7-30-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Public Education News Roundup

In the "wait, what?!" category comes this story from the Washington Post's Answer Sheet - School puts nearly 100 kindergartners in one class in a teaching experiment.  The first sentence in the article says "no, it's not a headline from The Onion."  This is being tried at the lowest-performing school in Detroit.  There are three teachers in the class.Incidentally, the lead teac

by Melissa Westbrook / 3min 

Seattle Schools Updates

A few quick updates:- long-time Communications person, Teresa Wippel, is leaving the district on Friday.  I have to say a huge thank-you to her for keeping her sunny disposition and for the patience she has for my many questions throughout the years. - following up on that departure, with Wippel gone, the person who runs many of the outreach items (calendar, homepage, etc.) is out on medical leave

by Melissa Westbrook / 0min 

An Alternative Narrative on Turnover

The Seattle Times likes to peddle this story about how a fractious and meddling Board is the driving reason for the turnover of senior staff, including the superintendent, at Seattle Public Schools.It's a good yarn, but it doesn't actually fit the facts. It doesn't fit the facts becauseThe Board isn't all that fractious. Most votes are unanimous or nearly so. And no matter how fractious the Board

1 by Charlie Mas / 7h

7-29-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Anti-Board Advocacy of the Seattle TimesOnce again the Seattle Times is whipping up anti-School Board animus.This is an old and discredited lie. And the "news" story is full of misrepresentations and omissions. I'll amend this post when I have time to list them all.by Charlie Mas / 2h hide  //  saveAspiring athletes, take note of changes to NCAA eligi

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-30-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

About Those Terrific School Grade Improvements for Charter Schools USA

Charter Schools USA boss Jonathan Hage bragged last month in his blog about some remarkable improvements his schools made in the past year: Every single one of our “D” and “F” schools from 2013 improved to an “A”, “B”, or “C” this year.  This evidence further proves that Charter Schools USA, one of the nation’s leading providers of education management, is making a positive difference in our child

by Bob Sikes / 1h 

7-29-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Inauthentic Conservatism At Work in Alan Hays’ Mandate to See D’Souza MovieIt’s not hard to sense that Tampa Bay Times reporter Jeff Solochek doesn’t think much of Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) bill which would mandate Florida students see what the editors describe in the

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-30-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

“‘Myths & Lies’ That Threaten Our Schools: An Interview With David Berliner & Gene Glass”

‘Myths & Lies’ That Threaten Our Schools: An Interview With David Berliner & Gene Glass is my latest post at Education Week Teacher. In it, David C. Berliner and Gene V. Glass answer a few questions about their book, “50 Myths & Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools.” Here are a couple of excerpts:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 29min 

Just Sent-Out Free Monthly Email Newsletter

I’ve just mailed out the June issue of my simple free monthly email newsletter. It has over 2,000 subscribers, and you can subscribe here.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 26min 

Do You Have Suggestions Of Movie/TV Scenes Showing People In “Flow”?

© 2009 Jordanhill School D&T Dept, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio I’ve recently been spending some time thinking about developing a lesson to help my students understand the idea of entering into a “state of flow” — completely absorbed in a learning task. You can read more about the concept at The Best Resources For Learning About “Flow.” Do you have any suggestions of movie or TV scenes showing

by Larry Ferlazzo / 27min 

July’s Best Posts From This Blog

I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here). Here are some of the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written during this pas

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  save

July’s “The Best” Lists — There Are Now 1,335 Of Them!

Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 1,335 of them categorized here): The Best Online Learning Simulation Games & Interactives — Help Me Find More The Best Resources For Learning About The Ebola Virus The Best Articles Highlighting Parallel Critiques Of Increasing School & Health Care “Efficiency” The Best Resources On Why Breakfast Is I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 7h 

YESTERDAY

The Best Resources For Learning About The Ebola Virus

© 2014 European Commission DG ECHO, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio The Ebola Virus is spreading in Africa, and potentially to an even wider area in the future. Here are some resources to help understand what is happening (and please make your own suggestions in the comments): The Worst Ebola Outbreak in History is Getting Worse is from GoKicker. The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history is happening

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

7-29-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: All My Ed Week Posts On Teaching Social Studies — In One Place!Q & A Collections: Teaching Social Studies is my latest post at Education Week Teacher. It brings together all my social studies posts from the past three years on…teaching social studies. Here’s an excerpt from one of them:by Larry Ferlazzo / 7h hide  //  s

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-30-14 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.:

No ten minute drawings for the next few days.

Some tendon damage of unknown origin to my wrist has put my left arm (I’m left handed) in a cast for a few days.  I can keyboard, but not draw.

2 by Fred Klonsky / 7min 

What did $4 million buy the state’s unions in the primary?

ALEC chairman Kirk Dillard. The unions’ choice for governor in the primary.  There are two (at least) models of union electoral strategy on display in Illinois that we can look at. In the primary election just past the state union political action committees were estimated to have dropped somewhere in the $4 million range on ALEC state chair Kirk Dillard in his failed race against Bruce Rauner on

by Fred Klonsky / 46min

Glen Brown. How you benefit from our defined benefit pension.

- Glen Brown is a teacher, pension activist and blogger. This post can be found at Teacher/Poet/Musician. Pensionomics 2014: Measuring the Economic Impact of Defined Benefit Pension Expenditures reports the national economic impacts of public and private pension plans, as well as the impact of state and local plans on a state-by-state basis. The study measures the economic ripple effect of retire

by Fred Klonsky / 2min hide  //  save

Ten minute drawing. Tenure

6 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

“Dr.” Terrence P. Carter. Arne Duncan’s superstar. The story the Chicago press won’t touch.

“Doctor” Carter, superstar. In 2007 the Chicago Tribune wrote: The Chicago Public Schools system has 126 openings for principals next fall, and has only 33 current principals ready to take the jobs. That’s a problem. It’s also a phenomenal opportunity. Vacancies in about one-fifth of the schools give CPS Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan a chance to bring in a new generation of leaders to trans

1 by Fred Klonsky / 3h 

7-29-14 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.: IPACE endorsements and pension thieves.IEA’s IPACE endorsements for state House and Senate elections are done by local IPACE committees. The recommendations must be approved by the state IPACE committee. I compiled the list of IPACE recommended candidates and their votes on Senate Bill 1, the pension

by mike simpson / 8h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-30-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

85 High School Athletics Programs That Were Funded In 2013-14 Have Been Cut More Than 50%

From a “Heads Up” from a 4LAKids reader. 73 high schools are getting $30,603, regardless of enrollment and/or programs, 7 of them are getting $15,303, and 5 of them are getting zero, nada, zilch. Is that enough to keep high school athletics alive at LAUSD? What will be the ramifications of this funding decision? What will be the response of parents and alumni?

by smf / 1h 

Editorial: LAWSUIT SETS OFF HEALTHY QUESTIONS ABOUT CALIFORNIA KIDS’ PHYS ED

Los Angeles Daily News Editorial | http://bit.ly/1o5rj8O (Getty Images) Posted: 07/29/14, 3:46 PM PDT  ::  It may take the courts to decide the merits of a lawsuit claiming that three dozen California school districts have scrimped on physical education. But this much is certain already: The suit is inspiring needed examination of schools’ approaches to this vital part of the curriculum.

by smf / 41min 

LAUSD Board District 1 election: ZIMMER, KAYSER BACK McKENNA; VILLARAIGOSA IN FOR JOHNSON

by Vanessa Romo, LA Schools Report | http://bit.ly/UBVA3N Steve Zimmer, with George McKenna to his right. Posted on July 29, 2014 11:33 am   ::  Endorsements in the District 1 school board race continued to pile up today as two LA Unified board members jumped on the George McKenna bandwagon, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in for Alex Johnson. Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser

by smf / 21min 

Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival Friday August 1st: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW + Robin Lithgow’s PLAYACTING IN SHAKESPEARE’S CLASSROOM

Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival 2014 Melissa Chalsma & Luis Galindo in The Taming of the Shrew. Photo by Grettel Cortes The Taming of the Shrew: Thursday July 31, Friday August 1 & Saturday August 2 at 7:00 pm Baptista has a problem. His biggest job is to see his daughters married well. His youngest, Bianca, is a piece of cake:

by smf / 7min 

New Dispute Opens Over Lcap Reporting Mandate

by Tom Chorneau | SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet http://bit.ly/UBK741 July 30, 2014 (Calif.)  ::  A festering dispute over how much freedom local officials should have over education spending has reignited, pitting school managers against advocates for low-income families and some key members of the Legislature. The current tempest involves

by smf / 5min 

CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL KAMALA HARRIS CHAMPIONS SCHOOL TRUANCY BILLS; 47% of students in LAUSD missed class three or more times without an excuse in the 2012-13 school year

By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1oLJukt California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks to the Los Angeles News Group Editorial Board at the Los Angeles Daily News on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. (Photos by Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News) Posted: 07/29/14, 7:10 PM PDT  ::  California’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Kamala Harris, explained her

by smf / 33min 

Pasadena Unified To File Lawsuit Against Acton-Agua Dulce Unified For Authorizing Charter School In Pasadena

By Hugo Guzman & Sarah Favot, The Pasadena Star-News | http://bit.ly/1lc2Av7 The Pasadena Unified School District school board voted to file a lawsuit against the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District for opening the SCALE Academy Charter School within PUSD’s boundaries. The charter school is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2014. Walt Mancini — Staff photographer Posted: 07/29/14, 9:

2 by smf / 8h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-29-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Vergara, anyone? - TEACHER TENURE LAWSUITS SPREAD FROM CAIFORNIA TO NEW YORKListen to the radio story by Beth Fertig, and Anna Kamenetz and Claudio Sanchez | National Public Radio.All Things Considered | http://n.pr/1pzs7j7 July 28, 2014 4:03 PM ET [Transcript] : CLAUDIO SANCHEZ, BYLINE: And I'm Claudio Sanchez in Washington. There's a good reason criti

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-30-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

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

SC’s Zais Mistake

Public education has been under assault and misrepresented by political leaders, the media, and the public since (at least) the mid-1800’s. Over the past couple of years, I have documented numerous times the key role mainstream media have played in the failure of accountability-based education reform driven by (ever-new) standards and (ever-new) high-stakes tests. So I am putting aside my skeptici

9 by plthomasedd / 57min 

7-29-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): “Students Today…”: On Writing, Plagiarism, and TeachingPosted at Maureen Downey’s Get Schooled, college instructor Rick Diguette offers a grim picture of first year college writing: Once upon a time I taught college English at a local community college, but not any more.

by mike simpson / 6h