A VERY BUSY DAY: 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 VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Video: “Who Is Responsible For Climate Change? – Who Needs To Fix It?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

geralt / Pixabay I’m adding this new video to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change . You can see all the data appearing in the video here .

Video: Disney Releases “Hamilton” Trailer Prior To July 3rd Release

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Disney+ will be premiering a showing of “Hamilton” with the original cast on July 3rd, and they just released this trailer for it. You might be interested in The Best Teaching/Learning Resources On The Musical, “Hamilton”

“Q&A Collections: School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Q&A Collections: School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Sixty posts – including commentaries, videos and infographics – are listed, with practical advice for teachers dealing with remote teaching now and in the future. Here’s an excerpt from one of them:

A Look Back: The Headlines You See About NAEP Scores Don’t Tell The Whole Story….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from the first half of this year. You can see the entire collection of best posts from the past thirteen years here . geralt / Pixabay Scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress came out today (Editor’s Note: this original post appeared several months ago), and lots of people, as

The Best Ed Tech Resources Of 2020 – Part One

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

My mid-year “Best” list posts continue… I’m adding this post to All 2020 Mid-Year “Best” Lists In One Place! I publish a regular series called Ed Tech Digest , and I thought it would useful to readers and to me to review them and highlight the ones I think are the best of the year. You can see previous editions of this list, along with all the “Best” lists related to ed tech, here . Here are my c

New PBS NewsHour Video Segment: “Parents fear anti-Asian racism as schools mull reopening”

21by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h

GDJ / Pixabay I’m adding tonight’s PBS NewsHour segment to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS :

“Sexual Harassment & Assault in Schools”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 19h

Sexual Harassment & Assault in Schools is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Six educators share stories of sexual harassment at school and offer recommendation of how teachers can respond to it, including through educating themselves and students alike. Here are some excerpts: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Teaching About Sexual Harassment .

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

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

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 2019 – PART TWO ): Netflix’s billionaire founder is secretly building a luxury retreat for teachers in rural Colorado is from Vox. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Po

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

BiljaST / Pixabay Six 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 

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

Happy Father's Day 2020: Date, Wishes, Quotes, Images, History, Importance and why we celebrate Father's day

Happy Father's Day 2020: Date, Wishes, Quotes, Images, History, Importance and why we celebrate Father's day

Father’s Day 2020: Date, History, and significance of the day
Happy Father's Day 2020 Date: While the dates vary from country to country, the day is largely celebrated on the third Sunday in June. As such, this year, it will be celebrated on June 21.

Happy Father’s Day 2020: As the name suggests, Father’s Day is a special occasion that commemorates fathers and father figures around the world, and acknowledges and honours their efforts and contributions towards raising their children. Akin to Mother’s Day, this day aims to throw light on the influence fathers have in the lives of their kids, and on the society at large. While the dates vary from country to country, the day is largely celebrated on the third Sunday in June. As such, this year, it will be celebrated on June 21.

ALSO READ | Happy Father’s Day 2020: Wishes, Images, Quotes, Messages, status, photos

It is believed that Father’s Day was founded by one Sonora Smart Dodd — who was the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart — in America, in the year 1910. Since then, the day has been celebrated every year in as many as 111 countries. In some countries like Australia and New Zealand, however, it is said that Father’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in the month of September. And in Brazil, meanwhile, fathers are honoured on the second Sunday of August.

ALSO READ | Happy Father’s Day 2020 Wishes Images, Quotes, Whatsapp messages, status

This day is largely a celebration. You can make it extra special for your father and/or father figure, by reminding them of how much they mean to you. Remembering their love and the sacrifices they have made for you, and giving them their due, in the form of love and respect, can be the simplest and the most heartfelt thing you can do on the day.

On the day, people usually plan elaborate things like taking their dads to their favourite restaurants, for instance, or watching their favourite movie with them. This year, however, because of the pandemic, there are many restrictions in place in different parts of the world. But, you can bring the celebration home. Sing for them, cook them their favourite meals, make them a card, or simply have a heart-to-heart conversation with them.

Remember that just like mothers, fathers are important, too, and that they have made many sacrifices for you, which perhaps you may not even be aware of. Love them, cherish them and celebrate them. Happy Father’s Day in advance!

Happy Father's Day 2020: Date, Wishes, Quotes, Images, History, Importance and why we celebrate Father's day

EdAction in Congress June 21, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress June 21, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress June 21, 2020

Pringle tells lawmakers 1 in 5 educators face layoffs due to COVID-19

In testimony before the House Education and Labor Committee on June 15, NEA Vice President Becky Pringle stressed the urgent need for immediate action on the next coronavirus package. In just three months, nearly half a million public education jobs have been lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “If this damage goes unchecked, nearly 2 million educators—one-fifth of the workforce—could lose their jobs over the next three years,” she said. Pringle also talked about the impact on the most vulnerable, students of color, and those from low-income families.

More than a month ago, the House passed the HEROES Act, which would provide $915 billion in direct relief for state and local governments that can be used to pay vital workers such as educators and $90 billion in additional education funding that could save more than 800,000 education jobs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to take up the HEROES Act, claiming there’s no need for immediate action to address the mounting damage from COVID-19.

NEA’s priorities for the next coronavirus package include at least $175 billion to stabilize education funding, at least $4 billion to equip students with hot spots and devices to help narrow the digital divide and close the homework gap, at least $56 million in directed funding for personal protective equipment, relief for student loan borrowers, and at least $4 billion to protect voting rights and make voting by mail more widely available. TAKE ACTION

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House to vote soon on first steps to end police brutality

The Justice in Policing Act (S. 3912/H.R. 7120) cleared the House Judiciary Committee in a party-line vote after a contentious 11-hour markup session. The NEA-supported bill would ban no-knock warrants, chokeholds like the one that killed George Floyd, racial and religious profiling, and transferring military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement. It would also create a national database to help track police misconduct and reform qualified immunity to make it easier for individuals to recover damages when police officers violate their constitutional rights. The full House plans to vote on H.R. 7120 this Thursday. TAKE ACTION 

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Victory! Supreme Court protects LGBTQ individuals and preserves DACA

In a landmark 6-3 Supreme Court decision written by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court ruled on June 15 that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, also applies to LGBTQ individuals. “NEA is proud to have led a broad coalition including employer groups that filed a brief in support of LGBTQ rights, but it is even prouder of the LGBTQ educators and students who endured discrimination yet continued to stand up to fight for themselves, their co-workers and their students,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. LEARN MORE

In a second momentous decision issued June 18, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s rationale for ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), calling it “arbitrary and capricious” in the 5-4 majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts. DACA protects 700,000 Dreamers from deportation, including 15,000 educators. “The Supreme Court is on the right side of history,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “This victory means DACA recipients are safe, for now, from the threat of deportation. They will continue to contribute to our nation’s social fabric and economic engine in communities across the country, especially now when we need them the most.” LEARN MORE

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Cheers and Jeers

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) led a letter to Senate leadership, signed by 40 more senators, urging leadership to include at least $175 billion to stabilize education funding in the next coronavirus package.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats introduced the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a plan to invest in America’s infrastructure that includes $100 billion to improve and rebuild facilities in high-poverty schools.

EdAction in Congress June 21, 2020 - Education Votes

Big Education Ape: Going Back to a Better School: NEA Issues Guidance on Reopening - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/06/going-back-to-better-school-nea-issues.html

Indiana: Can the State Afford Vouchers? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Indiana: Can the State Afford Vouchers? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Indiana: Can the State Afford Vouchers?

Karen Francisco, editor of the editorial page of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, is grateful that Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb will not cut the budget of the state’s schools, but wonders whether the state can afford to maintain more than one system of publicly-funded schools. She might well have also asked whether the state can afford a third system of privately-managed charter schools.

Currently, there are 326 private and religious schools in the state receiving $172.7 million annually. Taxpayers have paid more than $1 billion to non-public schools since the choice program began nine years ago. Researchers have found that voucher schools do not provide better education than public schools; typically the students in voucher schools perform worse than their peers in public schools or at best, keep up with them.

When the fall campaign season gets underway, Statehouse candidates should be prepared to share their views on the growing cost of funding two Indiana school CONTINUE READING: Indiana: Can the State Afford Vouchers? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Paul Horton: Violence Against Blacks During Reconstruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Paul Horton: Violence Against Blacks During Reconstruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Paul Horton: Violence Against Blacks During Reconstruction

In response to the murder of George Floyd, as well as the murders of other African Americans in recent months, the media, historians, teachers, and others are reviewing the long history of vicious racism in this country and calling for structural changes. The challenge of our time is to look deeply into our institutions and not let this moment of reckoning with our racist attitudes and institutions fade away without meaningful change. No American should have to fear for their life and safety because of the color of their skin.

Paul Horton, acted her and historian at the University of Chicago Lab School (a unionized private school), shared this essay about her history:

Just a teacher-historian sharing history who spent hundreds of hours as a graduate student researching the KKK Reports, the set of published congressional investigations into the KKK and affiliated organizations during Reconstruction.

Yesterday, Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative published a report that estimates that over 2,000 blacks were murdered during Reconstruction for political activities associated with organizing for the party of Lincoln in the American South from 1865-1877. The Democratic Party in the South at this time and later CONTINUE READING: Paul Horton: Violence Against Blacks During Reconstruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: I Read the Post Today, Oh Boy

NYC Educator: I Read the Post Today, Oh Boy

I Read the Post Today, Oh Boy

Yesterday Sue Edelman wrote about how three 200K administrators were jumping ship amidst a pandemic. The article characterized them as leaving the Titanic, but I see it very differently.

We're hearing all sorts of things about cuts to actual instruction in the fall, dire cries of budget woes and the need to balance a budget. If the three of these desk jockeys make 600K between them, I'd characterize their exit as a good start.

In fact, right in the article there are pretty good arguments about why one of the three, Cheryl Watson-Harris, is a more than welcome departure:

On her resume, Watson-Harris has boasted “record gains” in NYC test scores in math and English under her watch, a claim testing expert Fred Smith disputed.

Despite Carranza’s disdain for NYC’s selective schools that screen applicants, Watson-Harris enrolled her own children in elite and less diverse schools, The Post reported.

Is this really the sort of person we need on payroll? I'm not a huge fan of this, "Do as I say, not as I do," philosophy. And after benefiting from outragous privilege, Ms. Watson-Harris appears to have padded her resume and stabbed the chancellor in the back. With friends like that, who needs to pay them 200K a year in times of austerity?

In fact, I'd argue Ms. Watson-Harris personifies the primary issue teachers face at the DOE. She feels entitled to do whatever works for her and her family. She has no issue using her position to get preferential treatment unavailable to most New Yorkers. This is not how you lead, and people like this are precisely what drags our system down.

Every teacher in New York city knows an administrator who fails to follow rules, but demands absolute fealty and blind faith from UFT members. Every teacher knows an administrator who resorts to petty vindictiveness at the drop of a hat. In case that's not enough, there's an entire legal department whose sole purpose is to deliberately misinterpret and misrepresent the contract so as to allow principals to weasel out of following it. Every single one of those tinhorn lawyers should be gone before one cent is pulled from the classroom.

The real crime here is not that NYC is sinking. (It isn't. New York City teachers perpetually face outrageous challenges and meet them over and over.)  The problem is that CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: I Read the Post Today, Oh Boy

Victor Ray and Alan Aja: Education Won’t Save Us from Racism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Victor Ray and Alan Aja: Education Won’t Save Us from Racism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Victor Ray and Alan Aja: Education Won’t Save Us from Racism

Victor Ray and Alan Aja argue in this article that appeared in the Washington Post that racism can’t be “fixed” by more education. Plenty of highly educated people are racist.
The root of racism, they argue, is systematic inequality of resources and access to power.

Prescribing education as the cure for racism often confuses individual bigotry with a system of domination. As a system of domination, racism can be manipulated, because it is bigger than any individual. Highly educated people, who sometimes know better, contribute to systems of racial harm on a regular basis.

The architecture of American racism is not an unfortunate accident: It was created intentionally to acquire and keep power. The highly educated designed America’s system of segregation and America’s prison system. Highly educated lawyers devise arguments to protect police who kill black and brown folks, highly educated prosecutors decline to bring charges, and highly educated judges assign light sentences. There is no good evidence that educating police about implicit bias works to lessen harm. And whites with high cognitive ability are no more likely to support practical policies that lessen racial inequality. But their education does allow them to offer more sophisticated justifications for privilege…

The problem of racial inequality is not just a lack of CONTINUE READING: Victor Ray and Alan Aja: Education Won’t Save Us from Racism | Diane Ravitch's blog

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Dad was a 'premature anti-fascist'

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Dad was a 'premature anti-fascist'

Dad was a 'premature anti-fascist'

Photograph by Peter Stackpole for Life Magazine (1937).

Our dad was one of the original real antifas back in '37. This, a far cry from today's Antifa, a mythical group that exists mainly in MAGA nightmares, the media, and on Donald Trump's proposed list of domestic "terrorist" organizations.

Just in his teens, he hopped a freighter, crossed the Pyrenees, and fought for Spanish freedom alongside his comrades in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Back then they called them premature anti-fascists. When he died, we spread his ashes off the Barcelona coast.

Happy Father's Day Robert Klonsky and to all the anti-racist, anti-fascist dads out there as well.

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"There was so much response... over a million ticket requests, that we decided that the BOK Center was just not big enough,” Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh said on Friday. “We had to have more so that's why we have the neighboring streets all blocked off. There's going to be two stages. The president is going to speak in both locations."

The morning after...Everyone knows by now that Trump's million-ticket MAGA rally in Tulsa CONTINUE READING: Mike Klonsky's Blog: Dad was a 'premature anti-fascist'

Ask Dads How to Reimagine Public Schools!

Ask Dads How to Reimagine Public Schools!

Ask Dads How to Reimagine Public Schools!

I would like much better feedback to parents of what their kids need to work on.~Stuart Jenner, Parent Advocate

Dads can be powerful workers at saving public education. Many dads are teachers and parents and they go to bat for their children more than on the baseball field. They recognize that education is important for all children, not just their own child. I asked Dads on Facebook and Twitter how to reimagine school during these times, like I asked moms for Mother’s Day.

I also reviewed the literature to see what Dads are discussing when it comes to public education, school reform, race, and the pandemic. Their responses were thoughtful and interesting. Some wives also told me what they thought their husbands would say.

• Fund Special Education. Alfred Frates, a dad on Facebook, wants to see the money from the Mccleary Court Case finally fund the State of Washington’s students. Both Rep Pollet and Sen Rolfes said they were short changed. He’d also like to see special education teachers have enough PPE (masks, gowns, gloves, and face shields so they feel safe working with students.
• Social Services and Education. Alfred also suggested combining social services and education in order to make sure the whole needs of the child are CONTINUE READING: Ask Dads How to Reimagine Public Schools!

North Carolina: Join Jen Mangrum on June 25 to Learn About Her Campaign to Become State Chief | Diane Ravitch's blog

North Carolina: Join Jen Mangrum on June 25 to Learn About Her Campaign to Become State Chief | Diane Ravitch's blog

North Carolina: Join Jen Mangrum on June 25 to Learn About Her Campaign to Become State Chief

Please join Jen Mangrum in her important campaign for state superintendent of education in North Carolina, a post that has been held by an ineffectual Republican supporter of charters, vouchers, and other Tea Party policies for the past four years.

Jen is an experienced educator and a woman with guts. She ran against state Senator Phil Berger, the most powerful politician in the state in the last election, which she lost. But she has a good shot at winning the race for state chief. She has the support of teachers and parent groups.

Jen is holding a campaign event on June 25. I will join her, virtually.

Please join us and help her restore integrity and leadership in public education in North Carolina.

North Carolina: Join Jen Mangrum on June 25 to Learn About Her Campaign to Become State Chief | Diane Ravitch's blog

The beginning of the end of our obsession with standardized tests - The Washington Post

The beginning of the end of our obsession with standardized tests - The Washington Post

It looks like the beginning of the end of America’s obsession with student standardized tests

America has been obsessed with student standardized tests for nearly 20 years. Now it looks like the country is at the beginning of the end of our high-stakes testing mania — both for K-12 “accountability” purposes and in college admissions.

When President George W. Bush signed the K-12 No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, the country began an experiment based on the belief that we could test our way to educational success and end the achievement gap. His successor, Barack Obama, ratcheted up the stakes of test scores under that same philosophy.

It didn’t work, which came as no surprise to teachers and other critics. They had long pointed to extensive research showing standardized test scores are most strongly correlated to a student’s life circumstances. Real reform, they said, means addressing students’ social and emotional needs and the conditions in which they live, and making improvements in school buildings.

Higher education was not immune to the testing frenzy, either, at least not in admissions. Scores on the SAT or ACT became an important factor in deciding who was accepted. College rankings — led by the annual lists of U.S. News & World Report, which were heavily weighted on test scores — became powerful as students relied on them and schools tried to improve their rankings with targeted reforms. Scholarship programs were linked to test scores, and some companies checked the scores of potential hires. Florida spent millions of dollars to give bonuses to teachers with high SAT scores — even decades after the tests were taken.

Now, we are seeing the collapse of the two-decade-old bipartisan consensus among major policymakers that testing was the key lever for holding students, schools and teachers “accountable.” And it is no coincidence that it is happening against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic that forced educational institutions to revamp how they operate.

States are learning they can live without them, having been given permission by the Department of Education to not give them this past spring. Georgia has already announced its intention to get a waiver CONTINUE READING: The beginning of the end of our obsession with standardized tests - The Washington Post

Strummin’ on the Old Banjo | Teacher in a strange land

Strummin’ on the Old Banjo | Teacher in a strange land

Strummin’ on the Old Banjo

About twenty years ago, I served on the team of teachers who crafted the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification assessment for music teachers. The 16-member team was carefully drawn from an array of music education specialists, with an eye toward balance. Balance between K-12 and higher ed, vocal and instrumental music, male and female, geographic—and ethnic balance.

Everyone on the team took the work seriously. All of us were experienced master music teachers. We were trying to lay down valid and reliable assessments that could measure a music teacher’s pedagogical skills and content knowledge. It was good work, based on a set of standards drawn up by another diverse national team of teachers.

The National Board Certification process has changed since then—we were the first teachers to tackle these tasks—but the assessment consists of portfolios of the candidates’ classroom practice, including videotaped lessons, and a set of on-demand content assessments. It was our job to design the assessment model, then provide alternate items so the assessment could be used for many years.

The content assessments were designed to be rigorous—for example, composing, in 30 minutes, a short piece of music for specified instruments, voices, key and time signatures and in a prescribed style. If you’re not a music teacher, that might sound impossible, but music specialists compose and arrange music to fit their musicians all the time. A music teacher who couldn’t sketch out a quick composition meeting certain parameters could not be considered accomplished.

In addition to assessments around music teachers’ curricular knowledge, rehearsal CONTINUE READING: Strummin’ on the Old Banjo | Teacher in a strange land