Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Answer Sheet - On school reform, by Philadelphia's mayor and superintendent

On school reform, by Philadelphia's mayor and superintendent

This post was written by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. By Michael Nutter and Arlene Ackerman To read the news coming out of Washington, D.C., you’d think the only way to reform public schools is by firing teachers, closing schools, and battling it out in the media. Not so. The aggressive strategies in D.C. led to some laudable gains in minority students’ academic performance. But it is clear that some members of the community may have felt alienated or left out of the process. In Philadelphia, we believe there’s a different way—engage the entire community, collaborate with union colleagues, and focus on instruction.

More Actions at the University of Puerto Rico � Student Activism

More Actions at the University of Puerto Rico

by Angus Johnston

The Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico, whose Humanities division was shuttered by student protesters on Tuesday, has now seen that shutdown spread to the divisions of Education and Social Sciences (article | translation).

Students in all three divisions have shut down classroom buildings, leaving them barricaded against entry. So far,

HechingerEd Blog | Are charters holding students back at high rates and, if so, how might that affect their outcomes?

Are charters holding students back at high rates and, if so, how might that affect their outcomes?

by Sarah Garland

In an article published in the November 2010 issue of The American Prospect, The Hechinger Report takes a look at whether charter schools tend to hold students back more often than regular public schools do, and what that might mean for student outcomes. The research on retaining students – particularly if they’re older – has linked the practice to lower achievement and higher dropout rates. But it could be that charters are different than large districts that choose to end “social promotion,” the practice of passing students to the next grade level even if they’re low-performing, in order to keep them with peers of the same age. We looked in detail at the research and at what is happening in two charter schools in New York City.

Education Research Report: NASBE Study Finds Teacher Training and Evaluation are Left Behind in Scramble to Deliver 21st Century Education to Students

No Time to Wait: Creating Contemporary School Structures for Students Today and Tomorrow, Ω NASBE's new policy report, No Time to Wait: Creating Contemporary School Structures for Students Today and Tomorrow, concludes that for the U.S. to prosper and compete in the 21st century, the education system will need to change its goals and ...

NASBE Study Finds Teacher Training and Evaluation are Left Behind in Scramble to Deliver 21st Century Education to Students The current education model in the United States, a relic of the Industrial Age, is increasingly out of touch with the needs of society and the students it serves. In addition to the continued use of dated models of educating students, our systems for ...

A New Investigation of the Kent State Shootings � Student Activism

A New Investigation of the Kent State Shootings

by Angus Johnston

I’ve been asked about this a couple of times, so here’s my take…

A new analysis of an audiotape recorded at the time of the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings suggests — to at least one researcher — that pistol shots were fired not long before National Guard troops opened fire on antiwar protesters on the Ohio campus, killing four students.

In my experience, acoustic analysis is as much art as science, and any one expert’s claim should be taken with a grain of salt. What’s on the tape may be gunfire, and it may not.

Representative Dennis Kucinich is promising to lead an investigation into this new evidence, and that seems

The Answer Sheet - Kudos for D.C. school meal program but hold applause for Congress

Kudos for D.C. school meal program but hold applause for Congress

D.C. public schools officials deserve an ovation for a new program to feed dinner to about 10,000 students in an effort to help improve childhood nutrition and ensure that kids don’t go hungry. But let's hold the applause for Congress. As my colleague Bill Turque reported here, the D.C. schools are now serving dinner in 99 of its 123 schools, reaching nearly a quarter of the students in the district, many of whom now eat three meals a day at school. The program is an acknowledgment that the effects of poverty and food insecurity are significant and can affect a child’s ability to do well in school. The irony in this is that the city’s soon-to-be-departed schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has repeatedly downplayed the role of poverty in student achievement gaps and has even called it “an excuse” for bad teaching.

Schools Matter: White Billionaire Boys' Club to Save Poor People of Color with Apartheid Schooling?

White Billionaire Boys' Club to Save Poor People of Color with Apartheid Schooling?

by Jim Horn

Email notice from Rethinking Schools:

In the article “Ultimate $uperpower: Supersized dollars drive Waiting for Superman agenda,” investigative journalist Barbara Miner looks at the money behind the movie, its promoters and those who will benefit from the movie. She writes, “In education, as in so many other aspects of society, money is being used to squeeze out democracy.” After examining the role of hedge funds,

School Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Now Dinner Too? - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

School Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Now Dinner Too?

by Alexander Russo

Free and reduced price lunch has long been part of federal and some state school meal programs, and breakfasts and weekend supplements are increasingly common. Now Washington DC is expanding a pilot dinnertime meal program at its schools, according to this Washington Post article (D.C. schools dinner program aims to fight childhood hunger). "The District is going a step further in 99 of its 123 schools and reaching nearly

8:00 AM (12 minutes ago)

PFAD: Pay To Play Principal

by Alexander Russo

The Tribune is reporting that this year's PFAD form includes a $1000 donation requirement (CPS Principal for a Day): The registration form for the Thursday event asked participants to pledge at least $1,000 in cash or services to their assigned schools, a move that has prompted 40 to 50 calls to CPS headquarters. CPS has responded as follows, claiming that it was a suggestion not a requirement: "In response to feedback received last year, CPS this year slightly altered the format of PFAD to allow participants more time in schools and more clearly define the nature of the partnerships. The forms PFADs were asked to fill out

Maine high school student expelled over rap song - Boston.com

Maine high school student expelled over rap song

October 21, 2010

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HERMON, Maine—A high school senior in Maine says his First Amendment right to free speech is being violated after he was kicked out of school over the lyrics of a rap song he wrote about the school.

Seventeen-year-old Trevor Moore was expelled this week for a song titled "Hermon High School" that he posted on a social networking site. The expletive-filled rant, sung to the tune of an Eminem song, refers to school officials by name and contains lyrics that some see as threatening.

Moore tells the Bangor Daily News that he meant no harm and wants to return to school so he can graduate.

While not discussing the specifics of Moore's case,

Media AdvisorDirector of White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Speak at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte |

Director of White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Speak at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte | U.S. Department of Education

Director of White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Speak at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte John S. Wilson, executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, will address the Smith Institute for Applied Research Symposium Friday at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. His topic: ...

RSA Commissioner Ruttledge to Give Keynote Address at the Iowa Rehabilitation Association's Annual Training Conference Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Commissioner Lynnae Ruttledge will present the keynote address at the Iowa Rehabilitation Association's Annual Training Conference Friday, Oct. 22 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Assistant Secretary Dann-Messier to Speak at Arkansas Association of Continuing and Adult Education State Conference Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, will give keynote remarks at the Arkansas Association of Continuing and Adult Education State conference Friday, Oct. 22 in Little Rock, Ark.

Education Assistant Secretary to Address Smithsonian Teachers' Night U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Melendez will give opening remarks at the Smithsonian Teachers' Night 2010 at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 22 at the National Museum of American History.

Gay rights group plans rally on Rutgers campus in wake of Tyler Clementi tragedy - NorthJersey.com

Gay rights group plans rally on Rutgers campus in wake of Tyler Clementi tragedy

Thursday, October 21, 2010
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY OCTOBER 21, 2010, 9:29 AM

BY HANNAN ADELY

THE RECORD

STAFF WRITER

NEW BRUNSWICK - A gay rights group plans a rally Thursday to protest what it says is Rutgers University's failure to confront harassment against gays.

Tyler Clementi

The rally comes less than a month after Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers freshman from Ridgewood, killed himself after his roommate allegedly broadcast Clementi's sexual encounter with a man over the internet.

Queering the Air leaders say they have compiled complaints from LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students about safety, housing and medical and counseling, and plan to present it in a letter to university President Richard McCormick.

The letter will be delivered at a Rutgers University Student Assembly

Why 'Convenient' Lies Won't Set Us Free - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Why 'Convenient' Lies Won't Set Us Free

by Deborah Meier

Dear Diane,

You offer the perfect response. The fact that some of the usual suspects are divided on the "bash the teachers" agenda is good news. It gives us new sources of hope. And I remember that even in a flawed democracy like ours (and is there an un-flawed one?), neither "we" nor "they" can ever declare a total victory.

When I came to New York City in the fall of '65 my friends and acquaintances (like the real estate agent who was helping me locate an apartment) told me that "no one sends their kids to the public schools." Of course, 1.2 million children couldn't all have been orphans, but I understood the code. I hadn't taken it for granted, since my kids had been OK at their prior public schools in Chicago's South Side and Philadelphia's West Mount Airy. So my children spent their pre-college years in NYC's public schools. I grew accustomed to the guilt trips I listened to from folks like Davis Guggenheim, who tells us that "Waiting for Superman" was made to assuage his guilt.

Schools Matter: "Fairly Respected Writer" and the Grossest of Neo-Confederate Propaganda

"Fairly Respected Writer" and the Grossest of Neo-Confederate Propaganda

by Jim Horn

In the right-wing revisionist history preferred by the Republican Tea Party nitwits (includes Virginia's Governor), the Civil War was not fought over slavery but about states rights. Got it. You have to wonder which one of these fools chose a 4th grade history text written by Cub Scout den mother for Virginia school children that channels that Tea Party line by claiming that thousands of black soldiers fought under Stonewall Jackson to preserve the Confederacy. Her former exploits into publishing include bestsellers like "Oh Yikes: History's Grossest Moments." From WaPo:

By Kevin Sieff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 20, 2010; 12:53 AM

A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War -- a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups

SCUSD Board Member Diana Rodriguez Reflects on the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics

My Dear Friend,

Just yesterday I was at the White House East Room with the President of the Unites States, Barack Obama, to witness him signing the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

The initiative calls for the expansion of educational opportunities, improvement of education outcomes, and the need to deliver a complete and competitive education for all Hispanics, the Initiative shall, consistent with law, promote, encourage, and undertake efforts designed to meet the goals and objectives set forth in the document signed by President Obama on the 19th day of October in the year 2010.

The initiative also calls for us to work across communities in partnership with one another to help achieve President Obama's goal to ensure that all of our children, regardless of race, are provided a world-class education. As President Obama stated in his speech, just before signing the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics, "Now, this is not just a Latino problem; this is an American problem. Weâ€™ve got to solve it because if we allow these trends to continue, it wonâ€™t just be one community that falls behind -â€“ we will all fall behind together."

This is why I have taken the commitment to our children in Sacramento to continue to learn as much as I can and to use my knowledge, skills, and abilities to ensure we provide results and positive outcomes in alignment with President Obama's 2020 goal. As you know, we are not only local or national, we are a globally competitive environment, and we can no longer afford to see things as just a local issue. We have a responsibility to ensure our work is being done in the manner in which it is prescribed in order to achieve the greatness that we know we are.

I have a simple request of you; that you continue to support me; and when I call upon you for assistance, please roll up your sleeves to help create a brighter and more prosperous future for our children; for not only our city, but also our great nation, and ultimately, our entire world.

After all, it's all about the kids. If we fail them, we fail ourselves and everyone else we share this planet with.

Have a great evening and enjoy your time with your families. When you look at the young children in your family, in their precious faces, know that there are people who are genuinely concerned about doing the right thing for them and their future.

Sincerely,

Diana Rodriguez
SCUSD Board Member
District 5

Students aren’t citizenship-ready — Joanne Jacobs

Students aren’t citizenship-ready

by Joanne

Preparation for active citizenship — an understanding of the nation’s founding principles and documents, the structure of government, and the ability to analyze and think critically about politics and power — isn’t on the education agenda, complains Diana Jean Schemo on Remapping Debate. Education advocates want students to be “college- and career-ready,” but not necessarily “citizenship-ready.”

Broadly speaking, preparation for active citizenship really connotes two related areas: civics and citizenship education. Civics, said Mary McFarland, past president of the National Council for the Social Studies . . . teaches (students) about the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Federalist

Teacher ranking road show heads for Broadway. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Teacher ranking road show heads for Broadway.

by preaprez

What started in LA is now moving to NY.

The Department of Education has promised to release personal value added teacher rankings to the press. The rankings are based on student test scores at the beginning of the year and at the end. No research supports the use of student test scores as a reliable measure of teacher effectiveness.

The teachers union plans to go to court to block the release of the rankings.

A NY teacher commented at Gotham Schools:

I am a teacher who has wanted to know my rating for a very long time. I cannot

Official: Obama to fight to repeal parts of No Child Left Behind - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Official: Obama to fight to repeal parts of No Child Left Behind

ROCKFORD — A key administrator in the U.S. Department of Education told area educators today to expect President Barack Obama’s administration to push Congress to repeal elements of the No Child Left Behind Act that many say are punitive and unrealistic.

Peter Cunningham, the assistant secretary for communications and outreach at the U.S. Department of Education, met with area superintendents, teachers and community members.

About 50 people attended a morning session at Rockford College, and before that, Cunningham met with six local superintendents. He also met with about 20 elementary teachers from Rockford, Winnebago and Kinnikinnick school districts at Lewis Lemon Elementary School and secondary-level teachers at Belvidere High School.

Frustration with No Child Left Behind, local school district budget struggles, parental involvement in schools, teacher evaluations and labor management relationships were among the issues that educators and members of the public discussed with Cunningham.

The Record: Money for charters - NorthJersey.com

The Record: Money for charters

Thursday, October 21, 2010

THE RECORD

AFTER MONTHS of headlines but little actual news, we're pleased to note some forward momentum on charter schools in New Jersey.

Charter schools are privately run, but they receive public funding and are tuition-free. They are held to many of the same standards as traditional public schools but are not required to hire unionized teachers. Many have unorthodox schedules, specialized curriculum and strict codes of conduct. We believe charters spur educational innovation and provide choice for families, and support moves by President Obama and Governor Christie to encourage them.

Under state law, charter schools are supposed to receive 90 percent of whatever the local school district spends per student, but the vagaries of public funding mean that many receive far less. And they have been frozen out of federally subsidized

My Blood, My Sweat, and My Test Scores � Outside the Cave

My Blood, My Sweat, and My Test Scores

by Stephen Lazar

1 person liked this

As you might know, this week the NYC DOE said it would release 12,000 teachers’ names and their students’ test scores on State ELA and math tests in grades 3-8. I teach high school, so I am not directly effected, buthere are my students’ Regents test scores from my four years teaching in NYC, anyway. I put them out there in solidarity with my brothers and sisters who are about the be put under the microscope.

You can have the scores, just please remember they are almost meaningless. They tell you about 5% of what I do. Here’s what they don’t tell you:

They don’t tell you that last year I taught 100% of our juniors who are special education students and/or

Charter school hearing in Manhattan gets ugly over videotape flap

BY KERRY WILLS AND JOE KEMP
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Thursday, October 21st 2010, 4:00 AM

A public hearing to bring a charter school to an upper West Side public school erupted in chaos on Wednesday when the head of a community board tried to boot a woman for videotaping the meeting, officials said.

Larisa Beachy, 24 - an operations coordinator for the Harlem Success Academy - was arrested after she refused to leave Public School 145 on W. 105th St. on the ground that she had the right to openly record the public meeting, officials said.

Beachy was hired by the Success Charter Network, run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz (D-Manhattan), to document the meeting of about 300 people.

"This was an important public meeting," said Jenny Sedlis, a spokeswoman for the group. "It's a shame the CEC [Community Education Council] obstructed the public's

Parents want to know if instructors measure up

by ROB SGOBBO and MEREDITH KOLODNER, DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Many parents said they would welcome knowing how much their child's teacher improved test scores, but some were concerned about how the information would be used.

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Maine high school student expelled over rap song

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I am a teacher who has wanted to know my rating for a very long time. I cannot

Official: Obama to fight to repeal parts of No Child Left Behind

Charter school hearing in Manhattan gets ugly over videotape flap