Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts #ows #edreform

Modern School: Let Them Eat Exams! (Tests, Not Toys For Toddlers)

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Modern School: Let Them Eat Exams! (Tests, Not Toys For Toddlers):Let Them Eat Exams! (Tests, Not Toys For Toddlers)by Michael DunnHuck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsNew York and New Jersey are on an insane mission to give mandatory school-readiness tests to children as young as 4 years old. Why? To get some of Obama’s Race to the Top money. The tests would assess children's language, math, science and literacy skills, and their emotional and physical development, Lisa Fleisher reported in the Wall Street ... more »

How big was the crowd at the Oakland general strike? « Fred Klonsky

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How big was the crowd at the Oakland general strike? « Fred Klonsky:How big was the crowd at the Oakland general strike?by Fred KlonskyFor as long as I have been going to demonstrations there have been debates about how big the crowd was. The rule of thumb is to take the number that the organizers claim and the number reported by the press and the government and split the difference.But the Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur makes a good case for ... more »

Michelle Rhee in The City of Nothing to Lose | Political News and Opinion from a Multicultural Point of View

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Michelle Rhee in The City of Nothing to Lose | Political News and Opinion from a Multicultural Point of View:Michelle Rhee in The City of Nothing to LoseSome fairly odd musings in Philadelphia these days as former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is spending quite a bit of time in Ill-town these days. Whispers sound off about Rhee, the controversial and fiery school head who led the D.C. public school system during Mayor Adrian Fenty’s (D-D.C.) tumultuous term, ... more »

CT News Junkie | OP-ED | Diane Ravitch on School Reform Gone Awry

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CT News Junkie | OP-ED | Diane Ravitch on School Reform Gone Awry:OP-ED | Diane Ravitch on School Reform Gone Awryby Dianne Kaplan DeVries | Nov 7, 2011 10:54pm(0) Comments | Log in to Post a Comment Posted to: Education, OpinionDIANNE KAPLAN DEVRIES“Singing to the choir because the choir needs support,” that’s what Diane Ravitch was doing in Hartford last Wednesday when she spoke to members of the Hartford Federation of Teachers. It was my good fortune to be among ... more »

For all you Seattleites who wait until the last minute to mail in your ballot… | Seattle Education

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For all you Seattleites who wait until the last minute to mail in your ballot… | Seattle Education:For all you Seattleites who wait until the last minute to mail in your ballot…by seattleducation2011On this blog, Sue and I have many times written about the school board incumbents and the votes that they have made, how they acted in-sync with our Broad-trained superintendent, how they mindlessly stamped all of her policies and how incumbents Carr, Martin-Morris and Sundquist are backed financially ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Occupy Movement: Reframing the school reform debate #ows

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Occupy Movement: Reframing the school reform debate:Occupy Movement: Reframing the school reform debateTaking it to the DOEThe Occupy Movement in NY has refocused the whole school reform narrative and has transformed power relationships. Where only a few months ago Mayor Bloomberg and his hand-picked administrators were able to exercise control over "public" meetings, silencing opposition from teachers, parents and community members, and dominating the mainstream media, the new movement has changed things.Yesterday, Occupy the DOE forces ... more »

Modern School: The Pre-K Achievement Gap

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Modern School: The Pre-K Achievement Gap:The Pre-K Achievement Gapby Michael DunnGood Education just reviewed a recent survey presented at the annual conference for theNational Association for the Education of Young Children in which two-thirds of kindergarten teachers say the majority of their students start school without knowing basic preschool concepts like the alphabet.According to the survey, only 6% of kindergarten teachers said that their students were well prepared academically at the beginning of the year. Many students did not know ... more »

Shanker Blog » The False Conflict Between Unionism and Professionalism?

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Shanker Blog » The False Conflict Between Unionism and Professionalism?:The False Conflict Between Unionism and Professionalismby Matthew Di CarloSome people have the unfortunate idea that unionism is somehow antithetical to or incompatible with being a professional. This notion is particularly salient within education circles, where phrases like “treat teachers like professionals” are often used as implicit arguments against policies associated with unions, such as salary schedules and tenure (examples here, here, here and here).Let’s take a quick look at this ... more »

Tweed Protesters Denounce 'Privatization' of Schools – SchoolBook #ows

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Tweed Protesters Denounce 'Privatization' of Schools – SchoolBook:Tweed Protesters Denounce ‘Privatization’ of Schoolsby Chelsia Rose MarciusThey may not have been a big crowd, but they were spirited. A group calling itself Occupy the DOE — an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street — gathered on the steps Tweed Hall on Monday evening with a litany of complaints against the Department of Education.Police officers ushered the crowd of more than 150 parents, students, teachers, aides and educators up the stairs and toward ... more »

Hooray for the Long Island Principals! - Bridging Differences - Education Week

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Hooray for the Long Island Principals! - Bridging Differences - Education Week:Hooray for the Long Island Principals!by Diane RavitchDear Deborah,Sometimes it seems we are living in the worst of times for American education, given the daily news of budget cuts, attacks on teachers, and attacks on the very idea of public education. When good news comes along, we should shout it from the rooftops. So here's good news that I want to share and celebrate.Last week, more than 400 principals ... more »

The Washington Teacher: A Call To Action: Save DC's Schools!

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The Washington Teacher: A Call To Action: Save DC's Schools!:A Call To Action: Save DC's Schools!By Candi PetersonIn the midst of upcoming contract negotiations, there are big plans ahead to close our traditional public schools. Never in our history has there been a greater need for teachers and school personnel to have an effective union. Our very future as educators and the future of our students will be determined by how vigorously we, alongside parents and community members are willing ... more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 9: How much it too much, and what’s not enough?

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Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 9: How much it too much, and what’s not enough?:Week 9: How much it too much, and what’s not enough?One of the big adjustments in leaving a prep position with periods for a self-contained class is the change in the time I have to work with kids. I had gotten used to discrete 45-minute segments, but now have the whole day with the same class teaching multiple subjects, etc.I still don’t feel ... more »

That’s 21 of Your Validators Ate Up At The Same Time | The Jose Vilson

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That’s 21 of Your Validators Ate Up At The Same Time | The Jose Vilson:That’s 21 of Your Validators Ate Up At The Same Timeby JoseRakim“I‘m not a regular competitor, first rhyme editorMelody arranger, poet, etceteraExtra events, the grand finale like bonusI am the man they call the microphonistWith wisdom which means wise words bein spokenToo many at one time watch the mic start smokin’I came to express the rap I manifestStand in my way and I’ll veto, in other ... more »

Make or Break Moment for Public Education in California | California Progress Report

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Make or Break Moment for Public Education in California | California Progress Report:Make or Break Moment for Public Education in CaliforniaPosted on 07 November 2011Printer-friendly versionSend to friendBy Pablo RodriguezCommunities for a New CaliforniaOn Friday, November 4th, I proudly joined a growing movement of students, teachers, parents, and workers and sent the open letter below to the fifty corporate elite who serve on the boards of California's public colleges and universities. We are the 99%, and through our taxes we ... more »

An Urban Teacher's Education: Teachers Make Too Much Money, Right?

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An Urban Teacher's Education: Teachers Make Too Much Money, Right?:Teachers Make Too Much Money, Right?by James BoutinA week ago, researchers from the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute (both free-market think tanks in DC) released a report claiming that American public school teachers, as a whole, are significantly overpaid.Jason Richwine of Heritage and Andrew Biggs of AEI base the claim on their perceived market value of the average teacher, who, they say, tends to be at a cognitive disadvantage ... more »

Poverty Not Destiny?: Masking Corporate Agendas | Dailycensored.com

Poverty Not Destiny?: Masking Corporate Agendas | Dailycensored.com:

Poverty Not Destiny?: Masking Corporate Agendas

Written by Paul ThomasEducationNov 8, 2011

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Release a report, make it appear like scholarly research (include footnotes, charts, graphs, and data), and suggest something provocative such as “teachers are overpaid”—the result? The media gives the claim and report a free and frequent ride.

Walt Gardner, on his blog, has lamented about this exact phenomenon concerning The Heritage Foundation report, “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers” by Jason Richwine:

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother to comment about the study because none of it says anything that is really new. But because the media is giving it big play, I can’t let the facts cited slide by. . . .If an author wants to make headlines, the surest way is to be provocative. But just because charges appear valid at first glance doesn’t necessarily make them so. As I’ve written before: If teaching is

TAG, Notebook to discuss 'teaching in the time of testing' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

TAG, Notebook to discuss 'teaching in the time of testing' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

TAG, Notebook to discuss 'teaching in the time of testing'

by thenotebook

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook and the Teacher Action Group are excited to announce a co-sponsored event titled - "Cheating or Resistance?: Teaching and Learning in a Time of Testing" that will take place Monday, November 14 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the United Way Building.

The Notebook is pleased to share our recent reporting on testing as part of this event, and we hope our readers and members will take time to participate in a lively discussion of testing from a variety of perspectives.

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Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parents to Senate Ed Committee: You need our input!

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parents to Senate Ed Committee: You need our input!:

Parents to Senate Ed Committee: You need our input!

by admin

Today, Parents Across America sent a letter to the members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee after noting that panelists testifying this morning at a committee hearing on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education law included no parent representatives.

PAA has reached out to the HELP committee repeatedly with our concern that parent voices are being left out of this critical discussion of the federal laws which will impact our children’s education for years to come.

Below is the text of the letter to the HELP committee, which includes PAA’s recommendations for an improved ESEA. A chart comparing PAA’s positions with the current Senate proposal is here.

***

November 8, 2011

Re: Reauthorization of ESEA

Dear Senator Harkin and members of the HELP Committee:

We applaud the fact that you included several teachers and other educators as witnesses in today’s important

PSAT for 11-8-11: From RYH – where’s the schools’ TIF money

by admin

For today’s Public Schools Action Tuesday, an action alert from Raise Your Hand:

Call your Alderman today!

As discussions about the longer school day continue without any answers about funding, we ask that you call your alderman to see where they stand on the tif surplus issue. Currently, there is over $800 million in unallocated tax increment financing (TIF) money, and our mayor has said he wants to return less than 10% of this to CPS and other taxing bodies. At a time when our libraries and other services are being cut, and our schools are about to be lengthened in hours without adequate resources to fund the current day, we think this is unacceptable.

You might hear tif rhetoric such as it is “not sustainable” and it is “a band-aid” and “we can’t use this money.”

SARC Template Restored - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

SARC Template Restored - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Restores
Time-Saving Web Tool for School Districts

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that the California Department of Education (CDE) has restored a time-saving Web tool to make it easier for school districts to create state-mandated School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs).

"The few dollars the state saved by eliminating this service were clearly outweighed by the time and trouble being shifted to California's more than a 1,000 school districts," Torlakson said. "I'm glad we've found a creative way to restore this tool, and I'm grateful to Ed-Data for stepping up to the plate to help us meet this need."

SARCs contain valuable accountability information on schools to help parents and the public evaluate and compare their progress in achieving goals.

Deep budget cuts to the CDE forced the department to discontinue its SARC Web tool in 2010. The SARC Web tool conveniently provided districts with templates pre-populated with data on each of their schools. As a result of the cuts, local educational agencies were forced to fill out the forms manually—increasing the workloads at districts.

CDE responded to widespread concerns from around the state and found a solution by working with the Ed-Data Web site to restore the pre-populated SARC templates.

"The reintroduction of the SARC Web tool will help school districts save personnel time and money, and we're capitalizing on our existing partnership with Ed-Data to provide this much-needed service," Torlakson said.

For many years, Ed-Data had already reported much of the state-generated data that are required for the SARC. The Ed-Data Web site is a 15-year collaboration between the CDE, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, and EdSource.

The SARC Web tool and templates on the Ed-Data Web site are free options local educational agencies may use to help them prepare their SARCs. They are provided in English and several other languages. After downloading the pre-populated templates, school officials complete them with local data, and may then publish them in print or online.

For a sample SARC template, please visit the CDE Web site at 2010–11 School Accountability Report Card Template (DOC; 490KB; 20pp.). School districts may access the SARC Web tool to download the pre-populated templates at Ed-Data Website(Outside Source). To find your existing local SARC, please visit County List - School Accountability Report Card.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

More Inexcusable Inequalities: New York State in the Post-Funding Equity Era « School Finance 101

More Inexcusable Inequalities: New York State in the Post-Funding Equity Era « School Finance 101:

More Inexcusable Inequalities: New York State in the Post-Funding Equity Era

by schoolfinance101

I did a post a short while back about the fact that there are persistent inequities in state school finance formulasand that those persistent inequities have real consequences for students’ access to key resources in schools – specifically their access to a rich array of programs, services, courses and other opportunities. In that post I referred to the post school funding equity era as this perceived time in which we live. Been there, done that. Funding equity? No problem. We all know funding doesn’t matter anyway. Funding can’t buy a better education. It’s all about reform. Not funding. And we all know that the really good reformy strategies can, in fact, achieve greater output with even less funding. Hey, just look at all of those high flying, no excuses charter schools. Wait… aw crap… it seems that many of them actually do spend quite a bit. But, back to my point. Alexander

Remarks by the President on Head Start in Yeadon, Pennsylvania | The White House

Remarks by the President on Head Start in Yeadon, Pennsylvania | The White House:

Remarks by the President on Head Start in Yeadon, Pennsylvania

by The White House

Release Time:

For Immediate Release

Yeadon Regional Head Start Center
Yeadon, Pennsylvania

11:43 A.M. EST

Thank you, everybody, please have a seat. It is great to be in Yeadon, great to be in the Philly area. I was told not to mention football at all. (Laughter.) So I’m not going to say anything about football while I’m here, because I know this is a sensitive subject. (Laughter.) This is why I have Secret Service along. (Laughter.)

Now, I want to start by acknowledging some of the folks who are with me here today. First of all, I want to thank one of our finest public servants in this country, and she’s just a great friend, but somebody who cares passionately about the health and the welfare of our kids and our families -- Kathleen Sebelius, our Secretary of Health and Human Services. (Applause.) I want to acknowledge the Mayor of Yeadon -- Dolores Jones-Butler is in the house. (Applause.) Two of my favorite members of Congress, Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady. (Applause.) And one of my favorite former members of Congress who I think is going to be doing big things here in Pennsylvania is here as well -- I guess I can’t call you Congressman, huh? (Laughter.) That’s all right? The -- Congressman Murphy. (Applause.)

I had a chance to say hello to Mayor Nutter when I landed in Philly. He couldn’t be with us this morning -- I guess there are a few things going on here today. (Laughter.) But I wished him well. He’s a great partner of ours.

And I also want to say thank you to Ms. Pleasantte, Dr. O’Shea -- (applause) -- all the staff and the teachers who are here. They are just doing a great job. (Applause.)

I had a chance to visit one of the classrooms here. And I have to say, it got me a little choked up, because -- Patrick, you need to remember this. Patrick has got small kids. And they are just so huggable at this age. (Laughter.) And now -- they’re still huggable, but they’re a little -- they’re 5’9” and five feet. (Laughter.) But obviously you got a lot to handle when you’re here.

And the teachers, the staff who are here, they wouldn’t be doing this for the money. They’re doing it out of love of children. All of you do it because you know that when it comes to learning and when it comes to growing, this is an absolutely critical period in a child’s life. We know that three- and four-year-olds who go to high-quality preschools -- including our best Head Start programs -- are less likely to repeat a grade; they’re less likely to need special education; they’re more likely to graduate from high school than the peers who did not get these services. And so this makes early education one of our best investments in America’s future. One of the best. (Applause.)

Right out of the gate, it helps prepare our kids for a competition that’s never been tougher -- a competition for good middle-class, well-paying jobs. And we’re competing now with countries like China and South Korea and Europe, all of which are serious about educating their children. So at a time when a company is able to move anywhere they want in the world -- and a lot of times will make the decision based on where they can find the most highly skilled workforce -- it is absolutely imperative that we make sure the United States is the place where we’ve got the best-trained, best-educated young people. That is a priority. (Applause.)

And this is not, and should not be, a Democratic priority or a Republican priority. This is an American priority. (Applause.) It’s an economic imperative. Our future depends on it. And people understand this outside of Washington, which is why we’ve been able to work with Democratic and Republican governors on our efforts to strengthen education from cradle to career. Not only with more money -- money is important -- but also with reforms that challenge schools to develop higher standards and the best practices for teaching and for learning.

Now, unfortunately, in Congress right now, it’s a different story. The Republicans in Washington have been trying to gut our investments in education. Earlier this year, nearly every Republican in the House voted for a budget that would have cut hundreds of thousands of children from Head Start. They’ve tried to cut Pell Grants for college students. They just voted against a jobs bill that would have put 400,000 teachers back in the classroom.

Their argument is that we don’t have the money. And what I’ve said is we can make these investments in our children without adding to the deficit simply by asking people who make more than a million dollars a year to pay a little more in taxes -- not right now, but starting in 2013. It’s the right thing to do for our kids. It’s the right thing to do for our country. But so far they’ve said no.

It’s not just on issues, by the way, that cost money. So far, Congress has failed to move on fixing No Child Left Behind, despite the fact that we’ve shown them bipartisan reforms that are working in states right now -- reforms that are praised not only by Democrats but also by Republicans. So after trying for months to work with Congress on education, we decided to take matters into our own hands, because our future is at stake. Our children deserve action. And we can’t wait for Congress any longer.

We can’t wait to make sure that our schools give every child the chance to compete with young people from around the world. So in September, I announced that if states exceed the high standards set by No Child Left Behind, then they’ve got the flexibility to build on the reforms that they’ve already made. We can’t wait to help more young people get to college. So two weeks ago, I announced changes that will lower student loan payments by hundreds of dollars a month for around 1.6 million Americans. (Applause.)

We can’t wait to give more of our youngest children the same basic opportunities we want all children to have, that we want for our children. And that’s why today, I’m announcing a new rule that will improve the quality of Head Start programs around the country. (Applause.)

Now, I firmly believe that Head Start is an outstanding program and a critical investment. The children who have the chance to go to the best Head Start programs have an experience that can literally change their lives for years to come. We’re making today’s announcement because we believe that every child in Head Start deserves that same chance.

Now, under the old rules governing Head Start, there just wasn’t enough accountability. If a program wasn’t providing kids with quality services, there was no incentive to improve. Under the new rule, programs are going to be regularly evaluated against a set of clear, high standards. If a program meets these standards -- and we believe the majority of Head Start programs will -- then their grants will be renewed. But if a program isn’t giving children the support they need to be ready for school, if classrooms are unsafe, if finances aren’t in order, if kids aren’t learning what they need to learn, then other organizations will be able compete for that grant. We’re not just going to put money into programs that don’t work. We will take money and put them into programs that do. (Applause.)

If a group is going to do a better job for the community, then they need that support. If a group would do a better job serving the kids in our communities, then they’re going to have that chance.

Now, this is the first time in history that Head Start programs will be truly held accountable for performance in the classroom, and we know that raising the bar isn’t always an easy thing to do. But it’s the right thing to do. Children in Head Start deserve the best services we have to offer, and we know that Head Start programs can meet this challenge.

So because of this rule, and the other executive actions that we’ve taken to improve our education system, more children will have the chance to study hard, do well in school, graduate on time, go to college without crushing debt. More Americans will grow up to be scientists and innovators and engineers and entrepreneurs. More businesses will be able to find skilled workers.

Of course, there’s no substitute for Congress doing its job. And I have to say these two congressmen are doing their job. (Applause.) But they need some help. Congress still needs to fix No Child Left Behind. Congress still needs to put teachers back in the classroom where they belong. (Applause.)

So Congress still needs to act. But if Congress continues to stand only for dysfunction and delay, then I’m going to move ahead without them. (Applause.) I told my administration, I want you to keep on looking for actions that we can take without Congress –- steps that can save consumers money, make government more efficient and responsive, help heal the economy, improve our education system, improve our health care system. We want to work with Congress, but we’re not going to wait.

I think this is the right thing to do, not just as a President, but I think this is the right thing to do as a parent. Because I know there are some things I cannot guarantee my kids. But I can make sure -- I can do my best to make certain that they get a chance to succeed or fail on their own merits, just like I did. I can do everything in my power to ensure that their children grow up in a country where anything is possible, as long as you’re willing to work for it.

That’s what my mom and my grandparents wanted for me. It’s what I want for my children. It’s the promise that every generation has made to those who came after.

We can’t be the first generation of Americans to break that promise. So we’ve got to prove that we are tougher than the times that we live in and that we’re bigger than the politics of the moment. We’ve got to meet the challenges today by preparing our children for the challenges tomorrow.

That’s what’s being done at this wonderful facility. We want to replicate these all across the country. We are proud of what you are doing. You’ve got a President who’s got your back

Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

END
11:55 A.M. EST

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Are union-bashing charter reformers sobering up?

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Are union-bashing charter reformers sobering up?:

Are union-bashing charter reformers sobering up?

by Mike Klonsky

NYT's Joe Nocera ("Teaching With the Enemy") says Steven Brill was shocked when AFT prez Randi Weingarten held a book party for him at her home. To tell you the truth, I was too. But the real story Nocera tells is about Brill's own attitude adjustment while researching his virulent union-bashing book, ultimately leading him to make a u-turn and actually nominate Weingarten to become Mayor Bloomberg's next schools chancellor.

As most reviews have noted, however, as “Class Warfare” nears its conclusion, it suddenly veers in a different direction. Instead of bashing the union and Weingarten, Brill suggests that true reform is impossible without them. In fact, he proposes that Mayor Michael Bloomberg appoint her to be