Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/28/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment? - Living in Dialogue

School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment? - Living in Dialogue: School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment?By Anthony Cody.The shocking video of an African American high school girl being violently grabbed and slammed to the ground has been seen and shared millions of times over the past few days. Most are sickened by wh

by mike simpson / 5h 

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large - NPE Action

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large - NPE Action: NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-LargeNPE Action is proud to join the growing list of organizationsendorsing  Helen Gym in the Primary Election for a City Council At-Large seat in the city of Philadelphia.NPE President Diane Ravitch has lauded Helen as a hero of public education and an

by mike simpson / 6h 

School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies - The New York Times

School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies - The New York Times: School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative PoliciesLITTLETON, Colo. — In this suburban election, lawn signs are being stolen and minivans vandalized. One candidate says she got an email telling her to get cancer and die. Money from the billionaire Koch brothers is funding one side’s commercials and

by mike simpson / 6h 

Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to knowIt has been 32 years since "A Nation at Risk" was published. The report, issued in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education, established the belief that schools across the nati

by mike simpson / 6h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.Parents and community groups carry anti-privatization signs as they gather in front of Ald. Will Burns (4th) office Tuesday morning, demanding that Burns be replaced as Education Comm

by mike simpson / 7h 

John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com

John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com: John Thompson: Pity the Disposable PrincipalsJohn Thompson, historian and teacher, says that he usually doesn’t worry about principals, but this piece demonstrates that he knows the stress they are under in the current context of fire first, aim later.Principals and assistant principals give up the best job in the w

by mike simpson / 7h 

With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder | PR Watch

With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder | PR Watch: With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced the winners of the next round of state (SEA) grants under the quarter-billion-dollar-a-year Charter Schools Program (CSP) designed to boost the charter sector.While eight state departmen

by mike simpson / 7h 

For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For RheeOne of the benefits of the Common Core, supposedly, is that we can finally compare the performance of schools in different states.  Originally the dream was that a majority of states would sign on to use common tests from either the PARCC from Pearson or SBAC from Smarter Balanced.Michell

by mike simpson / 7h 

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes | Jay P. Greene's Blog

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes | Jay P. Greene's Blog: Emperor Gates Has No Clothes Last week Bill Gates gave a speech to articulate his foundation’s strategy for education reform and the basis for that strategy. Unfortunately, throughout the speech Gates misreads and distorts findings from research, including research that the foundation has funded or conducted itself.  Why hasn’t anyone called Gat

by mike simpson / 8h 

“High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students

“High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students: “High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s StudentsBy now most of us have seen the video of the resource officer using brute force to yank a female student out of her desk. Appalling, most agree. But this country has been criminalizing students, if not violently, inhumanely and subtly, in their schools for a long time

by mike simpson / 8h 

Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis | The Progressive

Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis | The Progressive: Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the grip of a major public education financial crisis. How did we get here? Well, Rome wasn’t burnt in a day. There are several stations on the way to schoolmageddon.Start With Built-in DisparitiesEveryone knows that Pennsylvania is h

by mike simpson / 8h 

Schools Matter: President Spellings

Schools Matter: President Spellings: President SpellingsAnyone with the intellect to appear brilliant to George W. Bush is probably not smart enough to stay out of the public eye.  The re-emergence of Margaret Spellings as president of a prestigious state university system proves as much.Having ballooned her bank accounts since 2008 as she criss-crossed the nation serving on executive boards and o

by mike simpson / 8h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry"

Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry": NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry"Now what if there were NO Common Core standards being enacted?  Would he be quite so calm?  He was quite happy in 2013 when the scores went up and he crowed about how all eight states using CCSS showed improvement in at least one score with none declining.  T

by mike simpson / 8h 

CURMUDGUCATION: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure

CURMUDGUCATION: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy FailureMike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute has gone so far as to call the new NAEP scores "heartbreak." The scores on the Nation's Report Card are crappy, ranging from "barely stagnant" to "plunging."Petrilli and other reformsters have started the business of finding an exp

by mike simpson / 8h 

Report calls for more support for black students in California | EdSource

Report calls for more support for black students in California | EdSource: Report calls for more support for black students in CaliforniaA new report released Wednesday by the student advocacy group Education Trust­-West calls for an increased focus on helping black students thrive in California schools.Called “Black Minds Matter: Supporting the Educational Success of Black Children in California,

by mike simpson / 9h 

Bombshell Report Exposes Federal Failure to Oversee Charters | janresseger

Bombshell Report Exposes Federal Failure to Oversee Charters | janresseger: Bombshell Report Exposes Federal Failure to Oversee ChartersI was once in a meeting where Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared: “Good charters are part of the solution. Bad charters are part of the problem.” Unfortunately, Secretary Duncan has done nothing to increase federal oversight for the purpose of addressing wha

by mike simpson / 9h 

Bronin reports another $174,000 collected with seven days to go until Election Day - Wait What?

Bronin reports another $174,000 collected with seven days to go until Election Day - Wait What?: Bronin reports another $174,000 collected with seven days to go until Election DayHaving already spent a record-breaking $1 million to try and buy himself the mayor’s job in Hartford, Dannel Malloy wannabee, political newcomer and Greenwich native Luke Bronin has raised another $174,000 for his campaig

by mike simpson / 9h 

NAEP Scores Released Today, Showing the Fiasco of NCLB and Race to the Top | Diane Ravitch's blog

NAEP Scores Released Today, Showing the Fiasco of NCLB and Race to the Top | Diane Ravitch's blog: NAEP Scores Released Today, Showing the Fiasco of NCLB and Race to the Top Sometimes events happen that seem to be disconnected, but after a few days or weeks, the pattern emerges. Consider this: On October 2, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that he was resigning and planned to return to

by mike simpson / 9h 

NAEP Test Scores Demonstrate Failure of Corporate Reforms – The Network For Public Education

NAEP Test Scores Demonstrate Failure of Corporate Reforms – The Network For Public Education: NAEP Test Scores Demonstrate Failure of Corporate ReformsOctober 28, 2015Today’s release of stagnant and declining NAEP scores is one more indication that the test-based reforms emanating from NCLB and Race to the Top are not working. The Network for Public Education (NPE) once again calls for a change in

by mike simpson / 9h 

Geaux Teacher!: NAEP Scores Reflect Failure of Reform's "no excuses" Accountability Policy

Geaux Teacher!: NAEP Scores Reflect Failure of Reform's "no excuses" Accountability Policy: NAEP Scores Reflect Failure of Reform's "no excuses" Accountability PolicyThis report from the National Education Policy Center sums up what was predicted  years ago about so-called reform's punitive accountability system.  I added a link to researched policy that has been ignored by pro

by mike simpson / 9h 

Will a decline on the Nation’s Report Card hurt Common Core? - The Hechinger Report

Will a decline on the Nation’s Report Card hurt Common Core? - The Hechinger Report: Will a decline on the Nation’s Report Card hurt Common Core?Is it really Common Core's fault?An unprecedented drop in scores on a tough and highly regarded test known as the Nation’s Report Card could create more trouble for the controversial standards known as Common Core, a set of English and math guidelines on

by mike simpson / 9h 

The madness of state control of Newark’s schools–the crystal clear sanity of Jimmie White | Bob Braun's Ledger

The madness of state control of Newark’s schools–the crystal clear sanity of Jimmie White | Bob Braun's Ledger: The madness of state control of Newark’s schools–the crystal clear sanity of Jimmie WhiteJimmie White is thrown out of the board meeting–no room for a sane man in a crowd that accepts the irrationality of state controlState control of the Newark schools is, well, just plain nuts. Crazy.

by mike simpson / 9h 

Americans’ Math Test Scores Down for First Time in 25 Years - Fortune

Americans’ Math Test Scores Down for First Time in 25 Years - Fortune: American kids' test scores are dropping in this subjectSome are blaming Common CoreThe mathematical skills of Grade 4 and 8 students in the U.S. have dropped for the first time since 1990.The National Assessment of Educational Progress test – which is administered every two years and is nicknamed‘The Nation’s Report Card’ – was

by mike simpson / 10h 

Lackluster report card 'no big surprise' to US education secretary - Yahoo News

Lackluster report card 'no big surprise' to US education secretary - Yahoo News: Lackluster report card 'no big surprise' to US education secretaryThe latest National Assessment of Educational Progress showed stagnant reading scores and a dip in math proficiency among fourth and eighth grade students.The Nation's Report Card is in, and American schoolchildren are not faring too well in math and re

by mike simpson / 10h 

Fulton Schools: Charter schools shirk questions about finances | www.myajc.com

Fulton Schools: Charter schools shirk questions about finances | www.myajc.com: Charter schools shirk questions about finances, oversightTwo Fulton County charter schools founded by the educational entrepreneur under investigation in connection with the theft of more than half a million dollars from another charter school say they have cut ties with him.But officials with the two schools — Latin G

by mike simpson / 10h 

California High School Seniors Can Add a New Line to Their Résumé: Guinea Pig

High School Seniors Adjusting to Spate of New Systems: High School Seniors Can Add a New Line to Their Résumé: Guinea PigYou’re going to hear a lot this week about students who aren’t on track to graduate.Data released by San Diego Unified on Friday reveals that there are a lot of them: A quarter of the current senior class is not on track to meet new graduation requirements in place for the class

by mike simpson / 10h 

Heartbreak on NAEP | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Heartbreak on NAEP | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Heartbreak on NAEP“It’s obviously bad news,” said Michael J. Petrilli, the president of theThomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning education policy group in Washington. “We don’t want to see scores going in this direction.”Big Education Ape: Nationwide Test Shows Dip in Students’ Math Abilities - The New York Times http://bit.ly/1k8BvyGUnf

by mike simpson / 10h 

Break budget impasse with charter school reform | Opinion | CentreDaily.com

Their view | Break budget impasse with charter school reform | Opinion | CentreDaily.com: Break budget impasse with charter school reformYou wouldn’t pay $10 for an apple or a loaf of bread. So why should you overpay for tax-funded, privately run charter schools?The urgency of passing strong charter school reform in Pennsylvania has only grown in recent weeks, due to two major news stories:•  the

by mike simpson / 11h 

Mayor: Dissolve the School Reform Commission | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Mayor: Dissolve the School Reform Commission | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: Mayor: Dissolve the School Reform CommissionPhoto: Emma Lee/WHYYMayor Nutter calls for the dissolution of the School Reform Commission. The governing power would be transferred in 2018.Updated, 5:40 p.m. with additional quotes and reactionIn a major education policy speech this morning, Mayor Nutter called for the

by mike simpson / 11h 

What the national drop in 2015 NAEP test scores really means - The Washington Post

What the national drop in 2015 NAEP test scores really means - The Washington Post: What the national drop in 2015 NAEP test scores really means2015 Math results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress2015 Math NAEP scores (National Center for Education Statistics)The 2015 scores for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are out, and the news isn’t good for those who th

by mike simpson / 11h 

Obama Responds to Testing Fatique, Widespread Opt-Outs, the Accountability-Driven Reform Movement - The Atlantic

Obama Responds to Testing Fatique, Widespread Opt-Outs, the Accountability-Driven Reform Movement - The Atlantic: Testing, So Much TestingA search for the meaning behind the rampant assessments in America’s schoolsOn Saturday, President Obama posted a high-profile video message to Facebook in which he called on schools to reduce the amount of standardized testing taking place in classrooms. Critic

by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

Naep Scores Stagnant: Duncan Says Wait a Decade - DR - NAEP dashboards - report_card

NAEP dashboards - report_card: Naep Scores Stagnant: Duncan Says Wait a Decade Diane Ravitch's blogNEW RELEASE NAEP dashboards - report_card:2015 Mathematics and Reading ResultsNAEP dashboards - report_card:National average scores were lower than 2013 for eighth-grade students participating in the NAEP mathematics and reading assessments, and scores were higher than the first assessments in the ea

by mike simpson / 19h 

California districts moving to new ‘integrated’ high school math pathway | EdSource

California districts moving to new ‘integrated’ high school math pathway | EdSource: California districts moving to new ‘integrated’ high school math pathwayThis fall 9th-grade students in virtually all California high schools are taking math classes aligned with the Common Core standards. But for many of them there is an additional twist: they are embarking on a sequence of courses that represent

by mike simpson / 20h 

Nationwide Test Shows Dip in Students’ Math Abilities - The New York Times

Nationwide Test Shows Dip in Students’ Math Abilities - The New York Times: Nationwide Test Shows Dip in Students’ Math AbilitiesFor the first time since 1990, the mathematical skills of American students have dropped, according to results of a nationwide test released by theEducation Department on Wednesday.The decline appeared in both Grades 4 and 8 in an exam administered every two years as the

by mike simpson / 20h 

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Testing and the Problem With Grant-Driven Educational Projects | Rick Ayers

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Testing and the Problem With Grant-Driven Educational Projects | Rick Ayers: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Testing and the Problem With Grant-Driven Educational ProjectsPresident Obama has finally declared that the educational establishment's obsession with high-stakes testing has gone too far. It reminded me of a disagreement that broke out recently in a te

by mike simpson / 22h 

“Fund for Louisiana’s Future” is a DC Super PAC Devoted to David Vitter | deutsch29

“Fund for Louisiana’s Future” is a DC Super PAC Devoted to David Vitter | deutsch29: “Fund for Louisiana’s Future” is a DC Super PAC Devoted to David VitterEdwards, Vitter.  WDSU-TV , 10-01-15Somehow, I have ended up on the email list for “Fund for Louisiana’s Future” (FFLF).It is a Washington, DC-based Super PAC that supports David Vitter by bashing his opponents.This PAC apparently produces no a

by mike simpson / 22h 

Why Educators Need To Reflect On Spring Valley High

Why Educators Need To Reflect On Spring Valley High: We’re Wrong [Reflecting on Spring Valley High]One more thing about the teachers of color panel went awry from a couple of weeks ago: we too embody white supremacy as agents of the state.Yesterday, a cop assaulted a black girl in the middle of class for refusing to leave the class when a teacher, an administrator, then the school resource officer

by mike simpson / 23h 

Peg with Pen: Opt Out Revolution: The Next Wave

Peg with Pen: Opt Out Revolution: The Next Wave: Opt Out Revolution: The Next WaveI keep getting texts, phone messages and emails telling me how happy folks are that Obama is now listening to us - and that Opt Out has been heard. This is heartbreaking for me - because this tells me that mainstream media has done a stellar job of co-opting Opt Out. We saw it happening. We warned that it was happeni

by mike simpson / 23h 

Dominant Education Policies

Dominant Education Policies: How Dominant Education Policies Help Shrink Middle ClassThe erosion of the American middle class and the relentless attack on the standard of living of the American work force is dramatized by two dominant tendencies in education policy:The dependence on low wage adjunct instructors—many of whom are as qualified as tenured faculty—to do the bulk of the teaching in the

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/27/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMProgressive Educational Policies LA’s Democrats Should EmbraceProgressive Educational Policies: Progressive Educational Policies LA’s Democrats Should Embraces LAUSD searches for a new Superintendent, there has been a call not to “politicize” the process by people who mysteriously or calculatingly believe that the job itself isn’t political.Well let’s disabuse everyone of that n

by mike simpson / 1d

School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment? - Living in Dialogue

School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment? - Living in Dialogue:

School-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment?

By Anthony Cody.

The shocking video of an African American high school girl being violently grabbed and slammed to the ground has been seen and shared millions of times over the past few days. Most are sickened by what we see. This incident is sparking a much needed discussion over the use of police to respond to disciplinary issues within a school. Police tend to use force, and students they deal with become criminalized, setting patterns that continue into adulthood.

Unarmed school safety officers can be far more effective, as I saw in my 18 years in the classroom in Oakland. At our middle school of about a thousand students, we had a small team of safety officers, led for many years by Mr. Obee. Mr. Obee was respectful of students, and had a calm and steady presence in the halls. I never saw him or other safety officers initiate the use of force at our school.

There is a related issue that has smoldered under the surface for decades. While all fifty states have laws against intentional cruelty to animals, in 19 states it is legal to paddle students for misbehavior. Recent attention has been drawn to the fact that African American and disabled students are more likely to be suspended or expelled – and this pattern is seen in the use of corporal punishment as well. This report from Sarah Carr shows that African American students are physically punished at higher rates. Disabled students are likewise more likely to be beaten or restrained, and this can cause lasting harm.

The US Supreme Court, in a 1977 decision called Ingraham V Wright, upheld the constitutionality of corporal punishment for school children. This decision was used as the basis to dismiss a 2014 lawsuitSchool-Sponsored Violence Against Children: When Will We End Corporal Punishment? - Living in Dialogue:

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large - NPE Action

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large - NPE Action:

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large

NPE Action is proud to join the growing list of organizationsendorsing  Helen Gym in the Primary Election for a City Council At-Large seat in the city of Philadelphia.

NPE President Diane Ravitch has lauded Helen as a hero of public education and an inspiration for us all. When asked about Helen’s candidacy, Diane said she is “a great advocate for children and education. Philadelphia needs her eloquent voice on the City Council.”

Helen is the mother of three Philadelphia public school students, a former public school teacher, and a fierce advocate for public education in Philadelphia and beyond. She has been a dedicated community activist for two decades; her work has touched on issues regarding taxation, civil rights, criminal justice, jobs, labor, and neighborhood development. She is a founding member of Parents Across America, and the co-founder of Parents United for Public Education, a nationally recognized group of public school parents advancing broad causes for social justice in the Philadelphia public schools. Helen also serves on the editorial board of Rethinking Schools, a social justice education journal.

Philadelphia principal Chris Lehmann, founder of the renowned Science Leadership Academy, said, “Helen Gym has been a champion for the children and the teachers of Philadelphia. She is a tireless advocate who will work to improve public education in our city, and therefore, help Philadelphia become the city we all know it can be.”

Not only has she been a fearless advocate for fair funding, bringing national attention to the dire underfunding situation in Philadelphia, she has developed a plan to ensure that going forward the city’s schools have the funds they need without over burdening homeowners. Please read more about her Fair-Share Plan, which will ensure that all Philadelphia students have access to the services such as nurses, counselors, libraries, music, and the arts.

Helen also supports less testing in our schools stating, “Tests should be one measure which informs practice. It should not be used as a major measure to evaluate teachers, determine pay, close schools or deny children a diploma or access to a quality education.”

And true to form, Helen has backed up her belief with action. When the city recently estimated that only 22% of students would graduate, Helen called for the end of the state’s Keystone exams, which are end of course exams used as a graduation requirement. Helen said, “The School District’s projection of a 22 percent graduation rate when the state and city have failed to adequately meet schools’ needs is an outrage and threatens the future of hundreds of thousands of students in this city.” She added, “No one wins with a testing system destined for failure.”

You can read more about Helen’s education policy positions here.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said, “For Philadelphia’s educators, the choice to endorse Helen Gym for City Council At Large was an easy one. No other candidate possesses Helen’s combination of passion for quality public schools and deep knowledge of education issues.”

We urge you to do what you can to ensure Helen is elected to be the champion the children and teachers of Philadelphia so desperately need. Please visit her website to donate to her campaign and help spread the word about her candidacy.

NPE Action Endorses Helen Gym for Philadelphia City Council At-Large - NPE Action:

School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies - The New York Times

School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies - The New York Times:

School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies

LITTLETON, Colo. — In this suburban election, lawn signs are being stolen and minivans vandalized. One candidate says she got an email telling her to get cancer and die. Money from the billionaire Koch brothers is funding one side’s commercials and fliers, and upset parents, teachers and labor unions are pouring in cash for the other.

The question facing voters is whether to oust a polarizing school board that has championed charter schools, performance-based teacher pay and other education measures supported by conservatives.

But the vote here in Jefferson County, just west of Denver, has become a money-soaked proxy war between union supporters and conservative groups like the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, testing whether parents in an election-year battleground believe a rightward turn in their schools has gone too far.

Supporters of the recall have raised more than $250,000, about $15,000 of that from the local teachers’ union. Conservative and libertarian groups have spent about $500,000 on television ads, and Michael Fields, the state director of Americans for Prosperity, estimated his group would spend “in the low six figures” on mailers and ads that put a positive gloss on the conservative board’s actions.

“It’s the future of what education looks like,” Mr. Fields said as he and a handful of staff members and parents drove through suburban neighborhoods, knocking on doors of likely supporters to make sure they had cast their mail ballots.

Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by the conservative industrialists Charles G. and David H. Koch and is based in Arlington County, Va., does not have a formal position on the Nov. 3 recall vote here. But its commercials and messages praise the new conservative board for approving new charter schools, giving charters equal per-student funding as public schools and pushing a pay program to give raises to “highly effective” teachers.

The group is advocating similar measures in other states. In Kentucky, a web ad created by Americans for Prosperity and timed to this fall’s race for governor features African-American parents who praise charter schools as a bridge to “opportunity for all.” In Mississippi, the group has contributed $120,000 to an organization fighting a ballot measure that would require the state to allocate more money to public schools, at a judge’s discretion.

Voters here are almost evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents. In November 2013, voters broke with union-supported candidates to elect a slate of school board hopefuls running as conservative reformers.

But as those members passed new measures giving money to charters and hired a new superintendent, a backlash grew. Critics accused the board of secrecy and of trying to turn the 86,500-student district into a petri dish for conservative educational ideas. Board meetings turned into shouting matches. Upset parents spliced the live-streamed meeting video — an innovation of the new board — into outrage highlight reels.

“I can take it,” said Julie Williams, one of the three conservatives, who said she had received harassing emails. “For my kids, it’s been pretty hard. I come from a strong family. We believe in standing on principle, even with malicious attacks on me personally.”

In September of last year, thousands of students walked out of school when Ms. Williams proposed shifting the focus of the Advanced Placement United States history course toward patriotism and away from “civil disorder” and “social strife.” It was a moment when festering disputes among parents, students, teachers and the board leapt into the national news. Even though the curriculum was never changed, many voters around School Board Recall Vote in Colorado Tests Conservative Policies - The New York Times:

Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know

It has been 32 years since "A Nation at Risk" was published. The report, issued in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education, established the belief that schools across the nation were failing, and that we needed to demand more of our teachers and our students.

"A Nation at Risk" was the blueprint for our country's hyperfocus on ‘measurable growth’ that education stakeholders experience today. It catalyzed a shift in the American concept of education. Outcomes, not input, would determine the quality of instruction. Standards, not knowledge, would dictate what gets taught, how, and for how long. Students’ “seat time” would be favored over other activities that required physical engagement.

Over a decade after many of the tenets from the report were institutionalized in 2001 through the No Child Left Behind Act and further validated with the Race to the Top initiative in 2009 (under the premise that these policies were necessary for the United States to maintain its competitive nature) the results have been mixed.

The idea that American schools would have to overhaul curricula and expectations based on ideas plucked primarily from the business world did not resonate well with educators. To this day, teachers who leave the profession cite the emphasis on accountability as the reason: Why make students demonstrate growth from one lesson to the next, when all available research shows cognitive development is far more complex, different for each child, and in many cases, difficult to measure.  

The effects of such policies are far more prevalent in urban public schools, where poverty is clustered. Here are some truths that are self-evident to educators, but might not be as clear to the public at large.

1. Predictability is a luxury seldom experienced in urban districts. From year to year, districts across major cities have to contend with whether or not they will have adequate funds to maintain buildings, academic programs, staffing levels, roll out new initiatives, or planning that goes beyond 180 days. This has been the norm for my district, where the conversations in spring and summer turn to how much money is left to begin the following year, or how big the hole in the budget is, and if so, who will be laid off or what will be cut.

2. Class size matters. Educators know if there is one proven strategy that helps students gain skills and knowledge is small class sizes. Contrary to popular belief, the cost of maintaining small class sizes pays for itself. This is well documented in the National Education Association’s 2008 policy brief, "Class Size Matters: A Proven Reform Strategy." The NEA’s report showed that a cost-benefit analysis of the famous STAR project estimates that reducing class sizes from 22 to 15 in grades K-3 results in a $2 return on every $1 spent. Currently, the three kindergarten classrooms in my school average 25 students, and the two 1st grades stand at over 30.

3. Standardized assessments are a poor predictor of success or ability. Daily, students Things educators know about schooling that the public needs to know | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.:

Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.

Parents and community groups carry anti-privatization signs as they gather in front of Ald. Will Burns (4th) office Tuesday morning, demanding that Burns be replaced as Education Committee chair with someone who will not stifle fair community representation.

Remember how Rahm got elected? Along with buying $30 million worth of votes with bankster pals' money, he savaged Chuy Garcia during the campaign debate with lies about him voting for "the largest property tax increase in history"? During the first of five mayoral debates, Emanuel pulled the property tax charge out of his pocket like a trump card.

“You increased property taxes to the largest amount ever with your vote,” he told Garcia.

Today compliant aldermen will vote for Rahm's own $720 million property tax increase, truly the largest ever. The largest previous hike was Mayor Daley's which Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.:

John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com

John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com:

John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals

John Thompson, historian and teacher, says that he usually doesn’t worry about principals, but this piece demonstrates that he knows the stress they are under in the current context of fire first, aim later.

Principals and assistant principals give up the best job in the world, teaching, for one of the most stressful of careers. In my experience, they do it in order to help more students. Three excellent articles describe the additional pressure that is being placed on principals in an age of reform.

Clearly, these efforts will not be sustainable if we do not start treating school leaders as valuable resources that can’t be squandered.

My principals all had to claim to believe that better instruction, data, “High Expectations!,” and leadership were enough to turn around the highest-challenge schools. The few who really believed that systemic progress could be driven by instruction within the four walls of the classroom could be annoying, but they were sincere. For instance, one of those frustrating assistant principals faced down a student with a loaded gun rather than take the safe path and allow the police to handle it.

For over a decade, the prime method of turning around schools with the highest concentrations of generational poverty and kids who have survived extreme trauma has been to use up and throw away dedicated teachers and principals. Chalkbeat NY’s Geoff Decker, in “Q&A with Automotive High’s Principal: ‘There’s Always Pressure in This Building,’” featured one of those principals, Caterina Lafergola. She has fought the good fight at New York City’s Automotive High School since 2011.

Lafergola says, “You can’t do this work unless you love it because it will chew you up and spit you out. I love the work. I love the kids.”

The principal cites two huge problems, the “compliance issues” that a school leader must handle, and students’ trauma. Lafergola says of her students, “They’re traumatized. Last year, one of our babies was murdered. Died like a dog in the street.”

Automotive is no longer a “madhouse,” where it took 20 minutes to transition between classes and where there were rampant gang affiliations and drugs. If the standard school improvement model was working, by now Automotive would be creating some stability. But, of Lafergola’s 32 teachers, 14 are brand new. On the other hand, perhaps under Chancellor Carmen Farina and Mayor Bill de Blasio and with the implementation of Restorative Practices, more improvement will be John Thompson: Pity the Disposable Principals | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com:

With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder | PR Watch

With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder | PR Watch:

With Federal Millions, “Wild West” of Charters Is about to Get Even Wilder

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced the winners of the next round of state (SEA) grants under the quarter-billion-dollar-a-year Charter Schools Program (CSP) designed to boost the charter sector.

While eight state departments of education shared a $125-million pot of federal taxpayer money for 2015, the biggest recipient by far for this round of grants is Ohio. It landed a whopping $32.6 million grant to the dismay of public school advocates.

With its lax-to-non-existent charter school laws, and vast number of unaccountable authorizers, Ohio has long been an embarrassment even to the charter school industry.

“It’s more broken than the Wild West,” a spokesperson for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers told Cleveland’s Plain Dealer last year.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

But as CMD has documented, ED has never quite decided whether to bet on the sheriff or the outlaw in its approach to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides for the federal largesse that has fueled the charter school industry, even with its numerous failures.

To a certain extent, the charter school funding mechanisms were designed to reward “lawlessness”—that is, states in which authorizers call the shots while the departments of education act like banks or conduits for cash but lack any real statutory authority to hold the ultimate recipients accountable. This comes under the mantle of “flexibility” recited by charter advocates.

This flexibility has been a recipe for disaster in state after state, but Ohio—which has already received CSP grants of nearly $125 million—offers a particularly bleak picture.

CMD conducted a review of the schools in the Buckeye State that were awarded money under the 2007-2011 grant cycle, and found that:

• Out of the 88 schools created by the grant money, at least 15 closed within a few years (this is a conservative estimate based on Ohio's Closed School Directory; the status of some of the other schools remains unclear)–but not before pocketing more than $4.9 million (out of a total $32.6 million) in planning and implementation grants.
• Seven charter schools never even opened to students.
• The majority of the schools that remain open scored in the bottom 16 percent (letter grades D-F) on the 2014 Ohio Performance Index, as measured by student performance on state assessments.

As Accountability Scandal Rocks Ohio...

This time around, however, things are bound to be different, right?

Such was the optimism of Nadya Dabby, assistant deputy secretary with ED. When asked by Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post why the state “with multiple charter school problems received the biggest federal grant,” she assured her that Ohio has improved its oversight of charters.

“Although,” noted Layton, “she could not provide details.”

But a look at documents released yesterday shows that the reviewers contracted by ED to score the applications have

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/12944#sthash.NAN23uMb.dpuf

For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee | Gary Rubinstein's Blog:

For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee

One of the benefits of the Common Core, supposedly, is that we can finally compare the performance of schools in different states.  Originally the dream was that a majority of states would sign on to use common tests from either the PARCC from Pearson or SBAC from Smarter Balanced.

Michelle Rhee-Johnston became chancellor of Washington DC schools in 2007.  As proof that a major problem in education is the absence of standardized test scores in teacher evaluation, Rhee-Johnston frequently said, in speeches, that when she came to DC, only 8% of 8th graders were proficient in math while 97% of teachers were rated as effective.

In a feature on the CNN blog in 2009, it said:

Her plan is ambitious: To completely transform the District’s system within eight years for its 50,000 children. The plan focuses on top-down accountability, quantitative results like standardized test scores and, ultimately, working to close what she describes as “the achievement gap between wealthy white kids and poor minority kids.”

“I think it’s absolutely possible within an eight-year period,” she said.

Reformers are always saying things like “Kids can’t wait.  We have to act with urgency.”  Ironically, though, they seem to have a near infinite amount of patience while watching For Whom The Bell Tolls; It Tolls For Rhee | Gary Rubinstein's Blog:

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes | Jay P. Greene's Blog

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes | Jay P. Greene's Blog:

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes 

Last week Bill Gates gave a speech to articulate his foundation’s strategy for education reform and the basis for that strategy. Unfortunately, throughout the speech Gates misreads and distorts findings from research, including research that the foundation has funded or conducted itself.  Why hasn’t anyone called Gates on these errors?

Look, I’m not surprised that a non-researcher misunderstands research.  And I’m not surprised that a foundation is pursuing a strategy that is not well-supported by research.  Frankly, he’s entitled to pursue any strategy he wants for any reason he prefers.  But Gates gets up there, puts on his metaphorical lab coat, and declares that Science says… It’s then the job of actual scientists, even social scientists, to correct him.  If we don’t, then we are letting Gates corrupt science.  The Gates foundation doesn’t, for the most part, buy false research findings.  But Gates is contributing to the corruption of social science as researchers obviously feel the need to stay quiet when he and other foundation leaders misread and distort findings.

How do I know Gates is distorting and misreading research?  For one thing, several researchers involved in the studies he is referencing have told me so.  They know that he, Vicki Phillips, and other senior Gates officials are mis-describing the results of their work.  It’s no secret among researchers that this is occurring, they are just reluctant to do anything about it.

When I asked one researcher involved in the Measuring Effective Teachers(MET) project why they hadn’t corrected Vicki Phillips’ inaccurate description of their work, he agreed “it was Vicki’s mistake” but “anyone who reads the original paper can see the actual findings. I guess this is like lots of policy-relevant papers…”  That is, he just accepted the corruption and trusted that his results would speak for themselves.  Others with whom I have spoken who have worked on MET and other Gates-funded projects have not been quite so passive, but none feel brave enough to correct the Emperor.

I also know that Gates is distorting and misreading research because what he says clearly contradicts what researchers have found.  For example let’s look at how Gates claims that research supports his foundation’s shift in strategy from small schools of choice to measuring effective teaching:

Early on, we thought smaller schools were the way to drive up college-ready rates. We set out to build the model of a 

Emperor Gates Has No Clothes | Jay P. Greene's Blog:

“High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students

“High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students:

“High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students

By now most of us have seen the video of the resource officer using brute force to yank a female student out of her desk. Appalling, most agree. But this country has been criminalizing students, if not violently, inhumanely and subtly, in their schools for a long time. Why do Americans put up with it?

They have permitted this to happen through arbitrary “no excuses” zero tolerance rules.

Wiki defines zero tolerance as a policy of punishing any infraction of a rule,regardless of accidental mistakes, ignorance, or extenuating circumstances. In schools, common zero-tolerance policies concern possession or use of illicit drugs or weapons. Students, and sometimes staff, parents, and other visitors, who possess a banned item for any reason are always (if the policy is followed) to be punished.

For starters, in 1994, before the sad event at Columbine, zero tolerance was put into place to curb school gun violence and drugs. If you’re a parent you know the mere mention of guns and schools scares you to death. So getting a resource officer for the school sounds like a good bet—an added measure of protection.

In most places, school resource officers are good people who blend in with the school administration. In the middle and high schools where I worked, the resource officers worked closely with the school guidance counselors. As teachers, we knew they were “High Expectations” and the Criminalization of America’s Students:

Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis | The Progressive

Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis | The Progressive:

Pennsylvania: How to Create a School Financial Crisis

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the grip of a major public education financial crisis. How did we get here? Well, Rome wasn’t burnt in a day. There are several stations on the way to schoolmageddon.

Start With Built-in Disparities

Everyone knows that Pennsylvania is home to urban behemoths Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but we also have huge rural areas. Take Forest School District, a district that covers roughly 500 square miles, serves about 530 students, and a resident population of just under 5,000 (with a median income of $33K). Pennsylvania deals with all manner of poverty and population. Any solution our urban-heavy representatives come up with will be an ill fit for somewhere else in the state.

That much variation also means any funding system based on real estate taxes will have baked-in inequities. Pennsylvania also run has the fourth-highest senior citizen population in the country—people who frequently oppose having their fixed income eaten away by increased taxes on their homes.

Mess With the Money

Remember how the stimulus money wasn’t supposed to be used to finance existing expenses? Yeah, here in Pennsylvania we kind of ignored those instructions. Under Governor “Smilin’ Ed” Rendell (D), the state spent less on education but used the ARRA money to make it appear as if we were actually spending more. When the stimulus money went away, Rendell’s successor Republican Tom Corbett was in a hole.

Toss a Pension Crisis on the Fire

Pennsylvania’s pension mess is complicated and long-brewing. The crisis started in 2001

- See more at: http://progressive.org/news/2015/10/188378/pennsylvania-how-create-school-financial-crisis#sthash.6s6Jp0bM.dpuf

Schools Matter: President Spellings

Schools Matter: President Spellings:

President Spellings

Anyone with the intellect to appear brilliant to George W. Bush is probably not smart enough to stay out of the public eye.  The re-emergence of Margaret Spellings as president of a prestigious state university system proves as much.

Having ballooned her bank accounts since 2008 as she criss-crossed the nation serving on executive boards and offering corporate education consultation as chief proprietor of her modestly named company, Margaret Spellings, Inc., it appears that Spellings has once again been called upon by the billionaires to use her hammy fists and her drunk cowgirl persona to beat down one of the last remaining civilized institutions of our dying planet.

When Spellings left the White House, she carried with her the knowledge of how to become the most despised education official in the land to everyone, at least, who does not fly on a corporate jet. 

Along with Bush's bagman, Sandy Kress, Spellings used her extensive knowledge (a B.S. in poly-sci) to craft an education policy for the nation that would deconstruct public education and hand out the remaining chunks to billionaires and their underemployed Ivy League drones.  By the time she left her office at ED, billions in ed funds were going into the pockets of Bush cronies, almost half of U. S. schools were on the NCLB failure list, and the charter school industry was draining public school budgets in 40 states. 

A few of the other Bush accomplishment that Spellings oversaw:

Since NCLB became law in 2002, Bush budgets have underfunded NCLB by nearly $90 billion dollars (pdf). Head Start has been cut back by 11 percent. Career education programs, educational technology, and other programs Schools Matter: President Spellings:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry"

Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry":

NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry"

Now what if there were NO Common Core standards being enacted?  Would he be quite so calm?  He was quite happy in 2013 when the scores went up and he crowed about how all eight states using CCSS showed improvement in at least one score with none declining.  Today?

“Big change never happens overnight,” Duncan said. “I’m confident that over the next decade, if we stay committed to this change, we will see historic improvements.”

From The Answer Sheet:

NAEP is often called the nation’s report card because it is the only measure of student achievement given periodically to a sampling of students around the nation. It is seen by many as a high-quality test though it has many critics, too, some of whom say that the NAEP definition of “proficiency” is unnaturally high, and that the test cannot measure many of the qualities students must develop to be successful.

My Post colleague Emma Brown reports in this story that math scores for fourth-graders and eighth-graders across the United States dropped this year, the first time since the federal government began administering the Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP Scores Drop; Duncan Says,"Don't Worry":

Seattle Schools Community Forum: How Did Washington State Students Do on NAEP? http://bit.ly/1MiBy1C



Seattle Schools Community Forum: Wonder What He Would Do to K-12? http://bit.ly/1MiBBue

CURMUDGUCATION: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure

CURMUDGUCATION: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure:

NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure

Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute has gone so far as to call the new NAEP scores "heartbreak." The scores on the Nation's Report Card are crappy, ranging from "barely stagnant" to "plunging."

Petrilli and other reformsters have started the business of finding an explanation for this tragic result (more about that in a moment), but while we are thinking about what did make this happen, let's not lose sight of what didn't happen.

Test-driven accountability tied to national standards did not make NAEP scores rise.

Fifteen years of reformsterism has not moved the needle. Well, actually, that's not entirely true-- the NAEP trend has been ever upward since before the Reformster Era, so we could argue that ed reform actually stopped the needle from moving. So, worse than nothing.

But let's not quibble for the moment. The bottom line is still clear: reformsterism is failing. The reform programs, which are in fact our current status quo, are failing. And we all know what reformsters have been telling us, over and over and over again, about the status quo-- when it's not working, it must be changed.

Now, honestly, I'm not all that concerned about the Nation's Report Card. There are many reasons to suspect that the NAEP is not a reliable benchmark of student learning. But it was part of the rules CURMUDGUCATION: NAEP: Further Evidence of Reformy Failure: