CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Christmas Digestion Edition + Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Christmas Digestion Edition:
ICYMI: Christmas Digestion Edition

Yes, it's Christmas day, but I am a creature of habit, so for those of you who, for whatever reason, have some time on your hands, here's this week's list of read-worthy writing. Have an excellent day!

When It Comes to Charter Schools, Facts Matter

Wendy Lecker's interview with Robert Cotto, Jr. about some of the claims being made by charters in Connecticut (and elsewhere) 

Anatomy of a Failure: How a Promising LA Charter Came Apart at the Seams

One more look at how the world of charters really works. Or rather, how it doesn't work at all. 

The Complicated History of America's First Union-Backed Charter Effort

The title is a tiny bit misleading, but here, again, a story of exactly how a charter effort comes off the rails.

The Charter School Profiteers

Allie Gross was going to teach in a Detroit charter to make a difference. What she found changed her mind. This piece is from 2014, but it's yet another good look inside the charter machine. 

The Movies That Doesn't Exist and the Redditors Who Think It Does

This is not directly related to education at all, but it's still a fascinating look at how we spread and hold onto "facts" that just aren't so.

Protect Public Ed

44 teachers of the year have combined forces to speak up for public education. There isn't much at this site yet, but it's worth paying attention.

China Helps Game SATs

Reuters continues to be teh go-to source for journalism about the SAT. Here's a closer look at how China maintains a thriving cheating industry for the venerable test.


Is This The Most Dangerous Member of Trump's Cabinet

The Big Think, a website outside the education community, with a consideration of Betsy DeVos as the most destructive proposed cabinet member

What School Grades Really Say

An editorial from Evansville, Indiana takes a cold hard look at which school grades actually tell us (hint: not how good the schools are) CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

 

Is Common Core Gaining Ground with Teachers?

1by Peter Greene / 19min

In October, a bit over 500 registered readers of the EdWeek website took a survey about the Core . The results from these elementary, middle and high school teachers are not earth-shattering, but we might tease a few conclusions out. You want me to do what??!! First, it's worth noting that using EdWeek registered readers means a certain amount of self-selected bias. While I'm not particularly put

Privatized Freedom

1by Peter Greene / 1h

Joseph Natoli has a piece at Truth-Out has a piece that's well worth reading, but for all the explication and coverage of the deliberate destruction of Detroit school " The Great Unwinding of Public Education: Detroit and DeVos " has some keen insights into the underlying pathologies fueling the privatization movement. Here's the line that reached out and whacked me right between the eyes: We have

YESTERDAY

ICYMI: Christmas Digestion Edition

6by Peter Greene / 21h

Yes, it's Christmas day, but I am a creature of habit, so for those of you who, for whatever reason, have some time on your hands, here's this week's list of read-worthy writing. Have an excellent day! When It Comes to Charter Schools, Facts Matter Wendy Lecker's interview with Robert Cotto, Jr. about some of the claims being made by charters in Connecticut (and elsewhere) Anatomy of a Failure: Ho

For Your Christmas Listening

6by Peter Greene / 1d

Here's hoping today is a great day for you and yours. For your listening pleasure, here's an assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional holiday music. May today be an excellent day!

DEC 24

The Only Subjects That Matter

90by Peter Greene / 2d

There's a message that has been delivered loud and clear for the last decade-- only two subjects in school matter. Only reading and math affect a school's rating. Only reading and math scores factor in teacher evaluation. Only reading and math come with state-approved Official Standards. Only reading and math are on the all-important Big Standardized Test, now believed by an entire generation of s

DEC 23

12 Reasons To Evaluate Teachers

70by Peter Greene / 3d

Like giving students standardized tests, evaluating teacher is one of those things that the vast majority of people believe that you do because, well, of course you do. Reasons. You know. Federal policy has required it, and required it with fairly specific provisions, for the past few administrations. Reformsterism focused for quite some time on collecting teacher data in order to fix education. M

DEC 22

DeVos's Inconvenient Truths

100+by Peter Greene / 3d

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post turned up a 2015 speech from billionaire heiress and Education Secretary Designee Betsy DeVos in which Devos lays out her six "inconvenient truths," the guiding principles by which her vision of American education is powered. Ed Patru, a self-identified spokesperson for Friends of Betsy DeVos (so I guess that's a thing-- damn), indicates that the speech is a

DEC 21

Unavoidable Costs

40by Peter Greene / 4d

I have libertarian friends (it's true). And one of them posted this particular meme Now I don't think either of these statements is accurate on its own; if something is a right, it's a right and there is no "should be," and libertarian "no one has a right to your labor" talk stops the moment money changes hands, thereby buying the right to that labor. But that's beside the point. Health care and e

DEC 20

A Terrifying Look at the Future

200+by Peter Greene / 5d

Do you want to see just how bad data mining + gamification + creating a data-based profile for every citizen, just how terrifying this idea is? Meet Sesame Credit -- and realize that Big Brother was an absolute pliant wimp by comparison. Just watch this. I don't even know where to begin, but you need to watch this.

Trump-Fueled Cyber Boom

19by Peter Greene / 5d

Pundits and the commentariat may not be able to say what exactly will happen to education under Herr Trump, but at least one group thinks they have a pretty good idea-- investors. Molly Hensley-Clancy covers business for Buzzfeed (yes, that's apparently a real job) and she reports that since election day, investors have been expressing some exuberance about K12 , the infamous major player in the c

DEC 19

Teaching in the Machine Age (Or Not)

62by Peter Greene / 6d

The Christensen Institute is devoted to "disruptive innovation," or as a five-year-old might put it, new and creative ways to kick over the big stack of blocks. For the big stack of blocks that is public education, Christensen has the big boot of personalized computer-driven education-favored product. And a new part of their pitch is the recently released report/PR prospectus, " Teaching in the Ma

DEC 18

Gerrymandering Charter Success

35by Peter Greene / 7d

Once again I'm reading a spate of charter fan fiction in which charters are lauded for out-performing the rest of the schools in their city. That one right there near the center is where I've been smacking my head "Out-perform the rest of the 

BATs - Listening to Members & Taking Action in 2017 - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

BATs - Listening to Members & Taking Action in 2017

BATs began on June 13, 2014 as a Facebook group. Within months this Facebook group evolved into an organization that brought forth the powerful voices of teachers, parents, and many other in support of public education and social justice.

Two years ago BATs became a non-profit 501c4 and in so solidified our mission in this fight to save public schools and stand up for social justice. The BATs Board of Directors understands clearly the idea of letting members drive the mission. In late August a survey of our members was launched. The results and the feedback will drive BATs into 2017. Thank you to all who took the survey and to all for your continued support.

Here are some results!

What types of actions do you participate in the most?  Top three

Sharing information on Facebook (81.1%)

Sharing information with my family, community members, and colleagues (64.8%)

Sending an email (45.1%)

How effective is the monthly calendar ?

34.8% Love it

54.8% say it’s ok.  Keeps the group focused

89.4% said they used information from BATs when speaking or advocating for public education

What do you feel we could do better?

More state get together or actions was most popular choice

Do you read the BAT emails?  71.1% said YES

What could BATs offer that would help you become a better advocate for public education?

More information on political action was most popular choice

If you are a long time BAT, is there anything you have noticed that is missing now that you especially appreciated in the beginning?  Openness to others views by the moderators, lack of energy, Badass Teachers Association:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

"Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King." -- RNC Chairman Reince Priebus

Thom Hartman

With so-called “unregulated free markets,” the rich become super-rich, while grinding poverty spreads among working people like a heroin epidemic. This further polarizes the nation, both economically and politically, which, perversely, further cements the power of the oligarchs. -- Salon

Donald Trump

"Let it be an arms race...We will outmatch them at every pass... and outlast them all.”-- CBS News

Rahm Emanuel

 “Golf memo for Potus.” -- Rahm emails reveal secret golf course planning 

Delia Arreola, Noble Charter Exec. Asst. 

“Hello!! Happy early xmas!!!” Arreola wrote to the principal and vice principal of her school. “I have the list of rising 8th graders for the fall and wanted to send it your way so we can hit the ground running on recruitment for next year’s freshman class. Enjoy!!” -- Sun-Times

Rockette Phoebe Pearl

“Finding out that it has been decided for us that Rockettes will be performing at the Presidential inauguration makes me feel embarrassed and disappointed ... I am speaking for just myself but please know that after we found out this news, we have been performing with tears in our eyes and heavy hearts #notmypresident.” -- CBS News

 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

California grants will help secretaries, cafeteria workers become teachers | 89.3 KPCC

California grants will help secretaries, cafeteria workers become teachers | 89.3 KPCC:

California grants will help secretaries, cafeteria workers become teachers

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has announced $20 million in grants to help 1,000 classified school workers across the state get their teaching credentials.

"When this grant opportunity came up it was pretty much a no brainer that this is what we should go after," said Judy Levinsohn, an administrator with the Orange County Department of Education. The department is one of 25 education agencies that successfully applied for the grants.

"We are definitely facing a serious teacher shortage and especially in the areas of special education, the science areas, bilingual education," Levinsohn said.

School classified workers include instructional aides, secretaries, bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

Individual grantees will get up to $4,000 a year for up to five years to finish teacher credential course work.

The grants help in two ways.

The money is available to people who have amassed some college credits toward their teaching credential but who’ve been held back because of costs.

The funds will also add people with experience working at schools into the teacher pipeline. These employees have some advantages over teachers who get their first job after college.

"When you’re working at a school site you really see what it’s like," said Levinsohn. "You’re experiencing a lot the demands that are placed on a teacher, and the politics and the culture of a district."

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing said the grants are designed to help ease the current teacher shortage.

California Teachers Association says the state will need 100,000 new teachers in the next decade. The shortage is due to retirements and the loss of younger teachers to layoffs during the recession.

Individuals interested in applying for a grant have until Jan. 31 to inform their schools. In Southern California, staff at schools in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties are eligible.California grants will help secretaries, cafeteria workers become teachers | 89.3 KPCC:

Russ on Reading: The Least of Russ on Reading 2016

Russ on Reading: The Least of Russ on Reading 2016:

The Least of Russ on Reading 2016

This is my third annual publication of posts that, for one reason or another, attracted little attention the first time around. It has been a year of gratifying growth in this blog; a year filled with the excitement of the publication of my book, A Parent's Guide to Public Education in the 21st Century, and a year of great consternation and disappointment on the political front. Through it all, this blog has allowed me to give voice to my beliefs about good literacy instruction and sound education policy and to make new friends and greet new readers from throughout the country and around the world.

So, as Noble Laureate Bob Dylan would say, while "writers and critics throughout the land" publish their year end "Best of ..." lists, I present The Least of Russ on Reading. I hope you will give some of these posts from the last year another glance.

Happy New Year!

Reading Our Way to Empathy

A great classroom conversation leads me to an insight on the importance of fiction and poetry in helping students see the point of view of others - to develop empathy. This development of empathy is a key "outcome" of the reading of literature in the classroom.

Accountability in Public Schools: The Three-Legged Stool

Corporate Education Reformers seem to forget that the bargain struck on accountability in the schools was that students and teachers would be held accountable for improved performance, while policy makers and state and federal governments would be held accountable for making sure the Russ on Reading: The Least of Russ on Reading 2016:

Truthout: “The Great Unwinding of Public Education: DeVos and Detroit” | deutsch29

Truthout: “The Great Unwinding of Public Education: DeVos and Detroit” | deutsch29:

Truthout: “The Great Unwinding of Public Education: DeVos and Detroit”

Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of education.

America would do well to learn all it can about her and about the DeVos influence in the privatization of public education in Michigan, particularly the ed privatization Petri dish of Detroit.

The following are excerpts from a rather extensive, December 23, 2016, Truthout article, “The Great Unwinding of Public Education: Detroit and DeVos,” by retired professor and writer, Joseph Natoli, about the effects of “gentrifying investors seek[ing] to put price tags on what was previously public domain.” DeVos is a key player in such privatization games.

The excerpts illustrate how the games work. America needs to pay attention.

Bankruptcy following the collapse of the jobs that fueled the “Motor City” has exposed Detroit to the dynamics described by Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine. A crisis, either arranged or accidental, precipitates a rush to recuperation. Lobbyists of wealthy investors petition a government that wealthy investors have put in place. A much-quoted “checks and balances” security shield for democratic governance is thus so easily disarmed.

The more startling, dire and urgent the crisis, the greater the rush to a “saving” privatization. … When statistics do not show charter schools to be better spaces for learning than public schools, privatizers instead focus on appearances. …Coats and ties or uniforms in classrooms shiny with new computers make the case for achievement and success. …

Weakening public education to the point that privatization looks like rescue is accomplished by funding that is decreased when tax funds are siphoned off to for-profit charter schools. It is also inequitably allocated…. When you allocate based on property ownership, you are at once solidifying the gap between rich and poor and, most grievously, extending that gap into the future.

Alongside this economic strategy, we have a deft mind game aimed at parents that pushes them toward charters “if they want the best for their kids.” This framing, however, erroneously implies that privatized schools result in a higher level of learning than public schools. In truth, these profit-seeking schools specialize in marketing and branding strategies, as well as the aura of new millennial innovation. …

We have internalized the mantra that all human endeavors that are placed in the hands of private enterprise succeed, whereas those run by the 

Truthout: “The Great Unwinding of Public Education: DeVos and Detroit” | deutsch29:

Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Children - Living in Dialogue

Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Children - Living in Dialogue:

Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Children

By Michelle Strater Gunderson.

When I was a small and my world was safe, I would wake up on Christmas morning and there would always be an orange at the bottom of my stocking – a “store bought orange” as my mother would say. Because, you see, on our family farm it was always a source of pride that almost everything we ate and used came from the work of our hands. I long for these simpler times, when an orange could mean so much.

That simpler time was 1968, a time that historically many of us consider to be one of the most tumultuous in our nation’s history. Yet, my family was able to envelope me in a sense of peace and caring.

I teach first grade in the Chicago Public Schools. I know my job well, and I am actually very good at it (according to all the Christmas cards from children I just opened). And this is what I can tell you, in spite of the politics and policy of education that get harmfully thrown around – the most important part of this job is to keep children safe, and care for them deeply so they can live the lives they were meant to live.

That is it. The rest is extra.

I have been struggling with what safety and caring look like inside a society that seems to care very little for children. Education budgets have been cut to the bone, teachers are overrun with needless mandates for paperwork and policy that take us away from the heart of teaching, both adults and children are judged and labeled by meaningless tests. And the list goes on.

And then we have the forthcoming presidency of Donald Trump and his incoming Secretary of Education, Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Children - Living in Dialogue:

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah! Or Whatever. | Diane Ravitch's blog

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah! Or Whatever. | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!

Enjoy the day. Play with your children or grandchildren, your nieces and nephews.



For some, this is a lonely time of year.



Think about helping those who have no family. Invite friends over if they are alone.



Go to a homeless shelter, a church, a synagogue or anywhere they are serving a meal and offer your help.



Reach out and share some love. It feels good to give.



As for me, I am taking a break until January 2.*



See you back here then. Stay healthy. Happy 2017!



*PS: This is not an ironclad promise. If something comes my way that is irresistible, I’ll post it. Otherwise, take a break.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah! Or Whatever. | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Rage | the becoming radical

Rage | the becoming radical:

Rage

 Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,” Dylan Thomas

More than 27 years ago, when I was 28 and my daughter, only three months old, a drunk driven hit me while I was cycling with a friend.

The impact broke my ankle bone, leading to a long 10-week recovery over that summer. But as I lay in bed when my parents visited me after I was released from the ER, when my mother said certainly I was done cycling, my dad rejected the idea, knowing I was already planning how and when to ride again.

I have been an avid recreational and competitive cyclist for about thirty years now, completing a significant number of challenging 100-mile and 200-plus-mile cycling events and rides.

Yesterday morning, Christmas Eve 2016, as I found myself trying to stand up from the pavement on the highway passing in front of my subdivision, my sight was blurred and my left hand was bloodied; my pinkie appeared as if someone had bashed it with a hammer.

I had just watched three of my cycling companions flipping and tumbling from the impact of the car that hit me and them from behind. Another five in the group were spared.

This morning, Christmas 2016, I suspect my life as road cyclist is over.

As I have aged, this moment has been one of the things I have anticipated and feared most because it had to happen; our physical selves inevitably decline and the athlete becomes who we were and not who we are.

Now, I don’t want to sound melodramatic because I plan to continue and increase my mountain biking as soon as my broken hip allows (sooner even).

I likely will still occasionally take the road bicycle on rail trails, and have thought about using some of the insurance settlement to buy a smart trainer so my second road bicycle (now the only) has a purpose.

But I don’t want to understate either that this accident in the wake of what seems to be a year of far too many other car/bicycle accidents and dog/bicycle accidents has left me broken—yes, my hip, but also my spirit.

I am afraid.

Among our nine yesterday were 20-somethings and the older crowd in our 50s and 60s; we, the cycling community, are good people, professionals and those who wish to enjoy life.

We were riding legally 2-abreast in the far right lane of a four-lane highway. The motorist was negligent, completely at fault.

But none of that matters to the cyclist airlifted to the ER and who now lies in ICU. Another close friend and I suffered significant injuries, and several very expensive bicycles were destroyed or damaged.

Even when we road cyclists are in the right, we lose versus cars.

The human body doesn’t just wither with age; the human body is quite frail against a ton of metal traveling 40 or 50 miles per hour.

Setting aside for a moment Dylan Thomas’s sexism, I am drawn to “Though wise men at their end knowRage | the becoming radical: 

Throw back Christmas. | Fred Klonsky

Throw back Christmas. | Fred Klonsky:

Throw back Christmas.

Back before the Illinois Supreme Court had yet to confirm our contractual and constitutional right to our retirement pension – and the state public employee union leaders backed a Democratic Party plan to cut our cost of living benefit (COLA) – I drew what I knew what Santa would say.

Happy holidays.

My blog postings will be on an irregular schedule for a couple of weeks.

CURMUDGUCATION: For Your Christmas Listening

CURMUDGUCATION: For Your Christmas Listening:

For Your Christmas Listening

Here's hoping today is a great day for you and yours. For your listening pleasure, here's an assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional holiday music. May today be an excellent day!

Of Santa, Soccer, and Savior: Wishing Readers a Merry Christmas 2016 | deutsch29

Of Santa, Soccer, and Savior: Wishing Readers a Merry Christmas 2016 | deutsch29:

Of Santa, Soccer, and Savior: Wishing Readers a Merry Christmas 2016

For my 2016 Christmas post, I feature two entries from the Ligonier Ministries blog. The posts concern two real individuals: Santa Claus and Jesus Christ.

Both entries are written by president of Reformation Bible College Dr. Stephen J. Nichols.

In the first post, Nichols offers some intriguing history about Saint Nick:

Saint Nicholas and the Origins of Santa Claus

It might surprise many today to find out that Saint Nicholas (spoiler alert) is a real person after all. Is he the white-bearded man with a red suit, a cap, and a sleigh?

Not quite, but he probably was bearded, did wear a hat, and did travel in horse-drawn, not reindeer-drawn, transportation. The legend behind Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra. His hat was the bishop’s mitre.

Nicholas was born in modern day Turkey to a rather wealthy family. Losing his parents at a young age, Nicholas dedicated both his fortune and his life to the Christian church. Very quickly he was appointed the bishop of Myra, on the southern coast of modern day Turkey.

These were days of persecution for Christians. Roman Emperor Diocletian, who reigned from 284–305, hated Christians and stuffed Roman jails full of them. Bishop Nicholas spent the first few years of the fourth century in jail and faced routine beatings. In the next decade, Constantine legalized Christianity and Nicholas was set free.

As the legend goes, Bishop Nicholas was present at the Church’s First Ecumenical Council at Constantine’s summer palace in Nicea in 325. Hundreds of Bishops gathered there to refute the false views of Arius, a presbyter from Alexandria. Arius denied Christ’s deity. At one point while Arius was addressing the council, Nicholas’s rage got the better of him. According to some of his biographers, Nicholas stood up, crossed the floor to Arius, and 

Of Santa, Soccer, and Savior: Wishing Readers a Merry Christmas 2016 | deutsch29:

SKrashen: Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.

SKrashen: Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.:

Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.

Stephen Krashen

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=6623&section=Article

On Big Think, Bill Nye (The Science Guy) advises us to "use your critical thinking skills. Evaluate evidence. Don't believe everything you read or see" (December 20, 2016). Mr. Nye is a good example of doing exactly that, reading and evaluating evidence carefully from all sides of an issue.  Except in one major case: The Common Core.

Mr. Nye is an enthusiastic supporter of the Common Core standards, because, he says, there are some basic principles everybody needs to know. On Big Think in September, 2014, he says that everybody needs to learn "a little bit of physics, chemistry, mathematics and you got to learn some evolution. You've got to learn some biology ... Everybody's got to learn the alphabet. Everybody's got to learn to read. The U.S. Constitution is written in English so everybody's got to learn to read English." (http://bigthink.com/videos/bill-nye-is-the-core-curriculum-the-antidote-for-creationism).

I completely agree and I think that nearly all educators and parents agree.  Mr. Nye says that the opposition to the common core stems from teachers not wanting to teach subjects they are not very interested in,  and parents' concerns that the content of the core might conflict with their beliefs. 

But the oppoition to the Common Core among professional educators is different:  It is because the standards that make up the official Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are developmentally inappropriate, were created without sufficient consultation with SKrashen: Bill Nye, The Science Guy shouldn't believe everything he reads about the Common Core.:

Happy Holidays from the Big Education Ape 2016

Happy Holidays from the Big Education Ape 2016

From My Family to Yours