Tuesday, April 27, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, April 27, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Dallas schools move to rewrite disciplinary rules that hit Black students hardest https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/27/texas-dallas-schools-rules-black-students/

Education Research Report: Minority Student and Teaching Assistant Interactions in STEM - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

City officials expand free internet access to Philadelphia prekindergarten students - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/26/22404547/city-officials-expand-free-internet-access-to-philadelphia-prekindergarten-students on chalkbeat

USDA Moves To Feed Millions Of Children Over The Summer https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/04/26/97579/usda-moves-to-feed-millions-of-children-over-the-s/ via @kpcc

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board April 26, 2021--Summer School, ERI, Retiree Health Care - http://nyceducator.com/2021/04/uft-executive-board-april-26-2021.html

Homeroom: When Divorced Parents Have Different Rules http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/NPaYfjDEtME/

Biden to Expand Free Lunch Program to Provide Meals for 34 Million Students Throughout the Summer https://www.theroot.com/biden-to-expand-free-lunch-program-to-provide-meals-for-1846765966

NOLA Public Schools COVID-19 cases dip; 169 in quarantine https://thelensnola.org/2021/04/26/nola-public-schools-covid-19-cases-dip-169-in-quarantine

Online gallery showcases art by children with autism https://www.njspotlight.com/video/online-gallery-showcases-art-by-children-with-autism/

COMIC: 'Place Of Peace And Security': Bringing The Library Home During The Pandemic https://www.npr.org/2021/04/27/989164703/comic-place-of-peace-and-security-bringing-the-library-home-during-the-pandemic

College Accounts at Birth: State Efforts Raise New Hopes https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/business/economy/child-education-accounts.html

Less than half of expected L.A pupils returned in first week; then numbers improved http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/WxwsZeyXFvM/disappointing-la-school-reopening-attendance-improves

No, Virginia is not moving to eliminate advanced high school math classes https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virginia-advanced-math-classes-equity/2021/04/26/41f3dbd0-a6a3-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html

Meet the finalists for the 2021 Washington Post Principal and Teacher of the Year awards https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/finalists-teacher-principal-of-year-washington-post/2021/04/23/a897ad5a-a2e6-11eb-85fc-06664ff4489d_story.html

Children’s National doctors warn they’re seeing more children with self-harm-related injuries https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-children-suicide-emergency-rooms/2021/04/22/2a98022c-9154-11eb-a74e-1f4cf89fd948_story.html

D.C. is expanding in-person learning. But most of the new seats will be in the city’s wealthiest schools. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-schools-in-person-fourth-quarter/2021/04/18/aa4fad12-9ea1-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html

COLUMN: Higher education is the key to the new infrastructure system we need https://hechingerreport.org/column-higher-education-is-the-key-to-the-new-infrastructure-system-we-need/

TEACHER VOICE: Don’t avoid discussing race with your students https://hechingerreport.org/teacher-voice-dont-avoid-discussing-race-with-your-students/

From admissions to teaching to grading, AI is infiltrating higher education https://hechingerreport.org/from-admissions-to-teaching-to-grading-ai-is-infiltrating-higher-education/

Curmudgucation: To Choice Advocates: Some Questions | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10878 on @NEPCtweet

Court hears arguments over Newark charter schools | NJ Spotlight News - https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/04/newark-nj-charter-school-expansion-court-case-oral-arguments-district-finances-effect-segregation-disabilities/ via @njspotlight

GOP mega-donor's private school announces 'policy not to employ' vaccinated teachers https://www.rawstory.com/anti-vaxxer-2652787907/

Justices doubtful on California donor-disclosure requirement https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/justices-doubtful-on-california-donor-disclosure-requirement/

‘Get it done’: Rural Oklahoma schools are a labor of love https://nondoc.com/2021/04/27/rural-oklahoma-schools-are-a-labor-of-love/ via @nondocmedia

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit that sought to block transgender female athletes from competing in girls high school sports in Connecticut - Hartford Courant - https://www.courant.com/sports/high-schools/hc-sp-hs-transgender-case-dismissed-20210425-twgpmkmsrvhnhl64u2tr32tg3y-story.html#new_tab via @hartfordcourant

Asian-American group wants inclusion in cultural curriculum - https://wp.me/pb3Qpq-1dPHC by @nypmetro on @nypost

Parents Want Schools To Face Burden Of Proof In IEP Disputes https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2021/04/27/parents-schools-face-burden-iep-disputes/29313/

Prosecutors: Superintendent lied about contacting witnesses - https://apnews.com/article/fort-lauderdale-florida-education-1626c54fa40ce729abd2cb8911142136#new_tab on @ap

Philly school board votes not to renew Black-led charter schools despite outcry - https://whyy.org/?p=508378

Inslee signs ban on Native American school mascots | king5.com - https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/olympia/inslee-signs-ban-on-native-american-school-mascots/281-7b085687-db9d-46bc-a374-9b782b4f6af3#new_tab on KING5Seattle

Retention stipends likely ahead for VCSC employees | Local News | tribstar.com - https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/retention-stipends-likely-ahead-for-vcsc-employees/article_03c15116-778b-5af1-8283-e6b41fb92cf0.html#new_tab by @https://www.twitter.com/tribstarsue on @tribstar

Senate passes bill banning teaching of critical race theory in Idaho schools | KBOI - https://idahonews.com/news/local/senate-passes-bill-banning-teaching-of-critical-race-theory-in-idaho-schools#new_tab on @CBS2Boise

De Blasio’s budget would earmark $500M for testing and tutoring - Chalkbeat New York - https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/26/22404757/nyc-education-budget-testing-tutoring#new_tab on chalkbeat

New Jersey’s Top Court Tackles Charter School Expansion https://www.courthousenews.com/new-jerseys-top-court-tackles-charter-school-expansion/

Federal officials are urging states to focus on finding homeless students with new stimulus money - Chalkbeat - https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/26/22404530/states-help-homeless-students-focus-on-finding-kids#new_tab on chalkbeat

Dallas schools move to rewrite disciplinary rules that hit Black students hardest https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/27/texas-dallas-schools-rules-black-students/

Teacher Salaries Are Increasing. See How Your State Compares - https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teacher-salaries-are-increasing-see-how-your-state-compares/2021/04#new_tab by @madeline_will on @educationweek

Radnor students protest to keep ‘Raider’ name amid debate over Native American mascots - https://www.inquirer.com/education/radnor-raider-nickname-student-protest-20210426.html#new_tab via @PhillyInquirer

The Anchorage School Board has passed anti-racism and instructional equity policies. What happens next? - Anchorage Daily News - https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/education/2021/04/25/the-anchorage-school-board-has-passed-anti-racism-and-instructional-equity-policies-what-happens-next/#new_tab by @adndotcom

Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Share Their Stories in New Book Series https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/us/transgender-teens-books.html

Full Vaccinated People Can Stop Wearing Masks Outdoors, Unless in Crowded Spaces http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/motherjones/main/~3/xXzPEbTZM20/

Big Education Ape: Education Research Report: Reading Skills of Fourth-Graders Performing Below NAEP Basic - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/education-research-report-reading.html

Big Education Ape: Texas: Stand Together Against the Voracious Charter Industry | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/texas-stand-together-against-voracious.html

Big Education Ape: Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/principals-show-bias-in-responses-to.html

Big Education Ape: Push to bar trans students from school sports hits legal roadblock | Salon.com - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/push-to-bar-trans-students-from-school.html

Big Education Ape: Teacher Tom: Unfortunate Yet Transient Immaturity - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/teacher-tom-unfortunate-yet-transient.html

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public The Misssouri Times is a generally right of center newspaper, But it believes in the promise of public schools and recognizes that the latest push for charters and vouchers is rank privatization funded by wealthy elites. After thirty years of pouring billions into charters and vouchers, there is no reason to believe

CREATING MEANINGFUL STUDENT ASSESSMENTS IN SCUSD - Sacramento City Teachers Association

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Signup Form CREATING MEANINGFUL STUDENT ASSESSMENTS IN SCUSD RSVP here : https://tinyurl.com/scta428 Signup Form

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Private School Says No Vaccine For Staff

by Mike Simpson / 1h

FL: Private School Says No Vaccine For Staff Centner Academy (Miami's premiere private school for the leaders of tomorrow) has informed parents by letter that the staff and teachers are not to get vaccinated for Covid-19. The letter indicates that "we ask any employee who has not yet taken the experimental COVID-19 injection, to wait until the end of the school year." That sounds almost mild, un

WHO DO WE WANT THEM TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP? – Dad Gone Wild

by Mike Simpson / 1h

WHO DO WE WANT THEM TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP? “The time has arrived when patience becomes a crime and mayhem appears garbed in a manner of virtue” ― Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes I’m going to let you in on a little secret this morning. For some, it’ll be deeply disturbing. Others will nod and say, “About time you catch up to reality.” Regardless, here it is, the chasm between what happ

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Monday, April 26, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

by Mike Simpson / 23h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tom Ultican: No Billionaires Wanted or Needed | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-u2U via @dianeravitch PROOF POINTS: Later school start time gave small boost to grades but big boost to sleep, new study finds

Big Education Ape

Education Research Report: Reading Skills of Fourth-Graders Performing Below NAEP Basic

Reading Skills of Fourth-Graders Performing Below NAEP Basic

Results from the 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) study show, for the first time, that fluent reading of text can be a major challenge for many fourth-grade public school students who perform below NAEP Basic on the NAEP reading assessment. This study was administered to a nationally representative sample of over 1,800 fourth-graders from 180 public schools. Students read two types of text out loud: (1) short passages to assess their oral reading fluency (the ability to read text aloud with appropriate speed, accuracy, and expression); and (2) word lists to assess their foundational skills, word recognition, and phonological decoding. Students performing below NAEP Basic were divided into three equal subgroups.

A new NCES report, Highlights of the 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Study, highlights the key concepts and major findings of the 2018 NAEP ORF study. For additional details, see its companion publication, the 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Study, which is being released with the Highlights report.

Key Findings

Across all of the data described in these reports, there is a consistent and positive relationship between NAEP reading assessment performance and oral reading fluency and foundational skills.

Oral reading fluency and foundational skills declined significantly at each step down the NAEP reading achievement levels, from NAEP Advanced to NAEP Proficient to NAEP Basic.

To better understand performance below NAEP Basic, we created three new levels confined to the NAEP Basic category-below NAEP Basic High, Medium, and Low. The observed decline in oral reading fluency is also seen amongst these categories- from High to Medium to Low.

There are noticeable variations in performance among the three below NAEP Basic subgroups for every dimension of oral reading fluency (reading aloud with proper speed, accuracy, and expression) and for each of the two foundational skills (recognizing familiar written words and decoding unfamiliar ones).

For an estimated 1.27 million public school fourth-graders (36 percent) performing below NAEP Basic in reading in 2018, and in particular for an estimated 420,000 fourth-grade students in the below NAEP Basic Low subgroup, fluent reading of connected text, such as paragraphs, is a major challenge.

A closer look at the underlying sources of poor fluency reveals that foundational skills (such as the ability to read and understand common words) are inadequate in the below NAEP Basic subgroups. Research has established these skills as being the main drivers of oral reading fluency and critical prerequisite skills for the subsequent development of reading comprehension

Education Research Report: Reading Skills of Fourth-Graders Performing Below NAEP Basic

Texas: Stand Together Against the Voracious Charter Industry | Diane Ravitch's blog

Texas: Stand Together Against the Voracious Charter Industry

PTC is joining with many parent groups and school boards to fight this direct assault on local control and democracy.

Pastors for Texas Children is a staunch ally of public schools and of separation of church and state. They have vigorously fought vouchers and now they are fighting an all-out attempt by the yet the aggressive charter industry to open wherever they want, without the approval of local elected officials. The lobbyists also want to slash the state board of education’s power to veto new charters.

PTC is working with parent groups and other activists to stop this direct assault on local control and democracy.

PASTORS FOR TEXAS CHILDREN

SB 28 HEARING IN HOUSE COMMITTEE TOMORROW

The public education advocacy community–which includes YOU–has had some great success despite this being a very difficult legislative session.

First of all, one piece of legislation that PTC is hoping to see made into law is the “community schools bill.” HB 81 by Eddie Rodriguez would give struggling schools the CONTINUE READING: Texas: Stand Together Against the Voracious Charter Industry | Diane Ravitch's blog

Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds

Principals show bias in responses to Black parents, new study finds

Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat

Apr 26, 6:00am EDT

A few years ago, thousands of high school principals across the country received a variation of the same email from a parent asking for “any information you can provide about enrolling.”

When the email was sent by “Emily Walsh” seeking to enroll her son “Greg,” 64% of principals responded. But when an identical message came from “Tamika Washington” with a son named “Jamal,” the response rate fell to 57%.

The emails were actually sent by two political scientists, Zachary Oberfield and Matthew Incantalupo, in an effort to gauge racial bias in public schools. Their findings — that principals are less likely to respond to parents who they may have assumed were Black — illustrate one way that bias plays out in schools nationwide, aligning with past research as well as the experiences of many families.

“We wanted an easy ask,” said Incantalupo, a professor at Yeshiva University. “If they’re throwing down hurdles for something as simple as this, it’s not too much of an inference to say there are probably other ways in which inequality manifests in these schools.”

The new paper, published last month, looks at responses from a nationally representative sample of 3,600 high school principals.

White principals, in particular, showed signs of discrimination: They were 9 percentage points less likely to respond to emails from a parent whose name suggested they were Black. Their behavior shapes national trends, as nearly four in five public school principals are white.

“Principals — just like teachers, just like everyone else — have the potential to harbor explicit or implicit racial biases that CONTINUE READING: Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Push to bar trans students from school sports hits legal roadblock | Salon.com

Push to bar trans students from school sports hits legal roadblock

Judge tosses suit trying to block trans athletes

On Sunday, a federal judge threw out a Connecticut lawsuit that sought to bar transgender athletes from participating in high school girls' sports teams.

The suit, brought by four cisgender runners — Selina Soule, Chelsea Mitchell, Alanna Smith, and Ashley Nicoletti – was filed against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), a governing state body which sets the requirements for student athletic participation. The suit alleges that "CIAC policy puts non-transgender girls at a competitive disadvantage in girls' track and, as a result, denies them rights guaranteed by Title IX." The plaintiffs specifically claim to have been deprived of titles and opportunities as a result of their competitive disadvantage, according to AP News.

The presiding judge over the case, U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny, dismissed the suit because the two transgender athletes – who the plaintiffs allege held a competitive advantage – have since graduated from high school.

"I conclude that the request to enjoin enforcement of the CIAC policy has become moot due to the graduation of Yearwood and Miller, whose participation in girls' track provided the impetus for this action," Chatigny wrote. "There is no indication that Smith and Nicoletti will encounter competition by a transgender student in a CIAC-sponsored event next season."

Chatigny argued that the plaintiffs were no longer harmed by the damages they brought forth, seeing as they were no longer competing against transgender athletes. "If it turns out that a transgender student does register to compete in girls' track next season," the judge added, "Smith and Nicoletti will be able to file a new action under Title IX along with a motion for a preliminary injunction." CONTINUE READING: Push to bar trans students from school sports hits legal roadblock | Salon.com

Teacher Tom: Unfortunate Yet Transient Immaturity

Unfortunate Yet Transient Immaturity

Last week, the United States Supreme Court in a split decision made it easier to sentence children to prison without the possibility of parole. Every year, children as young as 13 are locked away for the rest of their lives in our country. There are currently over 2500 people, mostly black, mostly poor, and mostly from backgrounds of abuse, who are living their entire adult lives behind bars. There is only one country on earth where this is legal: the United States.

Despite a global consensus that children cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults, a worldwide recognition that children are entitled to special protection and treatment, not to mention numerous international laws banning the inhuman practice, the court has in my eyes lost any claim to morality, decency, or legitimacy it may have once had.

I'm not proud of the USA.

What kind of monster can possibly believe that any human, let alone a child, is beyond salvation? Indeed, it is monstrous to make that kind of determination about a 15-year-old, the age Brett Jones was when he stabbed his grandfather to death after a life as a victim of abuse by multiple people in is life, including his grandfather. Defying the "judgement" of incorrigibility, Jones has while in prison completed his GED, has conducted himself as a model prisoner, and his CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Unfortunate Yet Transient Immaturity

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public

The Misssouri Times is a generally right of center newspaper, But it believes in the promise of public schools and recognizes that the latest push for charters and vouchers is rank privatization funded by wealthy elites. After thirty years of pouring billions into charters and vouchers, there is no reason to believe that privatized schools produce better outcomes. We know they don’t.

Opinion: Public Schools are Public Goods

BY TERESA MITHEN DANIELEY ON APRIL 26, 2021

As the parent of three children enrolled in St. LouisPublic Schools, I am deeply dismayed that so many in the Missouri House — including some Democrats — voted in favor of HB 137, which will shift up to $17 million dollars a year from traditional public schools (specifically SLPS) to charter schools, which will not be required to provide the same services as public schools. We must make sure that HB 137 dies in the Senate.

I am also deeply concerned about the statewide ramifications of SB 55, an omnibus bill with many different privatizing provisions — including the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program (aka vouchers), Charter School Funding modifications, establishing a Charter School Revolving Commission Fund to fund new charters, and changing provisions CONTINUE READING: Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

CREATING MEANINGFUL STUDENT ASSESSMENTS IN SCUSD - Sacramento City Teachers Association

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CREATING MEANINGFUL STUDENT ASSESSMENTS IN SCUSD

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CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Private School Says No Vaccine For Staff

FL: Private School Says No Vaccine For Staff

Centner Academy (Miami's premiere private school for the leaders of tomorrow) has informed parents by letter that the staff and teachers are not to get vaccinated for Covid-19.
The letter indicates that "we ask any employee who has not yet taken the experimental COVID-19 injection, to wait until the end of the school year." That sounds almost mild, until a few sentences later we arrive at "It is our policy, to the extent possible, not to employ anyone who has taken the experimental COVID-19 injection until further information is known."
You will have recognized the anti-covid-vax talking point that the vaccines are experimental. The school throws in some additional debunked talking points about the vaccine.
For example, tens of thousands of women all over the world have been reporting adverse reproductive issues from being in close proximity with those who have received one of COVID-19 injections e.g., irregular menses, bleeding, miscarriages, post menopausal hemorrhaging, and amenorrhea.
Well, no. That is not a thing that's been happening. But staff that are vaccinated will have to stay CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Private School Says No Vaccine For Staff

WHO DO WE WANT THEM TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP? – Dad Gone Wild

WHO DO WE WANT THEM TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?

“The time has arrived when patience becomes a crime and mayhem appears garbed in a manner of virtue”
― Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes

I’m going to let you in on a little secret this morning. For some, it’ll be deeply disturbing. Others will nod and say, “About time you catch up to reality.”

Regardless, here it is, the chasm between what happens in the statehouse and what happens in the classroom is an ever-growing deep, and wide one. If we did a Vinn diagram between what happens in the classroom and what administrators, non-profit CEOs, and politicians think happens in the classroom, it would be a feature thin sliver of shared elements.

A decade ago, when I first started advocacy work, I used to get emotionally worked up over every potential policy piece and initiative that came down the pike. I’d grab the pitchfork, light my torch, and be off to the rally.

Man, I used to get so frustrated when older heads would just smile and offer the sage advice of, “slow down, it’s all a pendulum. Swings one way then the other. Ain’t nothing we ain’t seen before.”

“But, but, but…” I’d sputter, “This is different! it’s about to become law! They are going to put an end CONTINUE READING: WHO DO WE WANT THEM TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP? – Dad Gone Wild

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Tuesday, April 27, 2021