Clinton-Kaine: Allies in the White House - Lily's Blackboard

Clinton-Kaine: Allies in the White House - Lily's Blackboard:

Clinton-Kaine: Allies in the White House

Hillary Clinton has made her pick for vice president: Tim Kaine, a U.S. Senator who has been a city councilmember, mayor, lieutenant governor, governor, fair housing lawyer, part-time college teacher and – for a brief time – a principal.

Clinton’s choice for running mate tells us her administration will be about bringing Americans together and giving educators a seat at the table. That’s a far cry from the divisiveness and exclusion we can expect fromDonald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and an education agenda that will focus on expanding voucher programs and charter schools.

NEA members are with Hillary because she’s devoted her career to advocating for children and public education. With Kaine as her vice president, we know that when it comes to decisions about what’s best for our students, our experience and perspectives will matter.

Who is Tim Kaine? First of all, he’s someone with a long and consistent record as a champion for public schools.Kaine fights for the principle that all students, regardless of ZIP code, deserve the opportunity for a great education. He says our focus on testing has taken precious time away from teaching and student learning.

“I often wonder whether testing is really about kids or about the testing companies’ bottom line,” he wrote in Education Week a few years ago. In another interview he said: “I think too much of K-12 education has been about standardized testing. The test is a means to an end, not the end in itself.”

Here are some highlights from his time so far in the U.S. Senate:

• He voted for the Every Student Succeeds Act, writing that reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act “must recognize the leading role of teachers, school leaders, parents and local districts” in preparing children for the 21st century.
• He insisted that the ESSA include ongoing professional development opportunities for educators and invest in services, such as health and nutrition, to meet students’ needs both inside and outside of the classroom.
• He founded and co-chairs the Senate’s bipartisan Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus to promote integrating CTE into the academic track and to raise its profile among lawmakers.
• He introduced the Middle School Technical Education Program Act to provide introductory courses and hands-on opportunities in CTE to students before high school.
• He cosponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 to protect and broaden the right to vote.
• He’s called for an end to the immigration raids targeting families and unaccompanied minors; Mike Pence, on the other hand, joins Trump in calling for an immigration ban.

Kaine shares our belief that a good education should inspire students and provide them with the tools to reach their full potential. As governor, Kaine expanded pre-kindergarten because he believes that investing in young children is the smartest thing we can do. He also started the Governor’s Career and Technical Academies (now STEM Academies), partnerships bringing together schools, employers and postsecondary institutions to prepare Clinton-Kaine: Allies in the White House - Lily's Blackboard:

Genetic Analysis Predicts Academic Achievement For The First Time

Genetic Analysis Predicts Academic Achievement For The First Time:

Genetic Analysis Predicts Academic Achievement For The First Time
Don’t worry, we’re not on our way to a “Gattaca”-style society.

Teachers and parents may one day be able to use a genetic test to predict whether or not a child will excel at or struggle with academics in the future, based on new research pioneered by scientists at King’s College London.

While the prospect may present a frightening vision of a future in which ability and potential will be determined by one’s genetic makeup, and indeed is tainted by a history of eugenics and racist science, the researchers say the tests will help identify, early on, the children who are at risk academically and help educators create special interventions for them.

Saskia Selzam, lead author of the study, explains more in the video above.

“By using these polygenic scores, it is actually possible to identify those for example who are maybe at heightened risk for a learning disability, for example,” she said. “So imagine a scenario where we could use a polygenic score very early on to give us information about whether someone might have some learning problems later on.”

But other experts who have also mined genetic testing to predict behavioral outcomes warn that we have a long way to go before genetic testing can predict individual educational achievement, and that research is the genetic tool’s primary utility. 

How genetic scoring tool works

Scientists use a special kind of DNA analysis called a genome-wide polygenic score. It aggregates the tiny effects of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants to create the scale that can predict academic achievement. In this case, the researchers from King’s College London borrowed the formula for a polygenic score that others had already used to predict academic attainment (the number of years of formal education a person completes).

They then applied the polygenic score to a population of 5,825 unrelated children to see if they could predict how those kids would score on tests.  

The King’s College researchers looked back at students’ academic scores at ages 7, 12 and 16 and found that genes alone accounted for a growing variance in grades that grew as the kids got older. At age 7, genes accounted for about 3 percent of grade differences. By age 12, the number was up to about 5 percent. By Genetic Analysis Predicts Academic Achievement For The First Time:

K12 ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT THE SUCCESS RATE OF ITS STUDENTS | Robbins Arroyo LLP

K12, Inc. | Robbins Arroyo LLP:

K12 ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT THE SUCCESS RATE OF ITS STUDENTS

K12, INC.

ROBBINS ARROYO LLP: K12, INC. (LRN) MISLED SHAREHOLDERS ACCORDING TO A RECENTLY FILED CLASS ACTION

Robbins Arroyo LLP announces that a class action complaint was filed against K12, Inc. (NYSE: LRN) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint is brought on behalf of all purchasers of K12 securities between November 7, 2013 and October 27, 2015, for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by K12′s officers and directors. K12 Inc., a technology-based education company, offers proprietary curriculum, software systems, and educational services to facilitate individualized learning for students primarily in kindergarten through 12th grade.

K12 ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT THE SUCCESS RATE OF ITS STUDENTS

According to the complaint, throughout the class period, K12 filed several press releases and submitted multiple filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission touting the company’s business prospects. The company issued a press release on February 4, 2014, stating, “Our Managed Schools are now…using many of the new educational programs we put in place this year which we believe will improve educational outcomes for all engaged families.” The company further emphasized that improving academic outcomes is its number one priority and that it would invest in new systems to drive further improvements for its students. However, the complaint alleges that K12 officials failed to disclose that: (1) K12 was publishing misleading advertisements about students’ academic progress, parent satisfaction, their graduates’ eligibility for University of California and California State University admission, class sizes, the individualized and flexible nature of K12′s instruction, hidden costs, and the quality of the materials provided to students; (2) K12 submitted inflated student attendance numbers to the California Department of Education in order to collect additional funding; (3) as a result, K12 was open to potential civil and criminal liability; and (4) the company would likely be forced to end these practices, which would have a negative impact on K12′s operations and prospects.

On October 27, 2015, Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes published a study and a related press release about online charter schools, including K12, stating, “Innovative new research suggests that students of online charter schools had significantly weaker academic performance in math and reading, compared with their counterparts in conventional schools.” On the same day, K12 reported disappointing first quarter 2016 financial results compared to the same quarter in fiscal year 2015, including revenues of $221.2 million compared to $236.7 million, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization of negative $3.9 million compared to $3.7 million, and an operating loss of $20.5 million compared to an operating loss of $13.2 million. On October 27, 2015, K12 disclosed in its Form 10-Q that it received a subpoena from the Attorney General of the State of California, Bureau of Children’s Justice in connection with an investigation known as “In the Matter of the Investigation of: For-Profit Virtual Schools.” On this news, K12 stock fell over 20% to close at $9.71 per share on October 30, 2015.

K12 SHAREHOLDERS HAVE LEGAL OPTIONS

Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Darnell R. Donahue at (800) 350-6003, or you can complete the form below and we will contact you directly.K12, Inc. | Robbins Arroyo LLP:

 

Big Education Ape: Teachers at Online School Say It Abused Student Privacy and Misused Funds - Bloomberg Business - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/06/teachers-atonline-schoolsay-it-abused.html

Big Education Ape: Assembly Member, Parents and Virtual Educators Charge that For-profit Charters are Failing Students, Violating Law - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/06/assembly-member-parents-and-virtual.html

Big Education Ape: A Teachable Moment: Frustrated California Online Charter Teachers Educate Shareholders of Controversial K12 Inc - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-teachable-moment-frustrated.html

Big Education Ape: Facing tough questions from Calif. officials, virtual charter school operator settles with attorney general | 89.3 KPCC - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/facing-tough-questions-from-calif.html

Big Education Ape: California Reaches Settlement With K12 Over False Claims Allegations - WSJ - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/california-reaches-settlement-with-k12.html

Big Education Ape: Audit of California Virtual Academies - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/audit-of-california-virtual-academies.html

Big Education Ape: Failing the Test: A New Series Examines Charter Schools- CAPITAL & MAIN - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/failing-test-new-series-examines_3.html

Bill Richardson: Education policy represents a top issue for Latino voters | MSNBC

Op-ed: Education policy represents a top issue for Latino voters | MSNBC:

Education policy represents a top issue for Latino voters

 One of the few areas in which Donald Trump’s views have remained consistent is in the creation of barriers to Hispanics. There is, of course, the “wall” meant to keep us out of the U.S. But he doesn’t seem content with physical barriers. Importantly, for Hispanic parents across the nation, he also rails against high academic standards for all students. The standards in question — the Common Core — help to ensure that students are prepared to succeed in college, regardless of their zip code.

Presidential campaigns are a conversation about America’s future and by the sheer force of numbers, 2016 presidential candidates ignore the concerns of Hispanic voters at their own peril. Think about it: Within our children’s lifetimes, the United States is expected to become a majority-minority nation with Hispanics making up a full quarter of the population.

WEEKENDS WITH ALEX WITT, 3/5/16, 1:37 PM ET

Fmr. NM Gov. on Hispanic voters

Too often a conversation about “Hispanic” issues start and end with reforming our immigration system. To be sure, this is an issue that impacts many of us in highly personal ways. This election also happens to offer a stark contrast between one presidential candidate, Secretary Clinton, who embraces the Hispanic community as valuable members of an America made stronger by its diversity, and another who promises to build walls and weed us out.

To be clear, Hispanics are not one-issue voters. We are concerned about our children’s future. We care about access to health care, affordable housing, quality schools for our children, and good jobs. We want the same thing everyone else wants: A piece of the American Dream.  We work very hard to earn it.  And, in the eyes of Hispanic parents, the key to the American Dream is a college education. In fact, Hispanic parents are more likely than white parents to say it’s essential that their children earn a college degree.

Unfortunately, for years, students were held to low, inadequate academic standards. For Hispanic students, that meant too many not getting into college and for those that do, they don’t complete their degree. Students graduated from a public education system that told them they were ready for college, only to be told once they got there that they needed to spend more time and money on classes and content they should have learned in high school.

RELATED: Bill Richardson: Strengthen NATO ties

That has finally started to change thanks to more than 40 states across the country implementing the Common Core State Standards. These standards equip students with the critical thinking and problem solving skills that are essential to success in the 21st century economy. As a result, growing up in a Hispanic community hasn’t meant going to school where someone has already decided for you that you’re not going to be held to high enough standards to succeed in life.

A recent study from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights found, an overwhelming majority of Hispanic parents believe all students should be held to high expectations and standards. That may surprise Mr. Trump, but not those of us who recognize that high academic standards and Op-ed: Education policy represents a top issue for Latino voters | MSNBC:

EveryLibrary, Rosen Publishing Team Up to Help School Libraries with ESSA Implementation

EveryLibrary, Rosen Publishing Team Up to Help School Libraries with ESSA Implementation:

EveryLibrary, Rosen Publishing Team Up to Help School Libraries with ESSA Implementation

President Obama Signs ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act) into Law on December 10, 2015.

When President Obama signed ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act) into law last December, it was a hailed as big win for libraries—after years of advocacy work by various library groups, the new federal education law includes significant (and long absent) support for school libraries. But with the library community's successful advocacy effort over, the hard work of implementing ESSA has begun—and for school librarians hoping to take full advantage of the law's new provisions, the clock is ticking.

That's why library advocacy group EveryLibrary—with substantial support from Rosen Publishing—this week rolled out plans to provide state school library associations and stakeholder groups with "pro-bono advising and consulting” on how to lobby their states for a successful ESSA implementation.

“The success that the ALA (American Library Assocation) and AASL (American Association of School Librarians) had in Washington getting school library issues into [ESSA] was a singular achievement,” said Roger Rosen, President of Rosen Publishing, noting that the new law offers “tremendous new opportunities for states to put effective school library programs to work for their students.” Indeed, ESSA includes a range of school library-friendly “authorizing provisions” missing for more than a decade, since the passage of No Child Left Behind.

But the heavy lifting did not end with ESSA’s passage, Rosen notes. Each state must now submit an ESSA Implementation Plan to the U.S. Department of Education by April 2017 (for the school year beginning August 2017). And in order for school libraries to gain the full benefit of federal funding available under ESSA, each state will have to modify their existing education laws, administrative codes, and other rules and regulations to make them “ESSA-compliant and grant-ready."

That will be no easy feat, explains EveryLibrary executive director John Chrastka, given that many state and Local Education Agencies (LEA) currently lack legislative language pertaining to school library programs or positions, after so many years of getting no federal support. Complicating matters, Chrastka adds, the timelines for each state are “incredibly compressed and unusually fast.”

With ESSA planning now getting underway in each state, Chrastka says it is “absolutely critical” that library supporters raise their game, and work to ensure that ESSA Implementation Plans in every state include "the positive changes for school library programs and school librarian positions" that were lobbied hard for and won by ALA and AASL—whether that means getting school library advocates on ESSA state task forces themselves, submitting public comments, or opening effective dialogues with ESSA committees.

In some states, the planning process is already underway and "a tactical discussion" about how to insert library advocates into the process is needed, Chrastka says. In other states, the process is still being developed and library supporters have "a singular opportunity to be at the table at the beginning.” (A comprehensive calendar of dates and deadlines for the ESSA Implementation Planning Processes in each state is posted on EveryLibrary’s web site).

With significant experience helping library ballot measures succeed at the local level, EveryLibrary (working with a range of library organizations) is uniquely prepared to help with ESSA Implementation, offering state-specific, proven tactics for lobbying success—and, Chrastka stresses, the assistance is completely free to library supporters. “Because of Rosen Publishing’s support, we have capacity to help your state,” Chrastka states—all library administrators and supporters need to do is get in touch.

But don’t delay, Chrastka warns. Action is needed immediately. With ESSA deadlines coming up fast, state administrators will not "pause to wait for [libraries]," nor will they "double back to make sure [libraries] are catching up.”EveryLibrary, Rosen Publishing Team Up to Help School Libraries with ESSA Implementation:

How Billionaires Are Successfully Fooling Us Into Destroying Public Education—and Why Privatization Is a Terrible Idea | Alternet

How Billionaires Are Successfully Fooling Us Into Destroying Public Education—and Why Privatization Is a Terrible Idea | Alternet:

How Billionaires Are Successfully Fooling Us Into Destroying Public Education—and Why Privatization Is a Terrible Idea

The billionaire-backed privatization movement is stealthily advancing an undemocratic agenda, cloaked in deceptive rhetoric, that the public is not aware of and does not understand.

 The following is an excerpt from the new, expanded edition of  The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch (Basic Books, 2016): 

Something unprecedented is happening to American public education. A powerful, well-funded, well-organized movement is seeking to privatize significant numbers of public schools and destroy the teaching profession. This movement is not a conspiracy; it operates in the open. But its goals are masked by deceptive rhetoric. It calls itself a “reform” movement, but its true goal is privatization.

This movement has had strange bedfellows. Some of its funders and promoters on the far right of the political spectrum are motivated by ideological contempt for the public sector; others earnestly believe they are providing better choices for poor children “trapped in failing schools.” Still others believe that elected local school boards are incompetent and should be replaced by private management, or that the private sector is inherently more innovative and effective than the public sector. And some are motivated by greed, while others are motivated by religious conviction. These strange bedfellows have included the US Department of Education (during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama); major foundations and think tanks, both conservative and centrist; billionaires committed to free-market solutions—and certain they know what is best because they are so rich; entrepreneurs hoping to make money from school privatization or by selling technology to replace teachers; the far-right American Legisla­tive Exchange Council (ALEC), which has drafted model legislation to promote corporate interests and to expand the privatization of almost all government services, including education; and numerous governors and legislators (mostly but not exclusively Republicans) who want schools to operate in a free-market system of school choice.

The privatization movement pretends that it is bravely fighting "the status quo," but having captured policymakers at both the federal and state levels, as well as think tanks, the nation's wealthiest foundations, a coterie of billionaires, and major editorial boards, this movement is the status quo. It is stealthily advancing an undemocratic agenda, cloaked in deceptive rhetoric, that the public is not aware of and does not understand.

This combination of money and political power has been potent in advancing school vouchers, which were once considered a cranky right­ wing extremist idea, but have recently been enacted in a score of states. Vouchers are seldom now called vouchers, because voters have consis­tently rejected them: in 2007, vouchers were defeated by a margin of 62-38 in the red state of Utah, and Florida turned them down in 2012 by 58-42. Thus, the promoters of vouchers How Billionaires Are Successfully Fooling Us Into Destroying Public Education—and Why Privatization Is a Terrible Idea | Alternet:

This Goes Under “Cashing In On Ed Reform” : K12 Inc. | Seattle Education

This Goes Under “Cashing In On Ed Reform” : K12 Inc. | Seattle Education:

This Goes Under “Cashing In On Ed Reform” : K12 Inc

K12 Online Learning is in Washington State  using tax dollars to cash in on the online charter school industry.

This was first published on the Seattle Education blog in 2012 and originally posted at Ed Week the same year but I think it’s time to bring attention back to this cash cow brought to you by ALEC.

K12 Online Learning is in Washington State and using millions of tax dollars to advertisetheir enterprise. K12 also has a full time lobbyist haunting the halls in Olympia.

Virtual ed. company faces critical press and a recent lawsuit

Ronald J. Packard, center, the chief executive of K12 Inc., and his son Chase celebrate the company’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, along with John F. Baule, the chief operating officer of K12. Don’t they look happy.

In a scant few months, K12 Inc. and its fluctuating performance on Wall Street are proving that the combination of being a publicly traded company and operating in the school marketplace can lead to heightened levels of scrutiny in a growing but controversial sector of education.

On Dec. 12, the common stock price for the company, the nation’s largest for-profit operator of online K-12 schools, sat healthily at $28.79 per share, a dip from highs of This Goes Under “Cashing In On Ed Reform” : K12 Inc. | Seattle Education:

Big Education Ape: Mother Crusader: Could YOUR District Lose Real Funds To K12 Inc.'s Virtual Charter? - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2013/06/mother-crusader-could-your-district.html



Big Education Ape: SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Investigation of K12 Inc. (LRN) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/shareholder-alert-investigation-of-k12.html



 Big Education Ape: SF Flex charter school closes - Internal Affairs -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/sf-flex-charter-school-closes-internal.html


Big Education Ape: Facing tough questions from Calif. officials, virtual charter school operator settles with attorney general | 89.3 KPCC - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/facing-tough-questions-from-calif.html

Big Education Ape: California 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-profit operator K12 Inc. - San Jose Mercury News - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/california-virtual-academies-bill.html

Big Education Ape: California Legislators and Governor Brown: No Accountability for Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/california-legislators-and-governor.html

The Jack Markell Email That Has Delaware Teachers Seething – Exceptional Delaware

The Jack Markell Email That Has Delaware Teachers Seething – Exceptional Delaware:

The Jack Markell Email That Has Delaware Teachers Seething

Governor Markell sent an email to teachers and administrators thanking them for the latest Smarter Balanced Assessment results.  Meanwhile, people don’t care.  In the grand tradition of the former and very much lamented Transparent Christina, I hereby present the red-line edition of Jack’s chest-thumping email!

From: Markell, Governor (Governor)

Gee really, you need to write it down twice?

Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 2:01:51 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)To: K12 EmployeesSubject: Thank you to educators and school administrators

Thank you Governor Markell for forcing students to take this test and for teachers to administer them.  God bless the opt out parents!

Dear Educators and School Administrators,

What, no love for the parents? 

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

You too Jack.  Speaking on behalf of teachers, thank you for interrupting our bliss and harmony with this email.

As many of you may have seen, today the state released our annual data showing student performance on the Smarter Balanced Assessment. The improved scores across subjects and grade levels throughout our state serves as yet more evidence that your hard work is producing great results for our children and I wanted to take this opportunity to send a note of thanks.

In other words, over half our kids still aren’t proficient in math based on Smarter Balanced Standards and only 55% of them are proficient in ELA based on those same standards.  I see what you’re doing here.  Thanking teachers for their “hard work” for bad results.  The joke is on you.  Anyone who doesn’t know this is a crap test has been living in a cave somewhere.

Our transition to higher standards for what students should know at The Jack Markell Email That Has Delaware Teachers Seething – Exceptional Delaware:

Marie Corfield: Dear @NJEA Members, This is Urgent!

Marie Corfield: Dear @NJEA Members, This is Urgent!:

Dear @NJEA Members, This is Urgent!

Hey you. Yea, you, NJEA member. The one working those part time jobs to make it through the summer. The one who is fortunate enough to not have to work in the summer to make ends meet. The one dipping into your retirement funds to make it through the summer. The one who has no time to advocate because you're just trying to keep your head above water. I'm talking to you. 

You need to stop what you're doing right now and read this.

See that counter on the right side of this screen? That's counting down to D-Day: the day the NJ pension system runs dry. That's right, I said, 'dry' as in running out of money. That's 10.45 years. For everyone. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. Doesn't matter if you're a first year teacher or a 20 year retiree. There is no grandfather clause, no sliding scale. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Say buh-bye to your future and hello to working til you drop.

If you don't know by now, the pension system has been grossly underfunded by the state for the past 20 years, even though we have been making our regularly scheduled payments (and then-some, thanks to Gov. Christie and Ch.78), and are now forced to work more years and get less in return. Our retired members are feeling the hit too because their cost of living adjustments have been frozen.

This situation is dire and it's not going to get any better if we sit back and do nothing.

It's that bad.

But that's not going to happen because we are a union, and unions work together. We stick together. We fight together. And we win together... and we are going to win this battle.

Right now approximately 300 specifically-designated NJEA Pension Fellows (myself included) are working hard to engage all 200,000 of us in the fight to save our pensions. 

Notice I didn't say, "engage the state legislature". I said, "engage all 200,000 of us". That's right, 300 of your fellow members cannot fix this problem alone, but 200,000 of us sure can.

We are working 5 days a week making member outreach phone calls and knocking on members' doors to inform and engage every single one of us to take action. In the first two days alone we made over 3800 phone calls and wrote countless postcards!

Right now the Assembly has approved the November ballot question to engrave funding the pension system into our state constitution. The Senate must also do so, but Senate President Steve Sweeney has yet to post the bill for a vote. If the vote doesn't happen by August 8, or if the vote fails in the Senate, there will be no ballot question, and we go back to square one... with that clock still ticking down to zero.

So, here are six easy things you can do right now:

1. Go do VoteNJPension and sign up to become a Pension Activist. This is different from the Pension 'Fellows'. An activist is a voluntary position. You will receive text messages with updates and actions such as contacting legislators, and engaging friends and family to vote.
2. Contact your State Senator—preferably today—and urge him or her to push Sen. Sweeney to post ACR-109 for a vote, and tell them you want them to vote Yes on it.
3. Contact Sen. Sweeney directly and tell him to post ACR-109. His contact info: (856) 251-9801 or (856) 339-0808; SenSweeney@njleg.org. Don't worry, you won't get him on the phone. You will either get an answering machine or an aide who will take your information.
4. Get informed. Read through What You Need To Know so that you can give factual information to those who may have questions or who think the pension system isn't worth saving.
5. Contact one of the field offices we have set up for the summer and volunteer. Even if none of these are near you, there are many opportunities to volunteer your time in your community:
   
   NJEA Trenton Headquarters
   180 W. State St.
   Trenton
   609-599-4561
   
   NJEA Higher Education Office
   Golden Crest Corporate Center
   2279 State Highway 33, Suite 508
   Hamilton Square
   609-689-9580
   
   NJEA Region 11/12 Office
   Raritan Plaza II
   91 Fieldcrest Ave, Suite A3
   Edison
   732-287-4700
   
   Gloucester Co. Education Association
   190 N. Evergreen Ave, Suite 108
   Woodbury
   856-853-6673
   
   NJEA Stanhope Office
   23 Route 206
   Stanhope
   973-347-5717
   
   NJEA Region 3 Office
   1020 Laurel Oak Rd.
   Voorhees
   856-782-1225
6. Make sure every member of your family who is able to do so is registered to vote.This website lets you do it online.

Friends, there really is no other way to say this. We can't sugar coat it or push it off on someone else. We need every single one of us taking action. Can you imagine Sen. Sweeney's office receiving 200,000 phone calls? He can't say No to that.

So please, make a commitment today to do your part. We all have worked too hard to simply let our pensions dissolve into thin air. And I think it's pretty safe to say that there aren't too many of us who can survive retirement without them. I know I can't.

Let's do this!

#TeamTrenton rocking the vote!

Marie Corfield: Dear @NJEA Members, This is Urgent!:

One Score and Seven Policy Iterations Ago… | VAMboozled!

One Score and Seven Policy Iterations Ago… | VAMboozled!:

One Score and Seven Policy Iterations Ago…

I just read what might be one of the best articles I’ve read in a long time on using test scores to measure teacher effectiveness, and why this is such a bad idea. Not surprisingly, unfortunately, this article was written 20 years ago (i.e., 1986) by – Edward Haertel, National Academy of Education member and recently retired Professor at Stanford University. If the name sounds familiar, it should as Professor Emeritus Haertel is one of the best on the topic of, and history behind VAMs (see prior posts about his related scholarship here, here, and here). To access the full article, please scroll to the reference at the bottom of this post.

Heartel wrote this article when at the time policymakers were, like they still are now, trying to hold teachers accountable for their students’ learning as measured on states’ standardized test scores. Although this article deals with minimum competency tests, which were in policy fashion at the time, about seven policy iterations ago, the contents of the article still have much relevance given where we are today — investing in “new and improved” Common Core tests and still riding on unsinkable beliefs that this is the way to reform the schools that have been in despair and (still) in need of major repair since 20+ years ago.

Here are some of the points I found of most “value:”

• On isolating teacher effects: “Inferring teacher competence from test scores requires the isolation of teaching effects from other major influences on student test performance,” while “the task is to support an interpretation of student test performance as reflecting teacher competence by providing evidence against plausible rival hypotheses or interpretation.” While “student achievement depends on multiple factors, many of which are out of the teacher’s control,” and many of which cannot and likely never will be able to be “controlled.” In terms of home supports, “students enjoy varying levels of out-of-school support for learning. Not only may parental support and expectations influence student motivation and effort, but some parents may share directly in the task of instruction itself, reading with children, for example, or assisting them with homework.” In terms of school supports, “[s]choolwide learning climate refers to the host of factors that make a school more than a collection of self-contained classrooms. Where the principal is a strong instructional leader; where schoolwide policies on attendance, drug use, and discipline are consistently enforced; where the dominant peer culture is achievement-oriented; and where the school is actively supported by parents and the community.” This, all, makes isolating the teacher effect nearly if not wholly impossible.
• On the difficulties with defining the teacher effect: “Does it include homework? Does it include self-directed study initiated by the student? How about tutoring by a parent One Score and Seven Policy Iterations Ago… | VAMboozled!:

‘All these teachers do is whine’ — and other myths - The Washington Post

‘All these teachers do is whine’ — and other myths - The Washington Post:

‘All these teachers do is whine’ — and other myths

You’ve heard many of them before, those statements about teachers and public schools that are said to be true but are just plain wrong.  In their book, “50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools,” authors David C. Berliner and Gene V. Glass addressed many of them, including:

* Teachers are the most important influence in a child’s education.
* Merit pay is a good way to increase the performance of teachers.
* Subject matter knowledge is the most important asset a teacher can possess.
* Teachers are well paid.
* Subject matter is the most important asset a teacher can possess.

[Fifty myths and lies about public schools]

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You have also no doubt heard that teachers have it easy because they have summers off, and can go home in mid-afternoon when their students leave, and that they can get tenure and therefore are protected from ever being fired.

Myths, all of them. And here’s some new ones, offered by Alice Trosclair, who has been teaching for nine years in south Louisiana. She currently teaches American literature, English Language and Composition (AP), and English Literature and Composition (AP). She lives with her husband and son, and has what she calls hundreds of “adopted” children — her students. A version of this was first published in The Educator’s Room, and I am republishing it with permission.

By Alice Trosclair

 “Stop being such a martyr.”

“All these teachers do is whine about how bad they have it.”

“It is your choice to put so many hours in. No one is forcing you to do all this.”

And my favorite, “You knew what you were getting into.”

Whether you want to admit it, society as we know it would fall apart without teachers. This a response to some of the comments that have been made on articles I have written or that I have heard over the past year.

*Stop being such a martyr.

I don’t consider myself a martyr, but I would die for my students, and I know any educator would. Some have. I would throw myself in front of my kids to protect them from a bullet or tornado. I think that entitles society to at least listen to what educators have to say. Someone who is willing to risk their lives for child deserves to be heard.

You may not agree with what we have to say, but you should at least listen with respect. We love education, and we love our students. And we are willing to put everything on the line for them, ‘All these teachers do is whine’ — and other myths - The Washington Post:

A Persistent Divide: New Federal Data Explore Education Disparities - Education Week

A Persistent Divide: New Federal Data Explore Education Disparities - Education Week:

A Persistent Divide: New Federal Data Explore Education Disparities

A deep gulf between the educational experiences of traditionally disadvantaged student groups and their peers on a broad range of indicators persists in U.S. public schools, according to new federal data. Here are some major highlights from the latest Civil Rights Data Collection—data on more than 50 million students collected from more than 99 percent of public schools and districts in the country during the 2013-14 school year.

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School Discipline

The number of K-12 students who received at least one out-of-school suspension dropped by nearly 20 percent since the 2011-12 school year, but disparities persist.

• 6 percent of all K-12 students were suspended in 2013-14. The suspension rate was 18 percent for black boys, 10 percent for black girls, 5 percent for white boys, and 2 percent for white girls.
• American Indian or Alaska Native, Latino, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and multiracial boys are also disproportionately suspended from school, representing 15% of K-12 students but 19% of K-12 students receiving one or more out-of-school suspensions.
• Students with disabilities served by IDEA are more than twice as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as students without disabilities.
• Black boys represent 8% of all students, but 19% of students expelled without educational services.
• Black children made up 19 percent of preschool enrollment, but 47 percent of suspended preschool children. By comparison, white children made up 41 percent of enrollment but 28 percent of children suspended.

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Access to Advanced Coursework

High-level math and science classes were not universally, or equally, offered in the nation’s high schools in 2013-14.

• 33% of high schools with high black and Latino student enrollment* offer calculus, compared to 56% of high schools with low black and Latino student enrollment.
• 48% of high schools with high black and Latino student enrollment* offer physics, compared to 67% of high schools with low black and Latino student enrollment.
• 65% of high schools with high black and Latino student enrollment* offer chemistry, compared to 78% of high schools with low black and Latino student enrollment.
• 71% of high schools with high black and Latino student enrollment* offer Algebra II, compared to 84% of high schools with low black and Latino student enrollment.
• Black and Latino students represent 38% of students in schools that offer AP courses, but 29% of students enrolled in at least one Advance Placement course.

* “High/low black and Latino student enrollment” refers to schools with more than 75 percent and less than 25 percent black and Latino student enrollment, respectively.

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Chronic Student Absenteeism

About 13 percent of all U.S. students—more than 6 million—missed at least 15 days of school in the 2013-14 school year.

• 20% or more of American Indian or Alaska Native (26%), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (25%), black (22%), multiracial (21%), and Latino (20%) high school students are chronically absent.
• High school students with disabilities served by IDEA are 1.3 times as likely to be chronically absent as high school students without disabilities.
• 20% of all English-language-learner high school students are chronically absent.

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Teacher Absenteeism

Nationally, 27 percent of pre-K-12 teachers were absent for more than 10 school days in the 2013-14 school year.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education and Education Week Research Center

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Teacher/Staffing Equity

Black, Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native students are more likely to attend schools with higher concentrations of inexperienced teachers.

• 11% of black students, 9% of Latino students, and 7% of American Indian or Alaska Native students attend schools where more than 20% of teachers are in their first year of teaching, compared to 5% of white students and 4% of Asian students.
• 10% of teachers in schools with high black and Latino student enrollment* are in their first year of teaching, compared to 5% of teachers in schools with low black and Latino student enrollment.

Sources: Civil Rights Data Collection and U.S. Department of Education

Vol. 35, Issue 36

Published in Print: July 20, 2016, as A Persistent Divide

 A Persistent Divide: New Federal Data Explore Education Disparities - Education Week: