Big Education Ape

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: What's Next? School Lunches?:What's Next? School Lunches?by Melissa WestbrookThe Seattle Times is reporting that Governor Gregoire is considering cutting K-12 bus transportation. But any squeamishness over student-transportation cuts isn't enough to keep that $220 million idea off her list of ways to potentially deal with budget shortfalls, the latest a $2 billion one.Washington would be the first to completely eliminate state dollars for bus service because of the recent recession, said Bob Riley, executive director ... more »

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

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #owsIn Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scores - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register StarBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-3 hours agoIn Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scores - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star:In Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scoresROCKFORD — Rockford’s charter schools were ranked near the bottom of the heap when local Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores were released ... more »

What We Can Learn From High-Performing Charter Schools: Treat Teachers as Professionals | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

What We Can Learn From High-Performing Charter Schools: Treat Teachers as Professionals | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:What We Can Learn From High-Performing Charter Schools: Treat Teachers as Professionalsby Tarsi DunlopToo often when discussing the challenges public K-12 education faces, sweeping generalizations are made that in addition to being inaccurate, unfairly categorize professional educators and public schools as uniformly unsuccessful or at best inadequate. For instance, there is no proof that charter schools are guaranteed to produce ... more »

Democurmudgeon: Charter School Networks Failing, New Orleans all Charter District Gets low Grades.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Democurmudgeon: Charter School Networks Failing, New Orleans all Charter District Gets low Grades.:Charter School Networks Failing, New Orleans all Charter District Gets low Grades.by DemocurmudgeonSo what’s the point of running parallel school districts when they offer up the same results and problems?This study of larger groups of charter networks, thought to expand successful technics within their systems, did not achieve that goal. Edweek: A new national study on the effectiveness of networks that operate charter schools finds overall that their ... more »

Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: DC Parent Power OPEN Meeting Monday

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Diary of a Social Art-tivist Mommy: DC Parent Power OPEN Meeting Monday:DC Parent Power OPEN Meeting Mondayby ART-tivist MommyDC Parent Power Open Meeting InviteYou are invited to an open meeting for “DC Parent Power” to look for common ground for civic engagement around public education in the District.THIS Monday, November 7th, 2011atJuanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library,Room: SPK Room A,Time: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PMThis is an open gathering of a group of DCPS parents and education advocates joining together ... more »

Transformers Top Ten List

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Transformers Top Ten List: Transformers Top Ten Listby NancyFlanaganThis is a blog to tell SOS readers about IDEC 2012 Week. And–the IDEC 2012 Conference in Puerto Rico next March, a celebration of democratic education– education that is human, powerful, relevant and transformative. Right up Save Our Schools’ alley.So–how do you transform public education in a world where data and profit trump human needs?How do you create a climate where education is continuously reinvented–collaboratively and sustainably–in forms that honor our democratic ...more »

NAEP: A flawed benchmark producing the same old story - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

NAEP: A flawed benchmark producing the same old story - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:NAEP: A flawed benchmark producing the same old storyby Valerie StraussThis was written by James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable. Harvey, who helped write the seminal 1983 report “A Nation at Risk,” is the author or co-author of four books and dozens of articles on education and has been examining the history of NAEP as part of his doctoral studies at ...more »

Board and Mayor agree to stop breaking the law. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Board and Mayor agree to stop breaking the law. « Fred Klonsky's blog:Board and Mayor agree to stop breaking the law.by Fred KlonskyIn an agreement between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the 5th floor of City Hall, Rahm Emanuel agreed to stop breaking the law and live by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Nothing in the agreement stops the CTU from pursuing their complaint with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board. ... more »

"Tests" for Kindergarteners? - Dana Goldstein

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

"Tests" for Kindergarteners? - Dana Goldstein:"Tests" for Kindergarteners?I'll be in Mexico from Sunday through Wednesday, so this will be my last post until late next week. In the meantime, check out my new piece at Slate, which examines the best and not-so-great practices in "kindergarten readiness assessment"--yes, the so-called kindergarten "tests" the Obama administration is asking states to develop, and which have dusted up some controversy. Read it!

At the National Association of Multicultural Education conference today

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 14 hours ago

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » At the NAME conference today:At the NAME conference todayby adminThe National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME) has been holding their 21st annual international conference here in Chicago this week. NAME’s mission is toadvance and advocate for equity and social justice through multicultural education.I’ll be on a panel this afternoon with friend and true education reformer Bill Ayers and a bunch of other people, all who have contributed to a (we hope) ... more »

In Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scores - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 20 hours ago

In Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scores - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star:In Friday's paper: Area charter schools report low test scoresROCKFORD — Rockford’s charter schools were ranked near the bottom of the heap when local Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores were released earlier this week, and school leaders say it’ll take time to make gains.All three public charter schools fell below the Rockford School District average and well below the state average in reading, math ... more »

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

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 20 hours ago

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #owsA GOLDEN CHALK AWARD GOES TO — « Teachers Fight BackBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-6 hours agoA GOLDEN CHALK AWARD GOES TO — « Teachers Fight Back:A GOLDEN CHALK AWARD GOES TO —by alkleenAnother Golden Chalk Award has been given out. This one goes to Mary Fergus, a spokeswoman with the Illinois State Board of Education. She was explaining to reporters why Illinois students did so poorly on the ... more »

Longer school day: Union to announce agreement with CPS - chicagotribune.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 20 hours ago

Longer school day: Union to announce agreement with CPS - chicagotribune.com:Union to announce deal with CPS on longer school dayMadigan has spoken with city, labor leaders in last few days, her spokeswoman saysComments21Share211By Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune reporter8:53 p.m. CDT, November 3, 2011The Chicago Teachers Union has called a news conference at noon Friday to discuss details of an agreement reached with Chicago Public Schools over the longer school day issue.Neither side would provide specifics of the agreement Thursday.But a ... more »

Defining a teacher’s worth

Defining a teacher’s worth:

Defining a teacher’s worth

by Mandy Zatynski

A new report this week from the American Enterprise Institute, in conjunction with the Heritage Foundation, sent waves (or perhaps a tsunami?) through the education community after claiming it found teachers to be overpaid – to the tune of 52 percent more than their educated equivalents in the private sector.

If that’s the case, I missed out on some money somewhere.

I taught ESL for almost three years in Spain in various capacities including after-school academies, businesses,

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Native American Heritage Month Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 37 minutes ago

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. Though I don’t have a “The Best…” list solely devoted to Native American resources, I do have tons of related materials at The Best Sites For International Day Of The … Continue reading →

The Best Ideas On How Parents Can Help Their Kids Succeed Academically

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 hours ago

I’ve found several good resources sharing ideas on how parents can best help their children learn, and decided to bring them together in one post. You can see all my parent engagement-related “The Best” lists here. Here are my picks … Continue reading →

What In The World Are They Thinking In Alabama?

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 9 hours ago

I’ve been regularly posting updates on the state of Alabama’s attack on immigrants and its impact on schools, and it keeps getting crazier. Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources To Learn About Alabama’s Awful Immigration Law (& … Continue reading →

This Week In Web 2.0

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 14 hours ago

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth sharing, I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth … Continue reading →

The Best Resources On Parent Engagement In Countries Other Than The U.S.

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I’ve written quite a few posts about parent engagement in countries other than the United States, and decided to bring together the best resources into one list.You can see all my parent engagement-related “The Best” lists here. Here are my … Continue reading →

The Best Resources On Teaching & Learning Critical Thinking In The Classroom

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Teaching and learning critical thinking in the classroom will be the topic of my next Education Week Teacher column (contribute your ideas there, please), so I wanted to develop a “The Best…” list with supporting materials. I put out a … Continue reading →

“APPitic” Looks Impressive

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I just learned about APPitic, which describes itself as: …an directory of apps for education by Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs) to help you transform teaching and learning. It has over 1,300 categorized apps, including a ton organized by Bloom’s Taxonomy. … Continue reading →

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good School Reform Posts & Articles

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Here are some good recent posts and articles on school reform issues: Principals rebel against ‘value-added’ evaluation is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation. Turning the … Continue reading →

Amazing Bird Formations

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I just had to add this video to The Best Sites For Learning About Animals. At forty-five seconds into the video it really gets amazing. You might have to click through to my blog to see it:

“Life In A Day” Video

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

From The Los Angeles Times: “Life in a Day” is a groundbreaking film produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald that solicited user-generated content from around the world that was shot on July 24, 2010. With more than … Continue reading →

I Like “Reading Bear”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Reading Bear is a new free interactive site for teaching beginning readers through the use of phonics in a relatively engaging way. It doesn’t appear that registration is necessary, and they say it will remain free. It’s from Watch Know … Continue reading →

“How Can We Teach Critical Thinking Skills?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

How Can We Teach Critical Thinking Skills? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Please considering leaving your ideas in the comments there or on this post.

“My Best Posts, Articles & Interviews On Parent Engagement”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

My Best Posts, Articles & Interviews On Parent Engagement is the latest “The Best…” list I’ve posted at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. As always, feedback is welcome.

U.S. Justice Department Begins Investigation Of How Alabama Law Affects Students

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

The U.S. Justice Department has requested information from all Alabama schools. As Ed Week reports: Among other things, the letter requests records of enrollment by race and lists of students who have withdrawn since the beginning of the school year, … Continue reading →

“K-12 Online Conference” Presenters Announced

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

Presenters for the annual K-12 Online Conference, set to begin in late November, have just been announced. You can get all the information here. It’s a great opportunity to get high-quality and free professional development.

It Might Be Worth Checking-Out These English Language Development Standards

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

In September, WIDA released a draft version of the English Language Development Standards, 2012 Edition, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. Their comment period ends on November 11th. I’ve never paid much attention to WIDA’s standards in the past since California has … Continue reading →

Book Trailers From My Class

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

I’ve been doing a lot of video recording using my iPhone this year with my Beginning and Intermediate English Language Learners. It’s been great, though the audio is picked-up pretty poorly. So, last week I invested $50 in an IK … Continue reading →

Re:education in Baltimore – Fishbowl Edition | Re:education in Baltimore

Re:education in Baltimore – Fishbowl Edition | Re:education in Baltimore:

Re:education in Baltimore – Fishbowl Edition

by Edit Barry

I wrote a new post for this week based on a selection of articles and op-eds I’d read over the past two. Here are the links:

Alonso plans to close schools that are underused, dilapidated
Specific list hasn’t been finalized
By Erica L. Green
The Baltimore Sun
October 14, 2011

Why smaller is better
Our view: Consolidating students in fewer buildings makes the best use of the city school system’s limited resources
Baltimore Sun – Editorial
October 18, 2011

A big build for city schools
Creative bond financing proposal could infuse billions into Baltimore for school construction and renovation
By Heather R. Mizeur and Thomas E. Wilcox
Baltimore Sun – Opinion
October 25, 2011

Study Warns of Limited Savings from Closing Schools
By Christina A. Samuels
Education Week
November 1, 2011

I called my 600 word post “Pointless Silos, or Will Rebuilding Baltimore City Public Schools Mean Shutting Some Down?” - and it was published today on the local website Baltimore Fishbowl. Check it out.

Page not found | Seattle Education

Page not found | Seattle Education:

Chris Hedges and the Occupation Movement

by seattleducation2011

Chris Hedges is a journalist and author, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and society. He is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for “The Christian Science Monitor”, “National Public Radio”, “The Dallas Morning News” and “The New York Times”, where he spent fifteen years.
Hedges was part of “The New York Times” team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism. He received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.

Chris Hedges and Amy Goodman on Charlie Rose, A discussion about Occupy Wall Street.

Popout

An interview with Chris Hedges on October 9, 2011 in Zucotti Park.

Weekly Update: Week of October 31, 2011

by seattleducation2011

There was so much going on this week that I don’t know where to begin.

To all who send me information, a big thank you. Do keep those cards and letters coming.

Let’s start with the action that the Chicago Teachers’ Union and Stand Up Chicago did, a mic check for Governor

Madison Prep, More Questions than Answers | AMPS

Madison Prep, More Questions than Answers | AMPS:

Madison Prep, More Questions than Answers

by Thomas J. Mertz

James Brown – “I Don’t Know” (click to listen or download

With only 24 days remain till the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education will vote on theMadison Preparatory Academy charter and only 9 days until the MMSD administration is required to issue an analysis of their proposal (and that is assuming the analysis is issued on a Sunday, otherwise we are talking only one week), there are still many, many unanswered questions concerning the school. Too many

The Raw Hypocrisy of Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program | Scathing Purple Musings

The Raw Hypocrisy of Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program | Scathing Purple Musings:

The Raw Hypocrisy of Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program

by Bob Sikes

From Market Watch:

Step Up For Students announced today that Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida has contributed $10 million to fund scholarships for underprivileged students in Florida. This contribution will provide more than 2,400 scholarships for families to use towards tuition at the school that best meets their children’s unique learning needs. Florida State Representatives Garcia, Watson, Logan, Julien, Campbell and staff from Representative Diaz and Senator Flores office
joined Wayne E. Chaplin, President & COO and Harvey R. Chaplin, Chairman and CEO, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. for the presentation.
Southern Wine & Spirits’ contribution comes in the form of a tax redirection. Through the Florida

My Real Issue is Human Development | Lefty Parent

My Real Issue is Human Development | Lefty Parent:

My Real Issue is Human Development

by Cooper Zale

I write from the point of view of a parent, a “lefty parent” as I call myself, which is intended to have a double meaning of sorts. I grew up in the context and values of a liberal Midwestern university town (Ann Arbor MI), but also being left-handed, I tend to think outside the box of a mostly right-handed world, including the liberal or progressive “left” conventional wisdom of that world. My mom and dad were more left-libertarians than actual liberals and I have come to find that I share that subtle but significantly different orientation.

I really feel more like an ex-parent now, because our kids are grown up (now 22 and 25) and they have been basically running their own lives (for at least the past four years) since they learned to drive and figured out how