It's Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A VERY BUSY 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

It's Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A VERY BUSY DAY | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Google’s New “Interpreter Mode” Makes It Easier For Teachers & Parents To Talk If They Don’t Speak Each Other’s Languages

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

Google has just added what they call “Interpreter Mode” to the mobile Google Assistant app. Download the free app, say something like “Be my Spanish translator,” and it will automatically translate in writing and in audio what you say in English to Spanish, and then what the other person says in Spanish into English. It can do this in forty-four languages. Obviously, the translation is not even n

YESTERDAY

“What Can Teachers Do to Highlight Student Assets & Not Their Deficits?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

What Can Teachers Do to Highlight Student Assets & Not Their Deficits? is the new question-of-the-week at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave responses in the comments section there or here…

A Look Back: Not Sure If You’ll Find A Better Guide For Making Good Presentations Than This One….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. There are a lot of good guides out there for how to speak in public, and you can find many of them at The Best Sources Of Advice For Making Good Presentations . I’m not sure, though, if you’re going to find a better one – for teachers or for students – than the recent Harvard Busin

A Beginning List Of The Best “Test-Prep” Ideas For California’s English Language Assessment

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

eslfuntaiwan / Pixabay Early next year schools around California will begin administering the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) , which must be given to all English Language Learners . Though I am no stranger to ethical test prep for standardized tests (see Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad) and, in particular, my article on “Et

Pins Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated 20,000 resources there that I haven’t shared on this blog. I thought readers might find it useful if I began sharing a handful of my most recent “pins” each week (I’m not sure if you can see them through an RSS Reader – you might have to click through to the original post). You might also be interested in MY MOST POPULAR PINS OF 2019 The f

Video: Trailer For Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In The Heights” Looks Terrific

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

geralt / Pixabay The trailer for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In The Heights” came out today, and it looks terrific! It’s coming out in June. I was lucky enough to see a great stage production of it earlier this year. You might also be interested in The Best Teaching/Learning Resources On The Musical, “Hamilton”

My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On Using Writing To Support Reading Instruction

by Larry Ferlazzo / 15h

Double Dipping: Using Writing to Support Reading and Reading to Support Writing is the title of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show. I’m joined by Mary Beth Niklaus, Tony Zani and Mary Tedrow, who have all contributed written 

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

Mitchell Robinson: Predictions for the Pittsburgh Public Education Forum 2020 | Eclectablog

Predictions for the Pittsburgh Public Education Forum 2020 | Eclectablog

Predictions for the Pittsburgh Public Education Forum 2020

Given that education consistently ranks among the top issues for voters in most public opinion polls, with the vast majority (82%) of parents of school-aged children reporting that they are either “somewhat” or “completely satisfied” with their child’s education, one could be forgiven for being flummoxed by the near-absence of questions about teachers, schools, or education in general at any of the Democratic presidential debates thus far.

And while each of the candidates would likely claim that education is “very important” to them, the silence of most of these candidates on matters of education policy has been deafening. Only two of the candidates (Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) have released anything resembling a coherent education plan, although no one should be surprised if some of the others use this opportunity to unveil plans of their own in front of what is sure to be an appreciative, if somewhat wary audience.

Which makes Saturday’s “Public Education Forum” in Pittsburgh more of a mystery at this point than anything else.

That said, the event’s organizers (Alliance for Educational Justice, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, American Federation of Teachers, Center for Popular Democracy Action, Journey for Justice Alliance, NAACP, National Education Association, Network for Public Education, Opportunity to Learn Action Fund, Schott Foundation for Public Education, Service CONTINUE READING: Predictions for the Pittsburgh Public Education Forum 2020 | Eclectablog

Wendy Lecker: Stop Blaming Schools for Chronic Absenteeism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Wendy Lecker: Stop Blaming Schools for Chronic Absenteeism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Wendy Lecker: Stop Blaming Schools for Chronic Absenteeism

In the era of Bush-Obama education policy, it became conventional wisdom to blame schools for the effects of poverty. Civil rights lawyer Wendy Lecker explains that the test-and-punish regime continues by blaming schools and punishing them for chronic absenteeism. 

She writes:

NCLB measured school quality based on standardized test scores and relied on sanctions such as school turnaround, takeover and privatization. After almost two decades under NCLB, and the acknowledgment that the metric was inaccurate and the prescriptions were ineffective, the federal government decided to try a tweaked version of its failed test-and-punish regime.

The ESSA system employs multiple “indicators” of school quality. Each indicator provides schools and districts with points that together dictate what types of sanctions are imposed. The dashboard showing the schools’ and districts’ points for each indicator are also published online.

Nowhere on this dashboard is the state graded for CONTINUE READING: Wendy Lecker: Stop Blaming Schools for Chronic Absenteeism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeff Bryant: Charter Schools’ Billion-Dollar Fraud Stinks Worse Than We Thought | OurFuture.org by People's Action

Charter Schools’ Billion-Dollar Fraud Stinks Worse Than We Thought | OurFuture.org by People's Action

Charter Schools’ Billion-Dollar Fraud Stinks Worse Than We Thought

Earlier this year, when members of Congress repeatedly confronted U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about a study finding the federal government’s charter school grant program had wasted an estimated $1 billion on schools that had never opened or opened and quickly closed, she dismissed the findings and accused the report authors of having a “political agenda against charter schools.” On December 10, the organization that published the study DeVos disparaged issued a more detailed examination of waste in the government’s charter grant program and concluded the $1 billion figure was indeed likely not correct—it was an underestimate.

The report “Still Asleep at the Wheel: How the Federal Charter Schools Program Results in a Pileup of Fraud and Waste” by the Network for Public Education (NPE) calculates approximately $1.17 billion in federal funding has been spent on charters that either never opened or that opened and have since shut down. Much of the added waste the study found in the charter program comes from the researchers’ findings that way more of these charters have closed or never opened than originally estimated. Based on its second passthrough of the data, NPE upped the failure rate of taxpayer-funded charter startups from 30 percent to 37 percent.

The new report arrives at an especially critical time in the discussion about charter schools in the Democratic presidential primary.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the four front-runners in the race, has proposed “halting the use of public funds to CONTINUE READING: Charter Schools’ Billion-Dollar Fraud Stinks Worse Than We Thought | OurFuture.org by People's Action

At Forum Tomorrow, 8 Dem Candidates Will Address Public Education, Including New Report on Waste and Fraud in Federal Charter Schools Program | janresseger

At Forum Tomorrow, 8 Dem Candidates Will Address Public Education, Including New Report on Waste and Fraud in Federal Charter Schools Program | janresseger

At Forum Tomorrow, 8 Dem Candidates Will Address Public Education, Including New Report on Waste and Fraud in Federal Charter Schools Program

On Monday, the Network for Public Education published a new, in depth report on the scandalous waste of federal funds disseminated since 1995 through the federal Charter Schools Program. The report, Still Asleep at the Wheel: How the Federal Charter Schools Program Results in a Pileup of Fraud and Waste, is posted along with interactive maps, in which you can examine case studies of the waste of federal funds in each of the 43 states where the federal government has awarded Charter Schools Program (CSP) grants.

Last spring, the Network for Public Education released an earlier report, Asleep at the Wheel, which tracked outrageous waste of federal funds disseminated in federal CSP grants to states.  The stated purpose of state level CSP grants is to stimulate startups of new charter schools. CSP grants to the big charter management organizations are intended to help them expand by sponsoring additional schools.

Why has the Network for Public Education published a second investigative report on the federal charter schools program? “When our first report was issued, we were dismayed that rather than investigate our claims, Secretary DeVos instead dismissed the report as ‘political.’  It became clear that negligence in the administration of the program was not caused by a lack of awareness or capacity, but was rather accepted practice by the Department when it came to Charter Schools Program grants. We therefore continued our investigation with three objectives. The first was to move beyond our estimation of waste, and document the amount of federal tax dollars that have been spent on defunct schools.”

NPE continues: “Our second objective was to determine how it could be possible that such a CONTINUE READING: At Forum Tomorrow, 8 Dem Candidates Will Address Public Education, Including New Report on Waste and Fraud in Federal Charter Schools Program | janresseger

College Board Sued for Soliciting and Selling Students’ Personal Information | deutsch29

College Board Sued for Soliciting and Selling Students’ Personal Information | deutsch29

College Board Sued for Soliciting and Selling Students’ Personal Information

On December 10, 2019, an Illinois parent identified as “Mark S.” filed a class action lawsuit against College Board for soliciting and selling personal information from minor students taking College Board’s standardized tests.

The 38-page complaint, filed in US District Court, District of Northern Illinois, Eastern Division, alleges the following (from the introduction of the case):

Every year, hundreds of thousands of students in Illinois and millions of students across the United States take one or more standardized tests provided by Defendant College Board –including, the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, PSAT 8/9and Advanced Placement Exams(“AP Exams”)(collectively, the “Standardized Tests”). While students were made to believe the results of these tests would significantly impact their futures, to Defendant College Board the tests served a wholly different purpose–i.e., to obtain highly valuable personal student information. Defendant College Board obtained the students’ personal information through the use of unfair and deceptive practices such as: (a) misrepresenting that it did not sell the information; (b) falsely claiming that the personal information would“[g]uide your counselors in helping you plan your future”; and (c) preying on students’ hopes and fears by making it appear that providing the information could assist with college acceptance and financial aid while not providing the information would be detrimental to those goals–when in fact, neither scenario was true. As Defendant College Board has admitted, whether a student provided the information did not impact his chance of being accepted into colleges or scholarship programs in any way.

College Board’s solicitation of the student information in question occurs via completion of its “Student Search Service” section, which students are asked to CONTINUE READING: College Board Sued for Soliciting and Selling Students’ Personal Information | deutsch29

Governor _______’s Inaugural Address | The Merrow Report

Governor _______’s Inaugural Address | The Merrow Report

Governor _______’s Inaugural Address

Good afternoon. I am thrilled, delighted, and deeply honored to be speaking here today to our state legislature in person and, on radio and television, to citizens of the great state of _______.  As your duly elected governor, I want to promise that my team and I will spend every waking hour working on your behalf.

On the mirror in our bathroom is a small piece of paper on which appears theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer.”  I read it every morning.  I’m sure you know it well.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

This morning I am asking all of you to take those sentiments seriously. Let’s resolve to change what we can–what we must–change, to ensure a bright future for our state and our citizens.

For me, the answer begins with the education of our young.  That’s not all we need to work on, but if we don’t get that right, not much else matters.

Let’s remind ourselves that public education serves an important public purpose.  Yes, of course there is an undeniable private benefit to getting education: children who finish high school and college will earn significantly more over their lifetimes CONTINUE READING: Governor _______’s Inaugural Address | The Merrow Report

Charter Industry Announces Its Plans to Disrupt Pittsburgh Forum on Public Education on Saturday | Diane Ravitch's blog

Charter Industry Announces Its Plans to Disrupt Pittsburgh Forum on Public Education on Saturday | Diane Ravitch's blog

Charter Industry Announces Its Plans to Disrupt Pittsburgh Forum on Public Education on Saturday

Prominent groups that support public schools–not charter schools or religious schools–are meeting on Saturday in Pittsburgh to discuss the future of public education with Democratic presidential candidates.

The billionaire-funded charter industry is angry that they can’t control the event and they have released their plans to disrupt the event.

Contrary to the claims of the charter industry, charter schools are not public schools. They are private contractors that receive public money and are typically unregulated and fail to meet basic standards of accountability and transparency.

Unfortunately, their leaders insist on minimal or non-regulation, assuring that grifters and entrepreneurs will be able to receive public dollars without any accountability.

The industry resolutely refuses to acknowledge, let alone curb, the waste, fraud, and abuse that has created a backlash against charter schools.

The Center for Education Reform, led by former Heritage Foundation education analyst Jeanne Allen, sent out this email:

 Charter Schools in Pittsburgh & Leaders throughout Pennsylvania Unite 

Issue strong message to special interest sponsors of “Public Education Forum 2020” and the Democratic candidates ignoring parental demands

WASHINGTON – Charter school leaders in Pittsburgh, joined by others throughout Pennsylvania, and by key state democratic officials issued strong statements today challenging the Democratic candidates for president who will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this Saturday, December 14, 2019, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the “Public Education Forum 2020: Equity and Justice for All.” Sponsored by unions and other interest groups, the Forum has sparked strong responses from the Pennsylvania charter school community, with its unfounded attacks upon the substantive work being carried out throughout the state and right in the city where the forum will be held.

“We call on the candidates to remember those who won’t be there: the thousands of parents from underserved communities tragically forced to watch their children suffer academically because of a failed system that refuses any real reform,” said representatives of 5 of the city’s charter schools in a statement, speaking on behalf of the state’s 143,000 charter school students and their parents.

“The Democratic Presidential candidates have been summoned to demonstrate their allegiance to the unions and special interests who they believe hold the key to their nomination,” said CER Founder & CEO Jeanne Allen. “Not invited were any charter or reform minded voices to participate in this nationally televised forum CONTINUE READING: Charter Industry Announces Its Plans to Disrupt Pittsburgh Forum on Public Education on Saturday | Diane Ravitch's blog