College Options for High School Grads with Low or Modest GPAs | deutsch29

College Options for High School Grads with Low or Modest GPAs | deutsch29

College Options for High School Grads with Low or Modest GPAs

In May 2018, Anna Wulick of ACT’s PrepScholar blog posted this informative entry for high school graduates who wish to attend four-year college but who have less-than-impressive GPAs.

For those high school grads whose GPAs are really low (like, “I walked the D-average line class after class, year after year”), the piece includes three institutions that base acceptance on criteria other than GPA:

If you have a low GPA but know that you are capable of so much more, three colleges now give you a totally different way to apply!

• Goucher College: How about this for a revolutionary idea: you only submit a two-minute video about yourself. That’s it. No transcript, no test scores—just you explaining why you deserve admission.

• Bennington College: Similar deal here in that there’s no need to submit a transcript or test scores. Instead, you’ll turn in a self-curated collection of your work that speaks to your creative and intellectual abilities.

• Bard College: Even though Bard still requires a transcript, you can opt to answer several college-level essay questions. Just think: an amazing performance would be a surefire way to prove you can do better than your GPA suggests!

Next– for those with somewhat more to offer on the GPA front– the PrepScholar posting includes, as Wulick, states, “a list of the least competitive campuses in larger and more competitive state university systems”:

School	Average HS GPA of Admitted Applicants	Admission Rate
Indiana University Northwest	2.96	79%
Louisiana State University Shreveport	3.29	81%
Penn State Schuylkill	2.90	73%
Rutgers Camden	3.30	58%
SUNY Potsdam	3.29	74%
Texas A&M Kingsville	3.35	82%
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	3.21	59%
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs	3.37	91%
University of Illinois at Chicago	3.25	77%
University of Louisiana at Monroe	3.41	94%
University of Maine at Presque Isle	3.04	77%
University of Maryland Eastern Shore	2.80	57%
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth	3.20	76%
University of Michigan at Flint	3.29	74%
University of Minnesota Crookston	3.21	78%
University of Missouri Kansas City	3.36	63%
University of Nebraska at Kearney	3.47	85%
University of North Carolina at Pembroke	3.40	74%
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford	3.22	58%
University of South Carolina Beaufort	3.39	63%
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	3.48	79%
University of Texas at Brownsville	3.09	87%
University of Washington Tacoma	3.23	83%
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee	3.10	73%

Third, for those with minimal GPAs who wish to parlay their minimum into CONTINUE READING: College Options for High School Grads with Low or Modest GPAs | deutsch29

Why Change is Often Confused with Reform: The Multi-layered Curriculum | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Why Change is Often Confused with Reform: The Multi-layered Curriculum | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Why Change is Often Confused with Reform: The Multi-layered Curriculum

I published this post in 2012. I have updated both text and references.

After extensive deliberation and committee meetings, state and district officials publish curricular frameworks and courses of study in academic subjects from kindergarten through high school. This is called the intended curriculum (see here and here).

Consider science curriculum in California. The first science framework in 1990 laid out content standards, grade by grade, as to what teachers should teach and what students should learn. Since then, there have been revisions in the state framework (see scienceframework-1  for 2004 and 2016)

The purposes of the two science frameworks are stated clearly:

2004

Educators have the opportunity to foster and inspire in students an interest in science; the goal is to have students gain the knowledge and skills necessary for California’s workforce to be competitive in the global, information-based economy of the twenty-first century….

This framework is intended to (1) organize the body of knowledge that students need to learn during their elementary and secondary school years; and (2) illuminate the methods of science that will be used to extend that knowledge during the students’ lifetimes.

2016:

The goal of the California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS)

is to prepare California students to be future citizens and future CONTINUE READING: Why Change is Often Confused with Reform: The Multi-layered Curriculum | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

CURMUDGUCATION: OK: Another Rich Amateur Assault On Education.

CURMUDGUCATION: OK: Another Rich Amateur Assault On Education.

OK: Another Rich Amateur Assault On Education.

Hechinger Report elevated my blood pressure with a story that is a near-perfect microcosm of the state of public education and, really, democracy in 2018.

Looks like a fun guy.

Paul Campbell is a successful business guy. He put in over a decade with Rolls-Royce in Indiana, rising to the level of VP of customer business. He put in a few yers with Capstone, a manufacturer of micro-turbines. Then he jumped to Enviro Systems, a "supplier of environmental controls for some of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world." Enviro was founded in 1979, and its parent company is Zodiac Aerospace, a French company with roots back ton 1896 (they started out with hydrogen balloons). Zodiac is huge-- 100 sites and 35,000 employees. Zodiac acquired Enviro in early 2015; in June of 2015, Campbell took over as President and CEO of Enviro. Enviro boasts 170 non-unionemployees.

Enviro is located in Seminole, Oklahoma, a town that ballooned to 25k people during an oil boom a century ago, but by 2000 had shrunk to under 7,000 people. It has since bounced back a bit, but it's a small town about an hour away from Oklahoma City; it's in those suburbs where Campbell actually made his new home-- not Seminole.

Campbell hadn't been at the company a year before he was complaining about the local schools-- specifically, that he couldn't recruit or retain good people for Enviro: "We can't get people to work here. The main reason we found is because of the local education system."

Seminole's schools, like all of Oklahoma's schools, suffer from a state government that is hostile to public education. But Campbell, who also became involved in the Chamber of Oklahoma, didn't start CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: OK: Another Rich Amateur Assault On Education.

‘Choice’ has become an excuse for charter and voucher schools to discriminate | Alternet

‘Choice’ has become an excuse for charter and voucher schools to discriminate | Alternet

‘Choice’ has become an excuse for charter and voucher schools to discriminate
The evidence mounts: Not all families have equal access to the education opportunities advocated by Betsy DeVos.

When prominent advocates for “school choice,” such as U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, talk about how a market-based approach for education works, the very stories they might cite as successes actually reveal serious shortcomings of charter schools and vouchers, especially about how they can have detrimental effects on parents, children, and communities. Take, for example, the case of Krystl Newton.

When the private Christian school Newton’s daughter attended closed, she was able to find a charter school near their home in Wake County, North Carolina, that provided a school culture similar to the private academy, with strict discipline, high academic standards, and none of the “gang stuff” (her words) she heard plagued the public schools.

Her daughter thrived in the new charter, so when Newton’s younger son reached kindergarten age, she was pleased the charter would enroll him under their family-members-first policy.

But after his kindergarten year, when he was ready to move to first grade, there was a problem.

Early in the boy’s development, Newton had observed symptoms of what she came to believe was a developmental disability resembling Tourette’s Syndrome. Although an official diagnosis of the disorder couldn’t be made until the child turned eight, Newton had already consulted specialists and gone to the trouble of developing an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a document that is developed for each public school child who needs special supports due to a physical, mental, or emotional disability. Because her daughter also had a mild form of disability when she enrolled in the charter, Newton assumed the charter would be fully accepting and supportive of her son’s situation too.

But the charter administrators felt otherwise.

“They wouldn’t accept our information,” she told me in a phone conversation, referring to her son’s IEP and other documents advising how to conduct his CONTINUE READING: ‘Choice’ has become an excuse for charter and voucher schools to discriminate | Alternet

The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019 - Progressive.org

The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019 - Progressive.org

The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019
Teachers unions are poised to strike across the country.

Earlier this year, #RedforEd campaigns took off around the country, from West Virginia to Oklahoma and points in between. Teachers and support staff, even in notoriously anti-labor states like Arizona, walked off the job and into state capitals, demanding better pay and more funding for schools, among other key issues.

With 2019 just around the bend, the wave of education activism shows no signs of ebbing.

On November 7, educators in Alabama, for example, held the state’s first #RedforEd rally with support from both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Citing rising health insurance premiums as well as inadequate pay and minimal classroom funding, hundreds of Alabama teachers gathered on the steps of the state capitol in solidarity, despite the fact that Alabama has been a right-to-work state for decades. (Teachers in right-to-work states do not have the legal authority to strike.)

Teachers in Louisiana, too, are contemplating collective action in 2019, in defiance of their state’s restrictive labor laws. Average teacher salaries in Louisiana fall just under $50,000, according to news reports, and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers has put lawmakers on notice, advising them to either CONTINUE READING: The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019 - Progressive.org

UPDATE: Audit blasts Sac City Unified for budget mismanagement, warns of possible state takeover | The Sacramento Bee

Audit scolds Sac City Unified over $30 million deficit | The Sacramento Bee

Audit blasts Sac City Unified for budget mismanagement, warns of possible state takeover

The financial clock is winding down for the Sacramento City Unified School District.

An independent fiscal manager warned late Thursday that if the district fails to plug a $30 million budget hole, it could trigger a takeover by the state in six months.

The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a state-created financial adviser for school districts, faulted the district in an audit report for past mismanagement, communication failures, inexperienced staff and a staffing budget that could hinder its ability to solve the lingering budget problem.

The report concluded the district was at a high risk of insolvency by November 2019 and “without action, state intervention is certain.” CONTINUE READING:Audit scolds Sac City Unified over $30 million deficit | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento City School District Rejects Teachers Association Budget Proposal « CBS Sacramento - https://cbsloc.al/2QPNtSk on /cbssacramento

Sacramento District Running Out of Money Denies Budget Proposal « CBS Sacramento - https://cbsloc.al/2Bloc8B on /cbssacramento

Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020

Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020

US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020

After roughly a quarter century in elected office, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander will retire. 

The former Republican governor, who has served in the Senate since first being elected in 2002, said Monday that he will not seek a fourth term in the upper chamber.

“I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United State Senate in 2020,” said Alexander.

His decision means for the second time in two years, Tennessee will have an open U.S. Senate race.

Like U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, who last year declined to run for a third term, Alexander’s announcement will send shockwaves throughout Tennessee’s political landscape.  

Contenders will line up for 2020 campaign

Although it is not clear who may vie for the seat, contenders could include Gov. Bill Haslam and incoming U.S. Rep. Mark Green.

Haslam flirted with the idea of running for the Senate when Corker announced his retirement.

Others who could consider a bid include U.S. Rep. Diane Black and Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd — both of whom unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for governor earlier this year. CONTINUE READING: Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020

2019 Brings Exciting News and a Big Agenda for NPE - Network For Public Education

2019 Brings Exciting News and a Big Agenda for NPE - Network For Public Education

2019 Brings Exciting News and a Big Agenda for NPE

Happy holidays from the Network for Public Education! We are pleased to announce that in January, we will expand our Board of Directors and our staff.

Beginning February 1, Marla Kilfoyle, the former Executive Director of the BATS will join NPE as our Grassroots Liaison.  We will tell you more about Marla and her outstanding advocacy work for public education when we announce our new board members next month. NPE will also launch our new website to make it easier for you to find the information you need.

We will continue our fight against school privatization by increasing our action alerts, building alliances and issuing reports for policymakers, advocates and the public. First up will be a 50 State Report Card on Student Privacy co-published with the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. And we will continue our work to support, protect and improve the pillar of our democracy, public education.

We will also inform the public at large about how charter schools and vouchers undermine true public schools with commentaries in newspapers and magazine. Please read and share this new piece in the Answer Sheet that outlines five serious flaws in the charter school model.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/12/16/can-charter-schools-be-reformed-should-they-be/

Finally, you can expect new targeted actions to fight the billionaires' new pet project to undermine public education--the expansion of charter schools in our cities through the establishment of "portfolio" districts.

However, none of our new initiatives and expansions can happen without your help.

Please consider making an end-of-year donation to NPE. Your contribution is tax deductible.

You can send NPE a check to our new address (PO Box 227 New York City, NY 10156) or give online here.

As an additional incentive, if you donate before December 20th, your donation will be matched by a generous anonymous donor who has provided $10,000 in matching funds.

Thank you for all that you do. Diane, the NPE Board of Directors, Darcie and I wish you a wonderful holiday season full of joy, family and friendship. May we all see brighter days in 2019!

Executive Director

2019 Brings Exciting News and a Big Agenda for NPE - Network For Public Education

Is the Kentucky GOP Trying to Intimidate Democratic Teachers Into Not Running for Office? | deutsch29

Is the Kentucky GOP Trying to Intimidate Democratic Teachers Into Not Running for Office? | deutsch29

Is the Kentucky GOP Trying to Intimidate Democratic Teachers Into Not Running for Office?

It seems so.

On December 14, 2018, Kentucky’s Courier Journal reported that the Kentucky GOP has filed numerous public records requests for teacher emails, and it seems that these requests are little more than an attempt to intimidate Democratic teachers from running for office.

In November 2018, an astounding 51 Kentucky teachers ran for election for the Kentucky House and Senate, with 36 running as Democrats.

According to the October 05, 2018, Courier Journal, issues prompting Kentucky’s classroom teachers to seek to win political office include “state budgets with no money for teacher raises, the passage of a law allowing charter schools and a proposal to cut teachers’ pension benefits.” Even then, the idea that Democrats would upset the Kentucky General Assembly was considered a long shot.

And indeed, following the November 2018 elections, Republicans maintainedcontrol of both legislative chambers.

Now about those requests for teacher emails:

It seems that the Kentucky GOP began sending public records requests for teacher emails in October 2018– prior to the November 2018 election. What I believe indicates an intent to intimidate is the fact that even though most Democratic teachers lost, the Kentucky GOP continued its teacher records CONTINUE READING: Is the Kentucky GOP Trying to Intimidate Democratic Teachers Into Not Running for Office? | deutsch29

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Rahm's parting shots at public ed -- Goolsbee & pension theft

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Rahm's parting shots at public ed -- Goolsbee & pension theft

Rahm's parting shots at public ed -- Goolsbee & pension theft

Austan Goolsbee

Before he leaves us, our lame duck Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking a few parting shots at the unions and progressives who helped make a third run for him a lost cause.

THE FIRST SHOT…was aimed at city workers pensions. Rahm wants to amend the State Constitution to cap cost-of-living increases for retirees and make pension theft legal. Right now the Constitution prohibits any diminishment or impairment of pension fund benefits (Article Xlll, Section 5). Previous attempts by the legislature to balance the budget on the backs of retirees have been ruled unconstitutional. Former gov, Pat Quinn lost his reelection bid to Bruce Rauner in large part because he supported failed pension left initiatives.

THE NEXT SHOT...Rahm's appointment of former Obama economic advisor and political insider Austan Goolsbee to the school board appears to be nothing but a big "F**k you" to Chicago school activists and the CTU.

Economist Goolsbee, unlike his new boss Rahm, had a pretty good line when he was working CONTINUE READING:  Mike Klonsky's Blog: Rahm's parting shots at public ed -- Goolsbee & pension theft

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Sleeping In Edition (12/16)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Sleeping In Edition (12/16)

ICYMI: Sleeping In Edition (12/16)

Since you don't get the whole day to read through the list, I'll keep things relatively short.

The Cautionary Tale of Correspondence Schools

Some edu-history of an oft-forgotten chapter with interesting implications for modern reform ideas like personalized [sic] learning. A long read, but an fascinating one.

Christmas Time: A Minefiield for Teachers

Nancy Flanagan reminds us why the holiday season is extra fraught for those who work in classrooms.

School Choice Deception

One more way that Florida insures that students with real needs will get no real help.

Die Hard

Life is not an action movie. Don't arm teachers.

2018: What Happened To The Year of the Teacher?

Hey, wasn't this supposed to be our year? Steven Singer figures out what exactly happened.

Shut Up, Bloggers

The rhetorical approaches bio silencing dissent.


CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Sleeping In Edition (12/16)

Badass Teachers Association: New year! New vision! New leadership!

Badass Teachers Association: New year! New vision! New leadership!
New year! New vision! New leadership!

The Board of Directors of the Badass Teachers Association, a grassroots public education advocacy organization of nearly 65,000 members are excited to announce a few recent changes within the BAT leadership team.

Melissa Tomlinson, former Assistant Executive Director, has now been named Interim Executive Director and Dr. Denisha Jones, Esq. will serve as interim Assistant Executive Director.

“I am excited to step in to this role and continue to serve the Badass Teachers Association. It has been a pleasure watching this organization grow and I am committed to using my skills and talents to support the important work we do on behalf of teachers, students, and public education.” ~ Dr. Denisha Jones, Esq.

Under the guidance of Melissa and Denisha, the BAT Steering Committee Directors and Executive Board members have recently been given the task of looking internally at the organization, its vision, goals, purpose, and mission. As we head into 2019 we will be meeting for strategic planning and goal setting, as every organization must do to meet new challenges.

“Moving this organization forward has been my commitment since I first joined. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next and energized to have Dr. Jones with me in this.
The only way that we will be successful in this work is to challenge ourselves and each other to grow, to stand up, and to fight back in solidarity.” ~ Melissa Tomlinson

Being constantly within the fight for public education, it is sometimes hard to see the growth and progress that has been made. With the life expectancy of organizations such as this averaging only around five years, it is important to reflect upon what has been accomplished and complete a strength analysis so we can be prepared to meet the battles that lie ahead.

As we undergo change, we hope to still provide a space for you to connect what you experience with the bigger national picture of corporate education reform. We hope that you join us in our quest to infuse or work with and to make space for social and racial justice. While we recognize that not all of us enter this space at the same place, it does not benefit neither ourselves nor our students to refuse to progress along the journey for equity.

We have created a Google survey form for you to share some of your thoughts with us about what matters to you. We would also like to get a little more information about you so that we can better focus our actions and directly call in people to join when needed.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVB8UqTkQTUQv93rQJHwrhNhcH4XxT9_dwASA_WIJrQNXrZQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Badass Teachers Association: New year! New vision! New leadership!

Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - enrique baloyra @nenebalo YouTube

Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - YouTube

Do all lives still matter? 

Asking for a little girl

 enrique baloyra @nenebalo YouTube

On Thursday the Washington Post broke the story that an indigenous girl had died while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody the week before. Seven-year-old Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin and her father traveled over a thousand miles through some of the most inhospitable terrain in the Western Hemisphere, fleeing gang violence, extortion, and crippling poverty in their home village.
They surrendered themselves to CBP agents on December 6, then waited over five hours for a bus to transport them to an internment camp. On the way there, she started having convulsions. By the time emergency workers reached her, her body temperature was almost 106 degrees.
She died of dehydration, shock, and liver failure.
Naturally, those same pro-lifers who’ve been screaming that all lives matter are now, like, meh. Her father should’ve made better choices.
Jason Chaffetz said her death “should be a message” to others planning this journey. Why don’t we just hang her body at the border? Like a bunch of thugs marking out turf.
On Friday Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said, “This family chose to cross illegally.”
Like the secretary’s family chose to send her to private school. Just make better choices, refugees.
“It’s come to this: Threats that we won’t just take your children, but kill your children, if you dare seek safety from people who are also trying to kill your family members.” https://twitter.com/AmandaMarcotte/st...
“DHS Secretary Nielsen blames Jakelin's family for her death, but here are some of her goons happily kicking jugs of water left for migrants that could have saved her life.” https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/107...
“Kirstjen Nielsen Urges Migrant Parents Leave The Weak Ones Behind https://trib.al/qBNF63e “ https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1...
Investigative immigration reporter Aura Bogado has documented how detainees are placed in freezing cold rooms, called “hieleras.” They’re served instant ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They sleep on the cold floors. And border agents refuse to drink, cook with, or even bathe with the same contaminated water given the detainees.
This inhumane policy of teargassing refugees and putting their children in perreras was supposed to stop the flow of Central American immigration. But it’s clearly not working, and 15 thousand unaccompanied minors remain in CBP custody.
This holiday season we’re reminded the lengths to which desperate parents are willing to go to save their children.

Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - YouTube