Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Our Letters to Obama: the 338 Word Challenge :: Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

Our Letters to Obama: the 338 Word Challenge

by AnthonyCody

Last week, President Obama reminded us all why his election gave many of us so much hope. In 338 words he spoke of how he wanted his daughters, Sasha and Malia, to have their learning tested. He described a low-stakes, low pressure environment, with the results used not to punish them, their teachers or their school, but simply to find out what their strengths are, and where they might need extra support. He spoke of the need to avoid teaching to the test, and the value of engaging projects that would make students excited about learning. President Obama has made sure his daughters can learn this way. If only Department of Education policies would allow students in our public schools this same privilege!

President Obama needs to understand. Those of us who care deeply about our children and public schools cannot support his candidacy if he does not fix his education policies so they align with what he said on March 28th.

We have created a petition asking President Obama to support the Guiding Principles of the Save Our School

Poverty + poor reading = dropout | Thoughts on Public Education

Poverty + poor reading = dropout
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3rd grade reading ability tied to high school graduation

Posted on 4/12/11 • Categorized as Preschool, Research

By Kathryn Baron

Sometimes you have to wonder what the tipping point is for taking education research and moving it into action. It’s been years since educators recognized the importance of third grade as the year when children move from learning to read to reading to learn. Yet, reading proficiency for fourth graders in the United States has been fairly stagnant according to theNational Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), rising four points between 1992 and 2009.

Children below basic in reading account for a third of all students, but are 63% of those who don't graduate from high school. (click to enlarge)

Now comes a new longitudinal report, about as unequivocal as this sort of research can be, showing a direct link between third grade reading and high school graduation. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School

“SoundCloud” & “Takes Questions” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“SoundCloud” & “Takes Questions” SoundCloud lets you very easily record an audio message — the first 120 minutes are free — and then you can post the link or embed it where you like. They’ve also just begun a new site called Take Questions, which TechCrunch calls a “Quora for ...

“The Hook, Curiosity, and the Brain” The Hook, Curiosity, and the Brain is the title of a post over at Eide Neurolearning Blog. It describes the results of a study on what curiosity and questioning does to the brain. Here’s an excerpt: *When study subjects were interested in a question, ...

Good Short Interview With Daniel Pink “The American School Board Journal” has published a nice short interview with Daniel Pink, author of the book, “Drive.” For people familiar with his work, there’s probably nothing new in it. But it’s a nice introduction to the problems of rewards and ...

The Best Sites For Learning About The International Day For Street Children The first International Day for Street Children is being launched on April 12, 2011, by the Consortium for Street Children. Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About The International Day For Street Children: The best place to start ...

Vocabulary.com Vocabulary.com is a new free site from the creators of the “Visual Thesaurus.” It’s a vocabulary game that has lots of bells and whistles, including the ability to evaluate how you’re doing and use that information to determine the difficulty of ...

Today’s Collection Of Good School Reform Posts & Articles Here are a few more good school reform-related articles and posts that have caught my eye over the past couple of days: Business and Education Don’t Mix is by Walt Gardner at Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Explaining Why Schools ...

School Matters: Can Public Schools Really Do More With Less?, Vivian Po | California Progress Report

School Matters: Can Public Schools Really Do More With Less?, Vivian Po

by kaldveer

By Vivian Po
New America Media

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the U.S. economy continues to falter and states struggle to balance their budgets, cuts in education funding have become ubiquitous. Yet students face new pressures to remain competitive in the global market. Once again, the big question for reformers is: “Can schools do more with less?”

To answer that question, NAM education reporter Vivian Po spoke with Ulrich Boser, author of a recent report by the Center for American Progress: “Return on Educational Investment: A district-by-district evaluation of US educational productivity.” The report, the first attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country, found that some districts have spent their dollars more wisely than others—and most schools can improve their efficiency, if they try.

What does the report tell us?

Sober and Responsible Public Leadership: Is It Too Much to Ask?

by kaldveer

By Peter Laarman

Hard times should, and sometimes do, bring out the best in us: shared sacrifice, creative solutions, and a sense that we’re all in this together. It’s very clear that people in our state and across the nation crave that kind of leadership as they struggle with the worst job market in

Duncan contrasts New Orleans, Detroit | EdNewsColorado

Duncan contrasts New Orleans, Detroit

When it comes to education, Detroit needs to be more like New Orleans, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters gathered in the Crescent City on Friday for the annual gathering of the Education Writers Association.

Duncan hinted during a question-and-answer session that his department is developing plans to intervene in Detroit Public Schools, a district with massive budget problems and chronic achievement issues. He declined to be more specific.

“Stay tuned,” he said. “I see the progress here in New Orleans and I ask, ‘Why not Detroit?’ We don’t need to wait for a hurricane before we can reform schools. I even think Detroit can leapfrog New Orleans.”

Duncan also touched on the use of value-added measures in evaluating educators, talked about whether teacher ratings should be made public and questioned turnaround practices in some cities, including Ne

School Tech Connect: Dear Heather Steans and Harry Osterman

Dear Heather Steans and Harry Osterman

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

And now, a word from the Illinois Constitution, Article XIII:

It's pretty clear to me. Michael Madigan may think that pension benefits can by reduced for current members, but anyone who understands the purpose of a constitution knows better. If it were a negotiable thing, this article

solidaridad: Tim Delia: Who's really behind VAM

Tim Delia: Who's really behind VAM *[The University of Colorado at Boulder study] drives a proverbial stake through the heart of the VAM pseudo-science, that like its cousin phrenology, should have passed off the scene long ago. — Robert D. Skeels(LAUSD District 2 Board Candidate) * ...

Comments on Hedges on Why the U. S. is Destroying Its Education System *"We have our cake, and are eating it too." — Eli Broad (Predatory Pseudo-Philanthropist and Charter School Backer)* [image: Corporate school privatization criminals Eli Broad and Arne Duncan] Chris Hedges latest enlightened essay entitled *Why the U. ...

IL teachers and retirees. The threat to our pension is now. « Fred Klonsky's blog

IL teachers and retirees. The threat to our pension is now.

APRIL 12, 2011

by Fred Klonsky

From the Illinois Retired Teachers Association:

Retired and current educators are going to face serious challenges over the days and weeks to come while the Illinois General Assembly is in session. IRTA is asking you to send the attached Voter Voice email to your legislators. Although we have not seen the specific language of the pension bill, we are expecting it will show its head any day now. The West Lake Shore local unit has provided some templates for

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago's CEO short list

Chicago's CEO short list

by Mike Klonsky

Brizard sounds like perfect candidate for Rahm

According to this morning's Trib, Rahm Emanuel's short list of outsiders for new school's CEO includes current Rochester supt. Jean-Claude Brizard. Even though Brizard, the latest through Rochester's revolving door of school bosses, just recently signed a three-year deal, he's ONLY making $235,000 in Rochester and could be using the Chicago offer to leverage more back home. He would certainly do better money-wise in Chi-town where a broken school budget never stopped those at the top from enriching themselves or moving on to bigger and better things. He has a background in education which Emanuel thinks might placate those in the union and some community groups who have made this an issue. Plus he's married to a charter school entrepreneur who could do well in Chicago's booming charter school market.

In Rochester, Brizard is embraced by local biz reformers and despised by many teachers and parents. In

It’s not an ethnic thing, it’s a poverty thing « Failing Schools

It’s not an ethnic thing, it’s a poverty thing

APRIL 12, 2011

by mariasallee

We all have those members of our own social, ethnic or subculture groups that somehow manage to make us cringe in our embarrassment for them. Mexicans & Mexican-Americans may sheepishly laugh at the “nacos“; while African-Americans might laugh and roll their eyes at the “ghetto” folk; Asians at the FOBs; and the white people at the PWTs, notably “ethnic” groups, or maybe WASPs. On some level, I wonder if our tendency to notice the flamboyance of certain people of “our kind” indicates a deeper embarrassment for ourselves as viewed through the eyes of another group. In any case, usually those people that tend to embarrass the collective “us” are people a little poorer or less advantaged than “we” are, probably a little less clued in to the way

NYC Educator: The Short Happy Tenure of Chancellor Walcott

The Short Happy Tenure of Chancellor Walcott

by Miss Eyre

I was in the teachers' room at school last week when I heard that Chancellor Black was to be no more. The attitude in the room might have been politely described as jubilant. I have yet to meet the real working teacher that was at all excited or motivated by her leadership, and no one I know seems to find her departure to be a great loss.

(Acting?) (Maybe?)-Chancellor Walcott has been in the position, I guess, for a few days, so

Monday, April 11, 2011

15 Things I Believe In Right Now (Including the F-Word) | The Jose Vilson

15 Things I Believe In Right Now (Including the F-Word)

by Jose

Oh, God.

I haven’t done a manifesto in about a year and a half, though I believe the composite of my postings here for the last few years gives you a clear picture as to who I am and where I stand on all these disparate issues. Then, every so often, the definitions I’ve set for myself and my surroundings get tested with things I, upon first reaction, consider irrational and not worth my time. Then, I find that these moments provide a moment of reflection for me that I can’t forgo. With that, I give you 25 things I believe in right now:

1) I believe the media’s blowing up Donald Trump because they’re trying to distract us from the misery that

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Erasurehead

Erasurehead

by Mike Klonsky

Replacing the broom as symbol for D.C. reform

What a tangled web Michelle Rhee has woven for herself. Erasure-gate is now the talk of the town in D.C. now that Rhee seems to have traded in her broom for a pencil with an eraser on its end. Even Rhee buddy Jay Mathews has turned on her. Maybe because Mathews' wife Linda, helped break the USA Today story which sparked a wild counter attack by Rhee when she went on the Tavis Smiley Show.

"When the academic achievement rates of a district like D.C. go up, people assume that it can't be ... because the kids are actually attaining higher gains in student achievement, but that it's because of something like cheating," Rhee told Smiley. When he asked Rhee if she believed the USA Today investigation to be lacking in integrity, she said, "Absolutely."

But even so... Mathews is now asking Arne Ducan if he'll take back the Blue Ribbon awarded Rhee and the district for its bump in test scores now that we know it wasn't a bump at all, but a pot hole. You may recall that Duncan gave D.C. the award on the eve of D.C. elections in November, his way of campaigning for defeated

Bill Ayers live illustrated by Ryan Alexander-Tanner!!! « Bill Ayers

Bill Ayers live illustrated by Ryan Alexander-Tanner!!!

Bill Ayers live illustrated by Ryan Alexander-Tanner, the video is now online at the NYCoRE website: http://www.nycore.org/2011/04/conference-report-back/. Please share widely.

NYC Public School Parents: Fireworks at Dennis Walcott's debut at the education budget hearings

Fireworks at Dennis Walcott's debut at the education budget hearings

by Leonie Haimson

On Friday, the hearing room at the former Emigrant Bank (City Hall is under renovation) was full of expectant reporters, parents, and government officials, eager to see if the chancellor-designee Dennis Walcott would bring a new spirit of collaboration or new ideas to what is usually very contentious hearings on themayor’s preliminary operating budget for the Department of Education.

The morning started with Education Chair Robert Jackson pointing out that the huge cuts to teachers in the mayor’s proposed budget – with over six thousand positions eliminated, while no cuts were made to central administration or the mid-level bureaucracy -- indicated a troubling lack of concern for the potential consequences for children of increased class size and overcrowding:

“Rather than cutting spending on consultants and private contractors, they chose to cut schools. Rather than slowing or halting the pace of costly school closings, they chose to cut teachers. Rather than freezing rents when the real estate market tanked, they chose to increase class size.”

Leadership and the Internet; Aligning Practice | Connected Principals

Leadership and the Internet; Aligning Practice

Posted by George Couros on 4/12/11 • Categorized as Parental Involvement,School Branding,Technology Integration

Social media is a dominant topic in our society right now because of the large numbers of people and organizations using it to connect with people all around the world. The more that I have read books such as “Open Leadership“, the more I am seeing the alignment of using the Internet to connect with effective leadership and

YouTube - DC Mayor, Voting Activists Arrested During Budget Deal Protest

YouTube - DC Mayor, Voting Activists Arrested During Budget Deal Protest: ""

Former D.C. Schools Chief May Have To Answer For Suspect Scores : NPR

In D.C., Michelle Rhee May Answer For Suspect Scores

by CLAUDIO SANCHEZ Michelle Rhee served as the head of D.C. Public Schools for almost three years. She now heads her own education advocacy group, StudentsFirst.

Standardized test scores in Washington, D.C.'s public schools came under scrutiny last month when a USA Today investigation found evidence of cheating.

USA Today reviewed test scores from 2008 through 2010 and found an unusual rate of erasures on answer sheets from 103 schools in which wrong answers were consistently replaced with the right ones. In one seventh-grade classroom in Northeast D.C., USA Today found nearly 13 erasures per student on a 2009 reading test. The citywide average that year was no more than one erasure per student.

If an independent investigation finds that there was, in fact, widespread cheating, it could tarnish the reputation of former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who based much of her success

School Tech Connect: A Bland, Timid Guy

A Bland, Timid Guy

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Who is this Krugman fellow, and how did he get such a way with words?

Concur. I can't even read the papers any more because I feel like I voted for a charlatan. I've recently been looking around the husks of the real estate market here on the far north side of Chicago, thinking that might be the time to get back into real estate---- it isn't, by the way--- and what I've seen is a swath of abysmal poverty.

Agenda--April 21, 2011 - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

Agenda--April 21, 2011

Agenda and other related materials for the California State Board of Education (SBE) meeting to be held on April 21, 2011.

State Board Members

Michael W. Kirst, President
Trish Williams, Vice President

Carl Cohn
Aida Molina
James C. Ramos
Patricia A. Rucker
Ilene W. Straus
Connor Cushman, Student Member

Secretary & Executive Officer

Hon. Tom Torlakson

Interim Executive Director

Patricia de Cos

Schedule of Meeting	Location
Thursday, April 21, 2011 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time + STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Closed Session – IF NECESSARY (The public may not attend.)	California Department of Education 1430 N Street, Room 1101 Sacramento, California 95814 916-319-0827

Schedule of Meeting

Location

Thursday, April 21, 2011
9:00 a.m. Pacific Time +

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Closed Session – IF NECESSARY
(The public may not attend.)

California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Room 1101
Sacramento, California 95814
916-319-0827

The Closed Session (1) may commence earlier than 9:00 a.m.; (2) may begin at or before 9:00 a.m., be recessed, and then be reconvened later in the day; or (3) may commence later than 9:00 a.m.

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