California bucks U.S. trend on teacher evaluations - latimes.com

California bucks U.S. trend on teacher evaluations - latimes.com:

California bucks U.S. trend on teacher evaluations

A report released by the National Council on Teacher Quality finds most states have made significant changes in recent years. Many now consider student achievement when determining instructors' tenure or dismissal.

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Brent Smiley is a social studies teacher at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times / September 8, 2011)

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

October 26, 2011, 12:05 a.m.

About two-thirds of states have made significant changes in teacher evaluations in the last two years, with many for the first time taking into account student achievement in such high-stakes decisions as granting tenure protections and dismissing instructors for poor performance.

California is a notable exception. Critics insist the state is trailing the nation in this area while others applaud California for resisting unproven strategies.

The nationwide snapshot comes from a report released Wednesday by the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality, which compiles data and advocates for

It's A Civil War, Not A Partisan One | District 299: The Inside Scoop on CPS

It's A Civil War, Not A Partisan One | District 299: The Inside Scoop on CPS:

It's A Civil War, Not A Partisan One

by Alexander Russo

Things almost always go awry when the national media get involved in local news stories, and that was the case earlier this week when MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell weighed in on the much-discussed Denver school board race taking place next week. Following up on recent coverage in The Nation and on Salon, O'Donnell did a segment with Denver school board candidate Emily Sirota in which he seemed to have the view that the big-money opposition to union-supported Sirota was coming entirely from pro-voucher Republicans. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The Denver race may make the case for campaign limits for school board elections but let's be clear that this fight is not really between Democrats and

Schools Matter: Tennessee Charter School Data Gives Good Reasons to Go Slow or Begin Backing Up

Schools Matter: Tennessee Charter School Data Gives Good Reasons to Go Slow or Begin Backing Up:

Tennessee Charter School Data Gives Good Reasons to Go Slow or Begin Backing Up

by Jim Horn

On Monday the Commercial Appeal in Memphis carried a story on efforts by local officials to take a deep breath and assess the charter school situation as these same officials work to create a Metro school system out of separate city and county systems. This seems to be a reasonable proposal, but, of course, the hedge funders, vulture philanthropists, Koch Brothers puppet, Gov. Haslam, and other corporate welfare bottom feeders are in an instant lather to block any effort to call a timeout on the spread of the intensely segregated (by race and class) exclusionary charter schools in Memphis, with their punishing protocols that no middle class parent would consider for their own children.

Greg Thompson, former investment banking analyst and new chief of the Tennessee Charter School Incubator, is leading the charge for the uninterrupted flow of public money into these corporate charters. He and the front office of KIPP, Inc. and TFA, Inc. argue that the spread of these urban chain gangs should remain unhindered by

Social Media, More or Less « My Island View

Social Media, More or Less « My Island View:

Social Media, More or Less

by tomwhitby

The genie is definitely out of the bottle when we look at Social Media. Of course there are many who fail to recognize this, and continue to believe that somehow, someone must approve the use of social Media in order for it to be acceptable in our education system. The glaring problem with that is the lack of understanding on the part of many of those education policy makers to really understand what Social Media is. Many, in their arguments against social media, talk about its limits of 140 characters and the controversy of privacy settings. They fail to recognize that they are only considering Twitter and Facebook as Social Media. They seem to suggest that, whatever perceived problems they see in Twitter or Facebook, also apply to all forms of Social Media.

Here according to Merriam-Webster is the definition of Social Media: forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos). This goes way beyond Twitter and Facebook. This lack of understanding on the part of some, may be a divide or a gap, and it is very

Shanker Blog » The Ratings Game: New York City Edition

Shanker Blog » The Ratings Game: New York City Edition:

The Ratings Game: New York City Edition

by Matthew Di Carlo

Gotham Schools reports that the New York City Department of Education rolled out this year’s school report card grades by highlighting the grades’ stability between this year and last. That is, they argued that schools’ grades were roughly the same between years, which is supposed to serve as evidence of the system’s quality.

The city’s logic here is generally sound. As I’ve noted before, most schools don’t undergo drastic changes in their operations over the course of a year, and so fluctuations in grades among a large number of schools might serve as a warning sign that there’s something wrong with the measures being used. Conversely, it’s not unreasonable to expect from a high-quality rating system that, over a two-year period, some schools would get

Occupied New Orleans: A Brief History | Dissident Voice #OWS

Occupied New Orleans: A Brief History | Dissident Voice:

Occupied New Orleans: A Brief History

by Matt Reichel

New Orleans is no stranger to occupation. The swampland between the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain has been occupied for nearly three centuries, beginning when Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville first took the Chitimacha settlement in 1718. It was then turned over to the Spanish crown in 1763, back to the French in 1801, sold to the Americans in 1803, occupied by the north during the latter years of the Civil War, and open to exploitation by oligarchs and financiers ever since.

Given its pre-American history, New Orleans has always been more culturally complex than the country that came to contain it. This city knew Creoles, free people of color (“gens de couleur libre”), quadroons andoctoroons, while Americans saw things in terms of white and black. The latter’s dichotomous worldview was ultimately thrust upon the pre-existing system of Creole social gradation, thus threatening social instability. Meanwhile, a linguistic element of cultural cleavage was added, as the new occupiers spoke English. They

American Crisis Politics

by Eric Walberg

American voters now have a clear view of who they can vote for next year, with Barack Obama as the Democrats’ certain candidate and Mitt Romney as the Republicans’. Both candidates offer much the same prescriptions for the multiple crises facing their country — more war and military spending, lower taxes (certainly no big hike for the rich), more bank bailouts, trickle-down economics for the unemployed and the disintegrating environment.

If Barack and Mitt are the best the political elite can come up with, we can only conclude that the entire American ruling class is suffering from acute paranoid schizophrenia — fearing commies-turned-Muslims under their beds, shedding tears over the odd child hit by a stray bullet in, say, Syria, while joyously bombing hapless Afghans, Iraqs and Libyans into the Stone Age, wiping out hundreds of thousands in the process.

Obama said Saturday that the US now must tackle its “greatest challenge as a nation” — rebuilding a weak

Marine Down in Police Attack on Occupy Oakland

by Shepherd Bliss

Marine Scott Olsen made it through two tours in Iraq without an injury, but back home in the United States he was critically wounded by a police riot. Heavily-armed police injured Olsen and other unarmed citizens on October 25 when they attacked the non-violent Occupy Oakland.

Olsen, 24, had his skull fractured by a police projectile and is experiencing traumatic brain swelling. He apparently sustained the most serious injury nationwide among occupiers and is at risk for brain damage.

Olsen’s roommate and buddy Keith Shannon, who served with him in Iraq, rushed to Highland Hospital, as did other friends. The hospital described him as being in a “serious but stable” condition. He apparently had been unable to say his surname and was sedated on a respirator. “They are waiting for a neurosurgeon to examine

We Shall Not Be Moved

by Phil Rockstroh

Until recent events proved otherwise, the hyper-commercialized surface of the corporate state gave the appearance of being too diffuse–too devoid of a center to pose a threat of totalitarian excess. Accordingly, as of late, due to the violent response to OWS protesters by local police departments in Oakland, Atlanta, Chicago, and in other U.S. cities, the repressive nature of the faux republic is beginning to be revealed.

Behind the bland face of the political establishment (purchased by the bloated profits of the plundering class) are riot cops, outfitted and armed with the accoutrements of oppression, who are ready and willing to enforce the dictates of the elitist beneficiaries of the degraded status quo. In deed and action, as of late, the police state embedded within neo-liberal economic oligarchy is showing its hyper-authoritarian proclivities to the world.

In general, existence within the present societal structure inflicts on the individual a sense of atomization and its concomitant feelings of alienation, vague unease, free floating anxiety and anomie. The coercion is implicit and

While they’re stealing teacher pensions. How the 1% lives. « Fred Klonsky's blog

While they’re stealing teacher pensions. How the 1% lives. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

While they’re stealing teacher pensions. How the 1% lives.

by Fred Klonsky

Reinsdorf’s sweet deal at U.S. Cellular Field gets even sweeter | Government | Crain’s Chicago Business.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf pays the State of Illinois $1.5 million a year for using The Cell.

On a good weekend he probably sells that much in beer.

He got that deal from former Republican Governor Jim Thompson. Thompson headed the Illinois sports authority, which owns The Cell. Need I tell you that Jim and Civic Committee President and former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner are close pals.

Fahner created Illinois is Broke, the Civic Committee front group that is going after teacher pensions.

Occupy Wall Street Is More Popular Than Civil Rights or Feminist Movements In their Heyday « Student Activism #OWS

Occupy Wall Street Is More Popular Than Civil Rights or Feminist Movements In their Heyday « Student Activism:

Occupy Wall Street Is More Popular Than Civil Rights or Feminist Movements In their Heyday

by Angus Johnston

A recent CBS poll found that 43% of Americans agree with the views of Occupy Wall Street, with only 27% disagreeing. (Other polls have found similar sentiments.) But what do these numbers mean?

Here’s some historical context:

• In 1959, five years after Brown v. Board of Ed, a 53-37 majority of Americans thought the decision had “caused a lot more trouble than it was worth.”
• In 1961, Americans believed by a 57-28 margin that civil rights demonstrations were doing more harm

Town hall participants: Clarify role of family in school reform | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com

Town hall participants: Clarify role of family in school reform | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com:

Town hall participants: Clarify role of family in school reform

Iowans worry vagueness will cause other goals to fall by the wayside.

Rural southwest Iowans told Gov. Terry Branstad on Wednesday that they want more specifics about the role families and community members would play in the state’s education reform efforts, with one superintendent making a pitch for local control over school improvement tactics.

“Ownership needs to be given at the local level,” Harlan Superintendent Justin Wagner told the governor during a town hall meeting in Greenfield. “… You’ve done the hard work of creating the conversation. Now put it back into the hands of those school boards, those administrators, those teachers to decide what fits for their district and what doesn’t.”

The gathering was one of more than a dozen planned throughout

Michelle Rhee group students first putting $73,000 toward helping Rep. Paul Scott avoid recall | MLive.com

Michelle Rhee group students first putting $73,000 toward helping Rep. Paul Scott avoid recall | MLive.com:

Michelle Rhee group students first putting $73,000 toward helping Rep. Paul Scott avoid recall

Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 9:33 AM Updated: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 9:33 AM

By Blake Thorne | Flint Journal
Follow

GRAND BLANC, Michigan — The national education reform group StudentsFirst has committed nearly $73,000 to help Rep. Paul Scott, R-Grand Blanc, avoid being voted out of office in a recall election, campaign finance reports show.

The group's Michigan political action committee has paid for $13,591.05 already and owes another $59,408.29 for services rendered, the reports show.

View full sizeCourtesy photoPaul Scott, left, and Michelle Rhee, center during Rhee's visit to Michigan lawmakers in March in this submitted photo.

Washington, D.C.-based StudentsFirst supported Michigan's teacher tenure reform laws which Scott was instrumental in, a major reason the Michigan Education Association is working to recall him.

The group is headed by former Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and has advocated for eliminating or reforming teacher tenure systems and other changes.

According to finance reports, the $13,591 was spent at Washington, D.C.- and New York City-based

Gail Kerr: School voucher 'choices' won't help most students | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Gail Kerr: School voucher 'choices' won't help most students | The Tennessean | tennessean.com:

School voucher 'choices' won't help most students

Lawmakers pushing school vouchers again argue they would provide more choices for low-income students in Tennessee’s four biggest counties.

That’s a bunch of hooey. The choice would be up to private school administrators, not the student or parents. The truth is the $5,400 per child in taxpayer money that would be allocated won’t touch tuition at most private schools in Nashville.

And that means it would be up to the private school to decide which students they would admit with financial aid. Who would they pick? Only the best, brightest and strongest athletes. And that’s no choice at all for most public school students.

“The choice is up to the admissions office of the private schools,” said Mark North, a Metro School Board member.

Here are a few examples of tuition for which $5,400 in vouchers would not come close to paying, all taken directly from the schools’ websites: Tuition at Overbrook School is $11,200 for kindergarten through eighth grade. Vouchers are supported by Tennessee’s Catholic dioceses, which said the average tuition in kindergarten through eighth grade is $5,000. It’s $10,000 for Catholic families of

There Are No Quick Fixes - Bridging Differences - Education Week

There Are No Quick Fixes - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

There Are No Quick Fixes

by Deborah Meier

Dear Diane,

If we could clone you and send you everywhere at once, with a few follow-ups from others, would it matter? Yes. Because we definitely don't reach as many people with our message as "they" (the Reformers) do with theirs.

Still, as Democrats Abroad France wrote recently in a proposal submitted to the Democratic Party Platform Committee: "We cannot improve education by quick fixes, by handing over our public schools to entrepreneurs, by driving out experienced professionals replacing them with enthusiastic amateurs, or by closing them and firing ... entire staffs. No country in the world follows such strategies."

We hold the world record in the amount of time devoted to testing—even as we also hold the record for spending less on children's health and welfare.

The causes of our exceptionalism are myriad. A piece in The New York Times Sunday Review by Alexander Stille suggests that one explanation

Join with Occupy Seattle and Local Teachers to “Teach CHASE a Lesson” | Seattle Education

Join with Occupy Seattle and Local Teachers to “Teach CHASE a Lesson” | Seattle Education:

Join with Occupy Seattle and Local Teachers to “Teach CHASE a Lesson”

by seattleducation2011

ALL OUT!!!

Global Day of Action
with occupy movements around the world
calling for a “Robin Hood Tax” of a 1% on financial transactions & currency trades

Join with Occupy Seattle and local Teachers to:

“Teach CHASE a Lesson”

Occupy Seattle day of action!

Saturday October 29th 12 PM

Meet at Westlake Plaza (on 4th Ave. between Pine and Pike) and we’ll go to protest–and watch teachers deliver a lesson plan for justice–at the CHASE Bank across the street

http://occupyseattle.org

More info: hagopian.jesse@gmail.com and OccupySeattle@Gmail.com

“There is a lot of money washing around the world, and obviously we are the beneficiary of that,”

–CHASE CEO Jamie Dimon this April

• CHASE Bank has profited through the recession that it had a big part in causing and was able to compensate Mr. Dimon, to the tune of $20.8 million dollars last year.
  
• CHASE pays no state taxes on its in-state mortgage interest income. This loophole was created for Washington State based WAMU, but since the “housing bubble” lending binge that crashed our economy and bankrupted WAMU, it now benefits Chase and other banks. Their fair share would add nearly $100 million per year to our State’s sorely strapped budget.
  
• CHASE acquired billions of dollars during the bailout at a near-zero % interest rate, money that they are now loaning back to the U.S. Treasury at a rate 12 times higher. They are taking more money from taxpayers, rather than investing to create jobs.
• Teachers in Seattle are facing layoffs as the legislature struggles to cover its $5 billion + budget shortfall. In addition, Seattle teachers have seen their pay cut by 1.9%.
  
• Cuts to bus routs, healthcare, homeless shelters, and other social services have made the lives of 99% of the population more difficult.
• This is not a spending crisis. It’s a revenue crisis that is caused when entities like CHASE pay little to no taxes on their vast fortunes. The money to pay for social services is there. Teachers, other public employees, and the 99% are not the cause of the crisis, and should not pay for it!

Sponsored by Occupy Seattle and the Social Equality Educators (SEE)
Endorsed by the Occupy Seattle General Assembly

http://seattlesee.org/

If you didn’t get a chance to make it down to the rally Sat Oct 15th, we led an amazing sit-in in front of CHASE Bank. Check this Occupy Seattle video of Jesse Hagopian speaking on stage and clips of the sit-in:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxJ_2iIX4Ow&hd=1

In solidarity,

Dora

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform" - Standardized Tests

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform" - Standardized Tests:

The Failure of "Reform" - Standardized Tests

by Jersey Jazzman

The entire corporate "reform" argument hangs on the use of standardized tests. Reformers insist that these tests are absolutely critical in ensuring "accountability" throughout the teaching profession, and that pay, tenure protections, and even job security should be tied to the tests.

Now, I could tell you that researchers have known for years that bubble tests assess only a fraction of a student's learning.

I could tell you that the error rates on these tests are so high that using them to evaluate teachers is functionally the same as rolling dice (even the reformers acknowledge this; they just don't much seem to care if a teacher's career is destroyed by accident).

I could tell you that the overwhelming consensus among researchers is that these tests should not be used for

Schools Matter: What IS Left Behind Redux

Schools Matter: What IS Left Behind Redux:

What IS Left Behind Redux

by Jim Horn

Left behind by 'No Child Left Behind'…

We have reached a critical crossroads in our educational and national history. As No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB’s) reauthorization or expiration takes center stage in Washington, American citizens who care about the future of our public schools and our democracy must be heard. Our shared future is not an abstract political possibility but, rather, one that breathes in every son or daughter, every niece or nephew, every grandson or granddaughter, every neighbor’s child, and every one of our own students who enters the schoolhouse door.

While Secretary Spellings and legislators from both parties stubbornly proclaim that NCLB is working —despite of all the empirical evidence indicating otherwise — and as politicians boast that no child is being left behind, let us pause to consider what has been jettisoned. Let us take a moment to think about what has been left behind, what has been dumped, what has been pushed out the door because there is no longer space or time for it in the

Journal Sentinel Op-Ed: Rocketship Charter Schools Need Scrutiny « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Journal Sentinel Op-Ed: Rocketship Charter Schools Need Scrutiny « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Journal Sentinel Op-Ed: Rocketship Charter Schools Need Scrutiny

by millerlf

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Larry F. Miller Oct. 26, 2011

Council should get to the bottom of ‘miracle school’

Rocketship schools seem to have a serious problem with attrition

When it comes to education, everyone wants a miracle. Milwaukee’s Common Council is considering a proposal to open eight charter schools run by Rocketship Education, a national charter network claiming to create what some people call “miracle” schools.

According to Gary Rubinstein, a Teach for America alumnus and Noel Hammatt, researchers who operate “Miracleschools.Wikispaces.com,” a “miracle” school is one that is significantly outperforming schools in its

Missouri Education Watchdog: #WeCantWait to Hear Live Stream Educational Views of Republican Candidates. More Bipartisanship and More of the Same?

Missouri Education Watchdog: #WeCantWait to Hear Live Stream Educational Views of Republican Candidates. More Bipartisanship and More of the Same?:

#WeCantWait to Hear Live Stream Educational Views of Republican Candidates. More Bipartisanship and More of the Same?

by stlgretchen

Bipartisanship is the buzz word in education these days. Is that a good development? President Bush and Senator Ted Kennedy crafted No Child Left Behind which has been criticized by the left and the right. Arne Duncan has crafted waivers for NCLB which seem to impose even more mandates on states to escape the impossible goal of having 100% of students to be proficient. This plan also has not been popular with those from

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Oakland fallout

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Oakland fallout:

Oakland fallout

Call for a general strike

Give lots of credit to Oakland protesters for having the courage and discipline to regroup peacefully last night in the amphitheater in front of City Hall. Thankfully they haven't let the outrageous assault by Mayor Quan's cops terrorize them or divert them from their mission. It would be too easy to make police brutality THE issue now. Instead the 99ers spent several hours planning for a meeting today to discuss the mechanics for a general strike next week.

The Oakland Tribune reports:

After Tuesday night's violence, hundreds of Oakland residents appeared to have come out to help transform Occupy Oakland from a relatively