Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

Make Your Own Light

COLD WAR FEARS

Many of us who grew up during the Cold War were emotionally traumatized by the fear of nuclear annihilation. Those of us old enough to remember hiding under our school desks during an air-raid drill remember the feelings of fear. Those of us old enough to understand what was happening in Cuba in late 1962 remember the feelings of fear…

Research on the effects of the nuclear threat on children is chilling. At the end of the 1950s, 60 percent of American children reported having nightmares about nuclear war. Few other comprehensive surveys were conducted at this time, though studies multiplied in the early 1980s. In the 1960s, 44 percent of children in one survey predicted a serious nuclear incident. By 1979, 70 percent of interviewees the same age felt sure of an attack. Researchers noted that the latter survey respondents seemed more resigned than their 1960s counterparts. A 1984 survey of 1,100 Toronto schoolchildren found that many reported feeling helpless and powerless in the face of nuclear war.

I lived in Chicago during the Cold War years of the 50s and 60s. I lived with the worry that the plane flying over my house was sporting the red star of the Soviet Union. Every time I noticed a plane overhead I would look up and try to identify the markings…to assure myself that this one wasn’t the plane that would drop “the bomb” on the city. The fact that I lived on an entrance route to O’Hare Field, at that time the busiest commercial airport in the world, made it just that much CONTINUE READING: Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

HOW SHOULD WE EVALUATE TEACHER QUALITY?

The education psychologist have recently released a policy brief that discusses empirically based assessment of teacher quality. They write,

Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association is proud to announce their second policy brief, “Addressing Teacher Evaluation Appropriately.” This brief, focused on teacher evaluation practices and policies in schools was written by Alyson Lavigne and Thomas Good. A copy of the brief is attached for you to read and share.

About the Brief: In this policy brief, Lavigne and Good argue that the most commonly used practices to evaluate teachers—statistical approaches to determine student growth like value-added measures and the observation of teachers—have not improved teaching and learning in U.S. schools.  They have not done so because these approaches are problematic, including the failure to adequately account for context, complexity, and that teacher effectiveness and practice varies.  With these limitations in mind, the authors provide recommendations for policy and practice, including the elimination of high-stakes teacher evaluation and a greater emphasis on formative feedback, allowing more voice to teachers and underscoring that improving instruction should be at least as important as evaluating instruction.

 

Share the Brief! It’s important that our national policy be based on sound evidence.  You can see a copy of the brief here so that you may share this directly with your constituents—local policymakers, practitioners, educational organizations, faculty, staff, and students who are engaged in K-12 settings and research.  You can also promote this important work via social media using Twitter or Facebook using the following link: EdPsych.us/AddressingTeacherEvaluation

 

If you have any questions about the contents of this brief, please contact Alyson Lavigne (alyson.lavigne@usu.edu).  Any questions or ideas for future Division 15 policy briefs should be directed to Sharon Nichols, Chair of Division 15’s Policy and Practice Committee (Sharon.Nichols@utsa.edu).  For additional information about research related to problems involved in current teacher evaluation practices, see Lavigne and Good’s recent publication, Enhancing Teacher Education, Development, and Evaluation.

I think the implications for practice are particularly poignant:

The brief also outlines the problems with value-added modeling and high-stakes evaluation of teachers. It’s a must read for policymakers and community members that need empirically based arguments to push back against improper evaluation of teacher quality.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

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Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

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How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week

It’s rough being the parent of an American school student.

You often leave for work before your kids have even made it to school yet – and you get home long after they’ve returned.

When exactly are you supposed to parent?

Your kids have to get themselves to school. They have to get themselves home. And helping with homework, talking about their days, even setting a good example are all luxuries you have to pay dearly for with an ever-shrinking amount of time.

So what’s the solution?

For those of the think tank persuasion, the answer is more school.

Parents and kids schedules aren’t aligned? Well, align them then. Have kids in class from 9 to 5 just like their parents.

Not only will that make it easier for adults to take them to-and-from school, but it CONTINUE READING: Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections

The California Charter School Association (CCSA) is the largest and most visible pro-charter organization in Los Angeles’ political scene. CCSA has chosen to endorse just one candidate in LAUSD’s 2020 school board elections, but that doesn’t mean that pro-charter candidates aren’t receiving millions of dollars in support from independent expenditure committees (IEC’s) aligned with the charter school movement.

In LAUSD District 3, the singularly favored CCSA Candidate is Madeline Koziatek, a specialist in community outreach who works at a charter school. When CCSA selects a candidate the tendency in giving is of shock and awe. Amongst other activities, the CCSA is responsible for the attack on Scott Schmerelson that has been called everything from dishonest to anti-semitic.

However, pro-charter candidates not in District 3 are not being left without support. One local free marketeer is functioning as de facto surrogate donor for the group by privately funding prodigious IEs in support and opposition to all four LAUSD races. Bill Bloomfield is a major benefactor of education reform groups such as Parent Revolution, Educators For Excellence, Students Matter, and Great Public Schools LA. Together with his immediate family he has contributed $3.2m between 2013-2016 to CCSA.

The figure below is a visual representation of the volume and distribution of CONTINUE READING: Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner

Michael Bloomberg has invested heavily in promoting charter schools in California | EdSource

Michael Bloomberg has invested heavily in promoting charter schools in California | EdSource

Michael Bloomberg has invested heavily in promoting charter schools in California

f there is one issue on which Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump agree, it is on the value of charter schools.

One difference is that Bloomberg does not appear to back using taxpayer funds to underwrite tuition for private and parochial schools, as Trump does. Another is that Bloomberg has actually been able to implement his pro-charter agenda, when he was mayor in New York City, and in backing pro-charter causes and candidates in other states, most notably in California.

He has been one of a cadre of billionaires who have poured money to expand charter school in the state — including Reed Hastings, the founder and CEO of Netflix, L.A. philanthropist and businessman Eli Broad, and Walton family members associated with the Walmart empire.

California is the state with the largest number of charter schools (just over 1,300 at latest count), and they account for a disproportionately large share of charter school students nationally. Just over 1 in 5 of the 3.2 million children enrolled in charter schools in the U.S. are in California.

Bloomberg has also spent heavily on other issues involving children. He has contributed tens of millions of dollars in California to local initiatives related to CONTINUE READING: Michael Bloomberg has invested heavily in promoting charter schools in California | EdSource

Andrea Gabor: Betsy DeVos’s Voucher Obsession Could Boomerang on Republicans | Diane Ravitch's blog

Andrea Gabor: Betsy DeVos’s Voucher Obsession Could Boomerang on Republicans | Diane Ravitch's blog

Andrea Gabor: Betsy DeVos’s Voucher Obsession Could Boomerang on Republicans

Veteran journalist Andrea Gabor explains that Betsy DeVos got the Trump administration to commit fully behind her voucher obsession, rolling some 29 or 30 programs into a block grant, including the toxic federal Charter Schools Program. In exchange, the Trump administration is seeking $5 billion for national voucher program. It is certain not to be approved by Congress, but meanwhile the Supreme Court is considering a case (Espinoza v. Montana) that could eliminate all state bans on public spending for religious schools. This would have a devastating fiscal impact on public schools.

But, she warns, the voucher idea is an expensive failure and politically toxic. Based on recent electoral results, she predicts that it could blow up in the faces of Republican candidates. The overwhelming majority of American children attend public schools, including the overwhelming majority of children of Republican voters.

Despite DeVos’s enthusiastic support for vouchers, it may turn out to be a losing issue:

K-12 schooling remains a hot issue especially in local elections; thus, the combination of block grants and CONTINUE READING: Andrea Gabor: Betsy DeVos’s Voucher Obsession Could Boomerang on Republicans | Diane Ravitch's blog

Growing Awareness of "Period Poverty" in Schools - NEA Today

Growing Awareness of "Period Poverty" in Schools - NEA Today

Growing Awareness of “Period Poverty” in Schools

Delaware high school teacher Kerry Stahl keeps a stash of tampons and menstrual pads—which she pays for herself—in her classroom for students. This way, she says, students can grab one, run to the bathroom, and be back in class in five minutes.

Otherwise, Stahl’s students would have to trek to the nurse’s office (their school has one, but many don’t), wait for the nurse to triage the sick kids, and possibly miss a whole class. Even worse, because of lack of access to period products, some of her students might simply stay home.

It’s called “period poverty,” and according to a national study, one in five teens said they have struggled to afford period products, or haven’t been able to purchase them at all. As a consequence, 84 percent say they’ve missed school, or know somebody who has.

That’s why Stahl, who also is vice president of the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA), is excited about legislation that would require Delaware’s middle and high schools to have free tampons and pads in middle and high school bathrooms. “It’s a common sense law,” she says. “Especially in low-income communities, if these things are free and accessible, it could encourage students to CONTINUE READING: Growing Awareness of "Period Poverty" in Schools - NEA Today

CURMUDGUCATION: Avoiding Teacher Compensation

CURMUDGUCATION: Avoiding Teacher Compensation

Avoiding Teacher Compensation

Erik Hanushek has been at this for a while, and his shtick is pretty well polished. With Raj Chetty, he's been making the assertion that having a good teacher will make a student wealthier. While he can occasionally seem like a champion of teachers and teaching, he also lapses often into the old reform whinge that teachers don't really want to be held accountable for their performance, and that such strict, measurable accountability is possible because teaching's not really any different than any other job. What he mostly means is good old value-added test scores. Hanushek, it turns out, also helped cook up the idea of "days of learning" aka "change in test score" which was popularized by CREDO (Hanushek is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, a right-tilted thinky tank housed at Stanford, while CREDO is an ed reform-tilted research group at Stanford; it is also run by Hanushek's wife).

Did I mention that Hanushek is an economist? I'm not sure what strange attraction the world of education holds for economists, but Hanushek most often seems to be trying to solve a problem popular with economists-- how can we get more education and pay less for it.

Hanushek often turns up on op-ed pages, but this time he's issuing a full-on policy analysis from the Hoover Education Success Initiative-- "The Unavoidable: Tomorrow's Teacher Compensation." The Initiative is a gathering of the usual suspects-- the executive committee is Hanushek, Chester Finn (Fordham Institute boss-emeritus), Paul Peterson, and Margaret Raymond (CREDO chief and Hanushek's wife). It's a good solid summary of Hanushek's CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Avoiding Teacher Compensation

Don’t Mess with Texas’ Schools – Have You Heard

Don’t Mess with Texas’ Schools – Have You Heard

Don’t Mess with Texas’ Schools

Have You Heard heads to fast-growing north Texas for a first-hand look at how support for public education is upending the state’s politics. Spoiler: GOP candidates are scrambling to paint themselves as lovers of public schools and their teachers. But does their new-found love translate into actual policy? And will former GOP voters who prize public education end up changing the way they vote?  Part of our series on education and politics in 2020, this episode captures a trend with major implications for Texas and beyond. Transcript available here.

And if you like what you hear, consider supporting Have You Heard on Patreon. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going and enables us to hit the road to do original reporting.

Don’t Mess with Texas’ Schools – Have You Heard

¡Prop 13 Is Not About Property Tax! (But It Is About Funding Schools) – Los Angeles Education Examiner

¡Prop 13 Is Not About Property Tax! (But It Is About Funding Schools) – Los Angeles Education Examiner

¡Prop 13 Is Not About Property Tax! (But It Is About Funding Schools)

In 1978 Californians voted to limit their personal tax liability. The ballot initiative approved at that time was titled and summarized by the CA Secretary of State as “Proposition 13, Tax Limitations Initiative (1978)”. Click here for a terrific retrospective (or primer, depending on your age).

This is not the Proposition 13 on March 3, 2020’s primary ballot.

We are currently voting (yes, the vote has started already, and will be ongoing now through 3/3/20) on a ballot initiative to authorize $15b in bonds for school and educational facilities throughout California. This current state measure is also termed “Proposition 13”, but its official summary title is “School And College Facilities Bond (2020)”.

While it is true this Proposition 13 will cost taxpayers money ($750m spread over 35 years in exchange for $15b to use for immediate costs now), indeed our schools are crumbling and in dire need of infrastructural attention. Where once California’s schools were the pride of the nation, draw of the world; today they are among the worst-funded K12 schools and the allure of our post-secondary institutions is also at risk. We cannot just let the infrastructural surrounds of Pat Brown’s seminal vision of Education melt CONTINUE READING: ¡Prop 13 Is Not About Property Tax! (But It Is About Funding Schools) – Los Angeles Education Examiner

New flyer for the Feb. 28 class size hearings; please come! | Class Size Matters

New flyer for the Feb. 28 class size hearings; please come! | Class Size Matters  | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

New flyer for the Feb. 28 class size hearings; please come!

Here and below is the updated flyer for the Feb. 28 class size hearings at City Hall, starting at 10 AM.  Please share widely, and sorry for all the confusion.

Please come to show your support for smaller classes, even if you don’t choose to testify.  If you can’t be there at 10 AM, don’t worry; public testimony won’t start till about 11 AM and then will likely continue till at least 1 PM.

We have updated talking points, though it’s always best to speak from the heart and from your own experience as a parent or former teacher.  (Most working teachers unfortunately won’t be able to attend.)

We weren’t able to hold a rally beforehand, so we’ll hold a silent rally inside the Committee room.  Bring signs!

Thanks, Leonie

Download (PDF, 740KB)

New flyer for the Feb. 28 class size hearings; please come! | Class Size Matters  | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

CURMUDGUCATION: Shoving Babies Into The Pipeline

CURMUDGUCATION: Shoving Babies Into The Pipeline

Shoving Babies Into The Pipeline

I knew I was going to be cranky after the very first sentence:

The workforce pipeline begins with quality early education.

This is Gil Minor, a retired CEO of a Fortune 200 company; he's also the chair of the Virginia Higher Education Council and vice-chairman of the group he's plugging in this op-ed, E3: Elevate Early Education. And not everything he has to say is odious claptrap, but that first sentence really sets the wrong tone.

This attitude pops up from business guys with depressing regularity. In 2013, it was Allan Golston of the Gates Foundation writing, "Businesses are the primary consumers of the output of our schools..." Back in 2014, Rex Tillerson, then Enron chief, said, "I'm not sure public schools understand that we're their customer--that we, the business community, are your customer. What they don't understand is they are producing a product at the end of that high school graduation."

Yes, that looks like a great place for a child

This too-pervasive belief that the main purpose of public education is to run human capital through a pipeline so that meat widgets pop out the other end, ready for the consumption of business is bunk. Public education does not exist to serve the needs of business; it exists to serve the students, their families, the community, and society as a whole. Absolutely, part of serving students is to help them become self-supporting and employable-- but the idea is to serve the needs of the students, not the needs of the businesses.

But Minor is going to take this belief about CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Shoving Babies Into The Pipeline

NYC Public School Parents: Update: Class size hearings to be held on Friday Feb. 28, 10AM at City Hall!

NYC Public School Parents: Update: Class size hearings to be held on Friday Feb. 28, 10AM at City Hall!

Update: Class size hearings to be held on Friday Feb. 28, 10AM at City Hall!

Our class size hearings have been rescheduled again, and will now be held on Friday February 28, at 10AM at City Hall in the Committee Room. 

We really need parents, teachers, and concerned citizens to come out and show their support for this event. You can come to testify and/or bring signs to show your support for smaller class sizes.

If you cannot attend, you can also send written testimony or a statement of support to jatwell@council.nyc.gov by March 4, which will be shared with the Education Committee members.

If you do plan to testify or send a statement, is always best to speak from your own experience as a parent or teacher. But additional points you could make are provided in our Class Size FAQ here.

These rescheduling issues are out of our hands, but we apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this causes. Thank you for your patience, and for your continued support for NYC students.

 And if you haven’t already, please also call Speaker Corey Johnson at 212-564-7757 or 212-788-7210 and your own Council Member – you can find out their contact info at https://council.nyc.gov/districts/ 

Urge them to allocate at least $100 million in next year’s budget for class size reduction. 

Then follow up by letting us know at our quick survey. Thanks so much to those of you who’ve done this already.


NYC Public School Parents: Update: Class size hearings to be held on Friday Feb. 28, 10AM at City Hall!

Project-Based Learning, #3 | The Merrow Report

Project-Based Learning, #3 | The Merrow Report

Project-Based Learning, #3

Recently in this space I have been praising project-based learning, because it enables students to become producers of knowledge, not merely consumers (and sometimes regurgitators).  As noted earlier, the best projects are ones where the teacher or teachers do not know ‘The correct answer’ because they also are engaged in the journey of discovery. 

In the end, students own the work they have done; school is no longer just about tests, test scores, and the question teachers dread, “Will this be on the test?”

The first two projects I wrote about involved water and air; this one gets students out in their communities, which means it will also introduce adults who don’t have school-age children to the wonders of what is possible in public education.  

Done well, this work enables young people to develop at least six skills that will serve them well throughout their adult lives.

          1) working together with peers;

         2) communicating across generations;

          3) specific production CONTINUE READING: Project-Based Learning, #3 | The Merrow Report

The Real Reading Debate and How We Fail to Teach Reading – radical eyes for equity

The Real Reading Debate and How We Fail to Teach Reading – radical eyes for equity

The Real Reading Debate and How We Fail to Teach Reading

Sometimes cliches hit the nail on the head: It’s deja vu all over again.


Sometimes hackneyed metaphors paint the best picture: When you find yourself in a hole, keep digging.


And that brings us to the “science of reading” version of the Reading War.


Here, I want to address the often misunderstood real reading debate as well as outline how there has been a historical failure in teaching reading that continues today.


First, let’s clarify some facts about reading.


For over a century, measurable reading achievement (test scores) has been mostly correlated with socio-economic factors (the students home, community, and school) and not significantly correlated with how students are being taught to read.


In that same time period, there has never been a moment when the U.S. hasn’t declared “reading crisis.” And as a result of this myopic view of reading achievement, the U.S. has a recurring Reading War; some notable moments include the 1940s, the 1950s-1960s, and the 1990s (see especially McQuillan).


Throughout the history of reading instruction, phonics instruction has always been a key component of how students are taught to read in school. The Urban CONTINUE READING: The Real Reading Debate and How We Fail to Teach Reading – radical eyes for equity

Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success

Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success

Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success in Progressive Cities

The American education system is rife with problems. Schools go underfunded, teachers barely can make a living wage and students have to worry about either getting shot at or body-slammed by school resource officers. While many of those problems tend to be attributed to schools in lower-income areas, a study shows that’s not quite the case.

NBC News reports that in some of the nation’s most progressive cities, academic success is divided across racial lines. Cities such as San Francisco, Minneapolis and Oakland have some of the worst gaps in success between white students and their black and Latino counterparts. In San Francisco, 70 percent of white students are proficient in math while only 12 percent of black students can claim the same. In Washington D.C, 83 percent of white students are reading at a proficient level as opposed to black students who are ranking at 23 percent.

In comparison, some of the most conservative cities in the country have closed if not eradicated the gap completely. While this is not a good look, it’s a problem that can be fixed. Some solutions proposed were politicians allocating more funds into their school systems, more interaction between teachers and the parents of students and programs that will track the year to year progress of minority students.

It’s no secret that American education tends to favor whiteness. This report isn’t so much a shocking exposé as it is a confirmation of what we already knew. I would like to see meaningful change come as a result of this study though I find it highly unlikely. 

Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success

Standardized tests voided at three dozen New Orleans schools due to irregularities | The Lens

Standardized tests voided at three dozen New Orleans schools due to irregularities | The Lens

Standardized tests voided at three dozen New Orleans schools due to irregularities

Thirty-four New Orleans public schools had at least one state standardized exam voided last school year due to test policy violations or suspected cheating, according to the Louisiana Department of Education’s annual testing irregularities report. 

Across the state, 1,497 exams at 299 schools were voided for a variety of reasons, ranging from administrative errors, such as an administrator giving students extra time, to suspected cheating. In total, 134 exams, at 34 public schools, were voided in Orleans Parish, out of about 80 public schools in the city.  Last year, 26 New Orleans public schools had 225 voided tests. Of those, 144 were from John F. Kennedy High School.

The majority of this year’s voids, both statewide and in the NOLA Public Schools district, were a result of testing policy violations rather than suspected cheating. 

In New Orleans, 17 tests were voided due to plagiarism and seven due to abnormally high numbers of wrong-to-right answer changes. 

Nearby Jefferson Parish public schools had 218 exams voided overall, St. Tammany public schools saw 30 exams voided, and the St. Bernard Parish school district had 5 exams voided.

Test security has been a focus in New Orleans since increased test scores from Landry- CONTINUE READING: Standardized tests voided at three dozen New Orleans schools due to irregularities | The Lens