Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/10/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales | TEDxAmherst" Video at TEDxTalks

Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales | TEDxAmherst" Video at TEDxTalks: Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales Gus Morales is a teacher whose firing from Holyoke Public Schools prompted an investigation that prevented student’s scores from being publicly displayed. He will be speaking on how to reshape our education system to the needs of our students.Gus Morales is the curren

by mike simpson / 1h 

Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform

Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform: Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School ReformEvery student should have a journal including most students with disabilities and ELL students. Journal writing is one of the best teaching techniques to show students that their voice matters and that their schools are about who they are and what they do.It also teaches students many

by mike simpson / 1h 

Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited - Inside Bay Area

Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited - Inside Bay Area: Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploitedJust over a year after Gov. Jerry Brown gave schools more money in exchange for their commitment to spend more on the neediest students and involve parents in setting priorities, some schools have made dramatic changes in line with his intentions, while others have dipped into the

by mike simpson / 1h 

No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students | @ THE CHALKFACE

No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students | @ THE CHALKFACE: No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk studentsI’ve never heard of this blog before, but now I’m listening. Charter school lotteries don’t make schools more diverse. I looked into some of the actual data. You can draw your own conclusions, but I have two very interesting observations.One, I have a screensh

by mike simpson / 2h 

When Is Enough Enough? | Kaplan for Kids

When Is Enough Enough? | Kaplan for Kids: When Is Enough Enough? The first item involves a report just out from the University of Washington’s Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) (Creepier than CREEP), the Center that awarded Denver Public Schools a bronze medal for being third best in the nation at implementing reform strategies. The study releasedtoday paints a very different picture

by mike simpson / 5h 

Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned | News - Home

Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned | News - Home: Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resignedSchool board member says charter schools 'free-for-all'SUNRISE, Fla. -With roughly 270 students, the new Paramount Charter School in Sunrise has already received $740,000 in taxpayer-funded money and is slated to get about $3 mill

by mike simpson / 5h 

CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say? » Missouri Education Watchdog

CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say? » Missouri Education Watchdog: CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say?CCSSO mentions that it has been an honor to work with him in the pursuit of better outcomes for all kids.  He is a sincere, committed leader who has been a partner with state chiefs in advancing student a

by mike simpson / 6h 

Jersey Jazzman: Chris Cerf Finally Sees The Light! Schools Need Adequate Funding

Jersey Jazzman: Chris Cerf Finally Sees The Light! Schools Need Adequate Funding: Chris Cerf Finally Sees The Light! Schools Need Adequate Funding It's taken years, but it appears that my most stubborn congregant, Chris Cerf, is finally starting to understand that money matters in education. Let me tell the tale of this poor sinner's ascent into grace:All the way back in 2012, when Cerf was New Je

by mike simpson / 6h 

Will Reformers Learn a Lesson From Newark? - Living in Dialogue

Will Reformers Learn a Lesson From Newark? - Living in Dialogue: Will Reformers Learn a Lesson From Newark?By John Thompson.When Dale Russakoff conceived of The Prize, she “viewed education reform from a distance but as a movement full of promise.”  She was eager to follow the story of Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million matching gift to the Newark schools.  The subtitle, “Who’s in Charge of America’s

by mike simpson / 7h 

This crocodile problem had Scottish maths students in tears

This crocodile problem had Scottish maths students in tears: This crocodile math problem had Scottish students in tearsLONDON — How quick can a crocodile swim upstream to catch a zebra?Very few of us will ever know the answer, it seems, as the maths problem was one of many that brought Scottish sixth-form students (ages 16-18) to tears and resulted in the pass mark being lowered for their Higher M

by mike simpson / 7h 

Common Core Has Not Created Consistent Testing Standards

Common Core Has Not Created Consistent Testing Standards: Report: Common Core Has Not Created Consistent Testing Standards as IntendedThe primary purpose of Common Core’s implementation throughout the U.S. was to create a standardized testing system across states to level education requirements, but The New York Times found that the new guidelines have done nothing to spur this anticipated consist

by mike simpson / 7h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Utah's Brave New Pre-K World

CURMUDGUCATION: Utah's Brave New Pre-K World: Utah's Brave New Pre-K WorldUtah has decided that pre-school can be delivered as a software package.As reported Emma Brown in yesterday's Washington Post, the state has decided-- with the generous financial assistance of the federal government-- to try shrinking the entire pre-school experience into fifteen minutes a day of computer time. You get an id

by mike simpson / 7h 

LAUSD Rents Out Schools for Racy Entertainment | NBC Southern California

LAUSD Rents Out Schools for Racy Entertainment | NBC Southern California: LAUSD Rents Out Schools for Racy EntertainmentNBC4 investigates how some raunchy jokes and sexy shoots are interfering with student learningK-12 NEWS NETWORK'S THE WIRE: For Once, The Local Media Uncovers The LAUSD Wizard http://bit.ly/1RA2vm4This is the first of two stories on the impact on Hollywood filming on Los Angeles

by mike simpson / 8h 

Parents can’t opt out of Common Core testing, AG says | Arizona Capitol Times

Parents can’t opt out of Common Core testing, AG says | Arizona Capitol Times: Parents can’t opt out of Common Core testing, AG saysParents of students in public schools have no legal right to withdraw their children or opt out of statewide standardized tests, Attorney General Mark Brnovich concluded today.In a formal opinion, Brnovich acknowledged that state law does permit parents to exempt thei

by mike simpson / 8h 

Teach For America co-CEO Matt Kramer has announced that he is ‘stepping down.’ | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

CEO Ya! | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: CEO Ya!Teach For America co-CEO Matt Kramer has announced that he is ‘stepping down.’  His partner in crime, Elisa Villanueva-Beard, will be promoted to sole CEO.  I expected some kind of top-level shakeup and predicted six months ago that one of them was on the way out.When Wendy Kopp resigned and they took over in March of 2013, TFA’s stock was at an all time hi

by mike simpson / 8h 

New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Final Day Five | VAMboozled!

New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Final Day Five | VAMboozled!: New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Final Day FiveThe final day in the New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit in Santa Fe was this past Thursday, October 8th. Unfortunately I could not attend day five (or day four) due to a prior travel engagement, but here are two articles that highlight the events of the final day (for

by mike simpson / 8h 

Education: Too much, too soon? (Opinion) - CNN.com

Education: Too much, too soon? (Opinion) - CNN.com: Are we hurting kids at school?Susan Ochshorn is the author of "Squandering America's Future: Why ECE Policy Matters for Equality, Our Economy, and Our Children." The views expressed are her own.(CNN)This fall, some 65,000 4-year-olds, backpacks hanging from their tiny frames, converged on the nation's largest public school district.In j

by mike simpson / 8h 

A New Report Gives a Discouraging Portrait of America's Urban Public School System - CityLab

A New Report Gives a Discouraging Portrait of America's Urban Public School System - CityLab: A Discouraging Portrait of America's Urban Public SchoolsThe report card for public and charter schools in 50 U.S. cities shows room for improvement.Researchers have examined the inequities between city schools districts and also evaluated the performance of urban charter schools. What they haven’t been a

by mike simpson / 9h 

American schools are modeled after factories and treat students like widgets. Right? Wrong. - The Washington Post

American schools are modeled after factories and treat students like widgets. Right? Wrong. - The Washington Post: American schools are modeled after factories and treat students like widgets. Right? Wrong.A worker prepares assembled stand mixers for packaging on the production line at the Whirlpool Corp. KitchenAid manufacturing facility in Greenville, Ohio, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. (Lu

by mike simpson / 9h 

Teachers union changes stance in eval suit | Albuquerque Journal News

Teachers union changes stance in eval suit | Albuquerque Journal News: Teachers union changes stance in eval suitThe head of the American Federation of Teachers-New Mexico acknowledged that her union has changed its approach on the injunction it is seeking against teacher evaluations but denied that they have reduced their demands.Stephanie Ly, president of AFT-New Mexico, said the organization is

by mike simpson / 9h 

Expert: Common Core flawed in trying to standardize children

Expert: Common Core flawed in trying to standardize children: Expert: Common Core flawed in trying to standardize childrenLAKE GEORGE  Common Core is not developmentally appropriate for students and was pushed down the throats of educators without teacher input, says a veteran educator who now speaks out against it.“This was not led by the states. It was fed to the states,” said Peg Luksik, chair

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell and Pamela Banks: Sleight of Hand in the 37th? | Seattle Education

Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell and Pamela Banks: Sleight of Hand in the 37th? | Seattle Education: Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell and Pamela Banks: Sleight of Hand in the 37th?From Seattlish:SEEC Complaint Alleges Shady Behavior in the 37th Dems EndorsementsBruce HarrellBruce Harrell’s campaign may be in some hot water following allegations that they essentially bought the 37th District Dems endorsements

by mike simpson / 17h 

Take That, Columbus! Celebrate NY Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday and Pow Wow This Weekend - ICTMN.com

Take That, Columbus! Celebrate NY Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday and Pow Wow This Weekend - ICTMN.com: Take That, Columbus! Celebrate NY Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday and Pow Wow This WeekendVincent Schilling10/6/15Featuring over 500 Native American artists, educators, singers, dancers and performing groups from across the Americas, the Redhawk Native American Arts Council is hosting an Indig

by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/9/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMNational Union Leader Says 'Demonization' Of Teachers At Heart of Kansas's Struggles | KCURNational Union Leader Says 'Demonization' Of Teachers At Heart of Kansas's Struggles | KCUR: National Union Leader Says 'Demonization' Of Teachers At Heart of Kansas's StrugglesFor the past seven years, Randi Weingarten has led the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teache

by mike simpson / 23h 

Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales | TEDxAmherst" Video at TEDxTalks

Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales | TEDxAmherst" Video at TEDxTalks:

Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales 

Gus Morales is a teacher whose firing from Holyoke Public Schools prompted an investigation that prevented student’s scores from being publicly displayed. He will be speaking on how to reshape our education system to the needs of our students.

Gus Morales is the current president of the Holyoke Teacher’s Association and a teacher for Holyoke Public Schools. In 2014, Gus was laid off by the Holyoke Public School system for criticizing a directive to post students’ names and test scores on the walls of their classrooms. After an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations which ruled in his favor, he was subsequently rehired. At TEDxAmherst 2015, Gus will talk about how we can reshape education to better serve the needs of our children

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Added Aug 11, 2015Watch "The Educratic Oath | Gus Morales | TEDxAmherst" Video at TEDxTalks:

Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform

Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform:

Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform

Every student should have a journal including most students with disabilities and ELL students. Journal writing is one of the best teaching techniques to show students that their voice matters and that their schools are about who they are and what they do.

It also teaches students many writing skills. It is a 180 degree turn from the lockstep Uncommon School’s orderly march like a soldier, stare like a zombie, and get clicked at like an elephant in a circus performance, schools that reformers think will shape students up and make them conform.

Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality and David Coleman, President of the College Board don’t think journal writing matters.

They are wrong. My guess is many teachers are like me and know the value of having students keep journals.

Walsh, who has her knickers in a knot about how the “the reformers” are sometimes divided on what teachers should teach, even though reformers don’t teach, said Kids are paying a high price for our neglect. It [the reformers inability to get their act Using Student Journal Writing to Fight Bad School Reform:

Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited - Inside Bay Area

Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited - Inside Bay Area:
Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited

Just over a year after Gov. Jerry Brown gave schools more money in exchange for their commitment to spend more on the neediest students and involve parents in setting priorities, some schools have made dramatic changes in line with his intentions, while others have dipped into the larger pool of funds to pay for pet projects.

Schools have added translators and other help for parents, tutoring and alternatives to discipline, a sampling of Bay Area schools shows -- but many also are investing in buildings, trying to divert funds to teacher salaries and ignoring their poorest students.

Instead of giving schools pots of money for dozens of specific programs, such as gifted students, music or teacher mentoring, the state is distributing a cauldron of funds -- totaling about $53 billion -- for schools to spend where they see fit, as long they seek parent input. The state designates almost one-sixth of the funds for high-needs students: English learners, kids from low-income families and foster children. Schools also are supposed to set measurable targets for goals, such as improving literacy or graduation rates.

But not all have. And many, while reaching out to parents, haven't necessarily heeded what they heard.

"There's not enough accountability," said Nallely Malaspina, a parent involved in advising the Antioch Unified School District on how to craft its spending plan. Brown's program got off to a good start, she said, but added, "there's no follow through."

A case in point would be the Alum Rock Union School District, which has both responded to parents but insisted on spending one-third of its funds designated for needy children on buildings instead -- and without laying out its justification.

A determined group of parents, led by the community group Somos Mayfair, prodded the district to hire translators and to spend $1.2 million for community liaisons -- who help interpret, educate parents and direct them to resources -- at most of its 26 campuses.

"It is the law that we have a voice and a vote and that we know what they are doing," said Dilza Gonzalez, who has three children in Alum Rock schools and has kept an eye on district spending. She and other campaigners collared parents at stores and on soccer sidelines, held multiple meetings and challenged the district when its plans ignored parents. Despite parents' efforts, an analysis shows that Alum Rock is dedicating less than 10 percent of the Brown's school budget reform: embraced, exploited - Inside Bay Area:

No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students | @ THE CHALKFACE

No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students | @ THE CHALKFACE:

No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students

I’ve never heard of this blog before, but now I’m listening. Charter school lotteries don’t make schools more diverse. I looked into some of the actual data. You can draw your own conclusions, but I have two very interesting observations.

One, I have a screenshot that highlights my own school with the charter with whom we colocate, at 85% and 49% at-risk, respectively. This confirms the many anecdotal observations that I’ve made over the years, most notably the car line that I see during arrival and dismissal. We have no comparable car line because our parents can’t afford cars. That should tell you something.

Two, see how the at-risk line increases from left to right? Also observe that the blue dots on the far left, the ones with the lowest at-risk percentages, possess no complementary orange ones. Those are all schools in affluent parts of town, in the tony Northwest, and one travels across the river into Southeast as you move to the right.

Charter schools in DC almost entirely serve low-income Black and Brown populations. That has indeed been their stated mission: to give families in these communities high-quality alternatives to “failing” public schools. Yet, they do not come close to actually serving the full spectrum of those populations. And for a sector that claims to have all the answers, one would think they would test the virtues of their models on the most challenging students.

The charter ethos is more demonstrative of clever marketing and exploitative branding than it is as a long No surprise that charters in DC serve fewer at-risk students | @ THE CHALKFACE:

When Is Enough Enough? | Kaplan for Kids

When Is Enough Enough? | Kaplan for Kids:

When Is Enough Enough? 

The first item involves a report just out from the University of Washington’s Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) (Creepier than CREEP), the Center that awarded Denver Public Schools a bronze medal for being third best in the nation at implementing reform strategies. The study releasedtoday paints a very different picture as it cites Denver as the district with the largest achievement gap in reading and math based on socioeconomics out of ALL OF THE 50 URBAN DISTRICTS STUDIED for the past three years. That’s right.  Denver Public Schools is dead last in closing the gap between children living in poverty and those not. Even the “reform” funded, “reform” supporting  online newspaper, Chalkbeat Colorado, had a difficult time putting a positive spin on these findings.

“Of all the cities, Denver had the largest achievement gaps in both math and reading between students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch and other students – 38 percent in reading and 30 percent in math over three years studied. The gap nationally was about 14 percent….The report… paints a largely discouraging picture of U.S. urban education, especially when it comes to hard-to-serve students.”

The CRPE report provides information that is extremely important for public education nationally. It is even more important to Denver voters at this time because there is a school board election rapidly approaching (All mail in ballot election.  You must vote by 7 p.m., November 3, 2015.  Ballots go out mid-October), and three candidates are strongly supporting continuing the direction this District is going.  The current Board president and at-large candidate Allegra “Happy” Haynes, touted her work for the past four years, and cited the DPS strategic plan, Denver Plan 2020, with its focus on reducing the gap, as a reason to re-elect her. In a debate October 5, 2015 she said, “I believe this is the progress we’ve made under my leadership and that of my colleagues.”  This gap has increased in all three academic areas for the past ten years of “reform” and this progress has landed this District at the very bottom of the heap regarding one of the five tenets of the Denver Plan 2020 – the newly named Opportunity Gap.  Call it what you will – opportunity or achievement – the reality is the gap When Is Enough Enough? | Kaplan for Kids:

Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned | News - Home

Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned | News - Home:

Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned

School board member says charter schools 'free-for-all'

SUNRISE, Fla. -

With roughly 270 students, the new Paramount Charter School in Sunrise has already received $740,000 in taxpayer-funded money and is slated to get about $3 million during the school year.

Despite the infusion of public cash, Paramount -- an elementary-level school that, like all charters, is privately owned but publicly funded -- is riddled with problems. According to a school board member, it's already had three principals, lost nearly all of its teachers after the first month due to firings and resignations and has some parents alleging their children aren't learning there.

The president of the company that owns the school, Jimika Williams Mason, drove away from a Local 10 News camera in her vehicle. It was discovered the listed vice president of the company, Ashley Challenger, is a 22-year-old Nova Southeastern University student who said she was given a spot on the school's board of directors through the college and had no idea she had even been listed as a corporate vice president of the Advancement of Education in Scholars Corporation.

Quick Clicks

• Charter school mass-fires teachers

• 

She said she had met once with Mason but had no idea what was happening at the school and had yet to attend a board meeting.

More findings about the troubled charter school include:

• Mason, the president, lists no experience in the education field in the application, instead noting that she spent six years in management at a Miramar company that specializes in unsecured home improvement loans.
• Former NFL player and reality TV star Hank Baskett is listed in the application as a "non-voting board member" who will "aid in the Sports and Fitness program." But Baskett's agent, Jim Ivler, said Baskett is not affiliated with the school. "They reached out to us more than five years ago interested in establishing a relationship with Hank," Ivler wrote Local 10. "It never went anywhere and we haven't heard from them in years."
• The corporate office goes to a building in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, but a manager there told Local 10 the company doesn't actually rent physical office space, but rather has a "virtual office" where it can receive mail and phone messages.
• After promising at least two teachers who spoke to Local 10 on condition of anonymity a salary of $36,000 and full benefits, the school after the first month instructed them that if they wanted to keep their jobs they would have to take a $6,000 pay cut and forego benefits. Both teachers were among those who resigned, while numerous teachers were fired. "I don't understand how you can give someone a school just based on paper," said one teacher. "Not only the school, how can you give them the children," said the other.

Broward County school board member Laurie Rich Levinson voiced frustration about the situation at the school, saying the board has received complaints and been to the school, which she said has had three principals already this year. But she said that because of a lack of regulation coming from Tallahassee, there is little the board can do about the problems. She said without a record of performance failures, which can take two years to establish, the school board's hands are tied unless there is a health or safety risk.

"Everything is a free-for-all basically," Levinson said. "And the sad part is we're going to find this Sunrise charter school had warning signs before teachers were fired, resigned | News - Home:

CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say? » Missouri Education Watchdog

CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say? » Missouri Education Watchdog:

CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say?

CCSSO mentions that it has been an honor to work with him in the pursuit of better outcomes for all kids.  He is a sincere, committed leader who has been a partner with state chiefs in advancing student achievement for all kids.

That’s a very special partnership a federal government political appointee has with state government bureaucrats (state education chiefs).  The vast majority of parents concerned about this public/private partnership never had the honor to work with him.  In fact, Duncan dismissed parental concerns and stooped to name-calling those who disagreed with his agenda.

Concerning his partnership with a private NGO for the takeover of public education via mandates and waivers, well, that circumvents the political process of state legislatures setting budgets and policies for its state educational agencies.  It’s ironic that CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues to the Federal Secretary of Education.  I thought that was the job of state education chiefs and their state educational agencies.  Why did those bureaucrats obtain advanced educational degrees and training if CCSSO is setting educational reform?

Is the CCSSO providing only assistance when it owns the copyright for the Common Core State Standards?  That sounds more like control of a private organization over public education standards.  When the rule of law doesn’t mean anything any more, leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues can mean NGOs can mandate its way (with the partnership of the USDOEd) on how students are educated in your state and how much it’s going to cost your legislature/school district.

If Arne Duncan was truly a champion for students across the country, he would have set a better example by following the rule of law, rather than issuing illegal waivers and coercing states via financial sticks and carrots to surrender their constitutional duty to set their educational CCSSO Misses Arne Duncan. What Would Your Statement Regarding His Resignation Say? » Missouri Education Watchdog: