Summer 2010 Reading List | Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore #edu
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Summer 2010 Reading List
Summer Reading With a Purpose
Fiction: Young Adult and Adult
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Historical Fiction: Young Adult and Adult
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Summer 2010 Reading List | Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore #edu � Parents 4 Democratic Schools
Summer 2010 Reading List | Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore #edu � Parents 4 Democratic Schools
Historical Fiction: Young Adult and Adult
Historical Fiction: Young Adult and Adult
Students Produce - Using Profits to Help Educate Homeless Students Throughout the USA
Student's Produce - Helping Homeless Students
The Problem:An estimated 1.6 million students in the USA are homeless. Organizations exist in your community to provide assistance to these children. The organizations need more funding.
One Part of the Solution:
You can help without making a donation. Student's Produce can sell fresh fruits and vegetables in your supermarket every day, and donate 50% of our audited after-tax profits from Student's Produce sales to non-profit organizations that help homeless students in your area. Watch video on our most recent donation: Mayor of Skid Row Presents $5000 Check to "School On Wheels".
You can help without making a donation. Student's Produce can sell fresh fruits and vegetables in your supermarket every day, and donate 50% of our audited after-tax profits from Student's Produce sales to non-profit organizations that help homeless students in your area. Watch video on our most recent donation: Mayor of Skid Row Presents $5000 Check to "School On Wheels".
| How Can You Help: Simply invite your supermarket to sell Student's Produce using the form on the right side of this page. You only need to provide your name, zip code, the supermarket name and your email address, which will all be kept 100% confidential. | General Jeff  "I am proud to be the spokesperson for the Student's Produce program. By working together, Americans can now provide much needed assistance to 1.6 million homeless students without making a single donation, simply by asking their supermarkets to carry and sell our produce. Thank you for helping us to accomplish this mission by giving help to a worthy cause." General Jeff is a community activist and advocate for homeless students. He is responsible for inspiring millions of Americans to send a letter to supermarkets, asking them to sell Student's Produce. In addition, General Jeff will meet with the supermarkets to encourage their participation in the Student's Produce program on the largest scale possible. General Jeff will then monitor the donations made to organizations that provide services to homeless students and will report back to Student's Produce customers, describing the results of these donations. | |||
| CLICK HERE | to read a New York Times article about homeless students. | |||
| CLICK HERE | to read about the materials and services that we can provide homeless students. | |||
| CLICK HERE | to read about our accounting practices and promises. | |||
| CLICK HERE | to contact the Student's Produce team. | |||
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| Thank you for taking two minutes to invite your supermarket to sell Student's Produce. We would also appreciate it if you would ask your friends to visit our website to invi | ||||
The Educated Guess � Smart report on teacher evaluations
Smart report on teacher evaluations
An insightful report by an independent group of experienced teachers can provide needed middle ground on the polarized issue of how to evaluate — and ultimately pay — teachers.
“A Quality Teacher in Every Classroom: Creating a Teacher Evaluation System That Works in California” indicts the current system of drive-by teacher evaluations that are often perfunctory and usually unhelpful. It lays out a more intensive alternative that would take into account the full range of teachers’ practice and performance while setting clear goals for improvement.
The timing is right for Accomplished California Teachers (ACT), an organization affiliated with the Stanford-based National Board Resource Center, to jump into the fray. There has been pressure nationwide, partly in response to the federal Race to the Top Competition, to tie teacher evaluations and higher pay to results on standardized tests. Teachers unions have resisted changes to an evaluation system grounded in compliance-based due-process rights.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing for legislation, chiefly SB 955, that would require decisions involving layoffs, transfers and rehiring of teachers be based on their performance, not seniority. But he would leave it largely to local districts and unions to rewrite the current evaluation system, though he’s insisting that student test results be a factor.
“A Quality Teacher in Every Classroom: Creating a Teacher Evaluation System That Works in California” indicts the current system of drive-by teacher evaluations that are often perfunctory and usually unhelpful. It lays out a more intensive alternative that would take into account the full range of teachers’ practice and performance while setting clear goals for improvement.
The timing is right for Accomplished California Teachers (ACT), an organization affiliated with the Stanford-based National Board Resource Center, to jump into the fray. There has been pressure nationwide, partly in response to the federal Race to the Top Competition, to tie teacher evaluations and higher pay to results on standardized tests. Teachers unions have resisted changes to an evaluation system grounded in compliance-based due-process rights.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing for legislation, chiefly SB 955, that would require decisions involving layoffs, transfers and rehiring of teachers be based on their performance, not seniority. But he would leave it largely to local districts and unions to rewrite the current evaluation system, though he’s insisting that student test results be a factor.
‘Worst’ schools have 1 week to seek $416 million
Posted in A to G Curriculum, Turning around failing schoolsCalifornia finally heard this week that it will indeed receive $416 million in federal money over three years to help turn around 188 schools identified as the state’s lowest performing.
But districts won’t learn until late next month how much they’ll be entitled to, leaving virtually no time to prepare teachers and parents for the massive changes the schools will be forced to undergo this fall. .
(Read more and comment on this post)
But districts won’t learn until late next month how much they’ll be entitled to, leaving virtually no time to prepare teachers and parents for the massive changes the schools will be forced to undergo this fall. .
(Read more and comment on this post)
Teachers' Letters to Obama - The Petition Site
Teachers' Letters to Obama - The Petition Site
Teachers' Letters to Obama
Target:
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
Sponsored by:
Dear President Obama, Secretary Duncan and Members of Congress:
Several members of the Teachers' Letters to Obama (TLO) group of educators recently had the honor of sharing with you, Secretary Duncan, our concerns with the direction of federal education reform's Race to the Top initiative.
Subsequently, various publications reported Department of Education assertions that teachers support RTTT. This claim is expressly contrary to this group's position statement and does not reflect the sentiments of thousands of teachers who have reported corresponding with you, Mr. President. We would like to clarify our position as follows:
We believe:
Meaningful education reform must embrace a range of assessments. The RTTT emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing necessarily reduces the education of our students to "test prep" focused on passing multiple-choice tests of unproven reliability. We oppose the use of so-called "merit pay" based on standardized test scores.
Teachers must be held accountable through rigorous in-classroom evaluations by trained evaluators. Schools must hold teachers to high and meaningful standards of performance.
Teachers must work collaboratively to improve pedagogy and create thoughtful curriculum. Basing teacher evaluation on standardized tests is a pseudo-accountability strategy that divides teachers as a result of variables beyond their control and misconstrues how best to motivate them. Teachers must share in the process of defining their own work and accountability should never be arbitrary or divisive.
Teachers become invested in their work when they are given the opportunity to participate in school-wide decision-making and to be creative and thoughtful in their classrooms. Many public schools work well and are resources to guide us in the improvement of all schools.
Our public school systems must be fully funded. Charter schools must be held accountable to the same regulatory oversight and should not be inequitably funded at the expense of our most challenged public schools.
Any vision of effective education reform must assume that skills be taught in a way that induces critical thinking, encourages curiosity, inspires the imagination, and emphasizes discussion. Music, art and technology are an essential part of this vision. Students should love learning, feel empowered by their educations, and should not experience schooling as something punitive.
Improvement or turn-around programs for struggling schools must be flexible and participatory. Teachers, students, and community members need to be involved in discussions and problem-solving. Moreover, we do not believe the current four options are adequate and recommend instead the strategies in the Strengthening Our Schools proposal now before Congress.
To give all of our children the quality education they deserve, we must honestly confront the challenges of the classroom in a society characterized by deep social and economic inequality. The reality of classrooms and schools is complex and requires the knowledge and expertise of teachers who have the experience to know what works. Curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment are integral to our daily classroom experience and qualify us to help formulate education policy.
Teachers who have participated in TLO want to join with this Administration to implement a progressive vision for education. We want to engage in constructive debate about the best way to teach students and to organize schools. This national discussion needs to move beyond the panaceas and shortcuts that have characterized it thus far.
In this, we ask no less of our political leaders than we ask of our students. We are eager to participate in the hard work of creating great and transformative schools
Dear President Obama, Secretary Duncan and Members of Congress:
Several members of the Teachers' Letters to Obama (TLO) group of educators recently had the honor of sharing with you, Secretary Duncan, our concerns with the direction of federal education reform's Race to the Top initiative.
Subsequently, various publications reported Department of Education assertions that teachers support RTTT. This claim is expressly contrary to this group's position statement and does not reflect the sentiments of thousands of teachers who have reported corresponding with you, Mr. President. We would like to clarify our position as follows:
We believe:
Meaningful education reform must embrace a range of assessments. The RTTT emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing necessarily reduces the education of our students to "test prep" focused on passing multiple-choice tests of unproven reliability. We oppose the use of so-called "merit pay" based on standardized test scores.
Teachers must be held accountable through rigorous in-classroom evaluations by trained evaluators. Schools must hold teachers to high and meaningful standards of performance.
Teachers must work collaboratively to improve pedagogy and create thoughtful curriculum. Basing teacher evaluation on standardized tests is a pseudo-accountability strategy that divides teachers as a result of variables beyond their control and misconstrues how best to motivate them. Teachers must share in the process of defining their own work and accountability should never be arbitrary or divisive.
Teachers become invested in their work when they are given the opportunity to participate in school-wide decision-making and to be creative and thoughtful in their classrooms. Many public schools work well and are resources to guide us in the improvement of all schools.
Our public school systems must be fully funded. Charter schools must be held accountable to the same regulatory oversight and should not be inequitably funded at the expense of our most challenged public schools.
Any vision of effective education reform must assume that skills be taught in a way that induces critical thinking, encourages curiosity, inspires the imagination, and emphasizes discussion. Music, art and technology are an essential part of this vision. Students should love learning, feel empowered by their educations, and should not experience schooling as something punitive.
Improvement or turn-around programs for struggling schools must be flexible and participatory. Teachers, students, and community members need to be involved in discussions and problem-solving. Moreover, we do not believe the current four options are adequate and recommend instead the strategies in the Strengthening Our Schools proposal now before Congress.
To give all of our children the quality education they deserve, we must honestly confront the challenges of the classroom in a society characterized by deep social and economic inequality. The reality of classrooms and schools is complex and requires the knowledge and expertise of teachers who have the experience to know what works. Curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment are integral to our daily classroom experience and qualify us to help formulate education policy.
Teachers who have participated in TLO want to join with this Administration to implement a progressive vision for education. We want to engage in constructive debate about the best way to teach students and to organize schools. This national discussion needs to move beyond the panaceas and shortcuts that have characterized it thus far.
In this, we ask no less of our political leaders than we ask of our students. We are eager to participate in the hard work of creating great and transformative schools
Dear President Obama, Secretary Duncan and Members of Congress:
We the undersigned support the vision and suggestions that members of the Teachers' Letters to Obama (TLO) group of educators recently had the honor of sharing with you, Secretary Duncan, our concerns with the direction of federal education reform's Race to the Top initiative.
Subsequently, various publications reported Department of Education assertions that teachers support RTTT. This claim is expressly contrary to this group's position statement and does not reflect the sentiments of thousands of teachers who have reported corresponding with you, Mr. President. We would like to clarify our position as follows:
We believe:
%u2022 Meaningful education reform must embrace a range of assessments. The RTTT emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing necessarily reduces the education of our students to "test prep" focused on passing multiple-choice tests of unproven reliability. We oppose the use of so-called "merit pay" based on standardized test scores.
%u2022 Teachers must be held accountable through rigorous in-classroom evaluations by trained evaluators. Schools must hold teachers to high and meaningful standards of performance.
%u2022 Teachers must work collaboratively to improve pedagogy and create thoughtful curriculum. Basing teacher evaluation on standardized tests is a pseudo-accountability strategy that divides teachers as a result of variables beyond their control and misconstrues how best to motivate them. Teachers must share in the process of defining their own work and accountability should never be arbitrary or divisive.
%u2022 Teachers become invested in their work when they are given the opportunity to participate in school-wide decision-making and to be creative and thoughtful in their classrooms. Many public schools work well and are resources to guide us in the improvement of all schools.
%u2022 Our public school systems must be fully funded. Charter schools must be held accountable to the same regulatory oversight and should not be inequitably funded at the expense of our most challenged public schools.
%u2022 Any vision of effective education reform must assume that skills be taught in a way that induces critical thinking, encourages curiosity, inspires the imagination, and emphasizes discussion. Music, art and technology are an essential part of this vision. Students should love learning, feel empowered by their educations, and should not experience schooling as something punitive.
%u2022 Improvement or %u201Cturn-around%u201D programs for struggling schools must be flexible and participatory. Teachers, students, and community members need to be involved in discussions and problem-solving. Moreover, we do not believe the current four options are adequate and recommend instead the strategies in the Strengthening Our Schools proposal now before Congress.
To give all of our children the quality education they deserve, we must honestly confront the challenges of the classroom in a society characterized by deep social and economic inequality. The reality of classrooms and schools is complex and requires the knowledge and expertise of teachers who have the experience to know what works. Curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment are integral to our daily classroom experience and qualify us to help formulate education policy.
Teachers who have participated in TLO want to join with this Administration to implement a progressive vision for education. We want to engage in constructive debate about the best way to teach students and to organize schools. This national discussion needs to move beyond the panaceas and shortcuts that have characterized it thus far.
In this, we ask no less of our political leaders than we ask of our students. We are eager to participate in the hard work of creating great and transformative schools
petition overview | letter
Dear President Obama, Secretary Duncan and Members of Congress:
Several members of the Teachers' Letters to Obama (TLO) group of educators recently had the honor of sharing with you, Secretary Duncan, our concerns with the direction of federal education reform's Race to the Top initiative.
Subsequently, various publications reported Department of Education assertions that teachers support RTTT. This claim is expressly contrary to this group's position statement and does not reflect the sentiments of thousands of teachers who have reported corresponding with you, Mr. President. We would like to clarify our position as follows:
We believe:
Meaningful education reform must embrace a range of assessments. The RTTT emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing necessarily reduces the education of our students to "test prep" focused on passing multiple-choice tests of unproven reliability. We oppose the use of so-called "merit pay" based on standardized test scores.
Teachers must be held accountable through rigorous in-classroom evaluations by trained evaluators. Schools must hold teachers to high and meaningful standards of performance.
Teachers must work collaboratively to improve pedagogy and create thoughtful curriculum. Basing teacher evaluation on standardized tests is a pseudo-accountability strategy that divides teachers as a result of variables beyond their control and misconstrues how best to motivate them. Teachers must share in the process of defining their own work and accountability should never be arbitrary or divisive.
Teachers become invested in their work when they are given the opportunity to participate in school-wide decision-making and to be creative and thoughtful in their classrooms. Many public schools work well and are resources to guide us in the improvement of all schools.
Our public school systems must be fully funded. Charter schools must be held accountable to the same regulatory oversight and should not be inequitably funded at the expense of our most challenged public schools.
Any vision of effective education reform must assume that skills be taught in a way that induces critical thinking, encourages curiosity, inspires the imagination, and emphasizes discussion. Music, art and technology are an essential part of this vision. Students should love learning, feel empowered by their educations, and should not experience schooling as something punitive.
Improvement or turn-around programs for struggling schools must be flexible and participatory. Teachers, students, and community members need to be involved in discussions and problem-solving. Moreover, we do not believe the current four options are adequate and recommend instead the strategies in the Strengthening Our Schools proposal now before Congress.
To give all of our children the quality education they deserve, we must honestly confront the challenges of the classroom in a society characterized by deep social and economic inequality. The reality of classrooms and schools is complex and requires the knowledge and expertise of teachers who have the experience to know what works. Curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment are integral to our daily classroom experience and qualify us to help formulate education policy.
Teachers who have participated in TLO want to join with this Administration to implement a progressive vision for education. We want to engage in constructive debate about the best way to teach students and to organize schools. This national discussion needs to move beyond the panaceas and shortcuts that have characterized it thus far.
In this, we ask no less of our political leaders than we ask of our students. We are eager to participate in the hard work of creating great and transformative schools
D.C. Schools Insider - Fenty backs out of education debate with Gray
Fenty backs out of education debate with Gray
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has backed out of a highly-anticipated, one-on-one debate with chief rival Vincent C. Gray, the Post's Nikita Stewart reports on D.C. Wire.
The forum's organizers, The Young Education Professionals, are not happy. The group is urging people to "reach out" to the mayor via twitter, e-mail, Facebook and phone, in an effort to get him to reconsider.
Read the full story here.
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