Nite Cap 7-16-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT

James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research |

Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research |: Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research Valerie Strauss wrote a recent piece for the Washington Post about an email she recently sent to Arne Duncan — the current U.S. Secretary of Education who is (still) advancing VAMs for the nation. She wrote him directly to get his take on the “growing mountain of evidence [that] has shown that the method

by mike simpson / 6min 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14: End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14What do I know – my weekly assessments, my unit planningI have been using Understanding by Design planning for over five years. It’s taken me about that long to use it somewhat effectively.  There are things I still need to work on. Here i

by mike simpson / 1h 

BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction « WeActEd

BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction « WeActEd: BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction BATs (BadAss Teacher Association members) from around the nation are descending on the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, July 28. Learn why over 48,000 educators and supporters are preparing to surround the DOE to demand change. Join the Education Town Hall on July 24 with BAT co-founde

by mike simpson / 2h 

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): GUEST POST: Denny Taylor, Garn Press  Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am writing to urgently request your help. If you find the political circumstance and the research base for the four propositions that I have outlined in this letter are compelling, and you support the c

by mike simpson / 2h 

Jump in Seals of Biliteracy Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Jump in Seals of Biliteracy Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reports Jumpin Number of Students Earning Seal of BiliteracySACRAMENTO—Nearly 25,000 graduating high school students across California this summer have earned state recognition for achieving proficiency in multiple languages, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced t

by mike simpson / 2h 

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong" | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong" | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity: NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong"Posted on: Wednesday July 16th, 2014David Sciarra (right) and Billy Easton at a pressconference in March presenting findings from astatewide fact-finding tour to document

by mike simpson / 2h 

Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that work | Seattle Education

Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that work | Seattle Education: Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that workIn preparation for the Parents Across America Annual Meeting which will be held in DC next month, a list of priorities have been determined by the board and will be presented to our elected representatives

by mike simpson / 2h 

7-16-14 The Whole Child Blog — Motivation Matters

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Motivation MattersMiddle school kids are a different breed. If you aren't motivating them, they are not learning. In fact, they are probably tearing something up if motivation isn't in the picture. During my years as a middle school principal, I figured out that building a school culture with character education, fun, and a sense of belonging was key t

by mike simpson / 4h 

John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing VampireBy Anthony Cody on July 16, 2014 11:19 AMGuest post by John Thompson. My three decades of experiences dealing with the crack and gangs era of the 1980s, and then teaching in inner city schools, taught me to have an even keel. I'll never forget, however, the

by mike simpson / 5h 

Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students

Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students: Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School StudentsIn the spring of 2012, Spenser Johnson, a junior at Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas, was unpacking his acoustic bass before orchestra practice when a sign caught his eye. "Do you want to make

by mike simpson / 5h 

Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching - Salon.com

Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching - Salon.com: Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teachingFixing our schools doesn't work like that Hilary Swank movie. Here's why it's way more complex than firing teachersGABRIEL ARANATalk to some educational “reformers,” and fixing the problems with our educational system sounds a

by mike simpson / 5h 

7-16-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: California schools mislabeling English learnersMorning Read: California schools mislabeling English learners California ‘English learner’ tests incorrectly label bilingual kids Arianna Anderson is one of 180,000 students enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s program for Engli

by mike simpson / 6h 

7-16-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Homeless Students? How best to help themThis fall we see the opening of First Place School as a charter school serving mobile, high-risk students (mostly homeless).  The Times had a story about how homeless students are served in schools in Washington state with an interesting question to it.The Times reports that there are about 30,000 homeless kids in our state t

by mike simpson / 6h 

NYC Public School Parents: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law

NYC Public School Parents: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the lawPlease send your comments to ContractsForExcellence@schools.nyc.gov by the deadline of July 19; Mine are below.  thanks!  Comments on the p

by mike simpson / 6h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-16-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Better Educated Public School Kids – For A PriceBy The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board | http://lat.ms/1oHUdbq   Peninsula High School students listen as biology teacher Julie Maemoto explains how to do an upcoming experiment in her summer biology class. (Los Angeles Times)   July 16, 2014  ::  Children in the United States get unequal educations; tha

by mike simpson / 7h 

Confessions of a D-List Reformer | EduShyster

Confessions of a D-List Reformer | EduShyster: Confessions of a D-List ReformerEverything you ever wanted to know about education reform land but were afraid to ask…By *The 49er*I have a confession—I am an education reformer. So what am I doing here, hooking up with the likes of EduShyster? I got involved in the education reform movement because I honestly believe that all kids in this country des

by mike simpson / 7h 

A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell your whole story. And the Internet concurs.  0 0 0 NewView Larger A new study finds that drilling and worksheets help first graders struggling in math more than group activities or other student-centered activities.Previous PostsState school ch

by mike simpson / 7h 

Is teaching an art or a science?

Is teaching an art or a science?: Is teaching an art or a science?byteacherkenFollow    4 Comments / 4 Newthis was written and posted in March 2012.  As I begin to prepare to teach in yet another school/district including a course I have never taught before, I have been rereading my ideas on education.  I thought this worth sharing again.  Do with it what you will.The thoughts in this piece were o

by mike simpson / 7h 

Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: JULY 16, 2014Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizesby Tom Chorneau(Wash.) A rebounding economy and expectations that recreational marijuana will deliver a windfall in state revenues has raised hopes for an initiative aimed at decreasing class sizes

by mike simpson / 7h 

Morning Wink 7-16-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-16-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Georgia: Jason Carter vs. Nathan Deal for GovernorJason Carter, grandson of President Jimmy Carter, is running for governor of Georgia against incumbent Nathan Deal. Carter, elected to the state

by mike simpson / 8h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-16-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Georgia: Jason Carter vs. Nathan Deal for GovernorJason Carter, grandson of President Jimmy Carter, is running for governor of Georgia against incumbent Nathan Deal. Carter, elected to the state senate in 2010, is a graduate of Duke University who served in the Peace Corps in South Africa, the graduated from the University of Georg

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-16-14 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.: Red-baiting in Chicago.Campaign kick-off poster for Tim Meegan. - Tim Meegan is a Chicago Teacher and candidate for Chicago Alderman in the 33rd Ward. Fred, Here is the full text of my speech. Clearly I’m not calling for violent revolution: My name is Timothy Meegan, I am a father of a CPS student and

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-16-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Latest Resources On Child Refugees In The Southwest© 2006 Gail Williams, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are the latest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The Children Refugee Crisis At The U.S. Southern Border: Schools a haven for kids who crossed border alone is from The Associated Press. Beware John Corny

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-16-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Connecticut’s Gubernatorial Race Will Be Influenced by Education, Teachers (CT Magazine)Connecticut Magazine has posted a new article entitled, “Connecticut’s Gubernatorial Race Will Be Influenced by Education, Teachers.” As Connecticut Magazine explains, For the Democratic party, the full-throttled support of teachers’ unions in Connecticut is a given rule—like “I before E,

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Answer Sheet 7-16-14

Answer Sheet: Did Obama and Duncan really hear what four teachers told them?Here is the third in a series of pieces I have been publishing about a lunch meeting that President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan had recently with four teachers from high-poverty schools that focused on education, the teaching profession and school reform. The first was a post by teacher Justin Minkel — the 20

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-16-14 Schools Matte

Schools Matter: TURNcoat, Mary Ricker, to Serve as Exec VP for WeingartenWith Ricker's election, Weingarten, Gates, and Broad are building the next generation of misleaders.  Google "TURNcoats" and "AFT" and you will get the links to understand what I'm talking about.You might start here. Principal Members are the primary liaisons & spokespersons for each local in matters r

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-16-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Cuomo Takes $60,000 From Charter School Backer On Same Day He Spoke At Charter School RallyVia State of the Politics, this shows up in the NY Times piece on how much Governor Cuomo has raised for his re-election campaign:He also got $60,800 from Stanley Druckenmiller, a charter school backer and former hedge manager, on March 4, the day the governor spoke at a pro-charter ra

by mike simpson / 8h 

Russ on Reading: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Blinks on Teacher Evaluation

Russ on Reading: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Blinks on Teacher Evaluation: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Blinks on Teacher EvaluationChampion of corporate education reform, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has blinked on one of the signature tenets of that reform movement: AchieveNJ – which provides for teacher evaluation tied to student performance on standardized tests. Faced wi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Textbook Budgets and Book Distribution Tightly Connected with Standardized Test Scores | janresseger

Textbook Budgets and Book Distribution Tightly Connected with Standardized Test Scores | janresseger: Textbook Budgets and Book Distribution Tightly Connected with Standardized Test ScoresPosted on July 16, 2014 by janressegerHow do things go so wrong in a huge and tragically underfunded school district?  Meredith Broussard, an assistant professor of data journalism at Temple University, has publi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Oregon Save Our Schools: Our Schools Need Moratoriums on Common Core & High-Stakes Testing!

Oregon Save Our Schools: Our Schools Need Moratoriums on Common Core & High-Stakes Testing!: Our Schools Need Moratoriums on Common Core & High-Stakes Testing!The Common Core State Standards package is the linchpin of a mechanism to sell policies, high-stakes tests such as Oregon’s Smarter Balanced Assessment, confidential student data, and other practices that pose immediate harm for a wh

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mother Crusader: Vahan Gureghian's For Profit Charter Chain CSMI Ready To 'Do AC'

Mother Crusader: Vahan Gureghian's For Profit Charter Chain CSMI Ready To 'Do AC': Vahan Gureghian's For Profit Charter Chain CSMI Ready To 'Do AC'It sure has been a busy week in education news in New Jersey. The education blogosphere has been burning up with posts about Governor Christie's executive order regarding PARCC and Common Core, here, here, here, and here. It's been covered in all the ma

by mike simpson / 9h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: It was Duncan who launched Chicago schools on the trail of tiers

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: It was Duncan who launched Chicago schools on the trail of tiers: It was Duncan who launched Chicago schools on the trail of tiersRahm's closing of 50 schools, a stab in the heart for the city's black community, may be the very act that brings him down in 2015. Latest polls show that it's the mayor's (and Byrd-Bennett's) mishandled school closings, along with (relate

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

empathyeducates – Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing

empathyeducates – Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing: Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testingou hear a lot nowadays about the magic of big data. Getting hold of the right numbers can increase revenue, improve decision-making, or help you find a mate—or so the thinking goes. In 2009, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a crowd of education researchers: “I am […]by e

by mike simpson / 18h 

Social Movement Unionism Comes to the Teachers Unions at Last

Social Movement Unionism Comes to the Teachers Unions at Last: Social Movement Unionism Comes to the Teachers Unions at LastJULY 16, 2014 BY LAURENSTEINER LEAVE A COMMENTI am an activist and organizer who recently joined the fight against “education reform,” which is really code for the attempt by corporations, billionaires and hedge funds and the industry they have spawned, to privatize public ed

by mike simpson / 21h 

What “Education News” is NOT supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation? | Reclaim Reform

What “Education News” is NOT supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation? | Reclaim Reform: What “Education News” is NOT supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?Posted on July 15, 2014by Ken Previti“Education coverage for NBCNews.com is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation… ” – NBCNewsBill Gates, who financed the creation

by mike simpson / 22h 

Nite Cap 7-15-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #AFT14

James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPNEA elects Latina to leadership at annual meeting « NewsTacoNEA elects Latina to leadership at annual meeting « NewsTaco:  Delegates make history by voting for new leadership team to head nation’s largest unionDENVER – July 04, 2014 -Students acr

by mike simpson / 1d 

2nd Banana 7-12-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 7-5-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 6-28-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 6-21-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 6-14-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 6-7-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

Nite Cap 7-15-14

Nite Cap 7-14-14

Nite Cap 7-13-14

Nite Cap 7-12-14

Nite Cap 7-11-14

Nite Cap 7-10-14

Nite Cap 7-9-14 

Nite Cap 7-8-14

Nite Cap 7-7-14

Nite Cap 7-6-14

Nite Cap 7-5-14

Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research |:

Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research

 Valerie Strauss wrote a recent piece for the Washington Post about an email she recently sent to Arne Duncan — the current U.S. Secretary of Education who is (still) advancing VAMs for the nation. She wrote him directly to get his take on the “growing mountain of evidence [that] has shown that the method now used in most states, known as “value-added measures,” is not reliable. With [specific attention paid to the] two [most] recent reports released” on VAMs, one being the position statement released by the American Statistical Association and the other being a peer-reviewed article recently published in which researchers also found “surprisingly weak” correlations among VAMs and other teacher quality indicators including teacher observations.

His response? As sent via email from Duncan’s Press Secretary:

“Including measures of how well students are learning as part of multiple indicators of educator effectiveness is part of a set of long-needed changes that will improve classroom learning for kids. Growth measures are a significant improvement over the system that existed before, which failed to produce useful distinctions in teacher performance. Growth Arne Duncan’s Reaction to Recent VAM Research |:

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14:



End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14

What do I know – my weekly assessments, my unit planning

I have been using Understanding by Design planning for over five years. It’s taken me about that long to use it somewhat effectively.  There are things I still need to work on. Here is my planning for last year. I think the connection between my goals (understandings and knowledge) and the assessment (especially the knowledge part). I can see looking back at my plans that not everything gotten to.

The part that I think went well, was meeting the content standards, but this is the part that I have the most concerns about as new Common Core standards roll out. The maps, and plans that I’m seeing are all focused on ELA only, and therefore focus on knowledge and skills rather than understanding. It’s a weakness (and a serious one to my mind) making CCSS like a donut, with skills on the outside, but missing content at the center. I don’t like doing ELA only planning because of this. When you have understandings around ELA, they tend to be large ideas that are too vague tied to themes constructing by the reading text publisher.

What I know I don’t know – thoughts around  assessment

This was a testing holiday in the sense that students answered test questions, but they didn’t do a “full” test, the test did not have some of the bells and whistles that will be added in subsequent years (computer adaptive questions, computer scoring of written responses, etc.), but mostly, there are no scores for students. I’ve had folks expressed some concern about “not knowing where their students are at,” but I tell them, I’ve never found these tests to be useful for telling me that. Who improved? I had a number of students that based on my assessments, and their classwork, either did really well, or made great improvements. The first group are students who would do good no matter what. I really Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » End of Year Reflection on ELA, History and Science: 2013-14:

BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction « WeActEd

BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction « WeActEd:



BATs Descend on DOE, Demand Change of Direction

 BATs (BadAss Teacher Association members) from around the nation are descending on the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, July 28. Learn why over 48,000 educators and supporters are preparing to surround the DOE to demand change. Join the Education Town Hall on July 24 with BAT co-founder Mark Naison and General Manager Marla Kilfoye to learn more about BAT demands and how you can be involved.

General demands, at press time, included:

• ending federal incentives to close and privatize public schools;
• promoting equity and adequate funding;
• supporting teacher-driven curriculum;
• banning data sharing without parental and district permission;
• restoring rights for students with disabilities;
• stopping high-stakes testing grants and teacher-evaluation; and
• requiring all publicly funded schools to operate with transparency and accountability.

BATs also call, more specifically, for cutting federal support for the Common Core, ending ties to Teach for America, and replacing Arne Duncan with a lifelong educator. A variety of activities are planned for July 27-28.

Naison, professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program, co-founded BATs. He appeared on the May 15, 2014 edition of Education Town Hall. See also May 1, 2013 report on testing mania. Marla Kilfoyle, BAT general manager, has appeared on the Education Town Hall to discussion School Choice Week and other topics. BACK

Listen live, via TuneIn, at 11 a.m. Eastern on July 24.

Education Town Hall airs Thursdays at 11 Eastern on We Act Radio. Shows are archived shortly after broadcast for listening at your convenience.

UP NEXT: On July 31, Jasmine Hicks, of Young Invincibles, discusses their new report, CLOSING THE RACE GAP: Alleviating Young African American Unemployment Through Education(Race_Gap.pdf). Plan now to listen live via TuneIn. Check back for more details.

BAT Home

This association is for every teacher who refuses to be blamed for the failure of our society to erase poverty and inequality, and refuses to accept assessments, tests and evaluations imposed by those who have contempt for real teaching and learning…

Join Us!!

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

GUEST POST: Denny Taylor, Garn Press

  Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am writing to urgently request your help. If you find the political circumstance and the research base for the four propositions that I have outlined in this letter are compelling, and you support the course of action suggested here please send this letter to friends and colleagues. Use your websites, Facebook, and any other means to get the message out. Given tha

by plthomasedd / 6min 

 

7-14-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Debating Common Core Is Proof that Educators Have LostRecently, many within and among the AFT and NEA communities have been applauding that summer conventions have devoted time to debating the Common Core, some going as far as hailing that debate as proof of democracy in

by mike simpson / 18h 

Jump in Seals of Biliteracy Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Jump in Seals of Biliteracy Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reports Jump
in Number of Students Earning Seal of Biliteracy

SACRAMENTO—Nearly 25,000 graduating high school students across California this summer have earned state recognition for achieving proficiency in multiple languages, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.

California pioneered the "State Seal of Biliteracy," which was established in 2012 as a result of Assembly Bill 815 (Brownley) to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. The recognition takes the form of gold seals affixed to the high school diplomas of qualified students. Since then, eight other states—New York, Texas, New Mexico, Illinois, Washington, Florida, Massachusetts, and Maryland—have replicated or are in the process of replicating this program.

"Fluency in more than one language has always been an admirable skill, but it's increasingly becoming one that's highly sought after by employers," Torlakson said. "In California, we encourage and recognize this accomplishment because it's one more tool students have to help them succeed outside our classrooms."

In the Class of 2014, 24,513 students earned these gold seals. In 2013, the number was 19,000. In 2012—the first year of the program—about 10,000 students received this special recognition.

Of the total number of gold seals, 74.49 percent were for Spanish, 9.81 percent for French, 3.88 percent for Mandarin, 1.97 percent for Japanese, 1.19 percent for German, and 0.29 percent for Cantonese. Altogether, students earned the seal for demonstrating proficiency in some 40 languages, including American Sign Language.

To qualify for the State Seal of Biliteracy, high school graduates must meet certain criteria, including:

• Completion of all English language arts requirements for graduation with an overall grade point average of 2.0 or above in those classes;
• Passing the California Standards Test in English language arts administered in grade eleven at the "proficient" level;
• Proficiency in one or more languages in addition to English, demonstrated by passing a foreign language Advanced Placement examination with a score of three or higher or an International Baccalaureate examination with a score of four or higher; or
• Successful completion of a four-year high school course of study in a world language and attainment of an overall grade point average of 3.0 or above in that course of study.

For more information on which local educational agencies participated in the program and how many Seals of Biliteracy were awarded, visit the California Department of Education's State Seal of Biliteracy - Resources Web page.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong" | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong" | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong"

Posted on: Wednesday July 16th, 2014

David Sciarra (right) and Billy Easton at a press
conference in March presenting findings from a
statewide fact-finding tour to document education
inequity in New York public schools.

Following on the heels of the Vergara ruling in California, a new lawsuit in New York is challenging the state's teacher tenure laws, alleging that tenure is the main cause of pervasive achievement gaps in the state's public schools. But as advocates and organizers have been quick to point out, the case is simply the latest, divisive attack on teachers and a distraction from the real inequities that are holding public schools back. 

Writing in the Times Union, Billy Easton, Executive Director of Alliance for Quality Education, and David Sciarra, Executive Direction of Education Law Center, explain what the case gets right––and what it gets totally wrong:

This lawsuit gets one thing right: Children in high poverty, urban and rural school districts across the state are indeed being deprived their constitutional right to a sound basic education. What it gets completely wrong is why: the state's continuing failure to fairly fund high need schools so they can recruit, support and retain effective teachers and deliver rich instruction in math, science, world languages, the arts and other core subjects under optimal working conditions.

In 2007, the New York Supreme Court ruled in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit that the state was underfunding its schools, leaving low-income districts unable to provide things like reasonable class size, support services, highly qualified teachers, books, computers and adequate facilities. In response the Legislature designed the Foundation Aid Formula, which it so far has failed to adhere to. The state funding shortfall is upwards of $5.7 billion, which has led districts to cut teachers and expand class sizes. 

"Of course, the lawsuit challenging the process by which teachers get tenure and are laid off doesn't mention the unprecedented loss of teachers and essential resources in Utica, 

NY Teacher Tenure Lawsuit Gets Inequality "Completely Wrong" | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that work | Seattle Education

Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that work | Seattle Education:

Parents Across America’s 2014 Priority Issues: Positive, progressive reforms that work

In preparation for the Parents Across America Annual Meeting which will be held in DC next month, a list of priorities have been determined by the board and will be presented to our elected representatives when we meet with them in August.

I want to share our list with Seattle Education readers because it is succinct and to the point. Please use these talking points when meeting with your elected officials whether they are school board members, city, district or state representatives.

Your voice matters.

Dora

Parent Across America’s 2014 PRIORITY ISSUES

Positive, progressive reforms that work

► Reduce High-Stakes Testing: Along with other education groups, we call on Congress to hold hearings that examine the overuse and misuse of the high-stakes standardized tests mandated by No Child Left Behind. Numerous studies have indicated that NCLB’s focus on high-stakes testing has had profoundly negative effects on American schools, teachers and students – problems that can only be remedied by Congressional action. Congress should begin that project with comprehensive hearings that examine the experiences of students, parents and teachers, as well as the findings of education scholars.

Congress should scale back the number and frequency of standardized tests it requires and provide resources to expand high-quality alternative assessments.  

►Strengthen Student Privacy Protections: PAA also joins others in calling forhearings on student privacy. We are alarmed that recent federal policies increase the risk that our children’s highly sensitive personal data will be disclosed to third-parties for purposes that go well beyond reasonable educational uses, and deny parents the right of notification or consent. More and more information about our children and families is being collected and stored. Business interests are pushing states and school districts to expand online learning which increases opportunity for student data collection by private companies. State tracking of all students using the same Common Core standards and tests raises the specter of a national database of private information about children and families.

Congress should reverse changes in FERPA laws that undermine student privacy and parental control, and increase privacy safeguards.

►Replace Charter “Choice” with Real Parental Empowerment:By large margins, U.S. parents prefer sending their children to a high-quality school in their community – and having a real voice in improving those schools – to school takeover by charter or other private management. It’s time for Congress to listen to parentsand promote increased resources to all of our schools, a stronger parent voice in education policy, smaller class sizes, pre-K and full-day Kindergarten, experienced, supported teachers, a well-rounded curriculum, and evaluation systems that go beyond test scores.

Congress should reconsider its overemphasis on charter expansion and focus on proven strategies that strengthen public schools for all children.      

WHO WE ARE

Parents Across America is a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization that connects parents and advocates from across the U.S. to share ideas and work together to improve our nation’s public schools, using strategies that work for students, teachers, schools and communities.

www.parentsacrossamerica.org

Video: Charter School FAIL: The sub-priming of American education

Mark Naison debunks charter school mythology in this episode of Education News. Comparing the charter school explosion to the subprime mortgage collapse, Naison reveals the startling failures and false promises of the charter mystique.   Submitted by Dora Taylor    

by seattleducation20... / 17min 

7-16-14 The Whole Child Blog — Motivation Matters

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:

Motivation Matters

Middle school kids are a different breed. If you aren't motivating them, they are not learning. In fact, they are probably tearing something up if motivation isn't in the picture. During my years as a middle school principal, I figured out that building a school culture with character education, fun, and a sense of belonging was key to improving student achievement. The year before I arrived at a

by Kevin T. Goddard / 14min 

7-15-14 The Whole Child Blog — Education Support Professionals: Meeting the Needs of the Whole Student

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Education Support Professionals: Meeting the Needs of the Whole StudentJean G. Fay has no typical workday. Whether it's working one-on-one with a child with special needs, helping out in the cafeteria at lunchtime, sewing costumes for the school musical, or leading 40 2nd graders in the Crocker Farm Elementary hip-hop crew, she does it all! Jean is als

by mike simpson / 20h 

John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire

By Anthony Cody on July 16, 2014 11:19 AM

Guest post by John Thompson.

 

My three decades of experiences dealing with the crack and gangs era of the 1980s, and then teaching in inner city schools, taught me to have an even keel. I'll never forget, however, the Friday night in 1993 driving home from our football game. Stunned, I wondered if we were witnessing the collapse of society as we knew it.  

 

During the 1980s AIDS epidemic and after the "Hoova" set of the L.A. Crips street gang took over my part of Oklahoma City, I fell in love with children in my neighborhood who had endured trauma beyond anything that I could conceive, and I became a teacher. Virtually overnight, Supply Side economics spurred deindustrialization and wrecked families. Within a decade, almost every good-paying manufacturing job disappeared from our town. Our state had long been known for its tragic history of booms and busts, hopes raised and crushed. As an academic historian, I had documented some of the worst suffering in modern American history; now I saw the unfolding of the same type of tragedy.

 

Were we now experiencing a world historical collapse comparable to the Dust Bowl or the Okie Movement?

 

My memory may be playing tricks on one point. A couple of years later, I often drove over a hill on NE 23rdstreet, saw the smoke and rubble of the Murrah Federal Building and wanted to cry. That night, as I recall, I was briefly cheered by the distant beauty of that doomed edifice.

 

That evening, every five or ten minutes, I broke up a gang-related fight or a drug deal. I was part of a team of parents, police, deputy sheriffs, and teachers who just tried to get us through the night without a disaster. We sure didn't try to restrain the dealers or the combatants. It was simply a matter of keeping the teens moving for 3-1/2 hours.

 

Briefly, during our team's goal line stand, it looked like we could watch some of the game. ThereJohn Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: 

Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students:

Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students

In the spring of 2012, Spenser Johnson, a junior at Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas, was unpacking his acoustic bass before orchestra practice when a sign caught his eye. "Do you want to make money?" it asked.

The poster encouraged the predominantly poor students at Highland Park to enroll in a new, yearlong course that would provide lessons in basic economic principles and practical instruction on starting a business. Students would receive generous financial incentives including startup capital and scholarships after graduation. The course would begin that fall. Johnson eagerly signed up.

In some ways, the class looked like a typical high school business course, taught in a Highland Park classroom by a Highland Park teacher. But it was actually run by Youth Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit group created and funded primarily by Charles G. Koch, the billionaire chairman of Koch Industries.

The official mission of Youth Entrepreneurs is to provide kids with "business and entrepreneurial education and experiences that help them prosper and become contributing members of society." The underlying goal of the program, however, is to impart Koch's radical free-market ideology to teenagers. In the last school year, the class reached more than 1,000 students across Kansas and Missouri.

Lesson plans and class materials obtained by The Huffington Post make the course's message clear: The minimum wage hurts workers and slows economic growth. Low taxes and less regulation allow people to prosper. Public assistance harms the poor. Government, in short, is the enemy of liberty.

Though YE has avoided the public spotlight, the current structure of the program began to take shape in November 2009, documents show, when a team of associates at the Charles G. Koch Foundation launched an important project with Charles Koch's blessing: They would design and test what they called "a high school free market and liberty-based course" with support from members of the Koch family's vast nonprofit and political network. A pilot version of the class would be offered the following spring to students at the Wichita Collegiate School, an elite private prep school in Kansas where Koch was a top donor.

First, the Koch team chose its mascot: a golden eagle holding a knife in its beak. They also assigned each other nicknames: Ol' Mucky Terrahawk, Mighty Killer, Big Gay Mule, Midnight Bandit and the Erratic Assassin. The group dubbed itself the "Wu-Teach Clan."

Over the next six months, members of the Wu-Teach Clan exchanged Koch Heads: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students:

Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching - Salon.com

Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching - Salon.com:

Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching

Fixing our schools doesn't work like that Hilary Swank movie. Here's why it's way more complex than firing teachers

GABRIEL ARANA

Talk to some educational “reformers,” and fixing the problems with our educational system sounds a lot like it does in “Freedom Writers.” It’s your classic nice-white-lady-meets-inner-city-school flick. Plopped into a classroom of “untouchables” from poor, minority backgrounds, our hero Hilary Swank is shocked to discover that the administration has given up on the kids to such a degree that they aren’t even allowed to use books (the department head doesn’t want them stolen or damaged).

Swank fights the system, having her students “toast for change” at the beginning of the semester. She gives them each a journal to write in and uses a racist chalkboard drawing as a pretext to teach about the Holocaust, organizing a trip to the Museum of Tolerance to complement her students’ reading of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Naturally, the other teachers are none too keen on this overeager upstart making them look bad, and try to get her fired. In short, they fail and the movie ends with a joyful scene of Swank’s kids graduating.

The notion that all troubled kids need is an amazing teacher — and its corollary: that students fail because they have bad teachers — has become the animating force behind the school-reform movement. It’s also the idea behind a forthcoming lawsuit brought by former television anchor Campbell Brown on behalf of six New York City students and their parents. With newly launched advocacy group Partnership for Educational Justice and a coordinated media campaign behind her, Brown is taking aim at teacher tenure in New York.

“Failed education laws here in New York promote seniority over performance and fail to remove ineffective and dangerous teachers from the classroom,” says Reshma Singh, executive director of the Partnership. “Our bipartisan group will give these families — and families across the state — the support they need to make sure New York students have access to quality teachers.”

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In a New York Daily News Op-Ed announcing the suit, Brown argues that New York’s teacher tenure laws violate students’ “right to a sound education” by making bad teachers difficult to fire. Brown notes that it takes an average of 520 days to get a tenured teacher fired in New York Tenure haters’ big delusion: Why Campbell Brown and co. are wrong about teaching - Salon.com: