Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #ows

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Report from Fall CUE 2011

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Report from Fall CUE 2011:Report from Fall CUE 2011by alicemercerAndroid TabletsI can always count on Rushton Hurley to have a great presentation, this time he did not disappoint. It was a small workshop, but a nice mix of folks familiar with Android, folks who knew iOS, and a bunch who had experience with both. Everyone was excited by the possibilities, and we quickly dug into apps (which you can get to from the ... more »

Pre-results post-mortem | EdNewsColorado

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Pre-results post-mortem | EdNewsColorado:Pre-results post-mortemby Alexander OomsAlexander Ooms is a member of the board of the Charter School Institute, the West Denver Preparatory Charter School and the Colorado chapter of Stand for ChildrenAlan has asked bloggers for their thoughts on the election as part of a post-mortem. I find this rearview mirror perspective usually boringly obvious, as it’s far easier to ascribe cause once one knows the effect. So I’m sending in my quick thoughts in advance of the election ... more »

The Occupations Report: 11/01 | Occupy Together #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

The Occupations Report: 11/01 | Occupy Together:The Occupations Report: 11/01by EllaWe’ve recently seen this report posted and shared through social media, but we thought it might be helpful to have another place on the web it can be published and accessed daily. We’ll be posting the archives of this report soon. This Occupation Report is compiled by Rebuild the Dream. This report includes updates from Occupy sites and related efforts across the country and the globe. It includes big wins, ... more »

Agreement restores some non-teaching jobs at L.A. schools - latimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Agreement restores some non-teaching jobs at L.A. schools - latimes.com:Agreement restores some non-teaching jobs at L.A. schoolsNon-teaching employees have ratified an agreement that restores well over 200 jobs at Los Angeles-area schools, but hundreds of others will remain without a job or will continue to work at reduced pay.The agreement, announced Tuesday, settles for this year a contract dispute between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California School Employees Assn., which represents such workers as office clerks, financial ... more »

“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELL « Teachers Fight Back

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELL « Teachers Fight Back:“ACADEMICALLY WEAK STUDENTS” DON’T TEST WELLby alkleenMonths after Illinois officials closed a loophole used to keep academically weak 11th-graders from taking state exams, high school scores plummeted to the lowest level in a decade. Why did those nasty state officials close that loophole ? Didn’t they realize that “academically weak students” don’t test well ? The various high school administrators certainly knew that.I wonder who the “academically weak students” were ? ... more »

School Tech Connect: Pick Up The Phone

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Pick Up The Phone:Pick Up The Phoneby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I have a message from Glen Brown and Fred Klonsky that IEA has issued a firmer call to action. I'm posting it below. You can also look at Jim Reed's message---- and I'm going to tip my hat to him because the message is clear this time. You can almost imagine the executive director in the background advising him to take it down a notch.Frick and FrackI completely believe ... more »

Yawn, Yawn, Go Away! Little Johnny Wants to be Engaged! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Yawn, Yawn, Go Away! Little Johnny Wants to be Engaged! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!:Yawn, Yawn, Go Away! Little Johnny Wants to be Engaged!by OldschoolteachI sat with my small group today and listened to my students, and smiled. They had finished sharing their writing prompt about an imagined device that would make their lives easier. I listened to stories about a teleporter , a robot, and a pen, that can do the unimaginable. After they shared their stories, ... more »

Because James Baldwin Educates Educators, Too | The Jose Vilson

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

Because James Baldwin Educates Educators, Too | The Jose Vilson:Because James Baldwin Educates Educators, Tooby JoseJames BaldwinHere’s James Baldwin, acclaimed writer and activist, on the purpose of education:Since I am talking to schoolteachers and I am not a teacher myself, and in some ways am fairly easily intimidated, I beg you to let me leave that and go back to what I think to be the entire purpose of education in the first place. It would seem to me that ...more »

NYC Public School Parents: Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty & the diagnosis bizarre

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty the diagnosis bizarre:Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty the diagnosis bizarreby Leonie HaimsonWe have had nine long years during which NY state and city education officials have relentlessly focused on high stakes testing, with school closings, grade retention, and teacher bonuses all linked to test scores. So according to data released today, what has been the

UFT Survey Finds Increased Class Sizes And Dwindling Budgets, Echoing National Trend

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 4 hours ago

UFT Survey Finds Increased Class Sizes And Dwindling Budgets, Echoing National Trend:Joy ResmovitsJoy.resmovits@huffingtonpost.comBecome a fan of this reporterGET UPDATES FROM JOY Like605UFT Survey Finds Increased Class Sizes And Dwindling Budgets, Echoing National TrendPosted: 11/1/11 07:24 PM ETReactAmazingInspiringFunnyScaryHotCrazyImportantWeirdFollow Budget Cuts , Education , Education Reform , Recession , Michael Mulgrew ,New York City Department Of Education , P.S. 1 , Education News , Education Recession ,School Supplies , Schools , Science Class , Education NewsNEW YORK -- B... more »

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform" - Charter Schools

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 day ago

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform" - Charter Schools:The Failure of "Reform" - Charter Schoolsby Jersey JazzmanSo yet another study was released this month about charter schools. What does it conclude?The overall tenor of our results is that charter schools are in some cases outperforming traditional public schools in terms of students' reading and math achievement, and in other cases performing similarly or worse.No one should be surprised at this: there is a large body of evidence that charter schools ... more »

TRICK OR TREAT THOUGHTS « Teachers Fight Back

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 day ago

TRICK OR TREAT THOUGHTS « Teachers Fight Back:TRICK OR TREAT THOUGHTSby alkleenA Golden Chalk Award goes to any elementary school teacher who actually manages to get their students to learn something, anything, curriculum related on Halloween.Elementary school teachers aren’t paid nearly enough for working on Halloween. There needs to be a bonus just for showing up.If you are a substitute teacher and you get a phone call from a school on Halloween morning, DON’T ANSWER IT NO MATTER WHAT. Unless ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Merit Pay = Cutting Teacher Pay

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 day ago

Jersey Jazzman: Merit Pay = Cutting Teacher Pay:Merit Pay = Cutting Teacher Payby DukeFor a long time, I've been asking a question of the believers in the Merit Pay Fairy: will your program decrease or increase the overall payroll of the teaching force?Looks like they can't avoid the question any longer in Tennessee:Two years into work with the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation to improve teacher effectiveness, city school officials have determined that the financial outlook has changed so much that ... more »

Standardized tests Trick or Treat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 day ago

OCCUPY EDUCATION #OWS

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 day ago

OCCUPY EDUCATION:I will not be silent about the corporate takeover of America’s schools and the attempt to silence dissenting voices.I Occupy Education by encouraging students o have informed

Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strike - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog #ows

Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strike - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Oakland schools and Wednesday’s general strike

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 3:57 pm in OEANo Comments

I’ll be blogging about the general strike for the Tribune tomorrow, and I’d love to hear how the day is shaping up for staff and families in the city’s schools. If you think of it, send me an email

Latino College Enrollment Skyrockets, But Will Upward Mobility Follow? | California Progress Report

Latino College Enrollment Skyrockets, But Will Upward Mobility Follow? | California Progress Report:

Latino College Enrollment Skyrockets, But Will Upward Mobility Follow?

by megan

By Jacob Simas and Vivian Po
New America Media

Maricruz Cabrera, a 17-year-old high school senior from Thermal, Calif., a rural community in the east Coachella valley that stretches from Indio to the Salton Sea on the southern edge of Riverside County, knows what it’s like to pick grapes under a hot desert sun. It’s back breaking. It pays little. In a nutshell, it’s hard physical labor for minimal return. Which is why Cabrera, the daughter of migrant workers, has her sights set on the one thing she believes will create job opportunities that her parents never had: a college degree.

read more

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: CSEA RATIFIES AGREEMENT WITH LAUSD + smf’s 2¢ questions

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: CSEA RATIFIES AGREEMENT WITH LAUSD + smf’s 2¢ questions:

CSEA RATIFIES AGREEMENT WITH LAUSD + smf’s 2¢ questions

by smf

LAUSD Press Release the 2¢ questions: ●● Who decides which schools get their elementary librarians/library aides back – and on what basis? ●● Do the schools who made the commitment to their kids and literacy and used their own funds – either from discretionary budget funds or fundraising/bake sale money - get their money back? ●● Approximately 250 elementary librarians/library

HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS “FRENCH OPEN MARKET PLACE”

by smf

HHS Alumni Association/Councilman LaBonge Press Release (November 5, 2011: Los Angeles) – Councilman Tom LaBonge encourages people to check-out a new French-inspired outdoor market in Hollywood. It’s called “Open Market Place”, and will be held on the first Saturday of every month to generate funds to support various programs at Hollywood High School. Organizers of the market pay rent to the

I am a Member of Generation Debt

I am a Member of Generation Debt:

I am a Member of Generation Debt

by Rachel Fishman

I am a member of Generation Debt. The loans I took out for my bachelor’s and master’s combined equate to exactly $62,779 of federal loan debt. Over my postsecondary career, I’ve taken out nine different federal loans and have consolidated five times. With many interest rates athistoric lows, the congressionally mandated rates on my loans range from 3.75 to 7.9 percent. And while I am ready, willing, and able to pay my loans back, I’ve found the process more difficult than I thought it would be. Now that I’ve gone through the repayment process, I believe there has to be an easier way. Here at Education Sector, my colleagues have envisioned just what this better option would be—an automatic income-contingent

Waivers, turnarounds and other examples of Obama’s “reforminess” | Thoughts on Public Education

Waivers, turnarounds and other examples of Obama’s “reforminess” | Thoughts on Public Education:

Waivers, turnarounds and other examples of Obama’s “reforminess” - by Gary Ravani

by Gary Ravani

The Obama administration, acting while Congress was still dragging its feet on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has offered states an opportunity to be granted waivers from some of the more oppressive aspects of the current No Child Left Behind law. The tradeoffs for receiving a waiver include adopting college- and [...]

Not much good news from NAEP - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

California has more low-income and English-learning students than average by far, and those students did worse than their fourth and eighth grade peers nationwide in reading and math this year. These are among the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests batches of students in every state every two years. Despite budget cuts [...]

New life for old law on evaluations - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

The Stull Act, the 40-year-old teacher evaluation law that school reformers had dismissed as useless, may have a second wind. In a suit with statewide implications, parents backed by an advocacy group are suing Los Angeles Unified and its teachers union, claiming that state law requires that statewide standardized tests must be used in the evaluation [...]

Engaging Parents In School… - The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement

Engaging Parents In School… - The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement:

The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement

by Larry Ferlazzo

There are lots of ideas out there about effective parent engagement/involvement. Here are a few resources that provide useful overviews of the field. You might also be interested in seeing all my parent engagement-related “The Best” lists here.

Here are my choices for The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement:

Involvement or Engagement? is the title of my lead article in an issue of ASCD Education Leadership.

I wrote Parent Involvement or Parent Engagement? for Learning First.

Solving the Parent Involvement Puzzle is an interview with Anne T. Henderson, who is probably the premiere

25th Edition of EFL/ESL/ELL Blog Carnival Just Published!

by Larry Ferlazzo

Berni Wall has just published the 25th Edition of EFL/ESL/ELL Blog Carnival! She asked for teachers to contribute the most popular posts from their blogs and, boy, did she get them. This edition is filled with gems! Great job, Berni!

The next edition will be published on January 1st by David Deubelbeiss from EFL Classroom 2.0. Any posts

Daily Kos: LI Principals speak out forcefully

Daily Kos: LI Principals speak out forcefully:

LI Principals speak out forcefully

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in opposition to the idea of tying the evaluation of teachers and principals to student test scores. In 2010 the NY State Legislature modified the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) of teachers and principals in an effort to gain Race to the Top Funds from the US Department of Education. As the principals note this introduction to the paper they prepared,

The new law states that beginning September 2011, all teachers and principals will receive a number from 0-100 to rate their performance. Part of that number (ranging from 20% to 40%) will be derived from how well students perform on standardized tests. At first glance, using test scores might seem like a reasonable approach to accountability. As designed, however, these regulations carry unintended negative consequences for our schools and students that simply cannot be ignored.

Our paper describes in clear detail why everyone should be concerned about these changes, and

solidaridad: Caprice Young: You can define me however you'd like and it still won't change the fact that we both want students to succeed

solidaridad: Caprice Young: You can define me however you'd like and it still won't change the fact that we both want students to succeed:

Caprice Young: You can define me however you'd like and it still won't change the fact that we both want students to succeed

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Dr. Caprice Young took issue with my recent article about her on Schools Matter. She asked for an opportunity to publish her account of her career, and with quite a bit of misgiving, I relented. One thing about her rebuttal, she conflates my writing in the beginning of the my recent article with the anonymous letter that appeared in the second part of my article. The entire section of my article in block-quote that discusses EnCorps is, as explained in the original article, a letter from one of my readers. Although I do make some observations following that letter, the letter itself is not my prose, which should have been evident to Young by the change in narrative and style — alas. So wherever Young says "you say" in that section of her essay, she's really referring to the

Schools Matter: Vander Ark getting cranky regarding negative NEPC report

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

The true path to higher test scores is reading. — Dr. Stephen Krashen


My latest Schools Matter short: Vander Ark getting cranky regarding negative NEPC report examines how preposterous it was for disreputable businessman and former Gates Foundation executive Tom Vander Ark to try and criticize the distinguished professors of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education.

Turning the Tables: VAM on Trial « InterACT

Turning the Tables: VAM on Trial « InterACT:

Turning the Tables: VAM on Trial

by David B. Cohen

Los Angeles Unified School District is embroiled in negotiations over teacher evaluations, and will now face pressure from outside the district intended to force counter-productive teacher evaluation methods into use. Yesterday, I read this Los Angeles Times article a lawsuit to be filed by an unnamed “group of parents and education advocates.” The article notes that, “The lawsuit was drafted in consultation with EdVoice, a Sacramento-based group. Its board includes arts and education philanthropist Eli Broad, former ambassador Frank Baxter and healthcare company executive Richard Merkin.” While the defendant in the suit is technically LAUSD, the real reason a lawsuit is necessary according to the article is that “United Teachers Los Angeles leaders say tests scores are too unreliable and narrowly focused to use for high-stakes personnel decisions.” Note that, once again, we see a journalist telling us what the unions say and think, without ever, ever bothering to mention why, offering no acknowledgment that the bulk of the research and the three leading organizations for education research and measurement (AERA, NCME, and APA) say the same thing as the union (or rather, the

Ravitch: A place where public education is working - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Ravitch: A place where public education is working - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Ravitch: A place where public education is working

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” an important critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.

Dear Deborah,

As I travel the country, I am frequently asked to identify an urban distric

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Report from Fall CUE 2011

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Report from Fall CUE 2011:

Report from Fall CUE 2011

by alicemercer

Android Tablets

I can always count on Rushton Hurley to have a great presentation, this time he did not disappoint. It was a small workshop, but a nice mix of folks familiar with Android, folks who knew iOS, and a bunch who had experience with both. Everyone was excited by the possibilities, and we quickly dug into apps (which you can get to from the link on the sub-heading above). I’ll be doing a short 20 minute session on Android Tablets at ACSA this Friday.

Bernie Dodge’s Dodgepodge

This is a cool tools type session, that was nice because it had an organizing focus on four areas: The World and Other Worlds, Organizing Thoughts and Actions, Collaborating Across Distance and Time, and Tools for Creativity. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in a session like that with so many tools. I usually have one or two get me thinking of possibilities, and I concentrate on those. He shared a nifty little screen-sharing program, Quick

Pre-results post-mortem | EdNewsColorado

Pre-results post-mortem | EdNewsColorado:

Pre-results post-mortem

by Alexander Ooms

Alexander Ooms is a member of the board of the Charter School Institute, the West Denver Preparatory Charter School and the Colorado chapter of Stand for Children

Alan has asked bloggers for their thoughts on the election as part of a post-mortem. I find this rearview mirror perspective usually boringly obvious, as it’s far easier to ascribe cause once one knows the effect. So I’m sending in my quick thoughts in advance of the election results (although probably published afterwards). If I am wrong it will be painfully obvious and if right you’ll have to trust me that this was in early.

First is Prop 103. I thought the best summary was provided by Eric Sondermann. I just don’t see how this passes, and I doubt it is at all close. This initiative never had enough high-powered backers or an effective coalition, and faced a strong economic headwind. All true criticisms, but I also think a proposal as unspecific