waivers and Common Core implementation with no regard for workability. And now they are boiling about the whiplash caused by the Gates Foundation's decision to endorse a two-year moratorium on using Common Core tests for teacher evaluation, pushing back the timelines that federal officials have so aggressively put forward. Full stop.

But, when I talk to friends at the U.S. Department of Education, Gates, or other major foundations, they tell me I'm crazy. They tell me that no serious state chief is complaining. They tell me that state chiefs are enthusiastic about waivers and appreciate the suggestions, sense of urgency, and political cover that's been provided.

There are really only three possibilities. One is that the state chiefs are BS'ing me. A second is that federal and foundation officials are. And a third is that the state chiefs are BS'ing folks at ED and the foundations.

I have an Occam's razor-style trick for cases like this. It dates to my days as a classroom teacher: I always assume that people lie to the most important person in a given situation, in order to curry favor. In this case, I'm just an egghead who writes stuff--I'm clearly the least important person. Nobody has much incentive to make up complaints for my sake.

Second, I don't think that the federal or foundation officials are lying to me. The folks I'm talking to are off the record and they've already mostly concluded that I'm unhelpful on the whole Race to the Top/ESEA waivers/Common Core deal. (Now, I do suspect that part of the problem is that these officials are hearing what they want to hear, but that's a problem for another day.)

This brings us to the third possibility, and to a suspicion I've harbored since 2009, which is that state chiefs are lying when talking to the feds and to foundations. They're biting their tongues when it comes to sharing their frustrations, concerns, and headaches. This is the only reason I can think of why Gates could triumphantly issue its call for a two-year hiatus, seemingly unaware that it risked big headaches for ardent Common Core champions in states like New York, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Delaware. The Gates folks apparently thought the grand call for a national moratorium would be helpful and widely welcomed--and I know they reached out to a bunch of people on this--which seems to suggest there's a problem with the information they're getting.

Why would state chiefs not offer the straight scoop? Based on lots and lots of conversations, I think it's Somebody Is BS'ing :: Frederick M. Hess:

UPDATE: Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan a know-nothing when it comes to teaching kids with disabilities

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan a know-nothing when it comes to teaching kids with disabilities:

Duncan a know-nothing when it comes to teaching kids with disabilities

Arne Duncan seems bent on pushing standardized-testing madness and privatization into the area of special ed and the teaching of kids with disabilities. That's the only way I can interpret his announced "major shift"in an area about which he appears immensely ignorant.

Duncan claims, without offering any evidence, that the vast majority of the 6.5 million students with disabilities in U.S. schools today are "not receiving a quality education", and that he "will hold states accountable for demonstrating that those students are making progress". The basis for this radical shift in special ed policy comes from his belief that it's not students' disabilities that are holding them back, but rather the low expectations of educators.

Duncan has announced new standards for judging states on special education which greatly reduce compliance enforcement for IDEA. Instead, they're using NAEP test results to judge educational outcomes for students in special ed.

 But "NAEP was never designed or tested for any such purpose", writes Beverley Johns, a national authority on special education (on Diane Ravitch's blog). NAEP is a test taken by a sample of school districts from each state, every 2 years.

Duncan dragged out his pet teacher-bashing school boss, Tennessee's appointed ed commissioner, Kevin Huffman (a lawyer and  former Teach for America executive) to back up his unsubstantiated claim. Huffman believes that most kids with disabilities lag behind because teachers don't expect them to achieve but they will succeed if they're given more demanding schoolwork and are tested more.

I should mention that Huffman, (Michelle Rhee's ex) who's part of Jeb Bush's corporate reform group Chiefs for Change, is hanging onto his own job by his finger tips after the governor received a letter from 63 superintendents criticizing Huffman's leadership.

Under the new guidelines, Duncan says "he'll require proof" that these kids aren't just being served Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan a know-nothing when it comes to teaching kids with disabilities:


Ctu Statement On Cps Lay Off Of 1,150 More Teachers And Staff

  NEWS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      CONTACT:  Stephanie GadlinJune 26, 2014                                                                          312/329-6250                 EMANUEL CONTINUES ASSAULT ON CITY’S TEACHERSCHICAGO—Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis released the following statement regarding today’s announcement of 1,150 teacher and school suppor

by Mike Klonsky / 5min 

Rauner still lying about his clout call to Duncan

Outgoing Inspector General James Sullivan on Chicago Tonight, tells what his investigation reveals about Bruce Rauner's clout call to Arne Duncan which got Rauner's unqualified kid into Walter Payton H.S. [2.53 on the video].  Our investigation revealed that there was a phone call made to the CEO’s office by Mr. Rauner, and after that somebody in the CEO’s office called Walter Payton and his daugh

by Mike Klonsky / 23min 

Louisiana Educator: The Most Powerful Predictor of Student Performance

Louisiana Educator: The Most Powerful Predictor of Student Performance:

The Most Powerful Predictor of Student Performance

The public school accountability system in Louisiana as in most other states is based primarily upon student performance on standardized testing. Louisiana has gone so far as to give schools and school systems a letter grade for performance based primarily on student test performance. Based upon these ratings, pronouncements are often made to the public and to lawmakers about the quality of the schools and teacher effectiveness in individual school systems. Here is an example of education officials blaming teachers:
In the Louisiana application for the ESEA waiver of No Child Left Behind, Superintendent John White criticized the results of past teacher evaluations in Louisiana that yielded a high percentage of proficient teacher ratings even though more than one third of Louisiana students were not achieving at grade level on annual state assessments.

Is it correct to assume that the quality of teaching in a particular school system can be equated to the performance of its students on the state standardized testing system, or could there be other factors that affect student performance other than the quality of instruction? Do the letter grades given to our individual schools and school systems really reflect the quality of instruction in those systems?

The following analysis and table compares the student performance in each of the 74 public school systems in Louisiana with an accepted measure of student poverty (the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch). Using the latest LDOE analysis of state testing, school systems are ranked according to overall student performance along with the Louisiana Educator: The Most Powerful Predictor of Student Performance:

My First Book “Review” |:

My First Book “Review”

 I just came across the first external review of my new book, Rethinking Value-Added Models in Education on Amazon, and I thought I would share this review with you all in that I am happy to announce that it captures exactly what I meant to do with this book, particularly for those of you out there who are practitioners working within (and under) the realities the come along with the adoption of VAMs for increased accountability.

This reviewer gave the book five out of five stars (Thanks!!), and wrote: “This book provides a logical research based response to assumptions underlying VAM. Every educator should read this book as VAM may control our professional destiny. This book provides the research to challenge our candidates and policy makers as so many states are moving forward in adopting VAM. Statistical methodology is so simply explained that I almost feel like an expert in VAM.”

Mission accomplished, I hope! I hope as well that, as this reviewer wrote, this book will continue to “provide the research” you all might need to continue “to [wisely] challenge your candidates and policy makers” in these regards.

Onward!

For more information about the book, see it on Amazon or see a prior post about it here.

Also, if you have read this book so far, please do review it on or Amazon, or elsewhere for that matter. I’d prefer not to recruit folks (e.g., my graduate students) to write reviews of my book, as I truly want people to provide their honest, external reviews and feedback…nothing against my wonderful graduate students, of course 

Head of the head of the class Why is the hiring of Sac city schools' new superintendent so messed up?

Sacramento News & Review - Head of the head of the class - Bites - Opinions - June 26, 2014:

Head of the head of the class

Why is the hiring of Sac city schools' new superintendent so messed up?

By Cosmo Garvin 
cosmog@newsreview.com

This article was published on 06.26.14.

Sacramento city schools have all but offered the job of superintendent to José Banda, current chief of the Seattle city schools. Having picked their man, members of the Sacramento City Unified School District board of education headed to Seattle this week to ask people there if Banda is a good superintendent.



Which is completely backward, of course, the kind of maneuver that’s only necessary when you’re trying to keep the name of your prospective hire a secret until the deal is done. More on that shortly.



So who is José Banda? Seattle alt-weeklyThe Stranger described Banda’s two-year tenure as “short and rocky.” Last year, when Seattle high-school teachers boycotted the district’s standardized tests in protest of excessive testing, Banda threatened the teachers with suspension, then backed off as the boycott garnered national attention and support.



Before Seattle, Banda was superintendent of the Anaheim City School District for four years. His bio boasts 30 years in education, potentially an improvement over Sacramento’s last superintendent, reform-y businessman Jonathan P. Raymond, who had no real education background.



Banda told the Seattle press that he wasn’t looking for a job, but was approached by Sacramento’s hired headhunters and decided to take it in order to be closer to family in California. He also told Seattle public radio station KUOW, “As I near the latter part of my career, it’s an opportunity to get back into the retirement system that I spent almost my entire career in.” The district isn’t making his salary public yet; he earns $270,000 in Seattle.

It’s interesting to read coverage ofSacramento’s superintendent search by the Seattle daily media—since they feel no obligation to stick to SCUSD’s press releases. Here’s another snippet from KUOW:

“Unlike Seattle’s public superintendent search processes, Sacramento was poised to vote on Banda’s contract on Thursday before even announcing that he was a finalist.”



Wait, why is that weird? You mean there is some other way to hire a school superintendent Sacramento News & Review - Head of the head of the class - Bites - Opinions - June 26, 2014:

D.C. Insiders Monetize Experience, Join Ex-CNN Anchor to Attack School Teachers | janresseger

D.C. Insiders Monetize Experience, Join Ex-CNN Anchor to Attack School Teachers | janresseger:

D.C. Insiders Monetize Experience, Join Ex-CNN Anchor to Attack School Teachers

Posted on June 26, 2014 by janresseger

Not quite two years ago, the NY Times published what seemed to me a strange story.  Former CNN anchor, Campbell Brown had begun tweeting mean things about school teachers and attacking the unions who, she said, protect lewd behavior.   What did Campbell Brown have against school teachers and the NEA and AFT?

The NY Times piece then explained that Brown is married to Dan Senor, a foreign affairs advisor to then-presidential-candidate Mitt Romney, and that Senor also was serving on the board of Michelle Rhee’s national PAC, StudentsFirst, whose agenda includes attacks on the teachers unions that, according to StudentsFirst, put teachers first—ahead of students.

Campbell Brown had appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, written an op-ed that was published in the Wall Street Journal, and begun testifying in Albany against teachers unions.  While the teachers unions were quick to point out that they do not protect sexual predators, Al Baker reported: “Ms. Brown had transformed into the most recognizable face of the combustible school-reform fight and in so doing had injected star power into a campaign the Bloomberg administration has been waging for months.”

Fast forward to June, 2014.  Earlier this week Stephanie Simon reported at Politico that Campbell Brown has now spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to launch a series of lawsuits against teachers’ tenure and due process protections, legal attacks similar to the recent Vergara trial in California that “struck down California’s tenure system and other job protections embedded in state law, ruling that they deprived students of their constitutional right to a quality education….”  The California trial in Vergara will be appealed and many speculate that the decision will not survive the appeal.

Campbell Brown has hired a brand new public relations firm to manage her effort: “The Incite Agency, founded by former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and former Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt will lead a national public relations drive to support a series of lawsuits aimed at challenging tenure, seniority and other job protections that teachers D.C. Insiders Monetize Experience, Join Ex-CNN Anchor to Attack School Teachers | janresseger:

NYC Educator: The Last Day

NYC Educator: The Last Day:

The Last Day

Tomorrow, vacation starts for me and most of my colleagues. I want to wish you all a happy and restful break. Despite the corporate-produced crap you read in the papers, your work is vital to all that we do. Remember that corporate reformers, despite their crocodile tears, don't give a damn about us or those we serve. No matter how creative and convoluted they make their arguments, they are dead wrong.

The most important resource we have is our children, and it's our job to prepare them for happy and fulfilling lives. Those who preach test scores above all are not only ill-informed, but fail to put their money where their mouths are. There are good reasons why Barack Obama, Andrew Cuomo, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg and Joel Klein don't send their kids to public schools. Prime among them is they don't want conditions for their own kids like those they preach for ours.

The reformy leaders don't care for large class sizes for their own kids. Though they publicly call Common Core essential, for some mysterious reason their own children have no need of it. You won't see John King's kids sitting in trailers. And you won't see his kids sitting in a room with the special needs kids I serve exclusively.

It's our job to do the best we can for these kids, and it's these kids who motivate us. My kids don't speak English, and doubtless Michelle Rhee thinks I'm ineffective because they can't score as well on tests as those who were born here. No excuses, they say, as they tape mouths shut and ship their own kids to private schools.

My point is that we can't take this stuff in. We can't take it personally when we're stereotyped and attacked in the media. It's a new day. Racism is no longer as chic as it once was. Gay marriage is rapidly becoming the norm. Troglodyte NYC Educator: The Last Day:

James Quail DOE ATR Supervisor Tries to Ruin a Career southbronxschool

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

James Quail DOE ATR Supervisor Tries to Ruin a Career

Another tale of abuse, but this time of an ATR.

This ATR has asked to have his name changed so henceforth he will be known as Rod Gilbert. His ATR supervisor has not asked for his name to be changed because he is unaware of this blog post. His name is James Quail, a educational consultant and a support specialistand former Superintendent for District 14.

This is another story on how administrators abuse their power and the perilous state that ATR's are in day in and day out.

In November of 2013 Mr Quail popped in to visit Rod Gilbert at the school he was assigned to that week. Mr Quail introduced himself to Mr Gilbert to introduce himself, to talk about the future and that he is there to be a guide and mentor. Oh one more thing. Mr Quail informed Mr Gilbert that he was to consider their meeting a pre-observation.

Mr Gilbert was notified by email that his first observation was to be December (We did not get the date) at 1 PM. To wit, Mr Gilbert arranged with the AP of that school to set him up with a 1st grade class. The AP did and Mr Gilbert had taken time that week to get to know the students.

 Mr Quail showed up at 10:50 AM, Mr Gilbert's and the class' lunch. Mr Quail wanted to do the observation immediately. Mr Gilbert had to do his observation with a different 1st grade class.

He went in cold. He didn't know the students at all. His lesson was on doubles and he had know idea if the students had any previous knowledge on doubles. Mr Quail was unhappy.

Among the things Mr Quail found wrong was that the students were only giving 1, or, half word answers. That Mr Gilbert did not engage student thinking, that the book he used was too small, and more strangely, that Mr Gilbert did not know the progress of the individual students.

Mr Gilbert received a U for his observation

Mr Quail email Mr Gilbert on January 10 at 8:33 PM to inform him and his principal that he would be http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Shanker Blog » Challenging Content In The Early Grades: What's Not To Love?

Shanker Blog » Challenging Content In The Early Grades: What's Not To Love?:

Challenging Content In The Early Grades: What’s Not To Love?

Posted by Esther Quintero on June 26, 2014

The latest issue of The Progress of Education Reform (released a few days ago by the Education Commission of the States) rounds up some recent research supporting the case that “all children need high quality early science learning experiences” and “science supports children’s learning and school readiness in other areas” — see here. The brief argues that even though science has not traditionally received the attention afforded to other preschool domains, such as literacy and mathematics, “science content and skills are critical and do not detract from literacy development; “in fact, [science] contributes to the goal that all children read with understanding by grade 3.”

These statements should come as no surprise. At the Institute, we have long advocated teaching rich, challenging content (including in English language arts, math and science) in the early years. Knowledge, which is what’s underneath words and vocabulary, is the foundation for acquiring more knowledge; it’s what allows us to read with understanding — or read to learn. This is important because it means that we must focus on teaching children about a wide range of interesting “stuff” – including, as the ECS report argues, early science. As I wrote elsewhere:

It’s important to start teaching knowledge in the early years and through oral language because children’s preexisting knowledge creates a framework that facilitates the acquisition of new information; knowing more words and concepts scaffolds children’s ability to slot novel information in the “right places,” and to learn related words and concepts more efficiently.

In fact, the idea of teaching “literacy” versus teaching “science” constitutes an unnecessary dichotomy and perhaps not the most useful lens to understand what is needed in early childhood education. Children need challenging content in every domain — be it science, math, English language arts, social studies, music, or the fine arts. Unfortunately, the ECS report notes, “very little science happens in early care settings, and what does happen tends to consist of single activities, disconnected from what came before and what will come next.”

This lack of curricular sequence and coherence is a problem because children learn faster and more independently when they are taught concepts that are related. When children learn words in isolation, with little attention paid to how they words fit within broader ideas, they do not understand their relationships and tend to forget them just as Shanker Blog » Challenging Content In The Early Grades: What's Not To Love?:

SKrashen: Summer Reading: Bring back the pleasure

SKrashen: Summer Reading: Bring back the pleasure:

Summer Reading: Bring back the pleasure

Sent to the Wall Street Journal, June 25

Summer Reading for Parents (June 25) shows how the common core is pushing publishers and parents in the wrong direction. None of these fads, all featured in the WSJ article, is supported by research, experience, or common sense: reward stickers,  restricting children to reading at “their level," and a de-emphasis of fiction.
Rewarding reading can send the message that reading is so unpleasant that bribes are necessary. The rewards also focus children more on what they need to remember to do to get prizes than the pleasure of reading. 
Restricting children to reading at a certain level makes the incorrect assumption that readers must know nearly every word to understand and enjoy texts. John Holt tells this story:
"… One day, in one of our many free periods, (one of my students) was reading at her desk. From a glimpse of the illustrations I thought I knew what the book was. I said to myself, "It can't be," and went to take a closer look. Sure enough, she was reading Moby Dick. When I came close to her desk she looked up. I said, " Are you really reading that?" She said she was!  I said, "Do you like it?" She said, "Oh, yes, it's neat!" I said, "Don't you find parts of it rather heavy going?" She answered, "Oh, sure, but I just skip over those parts and go on to the next good part."
Holt continues: "This is exactly what reading should be and in school so seldom is- an exciting, joyous adventure. Find something, dive into it, take the good parts, skip the bad parts, get what you can out of it, go on to something else. How different is our mean-spirited, picky insistence that every child get every last little scrap of understanding that can be dug out of a book."
Nonfiction and other kinds of "light reading" form the bridge between "conversational" anSKrashen: Summer Reading: Bring back the pleasure: