Checklist: Media Coverage of the “Science of Reading” | radical eyes for equity

Checklist: Media Coverage of the “Science of Reading” | radical eyes for equity

Checklist: Media Coverage of the “Science of Reading”

Several years ago while preparing the first edition (2013) of De-testing and De-grading Schools: Authentic Alternatives to Accountability and Standardization, I came to know Peter DeWitt as a highly praised principal who wrote in that volume about no testing week at his school.

His work and career have shifted since then, but I have remained in contact through his public writing. Coinciding with a mostly fruitless Twitter debate about how the media continues to misrepresent the challenges and realities of teaching reading, then, I was strongly drawn to DeWitt’s 3 Reasons I Do Not Engage In Twitter Debates.

Much of his examination of the paradox that is social media is extremely compelling to me; his three reasons, in fact, resonate powerfully: They’re rarely about common understanding, they make you look really crazy to onlookers, and he’s not good at them.

When I find myself crossing (foolishly) DeWitt’s pointed line, I try to justify the effort by this (mostly idealistic and probably misguided) justification: Making a nuanced and detailed case, even through the limitations of Twitter, will likely not persuade the Twitter thread members, but can provide a platform for learning to those observing the discussion.

However, I find DeWitt’s conclusions hold fast, and thus, offering here the details and the nuance has a better, although also limited, potential for changing the dialogue and reaching more understanding.

Instead of providing yet another discrediting of yet another media misrepresentation of the “science of reading” (see some of that work listed CONTINUE READING: Checklist: Media Coverage of the “Science of Reading” | radical eyes for equity

When We’re The Packages: UPS, Annie E. Casey Foundation & Impact Investing – Wrench in the Gears

When We’re The Packages: UPS, Annie E. Casey Foundation & Impact Investing – Wrench in the Gears

When We’re The Packages: UPS, Annie E. Casey Foundation & Impact Investing

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the United Way, and the Aspen Institute are in the process of rolling out a “two-generation,” coordinated program of data exploitation designed to enmesh poor families in ongoing systems of digital monitoring. In order to secure their most basic needs for survival, families in need will be expected to demonstrate compliance with boot-strap, neoliberal interventions grounded in behavioral economics.

Not only will intrusive personal information be fed into cloud-based dashboard systems by social service providers (educators, healthcare providers, therapists, social workers), increasingly wearable technology and Internet of Things enabled devices will be deployed to extract data in real time. Such “solutions” place the burden on individuals to “fix” themselves within systems that have, in fact, been designed to oppress them. As the poor attempt to navigate rigged, “pay for success” social “welfare” interventions, their digital exhaust will be harnessed and used to fuel hedge fund speculation. Predatory investors are now aggregating portfolios of “evidence-based” “solutions” through vehicles like the Green Light Fund (more here).

It is a brutal enterprise suited to our current moment, one in which the purchasing power of the masses is no longer sufficient to maintain global capital flows and innovative systems of finance linked to digital technologies  are on the rise. The “two-generation” strategy being advanced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in coordination with the United Way and the Aspen Institute will vastly increase the amount of data collected, imposing family-level surveillance via “soft” (social welfare agencies) and “hard” (law enforcement) systems of policing. As befitting CONTINUE READING: When We’re The Packages: UPS, Annie E. Casey Foundation & Impact Investing – Wrench in the Gears


What About Alice? The United Way, Collective Impact & Libertarian “Charity”

It seems the United Way is planning for a future inhabited by a mass underclass of precarious labor. In fact, this “future” may already be here, it’s just not evenly distributed as the quote attributed to William Gibson suggests. For the past few years United Way chapters nationwide have been mobilizing awareness campaigns around ALICE. The acronym stands for Assets Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE does not signify just female and female-identifying adults, but instead the masses of the working poor and their families. ALICE is the raw material that will be fed into the United Way’s “collective impact” machine. ALICEs may be pregnant teens, foster youth, single parents, indebted students, veterans, the disabled, the chronically ill, the elderly, the addicted, or families holding down multiple jobs who still cannot make ends meet.

Stephanie Hoopes, who earned a PhD in government and international relations from the London School of Economics, developed the ALICE campaign, which is housed within the United Way, and has served as its director since 2015. She taught in the UK early in her career, then became the treasurer of the New Jersey public television network. She also taught at Columbia and Rutgers where she served as director for the Rutgers-Newark New Jersey Databank. Social impact investing runs on data, especially interoperable data.

This January, Hoopes participated as a panelist in a “Prosperity   CONTINUE READING: What About Alice? The United Way, Collective Impact & Libertarian “Charity”

Don’t Blame Trump, DeVos, or Unions for Growing Opposition to Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

Don’t Blame Trump, DeVos, or Unions for Growing Opposition to Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

Don’t Blame Trump, DeVos, or Unions for Growing Opposition to Charter Schools

While billionaires Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos can take some of the “blame” for an uptick in broad opposition to the nation’s 7,000 non-profit and for-profit charter schools, resistance to privately-operated charter schools has been building for nearly three decades.

Opposition to segregated, test-obsessed, and unaccountable charter schools that fleece the public treasury is not new. Many defenders of public education and the public interest have been consistently exposing and criticizing charter schools for a long time.

If anything, billionaires Trump and DeVos have served mainly as catalysts for simmering resistance to deregulated charter schools that transfer publicwealth to private interests. It was just a matter of time before this opposition took hold and became more visible and powerful.

Neoliberals and privatizers are unable and unwilling to comprehend all of this because, objectively, they can only see phenomena from a narrow capital-centered view. Looking at phenomena from the perspective of the public interest does not make sense to them.

In short, stiff and more discernable resistance to charter schools was inevitable, with or without Trump and DeVos.

Mounting opposition to charter schools stems mainly from the stubborn fact that charter schools are plagued by and cause many endless problems that are profound and impossible to cover up. No amount of disinformation, lies, CONTINUE READING: Don’t Blame Trump, DeVos, or Unions for Growing Opposition to Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

Reboot Foundation research questions the use of educational technology

Reboot Foundation research questions the use of educational technology

Research shows lower test scores for fourth graders who use tablets in schools
Reboot Foundation questions the use of technology in education

A mounting body of evidence indicates that technology in schools isn’t boosting student achievement as its proponents had hoped it would. The latest research comes from the Reboot Foundation, which released a study in June 2019 that shows a negative connection between a nation’s performance on international assessments and 15-year-olds’ self-reported use of technology in school. The more students used technology in schools, the lower the nation ranked in educational achievement.

In the United States, the results were more complicated. For younger school children, the study found a negative tie between the use of tablets in school and fourth-grade reading scores. Fourth-grade students who reported using tablets in “all or almost all” classes scored 14 points lower on the reading portion of a test administered by the federal government than students who reported “never” using classroom tablets. That’s the equivalent of a year of education or an entire grade level. Meanwhile, some types of computer usage among older students could be beneficial. Eighth graders who reported using computers to conduct research for projects had higher reading test scores than those who didn’t use computers for research.

“We see a lot of spending everywhere on tablets, computers, counting the ratio of computers per student,” said Helen Lee Bouygues, who founded the Reboot Foundation in 2018. Bouygues wants schools to pay more attention to how they are using technology.

“Technology is not bad in general,” she said, “although I would argue for younger children, it’s questionable whether it has benefits.”

Reboot aims to increase the teaching of critical thinking in schools and by parents at home. Bouygues said she started the foundation in reaction to the rapid spread of fake news on the internet and the inability of citizens to distinguish reliable sources from propaganda. She said she wanted to learn if technology was a problem for younger CONTINUE READING: Reboot Foundation research questions the use of educational technology

California moves toward new limits on charter schools - Los Angeles Times

California moves toward new limits on charter schools - Los Angeles Times

California moves toward new limits on charter schools 

When Los Angeles teachers went on strike in January, a major issue was charter schools: Union leaders talked about halting the growth of these privately operated campuses and exerting more local control over where and how these schools operate.

California took a step in that direction last week with the release of a much-awaited report by a task force set up in the wake of the six-day walkout.

The report supports new restrictions on charters and is expected to shape statewide policy.

One of the most important recommendations was to give a school district more authority when a charter seeks to open within its boundaries. Under current law, a school district must approve the opening of any charter that meets basic requirements.

The idea was to spark competition and give parents high-quality options for their children — and thousands of parents have responded enthusiastically. Charters enroll nearly one in five students in the nation’s second-largest school system.

But one result has been a proliferation of charters in some neighborhoods. Because state funding is based on enrollment, charters as well as district schools have been hard-pressed to attract enough students to remain financially viable, making it difficult to provide a stable academic program.

To address that situation, the task force recommends allowing a school district to forbid the opening of a new charter based on “saturation.” Charter critics say saturation already has become a problem in Boyle Heights and parts of South Los Angeles.

The recommendation on saturation received endorsement from the entire panel, which includes representatives of charter schools.

A smaller bloc, but still a panel majority, would go further. It recommended that school districts be able to deny a proposed charter based on financial harm to the host school district.

The panel did not release details on how individual members voted, but charter groups have vehemently opposed such a restriction. They have argued it could be used to deny any charter petition.

“There are elements that are deeply concerning and require more work ahead,” said Myrna Castrejón, president of the California Charter Schools Assn. “But ultimately, these efforts will play a pivotal role in charting a path forward for California’s students.”

State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond put together the task force at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Teachers union leaders hailed the governor’s willingness to convene the task force as a victory. CONTINUE READING: California moves toward new limits on charter schools - Los Angeles Times

A Busy Day At Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

A Busy Day At Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Quote of the Day: “Education Isn’t Enough”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Education Isn’t Enough is useful article in The Atlantic. It makes many excellent points. However, it does have a big blindspot – the author omits any discussion of the role of racism in inequality. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Why Improving Education Is Not THE Answer To Poverty & Inequality .

YESTERDAY

Two Free Online Programs For Teachers & Students – One On Student Engagement & The Other On Growth Mindset

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay PERTS (Project for Education Research that Scales) is comprised of just about every major researcher doing work on Social Emotional Learning. They offer two free online programs for teachers to use with students – one to measure and encourage student engagement, and the other to do the same with developing a growth mindset. I’m not that familiar with the student enga

SEL Weekly Update

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

I’ve recently begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. You might also be interested in The Best Social Emotional Learning Resources Of 2018 – So Far. Finally, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources . Here are this week’s picks: Want Teachers to Motivate Th

“Common Administrator Mistakes & What to Do Instead”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 20h

Common Administrator Mistakes & What to Do Instead is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, commentaries from Anne Vilen, Marcy Webb, Dr. Jason Kotch, Roxanna Elden, Baruti Kafele and Dr. Manuel Rustin “kick-off” this five-part series on administrator’s mistakes. Here are some excerpts:

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

42by Larry Ferlazzo / 22h

BiljaST / Pixabay Five years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2018 – So Far and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2018 – PART TWO . A

“First You Make The Maps” Is A Cool Interactive On Historical…Maps

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

Pexels / Pixabay First You Make The Maps is well-done interactive showing – and discussing the importance – of multiple early maps. It’s from Lapham’s Quarterly. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps .

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in THE BEST ARTICLES, VIDEOS & POSTS ON EDUCATION POLICY IN 2018 – PART TWO ):’ 5 MISTAKES MACKENZIE BEZOS AND OTHER MEGA-DONORS SHOULD AVOID is from Wired. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Policy . Chicago’s Urban Prep Academ

Video: “Weirdest Buildings In The World”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

geralt / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from “Be Amazed” to The Best Images Of Weird, Cool & Neat-Looking Buildings (& Ways To Design Your Own) :

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

NBC News: Democrats Turning Against Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

NBC News: Democrats Turning Against Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

NBC News: Democrats Turning Against Charters

NBC News ran a segment about how Democratic candidates are turning against charter schools. The reasons, says NBC, is DeVos and unions.

The safe position for Democrats is to say that you oppose for-profit charter schools. Sanders went further by echoing the national NAACP and Black Lives Matter and calling for a national moratorium on new charters.

In the show, everyone plays their expected part. Mike Petrilli, authorizer of Ohio charters, claims that only his team (the DeVos choice team) cares about “improving education” by privatizing it and handing it over to entrepreneurs. Shavar Jeffries of the hedge fund managers’ DFER says, “Bernie Sanders apparently thinks he, in Vermont, knows better than low-income African American and Hispanic families in their cities about what’s best for their children,” because Sanders called for a moratorium on new charters. Apparently the hedge fund managers and billionaires who support DFER understand the needs of low-income African American and Hispanic families better than anyone else.

The points that never appear in the news story are, one, that charters have not delivered on their promises. On average, they are no better than public schools and many are far worse. And two, because most charters are CONTINUE READING: NBC News: Democrats Turning Against Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

School Funding On My Mind | janresseger

School Funding On My Mind | janresseger

School Funding On My Mind

The failure of the school tax on the ballot last Tuesday in Los Angeles is the latest troubling story, but school funding has been an undercurrent in the news across the country in recent weeks.

Even in Massachusetts, where public education is relatively well funded, members of the New England Patriots published an op-ed in the Boston Globe to compare and contrast the funding in the schools where they visit. They have been paying attention to the school libraries: “We’ve read stories to elementary school students, sitting on carpeted floors in large libraries filled wall-to-wall with books and colorful seating areas. Yet we’ve also visited schools where we see a very different picture. Two weeks ago, we invited members of the Legislature to join us on a tour of Tracy Elementary School in Lynn. It was clear that Tracy’s principal, staff, and teachers are the school’s heart and soul, doing their best to give these children the best educational experience possible—but they also clearly lack the basic resources necessary to help their students succeed. Unlike at other schools we’ve visited, we didn’t see a dedicated library in Tracy Elementary. We didn’t meet a librarian. There is none… (W)e were shocked when we saw the reading rooms where English learners, along with students with learning disabilities, go to get time with a reading teacher or specialist. The rooms were 50 square feet and had no chairs, forcing up to 10 students at a time to squeeze on the floor to get the support they need… The state’s inequitable funding of education has left districts containing high concentrations of low-income students with smaller budgets than other, more affluent districts, even as these districts must meet a greater level of need from their students.”

Florida’s legislature has recently passed a troubling change to the state’s school finance.  Florida’s new law redirects a portion of locally passed school taxes to privately operated charter schools. In a nuanced and important analysis of the new law’s impact, Jeff Bryant quotes Justin Katz, president of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association, who explains that voters in Palm Beach County recently approved by a 72 percent margin, “$200 million in funding for their schools… a measure that specified increases could be used for teacher raises in traditional public schools and not for funding charter schools.”  However: “A recent law passed by the majority Republican Florida state legislature and signed by newly CONTINUE READING: School Funding On My Mind | janresseger