Sunday, April 26, 2020 CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI:: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)

What? May?! Really??! Edition 

Well, here we still are, those of us who are fortunate enough to still be here. Let's read some things!

When teaching and parenting collide
I missed this when it landed at Chalkbeat a month ago-- Matt Barnum looks at teachers who have to balance virtual teaching and at-home parenting.

Teachers, parents and principals tell their story  
Over at The Answer Sheet on the Washington Post, Carol Burris runs down some of the results of the big Network for Public Education pandemic stay-st-home education survey.

No To Race To The Top: Covid-19  
It shouldn't come as a surprise, but Neal McClusky at the libertarian Cato Institute doesn't like the DeVosian competitive grant program (you know-- the one that looks eerily like Arne Duncan could have designed it) any more than I do, even if it is for different reason.

Coronavirus capitalism is coming for public schools  
At The Progressive, Dora Taylor takes a look at the vultures circling overhead right now.

Exam Anxiety  
The Verge looks at the increasingly super-creepy world of online exam proctoring. Because there's always one more way to advance the surveillance state.

Teaching US History in Michigan
At the blog A Walk Back in Time, a reflection on the crazy-pants demonstration in Michigan this week.

Betsy DeVos sued over garnished wages
DeVos once agains is dragging her feet on a policy that lets Those People get away with owing money, and so, onc again, she is being taken to court.

Betsy DeVos is the real civics failure
DeVos had some thoughts about the low NAEP history scores; Negin Owliaei is the Inside Sources with some thoughts about DeVos.

Where Are The Teachers?  
John Ewing at Forbes.com raising the issue of how folks in authority fai to actually listen to teachers. "It’s commonplace to say, “We don’t respect teachers,” but we seldom consider what that means. Respect isn’t merely the way you treat people—respect is the way you value their expertise. "

The Wild West of Unregulated Unacountable Virtual Voucher Schools  
The big push is on for virtual schooling. Why is that a lousy idea? Let Accountabaloney count te ways.

It's Time To Fix Standardized Testing   
Testing expert Akil Bello has a blog, and right now, you can read about some ideas for fixing standardized testing. It's a little wonky, but therefor solid on details.

98 Success Academy Students Accepted to College  
The always-charter-loving NY Post made a big fuss this week about SA getting 100% of its graduating class accepted to college. Gary Rubinstein would like to provide a little context-- like noting that that doesn't count all the students who left SA before this swell milestone. And he has the numbers, going back to kindergartem.


CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What? May?! Really??! Edition (5/3)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

27by Peter Greene / 17h

It's one of the less common buttons pushed by reformsters intent on pushing school choice, and it might be one of the most backwards pitches out there. Child Safety Accounts seem to be particular baby of the Heartland Institute, a thinky tank that leans way right. Their mission: "to discover, develop and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems." They are big advocates for the

Trump Teams Up With Catholic Church For School Vouchers

1Kby Peter Greene / 2d

The Tablet is a magazine of Catholic news and opinion; they got their hands on a recording of the April 26 conference call phone meeting between some 600 prominent American Catholics and the "best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church." According to Christopher White, reporting for The Tablet, the call included Cardinal Timothy Dolan (New York), Cardinal Sean O'Malley (Boston), Archbi

How Will The Free Market Save The Most Challenging Students

42by Peter Greene / 3d

Yesterday, Debbie Meyer put up a post at Project Forever Free that, unfortunately, does not strain the limits of credulity. It's about her journey as a parent and advocate, about the struggle to get her child the educational services that he's entitled to, and her subsequent work in helping other parents learn how to do the same. Struggles between parents of students with special needs and the pub

This Is Not What School Will Look Like

7Kby Peter Greene / 3d

Good lord-- the advice/guidance/clever thoughts about how to re-open schools, particularly if any state decides to follow Trump's latest unfiltered brain fart , seem to have been generated, once again, by people who have not been inside a school since they became adults. In some cases, the advice appears to come from people who have never met tiny humans at all. The CDC joins many folks advising t

Khan Academy:This Is Better

100+by Peter Greene / 4d

We are just going to keep seeing these kinds of headlines until this mess is behind us: Khan Academy founder: Balance between in-person, online learning could be ‘silver lining’ of crisis . Is it? Is it a silver lining that some ed tech folks are going to grab some market share over this? Khan Academy has seen a steady uptick in the use of their product, which, for those of you who somehow missed

Rethinking Accountability For Education, Post-Pandemic.

66by Peter Greene / 5d

It made sense for states to cancel the big end-of-year standardized reading and math test even before it became obvious that many students will never be back to school this spring to take the tests. In this extraordinary year, the tests were never going to supply valid data that could be compared to other years. Now that this year looks to be a “short” year for students, the same argument should

ICYMI: How Many Weeks Has It Been Now Edition (4/26)

by Peter Greene / 7d

Well, on it goes. Here's some reading from the week. Remember, your choices about which voices to amplify make a difference. COVID Stimulus Funds for Private School Vouchers The indispensable Mercedes Schneider 

CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

Children Learn What They Live, 2020 version | Live Long and Prosper

Children Learn What They Live, 2020 version | Live Long and Prosper

Children Learn What They Live, 2020 version

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.
Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

OUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

Aaron Rupar

✔@atrupar

 · Apr 19, 2020

Replying to @atrupar

"My wonderful place in Florida, in Miami, Doral" -- Trump works in a second plug for a property he still owns and profits from

Aaron Rupar

✔@atrupar

"You're CNN. You're fake news ... you don't have the brains you were born with" -- asked why he's playing clips of people praising him about a pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans, Trump attacks a reporter

3,076

4:48 PM - Apr 19, 2020

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If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

“The president’s attacks have done some damage,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said Wednesday at an event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. He cited a Freedom Forum Institute poll this year where more than three-quarters of Americans said “fake news” is a serious threat to democracy.

“I believe President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history,” Wallace said.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

The ICE raids, carried out under the leadership of a Donald Trump- CONTINUE READING: Children Learn What They Live, 2020 version | Live Long and Prosper

School Reform Metaphors: The Pendulum and Hurricane | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

School Reform Metaphors: The Pendulum and Hurricane | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

School Reform Metaphors: The Pendulum and Hurricane

Consider that a pendulum swing returns almost to the same spot it left.

Although there is motion, there is little change. Yet anyone who remembers what the mid-1980s were like and what is currently going on with schools closed during the pandemic and re-opening in the Fall knows that both schools and society have indeed gone through serious changes in the economy, technology, demography, and pandemics. So the metaphor of a school reform pendulum masks major changes in both society and schools.

Furthermore, the pendulum metaphor implies that policymaker talk about school reform is what happens in classrooms. Yet there is a huge gap between policy talk and classroom practice when it comes to school reform.

Over the last quarter-century, researchers who have gone into classrooms have concluded that there are enduring practices that teachers use in organizing a class, maintaining order, asking questions, concentrating on basic skills, using texts, and testing students. Over many decades, even as new curricula and technologies (e.g., laptops, interactive whiteboards, smart phones) enter and exit classrooms these practices, with occasional alterations, persist.

A second research finding is that policymakers can legislate changes in teacher practices all they want but teachers, once they close their classroom door, will CONTINUE READING:  School Reform Metaphors: The Pendulum and Hurricane | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Jeff Bryant: Economic Tsunami Crashes into America’s Schools - LA Progressive

Economic Tsunami Crashes into America’s Schools - LA Progressive

Economic Tsunami Crashes into America’s Schools

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly all states have ordered or recommended school buildings stay closed for the rest of the academic year, according to Education Week’s most recent count, and “schools are likely to stay shut for months,” according to the New York Times. Teachers are responding to the crisis by continuing their heroic efforts to ensure students are getting fed, staying engaged, and receiving ongoing instruction via remote learning in some form. Meanwhile, economists and policy leaders are warning that public schools are headed toward a financial crater unless governments at all levels come up with emergency funds for schools.

But instead of rushing to rescue schools from financial calamity, many government leaders—including U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—are using the pandemic to advance their personal agendas, whether it’s to privatize public education or balance budgets on the backs of school kids.

Their proposals to privatize education and slash spending are the wrong way to respond to a pandemic.

The predicted shortfalls will compound harm that’s been done to a public education system already in financial trauma.

Public schools haven’t fully recovered from the beating they took as a result of the Great Recession, argues a new report from the Albert Shanker Institute, a research center affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. The downturn in the nation’s economy that started in 2007 hit schools hardest in 2009 to 2011, after states had slashed education budgets and aid that came from the federal stimulus package had run out. The results were “fewer teachers and support staff, larger classes, and a narrower array of academic CONTINUE READING: Economic Tsunami Crashes into America’s Schools - LA Progressive

EdAction in Congress May 3, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress May 3, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress May 3, 2020

States need federal help to weather COVID-19

As fallout from COVID-19 continues to spread, states are battered by rising costs, declining revenues, and massive unemployment. In the last week alone, 3.8 million Americans filed unemployment claims, bringing the total number of unemployed to more than 30 million. The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities now projects $350 billion in state budget shortfalls in FY2021—an increase of $60 billion in just a week. School buildings housing more than 45 million students in 43 states and Washington, DC, have shut down, according to Education Week, and layoffs of educators and other public employees have begun.

To help states weather what could be the worst economic downturn in U.S. history, NEA is asking Congress for an additional $175 billion to stabilize education funding—the $30.7 billion authorized thus far is not nearly enough. The non-partisan National Governors Association is calling for even more—an additional $500 billion in direct relief to state and local governments. But Congress needs to hear from us. Right now. A decade ago, during the Great Recession, state and local governments scrapped essential student services and laid off tens of thousands of educators. We can’t let that happen again. TAKE ACTION

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Narrow the digital divide and close the homework gap

“People like to talk about opportunity all the time, but I always say without access, opportunity means nothing,” says Oklahoma drama and speech teacher Shawna Mott-Wright. She estimates that as many as half of her students at Tulsa’s Memorial High School—where more than 80 percent of students are from lower-income families—can’t engage in distance learning. They either don’t have devices, or they don’t have high-speed internet access.

As part of the next COVID-19 legislative package, NEA is pushing Congress to help narrow the digital divide and close the homework gap—the inability to do schoolwork at home due to lack of internet access. Nationwide, as many as 12 million students are affected—roughly 1 in 5. A disproportionate share of those students are African-American, Hispanic, live in rural areas, or come from low-income families. The Emergency Educational Connections Act (H.R. 6563) provides a $2 billion down payment for a special fund, administered by the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program, to equip students with internet access; the Senate version, which will be introduced this week, provides $4 billion to support students for the duration of the 2020-21 school year. TAKE ACTION

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May 4-8 is Teacher Appreciation Week

Now more than ever, it is fitting that we celebrate educators—teachers and ESPs—and their unwavering fortitude, optimism, creativity, and love for students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bipartisan resolutions, introduced in both chambers to designate May 4-8 Teacher Appreciation Week, note that educators “have stepped up in new ways to support their students and communities, including by coordinating remote learning, supporting students’ mental health, providing meals to students in need, and distributing technology to students.” The resolutions are sponsored by Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Tell your members of Congress to contact one of them to become a cosponsor. TAKE ACTION

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Cheers and Jeers

Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Alma Adams (D-NC) are leading a Dear Colleague letter urging House leadership to include student loan debt cancellation in any future coronavirus relief package.

Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Raul Ruiz (D-CA) spoke at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute virtual briefing on addressing COVID-19 health disparities.

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) Introduced the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act (H.R. 6199), which provides $1 billion to strengthen unemployment insurance and was incorporated in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed into law on March 18.

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) and nearly two dozen others wrote to Senate leadership asking to raise SNAP benefits by 15 percent as well as increase the monthly minimum benefit from $16 to $30 for all households, something that would particularly impact single Americans who might only qualify for the minimum benefit.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is bringing the Senate back to Washington to confirm more judges despite the COVID-19 pandemic and urgent need to help those whose health and financial well-being have been affected by it.

EdAction in Congress May 3, 2020 - Education Votes

Jamala Rogers: Poor Kids Not Getting Online Instruction - LA Progressive

Poor Kids Not Getting Online Instruction - LA Progressive

Poor Kids Not Getting Online Instruction

Almost overnight, the jobs of a lot of working-class parents and grandparents were shut down. Thanks to COVID-19, many were thrust into new roles—to replace their child’s teachers. This new role has added to the stress and strain already created by the virus.

We know that students are not showing up for the online classes. From the U.S. Census and other sources, we also know that most of them do not have internet services or computers at home. How is this situation–well-known before the pandemic—being addressed in our struggling communities?

My concern is that given the lack of access to instructional resources, along with the mental and educational capacity of many poor and working-class families, this current semester will be a critical setback. Students coming from impoverished homes struggle academically without a nasty virus on the scene. If there is no summer school to make up for the loss of second semester, we can count on the academic achievement gap widening.

If there is no summer school to make up for the loss of second semester, we can count on the academic achievement gap widening.

Significant research has been done on the backsliding of poor students during the summer break. While parents with resources enroll their kids in computer camps, thespian teams, sports leagues or travel aboard, too many poor kids spend hours watching TV or playing outside unsupervised. Any instructional gains made during the first semester are doomed.

Research over decades indicate the learning loss increases with age so that by middle school, these students are experiencing 35-50 percent decreases in reading and math. School districts should be thinking about interventions right now. The interventions cannot be just about the academics.

We know who the haves and have nots are and it’s not always about race. A Pew research study CONTINUE READING: Poor Kids Not Getting Online Instruction - LA Progressive

California: Charter Leaders Charged with Breaking Securities Law; No Criminal Charges | Diane Ravitch's blog

California: Charter Leaders Charged with Breaking Securities Law; No Criminal Charges | Diane Ravitch's blog

California: Charter Leaders Charged with Breaking Securities Law; No Criminal Charges

As the old saying goes, better to steal a million dollars than to steal a loaf of bread. The former is smart thinking, the latter is a crime.

In Livermore, California, the leaders of a charter chain were charged with securities fraud. But they got off without any criminal charges or jail time.

When you read this story, you realize what clever guys they were to figure out such a complex scheme. You have to be an accountant to follow the money.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged former CEO of the Tri-Valley Learning Corporation, Bill Batchelor, with allegedly misleading investors when acquiring a $25 million bond for Livermore charter schools.

Batchelor and John Zukoski, the former director of finance for the schools, were charged with a violation of the antifraud provision of the Securities Act of 1933. They were accused of helping prepare and sign a bond-offering document of $25.54 million to fund the purchase and renovation of a Livermore building to house two CONTINUE READING: California: Charter Leaders Charged with Breaking Securities Law; No Criminal Charges | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

CURMUDGUCATION: Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

It's one of the less common buttons pushed by reformsters intent on pushing school choice, and it might be one of the most backwards pitches out there.

Child Safety Accounts seem to be particular baby of the Heartland Institute, a thinky tank that leans way right. Their mission: "to discover, develop and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems." They are big advocates for the "What global warming?" school, and believe that the left is using the coronavirus lockdown is "a dress rehearsal for the Green New Deal." These are the guys who put up a billboard linking global warming belief to the Unabomber. They no longer list their sponsors, but Media Bias Fact Check says that Exon-Mobil, Charles Koch, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation were among the money sources in the past.

So, zero surprise that their Center for Education Opportunities advocates heavily for choice in many forms. What might make them stand out is their rather loose interest in facts. Take this scare-sentence from their education pages:

Today about nine of every 10 students attend schools that are owned, operated, and staffed by government employees.

It will come as a big shock and surprise to teachers and administrators to discover that they own the public schools in which they work, and that those schools are not owned by, say, the district itself operating as an arm of the taxpayers and controlled by an elected group of citizens. The fact that Heartland hopes to strike fear by invoking "government" tells you plenty about these guys. Their three big ideas are to get rid of Common Core, more school choice, and removing the Blaine Amendments (aka making it okay to give public tax dollars to religious organizations). Their policy CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Another Voucher Angle: Child Safety Accounts

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: This Remote Teaching/Learning Thing!

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: This Remote Teaching/Learning Thing!

This Remote Teaching/Learning Thing!

Just a hodgepodge of thoughts/opinions here!
Thank goodness I have always been a fan of integrating tech in my classroom, that has made this remote teaching/learning situation a WHOLE lot less stressful for me! Whew!

However, I feel for teachers who were not prepared for this, and find it very difficult to navigate this terrain. Especially when it just happened out of nowhere, there was no time to prepare, the expectations are crazy(in some places), and companies are coming at you.Buy/Use my Distance/Remote/Virtual Learning tool! Take my Distance/Remote/Virtual webinar!

If you are an educator showing what you are doing during this time in order to help others, thank you. If you are "showing off?" STOP. You are making other teachers feel "less than."  Have you seen the "Not Every Teacher" image?

Why would someone think it was a good idea to have teachers create a classroom setting virtually? I mean the "sit in front of the kids for hours" type of setting?

Why would teachers give kids SO much work? Especially middle school and high school? Is CONTINUE READING: DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: This Remote Teaching/Learning Thing!