THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Monday, April 19, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

 Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 

Students plan statewide walkout Monday against racial injustice https://www.twincities.com/2021/04/16/students-plan-statewide-walkout-monday-against-racial-injustice/ via @pioneerpress

NAACP, teachers union part of group buying $1M ad spot in federal voting rights bill fight https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/naacp-teachers-union-part-group-buying-1m-ad-spot-federal-n1264426 via @nbcnews

Urban Consulate Confidential — Urban Consulate - http://www.urbanconsulate.com/confidential

Student debt relief? Yes! But pension cuts, housing and health care costs are sending retirees into record debt and bankruptcy. – Fred Klonsky - https://wp.me/p4C3g-qgv via @fklonsky

Lessons For The Derek Chauvin Trial & Its Aftermath | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=116988 on @Larryferlazzo

Education Matters: DCPS's @#&$ teachers attitude continues daily - https://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2021/04/dcpss-teachers-attitude-continues-daily.html

North Dakota governor signs law allowing Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools https://www.salon.com/2021/04/19/north-dakota-governor-signs-law-allowing-ten-commandments-to-be-posted-in-public-schools/

Minneapolis Public Schools to Close in Anticipation of a Verdict https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/us/minneapolis-public-schools-close-verdict.html

Parents say their children have been 'substantially hurt' by school closures, survey finds http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/K0-e7Cwl5sc/satisfaction-with-public-education-low-among-l-a-county-residents-ucla-survey-finds

Now the tables are turned and students get to accept or reject colleges such as UCLA and USC http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/EwLCanEvVBE/college-admissions-students-now-must-accept-reject-offers

Opinion: After a year of learning loss, it will take a village to raise our kids https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/04/opinion-shennell-mccloud-helping-kids-recover-learning-loss-nj-american-rescue-plan-tutoring-summer-classes-equitable-funding/

Millions of dollars for nearly 1,200 NYC public schools thanks to Fair Student Funding program https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-public-schools-fair-student-funding-20210419-35twtqpcobfhtatr74g3aimbmy-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

OPINION: The power of unfair standardized tests is finally, thankfully diminishing - The Hechinger Report https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-the-power-of-unfair-standardized-tests-is-finally-thankfully-diminishing/

Guest Post Alice Mercer: The First Two Days Of Concurrent/Hybrid Teaching | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=116980 on @Larryferlazzo

Answer Sheet: A Better Way to Make Sense of Pandemic ‘Learning Loss’ | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10867 on @NEPCtweet

Politics, race were key factors when Washington schools reopened for in-person learning during pandemic | The Seattle Times - https://www.seattletimes.com/?p=13733662 by @HannahFurfaro on @seattletimes

Competitive high schools to see greatest numbers of students return Monday - Chicago Sun-Times - https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2021/4/18/22388451/cps-school-return-public-schools-payton-jones-lane-tech-in-person#new_tab

Minneapolis Public Schools To Go To Distance Learning For Chauvin Verdict – WCCO | CBS Minnesota - https://cbsloc.al/3tqk0OF on /wcco

‘It’s like we’re not even there’: A Memphis student longs for a fresh start - Chalkbeat Tennessee - https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/16/22368217/its-like-were-not-even-there-a-memphis-student-longs-for-a-fresh-start#new_tab on chalkbeat

'We Keep Trying': Hawaii Sees Spike In School Absenteeism Due To The Pandemic - Honolulu Civil Beat - https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/04/we-keep-trying-hawaii-sees-spike-in-school-absenteeism-due-to-the-pandemic/#new_tab via @civilbeat

California group files federal civil rights complaint over San Diego school district's 'racist' teachings | Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-federal-civil-rights-complaint-san-diego-school-district#new_tab on @foxnews

Baltimore County school board, citing ‘safety risk’ to chair and others, requests help from law enforcement - Baltimore Sun - https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-baltimore-county-schools-20210419-yqaqiyv2pnfqveg54hwgpjzrly-story.html#new_tab via @baltimoresun

Will money talk teachers into getting vaccinated? | wthr.com - https://www.wthr.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/will-money-talk-teachers-into-getting-vaccinated/531-63f5ef1c-bc5e-421a-9ea3-9fe22c1bec8c#new_tab on WTHRcom

For high school seniors with disabilities, school closures can feel like walking off a cliff - The Boston Globe - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/19/metro/high-school-seniors-with-disabilities-school-closures-can-feel-like-walking-off-cliff/#new_tab on @BostonGlobe

Equipped With Federal Aid, Summer Schools Aim for Huge Increases in Enrollment - WSJ - https://www.wsj.com/articles/equipped-with-federal-aid-summer-schools-aim-for-huge-increases-in-enrollment-11618738201#new_tab by @jencalfas on @WSJ

S.F. schools Superintendent Vincent Matthews agrees to stay if board behaves - https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/SF-schools-superintendent-agreed-to-stay-if-the-16108691.php#new_tab on @sfchronicle

Education Matters: DCPS's @#&$ teachers attitude continues daily - https://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2021/04/dcpss-teachers-attitude-continues-daily.html

Big Education Ape: After-school programs have either been abandoned or overworked - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/after-school-programs-have-either-been.html

Big Education Ape: Future-focused Education, Future-focused World | Teacher in a strange land - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/future-focused-education-future-focused.html

Big Education Ape: Shawgi Tell: Inflated Charter School Waitlists | Dissident Voice - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/shawgi-tell-inflated-charter-school.html

Big Education Ape: Pandemic Stress Has Pushed Teachers To A Breaking Point : NPR - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-stress-has-pushed-teachers-to.html

Big Education Ape: PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/proof-points-gifted-programs-provide.html

Big Education Ape: Russ on Reading: Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/russ-on-reading-rhythm-and-rhyme-read.html

How Does Forbes Select Its “30 Under 30,” Who Are Considered Leaders in Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Big Education Ape / 1h

How Does Forbes Select Its “30 Under 30,” Who Are Considered Leaders in Education? This is a fascinating paper published in the peer-reviewed Education Policy Analysis and Archives in 2018. It explores the question of how Forbes magazine selects the “edu-preneurs” who are recognized as education leaders. It is quite a plum to receive this recognition, as it supposedly confers recognition on thos

Teacher Tom: We Can't Teach Grit

Big Education Ape / 1h

We Can't Teach Grit Few things have put more wear and tear on my teeth than the concept of "teaching" character traits like "grit," "resilience," "optimism," "conscientiousness," and "self-control." It's not that those things aren't important. Indeed, they are vital not just for academic achievement, but for any kind of real, lasting success, be it in school, work, or just being a member of a fa

Outrage Continues as Standardized Testing Moves Forward in this COVID-19 School Year | janresseger

Big Education Ape / 1h

Outrage Continues as Standardized Testing Moves Forward in this COVID-19 School Year Standardized testing—required this school year by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s U.S. Department of Education despite the disruption of COVID-19—is now happening in many public schools across the United States. But even as the tests are being administered, the anger and protests against this expensive, tim

CURMUDGUCATION: To Choice Advocates: Some Questions

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To Choice Advocates: Some Questions I have concerns about school choice programs, and I usually express them as complaints, criticism, general snark. This time, I'd like to come at it a little differently. Let me frame these concerns as questions, because maybe there are answers that I'm just not aware of. As is obvious from a multitude of posts, I am skeptical; these questions show exactly what

Education Matters: Republicans create solutions where there weren't any problems: go after trans children and teacher's unions.

Big Education Ape / 1h

Republicans create solutions where there weren't any problems: go after trans children and teacher's unions. In this session, the Republicans in the Florida Legislature have found one solution after another for problems that don't exist. Still, in doing so, they have caused problems, hardships, and grief. Last week they went after Trans children, and this week they are going after teacher's unio

NYC Educator: What's With Kids Who Hand Us Nothing?

Big Education Ape / 1h

What's With Kids Who Hand Us Nothing? I honestly don't understand why anyone would take the time to submit a blank page, or nothing whatsoever, on Google Classroom. I have to say, while I (relatively, at least) don't much like teaching online, I have made my classes easier than they have ever been. Because I've heard so many complaints about students being overburdened with homework, I've taken

Can Educators Teach Students To Spot Fake News (Frederick Hess) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Big Education Ape / 1h

Can Educators Teach Students To Spot Fake News (Frederick Hess) Following up on my recent post, Whatever Happened to Current Events , this op-ed by Frederick Hess who interviewed Stanford University Professor, Sam Wineburg, goes to the crucial intersection of children and youth learning how to sort accurate from inaccurate information. Digital literacy in dealing with mainstream and social media

New York City is Overspending on Charter School Facilities, Underspending on Matching Funds for District Public Schools - Gotham Gazette

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New York City is Overspending on Charter School Facilities, Underspending on Matching Funds for District Public Schools New York City is Overspending on Charter School Facilities, Underspending on Matching Funds for District Public Schools A new Class Size Matters report, DoE Overspending On Charter School Facility Costs and Underspending On Matching Funds To Public Schools reveals that the New Y

YESTERDAY

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Taxes Are Done Edition (4/18)

Big Education Ape / 23h

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Taxes Are Done Edition (4/18) Taxes Are Done Edition Yes, we all got extensions, but I'd rather have them done and gone, and this was a pretty easy year. Now we can move on to other swell things. In the meantime, let me remind you that you, too, can amplify voices in cyberspace. If your thought is "Hey, people should read this," well, then, you know people. Send them some t

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Sunday, April 18, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

Big Education Ape / 23h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Black Urban Crises and Push-Out “Engineered” with David Stovall | NewBlackMan (in Exile) - https://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2021/04/black-urban-crises-and-push-out.html Flagship universities fail to enroll Black and

Big Education Ape

After-school programs have either been abandoned or overworked

After-school programs have either been abandoned or overworked

After-school programs have either been abandoned or overworked

Many after-school programs, which provide both enrichment and child care, have gone out of business. Others went remote and still others became full-day child care programs. None had much guidance or support

I like building stuff,” said 11-year-old Isabella Lagunas, describing the appeal of her science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) after-school program, Girlstart. “In school we don’t really do a lot of projects, mostly reading. I like [after school] because it’s more hands-on. It’s being more creative.”

When the pandemic forced Austin-based Girlstart to go remote, the priority for Tamara Hudgins, its executive director, was finding a way to maintain that hands-on experience for the girls in her program, the majority of whom come from low-income households and likely have few other options for this kind of academic enrichment.

“Learning via the screen is a real challenge, for the adults as well as children,” Hudgins said. Her solution was to create physical kits containing all the supplies the girls would need. Before the start of every program, each girl receives, either by mail or drop-off, an entire semester’s worth of materials that correspond to the girls’ weekly activities, whether they are working on a DNA phenotype project or exploring the principles of aerodynamics.

“We built a rocket launch,” Isabella said. “That was really fun.”

Going remote but delivering physical materials is one solution to a problem that has plagued after-school providers across the country — how to continue providing their enrichment and child care solutions during a CONTINUE READING: After-school programs have either been abandoned or overworked

Future-focused Education, Future-focused World | Teacher in a strange land

Future-focused Education, Future-focused World | Teacher in a strange land

Future-focused Education, Future-focused World

I’ve just spent a couple of weeks in Arizona, a first-flight of the fully immunized, and a chance to warm up, eat incredible takeout and be somewhere other than home. A vacation, to see our first-born, in a city that has hundreds of gorgeous outdoor dining patios.

I took along a book—The Ministry for the Future— by Kim Stanley Robinson. I’ve been saving it for this vacation, when I could sit on a shaded patio, uninterrupted, and read. Friends recommended it. And it kind of rocked my world.

I don’t read lots of sci-fi, so Robinson’s name wasn’t familiar to me, but I can understand why he has plenty of fans. As dystopian/utopian fiction, the story was pretty good, but what made it unforgettable was the other stuff that Robinson tucks in around the narrative: Observations, testimonies, riddles and mini-lectures on an array of systems impacting the way the world operates, now and possibly in the next few decades.

It’s a series of enlightenments on practices that must become habit before we all think and act globally: economics, politics, health, equity, and above all, the imminent threat of climate catastrophe.

You would think living through a global pandemic would be the kind of event to jump- CONTINUE READING: Future-focused Education, Future-focused World | Teacher in a strange land

Shawgi Tell: Inflated Charter School Waitlists | Dissident Voice

Inflated Charter School Waitlists | Dissident Voice

Inflated Charter School Waitlists

With great frequency, promoters of privately-operated non-profit and for-profit charter schools like to claim that charter schools are so great that they have very long lists of students waiting to get into them. They use such claims and “data” to argue that more charter schools are needed and that more public money should be spent on creating and multiplying more privately-operated charter schools.

However, many reports show that such waitlist numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt because they are usually inaccurate and misleading for various reasons. For example, a recent report from the North Carolina State Board of Education reported that:

During the 2019-2020 school year, over 117,000 North Carolina students were enrolled in [200] charter schools. As of October 1, 2020, over 126,000 North Carolina students are enrolled in charter schools. Self-reported data from the state’s charter schools indicate that 78% of charter schools had a waitlist totaling nearly 76,000 students statewide. (p. 3)

But in a footnote attached to this observation, the report notes that this “Figure may include duplicates, as students are often waitlisted at multiple charter schools.” An article from NC Policy Watch states: “76,000 names on waitlists aren’t the same as 76,000 students.” Names that appear on waitlists at multiple schools can result in a large overcount. Thus, for example, when one student is on multiple school’s waitlists, they are counted as being on each school’s waitlist. In other words, one student could be counted two, three, or more times, thereby inflating the final waitlist number. Such data could cause people to “mistakenly think that demand for charter schools is a lot higher CONTINUE READING: Inflated Charter School Waitlists | Dissident Voice

Big Education Ape: National Education Policy Center: The Myth of Charter School Waitlists | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/02/national-education-policy-center-myth.html

Pandemic Stress Has Pushed Teachers To A Breaking Point : NPR

Pandemic Stress Has Pushed Teachers To A Breaking Point : NPR

'We Need To Be Nurtured, Too': Many Teachers Say They're Reaching A Breaking Point

To say Leah Juelke is an award-winning teacher is a bit of an understatement. She was a top 10 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2020; she was North Dakota's Teacher of the Year in 2018; and she was awarded an NEA Foundation award for teaching excellence in 2019.

But Juelke, who teaches high school English learners in Fargo, N.D., says nothing prepared her for teaching during the pandemic.

"The level of stress is exponentially higher. It's like nothing I've experienced before."

It's a sentiment NPR heard from teachers across the country. After a year of uncertainty, long hours and juggling personal and work responsibilities, many told NPR they had reached a breaking point.

Heidi Crumrine, a high school English teacher in Concord, N.H., says this has been the most challenging year she's ever encountered in her two decades of teaching.

"And I say [that] as someone who started her first day of teaching on 9/11 in the Bronx in New York City."

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the U.S., tied only with nurses, a 2013 Gallup poll found. Jennifer Greif Green, an education professor at Boston University, says the additional stress teachers are reporting during the pandemic is CONTINUE READING: Pandemic Stress Has Pushed Teachers To A Breaking Point : NPR

PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says

National study finds Black students and low-income children don’t reap the small gains achieved by white, Asian and high-income children

Gifted education is often a flash point in school desegregation debates; in large cities, these programs often operate as an essentially separate school system, dominated by white and Asian children. Though gifted programs touch only 3.3 million school children, about 7 percent of the U.S. student population, it’s disturbing that Black and Hispanic children are rarely chosen for them. 

Some progressives have proposed eliminating gifted programs altogether. Others are seeking ways to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students. Only 4 percent of Black children and 5 percent of Hispanic children are in gifted programs compared with 8 percent of white and 13 percent of Asian children, according to the most recent federal figures.

Against this political backdrop, a new study raises big questions about whether gifted education benefits the kids who are lucky enough to be in it. Researchers analyzed the records of about 1,300 students, drawn from a nationally representative sample of children across the country, who started kindergarten in 2010 and participated in a gifted program for at least one year during their elementary school years through fifth grade. 

In school systems that offer gifted programs, children generally begin their schooling in a regular kindergarten classroom with children of mixed CONTINUE READING: PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

Russ on Reading: Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency

Russ on Reading: Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency

Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency

April is Poetry Month and here at Russ On Reading we continue our exploration of poetry read alouds for children with a few books that tell their stories in rhyme. Call it doggerel if you will, what children will tell you is that these stories are entertaining and that the rhymes add to the fun. What reading specialists will tell you is that the rhythm and rhyme in these stories support young readers developing fluency. There are many rhyming books out there, some are very familiar like Click, Clack Moo or the many Dr. Seuss books, but here are some of my favorites that may not be as well known.

My son's favorite book when he was growing up, Drummer Hoff,by Barbara Emberley with Caldecott Medal winning illlustrations by Ed Emberley, tells the cumulative story of soldiers of various ranks building a cannon. The ending of the story provides a kind of Where Have All the Flowers Gone?  message to the militaristic affair. Get your kids walking around the room chanting, "Drummer Hoff fired it off!"

My wife, the literacy educator Cindy Mershon, introduced me to the works of Roy CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency